Chapter 19: Rebirth

When Paul finally opened his eyes, the sky was a clear blue. He couldn’t hear any sounds around him, so he got up and immediately noticed some changes. His hair and beard were now long enough to reach the ground. His muscles were only slightly bigger but appeared more refined. His previous armor and clothes were mostly gone—he was left with a shirt full of large and small holes, shorts, and no boots. Realizing he hadn’t checked his stats, he looked at the bracelet with some hesitation.

He skipped over the notifications about everything before him falling into the water, which were mostly about losing health and increased endurance.

**You have less than 0.5% health left.

Your heart stopped.

If you do not recover health in the next 5 minutes, you will die.**

**You have less than 0.2% health left.

Your heart stopped.

If you do not recover health in the next 2 minutes, you will die.**

**Your body has been fully submerged in water with special properties. While in this state, your body will not lose any health. You are unable to use any skills.**

**Your health recovered to 1%. Your heart started beating again.**

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**Your health recovered to 1.05%.**

**………**

**Your health recovered to 2%.**

**You are in the presence of an artifact. You are being scanned.**

**The artifact has accepted you.**

**You have started to absorb the artifact.** Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

**You have successfully absorbed the artifact.**

**Your body will start to reconstruct itself by breaking down and healing itself multiple times.**

**Your body has successfully finished its reconstruction.

By surviving the changes in your body, according to your previous condition, all your stats are increased by 500%.**

As Paul read these windows, it was as if his mind couldn’t process what he saw. After a minute, he finally snapped out of it and displayed his stat window.

**Name:** Paul Silver

**Title:** The White Slayer

**Guild Level:** C

**Guild Points:** 8750

**Strength:** 4021

**Agility:** 4271

**Endurance:** 3605

**Stamina:** 3759

**Wisdom:** 3772

**Intelligence:** 4275

**Charisma:** 1775

**Leadership:** 1555

**Luck:** 1725

**Fighting Spirit:** 4277

**Fame:** 1925

Every stat had reached levels Paul could only dream of. It felt as if, moments ago, he had been barely a C-rank adventurer, and now his stats could easily qualify him as an A-rank. He closed his stats window and pondered the nature of the artifact. He speculated that the man who had pierced his chest might have been searching for it.

Paul began to look around, trying to gauge how much time had passed since he nearly died. He approached the remains of the golem, now reduced to a pile of rocks and earth. He attempted to absorb any guild points from the remains but nothing happened. Nevertheless, he absorbed what he could in case it might be useful later. He then retrieved some clothes from his stash. As he tried to put them on, he accidentally ripped them due to his newfound strength.

“That’s weird. Why do the clothes rip so easily?” he wondered aloud. He picked up a sword from the ground, only to destroy it as he gripped it too tightly. “Oh…so that’s it. I have power, but I can’t control it…yet.”

Trying to be gentle, he managed to put on the clothes, though they were of low quality and didn’t fit well. He trimmed most of his beard but couldn’t cut it all off due to his lack of control over his strength. He also cut his hair, which now reached his waist.

Looking around, he saw smoke rising from the forest. Assuming it might be from the survivors who had been following him, he headed in that direction. Forgetting his changed body, he sped into the forest like a bullet, smashing into a large tree and destroying it completely. Though he didn’t lose any health, he was still amazed by his strength. He tried walking, but his strength made it feel like he was running, causing him to crash into trees and rocks.

When he finally reached the fire’s location, he found that the people around it were indeed the ones who had followed him. They didn’t immediately recognize him and pointed their swords at him in fear, trembling at the sight of a long-haired, long-bearded, bloodied, and dirt-covered man.

“Who are you? What do you want?!” they demanded.

“It’s me…Paul Silver. Oh…I forgot. Yes, I did change a bit.”

“But…what happened back there?” one of them asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the attack happened two days ago…where were you?”

“I…survived, but I was wounded very badly.”

They all looked relieved, and some energy returned to their faces. Paul saw that there were only ten of them. Three were armed with steel weapons, while the others had wooden spears. ‘So only three of them know how to fight…’

“Where are the rest?” Paul asked.

“Well…when the monster attacked, we all ran into the forest. We survived and looked for the others, but it was very difficult.”

“Hmmm…it’s okay. Head back to the lake. I will look for the others.”

“But…”

“Don’t worry…it’s safe now.”

Grateful, they packed up and headed toward the lake. Paul, meanwhile, continued searching for the others. His other objective was to learn to control his strength. He spent the entire day in the forest, finding no one but gaining better control over his power. He crashed into trees only a few times and brought out some food from his ring before reaching the lake. When the men saw the food, their eyes widened, and their mouths watered. They had been eating only nuts and grass, unable to hunt and leaving the others unprotected.

