A few days passed without much trouble. Most of the time was spent following Chiki through the small island village.

Chapkor woke before sunrise as I could hear some sound from outside. Curiously I walked out from the house assigned to me.

I could see Murgins from every household stepping outside carrying a small wooden bowl. One by one, they placed a handful of grain before a weathered stone statue standing at the center of the village.

An old Murgin noticed me watching and gave me a gentle smile.

"These are our morning offerings for our Lord Ruruk." He smiled proudly.

The bowl contained barely enough grain to feed a child.

"...Do all of you do this?"

"Of course."

He looked at me as though the question itself was strange.

"Everything we have belongs to Him first."

I said nothing as a few moments later, the old Murgin carefully gathered the grain back into his bowl and carried it home. No divine light descended nor any miracle occurred, the offering simply became breakfast.

Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I made my way back to the house I had been staying in. A few moments later, the child who had been standing beside the chief that day quietly entered my room, carrying a small wooden bowl filled with freshly prepared food.

She was Liran, Chiki’s little sister.

She looked painfully malnourished, her tiny frame lacking even the baby fat a child her age should have had but she still walked over and carefully pushed the bowl toward me.

"C-Chief Karil... sent you food, my Lord."

She spoke hesitantly.

As she did, her eyes lingered on the bowl for the briefest moment. Her throat bobbed as she swallowed her own saliva, desperately resisting the urge to pounce on the very food she had brought for me.

I shook my head.

"Aren’t you going to eat?"

"I have already eaten, my Lord."

She lied.

"Did you already forget what I told you yesterday, Liran?" I asked with a small smile. "I am an Angel of God, remember? I don’t need much food to survive. So, you can eat it in my place."

"But... Big Brother Chiki said you need food too." She tilted her head innocently. "He said, ’Only if you eat well and rest properly can you defeat Ahankara.’"

"Don’t worry about me." I smiled gently. "Your faith is what keeps me alive. So eat without worrying."

Liran continued to hesitate, glancing between me and the bowl. In the end, however, her hunger won. She quietly sat down on the small chair beside me and began eating the meal herself as I wandered back into my thoughts.

During the past few days, I had learned quite a bit about this place.

It wasn’t a hidden continent but an isolated island surrounded by crimson mist. According to Ruruk’s teachings, the world beyond the sea had been destroyed by humanity’s greed long ago.

I found that difficult to believe.

More importantly, I couldn’t understand Ruruk himself.

Gods were selfish, but they were rarely foolish enough to abandon their own worshippers. Yet this one had allowed Ahankara, a demon who had appeared out of nowhere, to spread a plague across the island while demanding sacrifices from the very people who prayed to him.

None of it made sense.

Though there was, however, one pleasant surprise apart from the information waiting for me and also the reason I could survive without food for a few days.

My physique.

Without wasting another moment, I opened my status window as the familiar holographic screen materialized before me.

════〔 STATUS 〕════

▸ NAME: ⟦ Zenith Von Ruinbringer ⟧

▸ TALENT: ⟦ 1. R̶e̶g̶r̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ (Consumed) , 2. Insight ⟧

▸ Soul Core: ⟦ Tier I Awakened⟧

▸ AFFINITIES: ⟦ Vector (Reinforcer) ⟧

▸ CORE TRAIT: ⟦Chaos Mind — Your thoughts keep wandering in endless loops of chaotic thoughts, making it far too difficult to panic or get surprised. ⟧

▸ ATTRIBUTES: ⟦Swordsmanship (A), Mana Manipulation (C), Mana Capacity (F+ —> C+), Physique (H+ —> A+ [Temporary]), Mind (A), Soul (SS)⟧

▸ SKILLS:

⟐ Passive - None

⟐ Active - ⟦Celestial Breathing (Unique)⟧

▸ Refinement Technique: ⟦Celestial Singularity Art (Unique)⟧

▸ NOTE:「Even the world itself cannot comprehend how something so pitiful continues to survive. A separate rank had to be created solely to classify your physique. Due to the influence of the Trial and the faith of this Projection’s residents, your physique has been temporarily elevated to better match the trial’s difficulty.」

═══════════════════

My physique had risen again.

