“Woahh…”
Inside the secret room, there was an enormous pile of gold coins stacked in the middle, glowing.
On the floor, various weapons were lying, from a bow to a sword but what drew his eyes towards it was something else.
“What’s that?”
Upon the pile of gold coins, he founds a big red egg, resting upon a support.
“This must be the egg they were talking about. Let’s bring it down.”
Climbing the pile of gold and carefully bringing down the egg from the pile, he came down. After that, he caught the egg carefully and started inspecting it.
“This doesn’t look good. The temperature hasn’t been maintained for a long time. The life force inside this egg is decreasing.”
With the instincts he has honed and having the power of death, he could tell that the life inside the egg is fading at an alarming rate.
“Let’s see if this works.”
Placing his right hand upon the egg, he used the aura of the sun. The aura slowly enveloped the egg and provided it with the right amount of heat.
[The user has learned a new skill.]
[Skill Sun’s Embrace (Growth) can now be used.]
Just then, a window appeared telling him he had just learned a new skill, but interestingly, the name felt somewhat similar.
“Hey sun’s system, are you sure you are not copying the skills of when I had the power of death? This is oddly similar to death’s embrace.”
The name sun’s embrace reminded him of the skill Death’s Embrace that he used for the last time on earth.
[The name of the skill has been referenced by the owner’s past skill. Death’s embrace can only be used on undead, vile creatures.]
[The lowly system of the sun should shut itself up. It is evident that you can only copy something superior to yourself.]
[What did you say, you tar fuck!!]
[What will you do, you white bulb!!]
“These two again.”
Ignoring each of the systems, Mrit focused on the egg as he slowly inserted it into a storage ring that he emptied. Placing the egg in the ring carefully, Mrit finally focused on the treasure in front of him.
“Totopa, we have found some nice treasure trove. Take this ring and fill it up. We will empty this entire area.”
“Topaaa!!”
And so, with a ring in each of their hand, they slowly cleared the room full of treasure.
***
“Hahh… It’s finally over.”
After continuously picking up the treasure for the last 30 minutes, both Mrit and Totopa cleaned the whole treasure room and finally took a rest, sitting by the wall.
Sucking up even a single coin, they continuously filled up the rings. The treasure took 3 whole rings to fill up completely.
“Let’s rest for a bit. Hop on, Totopa.”
Climbing on Mrit’s lap, Totopa snuggled himself. Meanwhile, Mrit, who got free, finally looked at the system prompts he got after killing the big guy and his team.
[You have defeated an enemy stronger than you.]
[You have gained a massive amount of EXP.]
[You have leveled up!!]
The prompts of level up were too much that they covered Mrit’s vision.
“Status.”
[Name: Mrit
Level: 20
Race: God (Former)
Human
Class: Mage
Job: God of Death (Former)
Dark Magician
Title: God of Death (+20 more) (Locked)
HP: 500 MP: 800
Strength: 25 Vitality: 20(+10)
Agility: 15 Intelligence: 20
Remaining points: 84
Souls: +20]
----------------------------------------
[Name: Mrit
Level: 10
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Job: Not selected
Title: The one blessed by the Sun
HP: 500 Stamina: 250(+100)
Strength: 25 Vitality: 20(+10)
Agility: 15 Defense: 12(+10)
Remaining points: 84]
“The stats rose, but a little.”
The rise in stats felt little to Mrit because Mrit got accustomed to it. It was not that sudden, and the stat didn’t rise that much. But by thoroughly looking at the stat, he found a difference.
“And wait a moment. I must have not noticed it earlier, but there really is a difference between the two systems.”
The defense stat and intelligence stat along with stamina and mana points now make the two systems different.
[The path of the warrior pursues strength. Intelligence is more significant in the field of magic. The owner should accept the power of the sun. At the end of your journey, you will find a power unparalleled over anything.]
Stolen novel; please report.
[Ahem!! I guess you forgot that comparing a god and a human is but a foolish thought. The power of death grants the owner power and control over every single thing within the entire universe. A star in million should not think of surpassing the infinite darkness.]
[Owner is advised to pursue the path of magic, as it will help increase the capacity of your mana. For now, the mana you have is but a drop of the mana you had in the past.]
“Ohh, so you decided to finally come out and talk openly. But do not worry. I will surely try to use both paths freely.”
