The morning began in a shimmer of silver and gold.
William soared through the tranquil sky, gently propelled by rhythmic beats of his wings. Below him lay the island, quiet and still, its once lively village now reduced to an eerie silence.
Houses stood abandoned, their wooden walls darkened and rotting beneath layers of salt and wind. Vegetation, tinted with eerie gold colors, encroached from all sides, reclaiming the village street with creeping vines and clusters of moss, leaving behind a sense of tragic abandonment.
The village looks like it has been abandoned for months, but in actuality, the taboo creature just spawned yesterday.
From above, William sensed something profoundly unnatural emanating from the village's heart, a golden aura, thick and heavy, radiating like a corrupt beacon. His mutated left eye pierced the swirling radiance energies, tracing threads of pollution weaving upwards like smoke, confirming the entity's presence and position.
The source of the contamination sat perfectly still at the village center, unmoving yet unmistakably alive. Watching the sun thoughtlessly.
William paused midair, hovering three hundred meters away. Closing his eyes, he reached out with his aura, gently probing the entity, gauging its strength and essence.
After a minute of focused sensing, William's brow furrowed slightly in disappointment. The intensity of the [Extraordinary Power] emanated from the taboo creature is lower than he expected, not to mention, from his probe, the creature size is only about six meters tall.
What the players had fearfully called a [Golden Giant] was actually only a mere [Gigant].
'Player knowledge remains severely lacking,' William mused.
According to the introduction in the [Basic Extraordinary], creatures inhabiting the Mystic Sea were classified by size into distinct tiers: at the lowest were the [Gigant], followed by [Giant], then [Leviathan] or [Titan], depending on their habitat, sea or land. And finally, at the pinnacle of enormity, were creatures classified as [Colossal].
The book had only covered the first two tiers in detail, leaving the higher classes shrouded in vague mystery. Yet even with these limited definitions, the distinction in scale and power between each class was staggering.
[Gigant]-class creatures, typically ranging from five to seven meters tall, were sometimes called [Baby Titans] if possessing latent potential for growth into the formidable [Titan]-class. Such classifications were common in the expansive outer seas but much rarer in places like the Sea of Beginning.
Given this was merely a [Gigant], the harvestable materials would at most be [Rare] rank, unlikely to surpass the threshold into [Epic]. While potentially superior in quality compared to standard [Rare] materials, they remained insufficient for upgrading his [Ship Core] directly to Epic Level, as he had initially hoped.
William sighed inwardly. He would need either higher-tier materials or something capable of resonating with the [Golden Gigant]'s drops to push the materials beyond their natural constraints.
'Well, killing it comes first. I'll figure out the materials afterward.'
With resolve set, William drew closer, descending quietly toward the still and golden figure awaiting him below.
The Gigant was already uneasy from William's probing, its grotesque body fidgeting restlessly. Its misshapen head swiveled slowly, scanning the surroundings as it searched for the source of the aura brushing against its polluted form.
When they finally faced each other, the Golden Gigant spoke first, its voice eerie and distorted, a chilling chorus of countless souls trapped within its golden flesh.
"Brothers?"
Each twisted face embedded in its body opened their mouths in grotesque unison, blood trickling down their golden chins. Simultaneously, William observed how the golden radiance around the Gigant thickened, polluting the air itself. This radiance reached toward him greedily, trying to seep into his being like clinging dust.
Fortunately, William's innate defenses were formidable. The protective power of his [Extraordinary Weight], combined with his [Myth] status and the newly acquired skill [Perfect Self], effortlessly repelled the invasive golden pollution. Such a low-level threat could not hope to damage his spirituality, let alone corrupt him, making him immune to the most dangerous threat of a Taboos.
Hearing the voices, William remained silent, carefully observing the Gigant.
But the Gigant, unsettled by the lack of response, slowly rose to its full height, tilting its head in a macabre imitation of horror curiosity. William seized this moment to delve into the fragmented insights provided by [Mysterious Knowledge], all while quietly condensing and shaping his aura around him.
