He didn’t know how many hours he had slept for. Be it five, ten, or twenty, it didn’t matter. To him, it was like waking up from a life-long coma.

“Are you feeling better? Your new heart has perfectly fit itself in the body, while the curse has been lifted as well.”

Standing up and stretching, he nodded.

“Better than ever. The damned thing disallowed me from advancing any further than twelve stat points.”

Truth be told, he couldn’t describe how well he was feeling. For his whole life, he was waking up in a sluggish body that had trouble gathering strength because the curse sucked all of it away the next day. Now that it was gone, he didn’t really understand the unfamiliar sensation of keeping his powers.

“That’s good to hear. Even without my heart, your determination would allow you to reach the top of your generation someday. But now, you will most likely reach the very top of the world.”

His voice went clearly through the boy, who listened intently. Harmis’s voice became much weaker than before. It was no wonder. He spent hours monitoring the human student without a heart. Only his mana core sustained his life, but there were limits to keeping up a divine body bereft their spring of vitality.

He silently listened to the very last words of the dying god.

“Conall, you’re bound to accomplish great things. As my recipient, let me just warn you, please don’t follow my ways. Sit with me, for the last time.”

The air around them turned colder as Harmis pulled on the chains surrounding his limbs, and the whole cave shook. As if the world around them was watching his attempt at leaving, the crystals around them started to become sharper than ever, elongating themselves into killing spikes with the pure intention of murdering the god as well as his heir.

Harmis’s eye sockets lit with a blue light as he spoke loudly, directed at no one.

“I’m not leaving! Can’t you see I’m going to die soon?!”

With the echo of his voice, the crystals calmed down once again, while the chains holding him shattered into fine dust.

Finally able to sit properly, he faced the human child in a friendly manner. Still, he was a bit rushed, knowing his lifespan that was quickly vanishing.

“I'm sorry about that. It never knows when to stop. Now, do you want to know why I’m stuck here?”

“I will listen gladly.”

He was the one who looked through the game’s every nook and cranny. Of course, he would like to know what wasn’t inside the game.

“Where do I start, huh? As you saw in the trial, I was born on a planet inhabited by the Calamity of Faith. Of course, although it wasn’t the fault of the divine beast, from that very dreadful day, I despised them. I watched everyone around me die at the hands of demons while I couldn’t do anything.”

Harmis confessed before continuing.

“When the goddess conjoined the worlds together as a last resort, I, along with many of the remaining giants, ended up in Hestrea, our new home. However, the peaceful world many races now resided in came at a cost. To keep the world at bay, the goddess gathered the four Calamities. Creating a pact that restrained the other gods from their slaughter, the four beasts were to be put in her daughters, however, you know that story already.”

“I… was foolish. My people painted me as their great god, but only I knew I was an idiot. A blind god, who couldn’t see his own actions. In my hatred, as well as to prove that giants are still one of the major powers, I committed a worldly sin. I robbed one of the daughters of their blessings, as well as released a calamity on the whole world.”

Conall’s eyes widened as he heard him. Suddenly, he recalled all the mentions in the old books he had read in the game. The events where a Daughter was killed weren’t many. It happened usually every five hundred years, with the recent one being fifty-three years ago.

“Then, the one that killed the Daughter of Mana…”

“It was me.”

With a serious voice, Harmis admitted to the boy.

“I see…”

“After attaining the blessing of mana, the whole world came after me, as though the world itself announced me as the culprit. This little thing, that little hatred of mine that spanned for thousands of years, it destroyed me, who couldn’t get over it."

"Soon after my actions, the giants had been wiped clean, and my race was cleaned off the surface of Hestrea. Although I had returned the blessing quickly, there was no stopping the people.”

Conall gazed at his pale body with conflicting eyes.

“Having lost everything yet again, I was restrained by the shackles of the world, created solely for me and me only. However, fate decided that wasn’t enough."

"You know, destiny loves irony. The very calamity I killed chose my unborn daughter as its new vessel. Yet, I couldn’t leave this place to even see her being born. Not only did I lose my new family, but I couldn't do anything as my wife died while guarding the spirits. We left our daughter alone in this world, where she would struggle with her catastrophic powers.”

Once again, Conall’s eyes widened and his pupil shook as he realized who the person was. But, before he could collect any of his thoughts, the giant before him gave him a gift.

“That’s why, Conall, this is where you come into question. You have already partly become a giant in body, but you’re a pure giant in the soul. Because of that, normal methods of training your soul and aura won’t help you. Take this manual. There, a skill that allows us to cultivate our spirit is engraved."

“Thank you, however, it will be a long time before I can use my soul and aura properly.”

