Right as the thought went through his head, a gray screen appeared, floating silently in front of him.
It didn't come from the bracelet. It didn't project from anything.
It was just… there. Hanging in the air like a ghost made of metal and thought.
The boy flinched slightly, but it didn't go away. The text on it shimmered—twisting shapes, characters he didn't recognize. A strange, warped script. Like it came from a language he'd never seen before.
And yet…He could read it. Somehow, he understood every word.
'Thank god I get the language at least from this body'
It is like a video game screen or is it a system screen like in fantasy story from his past life? he didn't really know or even remmember.
He stared at. and trayed understanding it slowly.
Name: [Ethan]
Rank: [Awakened]
Essence: [721/1000]
Attributes: [Still mind] [Ivory Grip]
Aspect: [As^h Wa##en I7k$%alk78r]
[W*en the f@l&m#s... Every fallen en*@e wr@@!its ano]
[Error: failed to identify Aspect]
Curse: [Null Brand]
Relics: __
He stared at the screen for a bit, its faint glow reflecting in his eyes.
Then, almost without realizing it, a word slipped quietly from his mouth.
"…Ethan."
His voice was barely above a whisper, but there was certainty in it.That name—it felt right.Not like remembering something… more like recognizing it.
"My name is Ethan," he repeated, a little louder this time.
At least it was a decent name. Normal, at least.
"Ethan, huh…" Elric said, watching him carefully. His tone didn't change, but something in his expression shifted—just a bit. "Guess we're getting somewhere."
The boy — Ethan looked at the screen again, still floating steadily in front of him. There were numbers, words, strange symbols lining up in neat little rows.
He frowned. "Wh… ahm, what are these… attributes, and…"
Right as the question took shape in his mind, the text on the screen began to shift.
It shimmered for a second—then rearranged itself. New lines of information bloomed into view, as if it had been waiting for him to ask.
Attributes:
[Still mind]: [Grants the bearer unbreakable mental stillness — emotions remain calm, thoughts remain focused, and fear cannot penetrate. They are as untouchable as a reflection in glass.]
[Ivory Grip]: [Grants the bearer unnaturally perfect hand control — precise, graceful, and unshakable. Whether wielding a blade, lockpick, needle, their grip never slips, falters, or hesitates.]
He looked at the Still Mind attribute.
And in that moment… he understood.
That's why.
That strange calmness he felt ever since waking up in this world. The reason his breath never wavered, even when death was standing right above him. It wasn't just shock. It wasn't training or instinct.
It was part of him. Written into his body like code.
Still Mind.
He should probably be more disturbed by that…But honestly?
He was just grateful.
It was the only thing that had been keeping his ass alive.
His eyes moved further down the screen, scanning the list until he landed on something else.
Ivory Grip.
"…What?" his thoughts echoed dryly.
'Really?' He blinked. 'The only thing I grabbed—or tried to—was a knife. And look where that got me.'
He sighed under his breath.
In that moment, the old man spoke again. "Ah, attributes," he said, voice calm and a bit distant, like he was repeating a lesson he'd given many times before. "They're innate traits. Things buried deep inside you. The bracelet helps awaken them once you become an Awakened."
He paused to take another drink from the metal bottle, his throat moving with the swallow.
"The Awakened usually only have one, but… when you grow stronger—reach a breakthrough and rank up—the bracelet helps unlock another."
Ethan kept staring at him. Still. Silent. His expression didn't change.
But inside, his thoughts were spinning.
'One? But I have two…'
'What could that possibly mean?'
He didn't say anything, but the idea dug into him like a splinter. Am I special or something?
It was the kind of thought that felt dangerous to believe—but hard to ignore.
And just as his mind started to ride that wave a little too happily—
The old man cut through it.
"And your Aspect," he said, now looking at Ethan more directly, "is the most important thing."
He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees.
"It's what you build your capabilities around. Aspects are the embodied nature of a soul's power. They shape how you interact with the world's mystical forces."
He lifted a finger for emphasis.
"Unlike attributes, which grant you passive traits… an Aspect defines your core path of growth. Your direction. Your potential. It's not something to take lightly."
Ethan looked at Elric, then back at the screen in front of him.
