Born In Ashes: The Enigma

Azrael told Ashara about his class, and as she listened, her eyes couldn't help but widen in shock.

Although she had already expected his class to be extremely powerful, it was still absurd for her to hear that he had received two completely broken skills.

What was even more shocking was that he had obtained these skills while still being just a Class-Level Warrior. Then what would happen when he advanced to higher ranks?

Each time one advances to a higher rank, new skills and other benefits of their class are unlocked.

Even as a mere Class Warrior, Azrael's Judge class had granted him skills that could allow him to fight against Epic Class Warriors.

Just thinking about what kind of benefits Azrael might receive from his class in the future filled her with joy.

"Now that you have become a Class Warrior and your strength has increased greatly, you must be itching for a good fight, right?" Ashara asked, a faint smile on her face.

Azrael nodded honestly, as he truly did want a proper fight to understand his current limits. At this point, even he wasn't sure just how strong he was.

"Just wait until tomorrow. When we go to Slayers Academy, you will get the perfect opportunity to test yourself."

Azrael raised an eyebrow at her words but didn't ask anything and simply nodded.

He could have asked her to spar with him, but Azrael didn't feel like doing that.

During their spars, Ashara would have to hold back most of her power so as not to accidentally kill or seriously injure him.

But Azrael wanted a proper fight to grasp his true limits, and he couldn't achieve that with Ashara, as the power gap between them was simply too vast.

"Alright. You can practice here to adapt to your new powers or go back to your room. I will be going out for a bit," Ashara said after a moment.

Azrael recalled the gaze he had felt earlier and, knowing she was likely heading to Maelir to ask about it, he nodded.

Azrael watched Ashara leave, and once she disappeared from his sight, he took out the Rune of Spirit from his storage ring.

"It's time to use this..." He muttered in a low voice.

====

---) Rune of Spirit:

1. Upon embedding, it grants the wielder a second consciousness that is half as powerful as the original. The original and second consciousness can work and think independently of each other.

2. The Rune of Spirit can protect its wielder from one spiritual attack per day, as long as the attack is not from someone more than two ranks above the wielder.

3. If the wielder is targeted by a powerful spiritual skill and their original consciousness is stunned, the second consciousness can take control of the body to prevent unconsciousness.

====

The Rune of Spirit had three effects, and the one that attracted Azrael the most was the first one.

The thing he excelled at the most was comprehending things.

Whether it was skills, techniques, Essentia Arts, or any other kind of knowledge, thanks to his Eternal Grade trait, he could learn everything without much trouble.

There were many things Azrael wanted to do. For instance, now that he was a Class Warrior, he could try to refine more primary energy veins to level up his breathing method.

He also wanted to learn the Essentia Art that Zyrek had given him on his birthday. On top of that, he needed to check if there were any skills suitable for him, and if there were, he wanted to learn those as well.

There was also the meditation technique Ashara had told him about yesterday.

In short, there were too many things and not enough time. Even with his Infinite Comprehension Trait, if he used his time to learn all these things himself, it would still take quite a while.

But once he embedded the Rune of Spirit, he would have a second consciousness. At that point, he could let the second consciousness—provided by the Rune—handle all the learning while he focused on other tasks.

Just thinking about having a consciousness solely dedicated to learning new things for him made him excited.

Though it would certainly place a strain on his mind, he didn't dwell on it much as it was a small price to pay to hasten his growth.

Moreover, the other two effects of the Rune of Spirit were quite useful as well.

The second effect could protect him from one spiritual attack each day, as long as the attack didn't come from someone two ranks higher.

Meanwhile, the third effect gave him a lifeline when facing opponents who excelled at spiritual attacks.

Azrael brought the Rune of Spirit near his heart and, with a slight force, crushed it into particles of charcoal-colored light.

At the same time, he used his source core to absorb the surrounding cosmic energy, and along with it, the source core absorbed the crushed Rune.

The particles of rune merged with his core, and as Azrael observed it, he noticed a small rune beginning to form inside his core.

'The Rune should merge with my core in three or four minutes...' Azrael thought to himself. In the meantime, he summoned Fallen Star to check its improved abilities.

====

---) Name: The Fallen Star

---) Type: Weapon-Type Soul Armament [Grows along with its user]

---) Status: Unawakened

[Awakening conditions for the Fallen Star are unknown]

---) Abilities: Sword Domination, The World

---) Sword Domination (Passive Ability): Increases the power of all sword-type attacks by 60%.

---) The World (Active Ability): The Fallen Star can change its weight according to the user's will. At its peak, this ability allows the sword to become as heavy as the entire world. Currently, the user can increase the sword's weight by four times.

====

"The Sword Domination now increases the attack power by 60% instead of original 50%, and the weight increase limit of The World has gone from three times to four times," Azrael smiled as he saw the improvements in his Soul Armament.

Though the Fallen Star hadn't awakened a new ability, these two abilities alone were more than enough for him in his current state.

"I really want to have a proper fight against someone," He muttered with a shake of his head and then put away the Fallen Star.

====

---) Name: Azrael Thorne

---) Age: 16 Years

---) Level: 12 (Class Warrior)

---) Class: Judge

---) Traits: Infinite Comprehension (Eternal Grade), Cold Blooded (White Grade — Evolvable)

---) Attribute: Astral

---) Rune: Rune of Spirit

---) Substance: None

---) Title: ??? [Locked]

---) Bloodline: None

---) Strength: 44.3 → 51.3

---) Agility: 41.5 → 46.5

---) Stamina: 45.3 → 53.3

---) Cosmic Energy: 207 → 217

---) Skill: Cosmic Energy Breathing Method (Mid Level)

---) Class Skills: Absolute Decree, Balance Severed

---) Shop

---) Inventory

---) Task Points: 6045

====

Azrael looked at his status window for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"Let's hope whatever Mom said about me being able to test my powers properly tomorrow wasn't a lie."