Limitless

A weird, emotionless voice of himself echoed inside Sett's mind.

[Limitless Mummy Art's first fusion with the Host... Initiated!]

[Host suitability confirmed!]

[Fusion complete!]

[You have become a D-Tier (Tier 1) Mummy]

[Revealing refreshed stats.]

Sett frowned. What is going on?

Now, there was a hole in his chest area and the Tomb Heart floated inside it. His body was as strong as iron, as nimble as a cat, and as destructive as a weak cannonball. Yet, that wasn't because he became a Tomb Raider.

Instead, he had become something akin to a Guardian. 

And this weird voice. Everything is so fucking weird. A mummy is not supposed to be capable of thought in the first place, and my Axiom of Reincarnation worked normally with others I tested it on—I am some sort of anomaly. 

Thinking on that line, the weird voice might have something to do with the whole thing. Was he being attacked using some kind of weird Axiom? Axiom of Mindtalk? Axiom of Heart Input?

Were those nasty things from the Ancient Demon Era of Ehyut being used on him?

No. If it were those, I wouldn't even be able to sense it, he concluded. Why is that voice so silent now?

Sett also found something good amidst it all. After he absorbed the Tomb Heart, at least his thoughts had grown fast.

Zainah remained quiet beside him, just staring at the circular hollow in his chest. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he shut up and concentrated again. The voice had come back, and for some reason, his head was aching.

===

[Stats]

[Name: Sett Ramses II]

[Life Paths]

[Crypt Walker]

D-Tier (T1)—Mummy.

[Axiom Holder]

Axiom of Reincarnation (Inactive) (Tier 5). 

[Innate Life Path]

[Limitless Mummy Art]

0/6 unlocked (10/100 Neutral Energy).

===

Not only did the voice appear, but a weird screen of light also appeared in his mind. The screen was a grey, dead color. Yet, it showed him details of his own Life Path. Written in the ancient language of Ehyut with beautiful typography.

What was this screen?

In the back of Sett's mind, a possible answer appeared. When he was trying to become a Tier 6 God, he had failed, but in the process, he had briefly felt himself transform into a truly Godly state. Even though he failed, did he gain something due to that brief transformation?

Was this screen that fortune?

He read his stats, going from top to bottom.

A Life Path.

That was a fancy name for the path to power. There were two known and orthodox Life Paths in Ehyut—Tomb Raiders and Axiom Holders. 

Anyone could become a Tomb Raider as long as they had a Tomb Heart, but only the luckiest of the bunch get to have Axioms. They needed Royal Blood for that.

Even luckier few get to travel in both of those Life Paths, being a Tomb Raider and an Axiom Holder at the same time. Usually, awakening in one path made training the other path impossible.

When Sett was still the Pharaoh, he had participated in many debates, and in them, he had heard—and discussed—about a third, unorthodox Life Path multiple times.

The Life Path (or Death Path) that the monsters in the Tomb used to grow stronger.

He himself had named it. 

The Path of the Crypt Walkers.

Sett grew thoughtful.

He had a total of two Life Paths listed under his name. Crypt Walker and Axiom Holder pathways. Then, there was something below that he had never heard of: Innate Life Path.

Sett first checked the known details.

—

[Crypt Walker]

D-Tier (T1)—Mummy.

—

Instead of becoming a Tomb Raider after eating a Tomb Heart, he had been initiated into the Crypt Walker pathway. This pathway wasn't too different from the normal Tomb Raider pathway—just that the Cryptwalkers could kill living beings to grow stronger instead of needing to raid Tombs for Tomb Hearts.

Other than that, their physical strength was often of similar levels. 

Now, he was a Tier 1 Mummy and he wouldn't find it hard to brawl with a Tier 1 Raider.

Of course, CryptWalkers had the limitation of being stuck inside their Tombs. So he had to confirm it for himself if he, too, had the issue.

And Sett wasn't at all pleased that he couldn't become a normal Tomb Raider. Becoming a Tomb Raider was supposed to bring him truly "back" to life.

The influx of vitality upon the first ingestion of a Tomb Heart should have healed him completely and turned him as young as a boy with his lively years ahead of him.

Even though he couldn't become a Tomb Raider, strength-wise, it was fine. He would have the same level of physical strength with the Cryptwalker Pathway, but not getting the chance to go through the rebirth disappointed Sett. 

Maybe, I could still become a Tomb Raider while also in the Crypt Walker pathway, maybe, it's being 'dead' and 'alive' that matters.

Sett put that thought for later and focused on his Stats for now. 

A Cryptwalker was also supposed to be incapable of leaving the Tomb they were born in, would he suffer the same fate?

The screen didn't say anything about that, so Sett held hope for now. His gaze moved down.

—

[Axiom Holder]

Axiom of Reincarnation (Inactive) (Tier 5). 

—

Next, he discovered that the screen still listed his Reincarnation Axiom, not some new battle-oriented one, and he was further disappointed. He had wanted to have a different Axiom in this life, he had even hoped to have two Axioms at the same time. 

But no, he only had one if these stats could be trusted. And that 'one' was still his plain old Axiom of Reincarnation—and that was only useful to live a second life and not for his needs. 

But then, he noticed something weird.

It's still showing as Tier 5?!

That made him even more confused, but he sighed inwardly. Luckily, the Axiom was inactive or he had a feeling that he might have just exploded. Axioms were stored inside the mental space of a living being, and currently, his mental space was just at the level of a normal Tier 1 creature.

He couldn't even truly sense his mental space!

What would happen if a box was just big enough to store a kitten but a human suddenly popped up inside it? The box would just break!

If his Axiom, which was a Tier 5 power, appeared actively inside him now, his mental space would just explode and he would just die. 

Luckily, to activate the Tier 5 Reincarnation Axiom, it needed to absorb the aura of death for years.

Even when he was the Pharaoh, he couldn't use it all the time and had to wait for it to recharge passively.

If it had just started absorbing death aura, it would take years from now to get recharged.

Sett sighed.

And with that, his Axiom had become completely useless and even a threat unless he became Tier 5 soon enough. Otherwise, when it recharges and comes back active, he'd die in a flamboyant self explosion.

I am dealt with a bad hand, he thought, Much worse than my previous life. I hope this pale screen of light is something really useful.

Finally, he looked at the "Limitless Mummy Art" Innate Life Path.

He had only the faintest of ideas of what this might entail.

—

[Mummy Magic]

0/6 unlocked (10/100 Neutral Energy).

—

For some reason, Sett was reminded of the warm energy that flowed into him when the Guardian died. He hadn't even absorbed any Tomb Hearts when that happened.

Did that "10" in 10/100 appear when I killed the Guardian? What will happen when I fill the tab?

"Mummy!" Zainah shouted. "My sister is not yet safe!"

Sett had only used some seconds to analyze all of the info he had and for now, he stood up and slowly walked out of the Guardian Room. When he was out without any issues, he heaved a long sigh of relief, and ran towards the next Guardian Room with Zainah.

He had a thoughtful expression. He had left the room, but would he be able to leave the Tomb itself?

What kind of situation was a Cryptwalker truly in? What was this pathway's way of life (death?)?

They both didn't stop and didn't even converse anymore. With his body that was as strong as iron, the traps were even easier than earlier.

Sett was an expert Tomb Raider, to him, D-tier Tombs were just a child's play. But he felt an urgent need to completely understand his situation—especially the situation of whether he would be stuck in this Tomb or not.