The foreign memories felt eerily familiar, as if they had been part of him since the very beginning.
The subtle scent of burnt charcoal lingered in the air, mingling with the profound sensation of stepping on grass—each blade pulsing with the ever-rich vitality of Mother Earth, nourishing his body.
The cold, unyielding weight of a sword rested in his grip.
Though these fragments of memories felt isolated, Ricky could navigate through them as if he were watching a movie—moving forward, pausing to focus on a particular scene at will.
After developing an initial understanding, Ricky analyzed the memories.
First, he couldn't see his own face—only his hands. That meant he wasn't exactly sure whose memories these were.
But then, as the scenes played out, realization dawned on him.
"Ahh… his name was Noel…"
A woman had come to visit—a woman with golden hair and a gentle expression.
She lovingly called out the poor guy's name.
"Noel…"
Hearing the name, Ricky almost laughed out loud. What Noel Nrack? More like Noel Crack!
Aside from this brief interaction, most of the fragments depicted relentless training—day and night. It appeared the memory holder had been preparing for something significant.
After the short meeting with the woman, Noel seemed even more determined. He would wake before the sun rose, swinging his sword tirelessly until it hung directly overhead.
Ricky had to acknowledge—the guy was incredibly hardworking.
While he lazed around all day, perched on tree branches, Noel had been grinding away relentlessly.
After watching the same routine repeat itself countless times, Ricky was growing bored. He began wondering how to break free from this mental projection.
That was when something interesting finally happened.
Noel acquired a book.
And oh, how he jumped with excitement! The book seemed incredibly precious to him.
"I can read…" Ricky muttered. The words on the cover were eerily similar to the English alphabet he was familiar with.
"Beginner's Guide to the Spiritual Force Field…"
Word by word, Noel flipped through the pages, his voice solemn.
By the age of fifteen, he had finished reading it.
As a result, Ricky, too, had absorbed all the knowledge contained within.
"Huh! No wonder… So that's why they both fled so quickly…"
Ricky muttered, developing a clearer understanding of the spiritual force field.
The spiritual force field was something exclusive to beings at Stage 2 and above. Once one's spiritual force reached a certain threshold, the field would manifest—but controlling it was a different challenge altogether.
Just like how humans had to learn to balance themselves on two legs.
And as for why it was so dangerous—using the force field, a Stage 2 being could effortlessly slaughter anyone with weaker spiritual force.
The field also acted as a defensive mechanism. No attack fueled by lesser spiritual force could breach its protection.
Moreover, if one mastered it, they could even manipulate the spiritual force within their own body.
Just as Ricky was fully engrossed in absorbing this newfound knowledge, the memories suddenly stopped.
"No! Just a little more…"
Ricky cried out. He had been so close to learning the spell to access and properly control the spiritual field.
But no matter how much he yearned for more, this was the end.
Fucking hell!
After cursing a few times, Ricky finally sighed.
"I'll ask Dark Shadow. She must know something about it…"
Before he could ponder further, an unnatural chill crept down his spine—like the gaze of a netherworld ghost had locked onto him.
"What…?"
A dreadful sense of foreboding rose in his tiny heart, nearly suffocating him.
Overwhelmed with horror, Ricky's eyes snapped open.
The entire Harrier village had transformed—shrouded in an eerie shade of pulsating purple, like the writhing stomach of some otherworldly monstrosity.
Poof!
A strange sound, almost like flatulence, echoed in the distance.
Ricky turned his head toward the source.
The shriveled corpse of Noel Nrack was rising into the air, glowing with intense purple light.
Then—
The glow intensified—so fiercely that Ricky had to shut his eyes momentarily to avoid being blinded by its sheer brilliance.
Boom!
With a muffled explosion, Noel's body disintegrated into fine purple dust, drifting toward a singular destination.
Ricky watched, stunned, as the dust swirled toward where the old warlock Kurtas lay.
Before he could even blink, Ricky's entire field of vision was filled with countless specks of purple powder—gathering from all over the village, coalescing into the warlock's lifeless body.
"Is he… reviving?"
Such a thought crossed his mind, but he immediately shook his head.
"This situation is too strange… I have to get out of here."
His body was already moving. The Blood Infusion skill activated, sending a surge of energy through his veins, drastically boosting his speed.
In the blink of an eye, he reached the outer edges of the village.
However—
A terrifying pressure descended upon the world, freezing him in mid-air.
It felt as if someone had pressed the pause button on reality itself.
In the village's center, Warlock Kurtas' lifeless form radiated an eerie purple energy.
Slowly, the energy began converging on his stomach, as if the purple dust were nourishing him. His abdomen swelled grotesquely, ballooning outward to a monstrous size.
Only stopping when it was over a meter wide.
Veins as thick as a human hand pulsed across its grotesque surface.
Boom!
With a sickening rupture, the bloated stomach burst apart, spraying blood in every direction.
As the crimson mist cleared, a figure emerged atop the warlock's broken body.
A naked woman.
So impossibly gorgeous, she seemed like a goddess who had descended upon the mortal realm.
Her figure was sultry—dangerously enticing. The curves of her bust and hips defied logic, as if sculpted by the hands of divinity itself. And yet—her face was as cold as a thousand-year-old glacier, utterly devoid of emotion.
Suddenly, her piercing purple eyes narrowed as she gazed into the distance.
"How many years has it been…? I have finally returned…"
Though her lips did not part, an exquisitely seductive voice reverberated through the air.
Then—she frowned.
"Where… is my divinity?"