Draven stood in front of the old bathroom mirror, grinning like an idiot as he stared at the blurred reflection of his damp figure. To be precise, his eyes were locked on his Elite panel. His hair clung to his face, still wet from the shower he'd just taken.
He had returned home immediately after waking up, unwilling to risk anything else going wrong.
The gloomy, tense atmosphere that had weighed him down earlier had vanished, now replaced with curiosity and a flicker of happiness.
–––
[Name]: Draven
[Class]: None
[Race]: Human
[Legacy]: Soul Mystic (Sealed)
[Rank]: Transient
[Order]: First
[Soul Vitalis]: 1
[Mana]: 0/10
- Physique: 2
- Constitution: 1
- Will: 10
[Skills]: [Mental Serration], [Soul Eyes], [Stasis], [Ethereal Dominion], [Soul Covenant (Sealed)]
[Gear]: [Desolate Might]
–––
[CURSE OF VOIDHELL.]
–––
"From the teaching of the basic academy. there's nothing like Soul Vitalis, so it must be the legacy," he mumbled.
"2 for Physique and 1 for Constitution. Yeah, that makes sense—standard stats for a normal First Order Transient. But…" Draven's calm voice suddenly rose in shock, his eyes widening. "10 for Will? I thought the highest for Will on Earth was 5? It has to be the legacy, right?"
He paused, his expression shifting to one of confusion and curiosity as he muttered, "But where are the imperfections that Soul Mystic spoke about? Is it the seal on the legacy?"
"Well, as long as I survive and get rich, that's all that matters," he shrugged, brushing off his worries. His eyes then gleamed with childlike excitement, like a kid about to unwrap a long-awaited gift. "Now, time to test my Skills. I'll be heading to the plane for real this time."
Draven opened his skills one by one:
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[Skill: Mental Serration]
[Rank: Transient]
[Description: A passive skill that activates upon the user's intent to kill. All attacks are enhanced with a mental attack, bypassing physical defenses and dealing 10% of the attack power directly to the target's mind.]
–––
His eyes narrowed as calculations swirled in his head. 'To make this skill truly deadly, my base attack power needs to be extremely high,' he thought.
–––
[Skill: Soul Eyes]
[Rank: Transient]
[Description: Gaze through the mold and see the soul.]
–––
Draven activated it immediately, but at first glance, everything looked the same.
When he lowered his head to examine his own body, however, he noticed a tiny white flame flickering in his chest, encased in a glowing blue outline.
"O…kay, that's new. What's this for in a practical situation?" Draven muttered, puzzled. "This is why I should've spent even a little time in classes instead of obsessing over maps—to broaden my knowledge. But hey, no regrets. At least I got the legacy. Next."
–––
[Skill: Stasis]
[Rank: Transient]
[Description: After experiencing death and witnessing the gates of an underworld, you returned to the realm of the living with a unique ability. This skill allows you to slow your body's activity to an almost complete standstill, reducing your presence and hastening your recovery rate during moments of stillness.
Condition: Only works during stillness.]
–––
Draven's face twisted into a scowl. "Hell! I don't remember witnessing any gates of the underworld."
He activated the skill after a huffing.
His heartbeat slowed, his body grew cold like a corpse, and his pores constricted.
"This is—"
The moment he spoke, the skill deactivated.
'Well, this is a useful skill for hiding. If I'm not mistaken, it has a similar effect to those ravines.'
–––
[Skill: Ethereal Dominion]
[Rank: Transient]
[Description: Harness the power of your Soul Vitalis to elevate your presence for 5 minutes.
- Sacrifice 10 Soul Vitalis to unleash an aura one rank higher than your current rank.
- Sacrifice 100 Soul Vitalis to unleash an aura two ranks higher than your current rank.
- Sacrifice 1000 Soul Vitalis to unleash an aura three ranks higher than your current rank.]
–––
Draven chuckled. "Elevating your presence? Like the opposite of Stasis? This skill sounds like something a scammer would use. But getting Soul Vitalis… I have a few guesses about how to obtain it."
–––
[Skill: Soul Covenant]
[Rank: (Sealed)]
[Description: (Sealed)]
–––
'This skill is sealed. But why?' Draven thought, his brows furrowed. 'And there's barely any information about legacies, except for the part where the Earth Warden was struck by one that flew out of a Ruin site, and he rose to the top.'
Draven's eyes dropped to the Gear column.
'Gears are obtained by killing monsters, and I only killed Sera…' The thought made his expression grow complex. 'If killing humans can also yield Gears, what's stopping others from hunting new Elites for Gears?'
A shiver ran down his spine at the idea, but he quickly pushed it aside, trying to ease his growing paranoia—even though he couldn't quite shake it entirely.
"Let's see."
–––
[Gear: Desolate Might]
[Rank: Transient]
[Order: Second Order]
[Type: Weapon]
[Description: Adds +6 Physique to the arm!]
–––
"If I'm understanding this right, this Gear quadruples the strength of my arm, right?"
Draven summoned Desolate Might to his right arm. Under his watchful gaze, his arm transformed into a dull silver, pulsating with raw, unbridled strength. He swung a punch through the air, his fist shooting forward in a blur.
"Nice," he muttered, nodding in approval. With a thought, he dismissed the Gear, and his arm returned to normal.
His eyes drifted back to the panel, settling on the last line: Curse of Voidhell.
"I know it's a curse, but did they have to capitalize it like that?" he grumbled, trying to mask his fear as he opened the description.
–––
[Curse of Voidhell: You have cheated death by drinking the Wine of Resurrection. The underworld has branded you, marking your soul. You shall know no rest in death—only eternal damnation.
One Final Life. One Final Death. No Grave For The Damned.]
–––
Even after reading it again, the words still didn't make sense to him.
"Curse of Voidhell… I don't remember drinking any wine, let alone some mystical Wine of Resurrection…" he muttered under his breath, his voice tinged with confusion and unease.
His gaze lingered on the black star etched into his chest before his eyes grew distant, lost in thought.
'I had a hunch something was off about my revival after seeing the curse, and [Stasis] confirms it—I never saw any gate to the underworld. So either my Elite Module is lying, which I doubt, or… something's wrong with my memory.'
Draven exhaled sharply and ran his fingers through his hair.
'But one thing's certain: I must avoid death at all costs. I don't know how real the curse is, and I have no intention of finding out. Besides, the meaning of "eternal damnation" might be worse than my darkest nightmares, given the mysticism surrounding the curse—and I don't plan to test it. All I need to know is this: I can't afford to die.'
His eyes suddenly gleamed as a thought struck him.
"Maybe… just maybe… Doctor Annie's tests might reveal something. They even detected the virus, after all. Yeah, I should go for a check-up. And I need to review my status now that I've awakened—especially before entering a plane."