The pure white space of the memory fragment shattered into a million pieces, dissolving into absolute darkness.

Alen’s consciousness was violently thrown back into his own physical body. He gasped loudly, his eyes snapping open to the real world.

Instantly, a horrifying, mind-splitting headache assaulted him.

"AGH...!"

Alen fell to his knees, clutching his head with both hands. It felt as if his skull was being split open with a massive axe. The emotional weight of the memory he had just witnessed was far too heavy for a normal human mind to bear. The pure, unfiltered despair of a mother watching her son get butchered, combined with the crushing pressure of an S-Rank dark magic awakening, threatened to completely corrupt Alen’s soul.

He grit his teeth, his vision turning completely black as the negative emotions tried to tear his sanity apart.

But just as he was about to lose consciousness from the sheer pain...

[Ding! Passive Ability ’????’ Triggered!]

[Ding! Any Emotional and Negative Corruption attacking your mind from the Memory Fragment has been completely negated.]

[Ding! Mental Backlash has been completely wiped clean.]

A cool, soothing wave of invisible energy washed over Alen’s brain. The blinding pain vanished in a split second.

Alen dropped his hands and breathed a massive sigh of relief. He slumped forward, resting his palms on the ground as he took in deep, greedy gulps of air.

"Haa... Haa... That was way too close,"

"If it wasn’t for that unknown skill I got, my brain would have melted into mush just from experiencing that memory."

As his breathing finally steadied, a cool night breeze brushed against his face.

Alen slowly stood up and adjusted his eyes to the darkness. He looked around, and a wave of absolute surprise washed over him.

He was standing in the middle of a vast, empty field. There was absolutely nothing around him. In the distance, he could see the dark, twisted canopy of the Forest of Dead, but the sprawling, horrifying structure of the Mansion was completely gone.

Alen blinked, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing clearly. But the landscape remained the same. There were no broken stone walls, no bloody hallways, and no endless staircases. Just an empty clearing.

Alen felt deeply confused.

’Was it all just an illusion? Did the mansion even exist in the real world?’

He had consumed the Holy Grail. He had gained the Nexus Elemental Art and the Celestial Body. It couldn’t be possibly an illusion.

’No, it wasn’t a dream.’

’The trial was entirely real, even if the space it occupied was made of a powerful illusion. Kaisi used her dying breath to cast a spatial seal. Now that I passed the trial and inherited the Holy Grail, her final wish was fulfilled. The magic holding the mansion in this dimension must have finally dispersed, erasing it from existence.’

As he looked out toward the dark, purple-leaved trees of the forest in front of him, he still felt incredibly curious about the mysteries of the mansion.

’Did the mansion originally exist back on this world? Why was a noble estate built in the middle of a dangerous place like the Forest of Dead?’

’...And who exactly was ’Erez Salvinia’, the name he had found carved into the piano? Was it an ancestor of Mark’s, or just a completely unrelated victim?’

Unfortunately, there was no one left alive to answer his questions. The tragic history of that family had turned to dust, just like the mansion itself.

*Sigh...*

"There’s no point dwelling on the past,"

Alen turned away from the empty clearing and started walking back into the dark woods. The forest was incredibly dense. He navigated carefully through the thick bushes and the dead, purple-colored trees, keeping his senses sharp for any undead.

As he walked, a sudden, soft sound caught his attention.

*Drip...* *Drop...* *Splash...*

He paused. He heard a continuous, rhythmic sound, exactly like water dripping into a pool.

’Water? In a place like this?’

Ever since he had arrived in this hellhole, he had only seen pools of highly corrosive, purple acid that melted anything it touched. He hadn’t seen a single drop of normal, drinkable water. He even thought that pure water didn’t exist in this realm.

Driven by intense thirst, he pushed his way through a thick vines. As he broke through the brush, his eyes widened in surprise.

Hidden right in the middle of the dark, decaying woods was a small, beautiful oasis.

Unlike the rest of the forest, the trees surrounding this small clearing were actually alive. Their leaves were a vibrant, healthy green, and the grass beneath his boots felt soft and fresh. In the very center of the clearing sat a small, natural fountain. Crystal-clear water bubbled up from the rocks, cascading gently into a small, pristine pool.

As Alen stared at the clear water, his stomach let out a loud, violent rumble.