The information flickered into his consciousness, disjointed but useful. The Gigant's physical prowess registered clearly, six points, not that high or low, but its spiritual and mystical characteristics remained unreadable, obscured by its inherently chaotic nature.
Scattered amongst these details were hints of fragmented lore about the taboo itself: "Kingdom of Gold," "Avatar of Greed," "Sun Chasing Stars?"
Though intriguing, the lore is too fragmented to get complete information, so other than taking some mental notes, William focused more into Gigant skills:
> Gold Permanence and Radiance: After infecting a [Lifeform] with [Gold Pollution], the Gigant can manipulate the afflicted using its characteristics: Melting and Merging. Infected creatures could either merge with the Gigant's main form, amplifying its power, or spread further, increasing the range and intensity of the pollution indefinitely.
> Will Of Gold: Madness and Greed - More information can't be read.
> ???
The information becomes distorted at this point. William contributes it because his rank is too low, making the skill unable to unearth more information about the taboo. Nevertheless, it was sufficient for immediate purposes.
At this point, the Gigant's aura surged outward suddenly, having enough observing him. Enveloping its own massive body in a dense, oppressive radiance. The air thickened uncomfortably, heavy with contamination.
"Not Brothers!" It shrieked, its voice a horrifying cacophony.
Had anyone else been present, mortal or even other low level extraordinary, their minds would have succumbed instantly to the overwhelming pollution, their bodies possibly dissolving into golden sludge. Yet William merely frowned at the discomfort, his own aura flaring in response.
Not wanting to lose out, he next unleashes his Condensed Aura. The dance between gold and grey Aura occurred instantly, colliding, like two water torrents, creating a silent but fierce confrontation.
Their combined aura exerted immense pressure to the surrounding, causing nearby houses to groan and crack, the earth beneath them splitting from the weight.
This was how the extraordinary people judging if you are worth fighting or not, they lashed out their own [Extraordinary Weight] in the form of Aura or Spiritual Pressure. If you lose, it is simply because you are weaker and you should be careful. If you win, then it is your opponent that should be careful with you.
In this collision, William's presence stood unwavering against the Gigant's torrent of polluted energy, steady as a reef against the crashing waves. Even as far as pushing it back.
Frustrated by its failure, the Gigant shrieked again, every twisted mouth opening wide in rage. It lunged toward William with alarming speed, its golden hand morphing grotesquely mid-leap into a blade-like claw, slicing through the air, trailing corrupted golden aura.
William calmly evaded with a simple flap of his wings, smoothly drawing out his newly acquired weapons exchanged from [Rare Equipment Coupon]. The dual blades emerged gracefully:
[Item Information
Name: Grace and Majesty - Dual Sword
Type: Weapon
Rank: Rare
Ability:
>> Dual Form - Royal Swords:
> Enhances flexibility and speed by 13%, adds slight [Weight] to the user.
> Sharpness enhanced by 10% when infused with [Aura].
> In this form, The Swords has Medium Aura Tolerance.
>> Singular Form - Buster Sword:
> In this form, the sword can gain more mass with more Aura infused into it, making it heavier and stronger. After the Maximum mass reached, [Overload] can be activated. Boosting attack power by up to 30%.
> Or, the user can choose to condense the Aura and Blast is toward the enemy. Warning: Can only be used once every hour, frequent use can make the rune node degraded and need to be repaired.
> In This Form, The Sword has High Aura Tolerance .
Remark:
A Majesty Of Life, The Grace Of Kings.
The True Royal Sword.
]
William gripped [Grace] and [Majesty] firmly, feeling their reassuring weight and balance. His wings steadied, aura condensing further around the twin swords as he prepared to counterattack.
"AHH!! BAD BROTHERS!!" the Gigant screamed once more, blood and gold radiance flaring chaotically around it as it charged again, completely engulfed in mindless fury.
