Ryan leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. He already knew that this place was connected to the 'Church of the Dead God', but he also thought that this place had been fully abandoned by them. Because that's generally what happened; this place was a mess when Ryan and the others moved in.

  "So what, do you think we should move out?" Ryan asked, but his uncle immediately denied that idea.

  "No, you explicitly shouldn't move out, actually."

  "... But if this place is more important to the church than we thought, isn't it dangerous? I mean, they were able to beat you up, so we'd just be waiting to be randomly attacked some day, right?"

  Runar let out a long sigh. It wasn't the usual, annoyed sort. Rather, it was strained like Runar wasn't sure exactly what to say. Like he was buying some time until his next response.

  "I'm not saying that it's not dangerous, but we have too many reasons to make you stay there. Especially since you now have access to trials that will make you more powerful," Runar explained, but there was something in his voice that made Ryan feel a little nervous. "Listen, the spirits, they're... special. I think we both know that. They have the potential to be more powerful than any other spirits, and especially since your skills are slightly different than they should be, that's even more true. You can literally make them three times stronger than normal by weakening their seal. You get what that means, right?"

  Ryan didn't even have to think about what his uncle was referring to. Of course he understood it. "Yeah... if they were fully unsealed, the way the skill is moving right now, they'd be as strong at level 1 as a max level person."

  "Exactly. They have the potential to really shake things around, so I understand why that seal exists in the first place. But there's also another important part," Runar continued, though he hesitated. "The way things are going, by the time you're level thirty or forty, you'll be surrounded by a party of skilled spirits as strong as max level Awakened. And the stronger you get through the trials, the faster you can get to that point. Of course, you'll need a new place to actually level up, but once you get your heroics license, maybe that's going to take care of that. In the meantime, I'll look for some dungeons that are a good match to help you level up."

  Runar's voice slightly changed, like he changed to speaker phone. Ryan could hear the distorted scratching of a pen through it.

  "Yeah... I guess maybe I'll be able to protect this place properly if I get strong faster," Ryan said with a slightly relieved sigh. "But either way, we're not done yet. So you said you found a fragment of titan bones in that orb thing, so what happened after that? It doesn't sound like Yamada's attack was the part that damaged you."

  Runar was silent for a few moment. The pen-scratching disappeared, too. "Well... for her, part of it was. There's a reason why I told her not to use that gun unless I permit it. We went completely overboard when creating that item, to the point where Yamada almost died the first time she used it. She was a lot weaker back then, than she is now."

  "Okay, so... what about you? You weren't hurt by the gunshot, so who came and attacked you?"

  "That's..." Runar let out a loud groan. "I don't even really know. I explained to you how the church called 'Awakening', 'Enlightenment', right?"

  "Yeah?"

  "We thought that they just had special classes or something, but that didn't seem to be quite the case. It takes me a while to set up, so it's hard to use, but I do have a spell that lets me 'Appraise' others. If they're an Awakened, I can get their class, approximate level, their skills, their stats, and so on."

  "Mm-hmm? So?"

  "It works on dead people, too."

  "Ah. You used it on the guy whose head exploded?"

  Runar sighed. "Yeah, I did. It stops working quite as well when they've been dead for a while, but this was soon enough. Essentially, his lowest stats were in the 5 to 6 range. But... he wasn't an Awakened. The spell didn't show him to have a class, a level, or skills."

  Confused, Ryan sat upright. "What does that mean? Was he strengthened by a ton of Awakened, or something?"

  "No, in that case, the effect would be gone the moment he died. I believe that he did actually have a class, a level, and skills, but that my spell just wasn't able to recognise them. That they... have a different system."

  With a scoff, Ryan shook his head, even if his uncle wasn't able to see him do so. "No, what do you mean? A different system?"

  "Yes. It might work similarly, or the rules could be completely differently. But in essence, it seems like the members of the church aren't Awakened. They're the 'Enlightened'. Or that's what we've been calling them internally since figuring this part out," Runar said, hesitating. "We believe that they somehow have access to the Administrator's corpse, and are channelling their powers to force an unnatural Awakening that was forced to take a different form. That's just a guess, though, we don't have any confirmation."

