DOTM: Chapter 603/604

Chapter 603: Big Changes

With Ethan's selections, most of the basic stats had been chosen.

Overall, it was not much different from his current appearance. It was still a somewhat mixed-race look, a handsomer version, with black hair and pupils. He could also adjust the final form of the mature body.

There was only one thing he was not satisfied with.

"Isn't this age too young?"

He could see the state of the mature form, and naturally, he could also see the current state of this body.

"Seven years old?"

Although much stronger than a baby, he could run and jump on his own. Aside from being short and having small limbs, it did not stop him from running around, but seven years old was still too young, making it inconvenient to operate in many worlds.

He had originally thought that no matter how young, he would at least be guaranteed to be in his awkward teenage years. He had not expected to be knocked all the way back to first grade.

Fortunately, there was a hint nearby: Pure energy can allow the body to develop rapidly.

Ethan turned his head to look at the largest sphere of energy light. This was the mana he had painstakingly cultivated over many years. Compared to the pure energy from the outside world, this mana would be much more beneficial to his body. However, using this energy, while making his body more perfect and allowing him to grow faster, would also require a significant amount of time to replenish the depleted mana.

Was it worth doing this?

He stood there, hesitating for only a moment. Seeing Diana and Ada standing outside, he suddenly realized that even if it was just for everyone's happiness, he had to do it.

Gritting his teeth and steeling his resolve, Ethan controlled his mana to approach the panel. As the energy connected with the panel, the mana, emitting brilliant light, continuously flowed into the panel before him.

Meanwhile, the image on the panel was undergoing obvious changes. The seven-year-old child in the current state was growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

To Ethan's surprise, not only was his body growing and developing, but even his basic attributes were improving. The infusion of a large amount of energy was shaping a more powerful divine body.

However, watching his mana gradually being depleted until there was almost nothing left, while his body's growth rate became slower and slower, Ethan began to fall into a dilemma.

Should he leave a little bit as a seed? Or should he just pour it all into his body and then slowly, slowly recover his mana later?

Looking at the body before him, which was only about ten years old, Ethan gritted his teeth and poured all the remaining mana into it.

With all the resources at hand fully injected, there were no more materials available to shape his body. Even the dragon blood crystal given by Merlin and the Titan Potion he had kept were already integrated. The magic circle for shaping the divine body began its next step.

The magical radiance became even more dazzling. There was no longer any panel for Ethan to watch. The massive energy continuously impacted his spiritual core, and he could clearly feel that his spiritual core seemed to have re-established a connection with his body and soul.

Subsequently, the slightly strange feeling of weakness from before vanished, replaced by an experience he had never felt. His mental energy was more active and abundant than ever before, and his body was filled with a sense of power. He now felt like he could kill a dragon with a casual wave of his hand.

Of course, with Ethan's extensive knowledge, he knew this was an illusion resulting from recovering from an extremely weakened state. Perhaps his power was not that strong... probably...

"There really isn't a single drop of mana left, huh?"

After regaining self-awareness, Ethan's first reaction was to check his condition. The first thing he discovered was his completely empty spiritual energy universe.

Saying it was empty was not quite right. Even if the power in his spiritual energy universe was completely exhausted, there would not be absolutely nothing left. But now, there was only a strange black spot left in his spiritual energy universe. He could feel that this black spot, which he did not know how to describe, contained the root of all his mana. Everything he had comprehended over so many years seemed to be gathered in this tiny black spot.

Aside from that, the surroundings were a void. Nothing existed.

But when Ethan tried to cast Magic, he found that the speed and smoothness of his casting were even better than when his mana was at its strongest.

"What's going on?"

He could barely feel himself mobilizing mana, yet a simple spell was cast with just a wave of his hand. A Mage Hand just floated around as he wished.

Furthermore, he found that after reshaping his body, the space-time orb on his left hand had also disappeared.

This did not mean he had lost the ability to travel between planes. Instead, this ability had become more akin to an instinct. He could initiate plane travel with just a thought.

