Becoming a cultivator
Uriel stood there, sweat dripping from his body as if he had just emerged from a pool. The fire raged behind him, growing bigger and bigger with the desert wind fueling its hunger. It stood six feet tall, a wall of flame roaring into the air.
The Stalker of Fate didn't move closer. It seemed wary—cautious of this human. Its instincts screamed that this was another trap. It should wait, let the flames die down, but Uriel had turned his back to it.
"Your survival instincts are probably telling you this is a trap and to stay back," Uriel said, his voice calm and steady. "But not with my back wide open, huh?"
The Stalker of Fate hesitated, its mind torn between two instincts—one to survive, one to hunt.
Uriel smirked. "You're fighting two kinds of instincts, aren't you? The instinct to survive... and the urge to hunt. Now you see an opening."
The monster wavered. The opportunity was perfect. But its survival instincts fought back harder. It didn't move—not yet.
"Oh, that's not enough for you?" Uriel taunted. He lifted his right hand, still gripping the makeshift spear, and with a single motion, plunged it into his left shoulder again and again.
His blood poured out, thick and poisoned, streaming down like a waterfall. The heat of it burned as it leaked into the dry air.
The Stalker of Fate could no longer resist. It charged, its bones cracking under its own weight, the air thick with the scent of blood and fire.
Uriel's back remained turned. He heard the creature's rapid footsteps and felt the moment it closed in on him.
Just as the Stalker pounced, Uriel turned, meeting the monster's hollow gaze with his own—and fell backward into the inferno.
For such a smart beast, Uriel thought as he descended into the flames, you have so many weaknesses.
The fire engulfed him. Skin on his back and arms peeled away. The entire left side of Uriel's face was a ruin—skin burned black and curling like old parchment, muscle scorched to expose raw, glistening bone. Pale shards of skull gleamed through the carnage, slick with blood and ash. Smoke whispered from his flesh, the stench of charred meat hanging like a funeral dirge.
Despite the unimaginable pain, Uriel knew—it was worse for the Stalker of Fate.
The flames consumed it too, but it could not escape.
Uriel tightened his grip on the spear and drove it into the creature's hollow eye again and again, with no mercy.
The Stalker bit into his side, its fangs sinking into poisoned flesh. It tried to pull away, but Uriel wouldn't let it. The fire had weakened it, and the poison was finishing it off.
Something inside Uriel broke loose. Maybe it was the relentless heat. Maybe the days of torment. Maybe the monster. Maybe the madness.
Whatever it was, Uriel laughed—a wild, insane sound echoing across the firelit desert.
"HAHAHA! DOES IT HURT?!"
The right side of his face, untouched by flame, twisted into a too-wide smile. Blood coated his teeth, glistening in the firelight. His one good eye burned with something worse than pain: joy. A wild, unhinged joy.
He had found something beautiful in the monster's suffering.
For the first time in its existence, the Stalker of Fate felt fear. Not fear of death—but of the boy before it. A lesser being… yet somehow more terrifying.
As it processed that fear, Uriel kept stabbing. The monster's body failed it. Blood poured from its wounds. It collapsed onto him.
Uriel didn't stop.
He was lost in the fire—lost in the madness.
[You have done the impossible. You have killed the Stalker of Fate.][The monster you were meant to survive... is now dead.][You will not have to survive the rest of the week.][You will now be sent to the Reward Hall and be listed your rewards.]
Only after hearing the Structure's voice did Uriel stop. His arms trembled. His body shook. He realized the monster was dead—and he was still burning in the fire. His muscles were locking up, his consciousness slipping.
Then—
[You will now be transported to the Reward Hall.]
In an instant, the flames disappeared. The desert vanished. Uriel felt himself falling through a cold void before landing with a soft thud on smooth ground.
He blinked. The room was white, plain, sterile. No noise. No decoration. Just silence.
[You are incapable of being rewarded in the state that you are in. You will now be healed of any major injuries while keeping your scars.]
The once-glowing Structure now displayed its words inside a blue box with white text.
Uriel felt his body start to shift. Bone regrew. Muscle stitched itself back. Skin reformed. His destroyed eye returned, though it remained blind. And his scars… they stayed.
"So this is what they meant by keeping the scars," Uriel muttered, breath shallow. His body was healing, but the pain still lingered.
[Now that your body is prepared, you will be given your rewards for passing your first trial.]
[After calculating your actions during the trial, the rank of the ability you will be granted will vary between Faltered, Paragon, Astralis, Ascendant, and Transcendent. For killing a human, indirectly causing the deaths of three others, surviving the Poisoned Lands, and not only fighting—but killing—a Stalker of Fate… you will be granted the Astralis rank.]
"Really? After all that... and I only get Astralis?!"
[Because you fought in flames to survive, you will be granted Embers of D—. Ability rank has stagnated. A being of great power has intervened. The being has revealed its name as the Celestial of Life: Myrren. The Celestial of Life will now enter your body.]
A white orb tinged with green light floated toward Uriel.
He tried to dodge. It didn't matter.
The orb struck his chest—and pain exploded through him.
"Aaahhh! Stop it! STOP IT!"
It felt like a hundred swords were piercing him at once. The pain was worse than the fire. Worse than anything before.
[Your body is too malnourished to contain the Celestial of Life. Myrren will now become a core within your body for your own safety.]
[Your ability rank has been upgraded to Transcendent. Your old ability and your new one will now fuse.]
[New Vein: Flame of Origin. No heat will affect you. Cold will retreat from you. Your body will heal itself and others with white-hot flames. You may bend fire to your will. Life will adore you wherever you go.]
[To unlock more of this Vein, pass the remaining trials.]
Uriel lay wheezing on the floor. His breath was heavy, ragged. But beneath the pain, he felt… warmth. Power. Something building inside him.
His body ignited in white-hot flame.
His wounds vanished. Hair regrew on the left side of his scalp. His scars disappeared.
His face—his Beautiful face—returned.
His once-ruined eye opened and saw.
Uriel grinned. "Haha... I already love this power. Thank you, Myen or whoever you are."
He was interrupted again.
[You will now become a cultivator. Your core is forming.]
Unlike before, there was no flash of light. It was slower now—like a shattered crystal mending itself deep inside his chest.
[There are nine ranks of power: Veiled, Unveiled, Reborn, Supreme, Breaker, Transcendent, Primordial, Ethereal, and Abyssal. You will begin in the lowest rank: Veiled.]
[Your body is now five times stronger and faster than before.]
[You will now receive one final reward for passing a trial set by an unknown being of great power.]
[This being has angrily given your reward and has unlocked the seals on your eyes. You may now see the rank of any monster, perceive time in slow motion when needed, and gain almost perfect understanding of anything you read or see overuse of this ability will cause you unimaginable pain.]
Uriel jumped to his feet in excitement, ignoring the comment about his sealed eyes.
[You will now be able yo use the feature item storage]
[You will now be returned to your world.]
Uriel froze.
Back to where I was taken?
The thought chilled him.
[Survive until the next trial. Your core has been completed.]
The world shifted.
He returned to the ruined city. The same place where a part of a building had crushed him.
He was buried in rubble. But he could feel strength fill his body.
Uriel pushed the debris off himself, only to realize—
He was naked.
"…Oh yeah. I jumped into a fire."