Mrit never had the plan to pursue only one power. Though he hates to have the power of death within him, he cannot deny its versatility and more than that, its power.
He hasn’t discovered the full power of the sun so he is being skeptical but having two powers is something one cannot shy away from.
“Pursuing just one path will become a problem in the future. If I want to have my revenge upon that bitch and those awakened, I must get powerful as fast as possible.”
While he was thinking of the future, suddenly, another system that was not black or white, but rather blue appeared.
[You have now gained a hint.]
“What?”
Disappearing just as he finished reading, it left Mrit confused.
“Hint? What’s that? Hey systems, do you know of anything?”
He asked the system, hoping they will give him an appropriate clue but still got nothing in return.
[We do not know, owner. You should search for yourself about this.]
[Just accept the power of death. Be it hint or that goddess, nobody can do anything to you.]
[Shut up, you decomposed fart.]
[Say that again, you white spit.]
Leaving the two systems quarreling among themselves again, Mrit pondered over the words left by the unknown system.
“Hint, huh?”
***
[Sun’s Embrace (Common) (Growth)
The owner can heal 25% of the target’s HP per 10 Stamina points.]
“Well, compared to Death Embrace, it is still falling behind by many points.”
Death Embrace depleted none of his MP. As a being already dead and being a god, he had all his stats maxed so he used Death’s Embrace infinitely, spamming every time he was in a battle.
“Now, let’s look at the skills of the death side.”
[You have learned a new skill!!]
[Summon Skeleton (Common)
The owner can now raise skeletons from the dead body.
No. of skeletons can be summoned: 2
MP Cost: 100 per skeleton
Mastery: 100/100]
“Eh? What in the absolute bullcrap am I reading? Mastery is 100, but I can summon only 2?”
Mastery of a skill is something that is common among people who like to use a single skill and hone it to the extreme.
Mrit just spammed everything and with everything maxed, he never really minded much about this.
But now shocked by the unusual numbers in front of him, he called the system.
[Owner should realize that for now, he is a complete human being with nothing to do with the power of death.]
[Owner is advised to raise his level but must actively use the power of death to level up the skills of death before you achieve the body of death.]
“But then why does this shows the mastery as 100?”
[Owner was death itself but is now in a body of life. The mastery reflects your power, experience, and authority over death.]
[Your powers are not for systems to judge, but due to you merging with life, for now, the effects of the skills have been lowered drastically. As you further level up, more will unlock, and if you use the power of death more, the effects will increase.]
“Hahhh!! Fine, but remember, I will never die again.”
Finishing reviewing the leftover messages, he with Totopa left the room. Coming out, he looked at the dead bodies lying.
“Let’s not miss this chance to test our skills. There are enough lab rats for me to experiment with. Now, RISE!!”
Upon his call, the stigma of the black sun shined as dark energy came out, enveloping the two bodies. The flesh of the bodies vanished, leaving behind the skeletal only.
The two skeletons lying got up as the aura slowly retreated to the stigma with a red glow in their eye socket.
“Crackle, Crackle.”
Realizing that their master was in front of them, the two skeletons kneeled with the utmost respect. Meanwhile, Mrit had a satisfied look as he looked at the two skeletons kneeling.
“Them kneeling just makes this more satisfying. Now, for the second test-”
“Activate, Sun’s Embrace!!”
From the stigma on the right hand, the aura of the sun flowed out as it now enveloped the skeletons.
“Let’s see if these two who can be considered my team can handle the power of the sun.”
“Crackle! Crackle!”
The skeletons that were now enveloped in the sun's aura trembled and slowly, their bones started to crack and heal repeatedly.
In some parts, the bones started to turn to dust. After a while, the two skeletons turned into a fine powder before Mrit.
“So they cannot handle the power of the sun. But hey system, you said that this skill heals allies, but why did they turn to dust?”
In most novels, many necromancers with holy power can heal their undead minions through it. Now, looking at the pitiable state of his skellies, Mrit doubted the trope of the novels being legit.
[Owner should stop believing random things.]
[As you have said, Sun’s Embrace does heal the allies, but because the levels of skeletons you have raised are very low, the healing factor of the skill turned into an attacking factor, thus disintegrating the skeletons.]
