The Malfae dismissed the screen and controlled its breathing. It feared losing even more of its precious lifespan if it let its emotion run free. With each controlled breath, its heart slowed and its wrinkled skin regained its blue tone.

Mentally exhausted, it messaged its head. But as its hands fell back, the ageing Malfe's gaze lingered on its palm for fine strands of hair clung onto its blue fingers. The emotion that arose within the [Hive Monarch] was hard for it to describe. It felt its heart tighten as if expecting a shock but not in a physical way. Its breathing hitched and its body trembled.

If a mortal had experienced these emotions, then the name that would have passed through his lips would have been grief, sadness and sorrow. But the immortal wasn't a mortal. Grief was not something it understood.

Despite possessing her memories, the [Reincarnated] could not comprehend the emotions that pierced its heart. Such was the rarity of this emotion amongst immortals that it was almost as if immortals were denied such sentiments. Almost.

The malfae remained seated as it pounded its chest weakly, trying to beat the ache away.

But how could it? This grief that the [Survivor] had birthed, how could it easily so die? This sorrow, that emerged within it was not born out of watching its hair fall. It had been born because the falling hair symbolised the dwindling time that it had left and the death that awaited it.

Numbers on the screen had not hit the point home as much as his falling hair had.

Its fingers twitched and hair strands fell out of its blue palm. It watched the strands fall and found a sense of haunting beauty within the strand of falling hair. But what beauty lay in the falling white hair?

Hair strands met the ground and the [Hive Monarch] collapsed as its back hit the ground with a smack and its head followed with a thud. Pain erupted in the back of its head but it unblinkingly stared at the ceiling of the tree-hollow.

It stared for a long moment before it closed its eyes. A breath escaped it with a sigh. It laid like that as time passed until the passage of time became unknown.

The temperature rose and the darkness of the night shied away. The Green Moon Immortal completed its journey across the sky and crossed into the horizon. Yet it laid there, eyes closed as if it were dead to the world.

It was only with the flare of the first rays of the sunlight that it opened its eyes. What greeted its eyes was not the brown ceiling of its hideout. Rather it was a sequence of notifications waiting to acknowledged.

Ting.

[Skill [Moulting Lv.8] has levelled up to [Moulting Lv.9]. The time required for the skill has been reduced by 4 minutes. Total time required: 5 Hours and 28 Minutes.]

Ting.

[Skill [Mana Manipulation Lv.4] has levelled up to [Mana Manipulation Lv.5]. Your understanding of mana has increased.]

Ting.

Ting.

Ting.

[Skill [Mana Manipulation Lv.9] has levelled up to [Mana Manipulation Lv.10]. Your understanding of mana has increased.]

Ting.

[Skill [Pain Resistance Lv.10] has levelled up to [Pain Resistance Lv.11]. Continuous damage caused by pain has been decreased by the 11 points.]

Ting.

Ting.

[Skill [Pain Resistance Lv.12] has levelled up to [Pain Resistance Lv.13]. Continuous damage caused by pain has been decreased by the 13 points.]

The Malfae blinked owlishly.

And then it blinked again as it read the notification once again. Unknown to it, its dark eyes softened and its blue lips tilted into a small smile. The tilt somehow did not make its smile seem sinister, like it usually did. As the smile formed, the tightening in its chest eased and its breathing calmed.

The [Survivor] stood up and, despite the protest of its aching joints, walked up to the edge of the tree hollow. Its eyes fell onto the world alit in colour and light of the brilliant dawn. The heat of which, scared away autumn’s chill.

It was not all though.

As the [Reincarnated]'s gaze roamed, it saw the colours that were a bit too bright and observed a world that seemed to have gained something extra to become something more. This advancement, that the world had now, it had clearly lacked all along.

This enrichment somehow made the world complete.

Despite not having experienced this enrichment before, now that the Malfae could see it with its own eyes, the difference became stark and undeniable. This disparity even made it question just how had it not this before? Had it lacked eyes?

The [Hive Queen] frowned as it opened its Status and eyed a Skill. ‘I hadn’t lacked eyes. I had lacked Skill Levels.’ It rested at the edge of the tree hollow and just experienced what the world had to offer. At that moment, it cared not for the worries that plagued it like untreatable diseases.

It let the muffled sound of the copse wash over it. It let the scent of the distant sea drown it. It let autumn's coolness battle the heat of the bright dawn on its skin. It let the sight of the evergreen trees fill its heart. And it let the taste of the morning dew dance on its tongue.

At that moment, the [Reincarnated] let itself be.

But for whom had the time ever stopped? It marched on and in an instant, its moment was shattered as the sun began peeping out of the horizon. But the [Survivor] ignored the offence as it closed its eyes and breathed deeply. In that single breath, the [Hive Monarch] savoured the remnants of the moment that had just passed. The taste of it lingered on its senses but the taste of it was fleeting. With the slow and constant march of time, it too dispersed.

