In a special region of the Dark Forest avoided by most of the living... ran a woman in spider silk clothing, which seemed to have been spun from the threads by a very dexterous arachnid.

Her long flowing hair colour displayed similarities to the moonlight shining down from above.

Countless pursuers chased her down relentlessly without pause. They were predators in this forest.

None of them seemed to fear the warnings of many that foretold the death of anyone who was to trespass on these lands. It was as if they didn't know their current distance to the underworld!

"Subject #5689, give up the Anomaly! We must crack the code to its existence! 'The Truth'... That child is the key to finding The Truth!" A crazed expression appeared on the white coat biologist.

The man bravely leading the group of researchers who seemed to have strength that defied what common sense would normally dictate. He then reached out his hand towards the woman and fired out a bolt of lightning in order to paralyse her.

This didn't seem to scare the moonlight-haired woman though. Eight legs belonging to that of an arachnid grew out of her back — blocking the Magic Skill. In fact, she even subdued one of her pursuers by 'slapping' the magic right back!

"Alchemist Sid, be careful! Do not harm her!

You might hurt the child she carrying...

Not even Dr Frank will be able to forgive your sin if you caused this precious subject to experience a miscarriage!" One of the white-clothed men behind the leading figure in front of them spoke in anger.

The men felt like the precious clue they discovered would be damaged. A feeling of intense danger welled up in their leader's heart, but he quickly put his hand down to calm his irrational subordinates.

"I just wanted the Arachne to waste her strength and had no intention of actually bringing the subject harm. We'll pick up that guy we left behind later, alright?!" The man explained before speeding forth. His eyes never once left his prey whatsoever.

They all knew now wasn't the time to argue...

Thus, they tried their best capture the Arachne woman before any complications were to occur.

The surroundings were becoming more and more lifeless, yet they entered deep into the most dangerous forbidden zone ever to be recorded; a place known to be owned by the most dangerous 'God', the Death Imperial... of the 'Dead Lands'.

It was only when they came across a multitude of bone-white skeletons piled along the ground did the researchers pursuing the moonlight-haired woman finally start to lose their composure.

They stopped in place as purple energy that seemed to originate from the netherworld itself expelled from the skeletons and merged together to form a massive skeletal figure of a giant!

"It's a Giant Skeleton! We can use this opportunity to capture her! Make preparations!" The leader charged out while a black magical energy focused into his palm. He was planning to ensnare her in shadows as soon as he got the opportunity.

However, things didn't go according to plan as the Arachne woman grit her teeth in determination.

"For my child's future...!" She roared loudly and ignored the gigantic figure. One which had cast a great shadow that casted over them. An ominous flame glinted in the gigantic skeleton's eyes...

The clunky figure lifted its enormous fist in a motion that contradicted its humongous size!

"Watch out!" The leader called out worriedly... not to his subordinates, but to the Arachne who hadn't slowed down her steps. The woman seemed suicidal in her actions, as if throwing away her life.

She braced herself while running into the Giant Skeleton's fist that descended upon on her figure.

The sound of a meteor crashing into soil could be heard along with the crackling sounds of the eight spider legs that grew out of the woman's back. The entirety of her back became covered in blood.

They shattered in order to endure the blow...

The leader chasing her was lucky enough to dodge before the strike of the skeleton damaged landed.

However, he and the rest of the researchers finally lost sight of her. She seemed nowhere to be found.

It came to them as a shock, but they had no other choice other than to swallow their failure.

They had no choice but to escape from the undead skeletal figure that was currently attacking them.

The Arachne woman, on the other hand, didn't even seem to notice that she had finally lost her pursuers, and only stopped after she ran out of strength... Only her willpower pushed her forward.

In front of her appeared a rundown mansion in the distance. One that seemed haunted and gloomy...

The woman didn't have the time to read her surroundings before collapsing in pain. Her breathing had become ragged and those silk-woven clothes around her were damaged, but what was most eye catching of all was her back...!

The woman realised she wouldn't be able to witness her child's birth while inching into death's embrace. Her Body Enhancement was destroyed and now her life force was slowly leaking away...

"What is your purpose for coming here?" An ominous looking man in expensive clothes, who seemed like a scholar belonging to the upper echelon of those who studied literature, suddenly appeared before her like an earthbound ghost...

...only to ask this Arachne woman in confusion.

The strange and mysterious scholar couldn't understand where this woman had come from.

