Ethan felt a cold, paralyzing dread, but just as the shadow reached for his heart, Crul’s voice shattered the trance like a thunderclap.
[Master! Wake up!] Crul said.
Ethan gasped, his eyes snapping open. He was drenched in a thick, cold sweat, his breath coming in ragged heaves. The Falcon guards nearby turned their heads toward him, their sensors picking up his sudden spike in vitals. Ethan quickly raised a hand, signaling that he was fine, and began to walk toward the building that was still engulfed in flas.
"Crul... what the hell was that?" Ethan said.
[That was an intense spiritual attack, Master. I have two pieces of news regarding this event. Which would you like to hear first?] Crul said.
Ethan paused, surprised. For the first ti, he noticed a spark of the playful personality the System used to have before the updates. "Whichever. Just tell what’s happening," Ethan said.
[The first is that I have discovered how to access the encrypted data within the mories stored inside ,] Crul said.
"That’s great news. How?" Ethan said.
[I simply need to encounter sothing I do not recognize. This triggers a decryption sequence that unlocks specific mories related to that subject. Which brings to the second point: I know exactly what happened here,] Crul said.
"Which ans you know what that ’thing’ in my dream was," Ethan said.
[Correct, Master. It was an attack from a Peak Gold-rank spiritual plant. According to Lord Athyst’s records, it is the Black Flower of Resentnt,] Crul said.
"A flower?" Ethan said, stopping in his tracks.
[Yes, Master. It is a flower that has developed a slight consciousness. It uses strong spiritual power to either deter predators or lure in its prey,] Crul said.
"And in this case, what am I?" Ethan said.
[According to the data, you are a host. While it is ranked Gold, it could arguably be considered Platinum or Diamond due to its rarity. It is a conscious spiritual flower, an expert at hiding, and almost impossible to find by choice,] Crul said.
"Then I don’t understand what it’s trying to do," Ethan said.
[Records state the flower is a cluster of pain, hatred, and resentnt from the deceased. The number of people who died or were tortured in this facility must have been colossal to birth such a rare plant. It takes nearly a hundred years to form,] Crul said.
"A hundred years? You’re kidding ," Ethan said.
[That is a relatively small number, Master. Most conscious spiritual plants require at least a thousand or ten thousand years. A hundred-year-old specin like this is considered extraordinary,] Crul said.
"I see. But why is it calling out to ?" Ethan said.
[There is no absolute truth, but legends say that because the flower absorbs resentnt, it gains a conscience. It knows who destroyed the source of its hatred. This is what makes it extraordinary: it cannot be found on purpose. There are records of factions committing atrocities for a century just to cultivate one, yet the flower never appeared,] Crul said.
"So it’s a matter of luck?" Ethan said.
[Exactly. The records show that those who found it weren’t looking for it. They destroyed the source of the resentnt out of a sense of justice, not for a reward. Those who tried to farm it were usually killed long before it appeared, and only then would the flower manifest. It must be found by chance,] Crul said.
"Wow. A magical, mysterious flower. But if it’s so special, why is it only Gold-rank?" Ethan said.
[Because of its effect. It is a weak effect. No true Master would waste ti obtaining it for themselves; at most, they would give it to a disciple. That is why it has such a low classification,] Crul said.
Suddenly, Crul’s tone shifted. [Uh-oh,] Crul said.
"What’s wrong?" Ethan said.
[We must hurry. According to the records, after the hallucination, you only have minutes before it vanishes,] Crul said.
"And how do I find it?" Ethan said.
"Let yourself be guided. The flower wants you to find it. It isn’t hiding or defending; it’s calling you. Just close your eyes and follow the call," Crul said.
Ethan closed his eyes, letting the roar of the burning facility and the howling wind fade into the background. Slowly, he felt it—a sensation like a gentle, silken breeze caressing his face, pulling him toward the edge of the inferno. He began to walk, guided only by that ethereal touch, until he reached a patch of scorched earth near the foundation of the main laboratory.
Ethan opened his eyes and gasped. There, amidst the soot and falling ash, grew a flower of impossible beauty.
[It is exactly as the records describe. A flower of absolute black, without a single mark, appearing to rge perfectly with the darkness. But as it blooms, its brilliant purple petals and bluish pistils illuminate the night. The flower will open only for the one who is destined, guiding them with its own light,] Crul said.
The flower pulsed with a soft, rhythmic glow. It looked like a piece of the midnight sky had fallen to the frozen earth and taken root in the misery of the fallen.
"It is truly beautiful. What should I do now?" Ethan said.
"Just reach out your hand and eat it. You will understand soon enough," Crul said.
Ethan knelt in the snow. As his fingers drew near, the black petals unfurled completely, revealing a center that glowed with a deep, haunting violet light. The mont his skin touched the plant, he felt a surge of cold energy—not the biting cold of the Arctic, but a crystalline, spiritual chill that made his soul shiver.
He plucked the flower and placed it in his mouth. It didn’t taste like a plant; it tasted like a cold, sweet mist that dissolved instantly on his tongue.
For a second, everything went silent. The fire stopped crackling, and the wind ceased its howling. A flood of images rushed through Ethan’s mind—flashes of the lives that had been lost in this place, their final monts of terror and pain. But instead of the crushing weight he expected, he felt those emotions being refined, filtered through the flower’s essence until only a pure, concentrated power remained.
Ethan stood up, his purple eyes glowing with a new, sharper intensity. He felt a strange weightlessness in his mind, as if a veil had been lifted.
"I feel... different. Like my mind is suddenly wider," Ethan said.
[Master, you have just received a rare blessing. You have gained a permanent resistance to spiritual and ntal attacks. But more importantly, you have awakened your Spiritual Power.] Crul said.
Ethan frowned, looking at his hands as if expecting them to look different. "Awakened? I already have power, Crul. I’ve been using the lightning and my Qi for a long ti," Ethan said.
[It is not the sa, Master. Your lightning is a type of Elental Energy. In the grand hierarchy of the universe, elental energy—whether it be earth, water, fire, air, or lightning—is considered the lowest category of power. It is classified at the Silver level.] Crul said.
Ethan felt a sting of surprise. All the destruction he had caused, all the enemies he had turned to ash with his bolts, and the system was calling it the "lowest category"?
"Then what about the Max Gold-Rank Body of Elents? I can use all of them. Is that low-level too?" Ethan said.
[The Body of Elents allows you to master all forms of elental energy, which is a massive advantage, but it is still fundantally elental. However, that body has a unique property: it mutates over ti. Eventually, as you grow, you stop relying on simple elental power and begin to cultivate the ’Seed of Spiritual Power.’] Crul said.
Ethan leaned against a charred pillar, trying to process the information while the heat of the fire ward his back. "So what exactly is this Spiritual Power then?" Ethan said.
[Currently, you use Qi Breathing. That is the foundation, the soil. This flower has acted as a catalyst to plant the Spiritual Seed within that soil. To obtain this naturally would have taken you decades, perhaps centuries of ditation and refinent. It is a power that transcends the physical world. It is a bit complicated for now, Master, but do not worry too much. You will discover its true potential bit by bit.] Crul said.
Ethan closed his eyes for a second, focusing inward. Deep within his core, alongside the violent, crackling energy of his lightning, he felt sothing else. It was quiet, deep, and felt as vast as the ocean. It wasn’t a spark; it was a presence.
"A power that takes a hundred years to grow... and I just ate it," Ethan said with a grim smile.
[Precisely, Master. You have skipped the line.] Crul said.
Ethan turned away from the burning ruins. The fear that had tried to take him earlier was gone, replaced by a cold, absolute clarity.
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