"Mana amount and control: Approved."

"Imra amount and control: Approved."

"Pseudo-law or law of death: Not approved."

"Calculating possibilities… A lower-ranked skill is offered: Withering Touch (III), or save the skill until acquiring a pseudo-law or law."

What is this? A lower-ranked version? So, to reach rank (IV), a skill requires a pseudo-law—that's why my abilities have been stuck at level 10. I sit and analyze the situation in front of me. The option of obtaining a rank (III) skill is extremely tempting, though it would remain capped at level 10 until I gain a pseudo-law or law of death. On the other hand, waiting to acquire one would grant me a rank (IV) skill, which wouldn't require leveling from (III). It's a tough call…

Forget the future leveling—when it's time, I'll do it. Right now, I need the skill to increase my chances of survival. "You've learned the skill: Withering Touch (III)."

I begin practicing with my new skill. It's nearly identical to what I'd been refining all along, though clearly a bit weaker in effect. It's now easier to activate, thanks to having the proper skill structure. I just shape the edge with my Imra as I've done for years, and through a channel I can infuse death mana when needed. That lets me trigger it precisely and avoid wasting mana when I'm only using Imra. "Great. Let's try it out."

My hatred for goblins still runs deep—but their low rank makes them poor test subjects for a rank (III) skill. After several hours of searching, I find a hobgoblin camp. It's the first time I've seen a camp without their smaller cousins. I dive into the middle of them without hesitation. They scream in rage when they see me and charge in blindly. I reinforce my head and chest as usual, and the sharp Imra edge extends from my sword, eager to slice the first one I see. The death affinity surges through the slash, cutting through one's chest.

I keep the others back using version 1 and 2 spheres while I observe the hobgoblin in pain. His screams are loud as he clutches his chest. I watch how the skill spreads around the wound, rapidly killing everything in its path. Nothing can resist. After a few seconds, it stops—having expanded deeply and drained a great deal of life energy. "A single slash did that to a grade two monster…" Hobgoblins are among the weakest of that grade, but their poor defense makes them ideal for testing.

The torment bothers me a little, so I end it with a clean cut to the head. Slightly unpleasant, but it's time to keep testing the others. The bloodbath ends quickly—this skill is absurdly strong against basic grade two monsters. "I need to wash off this stench of blood." I return to the lake and switch out my tattered, soaked clothes for a dry, equally shredded set. I've only brought one change of clothes for the entire dungeon.

I need to train against fast monsters of grade one or two. I want to hone my gravity and speed while pondering how to obtain a pseudo-law. I only need two conditions: speed and weak attacks. While walking, I avoid goblins and serpent-types—they're just a waste of time. After a few hours, I find something useful: what seems to be a grade two version of the rabbits. They're larger and far more terrifying. Now they have two horns instead of one, measuring nearly a meter long and forty centimeters tall. Their legs are thick and powerful.

They spot me from afar and charge. Their horns are the only threat, but their speed is perfect for training. I begin constructing my gravity spell. Moments later, an invisible rain of gravity falls on us—not as strong as usual, just enough to reduce their speed and stretch the duration. With such minimal mana consumption and a massive well to draw from, I can sustain this for two hours while naturally recovering and recycling spent mana.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Right now, my brain has only three tasks: maintain mana structure, dodge attacks while doing so, and think about how to obtain a pseudo-law. When I received the guide, what kind of information came with it? Components, formations, types, uses—it was all basic info about ice. Could that be the path to acquiring a pseudo-law? Understanding the foundational principles of your affinity or specialty?

The more I think about it, the more sense it makes. I didn't receive any other type of information then. With no further leads, I try to grasp the basic essence and concept of life and death. These affinities go hand in hand—you can't have death without life, and death makes room for new life.

Days pass. My routine now revolves around a single question: what are life and death? Total opposites, yet intertwined. Life is the emergence of a new being—a new entity with a purpose in this world. Death is the opposite—the end of that existence, the removal of its function. They are beautiful, peaceful, and chaotic at once. Separate yet connected. Each exists within the other. So many philosophical ideas fill my mind. I try to organize them, developing new perspectives each day.

You could interpret them as good and evil. While alive, all is well. There's still a chance to grow, to fulfill a purpose. Death is the end, the absence of hope, a pathless void. I think about how life forms—from human children to oviparous and viviparous animals, from self-reproducing species to those needing a partner. Micro, small, medium, large, colossal—each life follows a different rhythm. It grows, fulfills a role, and fades into death.

Ways of dying flood my thoughts: natural, inflicted, disease, weapons, accidents… all different but ending in the same result—ending a being's existence. My mind keeps drifting through these concepts. I've always known life and death as opposites. That became even clearer after arriving in this world. After so many days of contemplation, I end up using myself as an example: someone who fulfilled a cycle, died helping another, and was reborn by fate. I've lived, died, and come back to life. It's irrational. Unreal.

"I feel something nearby. My cube indicates progress. I don't know how—I just know."

Only five days have passed. My gravity skill becomes more fluid. Constructing my gravity cascade now takes less time, though the cost is still painfully high. The rabbits keep coming, more each day. We've reached an unspoken pact. When I run out of mana, I escape. For some reason, they don't chase me. They also slow down during rest. Then we resume like nothing happened.

My cube grows more restless. It's trying to tell me something. Could it be a gravity skill? A pseudo-law? Maybe both? Not knowing, I continue playing with my enormous bunny friends while musing about life. On the eighth day, my intuition spikes. All I need is a small spark of imagination or control to push me toward one of the two.

The day passes with the same routine. Lately, my thoughts center on one thing: myself. How I lived my past life, how I died, how I live now. What life, death, and assimilation mean to me. It's no longer about general concepts—I've narrowed it to a single focus: my own existence. I can represent life and death. I've walked both paths. Right now, I'm a living being cloaked in death… and a dead one now living.

That's the key. While meditating on it, I feel it—something is coming. My cube senses it too.

"You have attained enlightenment by understanding a law at the Emerald rank."

"You've learned the law: Yin Yang – Life and Death."

"With early enlightenment, your mana capacity has increased, and you may now break the bottleneck of a skill without needing a pseudo-law."

"You've met the law requirement! Compatibility detected between: Sharpness Control (III) and Withering Touch (III). Do you wish to fuse them?"

"Do you want to learn the skill: Gravity Well (II)?"

"Shit, what is all this?"

Too many notifications flood my mind. I focused so much on them that I couldn't dodge two rabbits. One pierced my arm with its horn; I kicked the other away before it impaled my stomach. I don't want to kill my training dummies.

I do the unthinkable—draw my sword and cut off my arm just below the shoulder.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.