[You have slain Tier V dread fiend Ruinous Blood Thirster]
[You have gained soul essence]
[Remnant you used has awakened]
[You have reached a new rank]
[Gods changed their mind about you, they are offering their blessings to you, do you wish to accept?]
In the dark expanse, Sola was lying on the ground, looking up with an expressionless face.
"No"
After some silence, the voice said again.
[Some gods look at you with a slight frown on their faces]
[Some gods are laughing]
[Some gods are angry at you]
[You are now cursed.]
After that, everything got too bright, and Sola passed out.
^^^
When he came to his senses, he was lying on a hospital bed with one arm missing.
Not long after, nurses came to him and began checking on him.
He was answering question after question without any expression.
After that, he slept for a while.
He felt really strong even though he was only laying down he could feel strength in his hand and body.
Waking up, he saw a friendly-looking man and a young redhead woman waiting for him to wake up.
"Where is my family? Are they ok?"
Sola asked.
"I'm sorry, I don't have any information about your family. You see… the whole world is in a huge mess right now."
The man picked up a note and was writing something on it.
"Can we ask you some questions? We are from the government."
Sola nodded.
Then they asked him a bunch of questions about the duel.
Sola told them everything that had happened to him, except he changed the story a bit and didn't mention his marks or what happened to Lilly.
He has not opened the system, so he didn't know if he had new abilities or not.
After a while the red-haired woman sat next to Sola and said:
"Listen, there's an academy for people who have powers like you. You can go there, get free psychological care, and learn how to use your abilities better. Do you wish to go there?"
Sola was thinking for a bit after answering.
"Are the monsters still going to come?"
Man on his left answered in a sad tone:
"Gates are opening everywhere in the world, and the only way to stop them is to go inside. There's a dungeon within, and conquering that dungeon will close the gate. That's why we need people like you, who have powers."
He couldn't just stand by when he had the power to save others—that went against his morals.
"I will go if you give me information about my family."
They said that he would receive information about his family, as they had to find them, which would take a couple of days. So, he prayed for the best and signed some papers.
Not long after that, he was in a carriage going to this academy, which was full of people like him.
While he was in the carriage, he summoned the system to finally see what had changed.
Name: Sola
Rank: Ashen
Tier: I
Soul: 4/100
Remnants: [Madman's Cleaver]
Curse: [Lilly]
Marks: [Banished] [Solace] [???]
Essence: [Dauntless] [Swift] [Drained]
He had gained 4 soul essence and was now ashen rank, which he could feel.
There was a huge power surging inside of him.
Sola was taken back when he saw the name of his curse.
Curse: [Lilly]
Description: [Two souls are living inside your body, one yours and the other the one you could not let go of. The other soul drains your life force constantly, killing you once it is depleted.]
Ability: [Night-bloom Grace]
[Night-bloom Grace]: You can release the soul and give it a physical body using the mark on your body and your life force.
Did it mean that he could bring back Lilly? He wanted to use this ability right here and now but after some thinking he decided against it.
It was too risky to use it because of the life force it would use, it was called a curse for a reason.
But his mood heightened knowing that there was a chance to bring back Lilly, even if it meant paying a high price for it.
Then he opened the description of the Remnant.
[Madman's cleaver]
Tier:3
Enchantments: [Blood-Thirster]
[Blood-Thirster]: Axe grows stronger with each drop of blood it spills for a short amount of time.
He wanted to summon it and test it out if it felt any different from before but he could not do it here, so he would have to wait until he got to his room.
Next his eyes landed on his new essence: [Drained]
Description: [Wounding any living being gives you a part of their life force. The greater their will, the greater the force you will gain.]
He was amazed; this ability went perfectly with his curse, and not having an ability like this, he would eventually die from his curse, even if he didn't use his ability.
Finishing this thought, the carriage stopped.
He arrived at the academy.
The building was huge, dark in color, with tall, narrow spires and steep, jagged rooftops. Half of the structure was veiled in mist.
He went inside, where he was greeted by a young man in a black coat and a beautiful cane in his hand.
"Sola, right? It's good to see that so many people are becoming hunters. I admire you."
Sola looked at him curiously.
"Hunters?"
The young man smiled.
"Wait, aren't you the victim of the first wave? I guess you slept for a while. People who fight these monsters and conquer the dungeons are called hunters."
It turned out that he had been asleep for about a month, but his muscles hadn't weakened one bit—he felt really strong.
After walking for a bit, the man showed him his room and left.
It was a medium-sized room with a comfy bed, a wooden wardrobe, a table, and a small bathroom.
After sitting on the bed for a bit, he opened the wardrobe.
Inside were formal clothes, some for training, and others for wearing indoors.
Changing into more comfortable clothes, he went into the bathroom and froze once he saw the mirror.