As Leon exited the Blood Tower, he noticed the maid was gone.
'Didn't she say she'd be waiting outside?'
"Did she leave already?" He looked around.
All he saw was the empty street and guards patrolling the area.
"Well, it did take me an hour…" he thought out loud. "Anyways, it's not like I want her to tag along with me."
Where Leon was heading next was a special place that only a few of the top-ranked players knew of.
A place that would help him forcefully awaken.
That's why he refused the carriage driver and chose to go back by himself.
After walking farther away from the Blood Tower, Leon first made sure that no one was following him.
The streets were bustling, with stalls stationed on each side of the cobbled stone road.
Despite being a newly formed Dukedom, this place was lavish with citizens.
The long black cape brushed the cobbled stones as Leon moved, his hood drawn low over his eyes, hiding his face from the passing crowd.
Weak or not, he still bore the name Valentine. Without the hood shadowing his face, the recognition would've been instant.
Walking toward the outskirts of the Valentine Dukedom, Leon was headed for the forest.
Leon had to awaken somehow before tonight's banquet. And for that to happen, he needed to go deeper into the [Forest of Mist], which had an artifact capable of awakening him in an instant.
As the name suggests, this forest was covered in black mist, which reduced eyesight to just 10 cm.
Usually, the Forest of Mist was patrolled by the Valentine guards, but today, Leon didn't see a single soul near it.
"Good," he said, simply pleased.
Walking up close, what came into Leon's view was… nothing.
Literally.
"..."
Leon squinted. All he could see was thick black mist.
"Perfect," he muttered dryly.
Whoever went inside the Forest of Mist never returned unharmed. All who ventured deep either died or came back half mad. The locals believed the forest was cursed. And that some ancient creature guarded something precious.
Well… technically, they were correct. Except for the fact that there was no such thing as an ancient creature.
Because of the rumors about something precious hidden inside, many explorers had gone in.
The outcome always remained the same.
Leon, however, didn't hesitate. Not a single shred of fear could be seen on his face.
Because, as the creator of this game, he knew things that other players and characters didn't.
"The Forest of Mist will greatly affect one's vision," Leon murmured. "So, what do most players do in that case?"
It's simple. If a dense layer is obscuring your vision, the most common thing to do is rub and squint your eyes to get a better view.
"That's the problem..."
Leon grinned, before he completely closed his eyes and took a step into the forest.
ZOOOP!
A purple light flashed the moment Leon stepped in, enveloping his entire body.
In an instant, Leon felt himself being pulled forward, as if a small black hole was sucking him in.
Moments later, a minty flavor settled on Leon's tongue as he slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was an unusually large tree with massive glowing leaves in front of him.
Several small treehouse structures were placed on some of its branches.
Bridges could be seen connecting one treehouse to another.
The mist was no longer here, and the sky was as clear as it could be.
"You just need to think outside the box."
If one did that, then the game's hidden mechanics would instantly teleport them here.
"..."
Even with all his knowledge, Leon couldn't help but stare.
"It's ten times bigger than my old office building," he muttered, stepping closer.
"So, this is how the [World Tree] looks like in real life."
He was excited at the same time.
Long ago, during the era of the [Five Calamities], this place was once used by the [Elves].
An extinct species, now wiped out during the war of the Five Calamities for achieving godhood.
They were rich in both magic and technology, making them a species greater than humans.
"Too bad they're gone."
On the day of the war, one of the [Calamities] had requested the [Elves] to create something that could instantly boost someone's stats by a hundredfold.
It was an impossible task.
But guess what?
The Elves succeeded.
The formula was what Leon wanted right now. The very thing that would forcefully awaken him.
The potion was called [Drop of Limitless].
During the age of war, these potions were artificially grown using the mana stability feature of the [World Tree].
After the war ended, humanity tried their best to get their hands on them, but with what little knowledge they had, it was impossible to locate them.
It was only the main character of Rebirth of Fivefold Calamity who accidentally stumbled upon this place, later in his first year at Eclipse Institute.
"If the potion can enhance one's skill by 100x, then by theory, it can forcefully make an Unawakened being Awakened."
He navigated near the root of the [World Tree] and glanced down at several yellow, round fruits resembling coconuts, attached to the roots of the tree and mysteriously half-peeking out from the ground.
"There it is…"
His eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he hurriedly but carefully plucked one of the fruits.
Holding it, he curiously examined it.
"It can't be that hard, right?" he thought.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Damn, this thing's hard."
To get the [Drop of Limitless], he needed to crack the outer shell open.
Turning his head, he picked up a small rock.
"This should do it," Leon nodded, gripping the stone.
SMACK!
With just one strike, the outer layer shattered, revealing a thin membrane nearly the size of a grape, holding a red liquid inside.
It was the [Drop of Limitless]. The very one humanity searched for ages but failed to find.
Without wasting a single second, he placed the membrane containing the potion inside his mouth.
The moment the red liquid flowed out and touched the surface of his tongue, an intense coldness ran through every fibre of Leon's body.
"Keuh..!"
He wanted to spit it out, but held himself back.
"Gaah!"
His knees buckled, and his vision blurred before he dropped to the ground.
'Is it supposed to hurt this much!?'
The pain made it nearly impossible for him to even stand.
Several questions raced through Leon's mind.
Would it work? Was the theory sound? And if it failed… would he die again? Could he even transmigrate again?
As one thought after another appeared, the pain only got worse.
"Haah..! GHAAAAAAAAAA…AAGHHH!!"
After the extreme coldness, he now felt his body burning from the inside out.
Barely glancing down, he saw the skin on his hand turning crisp black, with bitter smoke seeping from the small cracks across his skin.
Almost instantly, the pain vanished. His vision cleared, and he watched as lines of text flickered across his vision, one after another.
[Awakening Sequence Initialized]
[User Identified: Leon Valentine]
[Analyzing...]
[Searching for Optimal Stat Configuration]
↳ Trial #001: Scanning Mana Signature...
[Result: Incompatible]
↳ Trial #002: Assessing Neural Sync...
[Result: Failure]
↳ Trial #003–#105: Processing...
[Result: Error ×103]
↳ Trial #106: Attempting Final Sync...
[ERROR — Soul Signature Not Detected]
[Conclusion: Host soul integrity = NULL]
[Initiating Emergency Protocol]
[—Searching for Compatible Entity—]
[Match Found: ADMIN-CLASS SOUL DETECTED]
↳ Override Initiated...
↳ Fusing Host and co-host stats...
↳ Granting Admin Privileges...
[Access Level: ROOT (Limited) — GRANTED]
[∎ Welcome, Administrator: Haru Tsukishiro ^.^]