A Calm Midnight

<Earlier, Before Hades descended>

"Here." Helen threw a round object at Odysseus' foot. She spoke lightly, "I appreciate the help. I feel a bit better after doing this."

Odysseus stared at the shocked expression on the round object silently.

Helen asked, "Aren't you happy? The one who drove your sister to death has met his end."

Watching the severed head of Karnok, King of Nelio, Odysseus didn't show any reaction.

"If I wanted revenge, I could've killed him long ago."

Odysseus continued, "Shadow must've helped you eliminate Karnok, I'll take it as Achilles lost?"

"Yes."

"Sigh, that's outside of my expectations. I never thought Achilles would lose, not to Noah of all people."

Helen's brows furrowed. She asked the question that was bugging her, "Why did you alert Achilles that Noah was escaping?"

"Isn't that simple? Achilles is strong, however, his lack of motivation caused his growth to stagnate. Noah was going to be the fertilizer that would help Achilles grow."

Listening to Odysseus Helen felt nauseated. When Killia – Imperial Physician Noah's wife and Odysseus' sister – killed herself, the two men had lost their entire world.

Noah had grown melancholic while Odysseus became a recluse, always leaving on different expeditions. Never in her life could Helen have predicted that Noah had been hiding his strength and Odysseus was planning something far more sinister.

Was their affection for Killia fake? Why didn't they protect Killia when they had the strength to do so?

Why were bastards like them blessed with strength?

"Why…"

"Why was I helping Achilles?" Odysseus misunderstood Helen's questions and spoke. He drummed his fingers on the windowsill as he continued, "Is that important? In the end, one mistake caused me the plan I built over the years."

The wooden floor and walls creaked as Odysseus failed to control his emotions.

Refugees from Nelio were escaping to the port at midnight. Odysseus' gaze lingered at the reflection of the moon on the surface of the sea.

"There is no point in hiding anymore."

***

<Back to Present>

Noah was done testing his skills. His eyes wandered to 'unwell' parts of his status. Not everything was rainbows and sunshine.

[ Mental Condition: Exhausted, Angry, Highly Mentally Unstable (Trait Flaw), Soul Connection (Active) ]

[ Husband Of The Night (Title Locked): Cannot access the title until you complete your first vampiric evolution. ]

[ Runes: ??? ]

For some reason, the runes Noah deciphered from the rune barrier control tower weren't visible on the status screen.

Hepius saw the status and it confirmed his doubts. On the outside, Noah looked no different from his previous self, but internally his mind was in shambles.

Hepius opened his mouth to speak, however, Noah was faster.

"He didn't answer why I can revive only a few times more."

{...} Hepius sighed inaudibly.

Hades told Noah he would die permanently if he died again. However, he left without explaining the reason. He wanted Hepius to explain it to Noah and Noah was now asking Hepius to do that.

{Soul Erosion is a poison that can kill even Gods. It erases the soul itself. You can stop its progression but the damage done by it can't be healed. Even with Soul Erosion resistance the corruption increases by a small margin with each death.}

Hepius continued.

{The damage done to your soul is extensive. Any more increase in soul corruption and your soul will reach the critical point where it won't be able to sustain your consciousness anymore. It's no different from dying. Resurrection won't help either.}

"..."

Noah nodded. He faced Hepius and grinned. "Why did you drop your accent again?"

Saintess gasped while Hepius bit his lips at Noah's nonchalant attitude. They couldn't tell if he was not afraid of death or if he had given up on the thought of living.

Cecilia didn't know what caused such a huge change in Noah's psyche but she could tell it wasn't good.

She wanted to console Noah. As the Saintess she had done that innumerable times. However, no words left her lips.

…Because Noah didn't want that.

Helping someone who refused the help wasn't kindness but cruelty. All Cecilia could do was wait until Noah opened up to her.

Noah ignored the two and tapped the screen.

