"...Now what?"
Azriel stared at his reflection in the cracked mirror of the car. His once-trimmed hair had grown long and wild, an unspoken sign that time had passed—how much, he couldn't say.
"I wonder what happened to... Father."
It still felt strange, calling someone else by that word. But just like the memories he had inherited, he had accepted everything that came with the former Azriel Crimson's identity.
"Right... I should check my status."
In this world, Status referred to a personal holographic interface—one that displayed a person's essential information. It was only visible to the individual themselves and revealed, at the very least, their affinities.
However, affinities only awakened after one became a Grade 3 Awakened.
Currently, there were only two known methods to upgrade a human's mana core.
The first method, though technically possible, was tedious and inefficient: absorbing ambient mana from the air. The process was exhausting, and the progress painfully slow.
The second method was more direct—and more dangerous: consuming the mana core of a void creature.
A void creature's mana core, like a human's, was located near the heart—though for many void types, that position varied by species. Still, the core was always there. After slaying a void creature, one would dig out the mana core and consume it to strengthen themselves.
This method was widely considered the most efficient path to power.
Efficient—but not safe.
For example, consuming the mana core of a Grade 3 Abyssal offered far greater benefits than that of a Grade 3 Demon. But that only held true if the one doing the consuming was already strong enough—at least a Grade 3 Advanced. For a mere Grade 3 Expert, the gains would be marginal at best.
And there was a catch: void creature cores didn't last long. After death, a core's potency began to deteriorate, its energy bleeding away over the span of 2 to 48 hours, depending on the creature's rank.
"The higher the rank, the longer the core lasts..." Azriel muttered to himself. "Right. Before I check my status, I should try something."
Excitement crept into his voice. He had transmigrated into a book, after all. And in stories like these, didn't the protagonist always have some kind of cheat or system to help them grow?
"System."
He spoke the word aloud, half-expecting a glowing panel to appear before his eyes.
Nothing happened.
His heart sank.
"...How unfair."
The protagonist of Path of Heroes wasn't even a transmigrator. Yet he had a system—an exclusive feature that allowed him to grow stronger far faster than anyone else.
It was a real system: a unique interface visible only to him. It granted access to potions, combat arts, additional affinities, and even void creature cores suitable for his level. Of course, he didn't receive these gifts for free. He had to complete quests in exchange for them—though the rewards were always worth the risk.
"I wish I had a system," Azriel sighed.
Instead, he activated his status window, hoping for something—anything—that might ease the bitterness in his chest.
"Status."
-----------------------------
Status Screen:
-----------------------------
[Name]: Azriel Crimson
[Age]: 16
[Gender]: Male
[Titles]: Son of Death
-----------------------------
[Mana Core Rank]: Intermediate
[Mana Core Grade]: Grade 3
[Mana Core Level]: 2
-----------------------------
[Affinities]:
- Lightning
- Ice
[Unique Skill]: Redo -> one time use
[Sword Arts]: Dance of Death -> 0% mastery
-----------------------------
[Soul weapons]: Void Eater
[Soul armor]: None
[Soul Echoes]: None/Locked -> unlocks when reaching higher rank
-----------------------------
[???]: None/Locked -> unlocks when reaching higher rank
[???]: None/Locked -> unlocks when reaching higher rank
[???]: None/Locked -> unlocks when reaching higher rank
-----------------------------
"...Huh."
Azriel's mind blanked as he read his status window.
He knew for a fact that before everything in his memories stopped, he was only a Grade 2 Awakened, but now he somehow became a Grade 3 Intermediate.
He was already at the same level as the protagonist at the age of 16!
...And 16.
Azriel's blood went cold as he realized how long ago the last of his memories were. He was only 14 years old before everything went black.
"So it has been 2 years... 2 years of memories missing or perhaps I really died not only in my previous world but also in this world but got reincarnated in this body?"
"Son of Death."
Muttering the title he had gotten, he read the description.
-----------------------------
[Son of Death]: The god of death has taken pity on you and decided to bless you with another chance at life and additional benefits... make the best of this life.
-----------------------------
Azriel sucked in a cold breath at reading the description of his title. He didn't know what to really think of all of this. A god actually giving him a second chance because of... pity.
"So that means the gods are real now?"
As Azriel said to himself, he decided to check on his unique skill [Redo].
But he couldn't ever recall in his memories there being a unique skill that was only usable once. Not wasting time, he decided to read its description.
-----------------------------
[Redo]: Given the unique title by the god of death itself and its blessings, you have earned a skill never seen or heard of before. Being the son of death means that death isn't something you should fear.
-----------------------------
"Eh?"
"To be able to cheat death... this is crazy!"
The chances of dying in this world were already as huge as they could get, but now he had a skill that gave him another chance.
"To think that the god of death would be so generous!"
Azriel said happily with a smile on his face. Being happy, he looked towards the sword arts.
He remembered that he never got any sword arts, meaning that this was something the god of death also blessed him with.
"I definitely won't complain about not having a system anymore."
Having a sword art called [Dance of Death] that is probably never seen or heard of like the unique skill [Redo] he has was already something extremely valuable, though he wasn't going to get overconfident since he would prefer not using [Redo] ever.
"Void Eater, huh... the sword that... father... has gifted me after killing my first void creature."
He was happy that he still at least had the trusted sword that had accompanied his previous self, though he unfortunately never got a soul armor.
Looking towards the [Soul Echoes] that were locked, he knew that this would be unlocked when he reached Grade 3 Expert.
Hell, he knew that a Master and Grandmaster would get even more, but the weird [???] shouldn't show up on his status at all just like [Soul Echoes].
"So another benefit from having the death god's blessing, huh?"
After calming down again, Azriel started to walk around.
He knew he was probably in a death zone since everything was abandoned and broken.
The chances of him encountering a void creature were big if he stayed in one place for too long, and he wasn't eager to meet them yet.
Even though he had the experiences of the previous Azriel, his mind and body were still trying to sort everything out.
His entire life had changed so fast.
Yet...
His heart was beating loudly against his chest as he gazed at the old, ruined buildings.
"...This place."
He really hoped that perhaps he was wrong and just being paranoid.
But the more he walked and explored, the more he started to fear the worst.
The city he was in had become a ghostly wasteland, with buildings crumbling, streets cracked, and deserted. Nature had taken back what was once its own, and the air was heavy with the scent of decay.
When he finally stopped, he gazed at a tall structure, freezing as his heart skipped a beat.
In front of him was once a majestic monument, a symbol of human achievement, now standing in ruins. Rust corroded its iron framework, and vines and moss had claimed its surfaces, turning the metal into a dark, twisted skeleton of its former self.
Gazing at the once beautiful monument that stood at the pinnacle of human achievements 150 years ago, he realized where he was.
...Europe.
Namely, in The City of Love.
"Dammit."