Chapter 24- Bearer Of Omen

[It took exactly 30 seconds to accept the request, Marked Malice. I could have not been any faster.] Avatar replied logically.

Hearing that response, Malice scrunched his face before he sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I was just on edge because I was beaten half-dead." He replied.

[You have fought well, Marked Malice.]

"..." Hearing those bland congratulatory words, he shook his head. "Yeah, so, what the hell was that tunnel you sent me to, Avatar? It's god-awful! That's hell!"

In a matter of two hours alone, he fought 8 monsters, one of them was strong enough to toy with him like an insect. He didn't even know how he survived that long with his meager powers. Hell, he still didn't even learn how to use his Soul Essence to boost his powers or use his trait except for that one moment.

'Now that I think about it, how the hell did I make that Fire move? I was half unconscious so I can't remember what I was thinking of.' Rubbing his chin, he tried to recall what happened exactly. The first thing that comes to mind is naturally that he had some sort of epiphany at that moment.

Malice was still a novice when it came to Soul Essence. He only knew the basic information any mundane human knew about it and that was it. Cipher still didn't teach him any actual fighting techniques, or how to use his Soul Essence yet. So, the only logical conclusion he could come up with was that.

'An epiphany? I didn't even know those existed.'

Malice was a devout believer that miracles never happen. Whether it was fate, or luck, or even will, there was always an explanation for everything that happens… Or that was at least what he thought was the case.

But, for better or worse, what just happened was indeed a miracle of sorts. He was dead, by every measure and every metric, he was dead. The monster only needed to crush his skull or neck to end his life.

The fact that he was able to summon that power at that exact moment should've not been possible.

'Did the shard of hatred make me do that? I can't remember how to use that power again.' 

He knew that even if he tried now, it might not work which only made it even more confusing.

[Marked Malice?]

"... Hm? Oh, it's nothing." He shook his head.

In the end, he couldn't really find a precise answer to it. He was fortunate to survive and that was it. Whatever the reason behind that was irrelevant for now.

"So, what were you saying?"

[The first trial is chosen by the shard of hatred. It is certainly going to be difficult. But, as long as you work hard enough, you can pass it.] She said.

"... And how long will that take?"

Even though Malice walked for two hours straight, he could feel that he only saw a fraction of the size of that place. It was simply a gigantic, interconnected web of tunnels that formed the Dungeon. As far as he was concerned, it could take him years to finally find a way out of that hell.

[My data isn't large enough to answer that question, Marked Malice.]

"Figured." Shaking his head, he sat down and finally focused on the thing he had been eager to know the most. 'That monster had given me an item. This is my first-ever item. It better be useful, not like 'Maddening Slash'.

Opening the notification, he was about to read through the content when something manifested in his hand. Looking down, he saw a necklace made out of black beads. Each bead looked grim and the entire thing felt so ominous just having it in his hands. Malice frowned but then swallowed the displeasure.

'It's an item, it has to be good even if it doesn't feel good in my hands.' He thought to himself.

{The Bearer Of Omen

Rank: Common 

Attack: 0

Trait: [Crushing Hatred]

Description: The Omen was born into a merciless world. Hideous and sick, it was banished and hated. For ages, it carried the burden of sorrow and it only grew heavier as it moved through the vast expanses of the world. Yet, along with it, its thirst for revenge grew. Its soul became far uglier than its face.]

"... What a sad story." He muttered as he heard the voice speak. The description, apart from sounding like a tragic story of some kind of creature called 'Omen', it didn't make much sense just like before.

'I guess I will have to get accustomed to the cryptic words this thing says.' He sighed.

"What does this item do, though?"

[Focus on its trait, Marked Malice. That will show you what it does.]

Doing what Avatar said, another window showed up.

{Crushing Hatred: The less weight you carry on your body, the stronger your attack power becomes.} 

"Oh!" Malice made a small sound of surprise. "This is… good!"

It seemed this necklace was indeed quite useful as he anticipated and what it does was quite straightforward too. 

'So if I'm always moving light, my power gets stronger?' He thought to himself. 'Well, that is actually perfect.'

Malice relied a lot on his speed and movement and he knew he would never be accustomed to carrying heavy loads and moving like a tank. So, he was certain he could make full use of this necklace.

Slowly lifting it up, he put it around his neck. Almost immediately, he felt a rush of unknown strength course through his entire body. Looking down, he could almost see his muscles pump with more strength than before. It wasn't a ridiculously huge increase, but it was big enough for him to notice it.

"Nice…" He muttered. "I feel better now. Those two hours were definitely worth it." He muttered.

His hard work has paid off well. Granted, it also gave him a severe concussion, many broken bones, some lacerations, and a whole lot of scratches and bruises, but it still rewarded him for the torture session.

"But, now that I think about it. If a common rank item can have such a good effect, what about higher ranking ones?"

Malice wasn't a complete idiot. He knew that an effect such as the one the 'Bearer Of Omen' gives wasn't simple and yet it was only 'Common', the second worst rank after 'Unranked' which was inherently not even a rank so 'Common' might very much be the worst rank. 

[An item's effects can vary in usefulness depending on the user. What could be useful to you, could be useless or even harmful to another individual.]

"Then, what determines the rank of an item?"

[An item's rank is determined by many factors… Far too many to count. But, the most important ones are its effect, the powers it bestows upon the user, and its rarity in the World Beyond.]

"Oh…"

[Each item you find is naturally something that belonged to that world. Everything there is owned by the World Beyond and so it determines what is valuable to it and what is not.]

"I see." 

'I guess it's like we're being bestowed with rewards by a very rich, very powerful, and very sadistic wealthy individual. Some get the bad scrap while others are fortunate enough to get the rare, more valuable items.' He thought to himself.

Weirdly enough, that fit the image of the World Beyond he had in his head. After all, as much as that world creates heroes, it also piles corpses seven feet under where nobody can see. Those who thought that it was heaven will only realize that it was hell just with some added perks for some people too late.

"This only makes me even more eager to know what stronger items could give me." He said with a sigh.

[You certainly shall acquire way better items in the future.] Avatar replied.

"Fuuh, ok… With that done with, I'm really exhausted. I think I'm going to go back to the real world."

Even though Malice's body was fully healed, his mental exhaustion was still there, as prominent as ever. He just wanted to sleep for the rest of the night. Since he only spent a few hours in this realm, it was still early into the night there.

"What do I do with this armor, weapons, and this necklace, though?" He asked.

He knew that he couldn't simply go back there with these things on him or it would be impossible to explain to Cipher where he got them from. 

[You can leave them here, Marked Malice. Even though you cannot bring them along with you to the real world, yet. Once you ascend to the next rank, that ability will become possible then.]

"That would be really useful." 

His trouble wasn't only restricted to this place, there was also the outside world that he had to think about. There was the matter of the Academy, and then of course, the World Beyond itself.

That one, in particular, needed most of his brain capacity, rather than just meager thoughts.