At this moment, Ulrich's mind ached with prickling pain, and with each thought, the pain would follow, causing it to scatter. Eventually, he was able to gather a bit of clarity, only to encounter a series of strange sounds.

  Ulrich grew increasingly confused, and the pain only further muddied his mind. However, facing this strange noise, which resembles countless voices stacked together, he quelled the prickling pain and listened attentively.

  A raving, murmurs, voices, a scream, shrieks. All of these overlap one another, becoming a series of distorted voices. In the midst of all these stacked voices, Ulrich was able to hear two words — Londor, Blue star.

  Immediately, he could feel his 'body' being pulled from above, as though someone had plucked him with their finger and displaced him.

  In that same instance, Zheng San saw movement from Ulrich's lifeless body. Seeing this, he let out a sigh of relief.

  "Scared me to death! I thought you died standing up!" He exclaimed, standing back away from the triangular candles. Facing this bizarre situation, even he was helpless.

  In fact, he can be considered somewhat superstitious; however, Ulrich's ritual was beyond ordinary, leaving him speechless.

  "What happened?" Ulrich murmured, his voice weak and almost lifeless. He looked up only to see Zheng San gawking at him like he was a freak.

  At the same time, he was momentarily stunned by that strange state. Only after a minute did Ulrich let out a deep, cold breath and inspect his own body.

  "What a strange feeling… These knowledge in my head, is it from the ritual?" Ulrich was surprised and disoriented. To think that carving the rune onto his body and 'returning' from that strange state, he would be afflicted with such knowledge.

  Namely, his abilities, which appeared in the form of 'cards' in his mind. When he focused on the cards themselves, he could read the name as well as the corresponding descriptions. Besides these strange 'cards' in his mind, there was knowledge regarding divinations, shadows, as well as various obscure and mysticism knowledge.

  At the same time, Ulrich can't help but recall Gu Lan's speculations," According to his words, am I now considered an 'awakened', a Weaver, beholder of runes?"

  This was just his thought. If Gu Lan, who was much more knowledgeable than him, didn't make it this far, then Ulrich is left clueless as well. If anything, the only thing he had more than Gu Lan is the fact that he 'dared' to undergo the ritual.

  Ulrich blinked several times, trying to ground himself back in reality. The strange pulling sensation had faded, but his mind still felt foggy, saturated with foreign knowledge that wasn't his own.

  He pressed a hand to his temple, wincing at the lingering ache.

  "I'm fine," he said, though his voice came out hoarse and unconvincing. "Just... the ritual was more than I expected."

  Zheng San crossed his arms, his expression hovering between irritation and disbelief.

  "Fine? You looked like a corpse for a solid minute there! Your eyes went completely blank—I thought I'd have to explain to someone how you dropped dead in my apartment from playing with candles and chicken blood."

  Ulrich managed a weak smile, straightening himself fully. His legs felt unsteady, but he forced himself to appear more composed than he felt. "I wasn't dead. Just... elsewhere. It's hard to explain."

  Zheng San's eyes narrowed. "What kind of 'elsewhere' makes a person stop breathing?"

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "I breathing," Ulrich mused, though he wasn't entirely certain that was true. The memory of that bizarre state was already becoming hazy, like trying to recall a dream upon waking.

  "Look, I'm standing here talking to you, aren't I? Everything went according to plan."

  Zheng San didn't look convinced. He glanced at the triangular arrangement of candles, now burned down to stubs, then back at Ulrich. "According to plan? You call that a plan? What if—"

  Ulrich ignored him and raised a wide smile. At the same time, he raised his right hand to form a finger gesture.

  Seeing this, Zheng San unknowingly stepped back. Why did he step back? And why does a have a feeling that Ulrich was up to no good again?

  He watched as Ulrich's mouth mimicked a gun sound, something he found ridiculo—

  "..."

  For a second, a shadow flew past his face, piercing straight through the hallway behind him. In shock and distraught, he hesitantly turned his head.

