People like to believe disasters are loud from the beginning—that there are sirens, warnings, signs written clearly across the sky. But catastrophe is far more intimate than that. It begins in small places. *** Leap years had come to be dreaded because they were the signal that it was time for the next big monster outbreak. Normally, the start of a new year was a time for joy, parties, and looking forward to the future. But this wasn't any normal year; it was a leap year, and in this world, that meant trouble. The idea of a leap year as just an extra day in February had almost been forgotten. Now, most people didn't even call it a leap year and Violet seemed to be the only person who remembered the old meaning. To everyone else, a leap year was known as the 'Year of Death' or 'The Year of the Grim Reaper' because, throughout history, the scariest and most dangerous monster outbreaks from the Tower Of Ascension always happened during leap years. This pattern was something everyo

When the tower first selected someone to become a Ascender, they underwent a painful process which was popularly known as the 'First Awakening'.Originally, every human, animal and insect was endowed with three essential elements at birth, namely- the body, the soul, and the mana pathway.Upon their arrival into the world, each individual received a physical form, or body, which they soon learned to master.This early mastery of their physical form was crucial for their survival and interaction with their immediate environment, however, the time it took for various species to master their bodies varied greatly from species to species.Parallel to the physical network of veins and capillaries within the body, there also existed a metaphysical conduit known as the mana pathway or mana circuit.Unlike the visible circulatory system, this mana pathway was a metaphysical network, invisible to the naked eye yet essential for channeling the mystical energy known as mana which was essential to

[ 3…2….1…. Integration Complete, Strongest System is now online ]Rhys stared at the blue screen in front of his eyes in shock.If not for the screen, Rhys would have genuinely doubted if his conversation with Dreavon was even real? However, the system screen in front of him was the irrefutable proof that it indeed happened.[ Strongest System - Level 1.Features :-1 Guidance- The strongest system will provide the host with daily missions and quests to shape the hosts early foundation.2 Storage- The strongest system will provide the host with 1m3 of spatial storage that is accessible at will.3 Appraisal- The strongest system will help the host appraise the quality of items and weapons.4 Rewards- The strongest system will provide the host with various small and large rewards for successful completion of system missions which will further help the host grow.5 Live Health Status- The strongest system will alert the host should they be poisoned or suffer a life threatening injury.6 K

Rhys was moved to a new apartment within the Upside and was temporarily supposed to live in the guest room of Emma's house.Since most of his stuff was burnt when his old apartment exploded, Emma arranged a temporary closet of clothes and some other essentials for him as well as a chauffeur and an armed convoy of three bulletproof cars to take him to and from school.She also made a list of house rules that Rhys was supposed to follow and strict appointments where she would check in on his daily progress, as Emma turned this supervising a kid job into a proper corporate role.It was impressive that she managed to do so much while still managing the guild as Rhys began to realize why she was respected so highly within the Tigers guild even though she was not a Ascender.Another big event that took place was the official press release regarding Violet's kidnapping as although the guild tried to suppress the news, the abduction of the rising star was not something that they could conceal

[ System Notification:- Congratulations for completing all your tasks for the day, you have received one revitalization potion ]Rhys received a system notification and as soon as he read it, he felt a bottle magically appear in his hands."Woah!" Rhys felt shocked as he observed the bottle and it felt like a very real object that had a glass like texture from the outside and a thick jiggly liquid on the inside.Rhys did not understand the physics behind how an object could appear in his hands from seemingly nowhere, but he was too tired to think too deeply about it.At this point Rhys just accepted the fact that either he had gone insane and was seeing things that were not real, or that the system was an omnipotent force which transcended the rules that he understood.Opening the bottle cap with a satisfying *POP* Sound, Rhys took a whiff of the potion and tried to associate the smell with things that he knew.The potion gave a unique metallic smell that smelled like a mixture of bloo