"Well... it's normal that you don't feel anything."
Jin-Ah blinked.
"What do you mean, Mr. Aegis?"
Aegis looked away for a second, as if thinking about where to start.
"The way you awakened... it's different from everyone else's."
Jin-Ah frowned slightly. She didn't get it.
In her world, people Awakened for a clear reason.
After the Gates appeared, mana began to spread across the planet.
And little by little, some humans started to change. They Awakened. Gained power. And began hunting monsters.
Those people were called Hunters. And their strength was measured by ranks: F, E, D, C, B, A, and S.
F was the weakest. S was the strongest.
Once someone awakened with a rank, that rank remained fixed. It didn't matter how much you trained, or how many years you spent in dungeons. Your rank never changed.
It was frustrating, but that's how the system worked.
There were exceptions—the so-called "double awakened." People who, for some unknown reason, jumped to a higher rank at some point in their lives.
But that was a complete rarity. Most Hunters never saw their rank change.
That's why what Aegis said didn't make sense.
"Then... why am I different?"
"Because your Awakening wasn't triggered by your world's mana. It was because of me."
"Huh?"
"Your body reacted to a small part of my essence. Something that was in the food I created."
"...That's what happened earlier?" Jin-Ah murmured, remembering what Jasmine had said.
Jasmine was already a powerful being, so she didn't receive an 'Awakening'; rather, her power simply increased a little thanks to his essence.
"Yes. For a being like me, who stands beyond the normal laws, even a tiny fraction of my power can change things."
That was especially true while inside the Castle of Fate. There, isolated from all universes, no law could restrict him from altering beings or things, not since Olddy had granted him free will.
It was only now that Jin-Ah truly realized she was standing before an extraordinary being. It was hard to believe. But she didn't feel like he was lying.
"That's why your type of Awakening is different. It's a growth-type Awakening."
"Is there such a thing? A growth-type Awakening..."
"Exactly. Unlike the others, you can get stronger over time. If you train, you will improve. If you fight, you will grow. If you survive, your potential will keep rising. You are not limited by the rank you were born with."
"..."
Jin-Ah didn't know what to say.
Such an Awakening did not exist in her world. Not that she knew of.
But if what Aegis said was true...
"Thank you, Mr. Aegis," Jin-Ah said, lowering her head slightly.
Aegis gently patted her head, like it was something he was already used to doing.
She looked up.
"You're... surprisingly nice."
"I'm curious about how you saw me before."
Jin-Ah avoided direct eye contact and just smiled awkwardly.
Ever since she arrived here, everything had been strange. First, she had been dragged from her world without explanation. Then she saw two beings, Jasmine and Aegis, who were clearly not normal, exchanging blows with a force that made her soul tremble.
She didn't fully understand it, but the way they fought was completely different from the hunters she had seen in action, even if only on TV.
Aegis, in particular, had been etched in her mind as someone terrifying.
A monster in human form.
But now...
She just saw him as someone mysterious. A weird guy sitting on his throne inside an even weirder castle.
When she saw him walk to his throne and casually lift Yue by the armpits to plop her onto his lap, Jin-Ah finally let out a long sigh.
Finally, her shoulders, which had been tense since she arrived, relaxed a little.
Up until now, she had been completely terrified of what might happen. She didn't know if they were going to kill her, imprison her, or simply ignore her.
"Hey." With all her worries gone, she turned and looked at the guest seat next to her. "Are you... really a Cultivator?"
Jasmine looked at her like the question was too obvious.
"Can't you tell?"
"Wow...! I've only read about that in a few fantasy novels..."
Jin-Ah let out a small gasp. And the excitement was evident in her big brown eyes.
Jin-Ah didn't ask randomly.
She had suspected something for a while.
First, she overheard Jasmine mention the "Star God Realm," "This Princess," "Cultivation," and "True Gods." These aren't words that a normal person would use in casual conversation.
Second, there were her clothes. They weren't modern. They didn't resemble any typical outfits she had seen before. They were more like traditional, elegant robes.
Most importantly, she spoke with authority. To say the least, she sometimes sounded arrogant. That was typical of the cultivators in the novels she had read.
It all fit. That's why she asked.
Jasmine was, of course, reluctant to talk to her but gave in to Aegis, who was calmly watching them from his seat with a slight smile on his lips.
Shuddering at his smile, she asked with a confused expression.
"Fantasy novels?"
Jin-Ah went blank for a second. She realized Jasmine probably didn't know what a novel was, let alone a fantasy novel.
"Ah... they're like stories that people write in books or on the Internet. They're about worlds with magic, swords, and people like you." She said this while pointing slightly at Jasmine.
Jin-Ah began to tell her what those stories were about. How cultivators could fly, cast techniques with long, weird names, and use pills to heal or strengthen themselves. Jasmine listened, bored.
"I see. It seems that cultivators are common there, too. Are you from a lower star?"
"No, no. They're just stories that people make up," Jin-Ah replied with a big smile. "But you do look like you're straight out of one of them, you know?"
"Is that so...?"
Jasmine nodded, arms crossed. She said nothing else, but she looked thoughtful.
She wasn't uncomfortable. Rather, she was observing Jin-Ah more closely.
Since she appeared, Jasmine hadn't given her much thought. She just saw her as a normal human, without any special energy or presence.
But now that she thought about it, that was precisely what was strange.
She had encountered a new race. A vampire.
An ordinary human from a world apparently without cultivators.
And there was herself: a cultivator living among the most powerful beings in her realm.
These three beings should have had nothing in common.
Yet, Aegis had brought these three beings, so different from each other, together.
In theory, even in the lower stars where energy was scarce, cultivators existed. However, Jin-Ah didn't have a shred of Profound Energy.
"Are they two from beyond the Primal Chaos Dimension?"
It was an absurd idea.
That shouldn't be possible.
She shook her head. No, it didn't make sense.
"Then, do those pills really exist?" Jin-Ah asked after a while. There were stars in her eyes.
"Yes, although not all of them work. Many are junk."
The answer was so direct that Jin-Ah blinked a couple of times.
"Eeeh? Even if I wanted to eat one someday..."
She pulled a face, puffing out her cheeks slightly. Jasmine looked at her strangely, as if she couldn't understand why she was acting like that over a simple pill.
But Jin-Ah laughed. Although Jasmine seemed mature, Jin-Ah found her adorable because of her small appearance.
It was then that Aegis, who had been silent this whole time, spoke up.
"Well, I guess it's time for you to return to your worlds."
Jin-Ah lowered her head slightly. She didn't say anything, but it was clear that she didn't want to leave yet.
She had made a new friend.
In this strange and unusual place, she felt comfortable. Especially far away from her daily worries and pressures.
But then, something occurred to her.
Her eyes sparkled for a second. She raised her head abruptly and looked at Aegis.
"Mr. Aegis, could we... do this again sometime?"
It didn't have to be soon. She just wanted to make sure there would be a next time.
×××
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