Noah woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. It was made of that woody material that shined like ceramic, which he now knew to be known as darbean wood.

'Goofy ass name. Wait.'

"Where-?"

Hearing the weirdly raspy voice of someone who hadn't spoken in weeks, Noah abruptly ended his sentence, then raised his hand to touch his throat.

"You're awake?"

To his right, a familiar feminine voice spoke, one slightly rough around the edges, that he remembered to be stoic and indifferent. Strangely, her voice seemed to be filled with warmth right now.

"It's been 3 days. You did well. Truly."

Slightly pivoting his head to the right, he noted that he was in the corner of the room made of darbean wood and brick, with a redhead wearing a plain white tunic and shorts occupying the centre of his vision. She had her shoulder-length hair down and wore a smile of genuine relief on her face.

"Marriage"

"...sorry?"

To Noah's moronic comment that he blurted out upon seeing a beautiful woman in front of him, she questioningly replied without faltering in her joyful expression or her powerful warrior aura.

The last time Noah had met Ariel, she had been by her father's side, City Lord Cedric, as a formality and to supplement her father's explanation of his request. She had been mid-training and thus had shown up in what she was wearing.

Now that she had changed into more everyday wear, Noah was struck dumb by her appearance. Which, for some reason, no longer contained that stoic, indifferent look but now was instead full of radiant emotion, even if her warriorlike aura hadn't faded in the least.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Sorry, just ignore that. I'm guessing I'm in the estate, but why?"

"A guard found you collapsed and horribly wounded outside the city. If you had been found even minutes later, you might have succumbed."

"Oh, that makes sense. Also, isn't the station of a nurse too lowly for you? It doesn't feel like the daughter of a baron should be relegated to tending injuries."

"Ah, that's because we'll be getting married soon. It's only natural for your wife to tend to your injuries, isn't it? Besides, for the feat you've accomplished, I most definitely would not be opposed to doing this even if we weren't. The blood smear trail led us to infer that you've dragged yourself at least half a mile with those injuries. It truly is a commendable feat."

The next moment, the memories of the events of that day rushed into his head, and he sharply sucked in a breath as it happened.

Without hesitation, he immediately placed both hands at the hem of the white tunic he was clad in and yanked it upwards.

Nothing. The hole in his chest had almost been completely healed. His ribs and heart were no longer visible, though a small scar was still left behind. When he thought about the arrow that had dealt that damage, a small, easily ignored bout of phantom pain could be felt shooting into his chest.

He knew just by looking at it that the small scar could not be erased, even if he tried to heal it as a unicorn. Yet, a small part of him didn't want to have it healed. That injury led him to make a vow, one that promised a view from the peak once again, and he had no intention of forsaking it.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder how he would reach that level of strength. He knew he didn't have any talent for magic since higher-circle magic required finer mana control. In theory, he could still pursue it, but it would take forever, and just being an archmage would be nowhere near enough to compete with the level of strength he wished for. It was the same with becoming a sovereign-ranked warrior, which he had slightly more talent for, which depended on the speed at which a person could circulate their mana. Evan actually pursued this route, and he had actually managed to get pretty high up there, what with him being ranked just one below sovereign. Still, that level of strength didn't suffice for Noah.

Releasing the hem of his tunic, he lay back on the bed. He was aware that his skill, mimicry, was the key. It was what set him apart from those of this world, and it was what would elevate him to transcendence.

Now that he thought about it, what if he used mimicry twice at the same time to become two monsters at once? What got him in trouble this time was the weak endurance of the snake and the vulnerability to silver of a vampire. If he could become a vampire only in blood while keeping the exterior of an amphiptere, wouldn't its scales protect him from silver while also granting it the supernaturalism of a vampire?

'Wait. Am I onto something here? Why have I never thought of this?'

This was because Noah had never truly wished to get stronger as much as he wanted to now. Competition and threat drove humans, and he had virtually none of that last year. This was in contrast to now, where every spike of phantom pain from his scar was like a reminder to never forget his vow of strength.

'Well, I'll think about that later. I wonder how Eldoria's faring without its strongest active combatant, though.'

A devilish smile threatened to creep onto his countenance as he thought about how he had more or less fucked the King over. The King wasn't an active combatant and usually just sat on his throne without really fighting. Now that Delor was gone, though, he probably had to take the place of the Commander on missions. They'd probably piece everything together when they saw the razed battlefield where Delor and Noah had fought.

Noah, thinking of Eldoria's current state, faltered as he remembered where he was and the woman he had left hanging after she had said her piece. What had she said—something about marriage, was it? Being his wife?

"Huh? Wife?"

"Oh? The ceremony hasn't been conducted yet, but we can address each other that way."

His mind blanked.