Time slipped by unnoticed as Kael continued combing through the fragments of Varek’s memories.
To call them memories was honestly being generous.
What remained inside Varek’s mind was a shattered mess, like a book that had been torn apart and scattered to the wind. Entire Chapters were missing. Events appeared without context before abruptly cutting off. Faces, names, locations, and years had all been reduced to disconnected fragments floating in an endless void.
Most of it was useless.
Still, Kael refused to stop.
He carefully pieced together every fragment he could find, connecting details where possible and filling the countless gaps with educated guesses.
Eventually, a rough story began to take shape.
According to his deductions, Varek had once been what cultivators called a lone cultivator.
Someone with no sect backing him.
No clan.
No powerful inheritance.
Just talent, determination, and a relentless drive to climb higher.
He seemed to have originated from a small, insignificant world before beginning a journey that spanned countless years and realms. Through sheer grit and countless life-and-death struggles, he had clawed his way upward until he eventually reached the Quasi-Transcendent Rank.
That alone was a feat most cultivators could only dream of.
As for what happened afterward...
That was where things became uncertain.
The memories grew even more fragmented around that period.
However, based on the few surviving fragments and the information revealed through Absolute Verdict, Kael arrived at a plausible conclusion.
Varek had likely discovered some sort of heaven-defying opportunity within an ancient ruin.
An opportunity great enough to allow him to take the final step and ascend into the Transcendent Realm.
Unfortunately, someone had betrayed him.
A companion.
A teammate.
Someone he trusted.
The details were missing, but the outcome was clear.
His ascension failed.
The backlash nearly destroyed him.
Yet somehow, against all odds, he survived.
Though judging by the broken state he had been found in, survival had come at an unimaginable cost.
Kael rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Of course, there was every possibility that half of his conclusion was complete nonsense.
The ending was mostly stitched together from assumptions, fragmented memories, and whatever clues Absolute Verdict had provided.
Still...
Even if it wasn’t entirely accurate, it at least gave him a rough understanding of what he was dealing with.
Kael exhaled slowly before pushing those thoughts aside.
Speculation could wait.
The real treasure was right in front of him.
His gaze shifted toward the floating screen.
The available extractions appeared before him.
---
Shadow Manipulation
Grants profound mastery over shadows and darkness. Allows the user to shape, animate, infuse, and command shadows as extensions of their will.
Requirement: Comprehension of Shadow-related Laws.
---
Death’s Doorstep
Allows the user to teleport to any location previously touched by death.
The destination must be visualized with perfect accuracy. Flawed mental images may result in severe spatial errors, potentially leading to unintended destinations or becoming trapped within the void.
---
Interference
Grants mastery over disruption itself.
Allows the manipulation of a pervasive force capable of sabotaging, distorting, nullifying, corrupting, or disrupting nearly any phenomenon, system, energy, or entity.
---
Death’s Tithe
Every creature that dies near the user leaves behind a fragment of its essence.
Once sufficient fragments are gathered, a gate to the Nether may be opened, summoning a random Nether being.
Stronger summons remain for shorter durations.
The summoned entity cannot be chosen.
---
Shade Form
Transforms the user into a living shadow for five minutes.
While active, heat signatures, sound, life force, and most detection abilities become ineffective.
Attacking immediately cancels the transformation.
Cooldown: 3 Hours.
---
Rewrite
Activates at the moment of death.
Allows the user to pay a sufficient price to rewrite the event of their demise.
As long as the price can be paid, death itself may be overturned.
Cooldown: 100 Years.
---
Kael stared at the list.
For several seconds, he simply sat there in silence.
Then he let out a low whistle.
"As expected of a Quasi-Transcendent..."
Every single ability was absurd.
The first one was easy to recognize.
Shadow Manipulation.
That was undoubtedly the ability Varek had used earlier to unleash those countless shadow creatures during their battle.
Even now, remembering the endless tide of darkness made Kael’s scalp tingle.
Then his attention shifted toward Death’s Doorstep.
His expression immediately became strange.
"Wait..."
He reread the description.
Then reread it again.
A location touched by death?
Wasn’t that practically everywhere?
Death had existed since the beginning of life itself.
Entire worlds had died.
Stars had died.
Civilizations had died.
Theoretically speaking, there were probably very few places in existence that death hadn’t touched.
The only thing keeping the skill from being utterly broken was the requirement for perfect visualization.
One mistake.
One inaccurate memory.
And instead of reaching your destination, you might find yourself stranded in some random corner of reality.
Or worse.
The void.
Kael quickly decided he preferred being alive.
His gaze moved onward.
Interference.
The moment he read the description, his eyelid twitched.
"What kind of ridiculous ability is this?"
Sabotage? Distortion? Corruption? Nullification?
It sounded less like a skill and more like a universal middle finger aimed at reality itself.
For a brief moment, Kael couldn’t help imagining himself floating high above a battlefield while casually interfering with the laws of existence.
The image was undeniably cool.
Unfortunately, reality rarely cared about how cool something looked.
With considerable effort, he dragged his attention away before his imagination wandered any further.
Next came Death’s Tithe.
The more he read, the more intrigued he became.
Every nearby death contributed essence.
Gather enough.
Open a gate.
Summon something from the Nether.
Simple.
Terrifying.
Potentially overpowered.
The only thing he disliked was the randomness.
He hated randomness.
Nothing good ever came from letting fate make important decisions.
Still...
A small thought surfaced.
If he copied the ability, perhaps his talent might react to it.
Perhaps it could evolve.
Improve.
Remove the randomness entirely.
The possibility was tempting.
Very tempting.
But he didn’t dwell on it for long.
Instead, he shifted toward Shade Form.
Compared to the others, it was surprisingly straightforward.
A stealth ability.
A powerful one, admittedly.
Turning into a shadow while becoming almost impossible to detect was incredible for infiltration or escape.
Still, when placed beside abilities capable interfering with reality itself, it felt comparatively tame.
Then his eyes landed on the final ability.
And immediately, everything else faded into the background.
Rewrite.
The simple description alone was enough to send a chill through him.
An ability that activated upon death.
An ability capable of overturning death itself.
An ability that allowed its user to rewrite their own ending.
No further explanation was necessary.
This had to be the reason Varek was still alive.
The failed ascension should have killed him.
Yet somehow he had survived.
Rewrite was likely responsible.
Of course, survival clearly hadn’t been free.
Kael glanced toward Varek’s motionless figure.
The man’s current condition was proof enough.
Whatever price Rewrite demanded, it was enormous.
Possibly catastrophic.
Yet despite that...
Kael couldn’t deny its value.
Every living creature feared death.
Every living creature desired survival.
An ability capable of preserving life, regardless of cost, was something countless people would sacrifice everything to obtain.
Looking at the list once more, Kael found himself feeling unexpectedly grateful.
Because according to Absolute Verdict, most of these abilities had been sealed.
Locked away.
Unavailable.
If Varek had possessed access to even half of them during their battle...
Kael honestly couldn’t imagine how he would have won.
No.
Scratch that.
He probably wouldn’t have won at all.
The fight would’ve ended before it even truly began.
Fortunately, that wasn’t what happened.
Now those abilities sat before him.
Waiting.
His gaze swept over the list one final time.
There were other extraction options available.
Experience.
Stats.
Normally, those would’ve been valuable beyond measure.
Yet compared to the abilities displayed before him, they seemed completely uninteresting.
His eyes remained fixed on the list.
One choice.
That was all he needed to make.
And judging by the quality of the options before him...
It wasn’t going to be an easy decision.