Rhen stepped back into the dark cavern beneath the tree, the air thick with damp earth and faint traces of mana.
Zena wasted no time as she appeared.
"I need access to your Enma system, and I will be using a lot of your mana."
"Carry on," Rhen said, resting his back on a wall, watching Zena work.
As a golden screen flickered into existence before Zena, Rhen felt mana rip from his core in a sudden rush.
He saw Zena become tangible, holding the items she was bringing out of his system.
''She can turn tangible and visible to others, but at the immense cost of my mana. Eh, not a worthy trade.'
One by one, Zena brought out the components they had acquired for the ritual: the ancient heart, runic parchment, beast's claw still radiating cold, a shimmering core, and a bottle of blood.
She also dropped additional lamps to further brighten the cavern.
Before she started, Zena looked at Rhen with slight hesitation, then she said.
"Please take off your clothes, but keep your pants on."
With a nod, Rhen took everything off, revealing his lean muscle stretched over a frame marked by scars—each a silent record of battles fought.
"What's next?" he asked.
Zena placed the runic parchment on the floor, revealing the side covered in arcane script written in supernatural black ink.
She chanted something, an incantation engraved in her memory, causing the contents of the paper to glow and come alive.
Lines and arcs of text spilled from the parchment, snaking across the floor to form a vast ritual circle that climbed the cavern walls like living ink.
Turning to Rhen, she said, "Drink these two Mana Recovery potions and fill the bottles with your blood."
"Where did you get them from?" he asked out of curiosity.
"I bought them from the system."
Confirming his guess, Rhen did as she said without hesitation.
He drank it and pulled out his dagger from his inventory and cut his palm and filled the bottles.
Zena then brought out the monster's green blood that was in a bottle and started trailing the ritual circle.
After using that blood, she carried the Ancient Being's heart and cut a part of it, releasing a pool of black blood.
The black blood merged with the green blood, then the ritual circle began to look active as the room was smelling of blood.
Zena placed the heart, the core and the Ice conduit in various circled locations and glanced at Rhen, who threw her the bottles of his blood.
His blood was then poured on the three items placed in a circle.
"You'll sit here," she said, pointing at the center where the now-shriveled paper was.
As Rhen sat, Zena handed him a body recovery, body strengthening and mana recovery potion to drink while collecting his dagger.
Then using the Enma system, she bought what were called 'buffs' to strengthen his body and mind, while improving his mana recovery rate.
After Rhen drank everything and felt stronger than he ever had before, he heard Zena say, "This is going to hurt a bit."
Zena used the dagger to cut lines open at his back.
Drawing on the memories stored within her, she drew runes on his back with the blood that dripped from his wounds.
As she completed it, the drawings on Rhen's back resonated with the ritual circle, as the dark ominous glow increased.
The blood within the circle began to vibrate, rising in parts to form black orbs.
"It's starting," Zena said.
Then the orbs darted towards Rhen, enveloping him like a curtain.
Rhen felt darkness envelop him and warmth spread through his body as the blood slowly seeped into his being.
Zena looked down at the black 'armored' Rhen before glancing at the heart at a corner.
As it pulsed with intense light and vibrations, she dove into Rhen's body.
…
After Rhen's vision blacked out, the next thing he saw was an endless space.
He was a translucent body of pure blue light, with black fluid coursing through his body.
Before he could wonder what to do next, he heard Zena's voice as her form appeared behind him.
"The first part is the reconstruction of the Body, Mind, and Soul."
"How do I do that?" Rhen asked as his thoughts echoed.
Zena, her form appearing as her usual self, floated behind Rhen and replied:
"Control as much as possible of that black fluid and merge it with your current body, which represents your being."
He paid attention to the fluid and saw that it did follow his control, though every movement demanded razor-sharp concentration.
He pulled some fluid from within and attempted to coat his translucent form, but the liquid refused to stay.
He was required to split his focus—coating his form while pulling more fluid out.
To make things worse, he saw a white sun in this endless void, and he was drifting to it at a crazy speed.
Panic gripped him as the void hurtled by, dragging him toward the blinding heart of the white star.
He tried to stop himself, but it forced him to split his attention a third way.
"You need to merge with as much as possible before we reach that star."
Zena's words made Rhen grit his teeth.
His mind ached as he kept pulling the fluid out and coating his body.
After reaching a reasonable amount of coating, he left the remaining fluid alone and wanted to turn the remnant coat to merge with him.
The line between his translucent body and body armor made of fluid thinned as they started becoming one.
'Faster, Rhen! Faster!' he chanted as he felt the harmless heat of the sun.
Zena, for now, could do nothing but watch.
It was Rhen's blood which was linked to him and, primarily, the ancient being's blood he was using to form.
Only Rhen or the Ancient Being could manipulate the black fluid… and the Ancient Being was dead.
Rhen's body glowed brighter and his mind grew sharper while his 'body' became more solid.
As the star loomed, Zena warned:
"Prepare for the next part: absorbing part of that star. The more you absorb, the more your talent can grow.
"Be careful. It may seem harmless, but it can absolutely destroy you."
Rhen didn't need any further explanation as he saw his hands break down into light particles.
He gave up on the black fluid to focus on maintaining his form and absorbing the star's essence.
Rhen willed the white flames to enter him.
Time seemed null as he only concentrated on the task at hand.
He absorbed and absorbed and absorbed.
His body was also slowly breaking down as he lost his limbs to the harmless flames.
"That's enough to grow into a B-rank!" Zena said. "Look for the Anchor back to your body!"
Rhen knew not to test his limit in this scenario.
He did as said, but he felt his body break down… break down to the extent that the star essence he absorbed was leaking.
Still, he concentrated on returning back to his body.
"I-I can't find it!" Rhen yelled.
Zena hesitated for an instant before she said, "Continue looking for it. I'll help you!"
As Rhen felt himself weakened, he saw Zena enter his body and merge with him.
Everything seemed to get better as Zena began concentrating on stopping his body's breakdown while he searched for the link back to his original body.
That was good… until Rhen realized Zena's presence was fading, absorbing into him…
"Zena…? What's happening?"
"N-nothing. Just continue your task, Rhen!"
Rhen wanted to do as she said, but when Zena merged with him, he felt her emotions.
There was her desire for revenge on their enemies, burning…
But most of all…
A primal fear surged from her—raw, terrified, clinging to life.
She didn't want to vanish.
She wept within him like a newborn.
He could hear her.
"I… don't want to die…"
"Fuck it! Fuck it!" Rhen yelled as he gave up on finding the link.
This was going to cost a lot.