Raze's eyes moved across the windows one by one without rushing. He didn't know why there were so many of them, but the moment his gaze landed on them, he paused.
[Your Heavenly Malice Physique Has Awakened Completely Due To the Influence of Combined Aura, Mana, and Innate Mana]
[A New Element: Malice Has Been Created]
A new physique…?
He had known about his Zenith Physique since he was old enough to understand what a physique meant but the Heavenly Malice Physique was something else entirely. He had never heard of it before today and yet physiques were innate, something present from birth, which meant it had always been inside him without him ever knowing.
But there was something even more surprising than that.
A new element.
He had never heard or read about something like this even being possible, but from the name alone he could guess that it had something to do with his physique.
He looked at his hands wrapped in bandages. They looked as pale and scarred as they always had from years of training that had never been his choice.
Nothing had changed, but he could feel it in his body. Something was coursing through it, something which wasn't mana nor did it feel like aura. It was something different, something that refused to follow any kind of order.
Raze didn't know what this Malice exactly was, but whatever it was, it felt alive.
He wanted to test it immediately, but he had many other status windows, so he decided to push the testing back until he had enough information.
With that, he focused his attention on the next system window.
[You Have Created A New Path To Godhood.]
[TITLE: THE THIRTEENTH PATHHOLDER HAS BEEN CREATED]
[The Path of Malice Has Been Created]
[Your World Authority Has Increased To Second Tier]
[You Can Now See More Details In Status Window As The World's Will Favours You]
He stared at it for a moment.
'Godhood?'
From what Luna had taught him, gods weren't just abstract beings talked about in old legends and myths. They were real and ruled over different elements. These beings were said to have been born when the universe itself took its first breath, and entire churches existed in their name.
And yet here was the world's will, telling him that he had somehow created a path toward becoming one of them.
He couldn't understand how that was even possible.
Raze read through each line twice.
The Thirteenth Pathholder.
World authority…
None of it felt real and yet the weight of each word felt heavier than anything.
He sighed.
The information was just too much to process. Still, right now he needed as many answers as he could get, so he decided to check his status window because he had a feeling that it would have answers to most of his questions.
"Status."
He muttered as his full status window appeared before him instantly. He was curious to see what the Second Tier World Authority had actually changed.
[Name: Raze Ruincard]
[Path: Malice]
[Title: The Thirteenth Pathholder]
[WorldAuthority: Second Tier]
[Core: Gray (One Ring)]
[Physique: Zenith / Heavenly Malice]
[Skills: Swordsmanship (A), Perception (D), Basic Martial Arts (B), Basic Footwork (B), Mana Sense (D)]
[Spells: Mana Shield (Mid Tier-1), Mana Burst (Low Tier-1), Mana Chain (Advanced Tier-1)]
[Abilities: Malice Manifestation (Basic), Veil of Pathholders]
He scanned through it slowly as he noticed some changes immediately.
The colour of the window had changed from blue to red and now… there was no affinity section. Instead, a new section called Path had appeared, but that wasn't the only addition, as a few more sections had appeared as well.
As soon as he focused slightly on the section named Path, a smaller window appeared, showing its details.
Raze was slightly surprised, as the status window only showed details and never explained them, and here it was doing exactly that.
'Is this because of my World Authority leveling up…?'
He wondered as he scanned the newly appeared window showcasing the details of his path.
[Path of Malice:
A unique path that allows its user to harness the energy of Malice. The path is a miracle brought forth by a walking anomaly with two completely contradicting physiques, a miracle of a nature that should never have been possible, as most users are devoured by it before awakening.]
He read the description twice.
'A walking anomaly.'
He had been called many things since childhood, a stain, filth, a tool, but he had never been called an anomaly before. Still, he wasn't entirely sure it was any different.
But that also explained why he had never heard of this physique because, if the details were accurate, then that meant most wielders of this physique died before even awakening it.
'Did the Duchess know?'
The thought surfaced before he could stop it.
