System vs Rebirth

"Welcome, Duke Lorelei." Noel smiled while shaking Duke Lorelei's hand.

"Thank you for the warm welcome." Duke Lorelei smiled back.

"I'm aware that you're planning to go. The pill is ready. All you have to do is to consume it. I will be watching you to make sure nothing goes wrong." Noel nodded.

"With you watching over me, there's nothing I need to be afraid of. I'm just thankful for everything you've done."

Noel then extended his hand. "Khalid."

"Yes, sir." Khalid walked toward them, holding a tray with a single blue pill on it. "This is the pill.

"After a long research, I've figured out that the spirit link and affinity are actually connected to each other.

"There is a misconception that the spirit seal is acting as a bridge between the human and the spirit.

"It turns out the spirit seal itself acts as a gate. With the knowledge that my master has imparted to me regarding what's beyond the seal, I'm now aware of the concept of spirit link.

"This spirit link is the bridge. And this is also where the spirit affinity comes from.

"People have different sizes of bridge or spirit link. And this difference in size is reflected in the number of your absorption rate. The higher your absorption, the bigger the bridge is.

"And it has a maximum of 100%, which means the bridge is as big as the gate itself.

"The spirit seal itself always has a fixed value because they're basically the branding of the spirit itself. The higher the rank of the spirit is, the bigger the gate. In other words, lower-ranked spirits will have a lower limit.

"I personally haven't figured out that number, but let's assume it's 20% per rank, starting from the common spirit to the humanoid spirit.

"Considering the duke's absorption rate, I'm assuming that the duke has a half-humanoid spirit, having 80% of the spirit absorption rate at the limit.

"Of course, with this new theory, it also means that you can actually increase your absorption rate by increasing your spirit's rank. However, it's already uncommon for the low-level spirits, let alone a high-ranking spirit. So, it's close to impossible to do it with your current rank.

"Hence, we'll be approaching it through another way, which is to raise the affinity between you and your spirit to the maximum limit. In other words, we are expanding the bridge to your limit. It might lead you to 70% or 80%.

"That's the limit that this pill can offer. If you think that's enough, we can proceed immediately."

Duke Lorelei nodded with a serious expression. "Yes. Thank you for your explanation. Even more so, thank you for giving me this opportunity."

"I'm merely acting on behalf of my master." Khalid shook his head.

Duke Lorelei smiled. "Your master is definitely beloved by his people."

"Indeed." Khalid nodded in agreement. "If there's no question, you can proceed. However, this is a small request. I'd like to know what you experience and all the information you can get from the pill, no matter how small it is."

"Of course. I can do that much for my benefactor." Duke took a deep breath before grabbing the pill. Although it wasn't that obvious, his hand was shaking.

The pill in his hand was his dream. He thought he would never be able to grasp that dream, but with the pill right in his hand, his life would undergo a big change.

Once he got the pill, the duke moved to the middle of the room and sat on top of a pillow.

He exchanged looks with Noel first before nodding his head and swallowing the pill.

The moment the pill entered his mouth, Duke Lorelei felt a burning sensation in his spirit seal.

"…" Duke Lorelei's eyebrows were twitching, bothered by this uncomfortable sensation. "Something is burning in my spirit seal. It's extremely uncomfortable, but the pain is not as much as I expected."

Duke Lorelei fell silent again while Khalid and Noel continued observing the change.

The burning sensation actually lasted for over an hour before this sensation changed to a painful one.

"Kh." Duke Lorelei gritted his teeth. It was as if his body was being impaled again and again.

He couldn't even bother saying anything. His hands clenched into fists.

Sweat started dropping from his head. Although he had endured all kinds of pain in the past, this one was among the most painful.

However, the duke persisted. He gritted his teeth but didn't scream like the prisoners Khalid used to test the medicine.

Duke Lorelei continued to endure this sensation for fifteen minutes before the pain subsided. In fact, his body felt a bit warm. It was like summer was just about to come.

Noel squinted his eyes. The flow of Duke Lorelei's spiritual energy changed. It looked like a raging current, but Khalid had previously explained it to him, so he just made sure that the raging torrent didn't get even more violent and start harming his body.

Khalid nodded his head, informing Noel that they had passed the most critical phase.

The raging torrential flow of the spiritual energy gradually subsided. That flow just forcefully widened the spirit link where they drew the ability from.

The duke started to get more comfortable but still remained focused. He had to make sure nothing went wrong.

The flow of the spiritual energy changed multiple times in the course of three hours. Fortunately, nothing happened. Once he passed the painful phase, everything went quite smoothly.

The duke's spirit even had the chance to communicate with him. He had implied the current absorption rate.

The duke should get something good, since Noel and Khalid could see how his expression brightened in the last fifteen minutes.

Once he was done, the duke finally opened his eyes.

Noel smiled. This whole time, he had been watching Duke Lorelei with the Appraisal Medal.

[Name: Evan Lorelei]

[Age: 67]

[Gender: Male]

[Talent: SS]

His talent had changed from S to SS. In other words, the process was successful.