[Pre-natal divinity detected]
[Limitless Evolution Art initial fusion with the Host!]
[Host suitability confirmed!]
[Fusion complete!]
[You have become a D-Tier (Tier 1) Guardian Mummy]
[Revealing refreshed stats.]
Sett frowned. What is going on?
Now, there was a hole in his chest area and the Tomb Heart floated inside it. His skin was as strong as a wooden sculpture, as flexible as normal skin. His body was as nimble as a cat, and as destructive as a weak cannonball.
Yet, that wasn't because he became a Tomb Raider.
Instead, he had become something akin to a Guardian.
Is it the Crypt Walker Pathway?
He frowned.
And what was this white, translucent screen infront of him?
It appeared once, then vanished. He couldn't bring it back up even after trying.
Everything is so fucking weird.
A mummy at my level is not supposed to be capable of thought in the first place, and my Axiom of Reincarnation worked normally with others I tested it on—what is going on? Am I some sort of anomaly?
Thinking on that line, the weird screen infront of him might have something to do with the whole thing.
Was he being attacked using some kind of weird Axiom?
Axiom of Mindtalk? Axiom of Heart Input? Were those nasty things from the Ancient Demon Era of Ehyut being used on him?
No. If it were those, I wouldn't even be able to sense it.
Sett also found something good amidst it all.
After he absorbed the Tomb Heart, at least his thoughts had grown faster. Zainah remained quiet beside him, staring at the circular hollow in his chest.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he shut up and concentrated again.
The screen had come back, this time stable.
===
Name: Sett Ramses VII
[Pathway Stats]
→ External Life Paths ←
Crypt Walker
(Tier 1)—(D-Tier) "Low" Guardian Mummy.
(Progress: 10/100)
Axiom Holder
Axiom of Reincarnation
(Inactive) (Tier 5)
(Progress: No Territory)
(Hidden Title: Uncrowned Pharaoh of Ehyut)
→ Innate Life Path ←
Limitless Evolution Art
0/6 unlocked
(10/100 Neutral Energy).
===
The screen was a grey, dead color. Yet, it showed him details of his own Life Path. Written in the ancient language of Ehyut with beautiful typography.
What was this screen?
In the back of Sett's mind, a possible answer appeared.
When he was trying to become a Tier 6 God, he had failed, but in the process, he had briefly felt himself transform into a truly Godly state. He had met gazes with a crimson pair of eyes right at that moment, as well.
Even though he failed, did he gain something due to that brief transformation?
Was this screen that fortune?
Sett grew excited.
He read his stats, going from top to bottom.
A Life Path.
That was a fancy name for the path to power.
There were two known and orthodox Life Paths in Ehyut—Tomb Raiders and Axiom Holders. Almost anyone could become a Tomb Raider as long as they had a Tomb Heart, but only the luckiest of the bunch get to have Axioms.
They needed Royal Blood for that.
Even luckier few can train as both a Tomb Raider and an Axiom Holder at the same time. Usually, awakening in one path made training the other path impossible.
When Sett was still the Pharaoh, he had participated in many public debates, and in them, he had heard—and discussed—about a third, unorthodox Life Path multiple times.
The Life Path (or Death Path) that the monsters in the Tomb used to grow stronger.
His mother had named the Path.
The Path of the Crypt Walkers.
Sett grew thoughtful.
He had a total of two Life Paths listed under his name. Crypt Walker and Axiom Holder pathways. Then, there was something below that he had never heard of: Innate Life Path. What was that?
Sett first checked the known details.
—
[Crypt Walker]
D-Tier (T1)—
"Low" Guardian Mummy.
(Progress: 0/100)
—
Sett frowned.
Instead of becoming a Tomb Raider after eating a Tomb Heart, he had been initiated into the Crypt Walker pathway. From what he knew, this pathway wasn't that different from the normal Tomb Raider pathway.
It was just that the Cryptwalkers would become more and more undead—not dying even without a head, while Tomb Raiders would gain better and better regenerative abilities.
There was also the bit about how Crypt Walkers could kill living beings to grow stronger while Tomb Raiders needed to raid Tombs and absorb Tomb Hearts from mummies. Other than that, both Raiders and Walkers had similar levels of physical strength in each rank.
Even now, he was a Tier 1 "Low" Mummy and he wouldn't find it hard to brawl with a Tier 1 "Low" Raider.
