When Murai reached the bottom of the well, it was nothing but a silent fall toward the abyss. He felt nothing but panicking silence, and feel as if life was stepping outside of his own steps. It was something he felt a few times, and each was different from the last.

Soon within the limit of his life and soul, his soul space began to shake, cracking, and turning the situation into something that he experience a few times, but not every time.

This was the End, a hallowing feeling of emptiness, and depressive nothingness.

His soul space was destabilizing for some time already, albeit the Robust Spirit made things kind of unique in this life, thanks to the involvement of this world, or whatever the Will of the Battleworld gave him. Perhaps it was also involving the Anatidae species, or it may be related to the Will of the Battleworld or the World itself?

Murai wasn't in the right state of mind to think about some possibilities and reasons for feeling this way.

He didn't find his crumbling soul space annoying, or hurtful, even though it meant the End was coming. It should be the feeling he felt when he died in his last life, yet something was off this time. Now, he was feeling everything 100-fold more since his awareness was quite alive and stronger than ever. It was almost as if he was a bystander towards his own death, which was strange. The body and soul space were crumbling, and the soul should be joining him on the journey to another darkness.

It was a matter that none could change, as it shouldn't since this was a Law, and Rule of the universe since time immemorial.

Although he wasn't feeling deep reverence and apprehension towards these feelings of New Beginnings, Murai wasn't willing to feel this way. He didn't want to let go of this life yet. He felt he was just starting to have some fun in this life and he barely did a thing. Living was supposed to be more meaningful, especially his Cursed Living, or so he guessed was his reason for this... everything.

Having this sort of different life experience than usual was as bad as he initially thought, but he wasn't kidding himself when he thought it wasn't bad in the reality. It was a similar style of pathetic living as a pebble, or a leaf, albeit those were unique circumstances while living a breathing life was much better.

Yet, here he was, dying in the hands of some assholes who hated a simple and honest-looking duck?

Nah... They viewed him as a demonic beast, which forced Murai to accept these terms. But here was a catch. If others perceived him as the demonic beats, he didn't feel like one. No. He wasn't necessarily a demonic beast, because he, as a Blessed, wasn't a beast with a Will of one. He was an extraordinary being, who experienced more things than anyone would try to guess.

A ploy of the Gods? Those were highlights, but not rare sights in his living. Here, in the Battleworld filled with chances - albeit with a limited time - his time to meet gods and their ploys, fell short, yet the gods sought him out instead. That was peculiar.

Now, that statement and belief to be a beast were beginning to turn into something different and probably not that something bad.

“If... If they want me to be a demonic beast, I will let my restraints out of the damned door and show them the fucking beast! Gods or not... I will kill you all for the sake of this shit called Battleworld!” Murai muttered within his crumbling soul space and did the last thing he could do.

He blinked his consciousness back to his real body, no longer paying attention to the soul space that wasn't even affecting his mind.

His Robust Spirit wasn't magic, but the kind of Soul Magic that Murai was yet to recognize, let alone experience, as he was never familiar with something this specific.

Feeling the present pressure and time, he began to consider it. This power but what for? A soul can turn into physical realms and then to a higher power that can move fate itself. That's the stuff of stage in power that Murai didn't have but heard of. The base premise he needed the mast was Vitality. It worked the best for the value of his life. Health? Oxygen? Yes, and yes, but where to find it, and change this fate?

What was most needed? Oxygen, unsurprisingly, since his lungs were submerged in this water, yet his Will remained unaffected by the dying body. That was a strange fact that he felt.

Where to find it at the bottom of the well with no ability to get up, let alone take a breath? Murai wasn't sure how he wanted to try and work against the crisis of his fate. His Will looked at the surrounding darkness, as his eyes blankly looked forward, unmoving, but open.

He knew he had no chance to get out of this, but the time still went on, while his soul space kept destabilizing, yet something still kept clinging to his living. It wasn't his Cursed Living, which would only restart this life, or get him to another reincarnation. That wasn't it. It was the heart or the Beast Core making some strange noise and beats with surges of power.

“Beast Core and my insides? A pounding heart means oxygen and blood still flow through my body, but for how long? How long it even goes on? I didn't pay much attention when I think about it. My brain still works without oxygen, yet this breathlessness lasts too long already? My lungs are full of water, but my mind isn't affected by this which... Isn't make sense at all. What sort of thing is happening with my soul, or... this sound?” Murai felt frustrated, and his eyes kept looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.

However, it wasn't the kind of tunnel he wanted to see right now.

High above him, he couldn't even see the sunny surface of the water, nor guess how long even passed since he was in the water.

Living is breathing, yet I live without it is having no living. My life is what matters, but my Will is firm. Anatidae... Those beats must have many secrets but this living of mine forced me upon it. I have my wonders but chances? What sort of secrets could matter, may matter or not, as life means living and that's how it should be like. It has always been this way, Murai... Yes. Yes.

Murai wondered, feeling as if his own mind was turning sober after thinking of hundreds of ideas, motions, and actions that would help him. His anger dissipated and his frustration moved away. It was a serene moment when he thought of this End. A strange thing.

