Thirty minutes later…
[[…and those are from Micheal.]]
At Ralf’s words, Rei brought the two pages near. Without a second’s delay, his eyes moved across the page. The handwriting was beautiful to behold. It was neat, fluid, and had a lightness to it that illustrated the author’s speed and precision.
‘To Ralf. First of all, congratulations on your…’
Moving slowly, Rei’s mind naturally sought out patterns, hidden meanings, and oddities. Reaching the end, Rei’s gaze circled back to the top left and repeated. Only after five rereads did he cease.
[[Your analysis?]]
[[Our drink’s been spiked,]] Rei said.
[[For a fact?]]
[[Almost certainly. The word ‘gift’ is the standout. With regular senses, it's impossible to tell the difference. But with these eyes, the difference in the ink used to pen this word and the other words is…obvious.]]
Rei stared at the word in question and said.
‘Obvious huh,’ Ralf thought with a frown.
It wasn’t as obvious as Rei had made it out to be. For Ralf, and most living in this world, it would be nearly impossible to spot.
Rei continued.
[[This note is a hope and a warning, and this body is a sharp but double-edged sword.]]
Ralf sighed. The image of the Raven dimmed…slightly.
[[It's not a great feeling, but I guess it can’t be helped.]]
[[Can’t be helped?]]
[[Micheal Ascania is said to be the world’s, Fifth Pillar. Over the last three centuries, he’s been a great force for positive change and has been pivotal in ending major conflicts around the world. He acts with the broader world in mind. His long record of positive acts makes this undeniable. He probably embedded some weakness in my body to prevent another Astra situation.]]
[[Astra the Indifferent?]] Rei asked, remembering the space manipulating Unique.
[[Yeah, but that’s her modern title…well, that’s what it was five years ago, it might’ve changed. What’s important is the title she had before ‘Indifferent’.]]
[[What is it? Don’t delay.]]
[[Astra the Destroyer…that’s what she went by.]]
Rei’s interest was piqued.
[[Around a…a decade ago, she went on a crazy rampage. Shadow Feathers, Golden Fang Hunters, Swordmasters, S- Rank Adventurers…the elite of elites were trounced embarrassingly by her. No one could stop her. At seventeen years old, she single-handedly managed to shake the whole of Inis. During this time, she earned the title of strongest. Micheal didn’t fare any better. There’s no stories of them actually fighting but whenever he did arrive, she would just teleport away. He was helpless to stop her. With that experience under his belt, I’m sure he wanted to avoid another situation like that. I’m a Unique, and could potentially unlock powers that could endanger the world should I go bad, and so, he took these measures. I can’t blame him too much and…my surname probably didn’t help either.]]
Ralf’s face turned wry as he remembered his great ancestor’s exploits.
[[I see.]]
Even understanding why it was done, displeasure still swirled through Rei"s heart.
[[What happened afterwards?]] he asked.
[[With Astra?]]
[[Yeah. How did the rampage end?]]
[[It just stopped.]]
[[Just like that?]]
[[Yeah. The entire situation is smothered in a fog. It started because some high-ranking person badmouthed her recently deceased mother at some high-end party…at least that's the conventional understanding of what happened. The still mourning Astra was triggered and blew up in a way no one could expect. After the initial massacre, what followed was a several-week-long rampage. Then, all of a sudden, she just stopped. Following that, she switched her stance on world matters and took on the title of 'Indifferent'. That’s all I know. Anyway, get to the next page.]]
Sensing the hint of excitement in his other self’s voice, Rei’s actions accelerated.
The inheritance potion I gave you is called White Asura Inheritance. It will allow you to gain the White Asura form, the most powerful natural form in my collection.
The opening words caused Rei’s eyes to beam in anticipation. He eagerly kept going.
Just like normal inheritance potions, it takes several years for the full effects to manifest. The general rule is, the more potent the potion, the longer it takes. And the White Asura Inheritance is extremely potent. The White Asura form is modelled after a unique white aresian. In the final stage, you’ll resemble one. Your skin will turn a few shades lighter, your eyes will glow scarlet and your hair will become silvery-white.
‘Silver...looks like I can't escape it even over here,’ Rei thought.
