I brought my right hand, which had flown toward the marquis’ scabbard, into view. My left hand, which had stretched out to absorb the essence, also came into focus. Slowly, I opened and closed both hands to check the condition of each joint. I carefully touched my bones, which had completely corroded.
Plip. Plop. Plip. Plop.
Everything was intact. My bones that had dissolved in Kraken's stomach acid had been restored to their original state.
I slumped down, leaning against one side of the cave wall.
"I’m... back," I muttered slowly as I looked around.
Coming back to life after death was already a familiar experience.
The real issue is, where have I returned to?
In front of me, a gaunt human woman was sleeping soundly. Her sunken eyes should have made her look unattractive, but her beauty prevented that.
I glanced around again. The marquis radiating a fierce blue sword aura was gone. The sister who had ripped out half of the marquis’ heart with her hook was also nowhere to be found.
The massive mechanical beetle powered by magic was gone, as were the countless harpies and mermaids that had exploded and drifted away. The Kraken’s enormous stomach, filled with acid, was no longer present. Gith-Za-Rai was gone too. Only Rena and I were in this small cave.
Watching her sleep filled me with a sense of relief and comfort.
In my previous life, unfathomably powerful enemies had battered me nonstop. The pressure had been so overwhelming that I felt like screaming. Though the cave wall was hard, even that felt comforting.
My first goal for this life quickly surfaced in my mind.
Don’t meet the marquis again.
I absolutely did not want to cross paths with him. The image of him gripping my neck and refusing to let go, even as a corpse, came vividly to mind.
A translucent blue window appeared.
[Succession Complete!]
Skeleton Soldier Lv. 1 (135)
As expected, the level resets to 1.
My level had been reset, but the stats remained intact. However, I had something more urgent to check.
What about the skills?
This was critical. Although I had completed the absorption, I died midway and didn’t survive until the digestion was complete. If the absorbed skills were lost, the luck of having marquis, the sister, and the Kraken die in front of me would be rendered meaningless.
With cautious anticipation, I scrolled down the window.
The skill list unfolded below. The skills I originally had were listed first.
These are already accounted for...
Then, the newly acquired skills glittered on the last page of the skill window.
[Stealth Lv. 5 (New!)]
[Imperial Law Lv. 4 (New!)]
[Tracking Lv. 15 (New!)]
[Swordsmanship Lv. 10 (New!)]
[Sword Energy Lv. 0 (New!)]
[Engineering Lv. 3 (New!)]
[Masquerade Lv. 1 (New!)]
[Martial Arts Lv. 7 (New!)]
[Suction Lv. 5 (New!)]
With a sense of relief, I carefully reviewed the description of each skill. This was too important to overlook. If nothing remained, it would have been devastating. The skills absorbed before death had been fully digested. There was no indication of digestion time remaining.
Did I skip through time?
The digestion time had vanished.
If I die after absorption... Does it digest immediately without delay?
The newly acquired skills were densely packed together, and each one was extraordinary. I wanted to head outside immediately and test their power. However, the continuous appearance of windows prevented me from stepping out of the cave right away.
[You have achieved your eighth death since succession.]
This hasn’t changed either.
Options unfolded below.
[1. Necromancer’s Lover]
[5. Acid Resistance + (New!)]
Option 5 had a plus sign next to it.
[You died slowly by dissolving in the Kraken’s stomach acid.
— Acid Resistance increased by 20.
— All equipped items gain an additional 5 Acid Resistance.]
Acid Resistance was a decent perk, but it was ultimately insignificant.
[Perk auto-selected.]
[Perk: Necromancer’s Lover
— This is a Hero-level perk. It will be forcibly selected until another Hero-level perk is activated.]
The perk was locked in.
Necromancer Gith-Za-Rai...
Thinking of her brought a rush of complex emotions.
Looking at the outcome, I owed her an immeasurable debt because she had given me an irreplaceable Epic skill. However, in reality, I couldn’t help her right now. I wasn’t at a level to intervene. Even if I tried, I’d only end up as a plaything, experimented on, or dragged into an assassination scene to witness the same events again.
I recalled my conversation with her.
"Time is running out. They know you perform joint-healing procedures. The Wizards of Azure consider that dangerous, so they will soon kill you."
"Where did you hear that? I haven’t told anyone."
"Is there some kind of insight embedded in your skull? I should dissect it to find out."
The chilling sound of a scalpel scraping my skull replayed in my head.
If I meet her, there’s no turning back.
Gith-Za-Rai would kill the emperor and annihilate the imperial guards. Then I’d also encounter the Ashen Knight, the marquis, and the Starlight Blue Fox. The risks were far too great. Nevertheless, even if death was inevitable, I felt sorry about leaving Gith-Za-Rai unchecked.
