I Died and Became a Chapter 329: [Current status: Requirement not met]

Chapter 329: [Current status: Requirent not t]

He looked down at the gray key, its surface seeming to pulse faintly in his grip.

Dark magic.

The elent he’d been drawn to for so ti now. The power that Malakai had apparently mastered alongside six others.

"The phoenix binding," Jack said slowly, working through implications. "Is that sothing that can be replicated? Could another Soul Warden do what Malakai did?"

Emberion’s laugh was like distant eruptions. "In theory? Perhaps. In practice? The process would likely be fatal to anyone who attempted it. Malakai succeeded because of unique circumstances. The specific phoenix he bound, his mysterious bloodline, centuries of preparation, and quite possibly pure luck that the attempt didn’t simply obliterate his soul."

"But it’s possible," Jack pressed.

"Many things are possible, Soul Warden," Emberion replied, his tone carrying warning. "That doesn’t make them advisable. Malakai was one in a million. Perhaps one in ten million. The odds of another Soul Warden successfully replicating his achievents are..."

The dragon trailed off, but the implication was clear. Astronomically low.

Malakai had left behind more than just a domain and a throne. He’d left behind a roadmap to power that transcended usual limitations. And Jack now held the first piece of that map.

"Thank you," Jack said finally, eting Emberion’s molten gaze. "For the information. And for the phoenix feathers."

"Use both wisely," Emberion replied. "Malakai’s legacy is powerful, but it’s also dangerous. Many Soul Wardens ca after him, seeking to replicate his achievents. Most died trying. A few simply disappeared, consud by ambitions they couldn’t control."

Jack nodded, absorbing the warning. Then he turned, preparing to leave the summit.

"Soul Warden," Emberion called out, stopping him. "One more thing. The keys can only be used once you’ve proven yourself worthy. Simply possessing them isn’t enough. Each key has requirents that must be t before it will activate."

"What requirents?" Jack asked.

Emberion’s smile showed far too many teeth. "That’s sothing you’ll discover when you attempt to use the gray key. Consider it Malakai’s final test for those who would seek his knowledge."

Jack filed that information away, then continued toward the summit’s edge. His mind churned with theories and possibilities.

Jack erupted in red lightning before flying through the sky towards the castle.

-----

Jack landed in the courtyard, red lightning dissipating as his boots hit the stone. The castle doors opened at his approach, responding to his status as Soul Warden with automatic deference.

He moved through familiar corridors, past the portrait hall where previous Soul Wardens watched from their fras, toward the throne room.

His mind still churned through everything Emberion had revealed: seven keys, seven elents, Malakai’s impossible mastery, and the mystery of his bloodline.

The massive doors of the throne room swung open. Jack crossed the polished floor, his footsteps echoing in the vast space, and climbed the steps to the throne itself.

He sat; the stone felt cool to the touch, a pleasant feeling when your body was constantly getting hot. He reached into his system storage.

The gray key materialized in his hand, its dark tal gleaming in the ambient light. Intricate engravings covered its surface, symbols that puzzled his mind, but he felt like he could stare at them all day.

’Ti to see what requirents Malakai set,’ Jack thought, studying the key. ’Emberion said I’d discover them when I tried to use it.’

He pressed the key against his chest, directly over his heart.

The sensation was unexpected. Pleasant warmth spread from the point of contact, and his skin opened. Parting like water, making way for sothing ant to pass through it.

The key slid in smoothly, phasing through flesh and bone without resistance. Jack felt it settle sowhere deep, not physically present in his organs but existing in a space that transcended normal anatomy. The warmth intensified, spreading through his chest cavity like heated honey flowing through his veins.

It felt right. Natural. As if the key belonged there, as if his soul had been waiting for exactly this insertion.

He turned the key.

The warmth pulsed once, twice, then settled into a steady rhythm that matched his heartbeat. For a mont, nothing else happened. Then a notification materialized in his vision, golden text appearing with unusual clarity.

[Dark Prism Crystal from Umbral Lotus required inside your body for astral projection to the Warden Realm]

[Current status: Requirent not t]

[Key cannot activate until condition are fulfilled]

Jack stared at the notification, his hand still resting on his chest where the key protruded from his skin like so strange surgical implent.

’Dark Prism Crystal,’ he thought, processing the information. ’The one that blooms during a Blood Moon with Moonvein Serpent blood. The sa crystal I need for Corvin’s evolution.’

He pulled the key out carefully. The pleasant warmth faded as the tal withdrew, and the hole in his chest sealed imdiately, flesh knitting back together as if it had never been separated. It wasn’t painful, the pleasant feeling dissipated. Even though a key had been inserted directly into his soul.

Jack stored the key back in his system, his mind already working through all the thoughts running through his head.

’I need to find the Moonvein Serpent,’ he concluded. ’Kill it, harvest its blood, wait for the Blood Moon, apply the blood to the Umbral Lotus, harvest the Dark Prism Crystal, and sohow get it inside my body. Is that even safe? Hmmm..... I guess it doesn’t matter. If I want answers I have to do it.’

The process seed straightforward in concept, if not in execution. Finding a creature whose location the System itself didn’t have data on would be challenging. But it was a concrete goal, which was more than he’d had before.

Then another thought struck him, one that made his eyes narrow.

’If not for the System, I’d never have known the requirent,’ Jack realized. ’The notification told

exactly what I needed. But Emberion said I’d discover the answer when I tried to use the key. He knew I’d find out. He was confident I’d learn what was required.’

Jack leaned back in the throne, his mind racing through the only possible answer.

’Does Emberion know about the System?’ The question felt significant, heavy with consequences he couldn’t fully map yet. ’And if he does, how? Did Malakai have access to sothing similar? Is the System connected to being Soul Warden, or is it unique to ?’

He thought back to every interaction with Emberion. The dragon had been forthcoming with information, but also carefully asured in his responses. He’d known about the keys’ requirents without explaining how that knowledge was possible. He’d ntioned that Jack would discover what was needed, implying without a shadow of a doubt he knew Jack would find out.

’Either Emberion knows about the System specifically,’ Jack reasoned, ’or he knows about sothing similar that Malakai used. Which ans the System might not be as unique to

as I thought. Maybe every Soul Warden gets access to sothing like this. Maybe it’s part of the position itself, a tool provided to whoever claims the throne.’

’But if that’s the case, was it destined from the mont I was born in this world to beco the Soul Warden? What if I never bought the mask from Death? Would the system force

to get the mask? Would things be different?’