Seraph felt- no, William felt… Like he had been asleep for a long time.
Living in a dream where he fought two-legged fish and monstrous, three-tailed aliens beast in a strange fantasy world.
He remembered having wings, glowing with impossible power. Meeting a pair of twin witches in the dark prison. And three young girls, sacrificed lambs, who had anchored his identity in that world with blind innocent but unwavering faith.
It all felt... Vivid. Too vivid for a dream.
And yet… Was it?
Was it just a dream, or something more?
He didn't know.
All he knew was that in that dream, there was also a nightmare.
William could feel himself tearing apart, pulled in too many directions, torn between multiple identities.
There is… William… But… which 'William' is it???
'William' felt confused for a second, but then he remembered.
"Ah right…"
This was the Earth William. The one who always drowns in novel-like stories. Someone that always wanted to have mystical power to change the world. Someone whose surname… He doesn't remember anymore.
Then, there is William… Deathwill? A name that sounded absurd in the old world, but somehow just fit perfectly in the new one. Someone that… Somehow just felt like the perfect vision of the Earth William if he goes to a fantasy world…
"Are they different??" A voice asked. Familiar-sounding, but distant, like an echo of someone he'd once known, or maybe... someone he would know.
'William' shook his head.
He is not sure. But he continued the story anyway, answering the familiar voices.
Later on, he sort of gained another 'Self'...
This one called himself 'Seraph' or what his full title is: "The Seraphim of End…"
A name he chose to survive in that world.
'William' doesn't remember it clearly… But…
Seraph was born by the fusion of two 'William' and another being memories… Or is it 'will'?
"What being is it?" Another voice asked, this one sharper, more arrogant and condescending.
Seraph tells them he doesn't remember… He only knows that by becoming something closer to that being, that he can survive…
"Why?" 'William' asked.
"That time…" Seraph answered slowly…
"Seraph is weak… Anybody in that island can fight him… They can kill him given enough reason."
And he doesn't want to die… His adventurous journey has just begun… The Sea… He wanted to explore it. To see the wonder of the new world with his own eyes.
And then, with the help of…
…
??
Of… something?? There is something that helped him…
He can't remember…
But, in the end… Seraph survived the ritual…
And 'We' all become… 'Seraph'.
The Seraphim… Of End…
…
…
…
After a long silence.
"Now you should go, your story has come to an End," Said the first William, his voice soft but resolute.
He was a quiet soul from Earth who dreamed of other worlds but never touched them. There was no anger in his tone, only a gentle firmness, like someone closing a book they had read too many times.
The arrogant voice didn't budge. It lingered, sneering in the shadows of their shared consciousness, still clinging to its place like mold behind old stone. But it said nothing.
Then, the second spoke, William Deathwill. His tone was colder, more detached, like the weight of decisions made on battlefields and inside broken lovers.
"Leave," He said, "You're not needed anymore."
Still, the arrogant presence remained.
Until Seraph stepped forward.
He didn't speak immediately. He didn't have to. His presence filled the space between the others like gravity pulling the stars back into alignment. He was the culmination of all the voices, of all the lives and selves that had struggled, fought, and fractured.
He was Seraph.
The strongest of them.
The final form.
He stepped toward the echo of the arrogant will, and there was no malice in his eyes, only judgment.
"You don't belong here," Seraph said, his voice calm and unwavering, "You never did."
The presence flickered, recoiled. Still proud, and sneering, but the cracks had started to form. The force pressing against it was no longer just disagreement, it was unity. The Dreamer, The Ideal, and The Survivor had become one.
A complete self.
"You think this is the end?" The voice spat, defiant even in its disintegration, "You're not ready. You're still too small."
Seraph didn't respond. Neither did the other two. They didn't need to.
Their silence was the answer.
The arrogant will twisted, snarled, and finally began to unravel. It broke apart, piece by piece, not in a scream but in a sigh, like something that had never truly been whole to begin with. As it dissolved, it left behind only one final whisper, bitter and cold.
"I will be waiting... At The End."
Then it was gone.
The space it had occupied collapsed into stillness.
But it was not empty.
It was whole.
The storm of identity had passed. And for the first time, there were no competing voices, no splintered thoughts. Only Seraph and his other two self remained, fully awake, fully aware.
Not three beings in conflict.