Eyes narrowing with determination, William surged forward, cutting through the thick air of gold-tainted madness.
This time, he struck first.
The twin swords crossed over his chest, gleaming with condensed aura. With a powerful beat of his wings, he shot forward like a bolt of silver. His eyes locked onto the Gigant's grotesque head, intending to cleave it clean off. A surge of [Aura] pulsed through his wings and body, boosting his velocity. The air behind him trembled with aftershock.
Then, Shhhhrrk.
The Gigant can't even react, and a sharp hiss, like parchment torn by razors, echoed as he passed. A trail of grey aura followed in his wake, like a blade dancing across the sky.
The Gigant stumbled.
Then two thin, nearly invisible lines shimmered across its deformed head, symmetrical and clean.
Moments later, those lines split.
Its head slid into uneven segments, parts still connected by patches of golden flesh. Dark blood thick, and metallic, spurted from the fractures. Yet the creature did not fall.
It froze, staggered. Its malformed spine straightened as its bloodied hands clutching its head, as if defying the pain, as if it can still feels its gold flesh dismembered.
Then came the scream.
"AAAH!!"
A child's voice, raw, and high-pitched ripped through the air. But it wasn't alone. A chorus of voices joined: adults, women, animals. A whisper of howls of thousands of souls screeching in unison.
"BAD!! BROTHERS!!"
The shout shattered the air. Even the ground beneath the two trembled.
William hovered midair, expression cold with sharp gaze. He snorted faintly.
'Pain?' He reasoned, 'Can something like this even feel pain? Does it still have nerves, or is it just mimicking the suffering of people?'
But the moment was short-lived.
With a guttural heave, the Gigant collapsed onto its knees.
Then… it's back ruptured.
Dozens, then hundreds of golden orifices tore open along its spine, bubbling with movement. And from within, tiny hands began to pour out. Infant-sized, twisted and grasping uncontrollable. Some were skeletal, others malformed, each twitching, stretching, and reaching for something.
And that something is William.
In less than a second, they surged toward him like a golden tide, forming countless writhing arms that stretched for his throat, eyes, and wings, or any part they could consume. They came not just from Gigant back, but from its shoulders, sides, and even the broken segments of its head. A living mass of greedy gold.
The true nature of the [Golden Gigant] was showing itself.
William didn't flinch.
He spun midair, aura flaring around his blades. The wind howled from the force.
He muttered, "Let's see how many hands I need to cut."
The swarm of golden hands accelerated toward him, stretching into the sky like a grotesque wave. Some clawed at the air with brittle nails, others dragged long strands of corrupted muscle behind them, all driven by the same ravenous intent.
William didn't retreat this time.
His wings twisted midair, body flipping gracefully as he inverted his stance. [Grace] and [Majesty] spun in his hands, gray aura wreathing both blades like threads of storm silk.
He dropped down.
Descending into the sea of hands with surgical precision, William's swords touched the first wave.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Golden limbs were cleaved apart effortlessly. Aura blades sliced through the air, harmonizing with the ambiance itself, which cried out beneath the intense pressure of their clash.
Dozens of hands disintegrated, bursting into liquid gold before vanishing mid-flight. Yet the swarm persisted, regenerating endlessly. A dense, living forest of corrupted limbs, determined to ensnare and consume him.
Too dense and many.
William's eyes narrowed in calculation. His mind raced, analyzing rapidly. The sheer number and mass of these limbs didn't match the size of the Gigant's twisted body.
Activating his mutated left eye, he finally saw it clearly, the blinding dome of golden radiance surrounding him, obstructed by his own grey aura. Every severed hand was swiftly devoured by this radiance, immediately fueling the relentless regeneration.
His attack was doing exactly zero damage!
Annoying.
With renewed determination, William crossed his swords once more. Next, a fierce twist, he whirled and unleashed a blazing slash that momentarily cleared a significant chunk of space. The golden limbs fell around him, glittering as they disintegrated in midair.
