Lord Of The Lost

Sofia began to share:

Witch Night, she explained, wasn't just a ritual or event. It represented the very essence of the witch's path, embodying its meaning and power. In fact, Witch Night was another name for a legendary witch a being so powerful they were akin to a living calamity.

Every legendary witch was a "Witch Night" that walked the earth, a force of nature capable of reshaping history.

Long ago, during the turmoil of the gods, a powerful ancient kingdom crumbled. The land sank into the ground, forming what would eventually become the Lost Labyrinth.

Several Witch Nights had joined the battles during this time, their power shaking the heavens. Even the gods bled during the conflict, and for mortal witches, the toll was far greater.

When the land fell, the legendary witches were buried with it. Among the treasures lost was the Holy Grail, the pride of the witch clan.

The Holy Grail was no ordinary artifact, it far exceeded even silver-tier items in quality. If the power of witches originated from Witch Night, then the Holy Grail could be considered the second source of their strength.

Sofia finished with a pout. "Do you understand how important it is now?"

William, intrigued, nodded. "I do. It's no wonder you're so determined to retrieve it."

"And that's why I'm coming with you," Sofia declared, her voice firm.

William sighed, already bracing himself for the chaos she was sure to bring. "Fine. But you'd better not kick me again."

Sofia's lips twitched upward, but she said nothing, leaving William to wonder what kind of storm he'd just invited into his life.

The witch clan made several attempts to retrieve the Holy Grail, but the cursed environment of the Lost Labyrinth made it impossible. Every effort failed.

The Lost Labyrinth is no ordinary danger, it is a true forbidden zone. Countless powerful individuals have perished there, and even a god fell within its confines.

The extraordinary characteristics released by these fallen beings intertwined, creating a chaotic, malevolent space. The stronger the person entering the maze, the more likely they are to trigger strange and dangerous phenomena. Conversely, weaker extraordinary beings could sometimes slip through unnoticed—but their limited abilities meant they were quickly overwhelmed by the labyrinth's complex threats.

In the end, only daring adventurers were willing to risk their lives exploring the maze, lured by whispers of unimaginable treasures buried within its depths.

---

"So," William asked with a teasing smirk, "are you a little witch or a little wolf girl?" He stroked his chin as he studied Sofia.

After all, only witch magic could awaken the Holy Grail, yet Sofia had both the magical power of a witch and the bloodline of a werewolf; a strange and intriguing duality.

Sofia pursed her lips, hesitating before speaking. "I'm not a pure witch… and I'm not a pure werewolf either. Actually… I'm not even a transcendent yet." Her voice grew quiet, worried William might laugh at her.

But William's reaction surprised her. Instead of mockery, his eyes lit up with genuine amazement.

"That's incredible," he said. "You're not a transcendent, yet you have this much power? That's rare."

Sofia's cheeks turned slightly red, and she hummed softly, her lips curling into a pleased smile.

"I'm the child of a werewolf and a witch," she said. "I inherited their powers."

Most extraordinary beings achieve their status by walking a specific path, becoming transcendent is a deliberate choice, a life-changing step. But Sofia was different.

Both werewolves and witches are extraordinary races, born with innate traits that give them incredible power. Sofia, relying purely on her racial gifts, had already held her own against William, a Sequence 9 transcendent. Her potential was undeniable.

---

As an advanced path, the Witch Path comes with four defining traits:

- [Lifespan]: "Your life cycle is incredibly long, tied to your physical condition."

- [Magic]: "You are born with innate magic, allowing you to perform spells effortlessly."

- [Familiar]: "You can transform creatures into monsters. A familiar bound to you will obey your commands completely."

- [Witch Night]: "Your power grows stronger over time. The more dark nights you endure, the greater your strength."

---

Extraordinary races, like witches and werewolves, are born with traits that others can only gain through transcendent paths.

For example, warriors and knights, despite being human pathways, also share some similarities with extraordinary races. They gain abilities unique to their chosen path, but these paths don't fundamentally alter their human nature.

Take Little Bob, for instance. Born into a hunter family, he naturally inherited hunter characteristics, allowing him to rise to become a Sequence 8 hunter. However, his extraordinary traits were still tied to his humanity, they didn't transform his body or alter his physical form.

In contrast, beings like Sofia, who carry the blood of extraordinary races, are something else entirely.

In extraordinary bloodlines, certain truths remain consistent. For instance, the descendants of dragons are always dragons, with no room for genetic mutation. Their lineage is absolute.

The Rules of Extraordinary Inheritance:

1. Extraordinary offspring are more likely to inherit extraordinary traits from their parents.

2. Extraordinary beings can mate with ordinary creatures, passing down their traits to their descendants.

3. When two extraordinary beings of different paths attempt to conceive, they cannot produce offspring unless one chooses not to pass on their traits.