[If you want to use the skill on the undead of yours, you must first level up yourself and your skills. But I advise you do not involve yourself with something foul as using the holy power of the sun on a body of the dead.]
[Owner should not listen to the rambling of some white paste. You can use Death’s Embrace to heal your undead legion. For now, please focus on leveling up as you soon unlock that skill.]
[Do not make the owner learn something that foul, you dark shit.]
“Stop!! I get it that for now, I cannot use the holy power to heal the undead properly. Now stop fighting and go back.”
Then, Mrit, who completed his experiment, now looked at another body as he tried to attempt one last thing.
“Let’s see if this can work. Mind Read!!”
Sitting down near a dead body, he placed his left hand on the forehead of the dead. The dark sun shined for a while before the stigma became normal.
[You have learned a new skill!!]
[Mind read (Rare)
You can read the mind of the person weaker than you or those who are killed by you.
MP Cost: 50
* User might not be able to read the memories of the target if the target has some mental skill or has higher mental strength.]
“Ughh!! This feeling… it never changes.”
Not giving a single glance at the skill’s description, Mrit removed his hand and sat down in a meditative pose as he tried to control and read the overflow of memories rushing to his brain.
Using meditation, he calmed the memories hurling inside his head and slowly started to sort the memories of the person.
“I have to find a way out of this forest for now. These people here must know the way out of here.”
Soon, he finally got the answer he was searching for from the dead’s memories.
“North-East. And it is not that far too.”
According to the memories, the exit these guys always used was on the northeast side of this forest, about double the distance he covered from when he was dropped first in the forest to the entrance of that temple.
After getting up, he looked at the rest of the bodies in the room.
“Now, for the final part…”
***
Collecting the bodies of everyone there, Mrit piled them upon each other and escaped the room through the hole that Totopa made while lighting up the dead bodies.
“Even though the souls of these bodies are absorbed within me, leaving a dead body is not something I can do. If I could have used the bodies as my minions, I would have done that, but I don’t have the power now to do that.”
“Go and mix with this world and its energy.”
Giving his farewell, Mrit left the room on fire, leaving the dead bodies to burn on their own, and escaped the area afterward.
On the way to the camp, he stopped, put Totopa down, and looked at him with a serious gaze.
“Totopa..., I am now going to get out of this forest. I don’t know if you can understand me, but I am not someone from this world. I was not born here, nor have I lived here.”
Mrit then slowly told his whole story to Totopa.
“Someone summoned me here and then dumped me here where I then meet you, Now-”
Gathering the courage, he finally spoke about what was on his mind from the start.
“-Decide if you want to be with me in my revenge or live here in this forest.”
“My path is full of thorns and obstacles where I have to fight for my life. You, on the other hand, can decide to follow me or not.”
Mrit out of the fear of having this life who befriended him in this world be lost due to him. So he gave Totopa the choice.
“I do not know when I will die and I also do not know when you will die. So, decide if you want to be with me or not on this path of mine.”
With how things will turn out in the future and how he has lived in the past, Mrit knew and faced the cruel truth. He doesn’t want this little friend to turn out like others from his past life.
This creature never feared him but rather loved him and stayed close to him, and after watching the power of this small guy, Mrit realized.
‘You too are alone, right?’
Embracing the power of death, Mrit became something that no human can even coexist with. His ridiculous power cornered him, made him the enemy of humanity, and ultimately made him kill all of them.
When he watched Totopa, he found out that he was not alone who has faced this situation.
“You never had any intention to hurt others or me but rather, you wanted to be with everyone, right Totopa?”
Like how Mrit first approached humans to help them, Totopa also approached the other lives of this forest, but by only looking at him, all animals ran away from fright. He tried to help, he tried to talk, but was rejected because of the powers he hold.
And now, for the first time in his life, a human he never saw approached him first and befriended him.
At first, Totopa got suspicious, as to why this human, like others, never ran off seeing him. Slowly, his behavior and his approach to him made Totopa realize that the human in front of him is his friend.
And now, he understood that the person in front of him is also someone who has suffered the same fate as him.
So now, he decided.
“Topa!!”
Lifting his right paw, he looked at Mrit with a cute yet serious gaze.
“So you agree, huh? Then so be it.”
Shaking the paw of Totopa, Mrit tried to lift Totopa, just when a window appeared before his eyes.
***