Chapter 94: Obsidian and his magnificent journey of self discovery in the arts of cooking

The next few days passed far more peacefully than Eden had expected.

After everything that had happened inside the double dungeon, he had half expected his body to remain bedridden for weeks.

Instead, his recovery was almost absurdly fast.

The Association’s healers had done most of the work while he was unconscious, and once Eden’s body finally woke up, the rest of the damage seemed to disappear at an alarming rate thanks to his dark matter regeneration.

It was one of the more convenient advantages of becoming an A-Rank.

Still, Mihui had made one thing very clear.

He was not leaving the house.

Not for training.

Not for Gates.

Not for "just a quick walk."

And certainly not for anything remotely dangerous.

The first time Eden had casually mentioned visiting an E-Rank Gate to "keep his body moving," Mihui had stared at him for almost ten seconds without saying anything.

Then she’d pointed toward the couch.

"Sit."

Eden had sat.

He hadn’t mentioned Gates again.

For several days, his life became strangely domestic.

He slept.

He ate.

He recovered.

He watched television.

He occasionally checked his Status Window.

And, much to his annoyance, he discovered that being forced to rest wasn’t entirely unpleasant.

Sophia visited once.

Then Lucy came by several times.

Lucy had apparently been training almost obsessively while Eden was unconscious.

She had managed to reach B-Rank.

She had reached it on her own.

"Not bad," Eden had said.

Lucy had puffed her cheeks.

"Not bad?"

"Congratulations."

"That’s better."

She’d then spent the next twenty minutes bragging about how she had reached B-Rank without him.

Eden had listened with a faint smile.

He was genuinely happy for her.

Lucy had grown stronger.

A lot stronger.

And knowing her, she probably wasn’t anywhere near finished.

Still, Eden couldn’t shake the feeling that the third round was going to be interesting.

Very interesting.

Especially with Elio waiting at the end of the bracket.

And then there was Sylvia.

She had apparently recovered from her emotional breakdown remarkably quickly.

In fact, perhaps too quickly.

Because within a couple of nights, Eden discovered that she had returned to one of her favorite habits.

Sneaking into his bed.

The first time he woke up and found her sleeping beside him, he simply stared at the ceiling.

"...Why?"

Sylvia, still half asleep, mumbled something unintelligible and rolled over.

Eden sighed.

"Fine."

He went back to sleep.

By the third night, he’d stopped questioning it.

At this point, he was beginning to suspect that Sylvia considered his bed part of her territory.

Obsidian, meanwhile, had developed an entirely different obsession.

Chores.

Eden had initially assumed Sylvia was joking when she mentioned it.

She wasn’t.

Obsidian had discovered household chores.

And apparently...

He enjoyed them.

It started with something simple.

Mihui had asked him to carry some boxes.

Then she’d asked him to help move some furniture.

Then she’d handed him a broom.

And somehow, things had escalated from there.

One afternoon, Eden was sitting in the living room when he heard laughter coming from the kitchen.

Loud laughter from Mihui and Sylvia.

Eden raised an eyebrow.

’What are those two up to?’

He stood and walked toward the kitchen.

Then stopped.

His brain needed several seconds to process what he was seeing.

Obsidian stood in the middle of the kitchen.

The massive black knight was holding a wooden spoon.

His dark armor had been partially dissolved away, leaving his upper body covered in dark, featureless material.

And around his waist...

Was a pink apron.

A very pink apron.

With little white patterns across it.

Mihui was leaning against the counter, laughing so hard she could barely breathe.

Sylvia was holding her stomach.

Eden stared.

Obsidian stared back.

Then Eden’s lips twitched.

"No."

Obsidian’s shoulders stiffened.

Eden pointed at the apron.

"Absolutely not."

Mihui burst into another fit of laughter.

"He wanted to cook!"

Sylvia wiped tears from her eyes.

"He wanted to contribute to the household."

Eden looked at Obsidian.

Then at the apron.

Then back at Obsidian.

"...Where did you even get that?"

Mihui raised her hand.

"It’s mine."

Eden nodded slowly.

"Of course it is."

Obsidian lowered his head.

For perhaps the first time since Eden had known him, the enormous black knight looked embarrassed.

Eden tried to hold it in.

He genuinely tried.

He failed.

A laugh escaped him.

Then another.

Soon he was laughing almost as hard as Mihui.

Obsidian stood completely still.

His shoulders slowly sank.

"...Oh, come on."

The next second, Dark Matter swallowed him.

He disappeared.

Mihui blinked.

Sylvia giggled.

"He’s embarrassed."

"I noticed."

Obsidian didn’t manifest again for the rest of the day.

Eden found the whole thing strangely comforting.

That feeling lasted until one evening.

Eden was sitting alone in his room when another memory resurfaced.

A massive centipede.

Its carapace had been covered in countless layers of armor.

Its legs had moved with horrifying speed.

And its Essence had been overwhelming.

A B+ Rank creature.

The same creature that had nearly killed him if it wasn’t for Ryuhei stepping in.

Eden’s eyes narrowed.

Back then, he’d been helpless.

Now?

He could without a doubt kill it.

The problem was finding it.

The tomb.

The Empty Gates.

The strange connection between the empty Gates and the ancient structures beneath them.

Finding one that led toward the Ruler’s tomb would be another matter entirely.

He considered reaching out to Seraphina.

She had been investigating Empty Gates for a while.

If anyone could help him locate one, it would probably be her.

Eden reached for his phone.

Then stopped.

"...After the third round."

He placed the phone back down.

Mihui would never let him leave the house if she knew he was planning another dangerous expedition.

Actually...

She probably wouldn’t let him leave even if he wasn’t.

Eden sighed.

"She’d kill me."

He couldn’t help but smile.

Then his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

The Abyss.

That was where everything seemed to be pointing.

He sat by the window and stared into the night.

If he was going to understand what had happened to him, he needed answers.

And the Abyss had them.

Five reasons immediately came to mind.

First.

The Hellforge.

The ancient mechanism that could reconstruct an Awakened’s body and push their existence beyond normal human limitations.

Second.

The Reverse Castle.

The mysterious creature connected to Lord’s Wrath and Lord’s Mercy.

The Guardian had told Eden that its true body was somewhere inside the Abyss.

Third.

Ryuhei.

The strange masked swordsman had already told Eden that they would meet again there.

Eden still had more questions than answers about him.

Fourth.

Dark Matter.

Eden’s Dark Matter had increased significantly after consuming the Death Knight’s remains.

If he wanted to restore Sylvia and Obsidian faster, the Abyss was almost certainly the best place to find more.

And fifth...

Mendax.