4. If both extraordinary beings insist on passing down their traits, the result is a stillborn child.

5. An extraordinary person's physical traits are defined by the properties of their extraordinary path.

---

Sofia's birth was nothing short of miraculous.

She was the product of an unlikely union between a witch and a werewolf, two vastly different paths that rarely converged. Yet, in this rare instance, the stars aligned.

Iris, Sofia's grandmother and a powerful witch with the longest lifespan among her kind, initiated the union. She offered her only daughter, a pure-blooded werewolf who had inherited the complete werewolf bloodline; a rarity, as no such pure-blooded wolf had emerged in 500 years.

The werewolf, a Sequence 8 being nearing their complete form, was already a powerful force. Had they reached the level of a Wolf Lord, it could have disrupted the balance entirely.

The witch, on the other hand, reached her complete form at Sequence 7. Witches grow stronger with time, their power accumulating over centuries. As the longest-living adult witch, Iris carried unimaginable strength into the ceremony.

---

The two tribes, the witches and the werewolves; came together for a mysterious inheritance ritual. Generations of their accumulated power and heritage were poured into this one ceremony. It was a desperate bid to create the cornerstone of their combined inheritance.

The goal? To create a new template for werewolves. One that would allow them to evolve beyond their current form, transforming from moonlight chasers into night hunters. This transformation would redefine both races, tying them to the concept of night, a bond forged in darkness where they would rely on one another for survival.

And then, the unthinkable happened.

The ritual required the ultimate sacrifice: the pure-blooded wolf girl and the adult witch. Their lives were consumed in the fire of creation, a price paid to manifest the cornerstone of inheritance.

But instead of the legacy both tribes sought, what emerged was the cry of a newborn baby; Sofia.

Sofia was not the embodiment of inheritance; she was a living being. The werewolves, feeling betrayed, saw her as a failure of the ritual, while the witches understood the weight of what had been born.

---

Sofia inherited the best of both worlds.

From the witches, she gained their extraordinary qualities:

- A long lifespan a Sequence 9 witch could live for centuries, while a fully developed witch's lifespan could stretch indefinitely.

- Magic a natural mastery over spells and arcane forces.

From the werewolves, she inherited their immense physical strength and agility, far exceeding that of most Sequence 9 beings.

But Sofia's current state is a double-edged sword. She is "forcibly accommodating two paths." At only ten years old, she hasn't fully awakened her potential, nor has she found a way to merge or evolve her abilities like the first generation of demon wolves once did.

---

The death of Iris left Sofia without guidance or a safe environment to grow. Instead, she is forced to confront danger and hardship head-on, honing her abilities through trial by fire.

Before Iris passed, she gave Sofia one final instruction: to seek the Holy Grail in the Lost Labyrinth. Whether it was a final test or a way to prepare her for the trials ahead, the Holy Grail now represents Sofia's ultimate goal.

---

As Sofia adjusted her soft red hat, she couldn't shake the feeling that her grandmother's soul, the Black Swan, still lingered. The Black Swan had been sacrificed in the ritual, but perhaps not completely.

Deep in her heart, Sofia held onto the belief that the labyrinth might hold a way to save the Black Swan; a chance to recover the lost pieces of her grandmother's soul and rewrite the outcome of that tragic ritual.

The journey ahead would be fraught with danger, but Sofia knew she had no choice. She had to face the labyrinth, find the Holy Grail, and uncover the secrets hidden in its depths, not just for herself, but for the legacy of two extraordinary races intertwined by fate.

Sofia didn't speak, perhaps because she feared that putting her thoughts into words would somehow make them impossible to achieve.

She was filled with anxiety, a constant hum of fear running through her. She didn't dare revisit the events of the full moon night, choosing instead to focus on anything else, anything that would keep her mind occupied.

It felt like she was sprinting along a road that was crumbling behind her. One wrong step, one moment of hesitation, and she'd fall into the abyss.

"Do you know where the human 'warrior' path comes from?" she asked suddenly.

William blinked, caught off guard by the question. "No," he said, tilting his head.

Sofia crossed her arms. "It comes from that ancient fallen kingdom. Humans absorbed the extraordinary properties of this path from the dwarves and turned it into their own supernatural path."

William's eyes widened. "The first warrior was… a dwarf?"

Sofia nodded. "Humans and dwarves have a complicated relationship. Maybe it's because they share a common ancestor. Or maybe it's just their similar physical builds. Either way, humans turned out to be perfectly suited for the warrior path."

This revelation surprised William. He had always assumed the warrior path was uniquely human.

Sofia continued. "But that's not the case with the elves' 'Ranger' path. Humans could only grasp part of it and evolved it into the 'Shooter' path instead. They couldn't absorb the full extraordinary properties."

Her tone grew wistful. "In the end, both the dwarves and the elves, their powerful civilizations; disappeared entirely."

William fell silent. This knowledge, while fascinating, carried an air of tragedy.