  A hole, or rather, a fist-size hole. Etched deep through his front door, it was like someone had perfectly carved it out with a specialized machine.

  Zheng San stood frozen, his eyes locked on the perfect circular hole through his front door. His mouth opened, then closed. Opened again. No words came.

  He turned back to Ulrich in a mechanical manner, his face cycling through a rapid succession of expressions—shock, disbelief, fear, and finally settling on something between awe and profound irritation.

  "My door," he said flatly. "My , it has done no wrong!"

  "It worked," Ulrich replied, still holding his finger-gun pose, an unsettling smile plastered across his pale face.

  "It ?" Zheng San's voice climbed an octave. "You just—you just—" He gestured wildly between Ulrich's hand and the hole. "What the hell that? Did you just shoot a shadow through my door?"

  "I think so?" Ulrich lowered his hand, examining it with great curiosity, as if it were a weapon itself. "The knowledge is there, but using it is... different."

  Zheng San ran both hands through his hair, pacing in a tight circle. "Different. . You stood there like a dead man for a minute, woke up with superpowers, and blew a hole through—" He stopped mid-sentence, rushing to the door to inspect the damage more closely.

  The hole went through. He could see the dim hallway light on the other side.

  "I'll pay for it," Ulrich offered in passing, though inwardly, he thought,'

  After which, he pointed his finger toward the wall, drawing Zheng San's attention away from himself. Zheng San was confused, but by the time he looked back at where Ulrich was standing, he froze.

  "Behind you." Ulrich's voice whispered in his ears.

  With his instinct, he quickly turned, only to see Ulrich standing there.

  At this moment, Zheng San was no longer shocked, feeling numb. If anything, from his encounter with Ulrich since today, if he were to suddenly proclaim that the world is ending, Zheng San wouldn't be surprised.

  At the same time, Ulrich could feel his head aching upon using both abilities in quick succession. Is this the effect of the so-called spirituality? Or rather, the affliction of lacking spirituality?

  He shook his head, attempting to shake away the feeling of weakness washing over him.

  In his mind, there were 3 cards in the following order — Shadow bullet, Shadow leap, and Shadow affinity. Each with the description of the abilities.

  According to the mysticism knowledge bestowed upon him, Shadow Bullet and Shadow Leap should be considered a 'spell', while Shadow Affinity was a 'talent'. However, with Ulrich's personal knowledge, he was unaware whether this amount was considered normal.

  What he does know is that any weaver, regardless of the rune they used, will be bestowed at the very least 1 spell, and 1 talent of the corresponding rune.

  The reason he lamented at this fact is due to one problem. Though he awakened and gained the abilities of a weaver, he had one critical flaw — a weakness to sunlight. Had it been just a mild weakness, it wouldn't have been a problem. However, this was not as simple as just being 'weak' to light.

  If Ulrich, in his current condition, were to step into the sun, he would directly 'disintegrate'. In that sense, he was essentially a slave of the shadow. Thus, in the face of 'true' light, his entire body would be seared off the earth. With this weakness, the rune was too dangerous and terrifying. Even more so than being the so-called "Vampires" in folklore.

  Ulrich gathered his thoughts, glanced at the time, then turned to Zheng San.

  "I'll see you again tomorrow." He said, tapping on his shoulder with a light smile.

  Hearing this, Zheng San's face dropped. He wanted to protest, but looking at Ulrich, then the hole in his door, he kept his mouth closed.

  Ignoring Zheng San's dejected appearance, Ulrich walked onto the balcony and stared into the night sky, facing the bright moon.

  This was something he never figured out, nor had a clue about, until now.

  "What are you looking at?" Zheng San asked, walking up behind him.

  Ulrich smiled, a rather weak and low smile. It was unknown what his thought was as he uttered, "The end of the world… And my diligent alarm clock."

  Zheng San was confused, and before he could ask what that meant—

  Boom!

  A vast bright light covered the entire sky, turning night to day.

  Once again, the arrival of the white light has remained unchanged throughout all time.