Chapter 28 28: The Mystery Of Life

Seeing the strange reaction of Azekiel, Lia moved closer to Raphael.

She brought her lips closer to the ears of Raphael and whispered, "What the hell is his problem? Why did it look like he was judging me? I mean, it's not like any of us are saints here. He is the King of Gluttony, so he must've committed even worse crimes. And same with you. Isn't that right?"

Raphael let out a mouthful of breath. He didn't know how to respond. His crime... It was nowhere close to her sin. All he did was take an apple that didn't belong to him. He didn't hurt anyone. He didn't cause anyone's death. All he did was take a fruit.

As for Azekiel, he was the same. All he did was take some fruits from a tray that was filled with fruits to the brim. If they were to look at the intensity of Sin, Lia had the worst sin amongst the three of them.

Raphael could only keep his silence, having no way to respond to her without spoiling the relationship between the team.

The only way he could think of was to distract from the topic. "Don't think too much. He isn't judging you. He just got busy checking something. We are no one to judge you, after all. Anyway, what are your skills? What can you do? Can you fight enemies? Or are you a passive support?"

****

Raphael finished going through his weapon of Sin. There was a puzzled look on his face as he rubbed his chin. It was impossible to read his face.

Only one word came out of his lips. "Certainly Interesting."

"Now, let's see what that skill actually was. How does it work?"

He went to the main screen.

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[Stats:]

Name: Azekiel

Species: Human

Title: King of Gluttony

Level: 9

Experience needed for Level up: 50

Strength: 327

Speed: 327

Defense: 327

Hunger: 124

Magic Affinity: 45

Constitution: 80

[Skill:]

Summoning

Soul Snatch

Card of Judgment [5 Cards left]

Gluttony of Knowledge

[Familiars:]

General of Gluttony Raphael

Witch of Famine Lia

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He already knew about most of his skills, leaving only one black sheep in the bunch, which he didn't understand yet. He tapped on the new skill.

[Name: Gluttony of Knowledge]

[Passive Skill]

[Description: Hunger for knowledge has always plagued beings from every realm. Gluttony of Knowledge helps you absorb all the memories of the person you killed."

[Warning: Skill will only work on the deceased that you've killed, only if you touch them after their death]

[Warning: Deceased shouldn't be dead for more than six hours]

[Limitations: Will only work once a day]

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"Gluttony of Knowledge, so it's basically a fancy name for memory stealing. A decent skill, but it seems like a problem that it's a passive skill. If it activates on its own when I'm in the middle of the battlefield, I would be frozen, lost in memories. I need to be really careful with it." Azekiel read the description again just to be sure.

"I need to make sure I don't touch any dead bodies because I'm sure that the surroundings are clear of the threat. Another hassle." He let out a tired breath.

If he needed something to distract himself from the past of Lia, he had it now. With this troublesome yet useful skill, he had forgotten entirely about Lia's actions.

He closed the screen and turned back to her, noticing that Lia was talking with Raphael.

She was really like a kid in the way she talked. She kept smiling and chuckling as if she was telling Raphael some hilarious story. On the other hand, Raphael stood completely still like an expressionless statue.

"That reminds me. I've never seen Raphael laugh. If I was in his place, hungry all the time, I might be the same. I'm surprised he can keep himself sane despite centuries of this torment."

Azekiel was somewhat pleased as well with the arrival of Lia. Even though her thoughts and convictions were somewhat questionable, her bubbly personality was probably what this team needed, especially Raphael. Azekiel couldn't joke around and keep Raphael busy. Raphael needed someone who could be a friend more than Azekiel was... Someone like Lia who could help him loosen up.

Even if Lia was utterly useless in the battles, Azekiel didn't care. In any case, he could only Summon one person to the material world at a time, and that person was always going to be Raphael. So her battle prowess didn't matter.

He walked closer to the small group of two.

As Azekiel got closer, he managed to hear the conversation that was taking place. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the story. Lia was talking about the time when she was a child and got lost in the forest.

" It was fun. Too bad I didn't see any unicorns there. Apparently, it was only a rumor that there were unicorns there." Lia laughed. "So I went there for no reason—what a waste of time. My mother scolded me so much that day. I literally had to listen to her lecture for an hour straight about dangers in the outside world for people like us."

"Outside world? Don't you mean dangers in the forest? You can't be saying that you weren't allowed to leave your home at all," Azekiel chimed in the conversation.

"Hah, nope. I didn't make a mistake. I meant the outside world. After my sister and father were murdered, my mother banned me from leaving the house, saying the world was really dangerous."

Even though Lia talked about such a serious incident, she still seemed completely calm, as if she had come to terms with what had happened in the past.

As she spoke, she noticed the slightly concerned look of Azekiel as if he was pitying her.

"Hey, stop with those sad faces. I don't like sadness. Life is to have fun. Not to be sad. I've had my fair share of sadness in my childhood. I don't want more sadness in this life. That's what I had promised myself! So don't give me that look."

"Did you find out who killed your sister?" Azekiel asked.

Lia shook her head. "It was impossible to find who did it. There were no witnesses. This is also one of the reasons I got interested in magic and Witchcraft, as I had heard that you could do anything once you become a Witch. Witches were considered the goddess by some and demoness by others."

"I tried to bring my father and my sister back to life, only to fail. Once you die, even witchcraft can't bring you back to life. That's why enjoy life while you have it." Lia tapped the forehead of Azekiel. "Don't be so grim always. You're the King of Gluttony. You have something that not many in the world have... Use that to bring some happiness to your life... Don't wait until it's too late."

Azekiel didn't know why, but the more he heard Lia, the more he failed to understand her. At first, he thought she was just a girl who didn't care for anything... Someone who didn't care how many she killed as long as it was for fun, but he could see that there was something more to her… Something incomprehensible...

Azekiel was momentarily dazed as he thought about the words of Lia; however, he soon remembered that he couldn't have fun in his life. This was his second life and he didn't receive it to have fun. He couldn't sit calmly until he was done with what he set out to do.

"Let's go. We should get to the next floor."

Having no response to Lia, he treaded toward the portal of the second floor.