In that brief opening, William released his swords, letting them hover momentarily beside him, maintaining their accumulated momentum. Without hesitation, he retrieved another weapon, a sleek, slender bow shimmering with muted elegance, and three purification arrows from his inventory.
[Item Information
Name: Crestfallen Bow
Type: Weapon
Rank: Rare
Ability:
>> To See You Again:
> When using this bow, the power of [Purification] is doubled, but attack potency to the normal enemy is Highly lowered.
> Has Low Aura Tolerance, But Medium Level Mystic Tolerance.
Remark:
A Man Watched Helplessly As His Lover Drowned In The Sea Of Madness. He Made This Bow In Desperation To Save Her.
But Unfortunately… Too Late…
Oh, The Crestfallen.
]
William methodically nocked the three arrows, their tips glowing faintly. His gaze remained locked on the Golden Gigant, whose grotesque form showed no signs of weakening despite countless severed limbs. Showing the nascent power of a [Gigant] in the flesh. Enhanced endurance and regeneration. Not to mention being a Taboo itself.
But he did not aim downward.
Instead, William lifted the bow skyward. Aura and Mystic power steadily channeled through the bow's delicate frame, his right hand precisely holding the triple arrows, slowly pulling the string. For five heartbeats, the battlefield froze in tense silence.
Then his voice echoed softly, resonating with profound finality.
"Fall down. Purify this earth."
Each word seemed to ripple with subtle power, invoking mysterious energies from deep within him.
"[End], Destroy these filthy things."
With fluid precision, he loosed the arrows high into the sky. Their trajectory left a trail, a striking fusion of grey aura intertwined with golden Mystic energy, soaring upward.
Anyone present would instantly sense the profound difference between this golden energy and the Gigant's pollution. Where the Gigant exuded greed and madness, William's energy radiated "Desolation", embodying an ultimate End. A barren place devoid of life, devoid even of madness and greed.
Infused with purification power, the resulting atmosphere became a paradox, both eerie and solemnly beautiful.
Below, the sea of golden hands surged upward once more, desperately seeking to intercept. But it was already too late. William's arrows pierced the sky, bathing the world beneath in a cascade of grey and pure golden radiance.
As that radiance spread, an oppressive silence fell upon the battlefield, heralding the arrival of an inevitable cleansing.
Recognizing this, the Gigant screamed once more, but this time, its shriek resonated with raw desperation.
In an instant, the sea of grasping hands vanished, erased, as if they'd never existed at all. Then, the Gigant's twisted form began to shift. The thick golden aura that polluted the air rapidly compressed around its body, solidifying and enlarging its silhouette, transforming it into something even more monstrous and imposing.
Level Five Aura Control: Avatar.
Or, in this case: Golden Avatar.
Avatar was a form accessible only to true masters, individuals who could fully unleash their [Extraordinary Weight]. But why hadn't William done the same?
Simply because he couldn't. Even with Level Four Aura Control, it can't help him much, his current aura intensity was insufficient. He was still too low-leveled to manifest such condensed power.
Now, as the Gigant's Avatar swelled, slowly surpassing ten meters in height, William responded by unleashing his own Mythical Form.
His body expanded, swiftly growing past three meters tall, his already majestic wings now exuding an imposing and commanding presence. With a mere thought, he stashed the [Crestfallen Bow] away into his inventory, then willed his twin swords, [Grace] and [Majesty] to merge in midair.
As the blades touched, the air around them shimmered brightly, releasing a surge of palpable energy.
Singular Form: Buster Sword!
Towering even above William's normal human form, the sword emerged at nearly two meters in length. Broad and imposing, its presence alone radiated a supreme power, asserting dominance over the battlefield.
But for William now, it was just right. Next, he grasped the enormous sword firmly, channeling his aura steadily into it. With each heartbeat, the blade absorbed more power, growing heavier and more devastating.
