[Just so you know... You were being humble back then with Commander Zoltan.]

It flashed.

"I was?"

White asked.

He had indeed sensed that the man was powerful and even restricting his power.

[Yes, you were.]

[Your Aether Pulse is attuned to power, allowing you to detect the Commander’s strength.]

[But it is not attuned to your own self and your own power.]

[That is why it will always seem like the Commander is vastly stronger than you are, because it places all of its attention on an external power source while ignoring its own internal source.]

[According to my estimate, if you fought Commander Zoltan, with your current stats pushed to their maximum effect, you would absolutely crumble him to dust with brute force alone.]

The system panel flashed, and it was beyond shocking to White.

The system wasn’t exactly the praising type.

In fact, White couldn’t recall the system ever having complimented his strength before.

And he had never bothered, because he himself knew that compared to the power he had possessed in his past life, his current strength wasn’t much.

But this...

It saying he could reduce a Commander of the Humanity Ascension Powerhouse to dust?

That was undeniable proof of power.

[If you can put it under proper control, of course.]

It added,

[A powerful amount of strength is only powerful if directed toward a particular point of contact. If it is diffused, then...]

It paused there, but White understood.

"I have enough force, but I’m only as strong as how well I can control it."

[Exactly. You need to learn control more than anything right now.]

It said to him, and he made sure to keep that at the back of his mind.

Moving on after that was his Skills and Abilities Tab.

[Awakened Skills]

[Skill Name: Limitless Collapse]

[Skill Level: 9]

[Description: Compresses overwhelming amounts of Limitless Energy into a pseudo-singularity on the verge of becoming a true black hole.

All matter, energy, and space within range are forcibly dragged inward as reality bends and collapses around the core.

Before full singularity birth is reached, the core is violently released, triggering an apocalyptic correction blast that annihilates everything caught within its domain.] 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

[Effects at Level 9]

[City-scale pull radius]

[Near-instant pseudo-singularity formation]

[Extreme spatial locking (movement, flight, and escape heavily suppressed)]

[Matter shredding field near the core]

[Cataclysmic detonation output]

[Localized space rupture after explosion]

[User has partial directional control over the collapse zone]

[Important Note: Energy consumption is monstrous. Misuse may rupture the user’s internal energy flow, cripple the body, or trigger uncontrolled collapse.]

"At least now, I can use it without worrying about my body being damaged..."

White said with a smile.

Imagine spamming this multiple times in a single location.

There was still the problem of whether his Aether Pulse could continuously power its activation at all, though.

[Skill Name: Limitless Body]

[Skill Level: 4]

[Description: Limitless Energy flows autonomously through the user’s entire body, enhancing all physical attributes.]

[NEW LEVEL EFFECTS]

[Rapid Regeneration: Flesh wounds, cuts, and muscle damage heal within 5 seconds. Deeper injuries are significantly stabilized and slowed.]

[Overdrive Response: In moments of danger, the body automatically releases a burst of energy, temporarily boosting speed and reflexes beyond normal limits.]

[Note: Severe injuries (organs, full body parts severance) still require time or external aid.]

[Skill Name: Limitless Interval]

[Skill Level: 4]

[Description: Creates an infinite spatial interval between the user and external threats, slowing all incoming matter and energy.]

[NEW LEVEL EFFECTS]

[Absolute Slow Zone: Within a fixed radius, anything below a certain energy threshold cannot reach the user at all; it halts mid-air.]

[Trajectory Distortion: Projectiles and attacks that enter the interval are subtly warped off-course, causing misses even when aimed perfectly.]

[Important Note: High-density or space-altering attacks can still force their way through.]

That was the end of the Skills and Abilities Tab.

His predatory gaze gained from the genetic transplant was gone, as was the Oblivion Metamorphosis Skill he had gained from Viktor.

It made his heart lurch in pain, but looking at his stats made that pain reduce... a lot.

He would have easily given away those skills if he had been told he would gain one thousand stat points in each of his attributes.

Dispersing the panel, White exhaled quietly.

’All I need now is to learn control. I have the power. Now I just need to learn to control.’

He remembered Commander Zoltan’s advice.

He had indeed speed-run his growth.

His leaving at all for Aether Beyonder had been a way of speed-running his growth.

But now that was complete, and it was time to take things slow and think things through properly before he embarked on his path.

Power like this, combined with decisions that weren’t properly thought out, would do nothing but ultimately destroy him.

He needed to slow down and take things calmly, and as for where to start?

It was with these two in his arms... how he was meant to tell them he would have to part again in only a few hours, after disappearing and leaving them to believe he had been dead for half a year.

---

Twenty years.

It had been exactly twenty years since Nova had lived on this Earth, yet she could confidently say that in all her life, she had never slept so well.

There was something different about tonight’s sleep.

Ever since White’s death announcement, she had dreaded sleeping, because waking up only made her more tired than ever.

But today, she woke up feeling energy brimming within her.

Opening her eyes, she was met with the sight of golden rays of sunlight inches away from her feet.

Unconsciously, her toes yanked back, but then they relaxed, and with a smile, she stretched her legs out, allowing the sun’s illumination to shine on them.

Once they did,

FLICKER!

An incredibly bright burst of sunlight filled the entire place.

"Ow!"

Nova screamed, turning her furious eyes at White above, who had fully withdrawn his wings.

"It’s morning!"

He said, watching as Morgaine also winced, finally stirring from her deep sleep.

She blinked twice, looking down at what ought to have been her bed.

It wasn’t the same.

She looked up from it, finding his face, then looked back down, then up again.

Her next action made Nova giggle.