As for physical strength, although he was currently in a child's state, his strength was not weak. And as his body grew, his physical fitness would continue to improve. He estimated that he would reach his previous peak level by the time he was thirteen or fourteen, and after that, his physical fitness would continue to rise with his body's development.

"Not bad."

After roughly checking his condition, Ethan opened his eyes again. Only then did he notice a large group of people standing there, looking like they wanted to laugh but were trying hard not to.

"What's wrong with you guys?"

"While we understand your eagerness to show off your divine body, and you look very cute and pretty right now... I still think it would be better if you put on some pants before talking to us."

The magic circle had long since disappeared. Without the obscuring magical radiance, Ethan, reborn with a new body, stood there completely exposed, being intensely observed by a large group of people.

And although Logan said that, he was actually quite happy watching Ethan's embarrassment.

Only the good child Leah covered her eyes with her hands out of embarrassment, but the gaps between her fingers were so wide, you could see her big, curious eyes, hey.

Ethan lowered his head to look at his current state. Because his powerful body could withstand hotter or colder temperatures, the temperature was mostly comfortable and pleasant for him, which made him completely overlook this situation.

Just as he was about to take out a set of clothes from his storage space, as his body reshaping was completed, his personal space also recovered, and nothing inside was lost.

Just before he reached out to take them out, he suddenly thought of the Magic he had been researching. With a thought, without needing to make any extra movements or utter any spells, a very ordinary pair of jeans appeared out of thin air on Ethan's body, and they were the perfect size.

Just as he was about to move around a bit, Ethan suddenly realized he had done something foolish and immediately rectified it. After adding another layer, he moved around normally and also tugged at the pants he had just created with his hands.

"There's absolutely no difference from ordinary jeans."

Moreover, once formed, it did not require him to continuously provide energy to maintain it. The goal he had always wanted to achieve was completed so inexplicably, which made Ethan feel a bit depressed for some reason.

His strength had increased, but he had no idea how. He now had too many questions about his situation and needed to study it thoroughly for a while.

With another thought, he changed into a T-shirt and sneakers. At the same time, he made some adjustments to his jeans. They became three-quarter length, and the legs became much wider and lighter, making the attire more suitable for the island environment.

"Oh, you're so cute!"

Just as he finished getting dressed, Diana had already walked up to him and was constantly rubbing his face with her hands.

"Di-a-na!"

When Diana let go, Ethan gently rubbed his cheek. That woman had not held back at all, his face was rubbed completely red. This was clearly revenge.

He turned his head and saw that several people seemed to want to come over and rub his face. Ethan decisively stepped back a bit, putting distance between himself and the crowd, then he gently floated into the air, maintaining eye level with everyone.

"Ahem, although the body reshaping is complete and the aging problem has been solved, I still need some time to rest and figure out the specifics of this body. After all, the changes are quite significant."

The joke was over, and she had gotten a little bit of her frustration out. Diana was still very concerned about Ethan's condition, so she immediately asked if there were any residual hidden dangers.

"There are no hidden dangers, but there are many changes in my spiritual energy universe and this body's power. I need some time to get used to them."

Especially the spiritual energy universe that had turned into a void with only a black spot. There was not a single bit of mana in it, so where did the mana come from when he cast spells?

If he did not figure these things out, he would not be in the mood to jump around to other worlds. Because if he did not figure it out, when he actually encountered trouble, he would not know what he could or could not do. How much strength could he exert? Which spells could he use and which could he not?

"I need to figure these things out first."

He could not wait until he encountered big trouble or a strong enemy, and only realize during the life-or-death battle, "Ah, so I cannot cast this Magic now!" or "Ah, so I only have this much mana now!"

And then be killed directly by the opponent as an idiot. That would be too tragic.

"It just so happens that I will be with you during this time. I can also help you test the various qualities of this body."

Diana's eyes sparkled when she said this. Ethan suddenly remembered the days when he sparred with Diana on Paradise Island.

It seemed Diana missed those days, just the two of them, able to do what they loved most without being disturbed. It was precisely because of the time they spent together during that period that Diana became close to him, resulting in her not being reserved around him no matter what she did.