Opposite him, the Golden Gigant ceased its growth, its distorted limbs reshaping themselves into deadly, massive weapons of pure gold.
At that very moment, a thunderous boom echoed overhead.
The grey-and-golden rain, infused with desolation and purification, began to cascade down from the sky, William's unleashed arrows fulfilling their grim purpose.
Recognizing the mortal threat of the falling energy, the Gigant shrieked even louder, a primal sound of desperate rage and fear.
Without hesitation, the two colossal figures surged toward each other once more, clashing violently.
Gold met grey, the corrupted and the purifying collided with earth-shattering force. The village below shattered under the immense pressure of their battle, houses reduced to rubble, streets splintered, the air itself trembling.
Amidst their fierce exchange, the Gigant's golden aura began to recede, steadily weakening. The shimmering air, filled with the combined forces of purification and the profound sense of [End], slowly stripped away its strength, piece by corrupted piece.
William pressed his advantage, eyes cold and resolute, swinging the Buster Sword with relentless precision. Each calculated strike drove the Gigant closer to its desperate end.
The avatar's frame began to crack beneath the mounting pressure.
Every swing tore open deep gashes of golden energy, sending molten fragments of corrupted essence scattering through the air. With each impact, the creature's shell grew increasingly unstable, its grotesque bulk no longer swelling, but fraying. The once-dense aura that fortified it now unraveled, thread by thread, collapsing under the strain of William's onslaught.
The grey-and-gold rain intensified.
Where the droplets struck the earth, golden fungus hissed and withered. Where they struck the Gigant, they burned. Not like fire, no, this was deeper. Like the concept of rot and madness being peeled away layer by layer.
William pressed forward.
He didn't speak. He didn't need to. As his sword roared in his place.
With a wide arc, he brought the sword crashing down, meeting the Gigant's golden cleaver-like arm with thunderous force. The clash sent out a shockwave that flattened the last standing house nearby. The force blew apart what remained of the central plaza, reducing stone to powder and air to thunder.
But even amidst the destruction, the grey aura in the rain remained steady.
Each droplet is a judgment.
Each shimmer a dirge.
The Gigant reeled.
The longer they fought, the weaker the Gigant.
Its many mouths opened again, but no sound came. The voices were failing. The golden light around it flickered, no longer constant but sputtering. Cracks spread across its avatar like glass under strain.
Then William's aura flared, high and sharp, like a peak reached only by stepping through storms.
With both hands gripping the Buster Sword, he channeled every remaining ounce of stability within his [Extraordinary Weight]. Maybe, it is not enough to form an avatar, but more than enough to cut one down.
"Fall."
He said it without fury.
Stated it as fact.
And then he struck.
The sword glowed, dull grey and searing gold by his own Mystic power, before descending with the quiet weight of inevitability.
It didn't roar.
It hummed in the power of [End].
The blade sank through the Gigant's torso, cleaving the avatar from shoulder to hip. The golden construct spasmed once, hands twitching, and heads trembling. Then it collapsed in silence, falling not as a creature, but as a ruin.
There is no scream or explosion.
Just,
Silence.
The corrupted gold cracked, dissolved into flakes, and scattered in the wind.
William stood in the storm of desolation and purification, chest heaving once, then still. His sword lowered. His body next, still in Mythical Form, slowly began to return to normal size as the shimmer of the aura-charged rain fell, filling the area in a sparkle of desolated gold.
He took a long breath, calming his own aura.
The battle was over.
But something lingered.
In the crater where the Gigant's body fell, a small pulsating lump of gold remained. No longer screaming or moving. Just glowing faintly, like a dying ember, yet it still exude extraordinary properties. And somehow, you can feel it still alive.
William's eyes twitched.
'Just this?', He thought, a familiar flicker of disappointment crossing his face.
