Born In Ashes: The Enigma

The Rune of Spirit was one of the runes in the shop that had left a very deep impression on Azrael, as this rune was perfect for him.

Even though he didn't fully trust the strangeness of his status window, he had still been planning to obtain this rune for himself after accumulating enough task points.

But now that Eonrift had rewarded him with the Rune of Spirit, it had disappeared from the shop.

Azrael could think of only two reasons why the Rune of Spirit had vanished from the shop.

First, now that Eonrift had already given him the Rune of Spirit, it was removed from the shop because he no longer needed to buy it.

Second, the Rune of Spirit that Eonrift had given him had actually come from the shop in his status window.

"If my second guess is correct, then does it mean Eonrift is somehow related to the uniqueness of my status window—and that the items in the shop are actually things that originate from Eonrift?"

As Azrael thought of this, he couldn't help but frown deeply.

He recalled how, when he first entered the trial, his status window had referred to the trial land of Eonrift as the Fragment of Ancient Genesis.

Azrael took a deep breath, and his eyes turned sharp.

"Although I am not one hundred percent certain of my guess, I finally have at least a clue about the abnormality of my status window."

Because he had no understanding of the anomaly that was his status window, Azrael had always felt a little uneasy—as if it were a ticking time bomb that might explode at any moment.

However, now that he had a direction to investigate, and a clue to follow, he felt a sense of relief.

"I have completed my trial. The next time I enter Eonrift, I will be sent to the true Eonrift, not a trial ground..."

Azrael's eyes flashed as he wondered whether he would be able to uncover more clues about the strangeness of his status window the next time he entered Eonrift.

At the same time, he couldn't help but recall the many interesting things Ashara had told him about Eonrift.

"I am really looking forward to exploring everything about Eonrift... or should I call it... The Fragment of Ancient Genesis?"

Azrael looked at the rewards that were suspended in front of him, and with a wave of his hand, he stored all of them in his storage ring.

"I can use everything I have received as a reward, but that class change item... I need to talk to Mom about it before deciding whether to use it for my class advancement or not."

Classes also had different levels.

There were four levels of classes—from lowest to highest: Common Class, Rare Class, Special Class, and Supreme Class.

The Witch Class that Ashara possessed was a Supreme Class, and even among Supreme Classes, it was one of the strongest.

Azrael didn't know anything about the scale he had received as a reward.

What if he used it and ended up receiving a class that turned out to be only Common or Rare?

It was rare for people to awaken a Unique Class without using a class advancement item, but Azrael was confident that even without any item, he would at least be able to awaken a Special Class.

Moreover, with the help of his family, it wasn't impossible for him to obtain an item that could help him awaken a Supreme Class.

Considering all these factors, Azrael wasn't in a situation where he needed to rely on the unknown scale for his class advancement.

Of course, if the item turned out to be something valuable, he wouldn't mind using it.

After putting away all of his rewards, Azrael looked around at the endless white space and wondered how he was supposed to leave.

Just as he was wondering—

(Hidden Task— Complete your Despair-Level Trial with Perfect Evaluation has been completed)

(Reward—5000 Task Points)

Azrael raised an eyebrow when he saw the notifications.

It was the second time he had seen the words Hidden Task.

The first time was when he had arrived in Genesis, and the pocket watch had hidden him from the gaze of that unknown being.

"What's the difference between normal tasks and hidden tasks...?" Azrael wondered, a puzzled look forming on his face.

'Is there something deeper behind these hidden tasks?'

Just as Azrael was thinking—

(You have completed your Eonrift Trial)

(Rewards have been successfully distributed)

(You will no longer be able to enter the trial ground of the Eonrift)

(Sending you out of Eonrift...)

Azrael looked at the notifications flashing before his eyes and then closed his eyes for a moment.

"It's finally over..."

He opened his eyes and glanced down at his missing left arm, smiling warily.

He looked over his tattered figure, still wearing worn-out clothes and the nearly broken armor underneath, the aftermath of his battle with Rose and the others and shook his head.

"Mom won't be happy after seeing this..." He muttered softly, hoping she wouldn't change her mind about letting him attend Slayers Academy after seeing his condition.

The white space around Azrael slowly began to crumble, and his body was enveloped by a silver light.

The space twisted around him—and in a flash, his body began to disappear.

Just before his body completely vanished, Azrael saw the white space collapse into ruins, transforming into a desolate wasteland.

He was surprised by the sudden change in scenery, but before he could reflect on it, his vision darkened—and when he regained his senses, he found himself back in the stadium, standing exactly where he had entered Eonrift.

The moment he appeared, Azrael felt many gazes fall upon him.

He looked around and saw that many of the young people who had entered Eonrift had also returned.

Azrael noticed that most of their eyes were filled with shock when they saw his broken condition.

He didn't care about their stares and simply thought to himself,

'Since I was inside for about ten days, only two or three hours should have passed here.'