Chapter 294 294: Bone Frame

A pause.

Callie turned to him, blinking. Then—shock. Pure, undiluted shock.

"You… don't know?"

Max shook his head. "I don't."

Callie's expression turned into a slight sneer with a teasing smile. "Ignorant," she muttered, shaking her head.

Max smiled wryly, unfazed, and turned back to Klaus. "So? Enlighten me."

Klaus leaned back in his chair, his voice steady as he explained. "There are three main reasons why experts from all over the Lower Continent risk their lives to enter the Mourning Depths, despite its reputation as one of the most dangerous forbidden zones." He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in. "The first is something called a Bone Frame—a treasure so rare that it can only be found in the Mourning Depths."

Max frowned, the name unfamiliar to him. "Bone Frame? What exactly is that?"

Klaus chuckled, shaking his head at Max's ignorance. "It's something every Seeker Rank expert needs. When you reach the Expert Rank, you'll start working with Concepts, but not just anyone can handle them. If your body isn't strong enough, if your bones don't have the necessary affinity, then you'll never advance. You'll be stuck, no matter how talented you are."

He tapped the armrest of his chair. "That's where Bone Frames come in. They're special structures that integrate into your bones, refining them and making them attuned to Concepts. Without them, progressing through the Seeker Rank—and later into the Expert Rank—becomes nearly impossible."

Max absorbed the information, his mind racing. So this is the third condition for unlocking the unique physique?

He recalled the two conditions the system had already revealed to him.

For months in the Dimension of Time back in the mansion of the Sun Palace, he had been trying to open the Gate of Life in his heart, but every attempt ended in failure.

He tried over and over, but something was blocking him—something beyond just his physical limits.

He had assumed he simply wasn't ready, but now, with what Klaus had just explained, things were starting to make sense.

'Maybe this is what I was missing all along.'

Normally, unlocking the Gate of Life was a straightforward process.

One would simply take a medicinal pill—a Vital Blazing Pill—readily available in the market. A common yet powerful alchemical creation, designed for one purpose.

To awaken an expert's raw physical power.

Once consumed, the pill allowed the user to tap into their body's latent strength, granting control over every ounce of muscle, every fiber of power within them.

With that mastery—

They could force open the Gate of Life.

A gateway leading directly to Vital Essence—the purest form of raw, physical strength.

And the only way to access it?

Through sheer physical force.

Not mana.

Not soul power.

Only the body.

It was a test of one's raw potential—one that thousands had undergone before.

But Max—

Max was not like the others.

His strength wasn't ordinary.

The Draconic Essences within him surged with power beyond human limits—wild, untamed, primal. Each essence alone carried enough force to annihilate a mountain, yet even that wasn't enough.

Even with all that overwhelming strength…

His Gate of Life refused to open.

It wasn't a matter of control.

It wasn't a matter of force.

Something else was stopping him—something deeper, something fundamental.

At the time, he had questioned himself. Wondered if he was making a mistake. If there was a flaw in his method.

But now—

Now, he understood.

The pieces fell into place.

It wasn't just about overwhelming the Gate of Life with raw power. That alone wasn't enough.

At least not for him.

There was another requirement.

One that had eluded him until now.

The Bone Frame.

The hidden factor.

The missing key.

From what he had just learned, Bone Frames refined the very structure of the body, aligning the bones with Conceptual Energy, making them attuned to deeper powers.

And the more he thought about it—

The clearer the answer became.

He would have to open the Gate of Life and refine his Bone Frame at the exact same time.

Only by synchronizing both processes—

Only by pushing his body to its absolute limit—

Would he finally be able to break through.

And that meant one thing.

The Mourning Depths weren't just an opportunity.

They were a necessity.

At least for him.

"As for what a Bone Frame actually is..." Klaus paused, his voice steady, calculated. "It's the remains of experts who have fallen in the Mourning Depths. Their bodies—left to decay in that wretched place—slowly condensed, corrupted by the infernal essence lurking in the depths." His gaze darkened. "And thus, Bone Frames were born."

Max's expression didn't change, but his mind raced. So the Mourning Depths didn't just consume—it repurposed. Twisting the dead into something... else.

He nodded, pushing forward. "What's the second thing?"

Klaus smirked. There was something sharp in his eyes. "It's related to a domain."

"A domain?!"

Max's breath hitched. His fingers curled slightly. He hadn't expected this. The Mourning Depths—one of the most dangerous hellholes in the Lower Domain—held the key to comprehending a domain?

Unbelievable.

"The Mourning Depths is not just dangerous." Klaus spoke slowly, his voice carrying an edge. "It's… unnatural."

Max and Callie listened, their expressions tense.

"Its inner workings defy logic. The land itself rejects reason. The deeper you go, the more the world twists into something unrecognizable."

Klaus's eyes gleamed, a mix of fascination and caution. "And at its core… there exists something far worse than the beasts, the traps, or even the corrupted land itself."

A pause.

"Infernal Energy."

The words alone made the air feel heavier.

Max frowned. Callie inhaled sharply.

"This energy is not ordinary," Klaus continued. "It is born only through mass death. Not a hundred, not a thousand, but hundreds of thousands—experts of the Master Rank or maybe even Champion Rank—slaughtered in one place. Their souls don't move on. Their essence doesn't fade. Instead, it lingers. Festers. Transforms."

His gaze sharpened. "It becomes something else."

A deep breath. A slow exhale.

"The Mourning Depths… is soaked in this energy."

Max rowned deeply.

"Infernal Energy is pure corruption. It eats away at mana. Devours Vital Essence. It doesn't just linger in the air—it seeps into the land, the water, even the corpses left behind. And from that corruption…"

His voice turned colder.

"Infernal Beings are born."

Silence.

Max's fingers twitched. Callie paled.

Klaus didn't stop. "These things are not normal creatures. They are not undead, nor are they mere beasts. They are something else. Something… wrong."

He let that sink in before finishing.

"If you ever encounter one, there is only one outcome."

His eyes met theirs.

"Death."

A long, suffocating silence followed.

Max exhaled. His breath felt cold.

They had known the Mourning Depths was dangerous. But this…

This wasn't danger.

This was death itself, waiting in the dark.

"Death is certain but people still want to explore the Mourning Depths..." Max muttered lightly.

Klaus smiled. "We are very greedy when it comes to power and all."

He added. "Since ancient times, humans had forged their path from nothing to this stage against all the possible odds? How? Because we are all kinds of stubborn who refused accept what we are given... always looking for a way to transcend our current self."

"But how does that relate to comprehending a domain?" Max asked. His voice was steady, but his mind raced.