After what seemed like an hour according to the calculations his body made, Kaiser regained consciousness and looked around blankly.
After a bit of processing, he quickly recalled what had formerly transpired in this chamber.
'The Mothercore said something about consuming an ethereal shadow.'
Curious, he summoned his system runes:
[Kaiser Solace]
[True Name - Voidborne]
[Aspect Ability - Absolute Adaptation]
[Aspect Rank - ???]
[Affinity - [Ethereal Shadow] [Mystic Ice] [???] ]
[Realm - Dormant]
[Rank - Reaper]
[Soul Trait - [Keen Insight] [Willpower Infinitum] [Super Sensitivity] ]
[Trait - [Mark of Ethereal Shadows] ]
[Bloodline - Immemorial Fiend Bloodline (Partially Awakened)]
[Relics - [Twin Shard [Cursed Daggers] [Serpent Armor] ]
[Shadows - None]
[Flaw - Deafness]
'My affinity changed to Ethereal Shadows? That's surprising. I didn't know that there was a difference between shadows.' He thought then shifted his gaze towards the rank column.
'Reaper? I thought ranks were determined by numbers. This is so intriguing.' A little bit excited about the prospect of discovering something new, he opened the description.
• Description - Reaper
[As human race were vastly different from beasts, they were limited to the ability to create only three cores. The beast race however were not confined by this limitation and could create up to seven cores.
In all things there are always irregularities. Followers of the Shadow God Race were granted the ability to possess up to seven cores while retaining their human structure.
The ranks are listed as: Reaper >> Demon >> Arch-Demon >> Devil >> Arch-Devil >> Damnation >> Fiend]
'That's... a very detailed explanation I'd say.'
Satisfied, he moved onto the next improvement.
The Immemorial Fiend Bloodline.
Although it was only partially awakened, he was still shocked by the rank of the bloodline. It was definitely not something he expected from a low rank world.
'Who the hell are my parents?'
Still reeling from confusion, he inspected the bloodline.
• Description - Immemorial Fiend Bloodline
[The bloodline of a race who were the most devoted to the War Goddess. They are especially enthusiastic at the prospect of war or battle. By their feral nature, there are only a few surviving people left of their clan]
'Now I'm involved with two Primordial Gods. So annoying.'
Standing up straight, he examined the light pouring down from the ceiling like a long lost hope.
Now that the light wasn't restricting the shadow, it shone brighter— allowing Kaiser to see and perceive the ancient runes populating the chamber.
After studying them for a while, he realized that it was an intricate teleportation formation. Although old and almost outdated, he could tell how vast and ancient it was— a masterpiece.
'It could be a secret realm. However, I'd love to explore the Nirad Realm for a bit longer.'
Concluding on that, he climbed onto the small spire and transferred a bit of his essence into the spire.
!!!
Immediately, space around him warped and stretched as he suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar environment.
The sky above roiled with endless black clouds, broken only by flashes of silver lightning that illuminated the land in brief, ghostly bursts.
Hills of dark sand stretched endlessly into the distance. Broken, skeletal trees clawed the heavens, and shattered ruins lay half-buried across the landscape.
At the center stood a mountain—a grotesque mound built from countless bones, bleached white by time.
Looking at the mountain made of bones, he felt a sliver of dread— his hair standing on the end.
'To make my body have such a violent reaction, it must be something I absolutely can't defeat living there.'
Feeling a mixture of fear and excitement, he allowed his heart to throb wildly in his chest before he looked up— eyes glinting with battle lust.
Abruptly, he summoned his armor and the Twin Shard while bending forward like he was about to fall.
Just a split second later, an arrow wheezed past his back and lodged into the ground behind him.
A human attacking him? Very convenient.
With his sharp eyesight, he was able to spot the perpetrator laying flat on a hill a few ten meters away from him.
"To possess such sharp killing intent... Definitely not from my school." He mused as he leisurely took a step forward, excitement coursing through his veins— then transported himself through several shadows in a few seconds. Without care for his use of essence, he appeared before the archer in an instant and pinned them down with his spear going through her? heart.
'Yep. Those immature kids can't be this vicious. Ah, I'm calling them kids again. I'm also a kid aren't I?'
He chuckled to himself as the system announced his kill.
[You have slain a Dormant Human, Felise]
[Your art grows stronger]
[You have received a Shadow]
A split second later, he felt something cold seep into his shadow and settle there as if it had finally found its home.
The body of the girl beneath him jerked furiously before stilling— dead.
Totally unbothered by the dead body, he walked a few steps but stopped entirely when he heard it.
A faint, dry sound.
Mortified, he turned back and watched as the girl's body decomposed into black sand while her bones flew through the air to join its older comrades on the mountain.
'This... is absurd.' he thought, eyes wide open. 'If these black hills are made of decomposed flesh and the mountain of bones are their bones— how many creatures have died here?'
The Nirad Realm really had an unpleasant way of surprising anyone despite their status.
"This is really a Black Zone as I speculated"
According to general Awakened knowledge, the regions in the Nirad Realm were classified into four categories.
The Green Zone; a region with relatively low danger— mostly Warrior creatures roaming about and a few Titan creatures. These regions had mostly been conquered and inhibited by people from Earth.
Next was the Blue Zone. Regions like this in particular are above the capabilities of an Awakened Human. Only Evolved Humans could survive in such harsh environment.
Red Zones were even more mysterious. They could only be treaded carefully by Ascended Humans who, if care is not taken could lose their lives.
Black Zones however were even more eerie. They always had this sinister energy that always suppressed the abilities of any human at any realm below the Transcendent Realm.
'That's why I didn't feel the girl's killing intent.'
He thought as he stared blankly at the pile of bones as the fear in his eyes receded— replaced by a growing sense of thirst.
A thirst for peeling off the mystery of this region.
'I really hate mysteries. They'll be the death of me.'
With that thought in mind, it was finally time to inspect his newly acquired shadow.