“I know, and I have a solution for it, though you will have to get it yourself from my dead wife. That’s what I wanted to tell you. My last, selfish desire. Please, find my daughter and bring her to where my wife is guarding the world’s soul and its fragments. I know you can do it, Conall. Once again, I… want to… thank you.”

His voice gradually faded as he spoke, he managed to deliver the last piece of information for his liberator.

This was it. Life fully escaped the bounds of Harmis's body, leaving Conall alone in this forsaken cave. Even the cave itself started to slowly melt away, seeing that it no longer held a purpose.

“I will help you, Harmis. I’m sure your daughter can’t wait to meet you.”

As a smile blossomed on his face, he finally stood up, ready to leave this place. Although you had to drop yourself into the ocean to enter, all you had to do to leave this place was activate the teleportation node inscribed amidst the ice crystals.

Just like that, he was back at the surface, near the hill overseeing the graveyard. Gazing at the blazing sun, he felt the warm wind soothe his red hair.

It was time to go back to the academy.

…

“What were you doing!? You didn’t show up for any of the lectures yesterday!”

Juliette shouted at him on the brick road, enraged. Yesterday, they were meant to spar during her lesson, but the boy didn’t show up. Then, she learned from his files that he didn’t actually attend any lectures that day.

She was worried for him, especially after hearing what the elf prince accused him of. With his sudden disappearance, she, along with many others, thought that he might have ‘silently’ vanished because of the golden he got in trouble with.

“I was busy, so I just didn’t come.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

She couldn’t believe his straightforwardness. Truly, it was astonishing how a Grade C could act in such a way with a Grade A.

“Are you aware what hour it is right now?”

“Not really.”

“Eleven in the morning. You have already missed your morning lecture today. Really, what have you been doing?”

“Ehh, preparing for the future?”

Hearing the unsure, almost funny response, she swore she would hit him in the head. Of course, she refrained, lest some student saw them.

“Haa, why should I even care, it’s not like I’m the teacher of your class.”

She gave up reasoning with him as it wasn’t going anywhere. Instead, she took him with her since their classes would start soon.

“This isn’t the usual area for our classes. Where are we going?”

“You will see soon. It’s a secret.”

She winked her eye at him while being discreet. He couldn’t help but chuckle at her poor attempt at retaliation.

“I really was preparing for the future.”

He tried to argue, but she stopped listening. She simply dragged him towards their next destination.

However, as they were walking through the academy grounds, the rain started falling and Juliette put on a wary face.

“Mister Agael, I’m not trying to be rude, however, please try not to be affectionate with the opposite gender on the school grounds, especially a professor.”

Professor Morgana said as she walked closer to the duo. She completely disregarded the embarrassed face of the Daughter of Calamity and focused on her student.

“Hmm? Student, did you somehow get taller?”

Having noticed the slight difference, she pointed out, to which Juliette also checked, surprised that she hadn’t realized sooner.

“I don’t know? Maybe it’s a late growth spurt?”

“Nonetheless, since I noticed you here, I might as well ask. Care to explain your recent absences from the lectures?”

“Professor, wasn’t it you who told us only mandatory lecture attendance is important?”

“That is the case, however, as a professor, it is my priority to care and worry about my students.”

“I simply lost my sense of time during intensive training.”

“But you weren’t in your room for the whole time of your disappearance.”

“I was in the Octa forest.”

“There have been no sightings of you going there.”

“I sneaked out at night because that’s when the easier areas are less occupied.”

“But you were there for more than 30 hours, so you must have trained during the day.”

“That’s right. Once I took a spot, people didn’t really bother me.”

“Fine. Although that’s a rule violation of the academy, I will turn a blind eye.”

“Thank you, professor.”

“Don’t mind it. Instead, prepare yourself for the annual event this Friday. You will remember to show up, right?”

“Of course, professor.”

“Good. I will see you next time.”

With their little conversation coming to an end, Morgana left them on their own. Juliette, furious, complained to her student.

“She treated me like I wasn’t even here.”

“Don’t worry about her. She only cares about people that seem useful to her. They are no more than tools for her.”

“That… makes me even angrier.”

The rain had already subsided. Leaving the capital, they made their way towards the secret area, which was the Octa forest.

After she led him to another goblin settlement, he battled against some goblins before sparring with her. Just like that, a few hours passed and Conall could finally check his spoils in peace.

Lying on his room’s bed, he first inspected his now-cured stats.

He called for his status, and the already familiar purple screen showed up.

Level: 21

Strength: 12

Constitution: 13

Dexterity: 12

Mind: 11

Spirit: 11

‘Constitution probably raised itself just from my new heart pumping blood, while I specifically trained strength and dexterity while fighting the goblins.’

His spirit and mind, on the other hand, were raised during the time he spent in the cave. Because the mana and aura that surrounded Harmis weren’t evil or negative, he actually benefited from simply being there.

