Chapter 106 Volume III - 27: The Second Part of a Past
Chapter 106 Volume III - Chapter 27: The Second Part of a Past
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Congratulations! As a result of your hard work, your Endurance statistic has improved to D+!
Your body has reached a sufficient level for your General Level to increase!
As your General Level increases to D+, your body will go through some changes. Your muscles will become stronger, your blood will be cleansed, and much more. Please stay calm during the process!
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Suddenly a pain shot through my whole body. The pain wasn't much, but it was very uncomfortable as it enveloped all my muscles. Still, I waited and waited. Finally, after a while, the pain slowly started to subside.
When the pain was completely gone, my whole body felt different than before. No matter how many times I experienced it, I could not get used to this sudden change in my body.
Sighing, I opened my statistics window.
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--Personal Information--
Name: Adrian
Last Name: Caleo(?)
Race: Human(?)
Age: 18
--Statistics--
General Level: D+
Strength: D+
Agility: D
Vitality: D
Endurance: D+
Luck: E
Magic Power: D
Mana Efficiency: D+
Charm: B
--Status Effects--
Abnormal Status Effect: [Sealed]
--Masteries--
[Spear Mastery(D)] -- [Mana Expert(D+)] -- [Qilsak Spear Mastery(C-)]
--Active Skills--
[Mana Ascension(C)] -- [Platform(C)]
--Passive Skills--
[Difficulty Lover(A)] -- [Friend of Mana(B)] -- [Poison Immunity(E)]
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I smiled slightly, satisfied, but then my eyes drifted to the 'status effects'.
I felt something warm in my chest, my hand went to my pendant and involuntarily squeezed it. Finally, different thoughts sprouted in my mind, thoughts about the past and the future.
'You just raised your general level, Adrian. You spent the whole night studying. Get some sleep, and don't think too much. Otherwise, you won't sleep well.'
Lithoa's voice echoed in my mind as if he had emphasized them. I stopped squeezing my pendant, sighed deeply, and looked at the clock.
There is an hour before sunrise...
"You're right."
So I let myself go to bed.
Actually, I had a lot of things on my mind. Most of them were not things that I could easily ignore, but... I was really tired after working all night. As Lithoa said, I needed a rest.
So I tried to clear my mind as much as possible, closed my eyes, and sleep quickly enveloped me, combined with the extreme tiredness of working for a long time and my body having just passed a new grade. The already quiet environment became even quieter, the darkness even more dominant.
This didn't last long, though.
Suddenly the darkness rippled, blurred beams of light made themselves known. Strange sounds intermingled, and then they became clearer.
The pitch blackness before my eyes changed in an instant. Slowly it became a place deep in my memories and in all this confusion I heard a sound.
A slow knock on a door, three times, and then the voice of a familiar figure echoing in my mind.
Oh... This is... a continuation of my previous dream, of the past...
"Sophia, take Adrian and go inside."
Sophia, my mother, took me by the hand and led me into a room. She didn't even think or question what had happened, she quickly closed the door and waited.
I was scared. I was scared both because my father's usually expressionless face had suddenly become too serious and because of my mother's impetuous behavior.
"Mom...? What's going on? Who is here?"
My mother smiled brightly at my innocent questions. I could see worry in her pink eyes, but she was doing her best not to show it to me.
"It's okay, honey, it's probably someone your father knows. Daddy will take care of everything soon."
These words were not an answer to my question, so the thought of what my father would take care of sprouted in my mind this time, and then I heard his steps.
My father approached the outer door of the house with slow steps, turned the handle and our door opened with a creaky sound.
My mother was leaning her ear against the wall during this time. While I could easily hear what was happening downstairs, she had to focus, after all, unlike me, she was fully human.
Even though she was aware of this, she didn't cover my ears, forgetting that I could hear much better than she could.
"What did you come for?"
When I heard my father's deep voice, I focused too, even though I wasn't leaning my ear against the wall.
"I thought I'd drop by, am I disturbing you?"
It was a man who came to our house, I could tell by his voice, but... I was also uncomfortable. There was a clarity, a calmness in his voice that I had never heard before.
"To tell you the truth, yes, you disturbed me."
"You're straightforward."
"Because I have an idea of what you're here for."
"Oh?"
The man feigned surprise, but his tone did not change.
"It seems I'm not the first person to come here."
"That's right."
"And by the look in your eyes, you're trying to tell me I won't be the last?"