While your appearance will be nearly identical, your physical abilities will not. Strength, speed, stamina, agility, regeneration, life span, sensory perception; these stats will be enhanced to an absurd degree…
‘Absurd degree,’ Rei’s spirits jolted at the claim.
But Micheal wasn’t done.
...As impressive as these things are, they don’t compare to the body’s special abilities. The White Asura produces powerful electromagnetic energy. Because of this, the White Asura form has access to three special abilities, namely: Em Scan, Ruler’s Words, and Perfect Control.
Reading the description of these abilities, Rei’s eyes widened to their limits.
[[Hax right,]] Ralf chirped in.
[[…yeah.]]
Rei took a few seconds to regain his calm. [[It's a shame we can’t use Ruler’s Words or Em Scan now. They would be very useful, especially Ruler’s Words, that’s quite a dangerous power.]]
[[Mmm.]]
Ralf shared Rei’s feelings on the matter but chose to look on the bright side. [[We’ll get them eventually, we just have to be patient. At least, Perfect Control works.]]
[[Did you test it?]]
[[Yeah. Go ahead and try it.]]
Rei nodded, then concentrated. ‘Sound off…whoa, it works.’ His eyes flickered as his world lost sound. Hopping to his feet, he moved around the room.
Stomping his feet, punching the air, toppling the wooden figures…all remained silent. Amazed, he continued for a few more seconds. ‘Sound on…and it's back.’ Back on the bed, Rei moved through his senses.
Perfect Control.
Through thoughts, one can perfectly control one’s body. It allowed one to activate, deactivate, enhance one’s various senses and bypass the body's natural limits.
Walking over to a shelf, Rei picked up a wooden dagger. After playing with it around his fingers for a bit, he tossed it up. Spinning like a propeller, it drew an arc through the air.
On its way down…
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‘Slow.’
Instantly, the dagger froze in place. It wasn’t alone, everything was made to freeze in place as Rei slowed his perception to its very limit. The cogs in his mind were made to spin at dozens of times its normal speed, causing his head to heat up rapidly.
‘So this is what he meant, this is incre-argh!’
The dagger clacked against the floor while Rei recoiled from the sharp pain that struck him.
[[Damn, that hurts…urgh…I see why Micheal said to refrain from doing this until we reach the final stage. We’ll have to use this ability sparingly.]]
Rei barely registered Ralf’s words. Hands clutching his head, he bore the waves of pain still assaulting him. A few seconds later, it passed, allowing him to respond.
[[Yeah…definitely.]]
After putting the dagger back, he hobbled back to the bed
I’ve made sure to accommodate your natural development. You should achieve the White Asura form at twenty at the latest. You can speed up the process slightly by exercising and consuming stamina potions.
Coming to an end, Rei stared at the paper. Making sure to not blink, he focused inwardly. The ‘program’ in the Mental Space was activated with a thought. After taking the ‘screenshot’, Rei put the paper away.
[[This White Asura Inheritance is something else,]] he said.
[[Right. The distance between our goal has been shortened yet again ahaha….]]
Rei's lips curled up.
[[With this body as strong as it is, I’m curious. What kind of monster is this white aresian?]]
Ralf shook his head but understood why Rei made the mistake he did. When he explained inheritance potions to Rei, he stated that they were potions that altered and enhanced humans by having them inherit certain features or abilities that originated from monsters. This explanation was usually accurate, but not now.
[[Technically, they’re not monsters. You already know what they are. They're the demons I talked about.]]
[[Hmm…]]
Rei’s mind thought back to the discussion around the ‘demons’. This was easily one of the most surprising things he had heard. After hearing that humans resided on Inis, the northern supercontinent, he had naturally wondered why they didn’t occupy the southern continent as well. Rei’s thoughts went in the direction that the area was somehow inhabitable, but Ralf’s answer was way different. He explained that demons resided on the southern continent.