Looking back, he... had been a bit too slow-witted back then...

(To be continued.)

Chapter 604: Slowly Adapting to the Divine Body

Artemis continued its voyage through the void of the universe, approaching the next star system.

After the initial wonder and collecting a large amount of data, Bruce Banner's life returned to normal. Like Logan, he built a wooden house on the island with his own hands. After Ethan helped him perfectly integrate the Hulk's power, even without transforming, Bruce's physical condition was stronger than that of an ordinary person.

Plus, there were quite a few idle people on the ship, and anyone who lent a hand could solve the small troubles Bruce encountered while building his house.

Compared to Logan, who chose a spot near the forest deeper inside the island, Bruce chose a spot between the forest and the beach. It was not too far from the wooden house connecting the island to Artemis. In fact, you could easily see Bruce's wooden house from that connecting house.

Ethan also built a wooden house, but compared to others, he chose a rather special location.

He built a wooden house on a flat area he had long favored on the upper part of the mountain. Behind this wooden house was an open-air hot spring, with a temperature even higher than other hot springs on the mountain. However, for Ethan and Diana, this level of heat was nothing.

With this new divine body, and after his mana underwent some inexplicable changes, building a wooden house became easier for Ethan than for others. He simply stood there and gently raised his hands, and several thick trees grew out from under the deep snow, then slowly deformed, twisted, and combined into the wooden house he had envisioned.

After transforming into a wooden house, the original lush green leaves on the trees slowly disappeared, and the walls and other surfaces looked like wood that had been polished and treated by a first-class carpenter, in no way resembling something that had simply grown out.

"What kind of magic is this?"

When Ethan was building his wooden house, there were quite a few onlookers. Several people on the ship who were studying magic came to watch, and even Scáthach, who was also learning new magic, came to observe and learn.

"Making trees grow rapidly seems to be Druidic nature magic?" To everyone's surprise, the first to notice something was not the crew members studying magic, nor was it Scáthach, a top master of Rune Magecraft, but Ada, the super spy focused on stealth and reconnaissance. "The latter part looks a bit like Arcane magic shaping. I do not understand the final method that stabilized its form."

Ethan knew that Ada had carefully studied all the different power systems he had collected. Regardless of which one she herself practiced, her understanding of various types of knowledge was among the best of everyone.

Taking advantage of this continuous casting, Ethan finally understood where the energy for his magic came from. That energy existed within his body. Now, his situation was somewhat similar to Diana's back then. A powerful body contained vast energy, which could be used as stamina or to cast spells.

After observing for a while and comparing it with the power Diana possessed, Ethan was certain that this energy spread throughout his body was divine power.

Once he confirmed this, he knew what to do. Just like Diana did back then, he would practice diligently, constantly familiarizing himself with this energy and completely mastering it.

He also took some time to try and condense mana again. Even with divine power, it did not mean his mana was useless. After all, his spiritual universe still had significant room for improvement and was even related to his future.

However, no matter whether he introduced external energy or guided the divine power from his body into his spiritual universe, the final result was always absorption and devour by that strange black spot, and then the entire spiritual space continued to remain in a state of void.

"How strange, but this situation... could it be the Big Bang?"

He had once considered creating a spiritual universe directly like the Big Bang, but at the time, he felt the risk was too great and chose the more stable method of expanding it little by little.

Unexpectedly, he had stumbled onto this path again by chance. However, this time, he did not feel anything was amiss.

Previously, he worried that his body could not withstand such a Big Bang, but after reshaping his divine body and even strengthening his soul, he vaguely felt that this was the most suitable path.

Moreover, not only did he feel no danger in his heart, he even had a premonition that when the spiritual universe took shape, combined with the already mature divine body, that would be the true result of this enhancement.

"The road ahead seems to have become clearer."

Knowing which way to go, Ethan began to clear his mind and diligently adapt to this new body. Strength, speed, and so on were all a bit weaker than before, but those were not the most troublesome issues.

What truly made him uncomfortable was the huge change in height and arm length. The change was so significant that he could not adapt in a short period. He would often charge forward head-on, only to be taken down by Diana with a smiling move.

