Chapter 106: Luna’s Transformation

The evacuation proceeded exceptionally smoothly. With the complex terrain of Flame Canyon working in their favor and the concealment provided by the [Shadow Cloak], the three members of the Abyss Squad slipped through the canyon like water returning to the sea, leaving behind almost no trace for anyone to follow.

The occasional monster they encountered along the way posed little threat. Silas advanced like a mobile fortress, drawing the creatures’ attention and crushing anything that attempted to block their path, while Aiden delivered precise finishing blows whenever necessary. The monsters provided a modest amount of experience and a few insignificant materials, but neither was important enough to justify slowing their retreat.

Aiden’s attention was focused on something far more valuable.

Deep within his mind, beside the blood-red icon representing the [Sovereign of Souls], floated a miniature sphere of light. It rotated slowly, radiating a magnificent multicolored halo that seemed to contain countless shades at once.

This was the A-grade [Elemental Affinity] class he had stripped from Element Controller, purified through [Soul Devour], and converted into a transferable state.

Aiden could clearly perceive the tremendous elemental power contained within it. The class was filled with vitality and constant change, possessing a natural connection to the fundamental elements of the world. It was completely different from the cold, domineering, almost deathly silence surrounding the [Sovereign of Souls].

As he studied it, Aiden’s earlier suspicion was confirmed.

The core of the [Sovereign of Souls] lay in devouring and control. Its nature was fundamentally different from a class that relied on deep resonance with external elemental forces. Trying to forcibly fuse [Elemental Affinity] with himself would likely produce mediocre results at best and could potentially create a conflict between the two class origins.

There was no reason to take that risk.

Aiden had already decided who should receive it.

Three hours later, the three of them safely returned to a temporary base hidden on the opposite side of the city. The location was a semi-abandoned warehouse that had been largely forgotten by the surrounding players. Aiden had transformed it into a temporary hideout by installing a simple alert magic array and an optical camouflage system using the alchemy and Engineering knowledge he had acquired earlier.

The interior had been cleaned and organized enough to serve its purpose. One section functioned as a resting area, another was used for supplies, while the center of the warehouse had been cleared for tactical discussions.

As soon as they returned, Silas naturally moved toward the entrance and took up guard duty. His massive tower shield rested beside him, its surface reflecting the dim light of the warehouse with a cold metallic sheen. He stood there like a silent sentinel, keeping watch without needing to be told.

Luna, however, was noticeably restless.

She sat on a cleaned ammunition crate with her hands folded over her knees, her fingers occasionally tightening until her knuckles turned pale. Her purple eyes repeatedly drifted toward Aiden before quickly looking away again.

There was worry in them.

There was curiosity.

And beneath both was a faint trace of fear that Luna herself did not seem to realize was there.

She had witnessed what happened in Flame Canyon.

She had felt the terrifying energy that erupted from Aiden when [Soul Devour] activated.

Whatever that ability truly was, it had crossed a boundary that ordinary players could hardly imagine.

Aiden did not comment on her unease.

Instead, he retrieved clean water and food from the portable storage attached to [Alderton’s Alchemy Workbench] and distributed them between Silas and Luna. Only after making sure they had both recovered somewhat did he lean against an old table and close his eyes.

His consciousness descended inward.

He carefully examined the condition of his body after using [Soul Devour] and, more importantly, the state of the newly acquired class.

The cooldown was exactly as unpleasant as he had expected.

When his consciousness touched the [Soul Devour] icon, he received nothing resembling an immediate activation response. The ability felt as though it had been sealed behind an immense, immovable barrier. There was absolutely no possibility of using it again in the short term.

Aiden wasn’t surprised.

An ability capable of stripping another player’s class directly from their soul was already beyond ordinary logic. Such power naturally had to come with restrictions.

His attention shifted toward the multicolored sphere floating beside the [Sovereign of Souls].

The stolen class remained perfectly stable.

It floated quietly like an exquisite weapon waiting for its new wielder.

Aiden opened his eyes.

His gaze fell upon Luna.

Her [Heavenly Karmic Dice] class possessed extraordinary potential, but at its current stage, it was heavily dependent on luck. More importantly, it lacked the consistent offensive power and defensive capabilities that a dangerous battlefield demanded.

That weakness had always concerned Aiden.

Luna’s abilities could produce miracles, but miracles could not be relied upon every second.

Now, however, the solution was directly in his hands.

“Luna.”

Aiden’s voice broke the silence of the warehouse.

Luna immediately straightened, almost like a student who had just been called on by a teacher.

“I-I’m here, Sir Aiden.”

Aiden walked toward her and stopped in front of the ammunition crate. His gaze remained calm, but Luna could not help feeling her heart beat faster beneath it.

“I devoured a class.”

Aiden spoke without hesitation.

“An A-grade class. [Elemental Affinity].”

Even though Luna had already suspected as much, hearing the confirmation from Aiden himself still left her stunned.

Her small hand immediately rose to cover her mouth, and her purple eyes widened.

An A-grade class.

A talent that represented the upper echelon of players.

