Sezel stood there, utterly speech less. His mind was blank.

Suddenly, the newly formed structure of the Spirit Channel began to glow. The shimmering, ethereal ribbon that stretched from his Spirit Core out beyond the jagged mountains pulsed with a thousand different colors, a cosmic river of impossible light flowing against the dark sky.

It was completely identical to the other one, the channel given to him by the purple-haired girl. But this one… this one was his own.

The vast, desolate plane of his Meridian became more vivid, the shadows receding as the new light pushed back the eternal darkness. The world within him felt brighter.

Sezel swallowed hard, his throat dry. This… This is terrifying. What exactly is my Fable?

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the breathtaking scene. But as he looked closer, he noticed a fundamental difference between the two channels.

The first one, the one from the girl, looked as if it were flowing towards his core, an external power forced upon him. This new one, however, originated from his core and reached out into the void.

I guess it's because that one was forced inside my Meridian.

He needed to check his card. That would tell him everything he needed to know.

He summoned it, and the majestic card materialized in his hand. Golden embroidery, was crafted over a silver base. A king sat on an invisible throne, a broken crown adorning his head, his face a blank sheet.

Sezel commanded it to show his stats, and the card shimmered, transforming into the familiar silver screen, words of golden light burning themselves into existence.

[Name - Sezel]

[Spirituality Rank - 1]

[Category - Legendary]

[Fable - Master of Death]

[Type - Gold]

Sezel's jaw clenched, a tremor running through him. It had truly increased. His Rank was 1. He was no longer a Rank-0, he no longer had a non existent Rank.

He touched the small arrow on the side of his Fable, and another menu opened beneath it.

[Fable - Master of Death]

[Tier - 1 - Rising]

[Evolution points - 5,500/10,000]

[Soul Shards - 20/100]

He was shocked beyond words. His eyes widened as he stared at the screen, his mind struggling to comprehend the impossible numbers.

What the hell? How did it go to 5,500? The last time I checked, I remember it was just 245.

He quickly did the calculation in his mind. I had 230 before my puppet killed the Rank-3 Flesh Reaper, so that's 245. Yesterday… yesterday I killed seventeen of the Rank-3s. At fifteen points each, that's… two hundred and fifty-five. That adds up to 500 total. Which means… I got 5,000 points from absorbing that Fable.

A slow and utterly dangerous smile lit up Sezel's face. So, if I were to just absorb one more Fable… I would achieve that impossibly high amount of points.

But the thought was a problem in itself. For that, Sezel would need to kill another human—or maybe not.

He still wasn't sure. The body he had just absorbed, the creature that had been their Lord, had looked human, but the black blood and the system's own contradictory classification left a lingering question.

I haven't killed a human yet, and that's why I have no means to confirm my suspicions. So, at the end of all this, everything is just speculation. I can't just go on like this forever.

He was here to find answers to the questions that had haunted him back on Earth. Thinking about it, a dry, bitter laugh escaped his lips. Answers, right. Leave answers be. I have only found more questions, and some impossible facts that I won't ever be able to explain.

He exhaled sharply, the weight of it all settling on his shoulders. It was time to leave his Spirit Meridian. But still, a part of him waited. He waited for her. The purple-haired girl. Something so drastic had just happened within his soul, and she didn't even bother to show up.

Sezel knew for a fact that she had the answers he wanted, or at least most of them. After all was said and done, she was the one who had made him into what he currently was.

He closed his eyes to his soul.

His eyes snapped open as he gasped for air, his lungs burning.

huff… huff…

"Oh god, you are finally awake." Vesta's voice, a sweet, welcoming intrusion, broke through the ringing in his ears.

The first thing he saw was her worried face, her ruby eyes soft with concern, looking down at him. And then he realized something else. Is my… is my head in her lap?

The thought screamed in his mind, and a hot, red hue bloomed on his cheeks. He immediately shot up, his movements clumsy and awkward.

Suddenly, Mari literally leapt on him and hugged him tightly, her small arms wrapped around his neck.

Her tears were warm on his cold shoulder. "Mister, what did you do this time?" her low, sweet voice broke between sobs.

Sezel was frozen for a second, his senses slowly, reluctantly, coming back to him. Surprisingly, his body felt refreshed, as if the pain, the agony, had never been there.

"I am…" Sezel started to speak, his voice a little hoarse. "I am totally fine," he spoke hesitantly. "My shoulder hurts a little."

Just as Mari heard the words, she immediately sprung back, a wide, relieved smile on her face.

"Welcome back. You are finally awake," Shiki greeted him. He was standing just to the side, his face playing a cheerful, easy smile.

"Thanks."

"What happened to you?" Vesta asked, standing up, her voice filled with a genuine concern.

Sezel's gaze lowered. What do I tell them? Did they see the open grave? His eyes widened with a dawning, panicked realization.

"I… guess I passed out from exhaustion," he hesitantly intoned.

A cold breeze sent shivers through his body. He looked down at himself. He was soaked from head to toe.

"You were passed out in the rain," Vesta told him. "Shiki went out to take a bath and saw you." She smiled, a rare thing to see. "It's good that you are safe—"

Suddenly, a sharp, violent explosion, tore through the silent, gentle pitter-patter of the rain.

Vesta stopped mid-sentence, her smile vanishing, her eyes wide with shock. Everyone startled, their brief moment of peace, of normalcy, shattered by the sudden blast.