Ruel arrived back in the dark cavern beneath the tree.
He immediately allowed Muriel to have access to his status while he went to a corner of the cavern turning on a lamp.
Placing the lamp at a corner, he walked to the center feeling mana leave his body.
He saw Muriel become tangible as he brought out the items from his inventory.
One by one, Muriel brought out the components: the ancient heart, runic parchment, beast's claw still radiating cold, a shimmering core, and a bottle of blood.
There were a few potions for body and mana recovery.
She also dropped additional lamps to further brighten the cavern.
Before she started, Muriel looked at Ruel with slight hesitation, then she said.
"Please take off your clothes, but keep your pants on."
'Don't think, just do,' Ruel thought as she said.
With a nod, he took everything off, revealing his lean but built body.
Folding his arms, he flashed a thumbs up and prompted her to start.
She placed the paper on the floor, revealing the side covered in arcane script written in supernatural black ink.
She chanted something, causing the contents of the paper to glow and come alive.
Lines and arcs of text poured out of the paper as they formed a large ritual circle that surrounded the whole cavern floor, even climbing up the wall.
Turning to Ruel, she said, "Drink this Mana Recovery potion and fill the two bottles with your blood."
The second bottle was from the first ever potion Muriel bought.
Ruel nodded, doing as said without hesitation.
He drank it and pulled out his dagger from his inventory and cut his palm.
Muriel then brought out the monster's green blood that was in a bottle and started trailing the ritual circle.
After using that blood, she carried the Ancient Being's heart and cut a part of it, releasing a pool of black blood.
The black blood merged with the green blood, then the ritual circle began to look active as the room was smelling of blood.
Muriel placed the heart, the core and the Ice conduit in various circled locations and glanced at Ruel, who threw her the bottles of his blood.
His blood was then poured on the three items placed in a circle.
"You'll sit here," she said, pointing at the center where the now-shriveled paper was.
As Ruel sat, Muriel handed him a body recovery, body strengthening and mana recovery potion to drink while collecting his dagger.
Then using the Enma system, she bought what are called 'buffs' to strengthen his body and mind, while improving his mana recovery rate.
After Ruel drank everything, he felt stronger than he ever had before, he heard Muriel say, "This is going to hurt a bit."
Muriel used the dagger to cut lines open at his back.
Drawing on the memories stored within her, she painted his back with the blood that dripped from his wounds.
As she completed it, the drawings on Ruel's back resonated with the ritual circle, as the dark ominous glow increased.
The blood within the circle began to vibrate, rising in parts to form black orbs.
"Begin," Muriel said.
'Don't think…' Ruel repeated in his mind, 'Just do…'
Then the orbs darted towards Ruel, enveloping him like a curtain.
Ruel felt darkness envelop him and warmth spread through his body as the blood slowly seeped into his being.
Muriel looked down at the black 'armored' Ruel before glancing at the heart at a corner.
As it pulsed with intense light and vibrations, she dove into Ruel's body.
…
After Ruel's vision blacked out, the next thing he saw was an endless space.
He was a translucent body of pure blue light, with black fluid coursing through his body.
Before he could wonder what to do next, he heard Muriel's voice as her form appeared behind him.
"The first part is reconstruction of Body, Mind and Soul."
"How do I do that?" Ruel asked as his thoughts echoed.
Muriel, her form appearing as her usual self, floated behind Ruel and replied:
"Control as much as possible of that black fluid and merge it with your body which is representing your being."
He paid attention to the fluid and saw that it did follow his control, although he needed crazy focus.
He pulled some fluid from within and attempted to coat his translucent form, but the liquid refused to stay.
He was required to split his focus—coating his form while pulling more fluid out.
To make things worse, he saw a white sun in this endless void, and he was drifting to it at a crazy speed.
Panic crept in as the dark void rushed past him, drawing him toward the white star.
He tried to stop himself, but it forced him to split his attention a third way.
"You need to merge with as much as possible before we reach that star."
Muriel's words made Ruel grit his teeth.
His mind ached as he kept pulling the fluid out and coating his body.
After reaching a reasonable amount of coating, he left the remaining fluid alone and wanted to turn the remnant coat to merge with him.
The line between his translucent body and body armor made of fluid thinned as they started becoming one.
'Faster, Ruel! Faster!'
He chanted as he felt the harmless heat of the sun.
Muriel, for now, could do nothing but watch.
It was Ruel's blood which was linked to him and mainly the ancient being's blood he was using to form.
Only Ruel or the Ancient Being could manipulate the black fluid… and the Ancient Being was dead.
Ruel's body glowed brighter and his mind grew sharper while his 'body' became more solid.
As the star loomed, Muriel warned:
"Prepare for the next part. Absorbing part of that star. The more you absorb, the more your talent can grow.
"Be careful. It may seem harmless, but it can destroy you absolutely."
Ruel didn't need an explanation as he saw his hands breakdown into light particles.
He gave up on the black fluid to focus on maintaining his form and absorbing the star's essence.
Ruel willed the white flames to enter within him.
Time seemed null as he only concentrated on the task at hand.
He absorbed and absorbed and absorbed.
His body was also slowly breaking down as he lost his limbs to the harmless flames.
"That's enough to grow into a B-rank!" Muriel said. "Look for the Anchor back to your body!"
Ruel knew not to test his limit in this scenario.
He did as said, but he felt his body break down… break down to the extent that the star essence he absorbed was leaking.
Still, he concentrated on returning back to his body.
"I-I can't find it!" Ruel yelled.
Muriel hesitated for an instant before she said, "Continue looking for it. I'll help you!"
As Ruel felt himself weakened, he saw Muriel enter into his body and merge with him.
Everything seemed to get better as Muriel began concentrating on stopping his body's breakdown while he searched for the link back to his original body.
That was good… until Ruel realized Muriel's presence was fading, absorbing into him…
"Muriel…? What's happening?"
"N-nothing. Just continue your task, Ruel!"
Ruel wanted to do as she said, but when Muriel merged with him, he felt her emotions.
There was her desire for revenge on their enemies burning
But most of all…
A primal fear surged from her—raw, terrified, clinging to life.
She didn't want to vanish.
She wept within him like a newborn.
He could hear her.
"I… don't want to die…"
"Fuck it! Fuck it!" Ruel yelled as he gave up on finding the link.