210 years.
That was how long Ning stayed in Origin.
Collecting Aether for what was worth about 1800 normal years, he was finally getting close to unlocking the next energy for himself.
Ning who had lost his mind to the numbness of passing time finally got a sense of self back.
He had to look around and ask where he was.
"System, show status," he asked.
[Status
Name: Ning Ruogong
Energy: 995.8 Trillion
Separated Energy-
Heat Energy: 3.2 Trillion
Sound Energy: 4.6 Trillion
Qi Energy: 0
Kinetic Energy: 11 Trillion
Aether Energy: 977 Trillion
Skill: …]
"Damn, I'm so close," he thought.
Ning tried to move but his body was crusted from over 200 years of water and dirt gathering on him.
When he stood up, he felt a little unusual, like he didn't know how to walk.
Also, he could feel a lot of Aether inside his own body. "System, what rank did I reach now?" he asked.
He remembered being an Aether Overlord beforehand. Now, he should have improved quite a bit, right?
<Aether Divinity>
"Woah, that's the highest rank of Aether, isn't it?" Ning asked. Somehow he had not only ranked past Aether Archlord, but he had also gone past Aether Demi-God to straight Divinity.
'This was the power Alexis held,' he thought. That was what had given him such an intense pain back when he tried to read her rank.
'Now, I'm at the same rank as her,' he thought.
He couldn't help but wonder what Alexis could do with her rank if she wasn't forced to not bring harm to anyone.
"Anyway, I am about 5 Trillion away from unlocking the next energy. I will need to spend about half a year more here for that."
"Sigh, I don't want to stay here now that I've lost my concentration," he thought. "I will go mental if I do that."
Since he wasn't far away, he would earn the remaining energy while he left.
Now that he was about to leave, he wanted to go check on the other people before he did. However, he knew that if he did so, he couldn't help but want to stay.
So, he didn't want to do that.
After confirming with the system that they were all doing fine and that no one needed his help, Ning flew out of the Origin, and then out of the planet.
Ning had one destination now.
The Sun.
"Are you sure the Auto Breathing skill will help me survive in space?" Ning asked. "Won't the emptiness of space cause problems for me?"
<You do not have to worry>
The system tried to console him. Ning decided to trust it. As he entered the upper atmosphere, the air got thinner and thinner. Soon, his skill kicked in and oxygen was directly created in his lungs.
Usually, breathing only oxygen would be problematic for someone, but Ning didn't have to worry about that. Not only would his body heal itself from any problem he would suffer, but as an Energy, he also had a separate mind of his own that he could use to control his body.
Ning had wanted to change to something small and durable, but according to the system, any object that wasn't a living body would lose energy out in space.
So, Ning decided to stay with his own body.
As he went out of the atmosphere and into the sun. Just as he was getting high, Ning noticed intense heat on his body.
"What? I'm not even that far away from the planet," he said.
<Without the Ozone layer to protect you, you are taking on the full force of the sun.>
"Dammit, what should I do?" Ning thought to himself. "If this is going to be a constant in outer space, then I need to do something to protect myself."
"System, any suggestion? What do the other hosts do?" Ning asked.
<Majority of the hosts that travel through space use the Star Strengthening skill to use the radiation of the star to improve their own body instead.>
"Oh, what does that do exactly?" Ning asked.
<It uses part of the star's radiation to improve your body's strength. That way, it will be hard for your body to get destroyed when you get hit in outer space>
"Oh," Ning said. "How much does it cost?"
<for 1% Radiation absorption, it will cost you 5 Trillion Energy>
<For 2% Radiation absorption, it will cost you 15 Trillion Energy>
<For…>
"Alright stop," Ning said with a sigh. "Give me the 2% one."
<Understood>
Suddenly, the blisters that appeared and disappeared around his body started to fade a little. If Ning hadn't been paying attention, he wouldn't have noticed it.
"I should slowly get stronger now, right?" he thought to himself.
Then, he flew towards the sun. Ning flew at a constant speed, but the closer he got, the faster he went.
At some point, Ning slowly changed his angle and headed towards the edge of the sun. Instead of going directly into the sun, he went as close as he could without his body destroying itself.
Then, just like any other planet and comets, he started circling the sun. Since this was going to be a monotonous task, Ning ordered the system to take control if he was headed for imminent danger.
Then, the only thing he had to do was wait.
Ning didn't know how long passed, but it was surely years. At certain times, he would notice that his body was stronger and that it wouldn't take damage from the sun anymore, so he went a little closer and continued circulating.
Slowly, he was getting faster and faster.
Not only that, his body was getting stronger and stronger as well.
Once again, years passed until finally, Ning got a notification for himself.
<Congratulations, You have collected 1 Quadrillion Energy.>
<You can now unlock your next Energy>
"Unlock!" Ning said.
Ning felt all of his energy disappear, but he didn't care as he heard the next lines from the system.
<Congratulations, You have unlocked Electrical Energy>
<You can now absorb Electrical Energy>
Ning needed Electrical Energy to double the cap with his separate energy, and since he had 0 of it at the moment, he didn't have to worry about it at the moment.
Ning stayed a few more days there to collect some energy so that he wasn't completely out of energy.
"System!" he shouted. "How long until I get to the escape point?"
<3 more days>
Ning flew around the sun at an incredible speed for 3 more days until he reached the point of escape.
A vision overlapped Ning's eyes as a green path appeared for him to take.
When Ning reached that path, he suddenly increased his speed as fast as he could, so that he could reach a speed greater than the escape velocity of the sun from where he was.
Then, he slingshot himself out of the sun's gravity well.
The surrounding around him got colder and colder as Ning went further and further from the sun.
Then, he looked ahead of him, at the vast emptiness of space as a bit of fear crept into his heart, as well as the excitement about what was coming next.
He was now directly on his way to the closest planet that was inhabited.
[End of Volume 2]
