Flato Solar System, Planet Fras...
A tall man with short black hair, brown eyes, and a deep scar running across the left side of his face walked down a dimly lit corridor.
The corridor was shrouded in a gloomy aura, and as the man moved forward, the sound of his footsteps echoed through the silent surroundings.
On both sides of the corridor, placed in a straight line were large glass tubes filled with thick green liquid.
As the man walked, he glanced at the tubes with an expressionless look on his face.
Some tubes contained nothing but the thick green liquid, while others held bodies of monsters and humans floating within them.
Their auras were extremely weak, indicating that they were all still alive, though barely clinging to life.
Soon, the man reached the end of the corridor, where a massive iron door stood firmly shut.
Placing his hand on the side of the door, he infused it with his cosmic energy.
The instant his cosmic energy came into contact with the door, numerous runes lit up across its surface, glowing faintly before the heavy iron door slowly began to lift.
The scarred man stepped inside the room, and the door immediately began to descend once more.
He did not wait for the door to completely close before walking ahead, his figure disappearing deeper inside.
Not far from that iron door, within one of the glass tubes, a human girl, barely 110 cm tall weakly opened her eyes and looked at the closing door.
She raised one of her small hands hesitantly and brought it closer to the glass wall of the tube, as if wanting to smash it and escape.
However, the moment she lifted her hand, her vision blurred.
A scene flashed before her eyes as she saw herself being beaten brutally by several people, and then hacked to death by a spear.
Seeing the vision, her raised hand froze mid-air.
As her hand began to fall once again, the vision of her death shattered like glass, replaced by another scene.
This time, she saw herself standing freely, no longer caged inside a glass tube as terrifying gales of wind swept across her surroundings—no, not just her surroundings, but the entire world itself.
The sky had turned into a gloomy abyss, covered in black clouds, as hurricanes raged violently, tearing everything apart.
Her hand finally fell completely, and with that, the vision ended abruptly.
At the same time, the girl's aura and life force grew extremely weak, and she lost consciousness once more.
Inside his room within the spaceship, Azrael sat cross-legged on his bed, both his primary and secondary consciousness focused entirely on his source core.
The surrounding cosmic energy continuously surged toward him, being absorbed into his core without pause. At one point, his core reached its absolute limit.
Suddenly, like a raging storm, his cosmic energy burst outward against the core. The next second, he felt his life level increase slightly, and a refreshing sensation swept across his entire being.
(You have leveled up and reached Level 14.)
"Finally done," Azrael muttered, opening his eyes and stretching his body slightly.
He glanced at his status window and saw that his stat points had increased compared to last time.
The feeling of progressing every day and growing stronger was something that made him genuinely happy.
Just as Azrael was about to continue cultivating his source core while practicing the Sun, Moon, and Star Sutra, he froze as several notifications flashed before his eyes.
(New Task has been issued)
(Task: Find the Traces of the Enders)
(Reward: 30,000 Task Points, a random low-level wind-type Essentia Art)
He read the notifications, and gradually, a deep frown formed on his face.
"Traces of the Enders…" He muttered under his breath, recalling his Eonrift Trial.
During that trial, his task had been to find the Vessel of Corruption, something closely related to the Enders.
After completing the trial, Azrael had actually tried to gather more information about the Enders and the Vessels of Corruption.
After all, he had personally witnessed how Harris and the others had grown unbelievably strong after turning themselves into Vessels of Corruption.
For someone like him, who is obsessed with increasing his strength, this discovery was far too tempting to ignore. He needed to research it, to see if there was a way to harness that power without harming himself.
But his search had been met with disappointment as information about the Enders and the Vessels of Corruption was incredibly scarce.
Even in the academy library, he found almost nothing.
When he asked Ashara, she told him little and simply warned him not to dwell on the subject.
He still vividly remembered the look she had given him back then. It was as if her eyes were saying: I know you better than you think, my son. And I will not allow you to throw yourself into the filth of the Enders.
From that look, Azrael realized that Ashara understood his obsession with power. Because of that, she would never willingly tell him anything about the Enders—knowing it might lead him into danger.
But now, looking at the issued task, Azrael was completely taken aback.
His mind began racing at full speed, and soon, a thought dawned on him.
'Is this task somehow connected to my mission in the Flato Solar System…?' He wondered, recalling the strange feeling he had in Mira's office.
That sensation… it had been one of regret, as though his trait was warning him that if he did not accept the mission, he would regret it in the future.
And now, thinking about his previous desire to understand more about the Enders so that he could harness their powers, a sudden thought struck him.
'Is it possible that during this mission, I might obtain something that could help me uncover the secrets of the Enders? And if I had refused it, I would have regretted missing this chance in the future?'
Azrael's eyes narrowed as he looked deeply at the glowing notifications before closing them and taking a deep breath.
"Enders, huh…" He whispered, sitting quietly on his bed as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
However, unknown to him, the truth of the situation was far different from what he was imagining.