It opened its eyes to finally look up at the rising sun. Though, it closed them immediately as it covered its eyes to save them from the light that was just too bright. It was a creature of the night after all. To gaze directly at the sun was not something that it was allowed to do.

Yet it wished to look and gaze at what it was denied.

Thus, it waited as its eyes acclimated to the newfound brightness and slowly spread apart its finger to steal a peek at the rising sun. The red hues and the orange undertones of the morning sun etched themselves into its memory.

The bright colours of the sun dug out the memory of the time when it had last seen a sunrise. But the only memory that the Malfae could think back to was of the time when it had been a trifling critter, a caterpillar. And that had been almost 3 years ago. Thus, this was the first sunrise that it had seen in years. Perhaps even longer, for it didn’t bother to remember more. The memories of those times were nothing special and inconsequential.

However, while it peeped through its fingers, the contrast of the rising sun with its own dying lifespan was not lost on the [Survivor]. But it cared not for it and stole another glance, searing its eyes in the process.

0.0

The Malfae closed its eyes and with much hesitation, activated [Mana Manipulation]. The inward pull that it had been expecting never came. Instead, the world around it dissolved much as it did for [Sense Essence], though the scene that materialised before it was quite different.

Rather than the Essences of the world becoming visible in their hazy and blurry glory, the [Reincarnated] became witness to the sharp and crisp manifestation of the Mana System that materialised not below, but all around it.

The Mana System encapsulated the [Hive Monarch] and its own consciousness dissipated as it seemed to die. The moment it died though, it became one with not the Mana System, but with the mana itself.

It perceived the mana that did not flow but fluxed. It felt the mana that was neither solid, liquid or gas but something else. It sensed the mana that did not move but disappeared arbitrarily, only to appear just as randomly within the Mana System.

It became the mana.

At that moment, it became so overwhelmed that the Skill broke and its eyes flew open with a gasp. It sat up as it breathed rapidly and placed its hand on its rapidly beating heart.

0.0

The Malfae returned to its Mana System, though this time it came prepared. It came to die.

The [Hive Monarch]’s consciousness dissipated as its Mana System manifested and it became the mana itself. Its consciousness, that had turned into motes finer than dust and sand, spread across the entire Mana System and the [Survivor] experienced the entire System all at once.

The scattered consciousness attempted to move within the mana but how could the dispersed consciousness move? How could the scattered consciousness move when there was no place to move?

The spread-out consciousness hesitated for a moment. It knew not what to do if it couldn’t even traverse its Mana System. From her memories, the expansive consciousness knew that it had to search for the representation of its psyche within itself. But if it couldn’t even move, how could it search?

0.0

The Malfae tried and it failed. Yet it tried again. This cycle of pointless exercise continued on and as it continued persisting, time continued to pass. The temperature took a sharp dip and the water vapour from the ocean and the river began to condense into a dense fog. The morning dew began turning from cool to cold and the air began to shift from chilly to frigid.

All the while, its instincts urged the [Hive Monarch] prepare for winter as a familiar lethargy seeped into its bones. As a result, over the course of the month, it ate more and more of its own eggs as it fattened up.

It ate its eggs in such quantity that [Drone Eggs], which had been stuck at Level 12, levelled up to Level 13. The Skill now required 130 mana to produced 91 eggs per activation. Despite the number of eggs created, it just continued to eat.

As a result, its face puffed up and its limbs swelled out. The belly that it now sported stretched out into its own lap and its sides began sporting rolls and rolls of extra skin. The number of chins that it possessed changed from one to numerous and its eyes became squished in between its chubby cheeks.

The [Survivor] fattened up, yet it failed to make any advancement towards finding the representation of its psyche. And as it failed and fattened up, the time continued to move with its unhurried march, until the winter arrived and it was taken over by its lethargy.

The [Reincarnated]'s heart felt heavy as it closed its eyes.

To it, this moment did not seem like accepting hibernation. Rather, it seemed akin to accepting its death.

-X-

The Malfae's eyes flew open and its breathing became difficult. Its heart paced and its wide eyes twitched as it jumped. Or at least, it tried to. It was still groggy from having just awakened and the lethargy that marked the start of its hibernation still seeped into its very bones.

As a result, it flapped around like a fish out of the water before its brain and body caught up to each other and it gingerly sat up. At that exact moment, a roar resounded across the tree hollow and the very air. It was as if the act of [Hive Monarch] sitting up had been displeasing to some other creature.

‘Th-this?’ The Malfae buckled as the roar caused its body to vibrate and resonate along with the sound. Its fingers twitched beyond its control, its body spasmed and its ears rang. ‘This is domination!’

The [Hive Monarch] recognised it for what it was. After all, how could it not, after having survived the now dead forest of the white moon? Its previous experience allowed it to not only recognise the effect but also resist it as its Level 11 [Domination Resistance].

It was because of this Skill that the [Survivvor] had only suffered through vibrations and not just slammed into the floor the moment the roar had echoed out.

