Infinite Undying [Post-Apocalypse LitRPG]

Zeph's eyes flew open, and he quickly looked from side to side, trying to figure out where he was.

He was lying on a bed that felt surprisingly comfortable, with a warm blanket covering his body.

He immediately checked beneath the blanket to see his condition. He was already dressed in a patient's uniform, though he was still wearing the same pants he had on before he passed out.

He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position and realized he was inside what looked like the academy's medical ward.

The last thing he remembered was training with Instructor Elaine. She had been explaining sigils to him in much greater detail. After that... everything went blank.

"Who brought me here?"

A knock echoed from the other side of the door.

A moment later, the door opened, and someone stepped inside.

A young woman wearing a neat white medical uniform walked into the room. Her shoulder-length pink hair framed her youthful face, and she looked to be around Madou's age.

Wait...

"Good morning, Zeph. How are you feeling today?" she asked as she stopped in front of his bed.

Zeph frowned slightly and studied her face more carefully.

"Hey... I know you."

The young woman gave a quiet laugh.

"So you do remember me. I thought you'd forget me that easily."

She was the same person who had treated Zeph a few weeks ago after the Hunter Association had temporarily detained him for illegally sneaking into the Rift Expedition.

"That was only a few weeks ago. Yeah, I still remember you. But... What's your name again?"

"Meriel. My name is Meriel. I'm a fourth-year student and a Rank 4 Champion. I'm a healer-type Hunter, so I also work with the Hunter Association as part of the medical team. But since I still have plenty of responsibilities here at the academy, I'm only assigned to certain shifts."

"It's nice to see you again, Meriel."

The young woman pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down before continuing.

"You've been asleep for two days. I guess you didn't know that, did you?"

"Two days?" Zeph's eyes widened in disbelief. "No wonder I'm starving. I really slept that long? I think Instructor Elaine poisoned me or something. That's the only explanation."

Meriel chuckled again.

"Well, I'd say you're the luckiest person alive to receive personal guidance from her. You do know she's a Rank 7 Paragon, right? She only returned to the academy this year, and somehow she ended up assigned to your class. Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if she came back here just for you."

"Just for me?" Zeph repeated. "She did ask me how hard I wanted my training to be if I really wanted to become stronger. I told her I wanted the hardest training possible. I figured she only took me seriously because I said that. Maybe she thought I was challenging her."

Meriel slowly nodded.

"I can tell you've fully recovered. I've checked your body several times over the past two days, and everything seems perfectly fine."

Zeph frowned the moment he heard that.

"Wait... 'checked my body'?"

"Yes. Exactly the way you're imagining."

"You're making that sound way weirder than it needs to."

She laughed again.

"Anyway, Zeph, Instructor Elaine left you in my care. She asked me to teach you sigil control."

"She asked you to teach me?"

Meriel nodded.

"I'm a healer, so precise sigil control is one of the most important skills for me. So I'd be happy to make time for us to discuss it, at least once a day if possible. It's an important assignment for me too."

"That sounds like an expensive opportunity."

"I told you, didn't I?"

"Do I have to pay you or something?"

"Well, normally it wouldn't be free." She smiled playfully. "But let's worry about that in the future. I'll wait until I find the perfect chance to squeeze some payment out of you for everything I'm going to teach you."

"You sound kind of suspicious. Are you sure Instructor Elaine picked the right person?"

Meriel reached out and lightly tapped Zeph on the forehead with her index finger.

"I'm sure this is going to be fun. We'll have plenty more to talk about later, okay?"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Meriel smiled, and neither of them spoke for a moment.

Zeph, however, wasn't simply enjoying the silence. His mind was overflowing with questions after everything that had happened with Instructor Elaine two days earlier.

"You'll be able to leave today," Meriel said. "But before that, do you have any questions?"

Zeph nodded.

"I've been studying this. From what I understand, a sigil manipulates the mana inside our bodies to manifest the ability engraved within it. But how was Instructor Elaine able to activate my sigil? She even made my glove appear, and the mask disappeared afterward. Can someone actually control another person's sigil?"

Meriel gave a small nod.

"It would be much easier if you experienced it yourself. Now, sit in a meditation posture and close your eyes. I'll guide you through it."

Zeph nodded, crossed his legs, took a slow breath, and closed his eyes.

"Alright, Zeph. This won't be easy since it's your first time, but I'll explain the basics first. Then I'll let you experience the entire process for yourself. After that, everything I explain will make much more sense."

Zeph remained silent, focusing all of his attention on her voice.

"A person can activate their own sigil with a mental command. That's the normal way to do it. Once activated, the sigil responds by drawing mana from the user's body and transforming it into the ability engraved within the sigil."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"However, if the user's body or mana core isn't strong enough to fully manifest that ability, whether because of its limits or because the sigil itself is too complex, the manifestation will be incomplete. We call that a partial manifestation."

"That's exactly what happened to me." Zeph said.

“Correct.”

Zeph remained perfectly still, quietly listening to every word.

"Your case is a little different, Zeph. At first glance, your sigil looks like an Equipment-type because it lets you summon equipment. But that's only part of it. You can also summon a weapon through it. And even beyond that, your sigil is actually a Transformation-type."