He sighed slowly and drew a [Blank Card] from his inventory. With a faint mental command, the card hovered above the glowing lump. A shimmer pulsed through its surface before the gold was gently pulled inside, sealed and preserved at the peak of its current state.
[Item Information
Name: Living Gold
Type: Materials
Grade: Rare++(Almost Epic)
Properties:
> A semi-sentient gold-like substance that resembles living metal.
> Capable of limited self-repair by assimilating lower-grade materials.
> Highly malleable, easy to shape, mold, or fuse into advanced equipment.
> Exhibits high spiritual attunement and tolerance, suitable for forging tools or gear linked to spiritual and mystic energy.
Warning: If left unattended and exposed to mortals, it may develop into a new Golden Entity, continuing the cycle of pollution and growth.
]
William stared at the sealed card, expression unreadable.
"Living metal that grows back, but has limited self-repair ability," he muttered, "Tch… I was hoping it was a little bit stronger."
He tucked the card away.
"Maybe next time… I'll find one that is more powerful."
And with that, he turned from the crater, letting the last shimmer of gold flicker behind him as the purifying rain continued to fall.
…
…
…
[Mystic Sea Small Lore - [Weight of Extraordinary]:
If you ask anyone in the Mystic Sea which path is stronger, Flesh Path or Spirit Path, Aura or Spiritual Pressure? You'll receive a hundred different answers. Most are convinced their own path is supreme, and so, the debate rages endlessly across ports, drifting islands, and the decks of ships.
Recognizing the futility of this argument, the great scholars of the Sea proposed a unifying concept: the [Weight of Extraordinary], also known as the [Weight of Self] or simply [Extraordinary Weight]. It has since become a respected measure for all those walking the path of the extraordinary.
Unlike traditional measures of strength, the [Weight of Extraordinary] does not focus solely on aura mass or spiritual depth. It evaluates something far more fundamental: the totality of an individual's growth and lived experience.
Every battle survived, every class gained, every stat point earned (physical, spiritual, or mystical) adds incrementally to this invisible weight. It is, in essence, the accumulation of your soul's gravity. The stronger your soul, the more force your presence exerts on the world around you.
This weight strengthens your ability to resist external corruptions such as Madness, Pollution, and Corruption, which plague the deeper waters of the Mystic Sea.
Simply put, if the weight of external influences cannot surpass your own [Extraordinary Weight], there is little to fear from the dangers of the Mystic Sea.
This concept also explains the enduring power of [Myths] and the unwavering faith of their followers. When a Myth grants a blessing or answers a prayer, they become a pillar of existence for their devotees.
This belief reinforces the soul, allowing even ordinary cultists to remain sane amid chaos and madness. What looks like blind fanaticism to outsiders is, in fact, a survival mechanism refined over generations.
In the Mystic Sea, the maxim holds true: fighting fire with fire is the best path of survival. This wisdom has been proven over countless generations and remains unchallenged, destined to persist for millennia more.
]
…
[Mix of Aura and Weight:
Aura is the declaration of self, the raw, tyrannical force of flesh and the will of dominance. When combined with your [Weight of Extraordinary], it becomes an oppressive, absolute force that imposes your presence on the world.
It's become several times more robust and unbreakable than just using Aura alone.
Though the weight isn't inherently lethal, Aura mixed with [Extraordinary Weight] becomes a vital tool for survival, repelling foreign influences and protecting your identity. In a sea where pollution and madness seep through every crack, this protection is invaluable.
To do this, you must first learn to tap into your own [Weight of Extraordinary]. Fortunately, one doesn't need high levels to begin. As long as you possess insight, resolve, and a clear sense of self, even a flicker of your weight can be enough to assert mastery.
Those who succeed in wielding their own weight, even once, can be called [Masters], regardless of their level.
Then if you've reached Level Four control over either Aura or Spiritual Power, you've already built the foundation to use your [Extraordinary Weight]. From that point onward, your presence becomes more than pressure, it becomes a law others must contend with.]