Chapter 792: So About My Rewards...

Julius had a lot of questions, and it turned out that the rift, or rather the rift administrator, was able to answer some of them.

Turns out this rift wasn’t like a normal rift; in fact, it was originally made to hold a certain individual as punishment for his crimes. This essentially made the rift a prison realm for all shapes and purposes.

He also learned that Clan Dawnfield was sort of the wardens of this prison realm. While not everyone knew the rift's secrets, their support allowed the prison to keep running without issues. Their continued presence allowed outside mana to constantly reinforce the barriers that kept the prison realm running. The realm also took a small bit of soul essence from whoever entered, something it couldn’t generate naturally.

In return, Clan Dawnfield members could use the rift to their benefit, increasing their kinetic affinity and training their young. While it might have sounded risky to allow people to enter a prison realm, that's why the rift was restricted to Tier 4s.

A Tier 4 typically wouldn't stand a chance of entering the fifth floor, let alone surviving or breaking free of its prisoner.

That was until Julius decided to waltz his way in.

As for whom this realm was made to hold, well, that person was the very same feral man still trying to claw his way out of the chains. Julius took a small moment to look at the man again and couldn’t believe just how dramatic the change was. He did a really good job at containing his aura.

Too bad he didn’t do as good a job with the fruit. If he had, Julius likely wouldn't have noticed until it was too late. Truth be told, that fruit looked mightily delicious, and it took all of his willpower not to give it a quick little nibble.

He also asked some questions about the man who tried to possess him.

Apparently that information was a bit more limited. The admin couldn’t tell Julius where he was from or anything too personal. But he did find out that the man wasn’t lying when he said he was a spiritual creature. It made sense why the man had said "spiritual creature" instead of "spirit."

They had originally been a force spirit born from centuries of accumulated kinetic energy inside a Kinetic Starfruit Tree. But over time, a powerful source of death mana corrupted it. It turned the once-pure force spirit into a twisted creature of immense power.

In fact, the body the spirit was currently inhabiting was once human, someone the spirit had taken over many years ago. Julius wanted to learn more about the man it had taken over, as well as the sect this rift seemed to replicate, but that information was apparently restricted. He tried his best to get around it, but even his best puppy eyes and sweet words couldn't help. The admin did appear to hesitate for a brief second when he offered a piece of cake, though.

So that was his plan for me? To take over my body? He asked.

Correct. He planned to use the fruit to transform your body into an ideal vessel and use the process to take over your mind and spirit.

Would he have succeeded?

Unknown. Your soul is unusually strong for a Tier 4, even taking into consideration your third soul evolution. Regardless, the body he took over previously was a Tier 6, and though he is weakened and restricted inside this realm, he still had enough knowledge and experience to make the odds of success high enough that I needed to terminate you before he had the chance.

Wait, so you were trying to kill me…

Correct.

Julius wanted to be a little more upset, but he couldn’t find it within himself. From the sound of it, this “man” was quite dangerous.

What is his name?

His name is Zereth.

Why me? Why did he try this of all times? Surely he had other opportunities.

Where would he find a better match? Kinetic users are already quite rare, but he needed someone with the proper constitution to hold his power. Your body is uniquely strong and adaptable. Your combination of kinetic and life affinities is an almost perfect fit for Zereth. Add that to your powerful soul, which would have been strong enough to withstand the transition long enough for him to take over your body.

I thought he used death mana? Why would my life mana work well for him?

Your ruinous aura and Phoenix skill already touch upon many Concepts of Death. The transformation of your life mana to death mana would have been relatively simple for a tainted spirit like him. The death-corrupted fruit would have been more than enough to complete the transition.

So basically I was the most delectable-looking piece of cake he had seen in god knows how many years, and he decided to possess and take over my body?

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Correct. You were indeed a “delectable piece of cake”.

Julius snorted and shook his head. It was just his luck that he finally found a wonderful rift, only to learn it was a prison realm and the prisoner held captive wanted to possess him. Why couldn’t he just find a simple rift where he could increase his affinity?

How did he manage to even lure me to the shack? Shouldn’t there have been more protections in place? Not to mention, this is only the fourth floor.

Some years ago, significant damage struck specific areas of space, including where the realm is located. The damage was repaired, but Zereth must have used that brief period to gather enough strength in case he wanted to attempt an escape. And technically, the shack was on the fifth floor. He managed to connect the two floors by layering the two separate fabrics of space.

That must have been what he had felt when he walked into the courtyard. The realization made him a little concerned about how easily he walked into the trap. Though he had one more question he really wanted to ask.

