Ravian opened his eyes calmly, his gaze meeting the rocky protrusions hanging from the cave ceiling above him.

But something felt slightly different.

It was as if his vision had become... sharper.

He could see the cracks between the rocks and the tiny insects spreading through those cracks to build their burrows. He could even hear the crickets out in the fields from here, despite having sealed the entrance with a large boulder that prevented anyone or anything from entering, and blocked most sounds from outside. And yet, his ears could now pick up faint traces of sound from beyond the cave.

’I feel completely different,’ Ravian thought as he sat up from the position he had been lying in, blood sliding down his back.

As he sat up, Ravian unintentionally pressed his palm against the ground harder than necessary.

Crack!

The cave floor split beneath Ravian’s hand.

"Whoa!" Ravian quickly pulled his hand back and found the ground beneath it badly cracked. He guessed that if he had pressed down for even one more second, his hand would have sunk straight into the cave floor.

’Wow, this is excessive... I could slap someone to death by accident like this.’ Ravian reminded himself to be careful from now on, because he might commit accidental manslaughter if someone provoked him too much and he slapped them in a moment of anger.

Then he stood up and looked at the pool of blood beneath him.

’Damn, man. This is too much.’ Ravian thought, but then he noticed something else. The ground looked farther away than he remembered.

That meant one thing.

’I’ve grown taller.’ Ravian confirmed it as he raised his forearms and noticed that they had grown longer as well. His skin had become tighter, without any wrinkles, sagging, or looseness anywhere, and it had grown paler than before, though it did not look bad. Instead, it was a beautiful, healthy paleness.

And when he tried touching his skin, he found its texture noticeably softer, yet far more durable than ordinary human skin, as though it would be difficult to pierce.

’I need to change my clothes and wash this filth off.’ Ravian thought, his clothes clinging to his body because of the blood he was practically bathing in.

’But before that...’

’System, show the status window,’ Ravian commanded inwardly, and in the next instant—

[Ding!]

[Displaying host status.]

[Book: Sovereign Pride]

[Heir: Ravian Veyr]

[Titles: Fate’s Manipulator.]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 18]

[Rank: Tenth Rank — Awakened]

[Soul: Dual Soul — Unknown Rank]

[Extra Lives: 3]

[Element: Void]

[Available Sovereign Pride Abilities: Sovereign Pulse — can be used once per day; permanently increases the host’s physical abilities.]

[Innate: Absolute Focus — Unknown Rank]

[Physical Constitution: Basic-Grade Sovereign Pride Physique — Progress: 50%]

[Current Gate of the Book: Awakening]

[Next Gate: Walker]

[The host may now view the requirements for ascending to the Walker Rank.]

Ravian’s eyes widened the moment he read the last part.

Although he had seen those notifications before, he had not focused on that message the same way he had focused on the things specifically related to his body. But now, as he realized that he could finally view the requirements for ascending to a higher rank, Ravian’s excitement returned stronger than before.

’Show me.’

[Ding!]

[Displaying the requirements to the host...]

[Please be aware that the requirements are one thing, while the condition for ascension is another.]

’Wait, what?’

[The requirements are the things the host needs to assist in ascension, while the condition is an act the host must accomplish to temper both will and soul before ascending.]

[Requirements:

1- The heart of an Eighth-Rank being — a Soul Liberator — whether a beast or one of the higher races. (Humans are permitted as well.)

2- The host must have 5 Extra lives in reserve.

3- A trace of one of the Seven Sins, regardless of the trace’s rank.]

[Ding!]

[Displaying the condition for ascension.]

[The sole condition: the host must cross a dangerous distance, fight a difficult battle, and emerge alive: Condition fulfilled to a legendary degree.]

’Oh... my God.’ Ravian could not believe what he was seeing. He had expected something close to this to happen, but the requirements had exceeded all his expectations.

’The heart of an Eighth-Rank being? Is this a joke?’ Ravian asked the system inwardly.

[In response to the host, no, host. This is not a joke. These truly are the requirements for ascending to the Ninth Rank.]

Hah.

Ravian sighed audibly when he saw the system’s reply. He could not blame a non-sentient entity. It was only showing him what he had to do instead of sitting around every day consuming soul stones and mana stones while training to refine his soul essence.

And yet... an Eighth-Rank heart?!

He had barely survived against the Ninth Rank, and that was with the help of external factors, not through a direct battle. So how was he supposed to do the same against the Eighth Rank?

Those lunatics could physically manifest their soul energy outside their bodies, whether it was mana or aura, and he was supposed to obtain the heart of one of them.

’I suppose I’ll just buy one,’ Ravian said to himself, nodding with a calm smile. Then he remembered that he was poor, and the smile quickly withered from his lips.

’Well, money isn’t that hard to get. I’ll sell them some invention from Earth or something like that so I can get enough money.’ Ravian decided to think about it later and move on to the remaining requirements.

Then he saw the second requirement.

[2. The host must have 5 additional lives in reserve.]

’This won’t be easy either. Those connected to one of the Fourteen Taboos are extremely rare based on my experience, and I don’t even know exactly how they become connected to entities of that kind, or to such devastating power.’

’Frank mentioned the Sect of Fate earlier... members of those sects might be the ones who fulfill the system’s requirements in one way or another.’ Ravian guessed, but then his mind was drawn toward something else.

’But how was Emy, from that random gang in the City of Light, connected to sects like those?’ Ravian’s confusion deepened.

Then he remembered another term Frank had mentioned earlier in the meeting room.

’The Seeds of the Fourteen Taboos.’