Chapter 6: Ancient Murals
The smoke covering the place dispersed, pebble and dust spread all over as the absence of smog displayed a destroyed land beneath.
Evidently, a loud, rumbling explosion just occurred moments prior. As for the cause, only Lucas and the dead beast would know.
Near the dispersing smoke, Lucas stood in deep contemplation. Most likely thinking about the benefits he had received from the battle.
'If I try to convert my aura techniques into soulforce, would that work? No… as I understand it, both are completely, different and unique energy. Aura Overload was a special case…'
Unbeknownst to him, the corpse of the deformed beast near him was undergoing a not-so-subtle transformation.
The demonic Rhino's dark, abyssal red body slowly turned faint ashen white as though losing its powers—or rather its spirit or soul essence.
Snapping out of his thoughts, Lucas suddenly felt a boost of power well up over his body.
His eyes slightly widened in surprise.
'Hm?'
The feeling of the boost of power felt invigorating. It was otherworldly—as if his very origin, his very soul was being cleansed and reborn to a state of purity.
Lucas felt indescribable comfort all over his body. However, soon he controlled his mind and started to wonder where it came from.
As though he had thought of something, he turned around and looked over the corpse of the beast he had killed earlier.
On the dead body of the demonic Rhino, while its darkened skin slowly turned ashen white, an invisible luminescent thread rose and connected itself to Lucas' body.
'What is this…? I'm… absorbing it?'
Lucas' expression was a mixed blend between confusion, bewilderment and disbelief. It was an absurd sight. More absurd than anything he had seen ever since he came into this world.
He blinked twice and even pinched his skin a little to check if he was under any illusion.
Surprisingly, it was real.
Despite the massive storm of confusion it was stirring in his mind, he decided to silently watch first until it finished before doing something.
Under his gaze, the beast slowly decayed and showed faint signs of collapsing into oblivion while the thread aggressively transmitted the power to his body.
After a while, the demonic Rhino completely turned white and transformed into dust, vanishing from sight. The luminescent thread that was connected earlier turned faint and also disappeared.
Seeing that it was already finished, Lucas turned off Voidshadow Iris and stood for a while in contemplation.
As though having thought about something, Lucas looked straight and called out quietly while in deep thought.
"Oversoul System."
In that instant, an illusionary blue screen appeared before him.
===
Oversoul System:
Name: Lucas Aillard
Age: 18 (25)
Soul Path: Path of the Darkvoid
Soul Rank: Rank E- (4%)
Soul Purity: A++
Soul Sockets: N/A
Oaths: N/A
Soulcraft: Darkness
Soul technique: [Void Circulation Mantra] • [Voidshadow Iris] • [Void Extremity Senses (Passive)]
Soul Arts: [Void Plunge] • [Void Orb]
Soul Structure: [Demon Soul]
===
However, before Lucas could see the screen clearly, an abrupt change occurred.
The status screen vanished as a new screen overruled it.
[Analyzing existence. Change Detected.]
[...]
[Would you like for the Oversoul System to record your physical body?]
'...Is it referring to my body refining stage?'
Thinking about this, Lucas thought for a moment before agreeing.
"Yes."
[Acknowledged.]
The Oversoul System then vanished, leaving Lucas in silence for a few seconds until it reappeared with a new category.
===
Oversoul System:
Name: Lucas Aillard
Age: 18 (25)
Soul Path: Path of the Darkvoid
Soul Rank: Rank E- (4%)
Soul Purity: A++
Soul Sockets: N/A
Body Refining Manual: Starry Body Art
Body Refining Rank: Rank E (90%)
Oaths: N/A
Soulcraft: Darkness
Soul technique: [Voidshadow Iris] • [Void Extremity Senses (Passive)] • [Void Plunge]
Soul Structure: [Demon Soul]
===
'Rank E…? So the Knight stage is equivalent to the power of a 90% Rank E in this world? Hm. If we're going by the alphabetical progression system, Rank E should be one of the weakest.'
Lucas thought. If he were to take the Oversoul's system word into consideration about Rank SS being the final rank, then he was merely an ant in this world.
Using deductive reasoning, that meant that the demonic Rhino he killed earlier was also one of the weakest parts of this world's food-chain.
While that sounded like horrible news. On further thought, it was great. That meant he had more—maybe thousands of research samples to discover.
However… while he did expect that he was far below in strength to others in this new world, only now did he realize that he was practically nothing in front of this new world.