And Sir Aiden had actually stripped it from another player.

The implications were almost impossible to comprehend.

Aiden continued before she could gather her thoughts.

“It doesn’t suit me. But its effects—enhanced elemental damage, reduced Mana consumption, and the possibility of triggering elemental resonance—are highly compatible with you.”

Luna’s breathing became noticeably faster.

An impossible thought flashed through her mind.

She stared at Aiden.

He stared back.

“Now,” Aiden said calmly, “I’m going to bestow this class upon you.”

Luna’s entire body stiffened.

“Do you dare to take it?”

The words struck her like thunder.

Bestow a class?

Aiden could not only devour classes.

He could give them to someone else.

Luna’s mind went completely blank for several seconds as she struggled to process what she had just heard. The discovery was even more shocking than the successful use of [Soul Devour] itself.

After the initial shock came an overwhelming mixture of excitement and fear.

“I…”

Her voice trembled.

“Sir Aiden, that’s too precious. I… I don’t deserve something like this. I’m only—”

“Answer me.”

Aiden interrupted her.

His tone was firm, leaving no room for self-deprecation.

“Do you dare, or do you not?”

His gaze was sharp enough to cut through her hesitation.

Strangely, that was exactly what Luna needed.

The chaotic thoughts in her mind gradually settled.

She remembered the desperation she had felt when she was surrounded in the church. She remembered Aiden appearing when she had thought she was already doomed. She remembered the strange sense of belonging she had gradually developed since becoming part of the Abyss Squad.

She didn’t want to remain weak.

She didn’t want to constantly depend on Silas or Aiden to protect her.

Most importantly, she didn’t want to become a liability to the people who had accepted her.

She wanted to become stronger.

She wanted to stand beside Aiden as a true member of the Abyss Squad.

An unfamiliar courage rose from the deepest part of her heart.

Luna suddenly raised her head.

The hesitation in her purple eyes disappeared, replaced by determination.

“I dare!”

Her voice was clear and firm.

A faint curve appeared at the corner of Aiden’s mouth.

That was the answer he wanted.

Power was meaningless in the hands of someone who lacked the resolve to wield it.

“The process may be painful,” Aiden warned. “Endure it.”

He didn’t wait for another response.

Aiden raised his right hand and gently placed his index finger against Luna’s forehead. At the same time, his consciousness connected with the blood-red icon of the [Sovereign of Souls] deep within his mind.

A mysterious authority immediately responded.

An ancient thought surfaced within his consciousness, carrying information that seemed to originate from the fundamental rules governing the class itself.

“In the name of the soul, exercise the power of bestowal.”

Aiden’s voice was low.

He wasn’t speaking in any language he knew. The words simply emerged as part of the information associated with the [Sovereign of Souls] authority.

Hum!

Blood-red light suddenly radiated from Aiden’s body.

It did not feel evil.

Instead, it carried a cold and overwhelming majesty, like the unquestionable authority of a sovereign.

The multicolored sphere floating within Aiden’s Class Space immediately responded.

It transformed into a flowing stream of radiant energy and surged toward his fingertip.

Then it entered Luna’s forehead.

“Ah!”

Luna cried out as the class origin entered her body.

Her petite frame trembled violently.

This was completely different from receiving a skill inheritance or absorbing information.

Aiden was directly imprinting an external class origin into the deepest level of her life source.

The pain was comparable to having her soul torn apart and reconstructed.

Multicolored light began to spread across Luna’s body. Flames flickered over her skin before transforming into crystalline ice. Tiny arcs of lightning danced across her arms, while miniature whirlwinds formed and disappeared around her.

The elemental energies were colliding violently within her body.

Her life source was desperately resisting the foreign class origin.

Fine cracks appeared across her skin like fractures spreading through porcelain. Thin streams of blood seeped from them, staining her white robe red.

Luna’s face became deathly pale.

She bit down so hard on her lower lip that blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and ran down her chin.

Silas heard the commotion from the entrance.

He immediately turned around.

When he saw Luna’s condition, his fists clenched, and concern flashed across his face.

However, he remembered Aiden’s instructions.

Silas turned back toward the entrance and continued guarding the warehouse.

He trusted Aiden.

Aiden’s finger remained pressed against Luna’s forehead.

His expression was calm.

Almost cruelly calm.

He could clearly feel the enormous pain Luna was enduring. He could also sense the violent resistance coming from her life source as it struggled to accept the foreign class origin.

But he knew that this process could not be avoided.

Power of this level could not simply be handed to someone without consequence.

“Steady your mind!” Aiden shouted.

His voice cut through Luna’s fading consciousness.

“Guide it. Don’t fight it blindly. Treat it as a part of your body!”

Luna’s breathing became increasingly ragged.

“Remember why you want this power!”

Aiden’s voice struck her consciousness like a bell.

“Remember your promise to me!”

Promise…

The word echoed through Luna’s mind.

She wanted to stand beside Sir Aiden.

That single thought became an anchor.

Luna stopped trying to forcefully resist the elemental torrent.

Instead, she gathered the remaining strength of her consciousness and reached toward it.

