Claire walked toward him beneath the setting sun:
"It feels no different from usual, which is why it seems so strange to me. I thought that after advancing, I would step onto a new level and the way I viewed the things around me would change. But after truly advancing, apart from everyone congratulating me, Sivie and the others teasing me for being too anxious recently, and Grandfather and the others praising me as a genius seen once in a millennium, I don't feel anything else."
Then Claire realized that she had smoothly embraced Shade, and Shade patted her back. The witch caught the "scent of the Sun" on him, and it made her feel safe.
"Obviously, I'm only one level away from the Thirteenth Ring now, yet I don't truly feel that I've become stronger. Maybe that has something to do with how easily I advanced."
Only then did she tell Shade about her complete experience in the fog beneath the sunset. After returning to the ship following the ritual, she had not mentioned the "corpse" so as not to worry everyone, but she did not want to hide it from Shade.
Shade took her hand and sat with her on the long stone bench beside the statue in the center of the courtyard. Their shadows stretched long across the ground, while Little Mia crouched on the seat beside Shade, squinting as she continued to face the setting sun.
Shade did not say a word as Claire recounted her experience. Even when he heard that Claire had discovered her own corpse, his expression remained normal.
Only after Claire finished did he speak:
"There's no problem with this advancement process. In my view, you conversed with the weakness and hesitation in your heart, ultimately reached a reconciliation with them, and