Born In Ashes: The Enigma

"A catastrophic event..." Azrael raised an eyebrow at Ashara's words, and for some reason, he couldn't help but recall the dream he had had on his first day in Genesis.

At the mention of "catastrophic," his mind instantly returned to that terrifying war he had witnessed in the dream— a war that seemed to shake the entire world.

"Well, anyway…" Ashara shook her head and looked at Azrael. "You want to use the Heart of Wind to awaken your wind power, right?"

Azrael nodded at her question and looked at her expectantly.

"Let's do it tomorrow," Ashara said as she pointed at his body. "You need to be in perfect condition to absorb the source power within the Heart of Wind. Although that guy healed you, you are still not in the right condition."

Azrael was slightly disappointed when he heard her words, as he had really wanted to awaken his wind power immediately.

However, he also knew she was right. Even now, he could feel the exhaustion from what he had done in the Eonrift creeping over his mind.

After deciding that Azrael would use the Heart of Wind tomorrow, Ashara finally looked at the other rewards he had received from Eonrift.

A look of surprise flashed in her eyes when she saw the blood essence and the core of the Ancient Light Dragon.

"This dragon core and blood essence come from a Epic-level dragon. You can't use them directly as the energy inside them is too much for your body to handle. However, we can have someone turn them into a potion or pill for you. That would surely give you a significant boost in power."

When Azrael heard Ashara's words, he thought for a moment before shaking his head.

"I have something different in mind for these two items."

Ashara looked at him in confusion, wondering what he intended to do with the blood essence and the dragon core.

But seeing that he didn't want to elaborate, she didn't press him and simply nodded.

"Just don't do anything reckless, like directly swallowing them, or you will turn into a human bomb."

Azrael rolled his eyes at her words and didn't say anything.

Ashara turned to look at the third reward—the Rune of Spirit.

As she grabbed the rune and poured her spiritual power into it, the rune's information appeared in her mind.

To see the details of a rune, one only had to touch it with their spiritual power.

Azrael didn't need to do this; not only for runes— his status window allowed him to see the details of most things.

"You want to embed this rune?" Ashara asked after examining the rune's details.

"Yes. It's perfect for me."

"Hmm…" Ashara thought for a moment before speaking. "You know that most people don't embed a rune with auxiliary abilities as their first rune, right?"

Azrael nodded and replied calmly.

"It's exactly the auxiliary abilities of this rune that I want. You already know what I'm best at, and with the help of this rune…"

At this point, Azrael gave a rather evil smile.

Ashara was stunned when she heard his words. But after thinking about it deeply, even she got goosebumps.

"Don't tell me you are…"

Although she didn't finish the sentence, Azrael understood what she was thinking and nodded smugly.

Ashara took a deep breath and shook her head.

"I don't even know what to say…" She muttered as she handed the rune back to him.

"You need to become a class warrior before you can embed it."

Azrael nodded at her words, as he knew one needed to be at least level 11 to embed their first rune.

"I will be able to embed a second rune after reaching level 26 and becoming an Epic Warrior, right?"

Ashara nodded and asked curiously.

"Do you have anything in mind for your second rune? If so, tell me, and I will see if I can get something for you."

Azrael shook his head. "I don't have anything in mind for now. I was just asking."

Ashara didn't say anything further and turned her attention to the last item Azrael had received.

"What is this?" She asked in confusion when she saw the old-looking balance scale.

She tried to use her spiritual power to examine it, but there was no response, and the scale appeared to be a normal item made of some unknown metal.

"It's a class change item," Azrael said when he saw the confusion in Ashara's eyes.

Hearing that, Ashara's expression turned serious.

For everyone, class advancement was extremely important. Knowing this item might be intended for Azrael's class advancement ritual, she couldn't take it lightly.

"Just what kind of class change item is this…" She muttered to herself as she reached out to pick up the scale.

However, the moment her hand touched the scale, Ashara's face changed. A terrifying pressure bore down on her body, almost forcing her to her knees.

She quickly withdrew her hand and looked at the scale with shock-filled eyes.

Azrael was also stunned as he saw Ashara nearly collapse just from touching the scale and his expression darkened.

"Mom, are you okay?" He asked with concern, though he was also deeply shocked.

Ashara was a being at the Cosmic King level.

Even her physical body alone was strong enough to destroy a star with a single punch—yet she had nearly fallen just by touching the scale.

"This thing… it holds a very terrifying power inside it…" Ashara said after a moment, her expression grave.

She turned to Azrael and asked, "Can you touch this thing?"

Azrael nodded and picked up the scale without any issue, even playing with it by throwing it from one hand to another.

Ashara narrowed her eyes as she looked at the scale—this was the first time she had ever seen a class item like this.

'Since this thing holds such terrifying power within it...'

"You are going to use it," She suddenly said after a moment. "Don't think about anything else— just use this item for your class advancement."