Jack still lay broken on the granite floor. And, after a while...
The resonant voice returned. It cut through the silence like a hammer blow.
"Final Round complete. Successful Completion!"
The words echoed. Not in the air. But inside his head. Resonating through the cracked bones and torn sinews. He had won. He had completed the trial.
The floor beneath him began to shift. Not violently. But with a low, grinding hum. The massive granite blocks rearranging themselves. Flowing like slow-motion liquid.
He couldn't move enough to see what was happening. He could only feel the tectonic rumble beneath him.
"Proceeding to the Reward Stage. Strength Inheritance... rewarded."
Above Jack, a black orb coalesced from the twilight air. It wasn't large. Maybe just the size of an apple. But it pulsed with an intense, internal orange glow. Like captured magma.
It hung there for a moment. Humming softly. Before beginning a slow, steady descent. Towards his battered body.
He watched its approach through half-lidded eyes. Too injured to flinch. Too cynical to feel awe. It simply came. An inevitable consequence of survival.
The orb touched his armor. Then his flesh where the armor was still mangled. There was no shock. No searing pain. Just a profound, strange stillness.
Immediately... System notifications erupted. Not in sound. But in shimmering, holographic text that appeared directly in his vision. Overlaying the twilight sky.
[CONDENSED LAW OF STRENGTH DISCOVERED!]
Condensed law? Like the one he acquired from Webmother's trial? The condensed law of Mystery? The one that gave him a chance to gain human incarnation?
[NO SUITABLE DOMAIN IN POSSESSION!]
What the hell did that even mean?
[SEARCHING FOR AVAILABLE COMPENSATED UPGRADES...]
It was efficient. If nothing else. Analytical. Coldly practical.
Jack felt a strange warmth begin to spread. From where the orb had touched him. Seeping through his veins. His bones. It wasn't the pain of healing. But something deeper. A restructuring.
[FOR CURRENT INCARNATION... INCREASING ATTRIBUTE: PHYSIQUE]
[FOR CURRENT INCARNATION... INCREASING ATTRIBUTE: PASSION]
His body twitched. His muscles tightening involuntarily.
Physique. The raw physical power. The toughness. Passion. The force of will. The unyielding drive. The ability to push past limits. Both were being hammered by this condensed law. Re-forged.
[ADJUSTING POWER. EVOLVING A SUITABLE PERMANENT TRAIT!]
[MYSTERIOUS SURVIVAL SENSE] INTO [MYTHICAL ADAPTATION]
Evolution? Mysterious Survival Sense? Thus trait was probably the one that had kept him alive through impossible odds. Through trials that should have ended him instantly.
It changed into Mythical Adaptation? It sounded... significant. Grand.
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF COLD IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF PRESSURE IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF SHOCK IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF BLEEDING IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF IMBALANCE IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF MADNESS IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF POISON IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF LIGHTNING IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF FIRE IMMUNITY!]
[NOW POSSESSING THE CHARACTERISTIC OF HYPER REGENERATION!]
He stared at the list as it scrolled. Each line appearing with a faint chime that only he heard. Immunity. Immunity. Mostly immunity. Ten of them. Nine were immunities.
The last one was Hyper Regeneration. It wasn't exactly an immunity. But it was close enough to be in the same category. Survival.
Did he get an immunity for each round he passed? The thought was fleeting. Irrelevant. What mattered was the sheer, brutal practicality of the list.
With a strength he didn't know he possessed moments ago, Jack flexed his fingers. Testing the joints. They responded without the grinding pain that had seized him earlier.
He pushed his arms against the ground, slowly. The torn muscles screamed. But the sound was distant. Already fading.
He called up his status panel. It shimmered into existence. Presenting the current information of his existence.
[CHARACTER STATUS]
[Name: Jack Night]
[Incarnation Type: Archfiend]
[Persona: Judge Jack
[Race: Black Buto]
[Class: -]
[Archetype: Supernatural Entity]
[Power Source: Spirit of Judgement]
[Attributes: *Physique (97) Mysticism (39) *Passion (95) Essence (99)]
[Karma: Positive]
[System Sight Modes: Information Panel; Fear Detection; Aura Detection; Karma Detection]
[Supernatural Traits: Mysterious Anomaly; Mysterious Mirror World; Incarnation Shift; Grootslang's Gemstone Detection; Incubus Charm]
[Permanent Traits: *Mythical Adaptation; Mysterious Nature; Devourer Physique]
[Characteristics: Mysterious Nature - Paralysis Immunity]
[Characteristics: Mythical Adaptation - *Cold Immunity, *Pressure Immunity, *Shock Immunity, *Bleeding Immunity, *Imbalance Immunity, *Madness Immunity, *Poison Immunity, *Lightning Immunity, *Heat Immunity, *Hyper Regeneration]
[Status Effect: Gluttonous (Target: Hostile Beast)]
[Personal Artifact: Judgement Warhammer, Naraka Armor, Nine-Anchor Portal Ring, Artifact Seeds (2)]
The asterisks marked the changes. Physique at 97. Passion at 95. Just shy of the maximum 99. But it was a massive leap.
His Essence was maxed. Always had been since the very beginning. Mysticism was still low though. Well, that should be fine.
His focus in this form was never on intricate spells. Or arcane knowledge. As a Black Buto... He hit things. Hard. And now, he could take hits harder.
And then...
[Mythical Adaptation: A mythical-tier supernatural trait born from the absolute necessity of survival. It functions as the ultimate principle of feedback adaptation. Whatever harms the host but does not achieve instantaneous death will trigger an immediate, inherent restructuring of their being. This restructuring permanently nullifies the ability of the specific threat to cause harm on any subsequent exposure. It is not resistance or regeneration, but a fundamental reclassification. It grants permanent, specific immunity to any non-lethal threat encountered. It makes the host fundamentally unstoppable by anything less than instant, absolute annihilation.]
