Lucien was so stunned he nearly screamed.
The mythical Leviathan Heart had come with his soul!
"Hahahahah!"
His laughter echoed through the workshop, wild and unrestrained—until a loud, annoyed voice bellowed from below.
"Oi, bastard!
Have you finally gone mad? Why are you laughing like a lunatic?
I'm cutting ten copper coins from your pay for this!"
Lucien went silent.
A strange expression crossed his face as foreign memories merged with his own.
He was just a nobody—a smith's apprentice helping run this shop in exchange for living space above.
A generous offer, all things considered.
Just moments before, he'd been soaring through the heavens, creating legends.
Now here he was—a nobody once again.
But there was no anger in his chest.
He had lived long enough to know better.
Still, he thought bitterly, why cut ten copper coins? Greedy old bastard.
Grimacing, he drank some water from a nearby glass and summoned the Voice of Void again.
###
[Voice of Void]
[Name: Kael (Lucien Vex Morvain)]
[True Rune: The Mad Prince, Bearer of the Leviathan Heart]
[Race: Half-human]
[Bloodline: Morvain {Unawakened}]
[Physique: None]
[Spells:
(Rank 1) : Heat Vision, Shadow Step ]
[Familiar Beast: Carrion Kronos (Rank 7 Soul Beast)]
[Abyssal Rank: Shallow Beast (Rank0)]
[Abyssal Essence: 108/1000]
###
After careful analysis, he felt both elated and shocked.
"Half-human?!" Lucien muttered in disbelief.
This had to be due to the Leviathan Heart.
The heart had come with his soul and was transforming this body...
"Morvain bloodline...."
This unsettled him most of all.
Why wouldn't this cursed thing let him go?
His mood turned foul as countless memories flashed behind his eyes—ones he desperately wanted to forget.
In his previous life, he'd been unable to awaken it.
Now it had followed him even here.
This soul transfer... he needed to understand it better.
Fate truly didn't want to leave his past buried.
He sighed.
He'd lost his physique, sword techniques, and all his spells except [Shadow Step], which had remained from his previous life—soul-bound, apparently.
"[Heat Vision] must belong to this body's original owner," Lucien said, summoning the descriptions of both abilities.
[Shadow Step: Instant teleportation through shadows]
[Heat Vision: See temperature through color]
"Good for a smith," Lucien muttered. "But I can use this to see in the dark too. Not bad."
He also had Carrion Kronos—he could sense it sleeping within his soul.
Only Lucien knew what lengths he'd gone to steal it from The Celestial Navy.
It was an artificial soul beast, but still incomplete.
Actually, Lucien's survival was nothing short of a miracle. Finding a vessel capable of housing his soul in a similar timeline was incredibly unlikely.
Hell, he'd been fearing he might end up in a female body.
The thought made him shiver.
He sighed.
The soul beast had to be completed.
He couldn't afford this kind of gamble again.
He turned his focus back to the Voice of Void—but what he saw next sent a jolt through him.
"Shallow Beast?" His voice was breathless with shock. "Not Middle Mortal?"
That made no sense.
He remembered the advancement paths clearly.
For humans:
Mortal → Initiate → Adept → Master → Sage → Heavenly → Immortal → Divine
Each tier divided into: Initial → Middle → Upper → Peak
For abyssal creatures:
Beast → Tainted → Hollow → Fallen → Abomination → Eldritch → Unspeakable → Unfathomable
Each stage split into: Surface → Shallow → Deep → Abyssal.
Lucien could tell the ambient abyssal energy here was thin, which explained the low starting point—but the system should have labeled him a Middle Mortal.
Why had it ranked him as an abyssal being?
A cold bead of sweat traced down his temple.
Don't tell me… this is the true blessing of the Leviathan Heart?
Still, he needed to test it by advancing.
Maybe this was just a glitch or something.
But if it wasn't...
If this was real, then he was no longer bound by human limits.
Abyssal beasts possessed far greater reserves of energy.
With the Leviathan Heart and Carrion Kronos...
His potential would be infinite!
His head spun again.
"Okay," he mumbled, stumbling toward the bed. "Let's look at this tomorrow."
###
Morning came too quickly.
Sunlight crawled across Lucien's pale face, catching in his unruly black hair. His expression was twisted, as if trapped in a nightmare.
"…live, Lucien…"
He woke with a sharp breath.
"Again? Even in this life…"
The nightmares were becoming routine now—old ghosts gnawing at the edges of his mind.
He shook his head and pushed the memories aside.
This was a new beginning.
And this time, he would do things right.
Rising slowly, he made his way to the washroom.
After freshening up, he dressed in the same soot-stained clothes from yesterday.
As he passed the cracked mirror, he caught his reflection—and paused.
Black hair. Hollow eyes.
A thin, malnourished frame.
He looked weak. Fragile. Starved.
"This body… how the hell was he supposed to be a blacksmith?"
In truth, the original Kael had never shown talent for smithing. His late father had been a good friend of Master Gareth, the gruff old owner of the forge below. After Kael's parents died, Gareth took the boy in out of pity. Gave him a roof, a corner to sleep in, and basic training in the forge.
But Kael... had little interest in anvils and hammers.
He'd wanted to explore the sea and gain admission to the—
"OI! Still sleeping?! Get your lazy ass down here this instant!"
Master Gareth's voice boomed up through the floor, shaking the walls.
Lucien sighed and muttered a curse under his breath.
But he didn't react.
No need to break character.
Not yet.
He needed time—to understand this land's rules, to grow stronger, and to stay unnoticed while he did.
Eventually, he would leave this continent.
It was far too small for the kind of life he intended to live.
If fate allowed, he would seek out the allies of his past—if any had survived.
But more importantly...
The one who betrayed me. The one who exposed my location...
Lucien's hand clenched into a trembling fist.
Maybe death had been inevitable.
Maybe fate had marked him from the start.
But betrayal?
That was a choice.
And choices... have consequences.
Without another word, Lucien turned and descended the creaking stairs.
Whatever waited for him below, he would face it.
This was his second chance.
And there were many, many things left to fix.