'Is that why she hated me so much, thinking I could never survive past a certain point, that I could never grow past a level and would only put the family to shame?'
He didn't let himself wander in that direction for long because he had learned early that some answers didn't make the wound any smaller.
Raze closed the small detail window and moved his eyes across the other sections but most of the details were plain and basic, just like what he had known before and he couldn't see a detailed window for his physiques.
'Is this because my authority level is still low…?'
Without wasting any time, he moved on to the newly added sections, starting with his title first.
A detailed window appeared immediately.
[Title: The Thirteenth Pathholder]
[Description: Twelve people before you have walked the same path by either creating or mastering an element to the utmost perfection, and you, who have awakened Malice, have become one of them.]
'Twelve…?'
According to what Luna had taught him, there were six Gods worshipped across the world of Fabloth, each controlling a different element, which meant there were six more at the same level or with the potential to reach the same level.
'Is Ravelle one of them…?'
The thought appeared all of a sudden, but the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. She was the one who was prophesied to destroy the whole cosmos, the one whom even the empire wouldn't be able to handle, so her not being a Pathholder didn't make sense.
Either she was already a Pathholder, or maybe she would awaken as one soon.
He simply shook his head.
'No point in thinking about it for now…'
With that thought, he moved on to his abilities.
Luna hadn't mentioned anything about abilities during her lessons, which meant either she didn't know about them, or this was something exclusive to Pathholders, something that existed entirely outside the ordinary framework of mana and aura she had taught him.
Soon enough, two detailed windows appeared, showing information about his awakened abilities.
[Veil of Pathholders: An ability granted to beginning Pathholders to allow growth without divine interference by concealing the unique energy signature of Malice entirely, regardless of the observer's rank.]
[Malice Manifestation (Rank: Basic): Channel Malice energy into a mana spell or aura projection. The shape and strength of the manifestation depend on the user's will and mastery.]
The first ability sounded simple, but Raze couldn't be more thankful for it because it solved his biggest concern while the second ability simply helped him manipulate Malice.
He had already read enough information and knowing that his energy would be concealed, he decided to give it a try.
Still, he glanced around the infirmary once, confirming he was alone. Then he extended his right hand and focused inward. He didn't understand where the source of it was, but his mind followed instinctively before he felt a pitch-black void within himself.
A chill crawled down his spine as he understood this was all Malice… but he didn't give up and instead tried to manipulate a small part of it. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as, after a few minutes of concentration, he finally managed to chip a small part of it down.
He opened his eyes immediately as he saw a faint black wisp begin to form above his palm, flickering unevenly like a candle struggling against the wind.
The energy was weak and before he could even understand how it worked, an immense wave of pain hit him. It coursed through his arm from the inside as he cut the flow of energy immediately.
The wisp vanished as countless faint black veins appeared across his skin before fading as though they had never been there.
Raze breathed out roughly.
'I couldn't even sustain it for ten seconds.'
He noted calmly.
The energy wasn't like mana, which could be shaped easily, nor was it like aura, which felt like a part of himself, this felt ominous as if it hated even its wielder.
With a sigh, he leaned back slightly.
'But at least it's not unleashing that ominous presence outward.'
He had already noticed strangeness about the energy as it didn't feel ominous like how it had been back in the forest. If anything, its presence resembled mana more than anything else.
Raze understood why.
The Veil of Pathholders.
The ability was hiding the true nature of Malice, masking it so completely that even he struggled to feel its full hostility unless he focused on it directly.
He wanted to experiment further, to test what the new power could actually do but the sound of hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway, growing closer to the infirmary.
Someone was coming.
Raze dismissed the windows.
There were still too many things he didn't understand and each answer seemed to open even more questions but one thing was certain, he had arrived in this world with nothing but a body trained beyond its limits and a mission he had never chosen but now he had awakened something none had before.
Raze looked down at his scarred hands one more time.
He still didn't know if this power was a blessing… or a curse but it was his now whether he had wanted it or not and if he was going to survive everything that was coming, understanding it wasn't optional.