This was a horrendous experience. Never ever have I thought history would be this...complex.
I thought grumpily as I lay sprawled on my back over the bed.
Currently I was back in my room and contemplating on my options.
I thought history would give me some edge over the affairs in this land but it turned out to be a science book in itself. Words like "mana synchronisation", "world root" etc. sounds good in fantasy books...but these bastards have actually applied them in the history books!
And what was with all that glazing? In my previous world, history books were simply a narration of events that had taken place.
But here...
Those historians had described every minute breath of their ruler in the most orgasmic way possible.
I don't even want to read the papers released by Henry Mordant...
I turned on my belly as I propped myself on my elbows. More to hide the discomfort I would feel at times in this body.
Mainly down there...I didn't know elders get so much hair and all.
Amway, I was replaying everything that happened since my death.
And few things struck me as quite odd.
Why is Gideon even accusing me?
Most importantly, how did he even know about the memory loss...only that it's just not some simple memory loss but rather a whole package of transmigration stuff, which of course he wouldn't understand.
Or wait wait...was transmigration normal in this world? I felt my pupils widen as I thought of the possible probability of other humans back from Earth.
I need to search more about this.
My mind wondered back to Gideon and the way his confidence wavered when offered a choice.
So he wasn't sure about it huh?
Henry Mordant died in an assassination attempt. What's surprising is that nobody here seemed concerned about it... that's quite baffling.
And also a lot more suspicious.
I have yet to register any type of complaint against the attack. But from the looks of it, I am almost sure someone had been covering up the case.
Was it Gideon?
At that moment, I remembered what I had said in front of the council.
I had hinted at possible intervention of Gideon since his son was my rival. Now....how did I actually know that?
I wanted to ignore it ... because the thought of solving it was unsettling.
Because at that moment in front of the council, I felt a whisper in my ears. As if someone told me secrets that should have been buried with Henry's death.
But I heard them. And that's what worried me.
I was okay with his memories coming to me. In fact that would be beneficial to me in the long run.
But I still remembered that the moment I heard the whisper, I had acted a bit strange. More bold. More vocal. And more witty.
I wasn't like that. Maybe a little,but not to that extent.
This...I feared it. I wanted to remain Karl, not become Henry.
I sighed.
Too much overthinking was making my head throb lightly.
To distract myself I called out my system.
|Status|
------------------------------
Name: Henry Mordant (Karl Max)
Race: Human
Age: 23(14)
Innate Skills: Seed of Life (On Cooldown), One with Shadows(Inactive)
Active Skills: Unbending Baron, Life Drain
Prime: Zero Order
__________
Strength: E
Agility: F
Intelligence: D
Durability: F
___________
Mana Meter: ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
[Capacity: F]
-------------------------------
I needed to understand how the system worked. I can see the skills but not their functions.
The moment I thought that, a notification covered the screen.
[To look into the skills, concentrate on the one you want to see.]
Did it just read my thought?
No answer came from the system.
For a moment I looked strangely at the system screen.
But then I ignored it.
Even if it was reading my thoughts, I couldn't do anything about it. Yet.
Following the instructions, I focused on Seed of Life.
Instantly a pop-up opened in front of my vision.
|Seed of Life| {On Cooldown}
[Type: Upgradable]
[In the era of mystics and lores, there existed a tree named Ygaddrasil. Believed to be the centre of the universe and Mother of Life, Her reach crossed realms and gave birth to millions of species. Her favourite was none but as a reminder to all, Her sacred divinity spread through the universe in the forms of forests.
She had three loving children--###,### and ####. However, none knew about the fourth child.
While Her three children were Her roots, Her fourth child was Her heart.
One that was despised by the other three. After Ygaddrasil's death, Her three roots almost ended the fourth child.
But she ecaped.
The Seed of Life escaped.]
[Use: Can reverse time when it detects a fatal strike or when you are near death.
Current time reversal limit: 5 minutes
Current Cooldown Period: 1 month]
So I am not immortal...?
I felt goosebumps creep up my neck as I thought of my impulsive courage when I had fought that bulky man.
If he had tried killing me another time, he would have succeeded. Damnation, that was a dreadful thought.
But still....this was something overpowered given it was upgradable.
And it's not like you die everyday right?
"I shall manage." I thought as I moved to the next innate skill.
|One with Shadows| {Locked}
[Henry Mordant was an enigmatic individual. He wasn't a man noticed much even when he happened to be the son of an Earl.
As a result people took him lightly. Exactly the thing Henry had actually been training for. A master assassin, he was a force to deal with in dark corridors and closed combats.
However he was weak in an open confrontation.
And thus at the mere age of 23, he had developed his own technique. One that bound him to the shadows and almost made him incorporeal.
Sadly, he died before he could master the technique.]
[Use: {Incomplete}]
A son of an earl. Not bad. Not bad at all.
And it seems he happened to be having a lot of secrets.
I am thoroughly impressed... though it also meant that I need to master the technique to unlock it.
Something that Henry hadn't done as well.
As I looked at the next skill, my jaw gaped open.
"What the hell?"
|Unbending Baron|
[Type: Upgradable]
[No pain, no gain.]
[Use: The more you suffer, the stronger you are.]
"Okay, calm down. Calm down,Karl. This sick, filthy, sarcastic, ass skill doesn't need my anger." My voice rose despite myself as I tried to calm down my heavy breathing.
This skill was the same as offering me a daily dose of drugs in exchange for pleasure.
"Okay, let's just look at the last one. The overpowered skill can definitely sweeten my mood." I said with my hope returning.
|Life Drain|
[Type: Dependable]
[The Seed of Life has long lost her consciousness. However as a gift to her future owner, she made a skill exclusively for them. She prays for your safety and happiness.]
[Use: A corresponding skill that can ONLY be used after the Seed of Life has been activated. Every life that returns back from the dead after the time reversal is stored in a bubble. Host can decide whether to let them live or kill all of them anytime and use their essence for upgrading his stats.]
Now this explained to me why the bulky guy didn't burst out but the others had.
The others had already died except for the bulky man. Made sense I was able to unalive them all again.
But a question swirled in my mind all this time.
"Did I just get nerfed?"