Novel's Extra: I Awakened The Strongest Physique From The Start - Chapter 200

Chapter 200: CHAPTER 201 – The Spirit’s Story.
The graveyard’s dome-like exterior was misleading. From the outside, it seemed like nothing more than a simple stone structure, but once inside, it stretched into an expansive landscape of weathered tombstones, cracked pathways, and towering dead trees.

‘Is sure is larger than it seemed from the outside,’ Alex thought, sitting cross-legged near the entrance, his back leaning against a gravestone.

[Every room and faculty in this palace had space enchantment.] Sophie’s voice came, causing him to raise a brow. ‘Space enchantment, huh?’

[Someone among the vampires that lived here must’ve been an expert enhancer,] Sophie deduced, making Alex nod.

Just like the profession of mages and knights, there were many other professions such as dark mages, enhancers, sorcerers, etc. And similar to space mages, space elemental enhancers were also rare.

‘Still, it’s not surprising that there was a space enhancer among the vampires that used to live here,’ Alex mused, folding his hands, causing Sophie, who was in the dream space, to nod.

[True. It isn’t rare to find one space enhancer in the long history of this palace.] Lying on the bed in the dream space, she added, [After all, this palace must have housed many generations of those vampires.]

“Hm~,” Alex smiled, staring at the scenery ahead.

An unnatural mist hovered just above the ground, curling around the graves like grasping fingers. He could feel the thickness of the air along with the scent of damp earth.

It was a graveyard, yet he didn’t hate the scene. It felt like he was sitting in a haunted house.

He chuckled at his own thoughts, wondering what kind of face the ones within the graves would make if they read his thoughts.

“Hey! Are you even listening?!” A sharp voice from the side interrupted his musing. He turned to look up, only to see the tiny vampire spirit sitting on the gravestone he was leaning against; her brows frowned as she stared down at him.

From the way her legs, right beside his shoulders, were tense, it seemed like she was ready to kick him if he were to give a response she didn’t want.

“Yes, yes. I’m listening.” Nodded Alex, his expression sincere.

“Good,” the frown on the chibi spirit’s head relaxed. Jumping down from the gravestone, she sat beside him, deciding to continue her story.

Alex stared at her for a while. It was clear, despite her childlike size, that she carried herself with an odd mixture of exaggerated pride and underlying fear.

He had asked her to tell him about herself. He wanted to know more about her and see if she really was what she let out. After all, he had some free time right now.

Lilia was claiming the inheritance. So, as she sat deeper within the graveyard, right before the largest tomb in the area, surrounded by dimly flickering blue flames that cast long, eerie shadows, he was ideal.

But her story until now was all about how she wanted to go out of this place and other things about what kind of place this was.

“I don’t remember much,” the chibi spirit, continuing her story, admitted, her tiny legs swinging idly. “Only the trial. That’s all I was born with.”

Alex, finally finding something interesting in her story, narrowed his eyes slightly. “Born with?”

She nodded, hugging her knees. “I was dead, but I… still existed. A fragment of my memories remained, and that fragment became me. I was born in this grave, long after my actual body was laid to rest.”

Her words carried a weight that contradicted her childish appearance. She stared at the ground, fingers tracing patterns in the dirt. “Maybe it’s because I was too strong when I was alive. Maybe that’s why I refused to disappear completely. Even as a remnant spirit, I… I just didn’t want to die.”

Alex observed her closely. Despite her usual exaggerated mannerisms, he could see through the cracks. The way her small hands clenched when she spoke. The way her voice wavered, even when she tried to sound nonchalant. She was scared—terrified of fading away.

For some reason, he could relate to her. Not completely, of course, but to some extent, yes.

Unlike her, he hadn’t been alone for hundreds of years, but his childhood was filled with loneliness. That loneliness was poisonous for him, as he could never know what things like fun and friends meant during his childhood.

Yet, this chibi spirit, who had been alone for who knows how long, could somehow stay sane, and she could still smile, despite all the weight on her shoulder.

It was commendable as much as it was pitiful.

But as if realizing that Alex had caught onto her vulnerability, the chibi quickly straightened up, plastering a grin on her face. “A-Anyway! Let’s talk about my glorious inheritance!”

She puffed out her chest dramatically. “It is a grand, magnificent treasure beyond your wildest dreams! And out of the goodness of my heart, I have decided to bestow it upon Lilia without making her go through the brutal, arduous trial! Such generosity, don’t you think?”

Alex raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “If it’s so grand, why has no one ever heard of it?”

The chibi’s confident smile faltered. “W-Well, you see—”

He knew that it was because this race had been long forgotten from history, but he was never going to give the chibi a chance to say that, so he interrupted her.

“And if you’re so generous,” Alex continued, “why do you look at Lilia like she’s your only hope of getting out of here?”

The chibi’s mouth opened, but no words came out.

Alex sighed, standing up. “I’m not the kind of guy who likes living under someone’s generosity.” His voice dropped to a calm, almost indifferent tone. “So, I think I’ll just take Lilia and leave. Without the inheritance.”

He turned his back to her, adding one final blow. “And destroy this place while I’m at it.”

The chibi’s entire body stiffened, her heart practically leaping into her throat. “W-Wait! No, no, no! You can’t! Please!”

Tears welled up in her crimson eyes as she lunged forward, clinging to Alex’s sleeves. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please don’t destroy this place! I-I was just acting! I didn’t mean to trick you! I—” Her voice cracked as she buried her face into his sleeve, trembling. “I don’t want to disappear…”

Alex let out a low chuckle before shaking his head. “You’re way too easy to mess with.”

The chibi sniffled, looking up at him with a betrayed expression. “That was mean.”

Smirking, Alex stretched, waving his hand, causing a bed-like structure made of green veins to rise before reclining on it. “Maybe. But you kind of deserved it.”

The spirit pouted, wiping her tears, before quietly sitting next to him, this time without her usual dramatics. The graveyard remained silent around them, save for the rustling wind and the occasional flickering of ghostly flames.

Alex closed his eyes, resting his head against his arm. “Just don’t try anything funny again.”

The chibi stayed quiet for a moment before nodding. “…Okay.”

As Alex rested in silence, he failed to notice the chibi spirit staring at him, a strange light flashing past her eyes.

No one could tell what she was thinking, but there was no doubt that the life of this lonely spirit would change into something she had never expected.