Autophagy

As Song Lei's soul energy connected with Kang Mirae, her soul changed its color slightly, becoming light-gray from pure white.

[Human Kang Mirae has joined your faction!]

[You have to get one more member for your faction to rank up! With the next rank, you may pick a faction bonus of your choice!]

"Welcome to The Limbo," Song Lei said as he raised his hand towards Mirae. At the same time, he read the notifications quickly. To his eyes, the aforementioned faction bonus seemed very interesting. He couldn't wait to see what it exactly was. Unfortunately, it would be hard for him to quickly find a new member.

"Now? Tell me about the other members," Mirae said as she shook Song Lei's hand. "Didn't you say you were alone here?"

"Yeah. That's technically the truth. After all, I'm the only human left in the apartment. Well, other than you," Song Lei started explaining after pulling his hand back and folding his arms in front of his chest. "The other members are not human."

"Oh! Since you are a summoner, that must be the case..." Kang Mirae muttered.

"What? No! I'm not a summoner," Song Lei denied quickly. "They are spirits. We have two more members which are spirits. But they stay on the upper floors."

"Spirits?" Mirae asked. "Can I meet them?"

"Not yet. It's still too early for you," Song Lei said. "Even if you do, you won't be able to see them. For now, it would be better for you to figure out your ability."

"Really? That's great!" Mirae said excitedly. "Should I do it now? I won't accidentally blow this place up, right?"

"Probably not? Just try it. Nobody has that kind of firepower at the start," Song Lei said.

Hearing Song Lei's words, Mirae closed her eyes. She could feel, inside her, somewhere, an awkward, seemingly non-existent limb was waiting to be used. She could hear it calling to her. What she could only do was to answer it wholeheartedly.

Suddenly, crackling noises started resounding throughout the room. Song Lei stared at Mirae even more carefully, to notice which part of her body these noises were coming from. Quickly, he was able to locate some awkward muscle movements under the skin of her both forearms.

He wanted to ask if she felt discomfort and help her if he could. Unfortunately, he couldn't disturb her right now. With her brows furrowed and eyes closed, she seemed very focused. He was worried that he would disturb her and cause her to accidentally hurt herself.

For that reason, he kept his silence and watched her with attention. He would help her if she were to need it.

Fortunately, the crackling noises died down shortly after. Mirae opened her eyes calmly as if nothing had happened. Ignoring the sweat rolling off of her head, a wide smile blossomed on her face.

"Behold my supreme ability!" She said with excitement as she got up from her chair. Stepping to the middle of the room, she raised her hand and used it to block half of her face.

"Dragonification!"

As the word left her mouth, the crackling noises happened again, this time much higher in intensity. As if thousands of bugs were moving under her arms, her skin started shifting, getting thicker, blackening.

Her eyes were also changing. Her initially black pupils contracted and changed shape, becoming a vertical slit eye, similar to that of a reptilian. They also changed their color to bright yellow.

The changes didn't end there. Black scales appeared on the upper parts of her neck, around her chin, and around her jawline.

By the time crackling noises died once more, Mirae's appearance had changed completely. She had black, ominous-looking scales covering her hands and forearms.

"I can feel the strength running through my body!" She said excitedly. In truth, Song Lei was also very surprised by her ability. Although he didn't know how useful it was, this was the coolest-looking ability he had seen up to this point.

Squeezing her fist and looking at it, Mirae punched the air with all of her strength. This created a swooshing sound alongside a gentle wind, making her look even smugger.

"How is it? Aren't I great?" She asked Song Lei.

"Mm. That looks cool," he answered with a gentle smile on his face as if he was a father watching his children learn how to walk.

"How lame..." Mirae dejectedly muttered as she saw the smile on Song Lei's face. Although he had no such intention, she felt like he was making fun of her.

"Well, looks aside, what do you feel? Can you tell me the changes in your body?" Song Lei asked. Getting up from his chair and walking to Mirae's side, he touched the scales on her arms. They were tough, maybe as tough as a 2 mm thick iron sheet. It could most definitely be used to block regular cuts or slashes. However, stabs could be dangerous.

"Mm. It's hard to explain actually. It's as if there is a weird source of energy inside my body," Kang Mirae did her best to explain. "I can feel it pulsate, making me faster and stronger. I also feel like my eyesight has improved but I'm not sure..."

"Is that it?" Song Lei asked without diverting his attention from the scales on Mirae's arms.

"Mm. That's it."

"It seems like a basic physical enhancement for now. Once those guys from the Heaven Alliance come, we can maybe learn more about it," Song Lei said. He then diverted his attention from the scales on Mirae's arms to the ones on her chin.

He raised his hands and traced alongside the scales' edges, feeling their thickness. They were about half a percent thicker than the ones on her arms. This was understandable, as the neck and chin were places that needed high amounts of protection.

As Song Lei touched the scales on her chin, Mirae started getting a little embarrassed. Noticing that her mouth was twitching occasionally, he pulled his hand back.

Seeing Song Lei take a few steps backward, she gulped and gathered her thoughts.

"Heaven Alliance?" She asked, dispersing the awkwardness in the room.

"Mm. Let me tell you about them," he answered. He then went on to explain how he was a branch leader of the Heaven Alliance. When the new recruits came from the Heaven Alliance, Kang Mirae would also have to join. For that reason, he couldn't keep it hidden from her for a long time.

Every faction, including The Limbo, had its own soul insignia. This soul insignia would imprint itself onto one's soul and act as a rope that tied people to that faction. He had placed an insignia on Kang Mirae's soul so she was now a full member of The Limbo. However, a person couldn't have two insignias on their soul. If those people from the Heaven Alliance were to try to install an insignia into his soul, they would realize the fact that he had settled a new faction on their turf. Fortunately, they seemed like they had no intentions of doing so.

'Maybe they think of branch members like me as affiliates,' Song Lei thought. 'I wonder when one becomes eligible to become a full member...'

After listening to Song Lei's explanation about the Heaven Alliance, Mirae went into deep thought.

"Well then. I should act as a member of the Heaven Alliance for an indefinite amount of time," She said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to conquer this apartment wholly before our existence is exposed..."

Hearing her worries, Song Lei sighed a breath of relief.

"I was expecting you to be angrier," Song Lei said. After all, he had hidden the existence of the Heaven Alliance from Kang Mirae, giving her no other choice than to join The Limbo.

"Well... I'm slightly annoyed that you hid it from me," she said. "But not outright angry."

"Why? I lied to you, you know?" Song Lei asked confusedly.

"Yeah. But that wasn't without reason, right?" Mirae asked. "Still... You didn't have to lie to me. This Heaven Alliance you spoke of sounds really shady to me."

"And I don't know how you feel about it but I get heavy protagonist vibes from you. I would've probably chosen The Limbo even if I knew the existence of the Heaven Alliance."

Hearing her words, Song Lei's lips slightly arched upwards. The naivety and childishness of Kang Mirae were astounding.

"I feel like I would be a pretty boring protagonist..." He muttered.

"Don't think like that! From my observations, you seem perfect for the job! Well, after me of course."

'Conversing with this girl without facepalming is hard...' Song Lei muttered inwardly.

Now, he had another problem to solve. 'Where should Mirae stay?' He thought.

Sending her to stay on the 7th floor was always an option, as that place was the safest from any kind of ethereal beings. However, even the thought of making one of his subordinates stay that far away made him squeeze his fists with anxiety. Images of Damien's head rolling on the ground filled his head for a brief second before he finally managed to calm himself down.

"Let's do it like this...."