I Died and Received an SSS-Rank Unique Ability-Chapter 86: Awakening Complete

The group lingered in silence, each holding a Fruit of Life—smooth, glowing orbs of ethereal light that pulsed faintly in their hands like living hearts.

They stood there, frozen in anticipation, eyes darting from their fruits to one another, waiting for someone to make the first move. It was as if the gravity of what was about to happen needed a spark.

Then—Iris stepped forward.

Without a word, she lifted her fruit and took a bite, the soft flesh of the glowing sphere parting like jelly. As she chewed the radiant morsel, her body began to shimmer. Light engulfed her form, breaking her down into particles that danced like fireflies in the wind before vanishing completely.

Everyone stared, entranced. No one dared to speak.

Then Ayla turned to Vale, her expression calm and resolute.

"Ready?" she asked softly.

Vale hesitated, glancing at Dain and Klein. Their faces mirrored the tension knotted in his chest. He looked back at her and nodded.

"Yeah," he said, voice steady despite the storm of emotions inside of him.

Ayla smiled faintly, then lifted her fruit and bit down. A moment later, she too dissolved into radiant dust, leaving only the faint echo of her presence in the air.

Vale’s gaze swept to the others—Dain, Klein—and saw them following suit. The fruits shimmered with every bite, each of them disappearing in turn, swallowed by light.

"See you all on the other side," Dain said with a grin, speaking mid-chew. His voice was slightly muffled, but the words carried weight.

Then he, too, vanished.

Now, only Vale remained.

He stood there alone, the silence pressing in around him like a cloak. With a steadying breath, he looked down at the Fruit of Life glowing gently in his hand. Then he raised it to his lips and took a bite.

The taste was unlike anything he had ever experienced—sweet, rich, and overwhelming, like starlight infused with honey. As he swallowed, a rush of warmth flooded his chest.

Then, a sudden darkness consumed him.

It was as though a light switch had flipped, casting everything into pitch black. His senses collapsed inward, the world vanishing in an instant.

And yet, deep within, something stirred.

[ Your Trial is Complete... ]

[ Your Core Awakens... ]

A fiery bloom ignited in his abdomen. It was the same sensation he had felt when he passed the first trial—only now, far more intense. A burning star seemed to have manifested inside him, radiating power with every pulse.

The energy expanded outward, threading itself through every fiber of his being. His muscles tightened. Bones thrummed. Even the blood in his veins sang with vitality. It was as if his entire body had become a conduit for something far greater.

Then—his mind.

Thoughts came faster, clearer. Emotions sharpened, coalescing into something more focused. His awareness expanded, and the fog he hadn’t realised was there now swept away in a blaze of lucidity.

He felt stronger. Faster, healthier and smarter than ever before.

[ Awakening Complete. ]

Vale exhaled, stunned. His chest rose and fell as the heat faded into a cool, lingering hum beneath his skin.

But the voice wasn’t done.

[ Please accept your rewards... ]

[ You have received an Ability: Vine Bind ]

"What? I already—" Vale started to protest, the memory of the ability rushing back. He had received Vine Bind before, only for it to be damaged during a fierce battle and ultimately lost.

But before he could finish his sentence, the voice returned—cutting through the air like a blade.

[ You have received an Ability: Voidstep ]

Vale blinked. His breath caught.

Teleportation?

He immediately summoned his status window. The glowing text appeared in front of him.

Voidstep Ability Description: [ You phase briefly through the void, reappearing a short distance away. ]

His brows rose.

This wasn’t just useful—it was rare. Teleportation abilities were so scarce they were practically myths. And this wasn’t the typical long-distance kind that took minutes to cast and drained an entire mana core. No, this seemed different. Shorter, faster, more suitable for combat.

A grin spread across his face, adrenaline spiking again. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

But before he could even start imagining the possibilities, the darkness began to ripple. The void around him collapsed inward, folding in on itself like fabric.

And then—Nothing.

All of Vale’s senses were ripped away.

For a terrifying moment, he ceased to exist.

Then, slowly, each of his senses started to return one by one.