His legs, and wings? Razmund broke many bones in many sections, and not even the blood loss in his left wing was as terrible as those shattered bones. He had some doubt about how he remained conscious throughout that, but he never felt helpless because of his powerful Will. Maybe it was the aftereffects of the Robust Spirit, while his Will was quite unwavering since the moment he got to his world, but what did it mean?

Could he survive at the bottom of this place until his soul space crumbled first, and then the body would follow towards the End? Murai thought it should be the exact opposite since that's how it always worked. His awareness would turn blank within the death of his body, and then, it was utter darkness, and then, not so much.

It was always a strange situation that he understood little about.

Today should've been no different, but the reality of his situation differed from what he wanted it to be. No. He expected the worst, yet the worst didn't come.

Murai's Will kept on living, but it wasn't something that can be called that, that easily. The crumbling soul space kept happening, but it was gradually turning slower until it ceased crumbling altogether. It remained quite damaged, and weak compared to before, turning into a crackling space that was on the verge of destruction - almost resembling an incredibly large spider web.

It seemed as if the body moved out of the bigger picture, making the soul the primary reason for his survival. Murai's mind felt fine. What did it mean? The brain would be the most affected by the lack of oxygen. It would cease to work in a couple of minutes in the state without it. That's what was another reasonable example of common sense.

Murai was already on the bottom of the well for quite a few minutes, but the exact amount was hard to tell. His eyes were numbly looking forward, glossy, and without much glint to them. The utter darkness around him was slowly making him afraid as if light had ceased to exist. There wasn't much to see. Only a stone wall a meter before his vision, which wasn't much.

Turning his body around was also not possible. His bodily functions weren't right at the moment, as if his soul was within the body, but the body was without the soul.

Body and the Soul. Could a body exist without a soul? This was questionable even for Rudolf, but... what about that woman? Her master saw me coming here 2 years ago. Wait... Soul Forms? Those are strange, but... I am not that. Velga was her name... She waited for more than a year before I was even born. What's up with that? Murai wondered, feeling bored of this numbness.

Thinking of the situation after he emerged from the well for the first time was a good idea to pass some time. It wasn't much to think about, however. He rather kept on pestering his mind to get some ideas for solutions to get out of this weird and deadly situation.

Vitality was the issue, and blood loss was also severe. He would have to eat for that? No. He couldn't move a finger, nor his neck or beak.

Murai kept hearing his beating heart, or was it even the heart? It was the only thing he could hear, so he should be still alive, wasn't he? Though It was still sounding like the common song of the living, so he figured it was indeed the case.

Time moved on, while the light at the end of the tunnel disappeared towards the darkness.

Maybe he was here for hours? Days? Murai felt numb in his mind, yet he felt it all as if he was alive.

His wounds, crumbled bones, injured wing, and even his tiny legs were in a desolate condition. He would wish for all of them to be alright at the moment, even though he hated his clumsy body, he wouldn't find them that unreasonable any longer. Without them, he was just a limbless body, and soul that would remain in an unmoving state. It reminded him of life as a pebble on the side of a road, and that was quite something.

Though he knew more than that, since he was no ordinary rock, similar to the life of an Anatidae - he was no ordinary duck.

Murai was turning his attention from escaping his fate, toward himself.

He was starting to feel the slivers of mana, albeit with a crumbling sense of his Mana Detection that was hardly even usable. The controllability of that was very weak, but not nonexistent. Was he perhaps getting better internally? He couldn't put forth his mana, and not even the special cases of anything else. Soul Read? Who he was supposed to read? Himself? That's not how it worked.

It is here... The living condition of the dying duck. What total dogshit this situation is. Maybe if I would be an Anatidae of the Death, maybe I wouldn't be such a dying duck. Heheheh. Would I rise from the dead and become a zombie duck? That would be too hilarious to even think about! Murai joked around in his mind, having only himself to accompany him to his End.

He even considered Lisa's accompaniment since her disappearance left his surroundings quite calm, unlike her nagging and constant talking. It was quite a different feeling from before, which he amounted to the current helpless situation and bored mind. With a simple thought of her, he felt nothing much after a couple of other topics. Even with her gone, he didn't particularly feel she was that important to him. Even if he died, and that would cause her to die too, he wouldn't find it to be one of his problems.

Then, after a couple more hours of trying to figure something out, he thought of something. It was the Will of the Battleworld that tasked him to go against that shithead named Razmund. He survived that ordeal, didn't he? Was he around any longer, or was it over since he was already dead?

Dead... Death... Maybe this is already it? How strange. Murai thought it through, but it still made no sense to him.

He didn't breathe but thought and acted as if he was. His heart still worked, meaning his brain was fine. Didn't he need oxygen like a regular duck? The Beast Core let out some mana undulation inside, or outside, affecting his body, but it wasn't very strong. This wasn't something his current sense could understand and this wasn't something common for him to consider.

