"Now I have enough stat points to surpass the limit of each of my stats. I will then be able to take my evolution quest."

Kaden whispered as he stood inside the timeless space of death, a small smile tugging at his lips.

This was the reason he came to these Rocky Mountains to begin with. He only wanted to be killed by beasts, obtain stat points, and then do the evolution quest to become a Master.

With a Mythic-rank evolution stone.

The very act of thinking he would do it with that level of stone made him both excited and fearful for some reason.

Excited because he would finally know the difference between Mythic and Legendary, at least in terms of an evolution quest.

Fearful because he didn't know what he would face, or even if he would be able to face whatever would come out of this.

But Kaden always kept himself from sinking too deep into these depressing thoughts, thoughts that could cloud his judgment, by reminding himself of his ability to revive back.

He wouldn't die.

At least, not on the first try. Neither on the second, nor on the damn third tries.

He had over 30,000 death coins—more precisely, he had 32,000. This meant he could die more than ten times nonstop.

He didn't believe he wouldn't be able to beat the quest even after ten deaths.

He was Kaden Warborn. Son of Garros Warborn and Serena Warborn. The Harvester.

He might not have been a born genius at the level of Zaki, with a Mythic talent to his name, but he would become a monster even geniuses like Zaki would have to fear.

By the courage to face death head-on. By reaping the power of his killers. By synthesizing everything.

Easy to say, right? If his Will was weak, all of this would just be empty talk with no substance.

He would then die not at the hands of his enemies, but simply because his Will would crumble like a meager rat before the cat of his ambitions.

What a pitiful death that would be.

That was what he was going to fix before he allowed the world to move again.

"Death, how many stat points?"

[1050.]

Kaden let out an unconscious exclamation of wonder as he saw the numbers.

It was huge.

He had never had such an accumulated number of points. This made him realize the truth he already knew since that dungeon with Nocthar.

Death was his only path to greatness.

But dying was never a pleasant thing.

He chuckled.

"Put strength to the limit," he ordered. It was the only stat left.

Seconds later, the process was complete.

120 stat points were gone.

He clenched his fists, trying to feel something different. But in that space, nothing could be felt physically.

That was exactly why he was going to surpass the limit of every single stat…

…at the same time.

But first, he needed some answers.

"How many points to break through the limit again? The same 150 points?" he asked Death.

He dreaded the answer. He prayed the price didn't miraculously increase, because if it did, he would need to die a couple more times to make up the cost.

Fortunately…

[The price is now 130 stat points.] Death answered.

…Kaden tilted his head in confusion. "Why did the price lower?"

It sounded like he was complaining, so he immediately added,

"I mean, I'm not complaining, I'm just curious. Don't increase it."

[It is easier to surpass your limit once you have done it once, Host. Your body was subtly altered during the first time.]

Kaden palmed himself. 'It was so damn obvious…' he thought.

Deciding not to linger too much, he acted.

"How many will it cost me to surpass all seven stats I have?"

[910 stat points.]

He nodded.

"Do it."

The Heir of Death ordered.

Death obeyed.

The process started, and this time Kaden actually felt something. It was pain.

Deep, crunching pain that assaulted his senses as his soul was being molded into something awe-inspiring.

Both mesmerizing and harrowing.

If before his soul-shape had been like a formless white substance, now it began to take shape, and even…its color was changing.

A hint of red crept at the edges, threatening to consume the pristine white whole.

But it didn't.

The process ended before all of this could happen, allowing Kaden to breathe again. He felt like his whole being had been in the hands of a being too passionate about souls, trying to mold him into something inhuman.

"Even in this realm I have to feel pain. Goddamnit, give me a break," he cursed as he opened his eyes again, facing Death's notification panel.

Now, he smiled.

"Did I complain? My bad. This is worth it." He chuckled as he read the panels.

About transcendence.

[Second Step towards Transcendence: The Breaker.]

[Ability: With enough Will, you can break and bend anything to your favor.]

This time, he only obtained one ability. It seemed almost underwhelming compared to the first step, but Kaden knew better how dreadful this ability truly was—especially for him.

He could allocate points to Will. And this ability had the power to break anything with his Will.

Anything.

That was the key word here.

Death would not use words just to sound cool. That meant anything could be broken by his Will.

Even the very concept of death.

Kaden shuddered at the thought. What if, by sheer Will, he decided he would not die? That death would not hold his soul?

With this ability, he could.

The problem was how many points in Will would he need to do that?

He smirked.

"It doesn't matter…I will get there. If not today, then tomorrow. And if not tomorrow, then the day after tomorrow."

He wouldn't stop, because now he could see the way.

His way of achieving a state where even death would no longer claim him.

He smiled again, stood up, cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and parted his lips.

"Revive me, Death."

[Cost: 600.]

Tick—!

…

"My goodman, let's chat a little bit, okay?" Kaden said, his lips curling into a faint smile as he observed the golem.

This time, strangely, the golem did not tell him to go back. It observed him intently, its red eyes glowing with a wisdom rarely seen even in humans.

"Which god do you worship?" it asked.

Kaden smiled, noticing it was willing to talk, but still…

"Gods…?" he asked, tilting his head.

It wasn't that he didn't understand the question, but why was this sack of rock suddenly speaking of gods?

He shook his head.

'Worry about that later.'

"Our family does not worship any gods…well, that's what I know at least," he clarified.

"You reek of blood, death and…" it paused,

"…war," it finished.

Kaden was not surprised. Nasari had told him the same thing back in the dungeon.

"I've heard that before. Even though I do not know what it truly means for you all."

"How could you know? When your—!" It abruptly stopped as the tattoos on its body flared bright red, making the golem wince.

Kaden thought he heard it mumble under its rocky lips.

Something like: "Fuck you, Will."

He tilted his head, finding the situation eerily similar to his time with Nocthar.

Nervousness started to coil in his heart like a winged serpent, but he swallowed it down.

"You are not part of the arrogant Golden, nor of the weird Woeful, nor of the hypocritical Depth, nor of the pitiful Shadow…" it said, staring at Kaden, who felt his very blood boil at the mention of names he didn't even know. Then…

"You are part of Death, even though you are not aware of it. Still…you are allowed."

The golem stood up from the ground, making it quake, the land itself trembling as though struck by an earthquake.

Kaden swayed, almost losing his balance and falling.

But he kept his footing steady as he saw what was behind the golem.

He staggered back unconsciously. His heart stopped. His eyes went wide in both horror and awe.

The golem seemed to smile.

"You are allowed to take a peek at my friend's whisper of remains."

"Go…Budding Heir of *****."

"Go take a glimpse of what the gods feared."

"Even yours."

—End of Chapter 232—

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