This Mythical Adaptation was... amazing. The core concept was brutal simplicity... Whatever harms you but does not instantly kill you, will never be able to harm you again.
It wasn't a shield that blocked damage. It was an immune system. A fundamental refusal to be undone by environmental extremes or specific afflictions.
It was the ultimate trait of survival. If a specific poison didn't drop him dead on the spot, his body would instantly learn everything about it.
It would integrate that knowledge. Afterward, his body would treat that poison as if it were water. If a blast of cold didn't freeze his heart in an instant, the temperature became irrelevant for him.
He looked at the list of immunities under the trait. Considering what each one truly meant in practical terms.
He had already acquired Paralysis Immunity previously. An absolute ability to ignore paralysis effect. Due to the change in his permanent trait [Mysterious Nature]. During the time he incidentally absorbed the Condensed Law of Mystery from Webmother's trial.
As for the others...
Cold Immunity. Not just resistance. Immunity. Absolute. The icy breath of the Frost Wolves. The biting winds of an arctic wasteland. The numbing chill of necromantic magic. None of it could slow his blood. Or freeze his muscles. Or chip away at his life.
He could wade through glaciers in his bare skin. If he chose. Not that he would. Practicality was key.
Pressure Immunity. The crushing weight of unnatural gravity. Or that of the deep oceans. Or the immense force of a magical singularity. Or even just being buried beneath a thousand tons of rubble.
If the impact didn't kill him immediately. Pressure became meaningless. He could walk the ocean floor. Or stand at the eye of a magical storm with equal indifference. As long as the initial impact wasn't instantly fatal.
Shock Immunity. This is not about emotional shock. This meant the physical impact of force. A blow that would stun a normal creature. The concussive wave of an explosion. The jarring impact of falling from impossible heights...
Unless the initial shock instantly atomized him, his body would simply absorb the force. His bones wouldn't shatter. His organs wouldn't rupture from kinetic energy. Useful. Very useful.
Bleeding Immunity. This didn't mean he couldn't bleed. An open wound would still bleed. The immunity wasn't about stopping the cut. It was about rendering blood loss itself harmless.
He couldn't bleed out. He could be sliced to ribbons. Pouring blood onto the ground. But the loss wouldn't weaken him. Wouldn't kill him unless it drained all of his blood. The wound still existed. Still hurt. But the fatal consequence of blood loss weakness was nullified.
Imbalance Immunity. This was subtle but potent. It nullified spells or physical attacks designed to disrupt balance. Things that made him dizzy or unsteady would fail to do so.
A dizzying gas. A magical tremor. A blow aimed purely at throwing him off his feet... His internal gyroscope and physical control were absolute against like that.
Madness Immunity. A nullification of the effect of mental assaults. Illusions designed to break the mind. Psychic whispers driving targets insane. The soul-corrupting influence of entities from beyond... If it didn't instantly kill him, it would be pointless.
His mind was immune to corruption. To forced insanity. To manipulative suggestion that wasn't based on actual logic he could process. His will, already boosted by high passion, was now an impenetrable fortress against mental degradation.
Poison Immunity. Simple. Practical. Effective against any toxin, venom, disease, corrosive substance, or harmful chemical agent. If it didn't kill him instantly upon entering his system, it would have no effect.
Lightning Immunity. Nullification of electrical energy. Bolts of pure lightning. The static discharge of magical creatures. The electric current from arcane traps...
Unless the initial arc was so powerful that it disintegrated him on contact, electricity simply flowed around or through him. Doing no damage. Causing no paralysis or internal damage. Getting struck by lightning was now just inconvenient.
Heat Immunity. This complemented the Cold Immunity very well. An absolute nullification to extreme temperatures. The core of a volcano. The searing heat of dragon fire. The intense heat radiation of magical energy...
If the initial heat didn't instantly vaporize him, he would feel nothing but warmth. He could walk through flames. Stand in lava flows. Well, assuming he didn't drown and died of suffocation.
And finally...
Hyper Regeneration. This wasn't just accelerated healing. This was healing on steroids. Cranked up to eleven. Or even more. Wounds would stitch shut in seconds. Broken bones would knit almost instantly.
Lost limbs? Well, the immunity didn't specifically guarantee regrowth. But, the speed at which his body repaired itself meant trivial injuries vanished. Serious injuries became minor nuisances in moments.
The crippling damage he'd sustained moments ago? Already patching itself up at an unbelievable rate.
He felt it now. The Hyper Regeneration. The agonizing screams of his torn muscles were subsiding. Not gradually. But in rapid, jerky pulses.
The twisted leg wasn't just slowly repairing. It was snapping back into alignment. The bone ends were grinding together with a sickening crunch. Instantly followed by the feeling of solidifying calcium.
The Naraka Armor, which had been slowly patching its outer shell, seemed to find new reserves. Its internal nanites working in overdrive. Fueled by the raw biological repair happening beneath it.
He pushed up again. This time harder. He didn't just lift himself. He sprang into a sitting position. His body felt like it had just woken up from a nap. Not a near-fatal beating.
The pain was there. A ghost of what it had been. But it was fading like mist under a hot sun.
He stood. He didn't waver. The broken leg was whole. The shredded armor was scarred, but functional. Repairing itself completely. The aching, twitching muscles were now humming with renewed energy.
He had survived the final round. Yes. But the reward hadn't just healed him. It had fundamentally changed the parameters of his survival. The reward was worthy of its pain to complete the trial.