She tried to understand it.

To guide it.

To accept it.

The process was like attempting to steer a tiny boat through the middle of a raging ocean, but Luna refused to let go.

Then something unexpected happened.

Her [Heavenly Karmic Dice] class began reacting to the foreign power.

A hazy energy carrying the mysterious concept of fate quietly spread through her body.

It did not suppress the [Elemental Affinity] class.

Instead, it seemed to subtly adjust the countless conflicts between the two class origins, smoothing out their incompatibilities in tiny increments.

It was almost as though fate itself had found a favorable path through the chaos.

The transfer continued.

Second by second.

Inside the warehouse, only Luna’s heavy breathing and the low hum of circulating energy could be heard.

Aiden maintained the connection, carefully monitoring the process.

He could feel the class origin gradually becoming less foreign to Luna. The multicolored energy was slowly establishing a connection with her life aura, while her [Heavenly Karmic Dice] class continued to stabilize the fusion.

Then, suddenly, the violent elemental energy inside Luna’s body stopped.

Everything became still.

The next instant, the energy began flowing inward.

It converged toward her lower abdomen in a mysterious pattern, where it compressed and gradually formed the foundation of her new class.

The multicolored light covering Luna’s body rapidly receded.

The cracks in her skin closed.

The blood vanished.

Her pale complexion slowly returned to normal, and a healthy flush spread across her cheeks.

A calm but powerful aura began emanating from her body.

Luna slowly opened her eyes.

Tiny iridescent lights seemed to flicker within her purple irises.

She instinctively raised one hand.

A small flame appeared at her fingertip.

She stared at it in surprise.

The flame disappeared, replaced by a thin layer of ice.

The ice then transformed into a gentle breeze that carried tiny particles of earth and faint electric sparks.

Luna’s breathing quickened.

She could feel them.

The fundamental elements that had once existed only as distant energies were now incredibly clear to her.

Fire.

Ice.

Wind.

Earth.

Lightning.

Their presence was everywhere.

And for the first time, she could sense them as naturally as she sensed her own limbs.

Then the system notification sounded.

[Ding!]

[Player Luna Everhart has successfully fused with the second class: [Elemental Affinity] — A-grade!]

The notification appeared simultaneously before Aiden and Luna.

Success.

Luna stared at her hands in disbelief.

The power flowing through her body was completely different from [Heavenly Karmic Dice], yet the two classes somehow complemented each other perfectly.

One governed the unpredictable nature of fate.

The other granted her direct resonance and control over the fundamental elements.

For Luna, it felt as though she had been reborn.

She raised her head.

Aiden had already withdrawn his hand.

His complexion was slightly pale from the effort, but he remained standing calmly before her.

“Sir Aiden…”

Luna’s eyes immediately filled with tears.

She tried to blink them away, but more tears gathered.

“I… I succeeded.”

Her voice trembled, but there was unmistakable happiness in it.

Aiden studied her carefully.

He could sense the stable coexistence of two different class origins within her body.

Even with the authority of the [Sovereign of Souls] and the subtle assistance of [Heavenly Karmic Dice], the transfer had carried considerable risk.

Fortunately, it had succeeded.

“How do you feel?”

Aiden’s voice remained calm, though some of the earlier coldness had disappeared.

“Better than ever!”

Luna nodded enthusiastically as she wiped away her tears.

“I can feel them. Fire feels warm. Ice feels calm. Wind feels free. Earth feels steady, and lightning feels…” She struggled to find the right word before smiling brightly. “Alive.”

She stared at her hands with genuine wonder.

“They feel like they’re responding to me.”

Luna suddenly stood and bowed deeply toward Aiden.

“Sir Aiden, thank you.”

Her voice was filled with emotion.

“Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I won’t waste it.”

Aiden watched her for a moment before reaching out and patting her shoulder.

“Remember that this power wasn’t obtained easily.”

His tone became serious.

“Master it as quickly as possible. Our enemies won’t give us much time.”

“Yes!”

Luna straightened immediately.

Her purple eyes now burned with renewed determination.

At the warehouse entrance, Silas watched the exchange from a distance. When he saw Luna standing safely on her feet, a relieved smile appeared on his usually stern face.

He gave Aiden a firm nod.

Aiden returned the gesture before turning toward the holographic map occupying the center of the warehouse.

His expression gradually became serious again.

The class transfer had succeeded.

The Abyss Squad’s greatest weakness in sustained elemental combat had just been transformed into another weapon.

Luna now possessed two classes: the unpredictable [Heavenly Karmic Dice] and the powerful A-grade [Elemental Affinity].

The combination had enormous potential.

But Aiden wasn’t interested in celebrating for long.

His gaze traveled across the holographic map before finally stopping at one particular location.

[Dragon Sovereign Guild Headquarters]

His fingertip tapped the location.

The Dragon Sovereign Guild had already lost one of its core elites.

The news would soon spread.

And when it did, Damien would inevitably hear about it.

A faint, cold smile appeared on Aiden’s face.

“Now…”

His eyes narrowed.

“…let’s see how you respond.”