Snot pushed himself off the ground with a tired groan and brushed dirt from his clothes.

"Well, I’m going back to sleep for a few more hours. Wait for me before you tell the others what we found. We do it together."

Neo gave a small nod. "Alright. I’ll stay here a bit. I’ll move later."

Snot studied him for a second. "You sure?"

"Yeah." Neo glanced toward the huts. "I think I’d sleep better here than beside Max."

That got a laugh out of Snot.

"Fair point." He stretched once more and started walking back toward camp. "See you later, Neo."

Neo watched him go without answering.

He stayed where he was, still sprawled on the ground near the cliffside, with the tower cutting into part of his view and the sky slowly brightening above it. Dawn had come clean and pale, the kind of light that made everything look quieter than it really was.

His gaze drifted toward the tower.

’You really turned into a headache fast.’

After that, his attention shifted inward.

’Well. Now that I’m alone... time to figure out what exactly this thing does.’

Neo pushed himself up into a seated position and held out his right hand.

The Thousand-Form Relic appeared there.

In its base state, it still looked more like a dark orb of strange material than a proper weapon. Not smooth, not rough, not entirely metal either. Its surface seemed to shift in tiny ways whenever the eye stayed on it long enough, as if it disliked having only one form.

Neo stared at it for a while.

’And what exactly am I supposed to do with you?’

He raised his left hand and materialized the old sword first.

The plain one.

The cheap relic that had gotten him through his first steps after leaving Zone 0.

The contrast between both items was almost insulting. A simple sword in one hand. A Divine relic in the other.

Neo looked from one to the other.

’Do I just... press them together?’

He tried it.

The sword touched the orb.

The reaction came at once.

The Thousand-Form vibrated lightly in his hand, and the dark material spread over the blade in a quick pulse, flowing across the metal like living slime. It covered the whole weapon, hilt included, swallowed it entirely, held that shape for a breath—

Then shrank back into an orb.

Neo’s left hand was empty.

He stared at it.

Then at the orb.

Then back at his hand.

"...You ate my sword."

For one ugly second, he thought that was it. Gone. Just like that.

The Soul Window unfolded in front of him before the irritation could finish rising.

[Soul-Window]

[The Thousand-Form Relic]

[New Form Unlocked]

[Sword - Common]

Neo blinked.

"New form unlock—"

He stopped there, read it again, and let out a slow breath.

’Alright. Good. So you didn’t just rob me.’

That brought him to the next problem.

How exactly was he supposed to manifest the form?

He looked at the orb in his hand again, frowned, and focused on the sword. Not in any technical way. Just the image of it. The weight. The shape. The feel of it in his grip.

The orb reacted.

It shifted almost instantly, dark material stretching and hardening in his hand until it became a sword again.

But not the same one.

Neo’s expression changed at once.

The basic shape was familiar, yes, but the details had changed. The metal looked denser, cleaner, less cheap in every visible way. The edge held a better line. The hilt had lost that plain, disposable look. Even the balance in his grip felt improved.

He checked the Soul Window again.

[Forms]

[Sword - Rare]

Neo went quiet.

The old sword had been Common.

Now this form was Rare.

His gaze dropped to the attribute lines again.

[Attributes]

[Consumes weapon-type Soul Relics. After devouring them, it can take their forms, improving the attributes and effects they originally possessed.]

A grin started pulling at his mouth before he could stop it.

He dismissed the sword and the relic returned to its original dark orb state without any resistance.

Neo looked at it with much greater respect now.

That was already absurd.

A relic that devoured other weapon-type relics, stored their forms, and improved them on the way through.

Any fool with half a brain would kill for something like this.

Neo’s grin widened slightly.

’Good thing no fool knows.’

He didn’t waste more time.

His left hand rose again, and this time Gravebite appeared.

The toothed blade rested in his grip with that same ugly promise it always carried. More violent than the first sword. More alive in the imagination. A weapon built for tearing rather than cutting.

Neo brought it toward the orb.

The Thousand-Form answered with even greater hunger this time.

The dark material spread quickly across Gravebite’s long blade, covering the teeth, the guard, the hilt, swallowing the whole weapon like black liquid eager to consume every part of it. The shape held longer than before, perhaps because there was more to take in.

When it pulled back, Gravebite was gone.

Neo watched the Soul Window.

It didn’t disappoint.

[The Thousand-Form Relic]

[New Form Unlocked]

[Gravebite - Ascendant]

Another line appeared beneath it.

[Gravebite Attribute Enhanced]

[Bleed -> Endless Bleeding]

Neo stared.

Then laughed under his breath, unable to help it.

It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t elegant either. More like the sound of someone who had just realized the thing in his hand was even more ridiculous than he’d hoped.

"Endless Bleeding..." he muttered. "That’s disgusting."

Which, naturally, made it perfect.

He focused on the new form.

The orb changed at once.

This version of Gravebite looked even better than the previous transformation. The original weapon had already carried menace in its shape. This one refined it. The teeth along the blade looked cleaner, crueler, more deliberate. The metal itself had changed, darker and richer, and the whole sword carried the sense of a weapon that had outgrown what it once was.

Neo swung it once through the air.

The movement felt smooth.

Fast.

And what struck him most was not only the shape.

It was the cost.

He paused and checked himself more carefully.

The Soul Essence consumption was low.

Very low.

When he had switched from the old common sword to Gravebite before, the difference had been obvious. Gravebite demanded far more. It had weight to it, not only in the hand, but in the soul.

Now?

Now it felt almost unfair.

He shifted the relic back into orb form.

Then into the rare sword.

Then back into Gravebite. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Then orb again.

Again.

Again.

Each transformation happened instantly, following thought with no delay at all. No hesitation. No struggle. The Thousand-Form answered whatever he imagined as if it had been waiting for the command before he even finished thinking it.

Neo’s eyes stayed fixed on it.

’So that means I can switch in the middle of a fight.’

That idea alone made his pulse rise.

Different forms. Better versions. Lower Soul Essence cost. And this was with only two devoured relics so far.

What would it look like later?

How many forms could it store?

How far could it improve them?

And if it kept eating stronger relics...

Neo stopped the thought there because the answer was already obvious.

Dangerous.

Very dangerous.

He dismissed the Thousand-Form and let it sink back into him.

The sky had brightened while he was testing it. Morning had settled properly over the camp now, and he had already spent longer out here than he intended.

Neo lay back again for a while, one arm under his head, the tower still standing off to the side of his vision like some enormous pale threat pretending it hadn’t almost gotten him killed a few hours ago.

His body was tired. His head less so now.

The relic had been worth it.

Very much so.

’Alright,’ he thought, closing his eyes briefly. ’A little rest. Then I’ll go find Snot and we’ll tell the others what we learned.’

This time, with the Divine relic resting inside him and a plan for the next move already taking shape, sleep came much easier.