Hmm, should I go to Gith-Za-Rai or not?
I held my skull, deep in thought, then sighed and looked at Rena.
After staring blankly at her for a while, a status window appeared.
[— Exceptional Dexterity: Can handle most weapons.
— Criminal Affinity: She does not adhere to human morality.]
Rena’s stats and skills were the same as before. Everything was still as it had been when she leveled up once. There was no real difference compared to the start of my previous life.
Her status window seemed so ordinary compared to the immeasurable monsters I had faced, but it gave me a sense of peace. I couldn’t have been happier.
Without thinking, I muttered aloud, "Good."
Everything was truly good. I decided to stick with Rena in the early stages of this life.
I’ll avoid monsters and try living normally for at least a few days!
Just then, I heard a yawn.
"Yaaaawn... What’s good?" Rena sleepily said.
Startled, I took a step back. Rena had woken up. Her deep eyes, slightly sunken from hunger and exhaustion, focused directly on me.
"What’s so good?" Rena repeated.
I hesitated, tapping on my arm bone. "Well, that is..."
She quietly observed me, then reached into her cloak with slightly trembling hands. She pulled out a pendant, held it up to the light, and handed it to me.
I waved my hand dismissively. "No, you keep it."
I didn’t accept it. Even if we were together, I did not deserve the pendant because I wouldn’t be able to protect it. Gith-Za-Rai would inevitably take it from me anyway.
A message appeared when I repeated the words I had used to initially decline the pendant.
[Affection increased by 3.]
For some reason, I felt a twinge of guilt. After a brief hesitation, I made a decision.
"Let’s go. Follow me," I ordered.
There was no need to explain everything since I planned to stick with her. All I needed to do was guide her.
"Yes!" Rena responded enthusiastically and started gathering her belongings.
I glanced at her and said, "You don’t need those. Just yourself."
"Oh... is that okay?"
I nodded lightly. The items in this cave were merely random items left by the adventurers, barely worth collecting. If we retrieved the silver ingots hidden by Yublam’s lord and guards, who profited from opium, we could afford to fill multiple houses with such junk.
Although Rena hesitated slightly, she eventually followed me without complaint.
I walked up and stopped in the middle of an open space.
Her previous words came to mind: ”Ugh, I can’t go into the city after three days without washing. Please, help me.”
I assumed it was probably still uncomfortable for her to speak with me, so I decided it’d be better to speak up first.
"Before we descend the mountain... let’s wash up. Then let’s meet back here."
[Affection increased by 1.]
"How did you know?" Rena asked.
I shrugged. "Just a guess."
After sending her off, I looked around. I hadn’t sent her away without reason—I needed some time to myself.
Let’s start by testing my swordsmanship.
I glanced briefly at a maple tree, its trunk three times the thickness of a human waist, but decided to find another target. Even before, trees were easy enough to cut down for me.
I found a massive rock over two meters tall and raised my sword overhead. Clearly, I had stepped into a higher realm of swordsmanship. Rocks were the epitome of hardness. Striking one with a blade would typically result in sparks and a damaged edge.
However, even as I simply held the sword, the aura on its blade hummed audibly. It felt as though I could slice through the rock. It was as if the sword and I were completely united. I could sense the blade’s temperament and strength.
For a moment, I saw a line along which the rock could be split.
[Activating Acid Lv. 5!]
[— Attack gains acidic properties.
— Weapon corrosion may occur.]
A new energy surged along the blade, but it wasn’t enough.
[Activating Cleave Lv. 1!]
[Activating Slash Lv. 1!]
I had gained these skills from the gray knight. In my previous life, I hadn’t had the chance to use them properly. I never even got the opportunity to swing my sword properly.
I swung the plain sword from an F-rank adventurer fiercely at the rock.
The massive rock, over two meters tall, split in half with each blow.
Fragments ranging from fist-sized to much smaller rocks were scattered in every direction.
I stood there, momentarily dumbfounded by the scene I had created. I had cut a two-meter rock in half with a single swing, reducing it to rubble. As I mindlessly watched the dust rise from the scattered fragments, I suddenly felt someone’s presence beside me.
I turned my head and saw Rena kneeling on the ground, her jet-black eyes staring straight at me.
Why is she here? I thought I told her to go wash up...
Rena’s short, dirty blonde hair swayed gently at her collarbone. She looked at me with resolute eyes.
"Master!" Rena said firmly.
I stared at her, flustered. "Ma...master?"
"Teach me swordsmanship," Rena shouted with determination.