While I was searching for a good spot for a final showdown of sorts, my mind kept going back to a certain memory. It was the day that changed my life, for the better. I got to evolve my class to [ Druid ] after that day and became one of the holders of a [ Rare ] class. As I crossed trees and shrubs, I looked at the sun's position, there were a good few hours till sunset. I found a beehive to my left and recalled a clearing some 20 minutes east to the said beehive. Taking an abrupt turn, I leisurely walked the distance ignoring any prey that I came across. They were not any surprised by my presence. After living in the wilds for so long, I was like a fellow inhabitant to them. In fact, one moniker of mine is 'Beast'. Given to me by people after I completed my 12th anniversary outside civilized lands. I agreed with them and honestly, I liked the name.

Again my mind visited the memory of that day, of a time when my charisma was so low a saint would be tempted to manipulate me. But the team leader I worked under was no saint and that spared him the remorse for doing so. We were on a dungeon run and made some loot, and when we cleared the dungeon we were granted some equipment by the [ System ]. Things turned ugly and the team was fractured. It was me, our team leader - a warrior- and a mage against a sibling duo of a warrior and an archer, who thought they deserved more of the loot. In my defense, they attacked first. We returned the favor and the outcome left a severely injured me lying next to the body of the mage and a functioning leader.

He then turned to me, smirked at me, took our equipment, health potions and stabbed me for good measure, and left with the loot. He did not even bother killing me properly and left me to bleed my life out. The pain from the previous injuries and the new ones threatened to overwhelm me but I held on. In hindsight, it was obvious that he was hoping for the fight and that he egged the siblings on.

Back then, I had one of my teeth taken out and replaced it with a potent healing pellet that I could crush in emergencies. That saved my life. I crushed the pellet and while it started healing me, I began crawling towards the exit of the dungeon. When I was just at the exit- an opening on the side of a mountain, it collapsed on me. It was darkness all around me spotted with few pinpricks of light and though I could move my hands a little, I touched debris just 2 feet away. Knowing that air was not going to run out, I stopped pushing against the rock and just lay there coughing. I was bruised, tired, buried, and in near-complete darkness; all of which seduced me to end my suffering. Whether the pellet would suffice or not, I did not know. If it did not, then I would be in no condition to push away the debris to reach a healer or collect some herbs to concoct some salve. I was close to forfeiting the battle against my increasingly heavy eyelids.

As I lay there contemplating my chances of survival, I noticed the ugliest worm I had ever seen trying to cross my body. Its mere presence disgusted me - with its grotesque shape and many legs. I was aware of its existence for a mere second and that was enough for me to abhor it. It stopped atop my raised knee and started spinning its cocoon. I could have killed it easily, I had enough strength left for that. But I was also a little curious about it and most of all, deep down, I realized I didn't have to. It could not harm me and I had no reason to kill it either. I was sure of that.

So I ignored it and started feeling around the debris. After a while, I found a good spot and pushed it with what little strength I had, resulting in some much-needed light entering from my left. With the living conditions much improved, I checked my body's state, I had gone a little numb from the pellet and I had to look to know my condition. It looked beyond saving to my inexperienced eyes. The collapse of the entrance worsened my injuries and added a few fractures. Only time could tell me if my body would heal or not.

Then something caught my eye, something bizarre. Looking at my upraised right knee, I saw something I could not explain in words. It was like reality was a canvas that had a perfectly spherical black spot on it. Right above my knee. The larva had spun its pitch black cocoon on my knee and I felt its life force weaken little by little. I was a little worried for it but was already fainting.

As I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few hours, I spent every moment awake watching the cocoon, feeling the steadily decreasing life force inside it and adjusting my knee to secure it. After a while, the life force completely disappeared; it died. It took me a few moments for that fact to sink in. But when I did realize it, I was much more affected than I should be. Maybe, unconsciously, I saw myself in the bug, fighting for our lives in this darkness and when it died, it crushed me. I felt its death heralded my own.