As the [Hive Monarch] resisted, a massive hand invaded its burrow and wrapped around it like a coiling python. Its wings were twisted, is limbs bent and its body squeezed within the grip of the giant’s hand. Some words were said but it didn't understand them. And the only thing that it could do was attempt to breathe as its chest was squeezed and lungs squished.

The feeling did not last for long before it was thrown somewhere before getting slammed into a wall that appeared out of nowhere.

The [Reincarnated] shook its head to fight through the pain, the haze, the grogginess, the lethargy and the domination and when it did, it realised that it had been trapped. Its new home was a cage that seemed to have been made of earth and stone.

Its heart pounded and its blood raced. Its wide eyes danced as it tried to comprehend just what was going on.

Its cage jerked at that moment and the [Survivor] slammed into the floor as jerks and bumps became constant. They had begun moving.

0.0

The Malfae peeped through the bars that held it captive and stared at other cages lined next to its own. Within each of them, it could feel creatures that were much like itself, dominated and confused.

The door to a room opened at that moment and a woman walked out into the hall.

Her rather small face was pretty. Her head was tilted back and her eyes looked down her nose. The lines of time on her face marked her in her early forties, yet her beauty hadn't diminished. She wore clothes of dark green that seemed to be just a single uncut fabric and the plates on the lower half of the attire flowed like waves as the woman moved.

And then something materialised before them all.

The Malfae’s mind trembled and it averted its eyes instantly, waiting not for even a single moment more. The single glance that it had stolen had been enough to leave it trembling, despite possessing [Domination Resistance].

That something was a creature of fire and dominance. It was larger than the gate was tall and towered over everything and everyone within the room. Its body was shaped like a lion but the creature was no lion, of that the [Reincarnated] was sure.

Its head was wider than the mortals were tall and the body spanned at least the lengths of a few mortals. Instead of a mane, and orange fire covered its head and brilliant sparks jumped out of the creature every so often.

Yet, it was this something’s presence that stifled the room and seemed to choke the other immortals to death. The monsters spluttered and thrashed as they struggled to breathe while the mortals remained unaffected.

The Malfae observed the struggle for life of the other Immortals within the cages and looked down at its own quivering hands. At that moment, the [Hive Queen] became thankful for the year that it had crawled through the high mana zone and gained [Domination Resistance].

Its musing was cut short, however, as the woman said something. Her voice cut the air like a sword passing through, but her words remained unknown to all the caged immortals. She cared not for who understood or not, for she knew her words would be followed. Thus, unconcerned, she stepped towards the nearest stone cage.

However, the moment she neared the stone cage, which stood almost as tall as the woman herself, it dissolved into dust and grime. This dust though did not disperse but settled down as if it was forced down by some unknown force. Thus, as the air cleared, a panting and gasping creature was revealed inside.

This creature had the shape of a leopard but was almost thrice as big. Its patterns and dots were the same as the creature its form represented, but its wings were not. Leopards did not have wings.

The woman paused before her brows furrowed. The moment her brows furrowed the Fire Maned Lion lashed out with its claws and the leopard died, then and there. It did not even get a chance to resist. The Malfae’s scalp tingled and its blood ran cold.

The woman, meanwhile, had moved onto the next cage while the Fire Maned Lion swallowed the massive corpse of the Leopard whole.

The next stone cage dissolved and the resulting dust revealed a vulture the size of a mortal. Though, at the moment, it was lying limp at the ground, gasping, panting and shivering. The woman’s nose scrunched in distaste and the Lion moved. Not even a moment had passed and the vulture had died, just like that.

As the Fire Maned Lion devoured the vulture, the woman arrived at the next cage, which promptly dissolved itself. A plant that was as large as the Fire Maned Lion revealed itself as the dust settled and the woman’s eyes narrowed.

The plant, despite being big, had only a single bright red flower that was shaped like an inverted bell. The mouth of the bell-shaped flower had numerous thorns that curled outwards while its flesh was thick and wooden. A thick crowd of leaves decorated it on all sides and the red flower almost shined amongst them.

Despite its majesty, the plant quivered within Lion’s presence and the liquid within the flower sloshed and swished, causing a subtle sweet scent to erupt from the creature.

The woman’s narrowed eyes narrowed further and the Fire Maned Lion acted. The fire that formed its mane moved, as if it had a will of its own and dove into the green plant, burning it from the inside.

It took only a moment, and after that moment had passed, only dust and ash remained in the place of the plant. It had been annihilated. The flames then returned to the Lion and formed its mane again. Though, their quantity seemed to be marginally less than they what had been before.

The process continued on a few more times and woman killed, a porcupine, a mongoose and a snake until she finally arrived at the cage that housed the [Hive Monarch].

The trembling Malfae shuddered as the stone cage shook and then dissolved, showering it in dust and grime. The dust soon settled and revealed the [Survivor] lying of the floor, gasping and panting, much like all the other creatures before it had been.

This, of course, was an act. The Malfae did not know what the woman wanted but it did understand that the woman wanted something from immortals. And if she wanted something, it did not want to give the impression that it could defy her power.

The woman’s eyes narrowed.

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-