Enrico arrives at his room and lies down. Today, he would have an entire day of rest. Since he couldn't enter the limit-break state with his body in that condition, tomorrow he would see what his body was like without being tired most of the time. Closing his eyes, he falls asleep immediately, maybe because he was finally resting—his body felt relaxed.
Suddenly, he sees himself in a mirror, but his appearance is just a shadow—the only thing remaining was the golden eyes. It was the same thing he saw in the mental state of the limit break. Enrico tried to speak, but nothing came out. Shadows began to emerge from the mirror, and Enrico's hand in the mirror grabbed his shoulders. It was as if it were trying to take over his body.
Enrico tried to get away but was swallowed by the shadow and felt like he was drowning. He struggled and tried to use magic, but something was blocking it. In desperation, he punched the mirror, which shattered on contact, and he could finally breathe. In front of him, the shadows came out of the mirror, trying to approach, so Enrico stepped back.
The shadow seemed unable to come closer and began to transform, forming feline paws and ears. That shadow took the form of a panther with golden eyes.
"What is this?"
He realized he could speak now, so he sighed. Looking at the panther, he wondered what it was. It didn't seem like something from the original Enrico.
"Just your worst side, Saul."
Shocked, he looked forward upon hearing his real name spoken by that thing.
"You? My worst side? Please, I'm not the kind of person who acts like a cat."
"Maybe you just haven't discovered that yet..."
The panther licked its paw, unconcerned with his jokes, and returned them in kind. Enrico looked around at the darkness surrounding the panther. He didn't want to get close to it because he had a feeling it would be hard to return.
"I don't know who you are, but I'd rather you not try anything stupid if you don't want to die in the future."
"You're talking about the future? Don't worry—I know everything. So it would be better if you switched places with me. You'd have a better chance of surviving."
The panther smiled arrogantly at him. In fact, it had a personality somewhat similar to his after he turned fourteen—maybe a few months after that.
"How annoying..."
"What is it? Did something come to mind?"
"Yeah, I remembered my teenage years, but you seem way worse than that."
The panther's smile widened. With a bitter smile, Enrico gripped his shoulder as if recalling a gesture from that age. Then he passed a finger across his neck, mimicking a cut with his nail. With an irritated look, he began searching for a way out of there.
"Don't worry, you'll leave here soon."
"Good to know."
The panther looked behind Enrico and pointed its paw back there. Enrico didn't want to look away, not knowing why he didn't want to do it. The panther seemed disappointed.
"Come on, be brave and see who you really are. Leave that mask behind..."
Enrico's head slowly turned. He didn't know why he had avoided looking there so much, but he was sure of one thing: the panther didn't approach because of that. His eyes widened because what he saw was a giant void—simply nothing. It should've been frightening, at least, but Enrico felt calm looking at that void.
"Do you know how hard it is to fill an infinite void? Very hard. Since my current power is low, this is the only ground I managed to create."
Enrico didn't seem to care about the panther's words because his eyes reflected the same void in front of him.
"How irritating... Saul, don't get so absorbed in that, or you'll be swallowed by the void itself."
Hearing his name again, he snapped back to normal, not quite understanding why he'd been so mesmerized. He didn't want to look again, but it seemed irresistible to him. Enrico began to fade into the air as if waking up. One last glance at the panther, and he thought about talking to the system about it. As he vanished completely, the panther stood up and walked to its darkest spot, where it saw a small egg. It approached with a calm look.
"You pulled me from that void, so thanks—but it's annoying having to take care of you."
This egg was that Ranvil-rank Nartheis that Enrico had fought in the magic zone. He had to admit it was annoying to care for someone who had defeated his original, but he owed her one, so he would fulfill his duty. The egg seemed to move as if trying to say something, but the panther placed its hand around it with an irritated expression.
"Don't worry, he won't tell the system anything."
That's right—no matter how many times Enrico comes here and learns about this place, he'll forget everything once he returns. Looking at the spot where Enrico disappeared, he grew excited.
"I hope he gets much stronger because I'd love to take over his body for a while."
Just like Enrico, he had a plan to survive the evil gods—but that plan would have to wait.
Opening his eyes, Enrico looked at the ceiling and stretched, feeling good. He began to warm up and noticed how great his body felt.
"This is amazing. Really, having rest with training would be great—but I need to increase my potential."
[Wait, does that mean you're going to keep pushing yourself like this? Stop being stupid and rest more.]
'I don't want to die, so I won't stop… Anyway, today's the festival arc, which won't be a big deal, and also the fight against Kai.'
As he thought about that, he felt something was missing and tried to remember but couldn't. Worried, he asked the system, which said it probably wasn't important and kept insisting that he should maintain healthy training.