Infinite Undying [Post-Apocalypse LitRPG]

Zeph had known from the start that facing someone as strong as Instructor Elaine head-on was never the right approach. He needed something else. A distraction. A way to steal even the smallest opening against an opponent who could end the fight with a single strike.

He crossed the distance almost instantly, arriving before the instructor, who remained perfectly still, her expression unchanged. Zeph darted to the side. Right, left, behind. Then in front. A moment later... the area around Elaine suddenly darkened as something shot over her head.

It was a large piece of cloth. In that brief instant, it spread wide, ready to cover the instructor completely.

Zeph rushed in. A precise slash came from the right. But the instructor merely shifted half a step to the side. The next second, Zeph lunged again from behind as the large robe had almost completely wrapped around Elaine's body.

Zeph thrust forward.

He missed.

Without stopping, he followed with another attack, a wide horizontal slash. But at that exact moment...

Boom!

Once again, a tremendous impact exploded across his entire body.

Zeph felt every bone rattle as he was launched through the air. A heartbeat later, he slammed into the wall again with enough force to crack the stone before collapsing onto the floor, landing face-first.

"...Ugh..."

He let out a painful groan. The kick had landed squarely on his back. A few ribs were probably broken. At this rate, he'd need at least a month to recover.

"Not bad. Progress."

The woman spoke calmly from where she stood.

Zeph didn't answer right away. He remained sprawled on the floor, struggling just to breathe as pain spread through every part of his body.

"Don't die here. It'll only make things troublesome for whoever has to clean up your corpse," the woman continued.

"You weren't actually trying to kill me... were you, Instructor?" Zeph muttered through the pain. He was still lying face-down, unable to move his body.

"I would if it meant making you stronger. Do I need to kill you now?"

Zeph lifted his head just enough to look at the woman. He truly couldn't move at all.

In that incredibly short exchange, she had struck him only twice.

Yes, just two blows.

Yet his entire body felt completely shattered. On top of that, he had pushed his muscles far beyond their limits just to move at that unbelievable speed.

A speed so fast that he was certain, in his own eyes, he had already reached his absolute limit.

To Elaine… It was probably nothing more than a slow, predictable movement.

"Now get up and walk over here," the woman said again.

“Yes, ma'am."

Zeph gritted his teeth as he pushed himself up, bracing his weight with both hands. His Sigil had already deactivated by then. Every inch of his body screamed in pain, but he forced himself to stand anyway.

His body trembled with every step he took.

There was no way this instructor could be disappointed with that performance... right? The gap between their levels was enormous. It would be completely unreasonable if she had actually expected Zeph to land a hit on her.

And yet… She had said it was possible.

A short while later, Zeph finally stood before the woman.

"You possess a Sigil with extraordinary potential, yet you're wasting it through sheer ignorance," the woman said.

Zeph swallowed before giving her a respectful bow.

"Instructor, I've searched through the library for every reference I could find on Transformation-type Sigils, but I couldn't find anything even remotely similar to mine."

"Activate it again."

Zeph looked at her for a second before nodding.

Dark energy poured from his body once more. The black mask formed over his face, and the instant it settled into place, his senses sharpened dramatically. Every sound became clearer. Every movement around him appeared more vivid. Even the flow of air brushing against his skin felt distinct.

"What do you gain from that mask?" she asked.

"It enhances my eyesight, hearing, reaction speed, perception... all of my senses become much sharper," Zeph explained.

"And why do you need all that?" she replied without hesitation. "Are you blind? This room is bright enough. Even without that mask, you should be able to fight perfectly well."

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Zeph paused to think.

She... had a point.

He had become so accustomed to relying on the mask that he had never questioned whether he actually needed those enhancements.

"The Sigil normally only manifests the mask, Instructor. But if I force it... I can summon the sword as well."

"That's not even a sword," she said bluntly. "You're relying on luck every time you fight with it. It's incomplete. You haven't truly manifested it yet."

Zeph nodded.

She wasn't wrong.

The sword he summoned from his Sigil was never fully formed. It looked almost transparent, its outline barely visible beneath the dark aura surrounding it. It had the shape of a blade, but not the presence of a real weapon, as though it only existed halfway between manifestation and illusion.

The woman stared directly into Zeph's eyes. Through the mask, he could clearly feel the sharpness of her gaze.

"A complete suit of armor isn't made complete by accident," she said. "Every piece exists for a reason. The helmet is designed to protect the head. The gauntlets are made to strengthen the hands, improving control, grip, and striking power. The breastplate protects the body's core, allowing the wearer to withstand greater force. The lower armor supports balance and stability, while the greaves and boots protect the legs and improve movement."

She fell silent for a moment before continuing.

"However, every piece of armor can possess its own enhancement. A helmet may strengthen perception or sensory awareness. Gauntlets often enhance strength and control. A breastplate reinforces endurance and resilience. Lower armor improves balance and stability, while boots increase speed and mobility."

Her eyes remained fixed on him.

"Your mask is only one piece of the whole. You've been treating it as if it were the complete Sigil. It isn't."

