Second Seraph

[Beginning evaluation.]

Lauri took a deep breath feeling the sun shining down on his face, curling his fingers, Lauri felt something brush against his fingertips. It was soft, placing his hand on the ground, Lauri opened his eyes as he recognised the texture. His fingers scratched at the dirt. 

Lauri's eyes fluttered open met with a boundless sky. Bright light shined down from seemingly nowhere. 'Wh- what? Did Laurence find me?' Sitting upright, Lauri was confused by the sight before him.

In front of Lauri, a grassy land stretched on seemingly into infinity, stretching on until Lauri couldn't make it out due to the distance. Looking down at it, Lauri realised he was looking down. Standing up, Lauri looked at the hill he was standing on.

"How strange, grass that stretches on into infinity and I find myself on the only hill…" Lauri's words trailed away as he followed the hill to its apex. Sticking out from the top of the hill, a single, very recognisable plant pointed into the sky. 

"Well, I'll be." Walking up to the young sapling, Lauri took a knee before it. Lauri recognised the tree – how could he ever forget it – it was the same tree that had stopped him from sinking into the depths of the river of the...

Lauri's thoughts paused.

"Was that the underworld? Or the afterlife?" He quickly shook his head. "Actually, I'd rather not know any more about it."

Turning his gaze back to the tree, Lauri tilted his head. Around the tree, two strings of light ran around its trunk. About to reach out to try and touch the strings, Lauri's hand pulled back as the mysterious voice returned to whisper in his ears.

[Celebrations Risen Lauri. You have reached the end of your trial, bearing an Awakened core.]

Lauri furrowed his brow, 'Risen? That was the rank above Postulant.' He slightly chuckled. "So I'm a Risen now. Funny, I thought I'd feel stronger, even if it was just a little bit stronger." Almost immediately as he finished this sentence, Lauri staggered, placing a hand on his chest. Something felt strange.

[Your soul grows stronger.]

Caught by surprise, Lauri yelped as strings of light burst from his body. The dazzling strings floated in the air around Lauri seemingly waiting for something to happen. Lauri took a small breath and stood back up. The strings of light continued to swirl around, sometimes touching each other and subsequently releasing sparks of light. 

The voice began to list the events that had happened since Lauri had left his master's side and stepped into the cave.

[Braving darkness, you recognised a superior foe. You braved the unknown with a trusty implement. You slew a pest and survived an encounter against a familiar foe. Your body broken from traversing rivers both material and immaterial, you were rescued by a new friend. Furthermore, you survived against a hungry shadow and at last lured your foe into the home of your friend, leading to the destruction of its home and its demise.]

[You bear the actions of a coward...]

Lauri was stunned.

Blinking, he opened his mouth, closed it and then opened it again. 'Wh- Did it- Did it just call me a coward? I didn't mean to kill Caretaker...' Lauri frowned. 'I really thought it would be able to kill the 'rhino'- I mean Light Stealer.'

[A coward who lived to see a new dawn.]

Closing in on Lauri, the strings of light wrapped around his body like a second layer of skin. Lauri knew he should be alarmed as the strings of light covered his head and eyes, but for some reason, he felt completely fine. Like this was the most normal thing in the world.

Warmth began radiating through Lauri's chest from his own soul core, akin to stepping into the light of day. As he began to embrace this feeling, Lauri's body began to change, at first it was subtle. Lauri could barely feel a thing, even as the warmth touched his muscles, his blood, his bones, it reached his limbs, warming his fingers, his toes, even his eyes. His entire body radiated with warmth. Lauri felt as if such a feeling of his entire body being remade should be uncomfortable, maybe even painful. Although oddly enough, whether it was to do with the strings wrapped around his body or merely just a property of the warmth, this change was nothing if not pleasant.

He could even feel his wounds being patched together, new skin formed over all the tears in his skin. His right arm already felt brand new, all the damage done to his skin and deep tissue being unmade and recreated.

The hole in his thigh was patched back together, even the exhaustion Lauri had been dealing with was whipped away as Lauri's entire body experienced a great sense of elation. It was incomparable to the good feelings Lauri's body had ever felt.

Alas, it came to an end not long after it began, the warmth receding back into the core on the opposite side of his chest from where his heart was. The strings simply returned to where they had come from, merging into Lauri's body.

[Celebrations Risen Lauri. Your Title has evolved...]

Strings of light formed in the air in front of Lauri's face, although Lauri's attention wasn't on the strings. Looking past them, he stared at the sapling in awe. The place the sapling had been moments ago was now taken by that of a mature tree, the only way Lauri was sure that it was the same tree was due to the two strings of light still running around the tree, although now the strings were running all over the bark. It was like all the adult trees Lauri had seen.

Returning his attention to the strings, any questions Lauri had on the trees vanished.

His previous Title: [Seraph Aspirant] was gone, now replaced by the Title, [Second Seraph]

Title: [Second Seraph]

Title Rank: [Awakened]

Title Description: [Unbreaking in the dark, you have proven you bear the will to stand as one of the Lady's champions. In your heart and soul, a new sliver of sunlight is born. Wherever you go, its radiance will shine.]

The strings continued moving, listing two additional parts of his power.

Lauri's eyes opened wide as he began to read the new lines of text that had just formed.