But as one man who had chosen his name and remained true to his identity.
And in that stillness, Seraph and William's felt the shape of who he was settle into place like a blade sliding into its sheath.
He was not a shadow of something else. Not a puppet built from fragments.
He was William.
He was Deathwill.
He was also Seraph.
They Are, The Seraphim of End.
And now, at last, he could finally open his eyes.
....
On the shore, now quiet after the carnage, William woke up.
He felt as if he had just emerged from a long dream, something distant yet heavy, something he could almost grasp but not hold. Whatever it was, it had felt important. Like recovering a piece of himself he hadn't realized was missing.
But now… It is gone again.
He lay still for a while, the sand clinging to his skin, the sea breeze still carrying the iron-scented air of drying blood. He stared at the stars overhead, unsure if he was breathing or merely remembering how to.
Eventually, he sat up.
His body ached, but it held together, somehow.
His gaze drifted over the shore, littered with broken remains of Galuga beasts. It was hard to tell where the battle had ended and where the coastline began.
He blinked, slowly.
Something was wrong with his vision.
"Weird," He said.
His right eye saw the world as it should be, gray sand, black ichor, silver moonlight, everything is normal, in order of how things should be.
But his left eye... It was different.
A world of layered color bled into everything. Aura trails, residual of spiritual power, spirit echoes, flickers of light and memory still clinging to the dead. The world looked like a canvas gone mad, brushstrokes of power swirling through the night.
William raised a hand and covered his left eye.
It dulled the world back to silence.
He stayed like that for a moment, fingers pressed over the strange vision, as if holding back more than just color. As if sealing something inside.
His left eye had changed during the battle. Somewhere in the madness, while consumed by wrath and Mystic, it had twisted, mutated into something that saw too much. A beast's eye, a divine eye, a curse... Or maybe all three.
He remembered it, the world was red, soaked in blood and fury. The way his body had moved on instinct. The way everything had been a target. The way he had laughed.
He remembered everything, the wrath, the hunger.
And in the end…
What happened?
…
…
Oh right.
With the last bit of his Mystic power, he cleaved that sneaky Warlord into two.
"Good," He said, smiling softly in confirmation.
He glanced down at his chest. The wound was gone, or rather, sealed. The System has healed the hole. Enough to keep him alive. William still felt the weakness over his body, but it already was better than the hunger he felt before.
His clothes were ruined, burned, torn, crusted with sand and dried ichor. He was effectively naked on the shore, his body slick with blood and exhaustion. His wings, though battered, were still intact, hanging heavy behind him. He flexed them once, then let them fall again.
And… His body had returned to its normal form. Slim, human-shaped and familiar.
His gaze drifted upward to the moon.
It was still full.
Still silver.
And definitely, still watching.
.........…..
[System Notification]
Night Of Challenge Has Ended.
Exceptional Players Already Receive Their Reward.
System Update:
New Ranking System Has Been Added The Second Night Of Challenge Will Start At The End Of The Week Daily News Has Been Updated Trade Channel And System Shop Has Been Opened Player Forum Has Been Created
Player Rank:
1. Seraph: High Difficulties Challenge Cleared.
Bonus Given For Unassisted Clear: 200 Spiritual Point(Sp).
Bonus Given For Killing All Enemies: 200 Sp.
Bonus Given For Outstanding Performance: 100 Sp + Healing Pulse.
Total Spiritual Point: 7300 Sp.
Calculation:
Each Slayed Level One Extraordinary Creature = 10 Sp Each Single-Lined Class = 10 Sp Each Double-Lined Class = 100 Sp Each Triple-Lined Class = 1000 Sp Level Two Extraordinary = 100 Sp
2. Red Knight: High Difficulties Cleared.
No Bonus Given For Assisted Clear.
Bonus Given For Killing All Enemies: 200 Sp.
Bonus Given For Outstanding Performance: 100 Sp + Healing Pulse.
