Walking over to a corner of the room, Harry's eyes landed on a large stone table, covered in runes glowing with dark, black blood.
This was no ordinary table, it was part of the 'Ritual of Life', an ancient and mysterious rite he had once encountered in the fighter's world. It was a ritual designed to connect to an unknown god, one that could transform ordinary life into pure vitality.
While the ritual's effects were extraordinary, the materials required for it were deceptively simple. They only needed to be strong enough to withstand the energy of the runes during the ritual.
But despite its simplicity, Harry had failed multiple times after returning to the Dawn World. His materials had never been strong enough to endure the power of the runes, causing them to crack and fail every time. Eventually, he gave up on the idea entirely.
That is, until recently, when he watched Sean working with the corpse beasts.
'Could this be the answer?' Harry thought, his mind racing.
The usual materials had been insufficient, but these corpse beasts, altered by the Soul Beast's aura, might be exactly what he needed. Their bodies had undergone a transformation, becoming something much more than ordinary beasts, a semi-demonic form. The materials within them could be used by wizards to create powerful potions.
If they could be used in potions, they were surely potent enough to withstand the ritual's power.
Harry's eyes gleamed with excitement. He finally had the breakthrough he needed. What had once seemed impossible now felt like an opportunity waiting to be seized.
After leaving Sean, Harry couldn't wait to begin his experiment.
Eager to test his theory, he started by examining the materials from the corpse beasts. He tried several different parts before deciding to use the heart, grinding it into powder and combining it with the beast's blood to carve the ritual runes.
It didn't take long before the runes began to take shape. Harry focused, channeling his life energy into the intricate symbols. Slowly, the runes flickered, glowing faintly in response to the life force.
"It worked," Harry murmured, letting out a relieved breath.
Although the ritual wasn't perfect, much less stable than usual, the faint light from the runes told him that it had succeeded. It wasn't as strong as a normal ritual, and the runes flickered uncertainly, as if they might fade at any moment, but this was still a huge improvement. It was a step forward, far better than the failed attempts he'd made in the past.
Harry felt a wave of excitement. The life ritual could work here, in this world. That was huge news.
But as quickly as the excitement came, doubts followed.
Back in the Fighter World, the last time Harry had used the Ritual of Life, he'd inadvertently connected to the Dark God. That ritual had a hidden clause, whenever someone used it, they gained vitality, but most of the benefits went to the Dark God. It was a way for the god to accumulate strength and bide time until his eventual return.
Now, Harry wondered: could that still be true in this world? Was the Dark God still a threat, or had the connection been severed along with the change of worlds?
Harry wasn't overly worried about the Dark God catching up with him. After all, they were now in a different world entirely. What could the Dark God do from there? Plus, in the previous world, the Dark God had been trapped, imprisoned in some dark, distant place. The chances of the god finding his way here seemed slim.
The real question was whether the life ritual would still work without the Dark God's influence.
That was the question Harry needed to answer.
And the answer was simple: test it.
Without hesitation, Harry gave the order. A wild boar, captured from the mountains by his men, was dragged to the stone table. It was locked in a cage, struggling, before Harry killed it swiftly and laid it on the altar.
As the blood spilled, the ritual began to take effect. The runes flared up, glowing brighter and drawing the beast's power into them. Slowly, pure life force flowed from the boar's body into Harry's.
At first, everything seemed as it should. The ritual was working just as it had in the Fighter World, drawing vitality into Harry's own body.
But then, Harry froze.
He could feel it, more power, 'much' more power than usual, flooding into him.
"Is this... normal?" Harry wondered, startled by the surge of vitality rushing through him.
This wasn't the first time he'd used the life ritual. He was familiar with the amount of power it usually gave him. But this... this was something entirely unexpected. There was too much life force. It was overwhelming, almost dizzying.
His pulse quickened as he tried to process what was happening. The ritual had given him more energy than ever before. Far more than he'd ever experienced.
