I nearly spent an hour cleaning my body from the mess.
I scrubbed myself until the water ran clean from all the black filth attached to my body.
The shower steamed the entire bathroom.
Then came the floors in my room.
And the bedsheets.
I cleaned every place where the filth had stuck to.
By the time I finished, my arms felt a little stiff, while my brain processed all the new information I had obtained.
I dropped on the chair, near the desk and with a sigh, I opened the laptop.
The interface felt more natural now, as I had somehow obtained the previous Raviel's memories in fragments. But it was a blessing nonetheless.
Opening the 'Oracle' app, I typed on the search bar.
"Lost Era".
The loading circle spun on the screen.
I stretched my arms above my head, exhaling.
"I am too dumb", I muttered to myself.
The circle stopped spinning. Several Search results filled the screen. Old paper documents, blurry photographs about ancient ruins. I knew this were just some edited shit, as people really didn't knew what truly happened in the Lost Era apart from some documents which were verified by the N.U.A.
I clicked on the first link.
"The Lost Era: A Brief Overview."
The page scrolled slowly, lines of text appearing as I scrolled downwards.
[ The Lost Era marks humanity's first contact with mana. Its origins remain unknown. However this era also saw the first manifestation of Abysswalkers emerging through rifts all across the world.
Continents were displaced, shifting and colliding until the Earth briefly resembled a near-Pangean state.]
I leaned closer towards the screen, eyes narrowing as I continued.
[Two major events define the Lost Era: the Battle of Extinction and the Great War.
Both resulted in the deaths of the five human powerhouses who defended the Western, Southern, Northern, and Eastern fronts.]
I let out a breath.
I paused my hands and stopped scrolling further.
The screen's glow felt distant in my eyes.
I leaned back in my chair, letting my head rest on the backrest as everything I'd been trying to avoid remembering came rushing back again.
"…Whatever happened after I drank that damn potion," I muttered, "and whatever that skill was, it has to be tied to memories."
It made sense, at least, as much sense as anything it could after witnessing them firsthand.
"That place, the museum, the void, that field…" I exhaled shakily.
"Those had to be fragments that I had watched in that skill. Previous Raviel's fragments. Overlapping with mine."
My throat tightened. I looked away from the screen.
And during the last part, the previous Raviel's memories were more vivid, as I watched that he somehow had gone into a undiscovered ruin near the pacific ocean, these memories of Raviel played during the integration part, when I touched the book. And it made sense, as a ruin can be anything, a different place or habitat all together.
"But still, getting a five-star martial module?" I snorted softly. "A soul weapon, too." And that too of Grandmaster Ryusei Yamamoto.
I shook my head, rubbing my eyes with the heel of my palm.
"You really were something, Raviel."
Then.
I opened the status screen again.
"…Yeah," I muttered, scanning line after line, "I was so damn wrong when I first saw this."
As I don't know, how even did I forget the layout of the status screen when I first saw it.
I think that it should be because my mind was integrating with this body.
Then I saw the affinity section.
"No more lightning for me, huh?" I exhaled through my nose. "Other than coating my body with it.. that's all I've got left."
My eyes drifted further as I saw the....
Gravity affinity- Engraved.
" It's absurd...", I whispered, so the Katana really did engrave an affinity on my body.
And seeing my soul-bound weapon, my jaw dropped. It had two variants, it meant that it could transform into one more form, aside from the katana.
Then came the part that made my skin prickle every time I saw it:
Martial Module: Everscent Severance [★★★★★]
"…This still feels unreal," I said under my breath. "Two of the most prized possessions of the Black King."
His self developed martial arts and weapon.
Were now in my possession.
But I remembered about my carelessness.
I sighed and dragged a hand down my face.
Only now....now, when everything finally slowed down, did I realize how unbelievably careless I'd been ever since i came here.
Fredrick.
That damn encounter with him replayed in my head like a movie.
Of course he'd signed the contract.
Not because he trusted me.
But because the contract had loopholes he could exploit, if he wanted.
And I knew that. I knew it.
But if I hadn't written it like that… he never would've signed it at all. But still it was a careless move.
"If this body didn't have D-rank stats and C- rank mana sync to see that hit" I muttered, "…I'd be a stain on the wall. Not even a body left to bury."
I leaned back, exhaling.
"Dead man walking. That was me if i hadn't succeded."
Before the next thought could form, a ding soumd came from my laptop.
A new notification flashed on the screen.
[The Azathoth Family has announced their return from Switzerland.
Estimated arrival: 3 days.]
My head thunked back against the chair.
"Oh, come on," I groaned. "People really can't give the main character a rest, can they?"
I stared at the matte black ceiling.
"…Yeah. Enough," I whispered to myself.
"Let's sleep now," I murmured, dragging myself toward the bed. "I feel… tired."