After everyone ate, they went to sleep. Paul also rested. The next day, Paul got up early and ventured into the forest. After about six hours, he found another small camp. This time, he discovered the two brothers protecting three others. The brothers recognized him immediately. On the way back to the lake, Paul learned that the brothers had hunted often, so they weren’t starving but were somewhat dehydrated. They didn’t want to leave the camp due to its good defensive position.

Paul spent about a week going in and out of the forest. The transformation had reduced his need for sleep, requiring only 2-3 hours daily, which felt as though he had slept for ten hours. He didn’t tire, no matter how much he searched for others. By the end of the week, he had found 25 survivors. Paul now had enough control over his strength to avoid crashing into trees or crushing weapons. During the day, he searched the forest, and at night, when he wasn’t sleeping, he trained to hone his abilities without destroying everything.

He addressed the group at the camp. “I didn’t find anyone else in the forest…so I believe it is time to keep moving. We will head towards the mountains as intended. Pack up and get ready; we leave in one hour.”

Everyone started packing their belongings, relieved that they were finally moving toward a place that might hold civilization.

With some control over his power, Paul moved ahead of the group, testing his strength. There were no creatures around, likely still scared of the golem. After two days, the group reached a small river flowing from the mountains. The cool, refreshing water was filled with various fish.

They set up camp, and after eating, Paul ventured further. From a distance, he spotted a small village. He didn’t enter but observed it closely. His heightened senses, a result of the transformation, allowed him to see everything in the village. It was small, with only a few houses and primarily old people and children. He returned to the group and shared the news about the village. They were thrilled and reached the village two days later.

Paul concealed his strength and advised the others to be cautious. Upon arrival, the villagers kneeled, tears in their eyes, and pleaded, “Please don’t take away the children as well. Please.”

Paul looked around, confused. “Uhmm…we don’t know what you’re talking about. We just arrived in this village.”

“What? You mean you’re not with them?”

“‘Them’? Who are ‘them’?”

“The group called The Rippers.”

The villagers sighed with relief but also looked at Paul and the others with some disappointment. “Please leave. If they catch you here, you’ll be enslaved, and they’ll punish us for hiding you.”

“How about I help you deal with them, and in return, you’ll allow us to stay in this village for a while?”

“They are very strong. Even the village champion couldn’t defeat them…so what could you do?”

“Don’t worry…”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t believe you.”

Paul looked at the old man and then noticed a huge boulder with some pickaxes next to it, showing signs of attempted destruction. The boulder was three meters tall and wide. Paul approached it, lifted his hand slowly, and touched the rock. As soon as he made contact, he continued pushing through. Cracks appeared in the boulder, and it eventually split in half.

The old man and his companions were stunned. They knew Paul had become stronger but didn’t realize the extent.

“Wha…

how…How is that possible?”

“So, do we have a deal?”

“DEAL!”

The old man, named Oniral, was the village elder. Paul asked as many questions as he could about the Rippers. He learned they were a group of bandits who appeared a few months ago and had been terrorizing the people. Their location was unknown, but they appeared twice a month, stealing everything they could. There were multiple villages in the same predicament. Two weeks ago, the Rippers had abducted all the young men. There were some cities nearby, but the bandits ignored them, focusing on the isolated villages.

After gathering all the information he could, Paul asked his group to guard the village until he returned. He then visited all ten surrounding villages. Each had a similar story, and he didn’t discover much new information. Returning to the first village, he began organizing the information he had collected.

It seemed the bandits attacked each village at the same time, with about five bandits per village, and they were considered strong, around C-rank. “So, there must be around 50 of them who attack the villages. There are probably some who guard their base as well…around 80-100 bandits? There must be a place that can hold that many…”

He approached Oniral and asked if there was any place that could accommodate around 100 people. Oniral, surprised, mumbled to himself for a few minutes before answering.

“If what you’re saying is true…there is a place that can hold that many people, even more. But that place has a guardian.”

“A guardian?”

“Yes…a creature similar to a tiger but with horns. It’s very strong. Before the bandits arrived, several adventurers tried to hunt it down, but they all failed.”

“Maybe they weren’t that strong.”

“They were all at least C-rank. The strongest was a B-rank adventurer.”

“So, what is this place?”

“It was the castle of an old adventurer who reached rank A. When he retired, he lived there. The villages were part of a city around the castle. But about 20 years ago, after the adventurer died, the creature came and claimed the castle. The city became its hunting ground.”

“So everyone left?”

“Not immediately. Many adventurers tried to kill it but failed, and then they stopped coming. So everyone left and established small villages.”

“Where is this place?”

“Well… The city is on the other side of the mountains. Follow the path that cuts through the mountain. After half a day, you’ll reach a large stone arch. Go through it, and after another day, you’ll reach the end of the path and the city. The castle is on the edge of a cliff.”

“What cliff?”

“There are many legends about it, but it’s said a god created the rift to end a war. On the other side is another city, but since the distance is too great, they couldn’t build a bridge, and it’s too long to go around the rift. It’s said to be so deep that you can’t see the bottom.”

“Really?…Interesting.”