Beings of evil and lovers of blood, destruction, slaughter, and…human flesh; that’s demons in a nutshell…according to the tales at least. They’re quite fearsome. Mostly humanoid in shape, they possess intelligence comparable to humanity and also have their own magical powers. Three hundred years ago, they invaded Inis and kicked off the War of the End. It was brutal, with millions of lives lost in the conflict. In the end, they failed. The Bellusian Army and Raven Tail pushed them out of Inis. Since then, they've never attempted another invasion. Three centuries have passed without incident. An unofficial truce can be said to be in effect. Humans stay in the northern hemisphere and demons stay in the southern hemisphere…if I’m worried? Not really. The Guardians of Setsuna are tough as nails, and with Micheal, Astra, Val…, and myself here, humanity has nothing to fear.
Ralf’s voice returned him to the present.
[[…aresian is the term they call themselves, but to most of humanity, they’re just demons.]]
'So it's a derogatory term, and yet Micheal doesn’t use it,' Rei mused to himself.
As if reading his mind, Ralf explained.
[[The term ‘demon’ originates from the Radiant Church’s Bible. We call the dwellers of Resia, the southern continent demons now, but they weren’t the first group who got slapped with the label. When psionics first appeared, they were called demons. The Radiant Church began a worldwide Demon Hunt, where psionics were indiscriminately hunted and killed. It caused a great deal of chaos and resentment, and ultimately kicked off the period now known as the Great Scramble. It was only after the aresians invaded that the term was transferred to them. I’m sure Micheal, who lived in that era and experienced the Demon Hunt hates the term.]]
[[I see.]]
Hearing Ralf’s words, Rei dropped his previous line of thinking and instead moved to the matter that had been on his mind for a while now.
[[Ralf…is it just you and your mother here?]]
Ralf paused a bit, before responding.
[[Yeah, it’s just the two of us. My father died.]]
‘Not passed away, but died.’ Rei’s mind analyzed.
[[Sorry.]]
Ralf shook his head.
[[It's alright. My father is a blurry existence in my mind, I have almost no memories of him. He died when I was barely two years old. Our relationship never got off the ground, so the crash wasn’t that bad. Though, I do think its a shame.]]
A melancholy echoed in Ralf’s voice as he spoke. His head sagged downwards and his eyes dimmed. [[From my mom’s endless stories about him, he seemed like an amazing guy. It's a shame.]]
A bout of silence passed before Rei spoke up.
[[What took him?]]
[[Monsters. Monsters did. My father was an Adventurer and a reasonably strong one at that. Doing a culling mission, he and his party encountered a wave of abnormally strong monsters. Not wanting the horde to rush toward the human settlements behind them, he and his group engaged it. He was said to have fought bravely, slaying monster after monster. But while his flame burned brightly, it couldn’t burn forever. After running out of energy, he succumbed to the horde and died there in that forest.]]
Ralf took a breath, then a pause, before continuing.
[[His death wasn’t in vain though. In the end, he and his parties’ efforts made a difference. The delay they bought allowed the relevant parties to mobilize and easily crush the wave of monsters. In honour of his heroic efforts, the town of Maveric erected a statue of him and his party. Though…]] Ralf paused, this time longer, [[…instead of a statue, I’d rather have him here as flesh and blood.]]
A silence passed in the word's aftermath.
Only ten seconds later did Ralf manage to break it. His eyes roamed about the place. [[This room, did you notice the oddity in my reaction?]]
Rei squinted. Delving into his memories, his mind worked to lock onto and solve the oddity Ralf spoke of.
‘Kladek is hundreds of kilometres away, and yet upon waking, he didn't immediately register that he had moved. The only conclusion I can think of is…’
[[Your room is the same...right?]]
Ralf smiled.
[[More than that, the entire house is the same. My mom is multi-talented. Besides trinkets, toys, and her art, she’s also pretty good at building simple constructions. Since Maveric, we’ve settled at a dozen different places, and every time, she builds the same house as the one we shared with dad.]]
Ralf let out a long sigh as he thought of his mother’s hopeless romantic nature.
[[…]]
[[Uh, oh, anyway enough about this, let’s head back.]]
Ralf shifted the topic as he sensed his other self’s feeling of misplacement.
[[I’m interested to see what you were doing in there. Time to find out.]]
[[Oh, yeah.]]
Ralf made himself comfortable on the bed, then one after the other, they made the trip back.
Big surprises were in store.