Julian gasped, wriggling on the floor in pain. He thought he had experienced it all, so why...
[Congratulations, you have bound the Soul Artifact: Spine of the Fallen Chimera to your soul.]
[You may now utilize it freely.]
When that pop-up appeared, all the pain that Julian had experienced just up and vanished. What replaced it, however, was a soothing sensation that progressively spread through his body.
And once it had fully enveloped him, Julian rose from the ground. He was several inches taller, and his muscles had once again gone through a drastic change. Furthermore, he was incredibly flexible now.
He could twist his body at a 180-degree angle without even so much as a strain. Even when he subtly used the Spiritual Essence in his ring, it regenerated several times faster.
But not only that, when Julian struck the wall, not only was his fist incredibly fast, but also extremely powerful.
So much so that his fist dug effortlessly into the wall, almost as though it were made out of clay.
An excited feeling welled up in his chest. He had grown so much stronger. If he had this much strength when he fought the chimera, he wouldn't have died as pathetically as he had.
But more importantly, he should've gotten a new attribute, which he decided to check out right away.
Name: Julian Everness
Imprint: None [You must awaken]
Rank: Dormant
Soul Artifacts: Crimson Halo, Spine of the Fallen Chimera
Attributes: [Cursed], [Miasma Affinity], (NEW) [Thought Acceleration]
???: [You must awaken]
[Thought Acceleration] – Process information faster than normal time. Your perception increases drastically.
'Oh? It's not as good as the other two, but this would work well with my current fighting style. Plus, my decision-making should be much better now,' Julian thought, and with that, he finally closed his status and tested out his new attribute.
He glanced around the room, and as though time had slowed down, he was able to observe everything around him quickly. The dust falling from the ceiling, and even the slight rippling of the corrosive liquid.
All of it was in slow motion.
As it turned out, that attribute was even better than he expected. Still, he didn't let it get to his head.
Being alive and much stronger, it was about time he got out of this place.
Turning toward the ice markings on the wall, Julian decided to follow them.
Several hours had passed in the blink of an eye, and surprisingly, the tunnel stretched on for longer than he expected.
But still, the ice markings continued until they were replaced by dried blood.
"..."
She really went as far as using her own blood to mark the way for him.
Shaking his head with a slight smile, he took a step forward, prepared to continue.
But that was when everything around him suddenly slowed down.
Puzzled, Julian observed his surroundings, and only then did he realize there was a rat evil spirit lunging at him from the corrosive liquid.
He had no crossbows, but he did have his ring and physical strength.
And since he might need his Spiritual Essence for later, Julian decided to react with a punch.
Time resumed as per usual, and just then, Julian halted in place, letting the giant rat fly past him and into the wall.
Before it could recover, Julian's punch tore straight through the rat's skull, killing it instantly.
[You have slain a dormant evil spirit, Corrosive Rat.]
Its head exploded into a pool of corrosive liquid, which Julian dodged. But when he observed from a distance, he couldn't help but be left surprised.
Rats weren't powerful evil spirits, and their durability was very low. But even back then, it would have taken him at least five punches to do what he just did with one.
If he wasn't satisfied earlier, then he was definitely satisfied now.
Despite that, he continued following the blood markings, while also occasionally killing an evil spirit or two. They were fairly scarce by now.
But he also realized that with each kill, their blood sometimes splashed onto him and didn't melt him.
Getting a stupid idea, Julian crouched down beside the corrosive liquid and stuck his finger inside. To his surprise, his finger no longer melted; it only felt slightly warm.
"..."
He took a few looks, and after making sure no one was there, he scratched his cheek with a mischievous smile.
'I do need a shower, don't I?'
Julian hummed as he strolled through the tunnel until finally, he reached a fork in the pathway. It split into five different paths, and right as he was about to go explore each one, he saw the familiar trail of blood leading down the tunnels.
But the rightmost tunnel had a star symbol on its entrance, drawn in blood.
Once again, Aliyah helped him.
Thanking her inwardly, Julian did a few stretches and began sprinting.
His speed was far beyond what it used to be, and while this feeling of being powerful was intoxicating, he didn't let it consume him.
And after just a couple of hours of running, Julian finally halted, his smile widening.
In front of him was a giant hole through which, when he looked out, he saw a forest beneath him, only several kilometers down. It was nighttime, and the fresh scent of miasma reminded him that he was alive.
'So this entire time, I was in one of those holes inside the raised Land of Churches, huh?' Julian wondered. 'So it turns out that every one of those holes is like a maze system with different types of evil spirits inside... How interesting.'
He already had a sneaking suspicion this entire time that it was the case. On his first day here, the platform rose and he ran away. The evil spirits came out of those holes and chased him, after all.
Still, as he overlooked the Second Heaven from above, he felt at peace.
Taking a deep breath, he narrowed his eyes at the ground.
'But now that I'm back, I should pay those two a visit, shouldn't I?'