The bathroom was as grand as the rest of the room . Walls made of white stone, a large golden-framed mirror, and a bathtub big enough to fit three people. The air smelled faintly of roses and fresh water mana.

Amon looked at his reflection in the mirror, his messy dark hair, his pale skin, and tired eyes.

"Alright... let's see what this thing can do," he muttered.

He uncorked the crystal tube. The golden liquid shimmered faintly, releasing a soft warmth into the air. Even just holding it made his body tingle.

'It smells… kind of sweet,' Amon thought before taking a deep breath.

Without hesitation, he tilted his head back and drank the potion.

The taste hit him instantly — warm and metallic, like honey mixed with lightning. For a moment, he thought it was pleasant… until his body reacted.

"Ghhh—!!" Amon's entire body convulsed. The liquid spread through his veins like fire. It felt as if molten metal was flowing inside him. His vision blurred, and he dropped the empty vial to the marble floor, it shattered, scattering golden shards.

His knees buckled. He fell against the wall, gasping for air.

"Wh–what is happening!?"

"VOWW!" Amon suddenly vomited a black-colored ooze-like liquid violently.

He fell on his knees, hands resting against the marble floor as he continued to vomit.

Dark steam began to rise from his skin. A thick black liquid oozed out from his pores, dripping onto the white marble floor. The smell was awful — like burnt iron and rotten flesh.

His muscles tightened, veins pulsing violently. His heart was pounding so fast it almost hurt.

He was feeling like his muscles were getting torn and twisted, then joined again.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of bones cracking could be heard.

"Ahh—" He couldn't even scream in pain as the liquid continued to flow out of his mouth.

It lasted only a few minutes… but to Amon, it felt like hours.

Then, suddenly. The pain slowly started to vanish.

The black impurities that had covered his body evaporated into thin air, leaving only faint wisps of smoke.

Amon's breathing slowed. He lay flat on the floor, not caring if he was covered by his own vomit.

Slowly, he lost consciousness.

---

After some hours,

Amon's eyes twitched and slowly started to open.

A dirty and pungent smell hit his nose.

"Fuck! It smells so dirty," Amon said. Now he was not feeling any pain at all.

Rather, it was as if he was feeling better than ever. He was stronger.

Amon got up from the dirty marble floor.

He looked into the mirror.

His skin looked cleaner, paler, smoother. His messy dark hair now had a faint silver sheen under the light of the lamps. And his eyes.

They seemed sharper, deeper, the shadows within them more pronounced.

He clenched his fists.

Mana.

He could feel it.

A cool sensation flowed through his body — calm, steady, powerful. His mana pool, once shallow like a pond, now felt like a small lake. It had definitely increased, and by a lot.

"Hah…" Amon grinned. "So this is what it means to have real mana."

He raised his hand, and a faint blue mana formed around his palm. It swirled effortlessly, responding to his will faster than ever before.

He laughed softly to himself. "Hehe… I feel incredible!"

"Damn! This bathroom smells awful. Let's clean up first."

Amon cleaned the bathroom himself. He couldn't let the servants clean his mess. Then he took a nice bath in warm water.

After cleaning up and changing into new clothes, he stepped out of the bathroom. His body felt lighter, stronger — reborn.

His gaze drifted to the small table near his bed. A plate was kept there. It was covered with a cloche. The steel cloche didn't look normal at all. A faint mana could be sensed from it.

Amon lifted the cloche. Aroma filled his nostrils. There was warm food under it. Warm steam still came from it.

He saw a small note there.

"Eat your dinner. You will be hungry after that... it must be Senior Selena." Amon smiled.

She was not wrong. Amon was really hungry right now.

It was already dark outside.

'It's midnight actually. It seems the magic cloche kept the food inside warm and healthy.'

"Thank you for the food." With a smile, Amon started to eat.

---

Now, after having a nice midnight dinner,

He lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

'She really gave me something priceless…' he thought. He was grateful to her.

'Let's check my status window now, hehe~' Now he wanted to check his stats.

