He wearily opened his eyes, grunting as he clutched his head.
What… happened? he thought with a frown as he gazed at the ceiling.
Sirius was on his bed, with Noir sprawled across beside him. Purring sounds, reminiscent of revving engines, filled the room.
Carefully, he sat upright, wincing as he felt aches throughout his body. Softly shaking his head, he scanned his place for any clue in hopes of remembering something. Yet his room showed nothing. No signs of conflict or struggle.
It remained exactly the same, nothing out of place.
He knew something had happened. But what exactly? Sirius didn't know. For some reason, there were missing gaps in his memories he couldn't remember.
Rubbing his forehead with his eyes closed, Sirius began to rummage through his sea of memories.
However, as time passed, a frown spread across his face.
Sirius couldn't remember anything…
That's… weird, he thought, his frown deepening. Did they beat me up so badly that I lost consciousness and forgot everything?
Vexed, he habitually rubbed the back of his neck, only for his eyes to widen.
The necklace was gone.
"No–!"
Suddenly, the ethereal goddess materialized on his bed, floating in the air before him.
At the same time, a flood of memories surged through his mind, accompanied by a severe headache.
Sirius gritted his teeth in pain. His eyes locked with hers. The familiar yet foreign memories unfolded one by one.
At that time, because his vision was blurry and her figure was indistinct, he couldn't make out her facial features clearly.
The goddess… she was real! he thought with disbelief as his expression froze.
Now, everything made sense, from why he lost consciousness to what happened to the necklace, and the missing gaps in his memories. He thought he was hallucinating at that time, and, feeling utterly desperate, as Sirius was reminded of his failures, he agreed instantly.
However, if he were given the same choice, his answer would remain the same.
At this moment, Sirius narrowed his eyes, trying to make out her features. And when he did, he was instantly struck breathless. He found himself unable to take his gaze away from her.
Calling her as an ethereal goddess barely did her justice. Even if her features were more visible now, the word "goddess" was akin to an insult, barely encapsulating her true beauty. It was as though she existed beyond this world, untouched by mortal dust.
She possessed the temperament of an otherworldly fairy—porcelain skin, striking red eyes, and silver hair cascading like a waterfall. Her voluptuous figure was wrapped in a fitted, pristine white gown that hugged her body like a second skin, revealing her neckline and a hint of cleavage.
Without a doubt, she was a spiritual goddess. A real one.
Sirius had to will himself out of his trance, his eyes growing serious. He hastily cupped his fists and bowed his head.
"Senior—"
"Speak informally. And you may refer to me as the Immortal Spirit."
He was stunned, staring at her for a while before nodding reluctantly.
"You said you'd give me power…" Sirius stared at her for a moment, his expression turning grave. "What's the price?"
He wasted no time, believing no such thing was free in this world. And even though it sounded far-fetched, he was too desperate and had no choice.
Not to mention, Sirius didn't bother to be cautious. If his guess was correct, then this so-called Immortal Spirit was a Fifth Mortal Realm cultivator or even beyond, given her ability to completely project her primordial spirit outside her body.
With a quick glimpse at Noir, who was still sound asleep, Sirius confirmed his guess that she was able to remain undetected, even against a magical beast with keen senses.
Against such an existence, everything was futile.
"The power you long sought will not be given to you directly," she said as her feet touched the floor. "Rather, it is the primordial artifact you once held that would give you opportunities. In the end, it is up to you, the inheritor, to risk yourself and seize the opportunities presented unto you."
Sirius was stunned, finding her way of speaking odd, then he frowned. Primordial artifact? Inheritor?
He shook his head. Such thoughts were useless at this moment.
"But…" Sirius' expression turned extremely dark as his head lowered. "I'm unable to cultivate..."
As much as he hated to admit it, he was truly a cripple.
The Immortal Spirit stared at him for a moment, then replied:
"Truth be told, you are not a cripple," she said, floating gracefully in the air again. "When you cultivate, the spiritual energy you absorb is inevitably redirected into the artifact to slowly repair itself and then maintain certain functionalities. This is needed in order to protect you at times absolutely necessary. At the same time, it blocks divine sense to avoid scrutiny, thus appearing like a normal artifact to the others."
His lips twitched. For a long moment, he was stunned silent. Sirius didn't know whether to feel infuriated or overjoyed.
Before his parents passed away, they left him this artifact as a memento. They told Sirius to keep it at all times to ward off bad spirits, though he didn't believe that. However, ever since they passed away, he had kept it all the time, only removing it to hide it away from those bandits.
Sirius had even thought of allowing those bandits to look at it to finally remove all suspicion. But he feared that they would still be persistent in thinking it was an "anomaly," snatching it away for an even deeper investigation.
He stared at his hands for a while, feeling the once familiar sense of powerlessness slowly turning foreign. In the end, he sighed in defeat and met her eyes again.
"My necklace—the artifact… what is it and…" he said, confusion spreading across his face. "Why only now?"
"The artifact requires you to drip considerable blood essence onto it to fully awaken and make it yours. However, since it was heavily damaged, there was no way to contact you…
"Regarding the nature of the artifact, it possesses various locked and unlocked functionalities beyond your comprehension, all designed to facilitate your growth. All you need to know for now is that it detects Providents, allowing you to eliminate them without karmic backlash, and be rewarded accordingly."
Sirius couldn't help but be astounded beyond belief once more. As far as he knew, no such artifact existed in this world.
Providents… aren't they the same thing as the protagonists found in fictional works? But… why?
Then, with a shake of his head, a resolute expression formed on his face. "How do I start? I want to start now."
The Immortal Spirit was momentarily taken aback.
"Are you sure?"
He nodded.
In response, the Immortal Spirit simply locked eyes with him.
Sirius felt deeply uncomfortable with her gaze, and just as he was about to ask what was wrong, something appeared before him that made him gape in wonder.
It was a hologram, reminiscent of those video game panels he had seen countless times.
[A Quest has been created.]
[A Protagonist has been selected. Preparing description…]
[Noah Eckert: A Blessed-type Protagonist. The reincarnation of an unfortunate mortal from the Divine Realm. In a desperate attempt to prove himself worthy to the elders of his fiance's clan, he ventured into a dangerous ruin in search of a divine artifact, only to face an unexpected death from traps. Unbeknownst to him, the divine treasure chose him and protected his soul, allowing him to endure the cycle of reincarnation. He awoke on Earth before the Calamity began, without his memories intact."
[Fortune Value: 500]
[Cheat: ??? Dimensional Subspace Artifact]
Sirius couldn't help but open his mouth. Blessed-type Provident? Reincarnation… Cheat… and Fortune Value?
[Destination: Earth before the Calamity began.]
[Initiating Quest…]
[Starting in 3…]
[Starting in 2…]
His expression shifted dramatically.
"Wait, wait! Stop!"