As I laid my head back down, a surge of mana caused me to snap my head back towards the cocoon. There I felt the unmistakable aura of lifeforce of the bug, similar yet different from before. I watched in shock as the cocoon bent inwards and shaped itself into the head, thorax, and then the rest of the body, except for the wings. Because they came out of thin air. The wings, soft blue, translucent, and symmetrical, started as a glow on its body and extended to form wings of light. It was a beautiful scene and that is one of the absolute truths of the world.

In front of my eyes, the creature was reborn, as in, it died and came back to life.

The butterfly flapped its wings and circled its former home and turned towards me. It stared at my stunned face and paused. It then flew straight towards me and perched on my nose. Its touch was cold and all of a sudden, I felt a foreign sensation well up in my heart. One of happiness and obligation. For caring for its well-being and responsibility to repay the favor. Gratitude. The butterfly expressed its gratitude to me. As I realized that, I looked at the split visage of the butterfly on my nose with my two eyes and I whispered the question "What are you?"

Soulbloom Butterfly [ Unique ]

Born from the desiccated corpses of beasts of immense strength, Aridpass larvae [ Rare ] roam the lands eating anything that nature could spare; from soil, dirt and leaves to blood, bones and life. Until their prime mana itself becomes rusted from floating in the river of time for far too long. Any who survive the odyssey only yearn to return to their cradle, to the agony of a dying soul. There they weave a womb to be made anew and fly high but a womb it is not meant to be. But a casket for a creature naught but old and weak. Thus, they lay not one but two dead souls. Such was its existence.

But the Gods demanded there be more.

They desired to paint a different end to the feeble creature, with a brush dipped in pure mana, with strokes both elaborate and delicate, by a hand moving with purpose and finesse; birthed a being of beauty and purity worthy of the adage " From death comes life, and only from suffering shall its meaning be inferred."

That......

Was not something I could comprehend back then and I did not. The [ Unique ] rating itself threw me in a daze. I had never imagined before that day to come in contact with anything of that league. I spent enough time looking at the notification to read it a dozen times. Then with effort, I willed it away and stared at the Soulbloom butterfly. And I stared and... I kept on staring.

The butterfly pinched my nose and sent me its impatience. For having to wait and not exploring the world from heights it could never dream of before. I snapped out of my daze and asked "What?"

Then it began glowing in its soft blue hue and I felt it ask for my acceptance. For what I did not know, yet I obliged. Then another notification alert filled my vision.

Gift: Metamorphosis [ Epic+ ]

Be reborn. That which has broken you will build you.

And then another.

Accolade Granted: Child of Nature

Communing with one of the fantastical beings opened your spiritual sense to the many varied inhabitants of the world. To the mysteries of nature and its many Gifts.

Gained the class [ Druid - Rare ].

Variant class specializing in Gifts and to a minor extent Contracts.

I closed the various other notifications regarding stats and skills and saw the Soulbloom butterfly fly away from a gap between rocks.

After a while, an investigation team would arrive to check the dungeon and find me. I eventually returned to the guild and healed myself and initialized my class upgrade.

[ Gifts ] can only be used a limited number of times, and [ Metamorphosis ] could only be used once. It is one of the rare ones which grant me a permanent passive, at least that was my estimation. As I increased my skills, I gained insight into the gift and realized that if I used it, for a brief moment I would truly die. Dying was necessary for the Gift to work. I thought the Aridpass larva died because of weakness and I had no reason to.

Every mythology stated that the souls of dead beings do not exist on the mortal plane. But what I witnessed contradicted that. At first, I suspected that the larva and the butterfly were different souls but then why did the butterfly feel grateful for me. I cared and watched over the larva, not the butterfly. Yes, even then I was responsible for its safety but It should not know that if it was a newborn with a different soul. That would mean its soul stayed in the mortal realm and was reborn.

During some chance meetings with necromancers, I brought up these topics discretely. From those discussions, I got to know that they do not actually use the soul of the dead creature. Then how did they reanimate the corpses? These were musings that I often had. Later on, I waited for a good opportunity to use [ Metamorphosis ] but never had one. Adding the fact that I would die only discouraged me further. Then suddenly, it was too late and the Gift could not change my circumstances anymore. Until now.