He looked like he had never thought there would be someone who could willingly come all the way to his doorstep. An apologetic and somewhat pained look appeared in his eyes at that moment.

This was especially true after seeing the blood that was still constantly streaming down the Arachne's back. He was speculating many things while taking the fickle undead in the distance into account.

"Save... my child..." Was the Arachne woman's last words. She held her enlarged stomach preciously.

The scholarly man hurriedly caught the Beast woman as the light in her eyes finally vanished.

It was impossible to say how strong her conviction was to run all the way to his residence in such a condition. A helpless yet resolved breath of air left the strange scholar's mouth. He found himself in a predicament he had never experienced before.

"Are there any women ghosts here?! This is an emergency situation!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, which caused the stagnant air around him to tremble. This was the first time in history life would appear in a land filled with ghosts and undead.

The man helped the Arachne woman give birth to the infant who would later on make his name known to many as 'Alex Stuman'. This was the beginning of everything, and also the start of his new life! His first ever encounter with 'death'...!

That was the story he told Arthur.

Again, for the millionth time...!

He seemed to enjoy talking about his past when it came to Arthur, despite being secretive to others.

"And that is how I was born!" The scholarly young man that was dragged to the nearby Boar's Bar laughed; chugging down a cup of juice. He didn't lay a hand on alcohol since he believed he was too young to drink such a beverage given his age.

"Huh...?"

"Intoxication comes from the soul; not body."

"Stop changing the subject and get to the point. Is it true you're STILL unable to form your Spirit Essence?" The brawny youth beside him didn't seem to have the same thoughts. He sipped on a glass of root-beer. Hmmm, did he remember 'that'?

Looks like Arthur's memory was coming back... and no one found his current beverage to be odd at all.

Even if it had alcoholic contents mixed in...

It was natural for someone of the age of fifteen to be considered an adult in this world. After all, their actions were something they had be responsible of by themselves once they grew to a certain point.

"Did you just ignore my epic backstory? Honestly, it IS the story my mother's ghost always told me."

"Don't act like this is something new. I've already heard it many times before when we were young."

"You're such a boring guy... Can't you tell I don't want to talk about that illness of mine?"

"You said you'd tell me."

"And you too said you'd speak about that G-"

"Tell me." Arthur put his foot down on the matter and wouldn't budge until his childhood friend told him everything. He was barely listening to anything that didn't have to do with Alex's old 'illness'.

His attitude was a little like this: ╭(╯^╰)╮

Puffing his chest out and with narrowed eyes filled with the determination to get him to talk.

"Hah... Fine... You know the identity of the man who raised me, right?" He frowned in displeasure and decided to finally reveal the secret as to why he was unable to use 'Internal Energy' like others.

"A necromancer."

"Beep! Wrong answer! Idiot, didn't I already say that he was the Death Imperial? As in the 'Death God'?" These words were spoken after he had created a sound barrier formation of Wind Runes.

He didn't want anyone else to find out that he had been raised by the psychopomp all life feared...

"..." The brawny youth looked at Alex in disbelief after he made such a great and bold statement.

"It's true. Don't you dare doubt me."

"Okay, okay. Let me get this straight: Your mother was an Arachne, your father was most likely a Human, and the person who raised you was the God of Death himself...? Then why are you still ill?"

"Necron, the man who raised me, told me that it probably has to do with the damage my soul somehow sustained before birth. I'm surprised you didn't realise despite how obvious it was earlier.

It might have been due to being born in a place that reeked of death, or it could have been because of the injury my mother sustained before she gave birth to me. Either one or the other.

Whatever maybe be the case, I have realised many things after studying magic. I'm also pretty sure the reason behind my lack of Mana was due to being the 'Anomaly'. The one those creeps trying to capture my birth mother were talking about."

The scholarly young man spoke. It was almost as if the person who died back then wasn't his blood-related mother, but an acquaintance he felt only pity towards. This 'disconnection' lingered inside.

This made Arthur unable to understand what he was feeling after mentioning his biological mother...

To Alex, he already had a mother he accepted in his past life, and though she was distant to the point of never coming to visit him in the entirety of his previous life, she was still the person he considered as his mother even to this day.

He didn't know if these feelings he had were right or not. There was confusion in his mind for years.

This was likely since he'd felt like a passerby on Gaia after having been born once again...

Life came and went, that was only destiny, and that was also why he felt no hatred towards the assailants who nearly captured him in the past. As now he was more concerned about the 'Classless'.