  "... And you were beat up by one of those Enlightened?"

  Groaning, Runar continued. "Yes, basically. So, how much do you know about max level?"

  "Hm? Uh, a little bit, but it's not like there's a lot to know. There's not been a lot of people that have reached that point, and most are too eccentric to let themselves be studied or share the details. All I know is that getting from level 99 to 100 is supposedly as hard as getting to level 99 from Awakening."

  "Right. So, the most important thing that you need to know right now is that level 100 is not actually the end of the system."

  "... Hm?"

  "Okay, how do I explain this..? So, first of all, at max level, you essentially get a unique skill. Something that is actively created for you, curated by the journey you've taken until that point. It's an extremely powerful skill even at level 1, a sort of reward for your growth. So just growing that skill is going to make you extremely more powerful. But... at that point, you're also going to get a trial offered to you."

  Ryan hesitated, frowning. "Wait, like, a trial like the one that I'm going through?"

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  "Similar, but different. There are trials that were given to people that didn't reach max level, but essentially, once you reach that point, people are given a personalised trial. They're extremely difficult, even if not deadly. Once someone passes a trial, they earn a 'Star'. And if they don't pass their trial, they have all the stars they've already earned taken from them and are just locked into level 100, unable to repeat the trials again."

  "... Huh. I've never heard about that."

  "Hah, yeah, I'd be surprised. There's been maybe a two or three dozen star-bearers in the past century. And only about five people that have reached two stars. The highest that anyone has ever reached in the history of the system was four stars."

  A slight smile appeared on Ryan's face, "Seriously? Man, there's so much more to the system than I thought. That's so fucking cool. So what do the stars do?"

  "A lot. Mostly, they enhance your power severely, but even more importantly, you gain 'Star Skills'. They don't have levels like regular skills, but they get just that much stronger with every subsequent star. And they're powerful, you have absolutely no idea..."

  Ryan heard something in his uncle's voice that made the hairs on his neck stand up. He was starting to understand why he was talking about all of this, and why he told Ryan this. Sure, he appreciated just knowing more about parts of the system that were hidden from most people, but there was no reason for Runar to talk about this right now, unless... "You fought someone with a star?"

  Runar was quiet. That sort of silence when he didn't know what to say, or was trying to think about what the least annoying way to explain something was. In the end, he figured it was simpler to just be honest.

  "I did, yes. After breaking open the first one, we travelled around the mountain range, finding more similar places, set up in some kind of array with each other. We weren't able to break any more of the orbs, but we collected them. Luckily they weren't all that heavy for me. But then, once we grabbed the fourth orb..."

  "There we go. With this, we should have enough to do some research and mess with the church at the same time. No matter what they're planning, they can't have a ton of these," Runar said and signed to Yamada, leaning down to the orbs that were tied up in rope-nets. He threw them over his shoulder and walked back over to the demon, who was waiting over the corpse of another one of the people that were set up in each of these chambers to protect them. Whether it was really the orbs they were looking out for, or something else, didn't really matter to Runar. Either way, they all died pretty soon after being defeated, even after Runar tried to explicitly counteract it.

  Runar walked over to the edge of this chamber. This one was deeper within the mountain it was placed in, and didn't have a view to the outside. Rather, there was absolutely no exit or entrance, or even any clean air to breathe. The main way you were supposed to get from chamber to chamber seemed to be some sort of teleportation, but Runar wasn't able to figure it all out, and instead took the brute-force approach. Meaning, to dig a massive hole in the side of the mountain that he used to get inside, once he confirmed the location of this place.

  Each chamber seemed to be part of a large circle, focusing around a place in the valley that Runar wanted to investigate next time. But for now, he had wanted to collect more of these orbs. He sent one away already using an avian courier that worked for the family, with skills that made this particularly easy. It was hard to carry that one around with it being broken into pieces like that.

  But now, it was time for him and Yamada to go home as well. It would take a while, though it shouldn't be too bad if Runar used the right magic. There were a few that he could prepare that he could use to create useful transportation methods. They hadn't found any more clues about Anders, but hopefully, analysing these orbs would help them figure out more about the church and let them find their main base, where they hoped to be able to find their friend.