Back then Rekdat said Soul Transfer. Maybe, only my soul would be transferred after all. Then any danger would be a danger to my soul. Would they change who I am to suit their purposes? I guessed not. There were no records of [ Gods ] personally interfering to that extent. The most I knew was that a few were given quests to kill some individuals aiding the [ Chaos ].

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Would they extract the Artifact and cast me away?

I did not know. What I did know was that I had a chance at victory. And I had a feeling that [ Metamorphosis ] guards my soul against drifting away and that it was the key. I would be counting on that for the journey between worlds.

I reached the clearing and walked to the center of it. Looking around I took note of everything that could affect the fight. I also checked the Gifts I would be using and finally, made sure of the loophole I carved into my Contract with [ Corvus Raven ]. I do not make contracts with the intention to deceive, but merely as a failsafe. More often than not, I end up not making use of these loopholes. 'But not this day,' I thought.

I ran a final check on my Gifts to make sure I had everything I could use in my mind's eye. Just an instant away from activating. I saw Lucien's Gift [ Share Sight ], a Gift that allowed me to share not only what I was looking at that time but also what I had seen in the past as well.

The Gift brought back memories of my friend and our adventures together. For a moment, I was tempted to drown in the nostalgia. With that Gift, I always had a companion who would share my pain, suffering, and fears. Lucien understood me more and more with each memory I shared with him and he always supported me. When he bade me farewell, he gave me that Gift as a promise. That he would still be my companion when I came back. ' Not anymore,' I thought as I mourned in silence for a moment. ' He is alive and well, in his own habitat too. That is all that matters,' I said to myself and wiped away any lingering regrets or doubt. They have no place on a battlefield.

Facing the sun still fully visible above the canopy of the forest, I shouted in my mind ' Metamorphosis,' without any hesitation. Immediately, I felt changes happening inside. Some force weakening me and dragging me towards death. I started to hasten the process shortly after that. Taking 5 arrows from my quiver, I shot them randomly all around me and activated [ Echolocation ] before they hit anything. For a short amount of time, I knew about everything around me through a different sense, made possible only by my extreme wind affinity. I felt a figure rapidly approaching me from the west and one from the southwest - this one slower though. Also, I noticed another one staying at the same place far to my south. An archer I reckoned. Just then I heard five consecutive thumps of my arrows hitting ground or trees or anything at all. I used [ Arachne's Blessing ] and from then, the air between the arrows was my web and through it, I can feel anything causing big enough vibrations. Like fast-moving projectiles. Like arrows. With that, the threat of the archer was largely eliminated and though I could not detect humans and animals with it, it was a feat worthy of praise. I quickly took another arrow and shot at the figure coming from the west. The figure moved at the last second and the arrow flew past him into the woods. I kept on shooting and abruptly threw myself to my left. Standing back up I found the place where I was standing struck by an arrow.

Soon, [ Echolocation] ran out and I was facing an assassin just a couple of dozen meters away on an arrow studded ground. When the assassin, a middle-aged man with a nimble physique, favoring a dagger, decked in dark leather armor, was just a few meters away, he abruptly disappeared. It was like he got pulled into his own shadow. ' A [ Shadow Wraight ],' I thought and quickly jumped high and flipped while dropping my bow and quiver. I saw him emerge from my shadow and try to slash at my former position. I clawed at him while still in mid-air, he rolled out of the way and I did not even touch him. Still, he sported a gash on his chest, not quite drawing blood. He flitted back a dozen steps and was eyeing me as I landed. I quickly circled him and placed myself facing him with the sun shining behind me. With my shadow in front of me, if he shadow shifts again, he would not be facing my back.