As Ethan's daily life became monotonous training and showing affection with Diana, the onlookers also dispersed.

Previously, everyone was crowded on the ship with not much to do, so they were quite bored and would watch any excitement until they were sick of it. Now, Artemis had established a passage to the Starship Troopers world, allowing free travel back and forth via the teleportation device.

Coupled with Annette's Cherry Military Industries getting on track, there were many things to do if they felt bored.

Even O'Connell and others who did not like desk jobs and preferred fighting had a playground to pass the time. The Starship Troopers world had countless bugs they could kill to their heart's content.

Furthermore, the Starship Troopers world had a complete and relatively peaceful Earth where they could relax, so everyone would go there to wander around when they were bored or felt stifled.

Based on this, Ethan was considering binding the Marvel Universe to Artemis's teleportation device as well. Once bound, the time flow between the two worlds would basically remain consistent, but that was already irrelevant.

Speaking of this, after receiving Ethan's all clear message, Tony Stark strongly requested that Ethan complete the teleportation device connection between the two worlds as soon as possible, so that he could actively come to find Ethan in the future, instead of having to wait for Ethan to come to him every time.

"You know, I am more proactive."

"... "

"Also, can your teleportation device go to other worlds? I mentioned wanting to meet Oliver Queen last time, have you forgotten?"

"Didn't forget, didn't forget. I will take you when I have recovered enough."

"Let me see you before you recover. I am very curious about what you look like now."

"Click~ Beep beep beep beep..."

"This is not a phone!"

...

Wandering around the island with Diana, returning to the wooden house on the mountain top at night to rest, and setting aside enough time each day for sparring, unilaterally getting beaten up by Diana.

Getting beaten up was not the most frustrating thing for Ethan. The main issue was that Diana would use grappling techniques to control him. With short arms and legs and being at a disadvantage in strength, once Ethan was caught, there was basically no possibility of breaking free, and then he would be subjected to Diana's various forms of torture.

After the routine combat practice, Ethan would set aside a period of time specifically to teach Leah. This was his responsibility as a teacher.

Although he currently looked about the same age as Leah, putting on a teacher's demeanor felt a bit awkward, but good little Leah would not complain about her teacher.

Even more awkward was that every time he lectured, a purple-haired woman whose age was unknown, yet always maintained a girlish posture, sat beside them.

"Teacher, is your head okay?"

"It is fine."

Pulling out the red spearhead, Ethan continued to explain various magic knowledge and theories to Leah. These things were something Leah would not be able to use in the short term, but her talent was very good. Even if she did not understand them in the short term, she could firmly remember them and honestly cultivate according to the methods Ethan instructed. When her strength steadily improved, she would find that the things she did not understand before suddenly became clear.

So Leah had also gotten used to this way of teaching, but Scáthach on the side found it a bit difficult to follow. The magic knowledge Ethan possessed was too different from what she had mastered before. Even with some knowledge taught by Merlin as a buffer, she could not immediately understand everything Ethan was teaching.

However, Scáthach's talent was equally formidable. Otherwise, she would not have been able to kill her way from a human to a demigod. Even in this state of partial understanding and severe lack of foundation, she still learned many things and integrated them into her own knowledge system.

For her, the biggest gain was severing her magic system from the Root of the Type-Moon world, making it a separate magic system.

Although this system was not yet mature and required a long time to slowly perfect, being able to take the first step meant the road ahead was very clear. She just needed to walk it resolutely.

"So..."

"So... you are not planning to go back?"

Ethan's body gradually stabilized. Although he was still in the appearance of a child, he should go back and say hello to Illya, and also send Scáthach back.

"It is very interesting here. Why go back to that place where there is nothing?" Scáthach suddenly stood up and walked over to Ethan, then leaned down and said in a particularly suggestive voice, "If you think it is necessary, I can pay you a satisfactory reward~"

Ethan swallowed, his ears tickled by the scent, and then he saw Scáthach straighten up with a serious expression.

"Rune Magecraft unrestricted by the Root, and the Land of Shadows."

(To be continued.)