So he would have tried to escape regardless of whether I entered the rift? It would be a question of how long?

Correct. It would have only been a matter—

Notice: Communication network interrupted. Rift administrator no longer has access to the network array.

The message had a different sort of energy about it. It was pretty clear that he wasn't talking to the rift admin anymore.

Julius looked at his nails with an amused smirk. He had been hoping something like this would happen. He knew the rules regarding rifts and special circumstances like this. He felt a little bad about possibly getting the admin in trouble, but he had a plan.

“So does that mean I get a special little reward out of this? You know, considering that I helped solve your issue and all?” he asked out loud.

Notice: You have not completed or cleared the rift, thus no rewards are generated…

He held up a hand. “Ah, but I feel like I have been wronged and could have been possessed by an evil creature. A dangerous Tier 6, if I understand correctly. My efforts directly helped keep Zereth contained within this prison realm, and hence, I feel like I deserve something for my troubles.”

Since he was speaking out loud, the man he was talking about was looking at him with a murderous expression. He got the impression that Zereth was thinking about all of the ways to pull his intestines out of his stomach.

Julius looked down at him, then back up at the sky. “Does he have to be here to listen to this? Or can you send him somewhere a little more private? I don’t like how he’s looking at me.”

He didn’t get a message, but he did see the gold chains start to glow as they tightened around Zereth’s neck and limbs.

“Wait, wait! Hold on for a moment,” Julius interjected.

The glow settled down.

Julius sighed. “Thanks, this will only take a brief moment,” he said and walked over to Zereth. He stared at the immobilized man with a smug grin and gently tapped his cheek, then looked up at the sky.

He didn’t seem to take any damage or feel anything. Nor did he get a warning from the Words of the World. So he quickly pulled back his fist and punched the man in the nose.

Sadly, the man didn’t even wince from the blow. It was as if his skin were made of unbreakable steel. Though it seemed to piss him off, which might have been even more effective.

Julius chuckled, and seeing that the Words of the World weren’t warning him to stop, he stepped in, slapped the man, then redirected his momentum and backhanded him. Zereth got even more incensed, but he could do nothing about it.

Julius, on the other hand, was enjoying himself immensely. He wasn’t fond of bullying, but this piece of shit tried to possess him. So in his mind he absolutely deserved it.

Then again, he also realized that the damage he was doing was practically nothing. Then again, he would have been surprised if he could have hurt Zereth. According to the admin, the man had a Tier 6 body and, despite being weakened, wasn’t something a Tier 4 could damage.

But Julius had other ideas. He knelt down and grinned.

“I might not be able to hurt you, even if I used all of my strength. But I have something else for you.”

He pulled out a few items from his storage ring. One of them was ink he had gotten from the rogue’s storage ring. He made sure it didn’t have mana properties or anything Zereth could make use of first. Once he did, he leaned forward and started drawing on the man’s face.

Zereth became absolutely bloodthirsty, thrashing against the restraints with every ounce of strength he had. His aura was so full of anger that it might have killed any other Tier 4 outright. Luckily for Julius, he didn’t really care. His ability to withstand presences was impressive, and instead of shriveling in fear, he started humming cheerfully as he drew various objects all over the man’s face.

“Stop moving around, you’re ruining my artwork," he said scoldingly to Zereth, whacking the man-spirit abomination over the head with his brush.

Because of the man’s thrashing around, some of the drawings looked a bit off. But that only made them look more hilarious, and once he was done, he took out a mirror and showed off his handiwork.

“Perfect,” he said proudly.

Though it didn’t seem like Zereth was much of a fan. He was muffled so he couldn’t speak, but Julius thought it came out pretty well.

Julius sighed and nodded sympathetically. “I know, I know. You’re probably gonna tell me all about how you’re going to kill me one day and whatnot. But don’t worry, I will save you the trouble. If I have the chance, I will come back and kill you myself. So wait up for me,” Julius said, his cheerful grin taking on a much colder expression.

He didn’t worry about pissing someone clearly so strong, because he already had plans and would deal with it later. If anything, this was just more reason to get stronger.

As if knowing he was done with Zereth, the chains got brighter once again, and he watched in satisfaction as they squeezed Zereth’s body with such force that he heard bones crack. The rageful expression on the spirit man’s face shifted to one of desperation and panic.

Julius maintained eye contact the entire time, and only when the man vanished with a pop did he stand back up.

“I’m guessing he’s back inside whatever prison he was supposed to be in?”

He didn’t get a response, but he didn’t mind. He stretched out his arms and smiled widely.

“So about my rewards…”