He got closer and attacked with his dagger. He hacked at my right thigh and I stepped back to avoid it. He followed it with a stab above my elbow which I sidestepped. They needed me alive and only attacked non-vital spots. I decided to leverage that fact. His next strike, instead of avoiding it, I leaned in its direction so that it would puncture my lung if it connected. At the same time, I shaped my right hand like a claw and attacked him, aiming at his head. He withdrew his blade mid-attack and kicking me, pushing himself away a few feet distance. Dodging another arrow, I closed in on him and tried hitting him, going on the offensive. He deftly avoided them, staying at least a palm's distance away from my claws. 'Once bitten, twice shy they say. Tch.' I thought grimly.

I heard rumbling footsteps coming from behind me and broke away from the Shadow Wraight and put some distance between us. I tried to move far enough to put both my opponents in view but close enough that their archer wouldn't get comfortable shooting. With my shadow to left, I took note of the heavy spear, proper metal armor, leaving out only a helmet, probably in favor of a greater range of view.

Looking at their stance and the distance they held between them, I noticed some dissonance between them. Both were unaware of what the other would do. ' They are not coordinated at all. Maybe it is the same with the archer, without proper teamwork he can only wait for me to move away from his team to shoot me,' I hoped. The stalemate was broken by the newcomer's voice. With a voice rougher than two stones grinding together, he shouted angrily " Go back to your hole, thief. Or did you decide to die like a man? It is too late for that."

' Probably a [ Barbarian ] or a [ Berserker ],' I mused. With his piece said, the barbarian banged his spear on his armor as a taunt and flourished his weapon. If he really thought I would rush to him like a monster at that taunt, I didn't know. Anyway, I used [ Ape's Brawn ] and felt my muscles pulse from the increase in strength. With that, I was stronger and my attacks were a threat to the barbarian too. I feigned a lunge at him and he thrust his spear as expected. I sidestepped in the last possible moment but he still scored a long cut to my side. Now within his guard, I again feigned a right hook and rolled away from the stab aimed at my shin from the shadow-shifted assassin.

Abilities like that have cooldown times and tricking him to use it on my terms would corner him for a while.

While getting up, I noticed black strings appearing from the cut and wrap themselves around it. Then it sunk inside my body and though I felt no difference physically, I knew it was my cocoon.

I kicked the barbarian in his stomach and dodging a swing of his spear exchanged blows with the assassin. I locked them both in close combat, rendering the barbarian's spear useless. Their lack of coordination and the need to not kill me, let me injure the assassin multiple times with only a few scratches and cuts in exchange.

The assassin was enraged and while cursing, used some skill. Thick miasma covered him like a cloak and obscured his body along with his limbs. It made it hard for me to read his attacks and I could only notice them centimeters away from hitting me. He no longer underestimated me and stopped holding back completely and started attacking my vital spots. He was faster and stronger than before and I had several deep slashes within a few seconds. The miasma sought to enter my body through the injuries and poison me. The barbarian took the opportunity to step back and gain distance to use his spear. Strands emerged from my new injuries, wrapped themselves around, and sank inside. My body's poison resistance rendered the miasma useless.

Refusing to be on the defensive, I yelled " [ Lion's Roar ] " resulting in a deep roar emerging out of my mouth, pushing everything back. They both stumbled and while they were disoriented I shaped my arm- elbow to the tips of my fingers- straight and thrust it at the assassin's heart with all my strength. He barely got his left arm up to defend himself and I tore through his forearm and dug a few centimeters into his chest, drawing blood. I pushed away the screaming man with my other arm and moved away from the dagger coming towards my neck. The barbarian swung his spear at my stomach and when I evaded it, spun and thrust above my hip. I raised my leg in an axe kick and brought my foot down on the spear shaft, pushing it aside and down towards the ground. The spear was stuck and before its owner could pull it out, I swung my clawed hand at his head. He flinched away and I could only gouge out his eye and not the brain. He stumbled back, glaring at me with his one eye. I was going to charge at him when I suddenly felt a searing sensation approaching me at high speed and tearing apart my web while doing so. I jumped back with as much strength as I could muster, avoiding the fist-sized meteor hurtled at me. I landed back a few feet and frowned in confusion.