Muffled sounds came first—like distant whispers under water. Then a breeze tickled his skin, followed by a surge of mana rising within him like a tide.

He stirred awake.

Above him, stars stretched endlessly across the night sky, twinkling like shards of ice in the dark. He blinked several times, disoriented, then sat up. His body felt whole and refreshed.

He could feel the strength surging through his body.

He looked around.

The terrain was unfamiliar—an open field blanketed in tall, pale grass that swayed gently in the night wind. There were no landmarks, no structures, just a quiet expanse under the watchful sky.

Confusion gripped him.

Then, the memories rushed back—the Fruit of Life, the trial, the others.

They did it. They passed the second trial. They had finally Awakened.

A wave of relief washed over him.

His physical body had been pulled from the Living World to undergo the trial. Now that it was complete, he had returned. But where?

Typically, Awakened were returned somewhere near their point of "death" in the physical world—but not always. No one could predict where exactly.

And this place... he had never seen it before.

He frowned and stood, dusting himself off. The field stretched far in every direction, but there was something about the stillness that unnerved him. It was too quiet.

Then, a thought struck him like a hammer to the chest.

"Wait... is this—?"

His eyes widened.

"The Fourth Zone?"

It made sense.

The Second and Third Zones of Verythmia were densely populated—towns, cities, and guarded roads covered nearly every inch. Empty fields like this were rare.

But the Fourth Zone? That forsaken place?

It had long been abandoned—left to rot under the shadow of the wild. The barrier that once protected it had long been damaged, and the monsters that roamed within had killed everything in sight.

This is where Ayla watched her parents die before she, too, had fallen to the very same creature that killed her family and entered her first trial.

Since he was returning to the living world, Vale had hoped for a moment of peace. Just a day or two to recover in the safety of his Academy room—his small sanctuary. Instead, he was dropped into the most dangerous zone in the kingdom.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

A sudden thud snapped him out of his thoughts.

His body turned instinctively, muscles tensing as he summoned his weapon. From behind a low hill, a massive figure charged—a beast the size of a bear, with dark grey fur and gleaming amber eyes.

It lunged toward him.

Vale barely had a moment to register it before it was on him.

But his reflexes—faster than ever—kicked in. The blade of Hellfire tore through the air like a streak of black paint across canvas.

Steel met flesh, and the monster collapsed mid-leap, crumpling to the ground with a heavy thud.

[ You have slain a C-Rank, Awakened Monster: Graybear ]

Without missing a beat, Vale extended his hand and summoned black flames to consume the beast’s remains, burning away flesh and bone, until it finally reached the mana crystal. The flames didn’t linger and devoured the mana crystal in an instant, replenishing what little mana essence Vale had used to slay the monster.

With the threat gone, Vale scanned the field for any sign of direction. The land stretched endlessly, nothing but grass and distant hills in sight.

In the past, he’d have chosen a path at random. But not anymore.

He summoned the Four-Eyed Raven, and his vision stretched across the horizon. The relic soared across the plains, scanning for movement or any sign or direction. Before long, he spotted something—figures in armour, no more than an hour away, moving behind a distant hill.

Vale frowned. "Soldiers? Here?"

The Fourth Zone had been abandoned for years. The government left it to the monsters, sealing it away from the third barrier, not even allowing the people living there in. Official presence was rare and limited to border drills and military exercises. But this group was deep in.

They didn’t wear government-standard gear either. Their armour was mismatched, worn, and bloodied. They looked like they’d just come out of a fight. Some limped and none of them walked in a formation.

These weren’t soldiers.

"Some form of mercenaries?" Vale wondered as he dismissed the relic, his vision shifting back to his eyes.

He dismissed the rising questions from his mind—those could wait.

Right now, he needed information, and those were the only people in sight.

Without further delay, he walked toward the group, moving swiftly through the terrain. The distance between them was shorter than he expected, or perhaps it was he who moved faster than before. Either way, he soon was nearing the group of soldiers, mercenaries or whatever they were.

They raised their weapons, only to lower them slightly once realising he was human.