Right now, Murai wasn't familiar - as he never was - with Anatidae Panacea. A powerful sub-species of the Anatidae family, yet he didn't die as a regular duck would.

He had the mana filled with the power of the demonic blood of the Panacea. With it within his body, he was more than he would ask for. It went directly to him without his content or control since it was the Will of the Battleworld, or it was a state of efforts that went outside of it.

That may be that, or was it as random as Afterlife's sneeze? That may be right as well, or as right as one would guess, but none knew about it.

Afterlife or the New Beginning or End was an action that even gods could comprehend very little since all changes in the universe, moved towards the next one, following a desirable line - or fate. Any random action could change the others, giving completely new directions to the former, or the latter.

In this way, the evolution under the Battleworld can change many things and can turn most common sense obsolete. Whether the demonic, or typical beats, it didn't matter, but it could. Murai was that example of extraordinary, becoming something more than that.

Scowling in his mind, but not panicking but desiring something else than the End, Murai's heartbeat rang continuously until a surge of something unfamiliar called for him. It wasn't an explosion, but a wave of sound. Soundwave? Whispering voice?

What's that? It's coming from my chest for sure. Murai though, and when doing so, the Will of the Battlworld finally descended to make the message and this whole situation clearer.

It was a strange situation, considering his damaged soul space could mean his soul in itself could get damaged.

[Citizen! You have been... got! And! Possibly, almost killed]

[That is right, more or less, but it isn't simple as that. It is also strange, considering the calculations and things of the Order... making... Errors]

[Possibly - is no understatement since you most likely can't go out of your predicament very easily unless you grow a pair of wings, or have membranes for better swimming on your feet Wait...]

[Anyway, your Task by our definition has been completed, much to the dismay of our wording, Rule, or premise for your case. Our words are held by rules, and no one will say... otherwise. It is of utmost importance to abide by them, in order to give rise to the greater purposes of the Ruler]

[You indeed survived, you prick, but the sight of your accomplishments and the rewards are peculiar since the Breach caused some problems in the equation - making some things difficult to gouge since the source of information is vaguely available to us]

[The Tasks, by the definition of the Will of the Battleworld, have been unlocked]

[So far, you had small cases of nips and fingers onto the Battleworld, albeit your fate and common goals aren't that. It wasn't that bad, and your first main goal was to perform 10 battles within the rulesets of the Demonic Lands. That was clear as it could get, and one of the first defining factors of what you had gotten]

[There aren't any time limits, apart from the general dislike of the God of Battle for your cowardice. Punishments are still due if one is unwilling to get anything for the sake of the Task. As minor as it could be, one's Blessed is a form of the Battleworld, and one can't get away from it]

[Your Unique Task of going against the Clash of the Blessed was an order put forth by circumstances and... {redacted}]

[In this case, it was misfortune rather than luck but who would be nitpicky about that? Not us]

[Your fate has been as interesting as annoying, and hard to point and work with]

[You have survived in the core meaning of its word. That is a fact, thus the Clash of the Blessed on your part is over, and so is the Unique Task of its survival]

[Your reward is embodied... while submerged... Uh... Its blood, the heart of the Panacea is a strange one, while the {redacted} is coming in terms of the solutions]

[Anatiade Panacae was the god's pet a long time ago, along with other sub-species, or the sub-species of the Anatiadaes as a whole. They were almost extinct since certain gods were sick of them a long time ago, and now, their stakes are unlike one would imagine since they still live]

[Anyway, the source of the powerful stabilization and resonance was your imminent End, but the Anatidae species blood says otherwise, making the right call to let you live]

[Why, or what it was, you may ask?]

[Simple]

[It is a Mutation within the Evolution powers of the Battleworld and {redacted}, in conjunction with the circumstances, efforts, abilities, and core powers of the Anatidae, and your case of first evolution]

[This one goes directly towards the Anatidae Family, without direct contact with the Panacea sub-species]

[Unique Species Ability was structured by the common sense of the Anatidae - caused by drowning, panic, and utter exhaustion of the body and blood. It is a long and dreadful feeling, and a long time ago, some Anatiade figured some things out, creating a Bloodline Path for the future species]

[Thus, under the pretext of your accomplishments, and circumstance, it is forcefully created with the notion of this Bloodline Power - Anatidae Blood]

[Water-breathing - Your lungs were long submerged, making your current Evolution undergo a slight mutation. Your lungs were greatly expanded in a strange manner, allowing for a unique chance to occur in the notion of the Unique]

[Water-breathing - Allows the Anatidea {YOU!} to breathe underwater for an extended period of time depending on the Vitality, power, and inner powers. What it entails is the following. You breathe the water, which will cause the oxygen within the water to turn you on... I mean, breathe. Breath, that is]

[Grade C]

[Level 5 - Can get strengthened by training, and water-breathing, with small conjunction to Vitality]

[As for the other, good or not-so-good things along with the stretch of Breach, and following issues you forced on us - the base affinity with the Water reached a threshold of first understanding - allowing your Beast Core to undergo a qualitative affinity to the Water Element]