"There's too many of them… I wonder how long it will take me to Extract all of them." Vale muttered to himself as he looked at the hundreds of corpses on the floor.
Headmaster Jean was right. These corpses were indeed of decent quality, and he could tell it even without Extracting them.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, in the corner of his eyes, he noticed that there was a treasure chest on the other side of the Hall! He immediately stood up to check it, but he recalled something.
He was worried that if he took these treasures inside the chest, the corpses would disappear!
The chance was low, but he wouldn't risk it.
So, instead of checking the treasure chest, Vale started with his Extractions first.
[ Human corpse has been discovered. Would you like to extract it? ]
'Yes…'
[ Extraction successful. Energy +20, Intelligence +0.3, Memory Fragment ]
"Oops…"
Vale made a mistake. He didn't control his extractions and accidentally used the auto-extraction mode of the System.
After all, his Intelligence Attribute was already full at this moment, and any of his extractions with the said Attribute would just be wasted.
As for the Memory Fragment. Vale still accepted it, and after skimming through the memories, he realized that he hit the jackpot.
'This is possible?' Vale thought to himself.
The Memory Fragment revealed the story of an unfortunate Elementalist who had his Spell Models destroyed, rendering him unable to harness the power of elemental spells. However, before meeting his demise, the Elementalist had hidden a valuable treasure in a massive tree located at the back of his house in a distant village.
Excitement coursed through Vale as he realized the potential significance of this information. Of course, he wasn't too excited about the treasure since it seemed to be only worth about a thousand zen or two.
It wasn't much.
He was excited about the possibilities that could be given to him with Memory Fragments Extractions.
[ Human corpse has been discovered. Would you like to extract it? ]
'Yes…'
[ Extraction successful. Energy +20, Agility +0.35, Memory Fragment ]
Vale continued with his extractions, and not many of them could excite him. They were mostly useless, with a few useful ones that allowed him to realize that the outside world was perilous. There were so many rogue Arcanists lurking in the cities, and most of them were being dealt with by the Factions' Orders.
Instead, they were being handled by the Elite Bounty Hunters like Sherman.
This made him respect the man a little bit more.
A few memories also made him knowledgeable about Elemental Alchemy and Summoner's Grimoire…
'Wait… This is actually good.' Vale thought to himself as he realized the significance of some of these memories. He made sure that this important knowledge would be etched into his mind and not just disperse after.
As Vale continued his extractions, he came across a Memory Fragment that revealed the life of a humble herbalist who possessed a deep connection with nature and the healing arts of the Alchemy Arts Faction.
In this memory, he witnessed the herbalist's serene existence in a peaceful village surrounded by lush gardens and vibrant flora. The herbalist had a profound understanding of the medicinal properties of various plants, herbs, and fungi, using them to create potent remedies and healing potions.
Vale observed as the herbalist delicately harvested rare herbs from hidden groves, communed with the spirits of nature, and performed intricate rituals to infuse his potions with powerful healing energy. The memory showcased the herbalist's kind and compassionate nature, as he selflessly treated the ailments of those in need.
Needless to say, he didn't throw away this memory.
He absorbed the memory without hesitation as he felt a deep resonance with the herbalist's connection to nature and the medical technique.
He realized that this knowledge could be invaluable, not just in the Academy for his survival outside the Academy.
After extracting over 50 corpses, almost four hours had already passed.
It was really testing his patience. He was even using his Touchless Extraction at this point!
Well, the reason that it was taking a few minutes for each Extraction was because of the Memory Fragment… He couldn't just accept all the memories since his brain might explode if he received everything. He had to choose whether to retain the memories or not whenever he viewed them.
'Next…'
[ Demi-Human corpse has been discovered. Would you like to extract it? ]
'Yes…' Vale answered casually, but his eyes widened as he looked at the corpse before him. He thought it would just be a normal extraction, but what he found was a Demi-Human!
'Did I read it correctly? Demi-Human?' Vale asked himself once more as he looked at the result of the Extraction.
[ Extraction successful. Energy +20, Agility +1.55, Divinity +0.5, Memory Fragment. ]
"Hmm? This…" Vale was stunned as he looked at the corpse of an old woman who seemed to be a hundred-year-old human. She doesn't look different from other human corpses...
'A Demi-Human that has Divinity? What's going on here?'
Vale was confused but he still accepted the Memories of the old woman. Then, he was even more speechless as he saw her memories.
This memory fragment revealed the life of a Mystic Arts Practitioner. She was a hermit who had lived in isolation for more than 70 years… She was only in her 20s when she started her isolation training and came out when she was in her 90s.
As expected of a person with Divinity Points, she had touched upon the Forbidden Mystic Arts called Time Manipulation.
In this memory, Vale witnessed the Magician's awe-inspiring abilities to bend time to her will. He saw her freezing moments in time, accelerating her own movements to unimaginable speeds and even glimpsing into the future to gain foresight and advantage in battles.
'Is this even real?' Vale was speechless.
The memories he had seen were just too unbelievable.
The magician's prowess with Time Manipulation was unparalleled, and Vale felt a surge of fascination and inspiration as he absorbed the memory. He understood that this arcane knowledge could greatly enhance his own strength. At the very least, this had broadened his horizon.
'Why is this woman not being discussed in our history lessons?' Vale silently thought as he carefully searched the memory.
"This memory felt more complete than the others…" Vale muttered as he continued to immerse himself in the memories of the Hermit.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m