Enrico arrived at his room and lay down. That day, he would rest completely. Since he could not enter the Limit Break state while his body was like that, tomorrow he would see how his body really was after not spending most of his time exhausted. Closing his eyes, he immediately fell asleep. Perhaps it was because he was finally resting; his entire body seemed relaxed.
Suddenly, Enrico found himself standing in front of a mirror. His appearance, however, was formed only by shadows. The only thing that remained visible was his golden eyes. That was exactly what he had seen during the mental state of Limit Break.
Enrico tried to speak, but no sound came out. Shadows began to emerge from the mirror while the version of himself reflected there held its own shoulders. It was as if that thing were trying to take over his body.
Enrico tried to escape, but he was swallowed by the shadows and felt as if he were drowning. He struggled and tried to use magic, but he felt that something was blocking his powers. In desperation, he punched the mirror. As soon as his fist touched the surface, the mirror shattered, and Enrico was finally able to breathe.
In front of him, the shadows emerged from the fragments of the mirror and tried to approach. Enrico took a few steps back, keeping his distance.
The shadow seemed unable to approach any further and began to transform. Feline paws and ears appeared until that shadow took the form of a panther, with the same golden eyes.
"What is this?"
Enrico realized that he could speak now and sighed. Looking at that panther, he wondered what it was. It did not seem to be related to the original Enrico.
"Just your worst side, Saul."
Enrico was shocked to hear that. For the first time, that thing had spoken his true name.
"You're my worst side? Please, I'm not the type to act like a cat."
"Who knows? Maybe you just haven't discovered that you're like this..."
The panther licked its own paw without caring about his joke, returning the provocation in kind. Enrico looked around. Everything was completely dark, except for the area where the panther was. He did not want to approach that thing, as he had the feeling that if he did, it would be difficult to return.
"I don't know who you are, but I'd rather you not try anything stupid if you don't want to die in the future."
"You talk about the future? Don't worry, I know everything. So it would be better for you to switch places with me. That way, you'd have a better chance of surviving."
The panther smiled arrogantly. In fact, in a way, it had a personality similar to Saul's after he turned fourteen, a few months after a certain event in his childhood.
"How annoying..."
"What is it? Did you remember something?"
"Yes. I remembered my adolescence, but you seem to be much worse than that."
The panther's smile widened.
"I find it very difficult for me to be worse than that, Saul."
With a bitter smile, Enrico squeezed his own shoulder, as if remembering a movement he used to make at that age. Then, he ran his finger along his neck and made a cut with his fingernail. With an irritated expression, he began looking for a way out of that place.
"You don't need to worry. You'll get out of here after some time."
"Good to know."
The panther looked behind Enrico and pointed one of its paws in that direction. Enrico did not want to turn his gaze behind him, even though he did not know why. Something inside him was telling him not to do it.
The panther seemed disappointed.
"Come on. Be brave and see what you really are. Leave that mask behind..."
Enrico's head slowly began to turn. He did not know why he avoided looking behind him so much, but he was certain of one thing: that panther had not approached because of that.
His eyes opened when he finally looked.
What he saw was a gigantic void.
There was nothing there.
It was something that should have been frightening, but, strangely, Enrico felt calm as he observed that void.
"Do you know how difficult it is to fill an infinite void? Very difficult. Since my current power is low, I could only create this terrain."
Enrico seemed not to care about the panther's words. His eyes continued reflecting the same void before him.
"How annoying... Saul, don't become so absorbed in it, or you'll be swallowed by the void itself."
Upon hearing his name again, Enrico returned to normal. He did not really understand why he had become so entranced by it. He did not want to look again, but it seemed irresistible.
Enrico began to disappear into the air, as if he were waking up. Before disappearing completely, he gave the panther one last look and thought about talking to the system about it.
When Enrico disappeared completely, the panther stood up and walked toward the darkest region of that place. There was a small egg there. It approached it with a calm expression.
"You took me out of that void, so I thank you. But it's annoying having to take care of you."
That egg was the Ranvil Enrico had fought in the magical zone. The panther had to admit that taking care of someone who had defeated its original was annoying, but it owed her one, so it would fulfill its duty.
The egg seemed to move, as if it wanted to say something, but the panther placed its hand around it with an irritated expression.
"Don't worry. He won't tell the system anything."
That's right. No matter how many times Enrico came to that place or discovered its existence, when he returned, he would forget everything.
Looking at the place where Enrico had disappeared, the panther became excited.
"I hope he becomes much stronger, because I'd love to take over his body for a while."
Just like Enrico, it also had a plan to survive the evil gods. However, that plan would have to wait.
Enrico opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. Stretching, he realized that he was feeling very well. He began to warm up and noticed how good his body seemed to be.
"This is incredible. Really, getting some rest along with the training would be good, but I have to increase my potential."
[Wait. Does this mean you're going to keep pushing yourself like this? Stop being an idiot and rest more.]
'I don't want to die, so I won't stop... Anyway, today I have the festival arc, which won't be a big deal, and also the fight against Kai.'
While thinking about that, Enrico felt that something was missing. He tried to remember what it was, but he couldn't. Worried, he asked the system a few questions, which answered that it shouldn't be important and once again insisted that he should have healthy training.