Assimilate All Talents

The moment he said it, the atmosphere shifted.

Before Sol could even respond, Reena sprang up from her seat, eyes wide. "You did what?!"

Sol simply nodded. "It's true. It wasn't cheap, and it took a few months, but we did it."

"That's not the point!" Reena snapped, clearly agitated by his casual tone. She was about to raise her voice further, but then remembered where she was and forcibly calmed herself.

Still, her tone remained tense. "It doesn't matter how much it cost or how long it took. Resurrection is taboo. No one is allowed to go against the natural cycle of life!"

"Taboo?" Sol tilted his head. That was the first he'd heard of such a thing. If it were truly a serious offense, surely Zaman would have warned him.

The Chieftain, seeing his confusion, clarified. "She means taboo for the elves. The Yggtree is known for having a strong stance on preserving the natural order of life, and Sylmasera follows its teachings. But that only applies to the Great Forest. Most nations are actively investing in discovering the secrets of resurrection and immortality, though none have succeeded."

The nations at the forefront of this endeavor had made little meaningful progress. It was nearly impossible; the more they researched, theorized, and tested, the more consistent the failures. Even those with some success were riddled with catastrophic downsides or insane restrictions. The most advanced attempts came from the Holy Kingdom of Delvania's Everlasting Spirit Institute, whose Spirit Vessel Project resulted in the loss of the subjects' corporeal bodies and memories, and the Sapphire Scales Alliance's Unlife Research Program, which was shut down after realizing that, no matter what was done, Liches always turned into heartless monsters filled with an unnatural hatred for the living.

Sol asked, "The Frostaxe Clan as well?"

"No." Kuruck replied, shaking his head. "We actually agree with the elves and the Yggtree on this matter, though for a different reason. Because what is the point of life if death is meaningless? Everything we do in life has weight because we know death is inevitable. If we remove that, then what drives us to grow, to improve, to live with purpose?"

His voice was steady, but there was a deep weight behind his words. "Victory. Love. Legacy. None of those things mean anything without an end. Death gives value to our choices. Take that away, and we become stagnant."

Reena, surprised by his words, murmured, "I never thought of it like that…"

Sol, meanwhile, remained silent for a moment, contemplating. Then, with calm clarity, he said, "I understand what you're saying. But I won't lie, I don't regret my decision. I would gladly do it again if given the choice. I won't sit idly by, knowing I can bring someone I care about back from the dead."

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Kuruck frowned. "You think I haven't lost people I care about? I'm the Chieftain of the Frostaxe Clan. I've lost more people than you've even met. I lost my fifth son, Daruck. But as much as I miss my son, and all those we've lost… I know the consequences of undoing death. I would never take them back from Ragnar's army."

"You may be right." Sol replied, understanding his point of view. And even with his acknowledgment of it, he said, "But I stand by my decision. If I can help it… I will always bring them back."

The two locked eyes. From Kuruck's expression, he clearly disapproved, but Sol didn't budge.

Reena watched with quiet anticipation, hoping this tension would lead to conflict between the two. But her hopes were shattered as Kuruck suddenly broke the stare with a hearty laugh.

"Bahaha! Good thing it only works with those two girls, isn't it?" he said in a jovial tone, quite a switch from his previous seriousness. But Sol understood the underlying message.

If the method worked on anyone, Kuruck would have become his enemy.

Sol wasn't too worried, even if it had. He was confident the Chieftain wasn't stronger than him. What concerned him wasn't his individual strength but his power as the Chieftain of the Frostaxe Clan. Kuruck was not only an experienced warrior with decades of knowledge, he likely had access to powerful trump cards, perhaps even legendary items. As the leader of the Clan, he certainly had other methods at his disposal that he couldn't underestimate.

'While I think he's a very straightforward person.' Sol thought, 'I can't assume he wouldn't do something like informing the other countries that I know the secret to resurrection… and have the entire continent come after me.'

Luckily, the resurrection method was extremely selective, only working on Scale Born. That likely explained why it had been relatively easy to find it in the third floor of the Royal Library. If the resurrection did actually work with anyone, this dinner would have ended very differently.

"What if it only works on them? Even so, it's still taboo!" Reena shouted, crossing her arms. She was clearly frustrated that there had been no real conflict between Sol and Kuruck. "Once the Yggtree learns you disrupted the balance of nature, you'll be done for!"

She was practically giddy at the idea. Throughout Sylmasera's long history, the Yggtree had only acted during two types of occasions. When the elves were facing extinction or when the natural balance of the world was in jeopardy. She believed this definitely qualified for the latter.

Sol was speechless at how happy she seemed imagining his downfall. Still he wondered if the Yggtree would really take action against him.

'If that's the case, it should have heard of it by now. Even if it didn't, then wouldn't it have taken issue with Ophis a long time ago? It would have definitely been mentioned in the book if it had. Maybe the way Ophis resurrected didn't disrupt the balance of nature?'

He was inclined to believe Reena that the Yggtree wished to maintain the balance of nature, but it felt contradictory for it to not have acted against Ophis if that was the case. This led him to conclude that the method of resurrection Ophis utilized with his law didn't actually destroy that balance.

Kuruck, meanwhile, looked puzzled.

He hadn't noticed Reena's attitude earlier, too focused on his children and Sol. At first, he'd assumed she was simply cynical, but now it was obvious to him that it was hostility. The reason he hadn't picked up on it before was that her hostility lacked killing intent. This was because Reena knew fighting Sol was impossible, so she couldn't muster up any true killing intent.

Now that he was aware of their odd relationship, Kuruck turned to Sol, silently asking for an explanation.

Sol saw the look and answered plainly, "She's my prisoner."