"Maybe you've heard this before, but Transformation-type sigils are among the most mana-intensive because of how complex they are. So instead of simply summoning armor or a weapon, the sigil's true purpose is to transform its user."

Transform?

Zeph repeated the word silently in his mind.

"I'm not talking about transforming your body the way you've probably seen someone turn into a beast," Meriel continued. "Transformation can go much further than that. It can affect your body, your mind, your instincts, your senses, and even the way your mana behaves."

"In your case... Your sigil is the Night Cavalry. The same creatures that attacked Mekarion a few months ago."

“She knows that much?”

Did Instructor Elaine tell her all of this?

"The most likely outcome is that your sigil will eventually transform you into something similar to that creature."

"The Night Cavalry," she added.

Zeph remained silent, carefully listening to every explanation Meriel gave.

"There's another way to activate a sigil," she continued. "Instead of using a mental command, you manually recreate the entire activation process. You guide the mana yourself, manipulate its flow, shape it into the sigil's ability, and only then does the sigil become activated."

“That was possible?”

"The key is understanding exactly how your sigil works. You need to know how mana flows through your body, how your mana core responds, where the mana travels, and where the ability is actually formed. If it's an Equipment-type, you guide the mana until it takes the form of your equipment. If it's a Transformation-type, you control that mana until it transforms your body."

This sounded...

Completely new.

Zeph had never come across anything like this in any of the books he had read.

Was this method really that uncommon?

"If you're wondering, yes," Meriel said, as if she had read his thoughts. "This is an advanced technique that's usually only taught to high-ranking Awakeners. Most people don't bother learning it because it's incredibly time-consuming. They'd rather spend that time increasing their rank instead of mastering every detail of their sigil."

"But for someone willing to master their sigil to its fullest potential... it's absolutely worth it."

After a few moments of silence, Meriel spoke again.

"Alright, Zeph. Let's begin. I want you to activate and deactivate your sigil over and over again. But this time, do something differently. Instead of simply activating it with a mental command, pay close attention to everything that's happening. Trace the flow of your mana. Sense it. Follow it. Observe every change. You need to experience the entire process until you understand it well enough to recreate it on your own."

Zeph gave a small nod and did exactly as she instructed.

[Epic-Grade Transformation Sigil: Night Cavalry Activated!]

He activated his sigil with a mental command.

The familiar process began, but this time, while remaining in his meditative state, Zeph focused entirely on the movement of his mana. His heightened concentration made him far more sensitive than before.

Mana surged violently within his core, causing his heart to pound against his chest. Streams of mana flowed outward, and for the first time, Zeph realized that most of it traveled toward the upper half of his body.

The mana gathered around his head for several moments.

Then he felt another strange sensation spreading across his upper back, exactly where his sigil was engraved.

His heartbeat grew even heavier.

Something began changing inside his head. It was as though something deep within his mind was shifting. His eyes twitched slightly, followed by a series of unfamiliar sensations that spread throughout his body.

He had never felt anything like this before.

Only after all of that did the transformation finish, and the mask finally formed over his face.

Zeph stayed still for another moment before deactivating his sigil, just as Meriel had instructed.

The same process repeated itself, but this time in reverse. Instead of the mana flowing back into his core, it gradually dispersed into the air, fading away until nothing remained.

"Could you feel it?" Meriel asked.

Zeph slowly opened his eyes. His whole body felt unusually heavy, as though he had just finished an exhausting workout.

"It felt completely different. And for some reason, I'm really exhausted."

"That's because you were consciously observing and tracing every stage of the activation process while your sigil was active. That's perfectly normal. You'll get used to it with practice."

Meriel gave a small nod.

"And it looks like I underestimated you," she said.

Zeph tilted his head.

"I thought it would take you quite a while just to perceive the activation process. But you managed to do it on your very first attempt."

Zeph still looked confused.

"You're not saying that's unusual, are you?"

She shook her head. "It takes a great deal of concentration, strong awareness, and excellent control over your mana just to perceive the process in the first place. So yes, that's impressive."

"I guess... that's a good thing?"

"It is." She smiled. "Now do it ten times. Twenty times. A hundred times a day for the next month."

Zeph let out a long sigh.

"Now I understand why Instructor Elaine chose you to teach me."

He looked at her with a tired smile.

"You're just as cruel as she is."

Meriel puffed out her cheeks. "At least I'm friendly, you know. I can actually have a two-way conversation. I explain things properly, and I have plenty of time to help you through the whole learning process. So don't compare me to that woman."

"Although... I wouldn't mind becoming a Rank 7 Paragon at her age."

She let out a soft laugh afterward.

Zeph gave a small nod.

This only confirmed what he had asked for.

He wanted the hardest path possible, and this was exactly what he had been given. So he would accept it without complaint. The more training he had, the faster he would grow.

Having Meriel around also meant he finally had someone he could learn from about the world of high-ranking Awakeners.

Then there was Jester, a Rank 5 Grandmaster. From him, Zeph could learn blacksmithing and, eventually, deepen his understanding of relics as well.

He honestly couldn't have asked for a better opportunity.