The encounter with the nameless lady and the two Elemental Rulers was a bit chaotic, but it was still better than what Alex had previously planned.
Alex had planned to corner one of the clan elders when he cfor him, and if they could agree to a deal, then great but otherwise, he planned to kill him and hope that the remaining elder would be sensible enough to give him an entry spot.
In this entire process, Alex might need to get his hands dirty by killing more than just a single individual and that was something he wanted to avoid.
While in his second life, he had killed others, it had never been solely for his own benefit and even those he killed were the scum of society, such as the demonic cult members and actual demons.
Alex could comfort himself by thinking that it was self-defense or that the Cult elders were not really good individuals, as they were waging war for power.
But he knew that the first was a lie because he was initiating a conflict to take something that belonged to the other party, and while the other reasoning was correct, it was not wrong because that's how life worked in the ancient world.
If one of the elders was a tyrant trying to force his rulership on others, then Alex could think he was doing the right thing, but in the current circumstances where both elders were equally supported by their people, he knew better than to believe such a fallacy.
So the best Alex could reason was that he would give them a chance and while if their leader was stubborn, then many could still die, but that was an inevitable outcif he was going to get an entry spot in the ancestral realm.
The entry into the realm held paramount importance for Alex, as his strength was crucial to many matters at hand and he could not afford to sit around, driven by a sense that he was not completely right in his actions.
However, now things had changed, as Alex had what he wanted and knew things were more complicated than he previously believed.So, while he did not plan to get involved with the Morvoren clan's internal conflict if the two clan elders tried to stop him, then he would not hesitate to put them to rest.
After acquiring the key, Alex informed his guardians about it, because if Leviathan was watching, what was the point of hiding it, and as he expected, their reaction was as he expected it to be.
The guardian Alex knew would have forced him to not enter the ancestral realm at any cost in his condition, but they agreed as if they knew he possessed the cure.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAlex had his doubts from the start, as the very nature of the quest that Lady Enigma gave prohibited him from using the potion to break free of the curse, and instead, it forced him to search for the entrance portal.
Now, after almost two weeks, and with his guardians not discovering the island despite all the info he shared, he was certain they knew about the entire situation, and their response just proved him right.
Alex concluded that they wanted him to get a taste of what it was like to deal with situations independently, fully aware that any mistake would lead to facing their consequences with no elder being present to save him.
Alex had no issue with it.
There was no further development in the following days, and the day of the realm opening was drawing closer and closer. Just three days before the big day, Alex received truly good news that he had been waiting to hear for months.
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Alex stood deep inside a mountain valley, near a small body of water that reflected the moonlight, illuminating the nearly pitch-dark surroundings.
"It's about tyou return to my side," Alex thought as he summoned his only beast companion, and instantly, a massive circle of pitch darkness covered a large section of the pond, dimming the light in the surroundings.
Alex waited with bated breath as the darkness began to rise, a wave of anxiety washing over him, as he could not help but wonder how his little friend would have changed.
Would Ricin still be the splayful glutton who enjoyed eating and sleeping, or would he have transformed into a creature molded into a predator of nature, having lost his liveliness and innocence?
After mere seconds, a piercing shriek shattered the silence, sending ripples of darkness emanating outwards.
"SSSSHHHRRRIIIIIIIKKKKKKKK"
As the darkness dissipated, it revealed a towering entity looming ominously atop the water, and with a bright smile on his face Alex moved closer to the edge of the pond.
"Amazing," Alex said absentmindedly as he scanned the completely changed appearance of Ricin.
Ricin's new appearance was a sight to behold, an extraordinary fusion of flesh and ethereal energy, appearing as an entity poised between realms.
His form, once purely flesh and blood, now seemed different, appearing as a mix of tangible and intangible, marked by his clear spectral nature.
Standing at close to ten meters in height, Ricin's long, sinuous neck was cloaked in a cascade of pitch-dark feathers, as thin and long as flowing hair, descending from beneath his dark beak and ending where his neck met his body.
Where the dark feathers stopped, ghostly white feathers took over, equally thin yet spectral, resembling a calm yet raging flame, flowing freely like swirling mist in the wind, enveloping his chest and ribcage entirely before transitioning to larger, more conventional dark feathers that covered the rest of his body down to his legs.
Ricin's form boasted two sets of wings, the larger set befitting his massive frand the smaller set, sitting just below the main pair, both appearing identical in form.
The primary wingspan stretched wide, each feather gleaming with an otherworldly iridescence. Their edges shimmered like oil slicks on water, blending dark hues with ghostly white.
At the joints of both sets of wings were four finger-like claws, reminiscent of those found on prehistoric birds. His long, pillar-like legs were cloaked in inky black feathers, which contrasted sharply with his spectral white claws at the ends.
His eyes were piercing and luminous, like orbs of smoldering white embers with a small pitch-dark dot at their center, blazing with an eerie intensity.
Ricin's face was small, with a pointed beak, razor-sharp, sleek, and glinting with a metallic sheen. His head bore a crown of dark feathers that seamlessly transitioned into the ethereal cloak that enveloped his entire upper body.Ghostly white feathers, akin to flowing spectral energy, covered the complete upper side, cascading down from the crown and trailing along his form.
This ethereal essence emanated from the end of his body, casting him in a ghostly gray aura tinged with ominous violet hues.
"Oo boy, you look amazing," Alex uttered as he welcomed the towering beast into his embrace.
"SSHHHRRRIIIKKKKKK"
Alex reached out, tracing the white and black features on Ricin's neck to confirm that the white ones did not deform to the touch as he was expecting.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmBut he couldn't shake off the feeling that they were somehow different and a simple appraisal answered his question.
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[Mortifera Avior] (Mythical)
Title: [Unique Superior Species][???? Chosen]
Name: Ricin
LVL: 581
Rank: Fifth Rank (Peak)
Bound: Hidden One
HP: 82_Million/82_Million....(See More).
Nature: Curious
Condition: Eager, Happy, Proud
Skills: [Soulreaper's Embrace][Spectral Shift][Mortisbane Toxin][Size Manuplation]
Description: Mortifera Avior, an undocumented species of the spectral plane, a creature that embodies the convergence of material and the immaterial. It embraces the undeniable truth of death, wielding it as a source of power, alongside its unique spectral poison affinity.
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"Now, I was not expecting such changes, but I am not complaining," Alex thought as he took a deep breath to calm his emotions while reading through the descriptions of various skills.