Sezel's Spirit Core, the swirling, chaotic ball of black mass that was the heart of his power, was usually orbited by just two things: his card, the ethereal representation of his status, and the puppet's main core.

But this time, there was a new object, a third, strange thing orbiting his core: a ball of pure grey color.

Unlike the puppet's core, which swirled with a constant, chaotic energy, and his own core, which was a roiling, tempestuous vortex of darkness, the grey ball was still and completely inert.

As if sensing his presence, his curiosity, the grey ball flew towards him through the vast, empty expanse of his Spirit Meridian, and came to rest in his hands. It was perfectly round, its surface smooth and cold to the touch.

what is this thing? Sezel thought in his mind and suddenly a window appeared in front of him, it was the usual silver colored transparent information window.

[Dormant Fable - The Unmoving King]

Sezel's eyes widened after reading the name. It was the Fable he had just absorbed, the power of the creature he had just killed. "What does it mean by dormant?" he whispered.

He continued reading, his eyes scanning the words, his mind struggling to process the implications of what he was seeing.

[Dormant Fable - The Unmoving King]

[Type - Silver]

[Ability - The body is a fortress that distracts the self. A tongue can only speak one thought at a time. Eyes can be deceived. But the mind cannot. The wielder can project a perfectly tailored thought onto the victim's existing internal state. The victim doesn't feel any external command but experiences it as a sudden and overwhelming personal conviction.]

[The ability only works when the wielder is hidden from the direct sight of the victim.]

Figures.

Sezel read through the whole thing, and as he reached the end, he now fully understood how the man's ability worked. And the understanding sent chills down his spine.

It wasn't just simple mind control. It was more like thought and will control.

The fact that the victim would never even know that they were being controlled, that they would feel like what they were doing was their own personal need, their own conviction was terrifying.

I was beyond lucky this time, or i might just be dead soon. As he was saying that he remembered something. what happened after i absorbed it, and then i passed out because of the pain. Vesta and Mari would be worried.

He thought of completing his stroll here, his exploration of this strange power, and going back to the real world.

So, what can I even do with this dormant Fable? Is it just a decoration?

Reacting to his thoughts, another window opened before his eyes.

[Do you wish to Awaken the Dormant Fable?]

Sezel lingered on his thoughts for a moment. And then, he took the most obvious path.

"Yes."

[Awakening the Dormant Fable - The Unmoving King]

[-]

[-]

[-]

[Awakening of the Dormant Fable - Failed]

"What? Failed? But why?" Sezel looked at it, dazed, his mind reeling from the sudden disappointing outcome. "So now what? Is it useless now?"

No answer came. Everything dropped to a deadly, oppressive silence. There was not even wind here, in this strange, desolate world of his own soul.

Sezel sighed, a weary exhalation of frustration. So much hope, just for a failure.

Suddenly, another window appeared in front of him. This time, it was different from all the others. It was shimmering with multiple, vibrant colors. And the words etched within were a reality-shattering message.

[Do you wish to convert the Dormant Fable into a Spirit Channel?]

Sezel stared at the notification, dumbfounded, his mind struggling to process the statement. "A what now?"

What the words said made no sense at all. Convert the Fable into a Spirit Channel. Sezel was bewildered by the impossible audacity of the statement.

As far as I know, Spirit Channels are supposed to be rigid. They cannot change through the entirety of a Slayer's lifetime.

Spirit Channels were what determined the Rank of a Slayer upon awakening. They directly corresponded to the Spirituality Rank of a Slayer. And Sezel had zero Spirit Channels of his own. The one in the sky of his Meridian was a bond, a gift, given to him by the purple-haired girl.

This statement is betraying the very fundamentals of the system of the Spirit Realm. How can this even be possible?

It was absurd. But no matter how much he tried to deny it, no matter how much he tried to reason with himself, he couldn't. The screen, with its strange tempting words, was right there, in front of his mind. And inevitably, as curiosity flared he thought of nothing else but to try it. And responding to his inner will, the conversion began.

[Converting the Dormant Fable into a Spirit Channel-]

Suddenly, something stirred. No, his whole Spirit Meridian, the very fabric of his soul, stirred, as if it were reconstructing itself.

Then, the grey ball in front of him slowly, gradually, started increasing in size. Sezel stepped back, awestruck at the scene.

When the ball was half the size of his Spirit Core, it started breaking apart into motes of colorful light, a swirling, chaotic vortex. Those particles shimmered and swirled around his core, and then, with a sudden, violent surge, they started forming a shape, a ribbon-like structure that started from within the Spirit Core and then went beyond the mountains, deep into the nothingness, into the vast, empty expanse of his soul.

Everything became silent once more as all the motes of light had converged and formed the structure, a new addition to his inner landscape.

Sezel was frozen by the beauty of the event, and by the terror that he felt deep inside.

[New Spirit Channel attained]

[Congratulations. You have advanced to Rank 1.]

It was just a normal announcement in his mind, a simple, matter-of-fact statement. But it was the most impossible one at the same time. He had just increased his Rank. Something that should not be possible.

Contrary to that, contrary to all logic, all reason, all known facts of the Spirit Realm, Sezel had just advanced from Rank-0 to Rank-1.