What's wrong with his Aspect?
It didn't look right. Or maybe it wasn't showing anything at all. Was it glitched? Broken?
He stared at it, waiting for something to change—but nothing did.
His brows pulled together. Confused. Unsure.
'Should I tell him?'
His eyes flicked back to Elric. The old man was still focused on the fire, the metal bottle resting loosely in his hand. Ethan felt the urge to speak rising in his chest… but then—
The memory hit him.
The pit.
The corpses.
Cold, twisted bodies stacked like trash. And the man with the sword—Clyde—talking about "experiments" like it was just another errand.
His throat tightened.
No. Better to stay quiet.
What if he was one of those they were talking about?
He pushed the thought down, with his face staying calm.
Fighting this wired need to speak.
Elric didn't seem to notice—or maybe he just didn't care.
The old man kept talking.
"Each Aspect is unique," he said, eyes half-lidded as he stared into the fire. "Tied to a deeper truth hidden within the bearer's essence."
He shifted slightly, voice taking on a distant tone. "They used to awaken during life-altering moments. Near-death experiences… intense revelations… rituals that crack open the spirit."
There was a pause. A breath. Then:
"But all of that changed after the Curse descended."
His gaze darkened. For a second, he looked older—tired in a way that ran deep beneath skin and muscle.
"After the Curse came into the world, everything changed. The balance. The laws. Life itself became… difficult. Harsh."
He took a slow sip from the bottle, letting the silence settle before he spoke again.
"Awakening became nearly impossible."
Another breath.
"Well—at least until the bracelets showed up."
"But all that happened a long time before any of us were born," Elric said, his voice calm, but heavy. Like the weight of the world had settled into his words.
He leaned back slightly, the firelight casting long shadows across his face.
"And that brings us to the next point… the Curse."
His tone dropped lower. Rougher.
"The Curse affected almost every living creature. Marked every human with something twisted. A scar on the soul. And it didn't stop there—"
He gestured vaguely toward the forest.
"And turn nearly every animal turned into a disgusting beast… nightmares with flesh. Some couldn't even be called animals anymore. Just rage and teeth."
He paused, took another long drink from the metal bottle.
"And the monsters… they became worse. So much worse. Unbelievably cruel. If you can even call them 'creatures' at this point."
Ethan watched him silently. The words were sinking in, slow and sharp like thorns under the skin.
Elric didn't look at him right away. He stared into the fire for a few seconds, then spoke again—quieter now.
"And yeah. The Curse. You have one. I have one. Everyone does."
He turned to Ethan then, eyes sharp under thick brows.
"It's made to ruin us. Twist everything. It's what keeps us from reaching our potential. What drags us down every time we try to rise."
Then his voice softened, just barely.
"But you need to accept it. Understand it. Live with it."
He leaned forward.
"Because the more you fight it… the easier it becomes for it to consume you."
And at that moment, Ethan looked back at the screen—eyes narrowing—his gaze settling exactly where the word Curse was written.
It was there.
Simple.
Isolated.
Yet something about it made his chest tighten.
The letters seemed darker than the rest of the text. Heavy. Like they were carved into the screen instead of just written there.
Curse: [Null Brand]
[barred from using magic weapons or channeling Attributes in combat]
He blinked.
Stared at it again.
No change. No mistake.
That's what it said.
His hands clenched without thinking. Not in anger—just reflex. Like his body was trying to hold something that had just slipped through his fingers.
'Does this mean… I'm useless in combat?'
The thought hit harder than expected
Magic weapons—gone.
Attributes—useless in a fight.
In a world that was clearly built around strength, survival, and the supernatural… what was left for someone like him?
He swallowed hard, a bitter taste on his tongue.
'How the hell am I supposed to survive in a world like this?'
"You'll come to hate your curse," Elric said, as if reading his thoughts. "But don't waste time wishing for another one. You learn to live around it—or it eats you whole."
He didn't sound harsh.
Just honest.
Final.
Ethan stared down at the flickering flames.
A sharp wind moved through the trees behind him.
And for the first time since waking up in this world, the silence didn't feel calm.
It felt like pressure.
And he wasn't sure how long he could hold it back.