Total Spiritual Point: 6600
Note: Assisted Killing Only Give Half The Reward
23. SargoTheCaptain: High Difficulties Cleared.
Total Spiritual Point: 5500
34. …
45. SaltyNavigator: Medium Difficulties Cleared.
Total Spiritual Point: 4700
46. …
57. Zealot Mackerel: Medium Difficulties Cleared.
Total Spiritual Point: 4200
68. …
79. …
100. GhostStep: Low Difficulties Cleared.
Total Sp: 3910
…
[Daily News]
At least Three Thousand Players Have Fallen. Pray For Them, Earth Chosen. A New Mythical Being Has Been Born. Silver Moon Are Shining, The Spirituality Are Active. The Chances Of Encountering Random Events Are Higher. The Archipelago Still Searching For The Whereabouts Of The Sea King. The Moon is Watching…
…
Back to William.
The first thing he did after regaining full control over his body was simple: cleansing himself.
The salty wind, the dried ichor crusted to his skin, and the ache of too many unhealed wounds, all of it reminded him that although he had won, he hadn't come through untouched.
His body was battered. Scabbed in many parts. Stained with blood that was both his and not.
And yet... He smiled faintly.
Because, for the first time in a long while, it felt like this was truly his body.
Not a vessel for someone else.
Not a cocoon wrapping around something broken.
But his own.
While kneeling by the tide and letting the cold seawater wash over him, William opened his [System Menu].
The glowing blue interface unfolded in front of his eyes.
And he froze for a second.
"That's... a lot of updates," He muttered.
He scrolled through, seeing pages of changes he had missed while unconscious, rewards, announcements, new functions, and a growing list of players ranked beneath the new system.
Curious, William opened the System Shop.
Then rows upon rows of extraordinary items flickered into view, categorized under strange symbols and unfamiliar names. After browsing it for several minutes, William had a primary understanding about the System shop.
Basically, anything you can think of is in it, but there are clear limitations. Like the weapon in the shop, the highest grade is only at Rare level, and if he wants he can buy it with the equipment coupon from his reward earlier. Or using at least 1000 sp to buy one.
William doesn't know why there are limitations like that, maybe the System will only give you the initial investment and need you to grow stronger yourself.
He ignored it for now.
Remembering the state of his body, William then searched for something to heal him.
He typed in a search: [Health Potion].
Immediately, several options appeared.
The first was a Low-Level Health Potion, priced at 50 Spiritual Points (Sp). It was labeled as only capable of healing surface wounds. Worse still, it couldn't even be consumed, it had to be poured directly onto the injury. Crude way but functional.
Scrolling down, he found the Advanced Health Potion, priced at 150Sp. This one could be drunk, and it promised full healing for all but the most fatal wounds. Its description glowed faintly with recommendation marks.
Farther down, there was a High-Level Health Potion for five hundred Sp, potent enough to treat even fatal injuries and critical internal damage.
But William hesitated.
The advanced potion already seemed good enough for now. He wasn't sure how rare or valuable Spiritual Points would be in the future. Even with that grand-looking number of [7450 Sp] sitting quietly at the top of his vision, he knew better than to spend recklessly.
'Wait. 7450 sp?'
William frowned slightly. He remembered the last notification tallying his points at 7300.
Curious, he scrolled back through the system logs. Eventually, he found it.
[Quest Completed: Survive The Nights 3x]
Reward: +150 Sp
"Hmm."
So even the survival quests gave Spiritual Points. The amount was meager compared to the [Prove Yourself Quest], but still, it added up. And this should give all players with some initial funds.
Satisfied, he purchased one Advanced Health Potion.
The vial materialized into his inventory with a soft pulse of light.
Without hesitation, William pulled it out and drank it.
Coolness rushed down his throat, spreading through his battered body like flowing silk.
He felt his cells respond instantly, tiny threads of pain weaving back together, mending the hidden wounds from his brutal battle. His stamina ticked up slightly too, but only slightly. The exhaustion weighing down his limbs didn't vanish. It dulled, but still remained.
He felt one potion wasn't enough to heal himself fully. So he bought another.
The second surge of healing was weaker, layering on top of the first like a fresh coat of paint over cracked walls, but it still helped. His battered muscles ache less. His fractured aura stabilized a little more.
Clenching his fist, William understands buying another will be a waste, so rather than buying another one, he then goes to the clothes section.
He was still naked on the shore water now, and he definitely doesn't want other people seeing him like this and thinking him some kind of pervert. Even if that chance is small.
Then regarding the clothes, he picked a durable, reinforced, but adjustable set. Designed with slits for wings and enhanced with resistance to water, tearing, and environmental damage. It cost him 500 Sp, but it was better than constantly destroying normal clothes every time he shifted forms.