  Right as Runar stepped back into the tunnel that he dug, a sound echoed out through it. Footsteps.

  "Yamada, prepare for another fight," Runar briefly turned toward the demon, but he could see Yamada flinch as she looked toward him.

  Confused, he turned back around, and in front of him, just a few steps away and much closer than the footsteps from literally a second ago, stood someone with a slight smile on their face. Their complexion was healthy and their skin, even if pale, was still at a normal level. Muscles bulged out from the exposed sections of their skin, like they were lean. They weren't 'exaggerated' in any way like all of the other people from the church that Runar and Yamada had encountered.

  The only thing that made Runar assume that they were part of the church in the first place was the rotting stench they gave off.

  "I'm pretty sure those don't belong to you, do they?" they asked, pointing at the nets holding the orbs. Their voice, carrying along the scent of pure death with it, sounded like that of a normal person, too.

  But every single part of Runar's intuition was screaming at him to step back. It had been a while since he had felt something like this, this true fear of death that one would experience when facing an overwhelming opponent. Without a moment's hesitation, Runar jumped backward and grabbed Yamada as he did, building distance to that person.

  They let out a loud laugh. "Wow, no wonder you've managed to take out members of my flock. I hand-picked them for this job, you see?"

  Runar shivered, staring at the figure before him. He didn't even notice when that happened, but they were now standing in front of the tunnel. Runar could swear he never removed his eyes from them, nor did he even blink.

  "You're the leader of the church?"

  With a loud laugh, they shook their head. "No, no, I'm merely a follower myself. The true head of the church is none other but the great Lord of Rot themself. Though, I am the one closest to them, if I'm allowed a moment to brag."

  With a deep frown, Runar glared at this person. So they really were the head of the church. Before he could even try to come up with a solution, they continued speaking.

  "You are Runar Asamir Aglecard, yes? And your friend there is Yamada Hiero? A man close to the stars, and a woman following not far behind," they said, smiling happily as they did. "What a wonderful opportunity. Would you care to join our cause?"

  Runar didn't even try to question how they knew who him and Yamada were. "Join your cause? That's supposed to be a joke, right?"

  Clearly confused, that person tilted their head. "A joke? Hm, and here I thought your family was more open than this..." they sighed loudly. The stench practically reached Runar on the other side of the chamber.

  "We tend to not exactly like murderous psychopaths like you."

  That person laughed again, shaking their head. "Murder? When have we ever killed people? All we have ever done is deliver poor sinners to the great Lord. Death is a release. It's not our fault if they were unable to be enlightened with the truth in the process." They smiled lightly, taking a few steps forward. Each one seemed to bring them far closer than it should. "Would you like to be enlightened? Believe it or not, but we have some ways for you to–"

  "Hah, become 'enlightened' and turn into one of those freaks?"

  "Freaks?" they tilted their head. "Ah, you mean those whose forms are distorted, yes? It is unfortunate, the process of enlightenment can be quite harsh on the mortal soul. But I believe that you have a strong enough heart to persist through it unchanged in any way you do not wish."

  Runar's eyes lit up in a bright green colour, as he clutched his pen intensely. "I'm not going to join you, so just step aside before you regret this."

  The person let out a loud laugh, shaking their head. "If you wish to fight, then we can fight, but I will not be the one to regret it."

  "We'll see about that!" Runar retorted, trying to buy at least a little bit more time. But before he could, he saw that person's mana fill their eyes.

  It was black, similar to the other ones, but something was different. Instead of some kind of sludge or ichor that was practically oozing out of their eyes, the form of this person's mana seemed to be that of tendrils. Tentacles that expanded out from their eyes onto their skin, like something was trying to force its way out of their skull.

  But that wasn't even the part that Runar was most focused on. Instead, it was the thing that appeared above their head. It was a small point of mana, made from those tendrils climbing over each other. Like a ball of worms. It was radiating a power that was clearly different in nature to any that he had encountered in a long time. Runar had only seen this once or twice before. It was like an infinitely deep well of nothingness that held... everything.

  A single 'star' was floating above that person's head.