’The Seeds of the Fourteen Taboos.’

Although Ravian had heard that term during the meeting, and although it was obvious that it referred to something dangerous, his knowledge of it was extremely limited. Still, he had a rather bad feeling about the whole thing.

Then his eyes moved to the third requirement.

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

’Shit.’ That was all he could say when he read it.

He had barely come out alive after merely hearing one of their names, let alone dealing directly with one of those traces. Ravian did not know what such a trace even looked like, nor how it affected people. All he knew was that it was called a trace of one of the Fourteen Taboos.

He had thought the first requirement was difficult, but it seemed the hardest one was not the first, but the third. Because despite the title he had obtained and its effect of protecting him from soul anomalies, the system had explicitly explained that it would not protect him from the anomaly or soul contamination that came from interacting with one of them. And he did not even know what soul contamination was, or what it did.

’I need to find some books that explain these things. There must be scholars and researchers in these fields. They may not be known to the public, but they definitely exist.’ Ravian decided to look into it later once he returned.

Now, he turned his attention to the ascension condition, which, unexpectedly—

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

...had already been fulfilled?

’How did this happen, System? The requirements were only just unlocked, so what dangerous situation did I go through and survive to a legendary degree, as it says here?’ Ravian asked the system.

[This is the difference between requirements and conditions, host.]

[Requirements must be fulfilled and used only after access to them has been granted to you.]

[Conditions, unlike requirements, are counted regardless of when you accomplished them, whether before you learned of the condition, after learning of it, or even before your soul power itself awakened.]

’Alright, that’s good. But when exactly did I cross that dangerous distance, go through that dangerous situation, and survive it?’

[The dangerous-distance portion refers to where you are right now: this forest. As for the dangerous situation, it refers to the three-against-one battle you won without sustaining any meaningful injury, even while facing an opponent a full rank above you.]

[The host’s probability of death in that situation was above 90%. Your survival itself was a miracle caused by your brilliant and unexpected use of your mind and the surrounding environment, which caught your enemies off guard.]

Ravian fell silent for a moment. He, more than anyone, knew how dangerous the situation had been. In fact, the chance of failure had been even higher than 90%.

"Good."

Ravian opened his mouth and spoke for the first time since waking up. His voice was almost the same as before, but it seemed the reconstruction of his body had included his vocal cords as well, because there was now a faint rasp to his voice that added an air of refinement to every word that left his mouth.

Then Ravian moved a little away from the pool of blood, walked to another corner of the cave, sat down, closed his eyes, and used Absolute Focus, because this time, his target was his soul. Or more precisely, the thing that had been bound to his soul since the moment he transmigrated into this world.

’Sovereign Pride,’ Ravian said inwardly after closing his eyes in concentration for several minutes.

Immediately after—

A gleam suddenly appeared from Ravian’s body, then began to emerge from him clearly.

It came out in the shape of a book.

A white book threaded with red veins and almost entirely mixed with black. It looked as though the purest white imaginable had accidentally had a bucket of pitch-black ink spilled over it, only for the painter to decide to leave it that way and add a decorative splash of red, which appeared across it like living, breathing veins. The red veins glowed constantly.

And above the book, rather than on its cover as one might expect, strange gray symbols appeared, glowing softly. Ravian had never seen them before, but he understood their meaning the moment he laid eyes on them.

’Sovereign Pride,’ Ravian repeated what he had read.

The book resembled the very image of the most luxurious, ancient magical tome one could imagine seeing in their lifetime, with unnatural features that clearly indicated the soul power contained within it.

’What language is this, System?’ Ravian asked.

[This is the Prohiban language.]

[It is derived from the word "prohibition." It is the first language that ever existed in this world, the language in which the Book of Sovereign Pride is written, and my original language.]

The system window appeared to explain, and with every word, Ravian felt that the matter was far greater than he had imagined.

’And how am I able to understand it, System?’

[Simply because you possess me, host. Therefore, you have obtained the Prohiban language.]

’That is extremely convenient.’ Ravian thought as he opened the book and looked at its gray pages, with red veins running through every corner of them.

On the first page, he found gray symbols glowing constantly. But unlike before, Ravian did not understand anything this time. It looked like random scribbles, not the same language.

The strange part was that only the first two pages appeared. The rest of the book could not be opened, as though its pages had been magically fused together to prevent them from separating. Ravian guessed that he had not yet reached a level that qualified him to look at those pages.

So he returned to the first and second pages, trying to understand them once again.

Ravian kept staring at them, and the longer he looked at the symbols, the more drawn to them he felt. Without realizing it, time passed as he studied the first and second pages, finishing them, then looking over them again, as though he were searching for a specific symbol, until three full hours had passed and the sun had already begun to rise.

Then—

[Ding!]

[The host has comprehended 0.001% of the Law of Void!]

[An ability connected to the Law of Void has been obtained. Ability obtained: Void Shadow.]

[Void Shadow skill: From this moment onward, the host has no shadow. Your tracks cannot be traced, no matter who attempts to follow them. The host can now erase the shadows of enemies, draining their life energy at an enormous rate. The host can easily drain the shadow of an enemy of the same rank until death. The effect decreases as the enemy’s rank increases.]

Ravian opened his eyes when he heard the system notification.

And when he read it...

’Is this thing broken, or have I genuinely lost my mind?’