Chapter 2006 - Regressive Breakthrough "Gasp!" A loud gasp came out of my mouth as I looked at my sword; it had completely changed. From earlier crystalline, it went metallic, and it looked amazing. It is still a greatsword with similar dimensions, but now it had a metallic blade on which beautiful silvery patterns. The guard, grip, and pommel, on the other hand, are entirely vibrant green in color; the grip and pommel are simple with no design, but in the center of the rain guard had the circular emblem of abomination, in a dark grey color. The design of abomination has become even more realistic; if one looked at the design for more than a second, they would see the abomination in front of them with hundreds of tentacles with thousands of mouths and eyes on them. I took a good look at my sword before taking it in my hands and immediately felt the heaviness of it; it had become even heavier, but it was something I could bear with my strength. The sword felt comfortable in my hand and felt very familiar; there is no uncomfortableness one might expect with the new designs. There are no changes in the number of enchantments, but the three enchantments have changed greatly. I could not do many things with them that I was not able to do before. The swords defenses have also increased; it would not let the hostile energies pass as easily as it was before. I am happy with the new development of my sword, and with time, it will become even more powerful. I could feel the way the energies of the core interacted with it, and if it remained here for a long time, it would have many positive changes. I played with my sword for a while before I looked at the mysterious shield which is still inside the lake. The refined mold of my sword had healed all its cracks and dents, but the shield is a long way from recovering; its aura is still weak and would need quite a time before it could be used. Rumble Rumble Rumble I was looking around my core when suddenly, I felt the ruble. The earth shook, and the sea raged before I was thrown out of my core. I looked at my core from outside and saw hundred runic chains coming out of it. The runic chains held different colors, but the one that occupies the most is pink; it is had occupied more than 50% runes color spectrum. "Finally!" I said after seeing the runic chains coming out of the core; they have finally come out, and now, I could have the breakthrough I had waited for so long. It took a few seconds for the runes to spread into every corner of my body and soul. They are reached every corner, and their density is far greater than my old runes, a little more than seven times greater, which is a lot. BUZZ! My runes buzzed, and they buzzed like they were thunder and released the energy, which is unlike any energy I had experienced before. It is multicolored with having a pink majority of it and is thick like a liquid, but it not and begin to seep into the deepest corner of me that even curse had not able to reach. It is also rapidly beginning to mend my consciousness and heal the soul that is giving me quite a pain. Feeling the pain rapidly decreasing, I couldn't help but be relieved. As I absorbed the energy, the changes began to appear in my aura, but these changes were opposite to what one might expect. My aura, instead of increasing, began to decrease slowly. I had an aura of Peak Elite, but now it is slowly regressing; seeing that big bright smile couldn't help but appear on my face. It is happening; the Inheritance is working as I had designed it to be. With all these changes happening to my core, I thought it might now work at all, but it is working all aright and better than I had expected. I am feeling so ecstatic that I had never felt in my life about any of my breakthroughs; it is truly amazing. "A Regress!" Marla muttered, seeing the aura of Micheal regressing. Her face looked like she had a big smelly fly. A regress is a rare phenomenon, but it happened; in it, one level up but one's strength instead of increasing, it decreases. The regress not only affects the strength but also the potential of one; this is why it is also called a 'slow poison,' and many people go mad and even commit suicide due to extreme depression, as most people who suffered under it are talented powerhouses who could not take this heavy blow. "Look at his expressions; he seemed to have gone mad knowing he is regressing," Marla said and as she looked at Micheal, who had a beaming smile on his face which was getting brighter by a second. "Seeing that radiant light, I thought he had survived the biggest danger but fell into an even bigger one which will slowly eat him alive," Old Finn said as he looked at Micheal with sadness. Sad to see their brightest star regressing and also sad for the Academy, they have lost their precious gem and hope to take their Academy to the height it was three thousand years ago. It seemed like fate really did not want their Academy to shine again. "I hope you will have a heart strong enough to bear the slow poison," He added with a sigh. He had seen many talented people suffering the regress in his lifetime, and some of the decisions they took were not only harmful to themselves but for their world itself. They are the perfect targets for the Grimm Monsters to poach, seeing their willpower collapse, and they are at their weakest.. The Pyramid always keeps an eye on these people, sometimes even finishing them off if it suspects they have betrayed the race or going to.