After calming myself down, I put my coat back on despite its ruined condition.
I slowly stretched my body, and my bones answered with a series of cracks once again.
I wrapped a few bandages around my face to hide my identity, then stepped out of the room.
The place I had been staying in was one of the rented rooms above the tavern.
When I opened the door and walked outside, morning had already arrived. Only a few customers were scattered around the hall.
Marcus was standing in his usual place behind the counter.
I waved at him as I headed for the exit.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed the room where Marcella was staying.
"Later."
I did not stop and continued outside.
I took a deep breath.
Then exhaled slowly.
The moment I stepped out of the tavern, I drew in a lungful of fresh air.
The air feels nice.
I thought as I walked toward my home.
Half an hour later, I arrived at the apartment building.
"Home."
A smile spread across my face as I stepped inside.
I took the elevator up and headed toward my room.
The smell of home...
My smile widened the moment I entered the familiar space.
First, I need a bath.
Especially after noticing the foul smell clinging to me.
I entered, closed the door behind me, and went straight into the bathroom.
Half an hour later, I came out wearing a pair of pants and a sleeveless shirt.
Then I lay down quietly on my bed.
It was time to organize my thoughts.
First
My ability.
It was powerful.
But it was limited too.
During the fight, an idea had crossed my mind ...using it directly against the snake.
But before I could even complete the attempt...
I had already ended up inside its mouth.
"Good thing the ring..."
I pushed that thought aside and raised my hand, checking the black ring on my finger.
The moment the snake's fang pierced my hand, the ring had returned to my finger.
I closed my eyes, drew mana from within myself, and poured it into the ring.
The ring melted into a liquid mass.
Then, following my thoughts, it reshaped itself into its familiar form.
A katana.
"How comforting."
I remembered the conditions required for the ring to evolve.
Strong metals.
The ring could devour powerful metals and grow stronger.
"But..."
A trace of sadness crossed me.
My current financial situation made that impossible.
I stood up again, sat in front of the computer, and took out something I had forgotten for a long time.
"The notebook I got from the chest."
I brushed the dust off its cover.
"An Old Man's Journal."
That was the title hidden beneath the dust.
Since I could not do much for a while, I opened it out of curiosity.
"Greetings to those who inherited my legacy."
"The Golden Eye."
"The Formless."
Those were the first things the old man described.
"Do not trust your eyes completely. At times, enemies can deceive you with false mana."
"Based on my own experience, one must also be careful of mana consumption."
Several pages were dedicated to the eye.
Most of it was ordinary information I already knew.
Then, after a few more pages...
"The Formless."
From what I could tell, it was describing the black ring.
It was strange.
How had such a weapon been created?
And by whom?
My curiosity deepened after remembering how it had returned to me during the battle.
"The Formless."
"It appears to be nothing more than a simple ring."
"But do not be fooled."
"It is an ancient demon I found inside a collapsed Rift."
"The demon possessed the power to transform into anything it wished."
"After I killed it, it became a plain black ring."
"At first, I tried to destroy it, but I failed."
"Then greed took hold of me."
"I took the ring, believing it to be an ancient relic."
"...What?"
What the hell was he talking about?
The author had never mentioned any of this.
I immediately looked at the ring on my finger and tried to remove it.
"Damn it."
It would not budge.
Not even a little.
"That bastard never mentioned this."
I cursed the shameless author.
Somewhere in the world, a beautiful girl suddenly sneezed.
I kept trying to remove the ring, but every attempt failed.
"Haaah..."
I exhaled and forced myself to calm down.
Then I poured mana into the ring.
No...
Into the Formless.
It slowly transformed into a dagger.
I threw the dagger away from me.
Then I watched it for several minutes.
What happened next sent a chill through my body.
The dagger shifted again.
This time, it became a small bat.
It flapped its wings and flew straight toward me.
Thud.
Before I could dodge, it transformed back into a ring and attached itself to my finger.
"What cursed thing gave me luck like this?!"
I shouted in frustration.
I threw it again.
It returned.
I used my ability this time.
No matter how far I sent it, it always came back.
Eventually, I got tired of it and gave up.
I returned to my chair, opened the journal once more, and continued reading.
"Based on my experiments, feeding the ring metal allows it to evolve."
The old man continued listing observations ...its ability to repair itself, the range of forms it could take, and other details.
But I found nothing else truly useful.
I closed the journal in disappointment.
"Now... I need to prepare for the academy."
After a little while, I pushed my frustration aside and thought about the new journey waiting for me.
The entrance exam.
44 hours remained