He truly believed that it must have increased significantly.

'Status Window.'

As he muttered inside, a blue translucent screen appeared in front of his eyes, in midair.

---

[Status Window]

Name: Amon Vale

Age: 17

Rank: Awakened

Class: Death Bearer

Element: Shadow, Darkness

Mana: 562

Strength: 51

Agility: 54

Speed: 52

Endurance: 33

Skills: [Basic Swordsmanship], [Umbral Veil

Sword Art]

Spells: [Gloom Orb], [Shadow Clutch], [Mana Bullets], [Shadow Claw]

Abilities: [Death's Shadow]

---

Amon gasped. His mouth opened wide. He kept looking at the screen without blinking his eyes.

Again, again, and again.

After confirming multiple times that it was actually true,

He smiled. His smile became laughter.

"Hahahaha!" He laughed like a madman, as always.

He closed the status window and continued to punch the bedsheets — not because he was irritated, but because he was too happy.

"Oh man, I can't sleep! With this much improvement, I can fucking defeat most of the first years~ hehehe!"

He was so excited. He didn't know what to do now. No, actually he wanted to leave his room and meet his senior, to tell her that he got stronger.

But alas, he couldn't do that. He couldn't even share his happiness with his senior.

'Damn! If it was not late at night, then I'd have called Sera to tell her this,' Amon thought dejectedly.

He sighed and calmed himself.

"Let's sleep now."

He lay comfortably on the bed, closing his eyes to sleep.

But was it his bad luck? Sleep didn't come at all.

Was it because he was too excited? Amon didn't know.

He tried to sleep many times. Different, different poses, yet he didn't fall asleep.

"Aarggg! I can't sleep," he complained to himself.

"Is it because I was unconscious from the evening time?" With a tired sigh, he got up from the bed.

'I will take a walk. Maybe I'll fall asleep while walking.'

With no choice, Amon left his room.

The corridors were dark, but not completely. The small lamps on the walls were on. They gave a small amount of light, which was good during nighttime.

The bigger lamps were off.

Amon strode through the corridor. His feet started to make a loud sound in the silent night, in the empty place.

'This is not good. What should I do about my footsteps soun—wait, there is a way!'

An idea came to his small brain again.

Amon commanded his shadow beneath his feet. The shadow formed by the faint light of the lamps trembled and slowly wrapped itself around his shoes.

Now the sound of his steps was concealed completely.

'Hehe~ this is good. Why haven't I thought of it before?' Amon continued his walk. Sometimes he saw some knights guarding certain places, certain rooms.

Seeing that, he changed his route every time.

He stopped at one particular large balcony. The scenery outside was just unforgettable.

The night sky was covered with shining stars, blinking beside the silent moon. Their light covered the whole city. The city beneath was still alive, awake.

Not as much as during the day, but many parts of the city were still lit. Still working even at night.

The scenery made Amon feel calm. It was a very peaceful sight.

He never thought that he would ever watch such a beautiful sight from a majestic Imperial castle.

'Life is full of surprises.'

"Yawn~" Amon yawned with his mouth wide open.

Crystal tears formed near the corners of his eyes. 'Guess I will head back to my room now.'

He turned back to walk.

He looked to the right, then to the left.

Then he went into deep thinking.

'Where is my room?'

The palace was too large. Amon had been wandering for hours, trying to avoid guards, running away from them.

It seemed he had lost his way.

"Shit. I'm really lost." Shaking his head, Amon walked in a random direction.

After wandering here and there, something caught his eyes.

One particular room. The huge iron door was closed. The two knights outside were standing, yet both of them were asleep.

From beneath the door, from a tiny space, came out a shimmering light.

It seemed there was something inside.

'Not my problem.' Amon tried to ignore it.

But he knew better than anyone else.

Somehow his shadow-covered feet led him to that door.

Silently. Without making any sound.

He stood there.

His expression was very funny.

There was only one thought in his mind.

'Why am I here?'

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