Despite this, no fear erupted within Lucas, rather a heavy sense of anticipation overriden it. He had already experienced being weak and helpless.
Once he had nothing. A successor of a declining noble house, a weak and ignorant child, and a powerless cursed mortal.
But he climbed from the valley depths of hell, grabbed every chance to rise, even if it was the sharp spike of death… and in the end—he stood before the peak of heaven.
But alas, merely standing before the peak of heaven was not enough. To challenge fate and destiny, one must destroy and rule the heaven themselves.
"Hmph."
Lucas chuckled before looking at the Oversoul System again. To his surprise, a new notification erupted while he was in deep thought.
[Corrupted Rhino has been devoured and analyzed. Do you wish to see the description of the Corrupted Rhino?]
'Huh… it also has this function? How convenient.'
Lucas nodded and agreed.
"Yes."
In that instant, a huge wall of text was displayed before him.
[Corrupted Void Rhino: Strength (Rank F~E)
Description: A weak and artificially produced lifeform with a drop of corrupted essence of '???'.
Powers: [Apprentice Strength and Speed], [Dark Orb] [Corrupted Blood (Passive)]
Weakness: (The eyes of a void Rhino are visually impaired while their horns are powerful and also quite fragile. Below their low body, a significant…)]
"... It's a lot more than I thought."
Lucas muttered, surprised and amazed by the Oversoul System.
"Does this mean that as long as I kill a being then I can obtain their information..? Intriguing. How does this function work? Where is it taking information from?"
Lucas was slightly confused before remembering something significant.
On the first part of the notification, a particular passage was written down:
[The void Rhino has been devoured and analyzed…]
Lucas brows raised in realization as the fog of confusion in his mind dispersed.
"... Oh? So that's it. The prerequisite is that I can only obtain a being's information when I absorb… or by the Oversoul System's words [Devour] their power. It aligns with the Oversoul System's function; to record and analyze my existence. When I absorbed the Corrupted Rhino's power, the Oversoul System also recorded and analyzed the Corrupted Rhino because the demonic beast was integrated into my existence as well."
To dumb it down, the Oversoul System could record and analyze anything—as long as it was part of his existence.
Because the void Rhino, or Corrupted Rhino, was integrated or absorbed into his soul, the Oversoul System had the authority to record it as well.
Lucas' suspected there was more to it than that. For example, the Oversoul System must have a huge database or library of information behind it to be able to easily and swiftly analyze and record anything.
Unfortunately, he was still lacking in any more evidence to prove that claim. But it didn't really matter much as long as the Oversoul System was true to its purpose, only to record and analyze his existence.
If the Oversoul System suddenly went on its way to help him on its own initiative and proclaimed it would give him benefits, he would instantly reject it and never use it again.
If there was one thing he was wary of the most, it was free lunch thrown away at his doorsteps.
…Like for example, the soul-techniques and soul arts.
Lucas silently stared at the Oversoul System. His eyes dropped over the soul-techniques category. If he were to be honest, he didn't know what to do with the powers that suddenly appeared within him.
At one hand, he was wary of the potential dangers in using it. At the other, he had no choice as using it would raise his chances of survival.
He wasn't one to be indecisive. The present was far more important than the future. As long as he gets to live, he has the chance to turn things around.
It was his conviction. Even though he had already failed and died in his past life, the deeply imprinted belief of survival within him had not changed.
He would continue trying and trying even if it completely kills him. Even in death, as long as he retains his consciousness, he will continue to try.
If there were no opportunity, he would create them. Simple as that.
That was his ego. His arrogance—as long as he had enough time he could do anything.
In fact, if not for his limited time or lifespan in his previous life he was confident that he could have ruled the entire world and even reach the peak of body refining—the Primordial Body rank.
The Primordial Body rank was rumored to be the physique of immortals and gods. In this rank, one could destroy the very world and enact finality to anything.
One of his ideas was to reach that legendary rank, achieve immortality and remove his curse.
But alas, he had no choice but to abandon those ambitions as it would take far too long to achieve. Far too long for his limited life to even touch.
Thus, In his past life, half of his lifespan was dedicated to building up sufficient power, knowledge and experience.
The final half was dedicated to finding a cure towards his curse. And one could infer the results of such a goal from his death.
Lucas shook his head and focused on his first task; explore the dark landscape to find any sort of civilization.