‘This feels weird.’

He thought. Having stats that for once weren’t orderly proportioned, was odd. But, it also felt nice to finally break through the barrier of twelve and above. Distributing all 21 free stat points he had equally, the numbers changed and he felt a sudden increase of power in every aspect of his being.

He was closer to the first gate than ever.

Level: 21

Strength: 16

Constitution: 16

Dexterity: 16

Mind: 16

Spirit: 16

Dismissing the screen, he tried to recall the one that appeared during the miracle, but he couldn’t no matter what.

Miracles could be described as rewards from the world.

The cost for someone to be damned was exorbitant, especially for a divine being.

Put simply, a curse wasn’t a part of this world. In a non-existent state between the astral and physical plane, the curses ate away at both the accursed, as well as the world around them. It was especially bad if the curse killed its vessel and was left to roam around the world. And the world despised curses, who harmed it.

That’s why, to those that dealt with their curses, blessings were rewarded. Curing low curses provided one an increased learning magnitude for a few days, so it wasn’t worth getting them.

Mid curses, on the other hand, gave a few stats and in some cases, could let one into their respective gates without any repercussions.

Being able to cleanse a high curse, which was able to kill off an entire capital if left unsustained, had a multitude of rewards. It could either be an increased talent for a few years, being able to enter the next gate with no issues, or getting a special, rare item that could help one reach further in their path.

However, the best rewards one could gain were undoubtedly from divine curses. With the capacity to desolate an entire planet, the rewards were always unique and extremely advantageous.

From immense skills to permanent increases in talent and even transcendent items, they were something people would kill for, especially those who were stuck.

For cleansing cursed blood in the game, he acquired his most treasured skill. Named ‘Great Blood’, it made the quality of his blood superior in every aspect, allowing him to grow quicker. Though with fate’s ploy, he wondered if it would even help.

Nonetheless, he summoned the second last board the goddess permitted him to summon.

1. Blessed Blood 2. 3. --- ---

It was a purple screen depicting what skills he had, as well as their description. He raised his body suddenly, seeing as the skill changed.

‘Nononono’

He exclaimed in his mind, thinking his plan had changed. When he looked at the skill’s description, his face transformed from discomfort to being pleasantly surprised.

Blessed Blood - Impress the World! Your presence has been taken into consideration. Great feats will reward you depending on the impact they hold.

More like a puzzle than a description from a game, it still allowed him to somewhat understand the meaning.

Just like the skill said, any great achievement will carry rewards with it. As plain as that. Yet, Conall couldn’t dismiss its greatness.

Although having stronger blood was useful in training, his heart which came from a god probably carried an even greater one. On the other hand, each time he cleansed a curse, he would potentially get additional benefits, which was unthinkable.

All of a sudden, the very first skill he acquired in Hestrea had become his main one.

‘With this, it may actually be possible.’

The sudden thought distracted Conall, but he quickly came back to himself. He couldn’t forget the manual Harmis gave him.

The god said previously that it was a manual that held a skill, to which his heart beat worriedly.

Truth be told, he didn’t know what to think about it. He already had all the skills he wanted in his mind. Changing their synergies didn’t sit well with him, but he still wanted to know what knowledge the manual held.

Slowly and carefully, he read through the old texts. Already on the first page, he was struck with information that made him curious.

‘Giants naturally have unstable souls.’

He read through the rest, quickly finding out the reasons.

Giants were blessed by the world. They were called the people of the world for a good reason. Their heightened regenerative ability was what allowed them to become the way they were.

In the beginning, they were normal humans, however, as their first king defeated the cursed beast plaguing their planet, the world bestowed great regeneration upon his people. Quickly, their bodies rose in size as their hearts regenerated them over and over.

In a matter of a thousand years, a normal person of their kind had become ten times the size of a human. They had become giants, as they called themselves.

With the regenerative powers, their bodies increased, and so did their spiritual vessels, needing a bigger size to hold the physical size.

Unfortunately, the sudden increase over the years, which equaled roughly 10 to 1 compared to a human, left their spirits unstable. None of their previous methods from the human era worked properly.

They couldn’t just shed their soul for a new and stronger one to replace it.

Because of that, countless giants came up with their own ways over thousands of years, with a single one being the most efficient, making use of the entirety of their spirits.

Over the next few thousand years of advancing the technique, their efforts finally paid off. The result was so significant that the world had classified it as a Legendary rank skill.

‘Three Layers of the World’

As Conall read the technique’s name and how it worked, he finally concluded his hesitation. He would learn it once his soul is fully healed.

Storing the manual back in his inventory, he finally got to his daily training. He needed some adjusting since he suddenly gained a one-third increase in his stats.