Low…
There were five sub-ranks within every Tier.
Low, Medium, High, Grand, and Sacred.
The more energy you absorbed—through Tomb Hearts or through other ways—the further you can go up the ranks.
Of course, CryptWalkers had the limitation of being stuck inside their Tombs. If that was the case for himself, he would have to live the rest of his life like other Guardian mummies.
He would have to bait people into Tombs, kill them, and absorb their Tomb Hearts to grow stronger.
But that was just seeking death!
If a strong as fuck Tomb Raider just happened to pass by, Sett would be grinded to paste with how weak he was. And Sett wasn't at all pleased that he couldn't become a normal Tomb Raider.
Becoming a Tomb Raider was supposed to bring him truly "back" to life!
The influx of vitality upon the first ingestion of a Tomb Heart should have healed him completely and turned him as young as a boy with his lively years ahead of him.
Even though he couldn't become a Tomb Raider, strength-wise, it was fine. He would have the same level of physical strength with the Cryptwalker Pathway, but not getting the chance to go through the rebirth disappointed Sett.
Maybe, I could still become a Tomb Raider while also in the Crypt Walker pathway. Maybe, it's being 'dead' and 'alive' upon eating the Tomb Heart that matters.
He then had to revive himself. Some healing Axioms had similar effects.
His own Axiom had skills that could do that!
Sett put that thought for later and focused on his Stats for now.
—
[Axiom Holder]
Axiom of Reincarnation (Inactive) (Tier 5).
(Progress: Uncrowned Emperor of Ehyut)
—
Sett frowned, further disappointed. He had wanted to have a different Axiom in this life, he had even hoped to have two Axioms at the same time. But no, he only had one if these stats could be trusted.
And that 'one' was still his plain old Axiom of Reincarnation—and that was only useful to live a second life and not for his needs. But then, he noticed something weird.
It's still showing as Tier 5?!
That made him even more confused, but he sighed inwardly.
Luckily, the Axiom was inactive or he had a feeling that he might have just exploded. Axioms were stored inside the mental space of a living being and it needed the support of Territorial Energy to function. Currently, Sett's mental space was just at the level of a normal Tier 1 creature.
He couldn't even truly sense his mental space!
What would happen if a box was just big enough to store a kitten but a human suddenly popped up inside it? The box would just break!
If his Axiom, which was a Tier 5 power, appeared actively inside him now, his mental space would just explode and he would die.
Luckily, his Axiom was inactive. But, at the same time, it was gathering the ambient Life and Death energy around him, and at most in a year, it would start coming active. It had an ability that only worked once a year, after all.
And when it activates, his whole Axiom would also activate.
Sett sighed, ignoring the detail.
With that, Sett's Axiom had become completely useless—and even a threat to his life—unless he became Tier 5 soon enough.
Otherwise, when it recharges and comes back active, he'd die in a flamboyant self explosion.
I am dealt with a bad hand, he thought, Much worse than my previous life. I hope this pale screen of light is something really useful.
Finally, he looked at the "Limitless Evolution Art" Innate Life Path.
He had only the faintest of ideas of what this might entail.
—
[Limitless Evolution Art]
0/6 unlocked (10/100 Neutral Energy).
—
For some reason, Sett was reminded of the warm energy that flowed into him when the Guardian died.
He hadn't even absorbed any Tomb Hearts when that happened.
Yet, as a mummy who couldn't feel anything, he had felt warm.
Did that "10" in 10/100 appear when I killed the Guardian?
What will happen when I fill the tab?
"Mummy!" Zainah shouted, popping infront of his face. "My sister is not yet safe!"
Sett had only used some minutes to analyze all of the info he had and for now, he stood up and slowly walked out of the Guardian Room.
Luckily, I can at least leave the room.
He wondered about the Tomb itself. Can he leave?
What kind of situation was a Cryptwalker truly in?
What was this pathway's way of life (death?)?
They both didn't stop and didn't even converse anymore. With his skin that was as strong as a strong wooden sculpture, body that was strong enough to make walls tremble, and enhanced instincts—the traps were even easier than earlier.
Not only was his defense so strong, his speed and reflexes were all much stronger, too.
Sett was an expert Tomb Raider. To him, D-tier Tombs were just a child's play.
Yet, he felt an urgent need to completely understand his situation—especially the situation of whether he would be stuck in this Tomb or not.
And first, he had to save the little girl or she really might end up dead.