[ Ding! You have chosen option 2. You will proceed forward towards the completion of the hidden objective. ]

[ Rewards for completing the basic objective will be settled. ]

[ You have received +2,000,000 Exp for completing the Primary Objective ]

[ Congratulations, you have completed the Primary Objective with a unique method. You have shown an overwhelming performance. Please choose one from the following rewards:

1. Fire Manipulation (Tier 1, Lv.0 )

2. Water Manipulation (Tier 1, Lv.0 )

3. Earth Manipulation (Tier 1, Lv.0 )

4. Air Manipulation (Tier 1, Lv.0 ) ]

"Hmm." Noah scratched his chin.

A tier 1 basic element manipulation skill was a great treasure. Receiving one from a rare or higher rating hidden mission could be regarded as using a lifetime's worth of luck.

Noah didn't need to waste hundreds of skill points to level up the skill or train it from tier 0 to tier 1 either.

"Alright, I'll choose this one."

[ Skill 'Water Manipulation' learned ]

—

[ Water Manipulation ] (Active-type)

Tier: 1

Level: 0

Proficiency: 0/100

Requirement: None

Cost: Variable

Cooldown: None

Skill Effect: Water is the element capable of helping life bloom as well as unleashing devastating destruction depending on the method of use. This skill allows you to control water freely from nearby water sources by consuming Divinity. The resources consumed will vary depending on the amount, range, and method.

—

Noah opened his palm towards the pond.

"Water Manipulation"

[ Divinity: 650/650 → 400/650 ]

Noah felt something leave from the tips of his fingers and seep into the pond. A massive blob of water levitated, which equaled roughly 250 liters.

Noah concentrated and controlled the water floating in the air. He could change the shape freely to his will. Each second he was losing 2 Divinity points in maintaining the control.

"Let's try a bit more."

The water blob split into hundreds of smaller water spheres. The ones closer to Noah shapeshifted into beautifully carved butterflies while the further ones were roughly shaped butterflies.

Noah was sweating heavily as he controlled hundreds of butterflies individually while maintaining their shapes.

"I thought it was easier than Gravity Manipulation, but if I use it this way, it's much harder."

Splitting the water didn't increase Divinity cost but the burden on Noah's mind became heavier. He doubted he could endure the increased burden for longer than 10 minutes.

[ Skill 'Water Manipulation' Proficiency has increased ]

[ Skill 'Water Manipulation' Proficiency… ]

[ Skill 'Water Manipulati… ]

[ Skill 'Wa… ]

[ … ]

Cecilia spoke hesitatingly, {The skill was Tier 1 Lv.0, wasn't it?}

"Yeah. Why?" Noah answered.

{No-nothing. You have a good control.} Cecilia stammered.

Noah used Gravity Manipulation along with Water Manipulation. He was trying to create a mini tornado and said.

"What do I need to breakthrough from the Lv.50 level cap?"

Noah had gained a lot of exp from eliminating high level opponents while escaping. He had reached lvl.50 long ago.

Hepius watched Noah silently and thought, 'The best I can do for him is give all of my support.'

{Lv.50 breakthrough is attained by filling one's blood with Divinity. Vampires' blood is used as a mana carrier, Divinity carrier in thy case, thou have met the conditions long ago.} Hepius explained.

"So all I need to do is meditate and cross the level limit?"

Hepius scoffed, {Of course not. Thy shitty talent is too low to make a breakthrough it seems. Thou will need to temper thy body, a method intended to shatter the level 75 cap, and break the lvl.50 and lvl.75 level limiters in one go.}

Noah's eyebrows twitched at the insult. He shook his head.

"My, my, what a rude way to talk to your master. Oh, woe is me. I thought as your master, I'll be treated a bit better. But, alas, even after being called master, I'm being treated like this. All my life I wanted to be called master, but who knew that a master wo—"

{Stop! I do apologize for my behavior! Henceforth, I beseech thee, be silent!}

Hepius was cringing and crying tears of blood, hearing the word 'master' while Noah gloated in Hepius' misery.

The two had a lot on their minds. But, perhaps because Hepius had been with Noah when he was at his lowest, the two could joke even at times like this.

Cecilia saw the two of them and sighed lightly. Indeed, Noah wasn't one to give up. She had been worrying needlessly.

Her gaze was suddenly pulled by the black oval object lying at the corner of the pool.

{Isn't that the Undeath egg? Wait, it's about to hatch! Why are you two ignoring it!?}

Noah answered with a troubled smile.