Born In Ashes: The Enigma

Azrael once again felt as if he had been thrown into a washing machine as his surroundings shifted violently.

However, now that he was a Level 10 Apprentice Warrior, and the strain from Eonrift's teleportation was far less intense than the cross galaxy teleportation formation, he only felt slight discomfort— nothing more.

When he regained his senses and looked around, Azrael found himself standing in a completely white space.

He wasn't surprised to find that he hadn't been sent back to the stadium from which he had entered Eonrift.

'This should be the evaluation room Mom talked about. The place where I would get my reward...' Azrael thought inwardly, glancing around with curiosity.

As he looked around—

(Evaluation of your performance in the Trial is in progress...)

A notification appeared before him.

Then, one notification after another began to flood his vision.

(You have killed many monsters higher than your level. Your evaluation score has increased.)

(You have killed a high level Elite Monster. Your evaluation score has increased.)

(You have found hidden treasure— Star Mist Herb. Your evaluation score has increased.)

(You have successfully stolen the treasure of the Titan Ape, the strongest being in your trial. Your evaluation score has increased greatly.)

(You have reached Level 10 during your trial. Your evaluation score has increased.)

(You have killed many Class-Level warriors during your trial. Your evaluation score has increased tremendously.)

(You have completed a Despair Level Trial. Your evaluation score has increased massively.)

(Calculating...)

[Congratulations, you have received a perfect evaluation in your trial.]

(Rewards for perfect evaluation are being distributed...)

[You have received— The Heart of Wind.]

(You have received— Blood Essence of the Epic Level Ancient Light Dragon.)

(You have received— The Dragon Core of The Epic Level Ancient Light Dragon)

(You have received— Rune Of Spirit.)

(You have received Class Change item—???)

Azrael stared at the reward notifications with shining eyes, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

Suddenly, five dots of light appeared before him, each quickly taking form and transforming into five distinct items.

The first item was a small green colored heart that looked as though it were crafted from the most beautiful crystal. It glowed faintly, and even just looking at it, Azrael could feel the very essence of the power of wind radiating from it.

Azrael's eyes remained fixed on the Heart of Wind— the item that would activate his powers of wind— before shifting toward the second item.

The second was a small glass bottle filled with golden colored blood. A tiny formation was engraved onto the bottle, and while Azrael didn't know its exact purpose, he could guess it was meant to preserve the power of the blood essence— or something along those lines.

The golden liquid inside was thick, almost mercury-like, and Azrael felt a chill run down his spine, as if even this small amount of blood could kill him.

"Blood Essence of the Ancient Light Dragon..." Azrael murmured, examining the small bottle with narrowed eyes.

He turned his gaze to the third reward— a small, round golden core radiating intense energy fluctuations.

Reaching out, he grabbed the Dragon Core of the Ancient Light Dragon and brought it closer, examining it and the vial of blood essence with a thoughtful expression on his face.

'Did I receive these two things because of that idea I had?' He wondered silently, scanning the white space around him.

'Can this place read my thoughts and give me a reward that I will need in the future based on my plans?'

He shook his head, brushing those thoughts to the back of his mind, and turned to inspect the fourth reward.

The fourth reward was a small, unevenly shaped charcoal colored stone, with a mysterious Rune engraved at its center.

It was a Rune that could be embedded, granting the bearer a specific ability unique to that Rune.

"Once I activate my wind power, my natural attribute will awaken along with it. Now I also have a Rune that should suit me..." Azrael muttered under his breath. "Now the only thing I need is a Substance to fully develop my power system."

Finally, Azrael turned his attention to the last item— the one he was most curious about.

Floating before him was an old looking balance scale, about twenty centimeters tall.

It was the kind of weighing scale used in ancient times for measuring weight. The scale was light golden in color, though faint cracks ran along its frame, giving it a sense of age and mystery.

From the scale, Azrael sensed a deep, ancient aura emanating.

Suddenly, he recalled what Rose had said to him.

'She chose not to advance to Class Warrior because she wanted to use a class change item to gain a very powerful class...'

Azrael narrowed his eyes. 'Could it be that this is the item she was referring to?'

With that thought, he extended his hand toward the scale to touch it and check its information through his status window.

However—

--- ???: ???

What appeared were only question marks. No information about the scale, or what kind of class it might grant was revealed.

Azrael frowned and shifted his gaze to the Rune hovering beside the scale.

He reached out and touched the Rune, wanting to see whether he could access its information.

As soon as his fingers made contact with the Rune, a window displaying the details of the Rune Of Spirit appeared before his eyes.

For now, Azrael only wanted to confirm whether the items' information was visible. Having verified that he could see the information of the items he received, he was about to pull his hand back when something struck him.

He quickly looked again at the name and details of the Rune, and his eyes narrowed sharply.

"This rune... I had seen it before, in the shop tab of my status window" He muttered, quickly switching to the shop tab. (Chap—55)

He opened the shop and scrolled through the list of available Runes.

But as his eyes swept the list, they suddenly widened in shock.

"The Rune Of Spirit... It disappeared from the shop."