*Growl~*

He suddenly realized just how incredibly hungry and thirsty he was. He hadn’t eaten or drank anything since he arrived in this world. The feast he had seen in the mansion had been an illusion masking rotting monster flesh, so he certainly hadn’t eaten there.

If Alen hadn’t awakened his mana, he heavily doubted he would even still be alive right now.

The body of an Awakened was vastly different from a normal human’s. As long as an Awakened had mana in their core, their body could automatically use that magical energy to sustain their vital organs, allowing them to survive without food or water for several days. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

But that didn’t mean they could stay alive on mana forever. Mana could temporarily replace energy, but it couldn’t replace physical mass. Eventually, an Awakened still had to eat food and drink water in order to maintain their physical vessel and keep their body healthy.

Right now, Alen’s physical vessel was desperately crying out for hydration.

He didn’t hesitate. He rushed forward, dropping to his knees at the edge of the stone pool. He cupped his hands together, dipped them into the water, and brought them to his lips.

He drank greedily.

The moment the water hit his tongue, his eyes widened. It felt absolutely incredible.

’It feels like I’m drinking a second Holy Grail,’

Alen thought in pure bliss. He finally felt entirely alive again.

He quickly cupped his hands and went back for a second drink. But as he leaned over the calm surface of the pool, his eyes caught his own reflection in the water.

Alen froze. His eyes bulged out of his head.

*Pfft!*

He violently spit the water out of his mouth, coughing and sputtering.

*Cough!* *Cough!*

He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve and leaned closer to the water, staring at his reflection in absolute shock.

The person staring back at him didn’t look like him at all. Or rather, it looked like a heavily photoshopped, impossibly perfect version of him.

His messy, pitch-black hair had completely transformed into a brilliant, shining silver that seemed to catch the faint moonlight. His dull, dark eyes were now a striking, vibrant shade of azure blue, glowing with a faint, hidden power.

His facial features had completely changed. His jawline was sharp enough to cut glass, his cheekbones were high and defined. His skin was a pale, pristine white, completely free of any dirt, scars, or blemishes.

He looked down at his body. He was no longer the frail, skinny boy who had been beaten up by street thugs in a dirty alleyway. When he opened his jacket slightly, he saw that his chest and abdomen were packed with dense, tightly coiled muscles. He didn’t look like a ridiculously broad, bulky bodybuilder; instead, he possessed a perfectly lean, athletic, and incredibly strong build. Every single proportion of his body was perfect.

Alen sat back on his heels, deeply confused about what had happened to him.

But then, he remembered the system notifications he had received right after he drank from the Holy Grail.

’Wait... the system said my body was upgrading from the Mortal level. It said I awakened the Celestial Body,’ Alen realized, brushing a hand through his silky silver hair.

’So this wasn’t just a rank-up. The sheer density of that divine liquid completely reconstructed my DNA. It forcefully evolved my physical vessel to match the purity of my new mana.’

He looked back down at the water, turning his face slightly to examine his sharp profile. A slow, highly amused grin spread across his face.

"Damn... I look incredibly handsome," Alen chuckled, flexing his arm slightly.

"If Sam could see me right now, his jaw would drop straight to the floor."

But Alen didn’t stay to admire himself for too long. He knew better than to drop his guard in a place like this.

After taking a few more large gulps of water to completely fill his stomach and quench his thirst, he stood up and wiped his mouth. He splashed a little water on his face to fully wake himself up, then turned around to face the dark trees.

He had to leave this forest as soon as possible.

This hidden oasis was nice, but the rest of this realm was a complete death trap. He had no idea if more hidden trials were waiting for him out there. He had barely survived the bloody mansion and the undead horde; he didn’t know if his luck would hold out enough to survive another one. He needed to find a safe zone, or at least a way to understand the geography of this Ascension Realm.

Alen stepped out of the green clearing and walked back into the dark, dense canopy of the Forest of Dead.

He walked for several minutes, his boots crunching softly against the dead leaves. Out of habit, he cast one final glance over his shoulder to look back at the beautiful fountain he had just left.

But there was nothing there.

The green trees, the soft grass, and the fountain had completely vanished without a trace, entirely replaced by the same twisted, purple-leaved trees that made up the rest of the dark forest.

Alen stared at the empty space for a moment. A cold shiver ran down his spine.

He quickly turned his head forward, gripped his fists tightly, and picked up his pace, disappearing deeper into the shadows of the unknown world.