It was a strange feeling of disconnection no one naturally born on Gaia would be able to comprehend.... unless they had similar circumstances to him. It was really understandable.

He hadn't even bothered explaining that he was a mysterious 'otherworlder' to his best friend... since being an Anomaly itself was something hard for anyone to accept without seeing proof.

How was Alex an Anomaly? It had to be said that under normal circumstances, Beasts and Humans were unable to have children no matter how much they loved each other. Even Classless Beasts wouldn't be able to pass on having no 'Class'.

This wasn't specific to Beasts and Humans... Even Dwarves and Elves were unable to give birth to so-called 'half-breeds' with the bloodline of two races on Gaia. It wasn't a tradition but a law of the world that drew a clear line between all humanoid races.

The scholarly young man was an exception however. He'd not only gained the innate Bloodline Inheritance of a Rare Species but also was capable of having a Class. This on top of having the Dark Attribute as his 'foundation'. You could even call it the best of both worlds if he didn't have an illness that restricted his potential in such a crucial way.

He was literally a 'weaver' of magic...!

"...I don't think that's the case though." Arthur, on the other hand, seemed to disagree with his opinion as he shook his head. A glint of interest finally appeared in Alex's eyes as lifted his head.

"Oh~? And why do you think that?"

"Because I've already met another 'Anomaly'." This answer struck a chord in the young man's heart.

He rose from his seat to look at his friend with glowing eyes. His long frame was a little scary...

Although the brawny young Warrior had expected such a big reaction, he didn't think he'd feel so much pressure just from being stared at by his childhood friend in such an abrupt fashion.

'Why did you forget to mention this before?!' It was at that point that Alex remembered how he reset Arthur's memory and calmed a little. He accepted that it might have been a little bit his own fault.

"Believe me, I'm not messing with you. Aren't you curious about how I gained more power than a normal Sword Warrior? Did you think I DIDN'T find someone who could help me reach past my limits?

Actually, back then... you were wrong about my strength. I don't have seven usable Spell Slots, but two Magic Slots and five 'refills'. The Body Slots you talked about are currently useless to me."

"But I clearly saw the existence of five other Attributes within you." The Arcanist sat back down.

From what he had personally seen, wouldn't it be normal to think his artificial Spell Slots could be used? Though it also made him remember that if that was the case, he wouldn't have been so easily captured by the Crown Prince. The Lightning Attribute of one of his artificial Spell Slots had an anti-magic property that negated others after all.

"Those are Attributes I forced into my body through well... What a certain girl told me was a so-called 'Body Refinement' technique." Arthur seemed to remember a companion he had made.

"You mean like in a Wuxia novel?"

"What's that?"

"...Nothing. What I mean is: You let yourself be struck by lightning to gain the Lightning Attribute?"

"Looks like your fame as a scholar of magic isn't for show! That's right! It was training for survival!

I also let the Water Attribute refine my blood by meditating under a waterfall for a few days without rest, the Fire Attribute seep into my muscles by surviving in a volcano, the Wind Attribute temper my bones by staying in the eye of a strong storm until it stopped, and felt the pulse of the Earth Attribute sink into my skin by meditating underground for a few months without food or sunlight." Arthur spoke proudly about his horrific experiences as if they weren't as bad as he let on.

He sounded so dramatical and unlike his normal self that Alex was sure he was trying to cover up the bad time he had back then. What kind of conviction did it take to do those crazy things?!

Even Alex's face couldn't help but change.

Hearing what his friend had gone through over the time they were apart weighed heavily on him...

The young man couldn't understand what motivated his friend to the degree he would essentially torture himself just to gain power. He was unaware that this was just Arthur's nature.

The one so self-motivated he harmed his body...

Especially how he was secretly like that even at a young age. The youth just didn't like bragging..,

Others might have taken what the brawny youth said as a joke. However, Alex was the only one who truly believed each and every word of it, but also made a few connections to why his friend's conviction was so strong to other matters.

That 'matter' being the hatred he previously showed for the Radiant Sword Mirror Cult, a group of 'wolves in sheep clothing'. The scholarly young man was sure his understanding of Arthur went up.

Alex was now more curious than ever about that cruel 'Anomaly' like himself who would give his friend such a painful Body Refinement technique to train with. Who was this second naturally-born-half-breed seemed to be a researcher like him?

Was this girl too a Magic Prodigy?

"Take me to her. I want to meet this 'Anomaly'. You should've told me about this person before!"

"Sorry, bro! I forgot...! Let's go meet her!"