Somehow, the villagers’ faith was being converted into temporary strength but rather than repairing my real body, it wrapped it in something akin to invisible armor.

Though I understood one thing, if the trial felt compelled to strengthen me this much...

Then Ahankara was far stronger than I had assumed.

Rising from my chair, I looked at Lirina, who was completely engrossed in savoring every bite of her meal.

"Where’s Chiki?"

She looked up with her cheeks puffed full of food before pointing toward the forest where I had first met him.

I patted her head once before leaving the house.

The villagers greeted me with warm smiles as I made my way toward the edge of the forest.

Just as expected...

Chiki was there.

He continued throwing punch after punch at the massive boulders, shattering them into pieces even as his stomach growled in protest.

I activated [[Insight]] again like every day, hoping at least today it had changed.

════〔 STATUS 〕═════

▸ NAME: ⟦ Chiki ⟧

▸ TALENT: ⟦ Soul Parade [Suppressed] ⟧

▸ Core: ⟦ Unable to Use Mana ⟧

▸ Note : ⟦A genius born a farmer, his fists possess enough power to shatter those far above his rank. His talent is too great for his immature mind and soul to withstand, forcing his body to suppress both his mana and his gift. If he someday manages to awaken the talent, all the suppressed mana along with his terrifying talent would make him no less than a Calamity. Tread carefully. Even now, he could punch a hole through your real pitiful body.⟧

════════════════

I had checked his status every day, hoping something would change but nothing ever did.

His talent remained sealed by his own soul, using his mana to suppress itself instead of empowering him.

In a way, we were opposites because my soul was too strong for my body and his body was strong but he couldn’t use his Talent because his soul was too weak.

Though none of that was useful, observing him daily did help me to understand him a bit better and I could now say with complete confidence...

This guy was the biggest fool in the entire village.

Everyone in the village survived on a single meal a day. Everyone except Chiki but he refused even that and instead survived on water.

"Aren’t you going to eat today either, Chiki?"

Hearing my voice, he turned around with a smile.

"I am not hungry, my Lord. This small island once had only three villages and ever since my own was destroyed, Chapkor took me and my sister in as one of their own."

"They placed their hopes on my shoulders. They filled my stomach every day so I could train... even while they themselves went hungry."

He scratched his feathered cheek.

"But now that you’re here, there is no reason for them to waste their food on me anymore. They should give it to the children instead."

Looking at him, I simply couldn’t understand.

"Why are you always so hopeful? Have you never considered that I might fail? Or worse... that I might not be here to help at all? What if I came here to harm everyone instead?"

He merely tilted his head.

"To be honest, my lord, I was suspicious of you at first but I have been watching you these past few days. You act as though you don’t care... yet you quietly give your share of food to the children. You tell them stories. You help the elders carry things whenever you think no one is looking."

"So I know."

"You aren’t here to harm us."

"I could simply be deceiving all of you or perhaps I’m only using you to achieve my own goals."

I pushed him back because to some extent, I was doing that to increase my strength using their faith but he simply smiled like an idiot again.

"I am simply too scared to consider that possibility because if you are lying..."

He looked toward the village.

"...then everyone I love dies."

He laughed quietly.

"So I would rather be a fool."

Despite spending so many days with him, I still couldn’t figure out what his regret was. He was simply too much of an idiot to have any regrets... at least so far.

Which meant whatever his regret was... It hadn’t happened yet. But I was sure, defeating Ahankar would prevent that and I was planning to do it tomorrow.

The thought had barely crossed my mind when my senses, sharpened by my improved physique, detected a disturbance coming from the direction of the village.

Chiki didn’t seem to have noticed it.

"Something’s happening in the village!"

The moment those words left my mouth, I dashed toward the village, using my Vectors to push my speed beyond its normal limits.

Chiki followed behind, panic written across his face. I reached the village within seconds and Chiki arrived shortly after as a horrific sight greeted us both.