There was a pause in the battle. I looked at the ground, nearly melted from the spell, in silence. That was my first mistake of the battle, I have a habit of counting my mistakes in a battle. An old habit. I did not expect someone capable of hiding from my [ Arachne's Blessing ]. It takes exceptional skill to achieve that and frankly, I did not expect someone weak to be that skilled. After all, if they send someone remotely capable of overwhelming me, I would simply detonate the artifact. They knew that and only sent mediocre adventurers.

" What the hell are you doing Triya?!!", the barbarian yelled looking in the direction of the attack. I looked too and found a blonde woman standing at the edge of the clearing, wearing a red, blue, and gold-colored robe, holding a staff high while glaring at me. She answered " We can always heal him enough to live. What are you waiting for? Attack him, idiots!"

She waved her staff, muttering, and four more meteors were conjured and shot towards various parts of the clearing. With that, my web was annihilated and I was free game for the archer. And the ground I could move was also limited with the fire-earth spell heating various parts of the expanse. I turned back towards the assassin-barbarian duo and asked with a sickly sweet voice " You brought a mage here?"

They both tensed up and looked at me wide-eyed. I laughed and asked " Did you forget my conditions or is the Mage association getting antsy? I thought they knew better. After all, we spent quite a lot of time together during my torture. Hmm?" For these adventurers this was a battle no one should die. They would beat me up and go back to being my wardens expecting me to behave. But if I found out they had a mage, things would get ugly. Ugly, they could not afford.

Pointing the staff at me and with piercing eyes she said "If you had the guts to destroy the Artifact, you would have already. Hand it over and it will be easier for you. Or else-

Smiling, I interrupted " After you go back, ask your superiors. Ask those involved in that operation, if I have the guts to destroy the only thing keeping me alive," then with cold hard eyes I stated, " But you won't be going back."

I gave up the advantage I had and started running towards her with all the speed I could muster. I felt her allies trying to catch up while she started her chanting. I hoped the ground heating up the air distorting the view would throw off the archer. But his aim was good as ever. I dodged his arrows and the mage's fire arrows the best I could and those I could not, I braved through them. My hands were charred and the smell of burnt flesh hung in the air around me. But I only noticed the strands of cocoon emerging among them all. I knew my high endurance would let me fight for some more time.

I felt a dagger stab my shoulder-blade and I whipped around and used [ Behemoth's stare ]. He looked into my eyes and saw a giant, mountain-sized rhinoceros head glaring at him with hatred. He saw its form grow bigger, angrier, and prepare to charge at him. His will crumbled to despair and he stood there petrified. I picked him up and used him as a human shield. The mage stopped casting fire arrows and looked nervous. She started preparing a bigger spell and a red circle appeared out of thin air around her, with more symbols adorning it with each passing second. With my injuries and the extra weight of the assassin, I slowed down enough for the barbarian to catch up.

He swung his spear and I dropped the assassin and kicked back at him. He changed his trajectory and a spike shot out of the side of his spearhead piercing my ankle. ' If I had Lucien's other Gift's I could heal from this immediately,' I thought. Suppressing the pang of grief that found its way to my heart, I used [ Hydra's Praise ] and it was not blood anymore but agony coursing through my veins. That agony dripped down the spearhead and it sizzled. The barbarian retracted the spear and I flung some blood from my injuries at him. He tried to dodge but at this range, that was impossible. A few drops hit his bare skin and they melted their way into his body, destroying his insides. He was down on his knees screaming and scraping the skin of the places where my blood touched him. There was no saving him, I was sure of that. The [ Hydra's Praise ] put my body under great stress and pain. It harmed me as much as it harmed the barbarian. Only, I was resistant and could still fight. It damaged every part of my body without leaving an inch unharmed. This led the black strands to emerge from everywhere and sink into every part of my body.

Suppressing the urge to clutch my head and whimper in pain caused by the Hydra's venom, I turned towards the woman and started running. I reached her just before she completed her spell and punched her head with all my strength. My fist connected .... and passed right through her.

Then the circle was completed with me in the middle of it.