The space around Daniel shifted, and he suddenly found himself in the sky—a sky completely dead, filled with the stench of death.
He looked down.
A black, endless ocean stretched below him. He could see countless souls trapped inside, writhing in pain.
"So this is the Cycle of Death," he muttered. He didn't need to think much to understand where he was.
He sat cross-legged in midair. There was no need to wonder what to do next—because death energy and auras instantly surged toward him from the sky and the ocean below.
He didn't resist. The auras and death energy entered his body and began to take it over, rebuilding it. All his internal organs started to rot, then dissolve.
An unbearable pain overwhelmed him—but he endured it. Before long, the death auras went after his bones, breaking them down as well.
As Daniel struggled with the pain, death began reconstructing his body—a body blessed by death itself.
His bones were rebuilt, now thicker, tougher, and dark gray-black in color. They were no longer white, but looked eerie—almost unreal.
His eyes slowly changed too. The whites of his eyes turned pitch black, and his pupils became gold.
His bones grew longer and stretched.
But was this the end?
Suddenly, multiple system notifications appeared in front of Daniel.
[You have been blessed by Death]
[You have acquired the Physique of Death]
[You have successfully obtained the Death Tablet]
[Rank: SSS]
[Description: A tablet that contains the full power of death]
A phantom-like tablet appeared before him, radiating so much death energy that it made his body tremble.
Then, the tablet vanished and sank into his spiritual sea, settling there. Even the death aura that had been tearing everything apart inside his spiritual sea was suppressed and absorbed by the Death Tablet.
"A supreme source?" Daniel's eyes sparkled with excitement. He hadn't expected to gain something so valuable.
Didn't this mean that he could now comprehend the Law of Death—and actually use its power?
[You have successfully obtained the Forgotten Eyes]
[Rank: SS]
[Description: Eyes that once belonged to the most powerful Angel of Death. You can bring the souls of the dead back to life for a short time, and you can issue death commands to any living being weaker than you.]
Daniel's eyes gleamed. An SS-ranked skill.
Looks like everything he had suffered through in this mountain had been worth it. With the Body of Death, the Forgotten Eyes, and the Death Tablet… wasn't he already one of the best among the best?
Who could even compete with him now? Though Daniel suppressed his pride.
The world was bigger than anyone could imagine. There were always many variables. Heroes still existed. And there were even heirs of extremely powerful races like the Dragons. He couldn't afford to underestimate anyone.
Then, he turned his attention back to the other notifications.
[You have acquired the title: Heir of Death]
[Description: You have been chosen to rule over Death. As long as Death exists, so will you. From now on, you are immune to all attacks from undead species.]
[Objective: Let the name of Death echo across the world once more. Show the world that Death is the strongest.]
Reading that, Daniel wasn't even surprised anymore. He'd received so many strange and legendary things today that he was kind of numb.
He stood up and stretched a little.
He punched the air—and it shook. A smile appeared on his face.
"Didn't expect it, but I finally have the physical power of a B-rank." He had never thought it would be possible.
But his problem had always been his human body structure. There were many races that could have B-rank physical strength even at C-rank—like the Dragons.
And now, he was one of them too. He could finally fight against awakened B-ranks on equal footing without issues.
That wasn't all. He could now feel and control the death energy and aura. Death energy felt like mana to him now.
And from what he understood, to use the power of the Law of Death, he needed enough death energy.
In his spiritual sea, above the Death Tablet, a Death Cycle had appeared. If he wasn't wrong, it was like a generator and storage unit for death energy.
Just like how the spiritual sea could store and generate mana.
"Huh? Did I get taller?" Another thing he noticed was that his height seemed to have increased.
He didn't know exactly how much, but he could feel it. Once he got home, he'd definitely have to measure himself.
"A death body and a dragon soul… am I even human anymore?" With that thought, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Then, light appeared again and swallowed him. In the next moment, he found himself standing in the entrance area of the Pagoda.
What he didn't know was that two people had been watching him the entire time—one was a Hero, and the other, the Spirit of the Pagoda.
"I thought the next heir would also be a Hero… but the fact that he's actually Fallen…" a voice echoed, sounding like Death itself.
"I didn't expect it either, but what's done is done. I just hope he doesn't follow the same path as the Fallen one did," the Hero sighed.
"What? Scared that just like the Fallen one killed you, this era's Hero might be killed by him too? Still holding onto old grudges?"
"Haha, not really. I never held a grudge against the Fallen. But what I fear… is that he might become the end of the world itself."
"You don't need to worry. But don't you think you should've warned him that the other one might come after him?"
"You mean the man who lost—but managed to survive and escape this place?"
The Pagoda Spirit nodded.
"Maybe I should have told him. But this way is better. That kid suddenly got too strong, and now he's feeling proud. That's exactly why someone needs to shatter that pride."