The woman wasn't wrong.

But neither was Zeph.

He had already tried countless times to manifest the other pieces of the armor, yet nothing had happened. Whether he simply hadn't met the right conditions or he still didn't fully understand his own Sigil, he had no idea.

"If you were to fight someone like me," the woman said after a brief pause, "which piece of armor do you think you'd need?"

Zeph fell silent as he thought about it.

After a moment, he answered.

"I'd need the boots. I couldn't even keep up with your movements. It didn't matter how sharp my senses became if my body couldn't react in time. If I had something that could increase my speed... or at least my mobility... I'd have a much better chance of reaching you."

He paused before adding,

"And maybe the gauntlets. If I ever do get close enough to attack, I need enough power and control to make that opportunity count."

"Good," the woman said.

As she spoke, she took a step forward. "You need to understand something, Zeph."

For the first time since their sparring session began, she moved from where she stood. She walked past him, and continued until she was standing behind him.

Zeph was confused, but he didn't move. He knew she had a reason for doing this.

A moment later, he felt something touch his upper back. It was Instructor Elaine's fingertip, resting directly over the Sigil engraved there.

"A Sigil isn't some mysterious blessing to be worshipped," she said calmly. "It's a tool. More importantly, it's a part of your body. Yes, it's born from magic. Many aspects of it are beyond our understanding. But the more you understand how your Sigil functions, the more control you'll have over what it can truly do."

Her index finger slowly traced the pattern of the Sigil engraved on his back.

Zeph swallowed.

"The moment you activate your Sigil, this mark draws in your mana and converts it into the abilities engraved within it. The Sigil then determines the most efficient way to manifest those abilities based on your body's condition, the state of your mana core, the amount of mana available, and your current situation."

Her finger stopped.

"But the most efficient choice isn't always the one you actually need."

Thump!

A violent shock echoed through Zeph's chest.

"Wha...?!"

Pain shot through his heart. He clenched his teeth as a surge of mana rushed through his body.

Something was changing. His vision shifted for a brief moment, and he immediately realized the familiar sensation around his face had vanished.

The mask...

...was gone.

He quickly raised both hands. Dark gauntlets now covered his forearms and hands, their surface as black as obsidian with faint crimson lines flowing across them like veins of living mana.

"The mask disappeared... and these gloves took its place," he muttered in disbelief.

Zeph took a step forward before hesitantly turning back to face the woman. His eyes remained fixed on the dark gauntlets covering both of his hands.

"I've experienced a time when the entire armor manifested," he said. "It covered my whole body... and the sword appeared too, Instructor."

"It only happened under very specific circumstances. It involved overwhelming emotions, an extreme life-or-death situation, and a sudden breakthrough within a single moment. It's not something you can recreate whenever you want."

Zeph frowned slightly.

There was no way...

Could she really know what had happened inside the Rift? The moment Lena sacrificed herself, and he had risen again with a surge of power unlike anything he'd experienced before?

...Or was she simply making an educated guess?

"I'll have someone teach you about this," the woman said.

"Once you understand how your Sigil functions, you'll be able to control it instead of letting it control you. You'll learn to manifest the abilities you actually need, rather than relying on whatever your Sigil decides to give you."

She looked directly at him.

"Right now, you're fighting with nothing but instinct and brute force. That may work against weaker opponents, but it won't carry you much further."

She paused before continuing.

"The more Sigils you possess, the more important control becomes. If your control is poor, every additional Sigil simply becomes wasted potential. That's nothing but foolish."

Silence lingered between them for a moment.

"Being an Awakener isn't just about chasing levels and ranks, showing off the grade of your Sigil, or collecting powerful abilities. A person with a Common-grade Sigil who has mastered it completely can defeat someone with an Epic-grade Sigil who doesn't even understand their own power."

“Yes, Instructor,” Zeph said. “I will.”

“Now deactivate it. By our next session, I don't want to see the same foolish mistake from you again.”

Zeph deactivated the sigil.

But... His vision suddenly turned blurry. It felt as if the condition he had been maintaining vanished in an instant, and all at once, his body became incredibly weak.

His weakened body dropped to his knees. He could no longer hold himself up. A moment later, he pitched forward.

It was as though he had only just begun to feel everything at once. All the pain, all the injuries he had gathered from the Instructor's two powerful strikes, came crashing back the moment the sigil was gone.

A second later, Zeph collapsed completely and lost consciousness.

Instructor Eliane was still standing there when someone walked into the room.

“Instructor Eliane,” a young woman's voice called out.

“You've treated him before, haven't you?”

“Yes, Instructor. Uhm... he's really in terrible shape. You really went all out on him, didn't you?”

"I was opening the blocked pathways in his body. They had become unstable because of his rapid progress."

“That method...” The girl shook her head. “It's not exactly humane. Poor him.”

“I knew you would be the most suitable person to teach him.”

“Leave him to me. He's quite interesting,” the girl replied with a soft laugh. “I'll make sure to take good care of him.”

“As you wish.” The blonde-haired woman turned and calmly walked out of the room.