"You can read the atmosphere."
The man sighed slightly.
"If you know why I'm here, what's your answer?"
"I'm not going back there."
A moment of silence enveloped the room with the sharpness and weight of my father's words. Then, as if the awkward 'banter' between the man and my father was over, the calm question came again.
"Are you sure?"
My father did not answer and the man paused without saying anything. For a moment I heard a voice, the man seemed about to say a word, but paused. His words were cut off as if he had realized something.
"Oh? I guess you're not the only one here?"
Suddenly my whole body began to tremble. An intense cold, which was the source of this shivering, filled the house as it was.
Mom quickly stopped listening at the door, hugged me tightly as if to protect me from the cold, and closed her eyes. Yet she said nothing, remaining silent as if she was afraid she would be noticed.
"Besides... Ah, are you angry?"
The man's completely emotionless voice suddenly became heavy.
"Did you make the same mistake as before? I understand why your family dislikes you, but... unlike my predecessors, I will give you a choice."
"What choice?"
The atmosphere grew heavier, and I realized I was having trouble breathing.
"We can hide this little mistake of yours. All you have to do is come with me and no one will even know you are here."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then it will be a pity for those ins-"
The man's voice was suddenly interrupted, the sound of the air splitting filled my ears and a shockwave spread around. Immediately afterward I heard a distant sound, the sound of trees splintering.
My father must have thrown the man into the forest with great force.
"-ou're going to pla-"
I had to really focus to understand his voice, but I still couldn't make out what he was saying. He was too far away.
"This is the last game you will ever play."
After my father's words, there was no further dialog between them. The sound of metal hitting metal echoed through the forest. Explosions rang in my ears. A purple glow seeped through the window, catching my eye, and my mother hugged me even tighter.
"Don't be scared, Mommy's here, okay?"
She was telling me not to be afraid, but her whole body was shaking violently. Her eyes were closed, hiding the pink eyes I had always been fascinated by.
So I hugged her, both because I was scared too and because I wanted to comfort her a little. Immediately after that, the purple glow seeping into the room through the window suddenly became so intense that I couldn't understand what was happening.
"Sophia! Watch out!"
My father's worried voice echoed throughout the area. Without a moment's hesitation, my mother covered me with her body. As if a new sun was rising right next to our house, the explosion, accompanied by a brilliant light, suddenly filled my entire field of vision.
My eyes flew open, the cold seeped into my skin and I jumped out of bed, gasping for breath, realizing that the reason I was cold was because my window was open and I was sweaty.
A shiver ran through my body as if the explosion had not only happened in my dream, but had happened again right next to my body.
Remembering the past... it was definitely not a good experience.
'Again?'
I heard Lithoa's voice in my head but I didn't answer him. I quickly went to the sink and splashed cold water on my face several times, trying to relax.
'Are you okay?
'Yes... Yes, I'm fine. It's just my dream, no... the memory of it was too real.'
I looked at myself in the mirror.
My white hair was all messed up and my green eyes were burred because I had just woken up from sleep.
Other than that, I was fine, but then... suddenly I noticed something I hadn't noticed before. My eyebrows lifted for a moment, and I just stared at my image in the mirror.
"I look like my father, huh?"
I hadn't noticed it until now, but I had inherited both my hair color, eye color, and facial structure from my father. The only thing I had inherited from my mother was that my hair was a bit messier than my father's, but other than that... I looked like a copy of my father.
"Haaa... I'd better catch my breath."
I splashed water on my face once more. At first, my intention was to go to the window, but then the idea of taking a walk outside suddenly appealed to me.
I put on a coat and went outside.
The sun was already out but not yet overhead. Gray clouds were covering it and it looked like it was going to rain.
While for most people this weather would be considered gloomy, for me it was refreshing. The chill in the air, the dim light, the wind on my face, and the coolness... these things made me feel relaxed.
So I kept walking. Even though the academy was quiet, I wanted to be alone. So I went into the woods and as I went deeper and deeper, I found a big rock.
The rock was three to four meters long, and on top of that, it was a wide one. It looked as if it had been carefully placed there, there were not many trees around it. It was an object that nature had emphasized.
I wanted to get on top of it, so I jumped onto the tree closest to the rock and then jumped onto the rock. In a short time, I was already at the level of the trees. It was a strange feeling, being higher than I normally am and being able to see the surroundings like this... it was peaceful.