The question was: 'Why?'
"This is wrong!" Harry's mind raced as he realized something was amiss.
Ordinary life rituals never worked like this. Under normal circumstances, if he gained one unit of vitality from a sacrifice, today's ritual had given him five times that amount.
The wild boar he had used as a sacrifice was just an ordinary beast, yet the vitality it provided was more than what even some elite fighters could offer.
In the past, Harry had used highly skilled warriors as sacrifices in the Fighter World, and the amount of vitality he gained from those rituals barely matched this one. This was no ordinary outcome.
His mind flashed to a thought: 'Was there something in the process that had changed?'
Then it hit him.
In the previous world, the Dark God had always been a part of the ritual. Whenever Harry performed the life ritual, a portion of the vitality would always be siphoned off for the god, leaving Harry with only a fraction of the energy.
But now, without the Dark God in this new world, something had shifted. With no god taking a cut, the ritual was more effective than ever. The vitality he gained was now fully his.
'No more middleman taking a profit from the difference!'
This revelation made everything click. Without the Dark God's interference, the energy from the sacrifice was flowing directly into Harry, undisturbed. Before, the Dark God had been siphoning off the lion's share of the vitality. Each time Harry performed a ritual, only about 20% of the energy went to him, while 80% went to the god.
'That's outrageous!' Harry thought, his frustration building. He had worked tirelessly to gather powerful sacrifices, only to see the Dark God take most of the profits.
But now; now that he was free from the god's grasp, Harry could keep everything for himself. The transformation he felt was undeniable: his body was flooded with vitality, making him feel stronger and more alive than ever.
A wave of satisfaction washed over him. The energy flowing through his body felt like it was reshaping him, improving him in ways he hadn't thought possible. It was an invigorating, almost nostalgic sensation, one that made him appreciate the change even more.
The life ritual was now fully under his control, and the benefits were his to keep.
With the surge of vitality flooding his body, Harry felt the dormant seed of life within him stir. It seemed to sense the shift and began to grow, slowly evolving toward a higher state.
This was the transformation into the realm of a Great Knight.
In the final days of the previous world, Harry had already achieved the rank of a Great Knight. Though he'd lost that power upon entering this new world, the sensation of greatness had remained with him, a distant memory. Now, with the right conditions and enough accumulated strength, he knew it was only a matter of time before he could regain that power.
The overwhelming vitality he was receiving now acted like a booster, accelerating the growth of the seed of life within him.
But there was a catch: The leap from a knight to a Great Knight was still a massive one. This amount of vitality, while substantial, wasn't enough to close the gap. Harry would need more. Several more doses of vitality.
Thankfully, with the Ritual of Life, Harry was confident he could reach his goal quickly.
Previously, he had been selective about his sacrifices. The presence of the Dark God had drained away much of the vitality, leaving Harry with barely enough energy to justify the cost of the ritual. But now, without the Dark God acting as a middleman, things were different. The vitality he gained from the ritual was his alone, and he no longer had to worry about wasting precious resources.
Still, there were problems.
His supply of materials was running low.
The materials he had been using; the hearts of corpse beasts, were of poor quality. They didn't last long and could only withstand one use before being rendered useless. After several rituals, Harry's stock of materials had been exhausted.
Frustrated but determined, Harry sighed. "It seems we need to find more materials."
Promotion was within reach, but his progress was stalled because of a shortage of supplies. There was nothing more frustrating than being so close, only to be held back by something as simple as materials.
But Harry wasn't without options. Thanks to the recent surge of corpse beasts, they were appearing all around him. If he needed more, he could hunt them down.
And there was another possibility. He remembered Sean, the wizard, and wondered if he might be able to help. Wizards were known for having access to rare and special materials, far beyond what an ordinary person could get their hands on.
"Something strong enough to carry life energy?" Sean looked up from his work, where he was carving runes on a large stone platform. A look of surprise flashed across his face. "What do you need these materials for?"