The shape is not bad either.
The design was clean, dark, and practical. Something a lone hunter would wear in the night.
After cleaning himself in the tide, dressing, and confirming his gear, William turned back toward the corpses littering the shore.
Time to loot.
He moved systematically, wrapping his hand with a small flicker of aura, to protect against the lingering blood and spirituality, he tore one Galuga's heart and took its bloodstone.
Several minutes later, William inventory almost full, and he got:
60x galuga tails mixed with the crystal tail(some of them are destroyed beyond measure and can't be looted).
6x bloodstone, the remnant after he ate some of it.
9x spiritstone from the spirit path galuga.
And that's it.
Looking at the bloodstones he had once devoured in madness, William felt a faint unease coil in his gut, but in the end he could only shake his head and focus on anything else.
Actually he knows there are more things he can harvest from galuga like its flesh and blood, or even the claws. But he doesn't have any more inventory and he can only harvest it in the most crude way, he also doesn't have knowledge to get the most value from a monster at all.
So other than the core and the unique characteristic, he ignores the other part.
Not to mention he was hungry. Also eating the flesh from monster like galuga is not recommended because the the residue 'will' or spirituality in their blood are quite serious for even someone like him, and just like the crystal core(Bloodstone/Spiritstone) it need to be processed first before consumed. Then while he can erase it with Mystic, he would rather not waste any of it right now.
Searching in the shop, William felt that 30sp for one serving of spiritual food is too high, so rather than buying it, he better hunt some in the shallow sea.
But before that, he wanted to integrate the class card first.
William is in actually pickle situation regarding this, the class he got from the system reward is:
1x Deep Sea Warlord;
3x Sea Blessed;
2x Deep Hunter;
1x Sea Assassin;
1x Dark Assassin;
2x Deep Magician;
1x Deep Warrior;
A total of 11 classes, 10 from the reward and 1 from the unique monster class.
The reason he hesitated to even integrate the triple lined class is because the prefix 'Deep Sea', from his understanding, name of the class is the one that shows or represents the power of that class.
So 'Deep Sea Warlord' even as a triple lined class doesn't have good compatibility with him or other humanoid extraordinary just because the prefix of 'Deep Sea', if it is something like 'Sea Blessed Warlord', then the actual value will be far higher for him.
This makes William think, 'Can the prefix be changed?'
Because even if he used it, he may not be able to use more than 60% of that class power because of that prefix.
In the end, after some brainstorming, William finally chose to integrate one Deep Hunter class card. His reason is to check how just 'Deep' prefix will affect his class power, another reason is he is curious about the modifier of this high grade class because without integrating it he can't see what skill he will get.
So…
[Class: Deep Hunter(0%)]
[Description: Below the sea, deep in the darkness. That is where you belong… Hunter in the depth.
Passive, Underwater Hunter:
When in the underwater:
Your sense will expanded greatly;
Your physique will moderately enhanced;
Underwater resistance will be highly eased;
Your Underwater Endurance will moderately enhanced;
You can sense 'Prey' more accurately;
Active, Hunter Mark:
You can mark your enemies as 'Prey', Enemies with this mark can't run from your senses and each effective attack will give prey more 'Pressure', making them more prone to fall to fear or submit to you.
…
This was the information from the class. Seeing it, William is not sure what he expects, honestly he can't truly see the difference between one line and two lined class at all. Or maybe he just not walking that far yet in the class progression.
But from this class, you can see that the passive enhancement can only be used underwater and this passive is counting 80% power of this Deep Hunter Class. Noting this, William becomes more sure that his decision not to integrate with the Deep Sea Warlord class is right.
It not unusable, but rather, comparing it to his other class, his Captain class benefit him more as single lined class as he will be on ship all times later on, while the time he will spend in deep sea is limited.
'The Class Deep Sea Warlord is strong, but just not in right place.' He though.
He needs to ask the twin later if there is a way to change the title, but for now, his stomach is already rumbling.
And this was a good time to test the power of the new class.
With a low swoosh of air, William spread his wings wide and launched himself toward the open sea, diving toward the patch of water where life flickered strongest in his altered vision.
He plunged into the night without hesitation.
Above him, the silver moon hung high, silent, watchful, and eternal, casting its quiet light over the endless tides and the lone hunter soaring beneath it.