Novus opened his eyes, finding his body in the same exact position before he left for the Evolution Domain, but this time, he felt completely different than before.

Other than the excruciating pain of death hitting his body all at once forcing his entire face to reddens, on the verge of breaking into a cry, there are also other things that made his mind surging with excitement, allowing him to press down on the cry-inducing pain that could’ve made a grown man shed tears.

For one, it feels a bit clearer to him than before, the flow of mana within his surroundings something that he had always sensed barely despite his lack of talent for orthodox magic; this time, what surrounds him feels more familiar, more intimate than before.

It was like an adopted pet gradually opening up to its new owner; the wariness is still there, but it is beginning to grow closer with said owner.

His senses are sharper than before, to the point that he can feel the things happening outside the moment that he opened the windows of his room, the blades of grass within his own surroundings, the numbers of small insects, ants, butterflies, and all sorts of other creatures roaming around, the flow of air in the night, as well as the faint warmth of the gentle moonlight.

Despite still being overwhelmed by the information rushing towards his head as he expands his senses, he can still see it all too clearly, and just a little bit more bearable than it was before.

"Guess all those hardships paid off..." with the corner of his lips still twitching from the pain, he muttered those words to no one but himself in particular, letting the cool night wind blow his skin and soothe the pain he is feeling from all across his body, this process lasting for a good, long while before he finally recovered enough to brush off the remaining pain.

Walking back and sitting on his bed once again, he keeps the windows open to enjoy the feeling of sensing everything in nature, dialing down the range of Sensory Expansion so that he can keep it for longer, treating it as a little practice for him to improve bit by bit.

"Let’s see what you got for me..." he then said as he willed the system’s screen to open up, the first thing he noticed being the one thing that is among the biggest surprises that he will have in this harvest, albeit being the smallest of those.

[Novus Helion van Argenta]

[Combat Rating: E Tier (Stats are still at the F+ Tier) Mage(?)]

[Talent: True Immortal Blood (EX-Rank Growth-type Innate Talent)]

[Current Evolution Domain Location: Verdant Expanse (1-star danger level)]

[Immortal Energy: 200/200]

[Strength: 100]

[Agility: 100]

[Vitality: 100]

[Arcane: 100]

[Harmony: 100]

[True Immortal Blood (EX-Rank Growth-type Innate Talent)] 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

[Growth Progress: 0.3% (99.7% before Talent Rank Up)]

[Mastery: Entry-level (51.99%)]

"The mastery..." The shock in his face only makes sense, after all, during his two consecutive times of entry inside the Evolution Domain, the mastery of his talent barely improves, spending a lot of time just so he can raise his mastery by a little bit more than ten percent, then his duel with Medea raises it the highest within the shortest amount of time.

If one were to look at it that way, perhaps it only made sense that the young man’s mastery over his talent increased all that much.

After all, the kind of suffering he had gone through to resist the Beast Wave inside the Evolution Domain, as well as the level of control he reached during those final moments, is more than enough to warrant such a result.

’Right... that... can I do that now?’ thinking of how he influenced the level of regeneration his body has whenever it sustained damage, Novus wondered whether he would be able to replicate the same thing he did in his last moments inside the Evolution Domain, the idea prompting him to stand up again as he walked near the cooking area of his room.

Blood flowed as if without hesitation, he slashed his palm to create an open wound, then, without taking a stop, as he let it flow down the sink, he slashed once again, this time, opening a deep wound on his forearms.

No sane person watching himself bleed would’ve stayed as calm as he did, just staring at the wound, intently, watching as his talent gradually kicks in to regenerate the damage he had dealt upon himself.

’Forearm... forearm... forearm...’ wondering how he can control it, he resorted to the only thing he could think of, that is, repeatedly thinking of his wounded forearm while doing his best not to pay attention to his bleeding palm.

And with that simple method, he noticed it, the shallower palm wound that should’ve healed much faster than the deep gash on his forearm started slowing its healing down, all while the regeneration of his forearm accelerated, completely recovering way before the palm wound.

The moment his forearm’s gash closes, he then focuses his attention on the wound at his palm, the healing accelerating as well and closing the damage in no time at all, the two wounds closing, allowing him to confirm that all those things he experienced during that muddled period are not his imagination at all.

"This... haha... hahaha!!" realizing the implication of this, he couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud, his mind already thinking of the numerous applications this will bring, making him look forward to his next entry to the Evolution Domain even more.

"Come to think of it, the domain..." Before he could even finish his words, he saw the system notification pop up in front of him, causing him to frown in a bit of disappointment despite understanding why the current restriction to entry lasted so much longer than his previous deaths.

[Detected debilitating damage that will render the system user’s existence within the Evolution Domain pointless. Forced ejection executed.]

[Bodily regeneration is currently in progress (0.01 %). Estimated completion time: 6 days, 22 hours.]

[Access to the Evolution Domain currently denied.]

’Tsk... I’ll beat up some slime to relieve frustration once I return...’ he entertained those thoughts as he comforted himself, knowing that at least, now that he has his mind off the Evolution Domain, he can focus more on improving his foundations, his stats, as well as put more attention to the secret exam that is happening in less than three days’ time.

And to further relieve himself of the little foul and frustrated mood from being restricted entry for this long for the first time, he then proceeds to open the notifications running through his mind during his survival against the Slime Beast Wave, numerous notifications flashing in front of him as screen after screen piles up, making him feel overwhelmed.

"This..." he cannot even form a complete, coherent thought in his mind as he takes a good, long look at the several notifications in front of him, the slight frustration due to his long break from entering the Evolution Domain now replaced with excitement as he scours through all the resources that he had acquired from his long, brutal yet nonetheless rewarding hunt.