Time passed quietly after my arrival.
Not days.
Weeks.
Maybe months.
I stopped counting.
Instead, I focused on understanding the most important thing in my new existence.
The System.
Sitting beneath a shrine at the edge of the town, I closed my eyes and reviewed the translucent interface only I could see.
Golden text unfolded before me, responding to my intent.
[Template System — Analysis Mode]
Current Template: Hao AsakuraSynchronization: 5%
Methods of Synchronization Growth Identified:
System Quests — High reward progression missions.
Defeating Powerful Opponents — Percentage gained scales with enemy strength.
Self-Development — Learning new abilities or increasing personal power. (Low gain, high stability)
??? (Locked Conditions)
I nodded slowly.
"So the system rewards growth… conflict… and achievement."
Simple.
Dangerous.
Perfect.
Quests would give the largest boosts, but they depended on circumstances outside my control.
Defeating strong opponents was faster — but also riskier.
And then there was the safest method.
Learning.
Each new skill only granted about one percent synchronization, but the benefits were enormous.
Every increase massively expanded my mana reserves and spiritual control.
Quality over speed.
Very Hao-like.
I smiled faintly.
"I guess patience really is power."
My gaze drifted toward the shrine behind me.
That decision had led to my current situation.
Becoming an apprentice.
Apparently, in a Marvel–DC fusion world, traditions like Onmyoji weren't myths or superstition.
They were legitimate mystical practitioners.
And my master…
…was the real thing.
An elderly onmyoji of considerable status, capable of commanding spirits and maintaining barriers protecting several nearby settlements.
To ordinary humans, he was a priest.
To the supernatural world?
A minor authority.
To me?
A stepping stone.
Not out of arrogance.
Just… inevitability.
"You learn too quickly," my master said one evening, watching as I completed a talisman inscription flawlessly.
His brows furrowed.
"Most students require years to stabilize their spiritual ink."
I tilted my head innocently.
"Is it difficult?"
He stared at me for several seconds.
"…Yes."
I almost laughed.
But honestly, it wasn't surprising.
I wasn't just talented.
I was effectively studying techniques already engraved into my soul through Hao's memories.
Every lesson felt like remembering rather than learning.
Spirit binding.
Barrier construction.
Energy circulation.
Invocation chants.
Each success triggered a familiar sensation.
[Synchronization Increased: +1%]Current Synchronization: 6%
Mana Capacity Significantly Increased
Warm energy surged through my body.
My spiritual core expanded again, deeper and denser than before.
Even breathing felt different — as if the world itself supplied power with every inhale.
I had noticed a pattern.
Learning granted smaller percentages…
…but the mana growth was absurd.
If this continued, my raw magical reserves alone would eventually surpass most sorcerers.
And I hadn't even begun serious combat yet.
My master watched me quietly.
"You remind me of legends," he said at last.
"Children touched by spirits at birth."
Not entirely wrong.
Just incomplete.
I bowed respectfully.
Inside, however, my thoughts drifted elsewhere.
If defeating powerful opponents gave synchronization…
then eventually, I would need challenges.
Real ones.
Not humans.
Not weak spirits.
Something worthy.
Something dangerous enough to accelerate my evolution.
A faint excitement stirred within me — calm, controlled, but unmistakably eager.
Another echo of Hao's personality.
Battle wasn't frightening.
It was opportunity.
Later that night, I sat alone beneath the moon, sensing the spiritual world expanding around me.
Spirits gathered more frequently now.
Some curious.
Some reverent.
Some afraid.
My presence was changing the balance of the area without effort.
At only six percent synchronization.
"…This universe really has no idea what's coming," I murmured.
Fifteen hundred years before heroes.
Before organizations like the future mystical guardians of Earth.
Before figures such as Doctor Fate or the eventual Doctor Strange would defend reality.
I wasn't entering their era.
I was growing long before it began.
And when they finally appeared…
I would already be something ancient.
Something unstoppable.
[System Notification]
New Quest Available:"Prove Your Authority."
A powerful spirit has entered your master's territory.
Objective: Defeat or subjugate the intruder.Reward: High Synchronization Increase.
I opened my eyes slowly.
A massive spiritual pressure rolled across the forest outside town.
Wild.
Hostile.
Ancient.
A smile spread across my face.
"…Finally."
My first real opponent.