Chapter 3: Why Is My Status Window Insulting Me?
Ahh, truly the good old days.
Looking at the guards politely asking me to accompany them instead of trying to take my severed head was, once again, quite a reassuring experience.
"Yes, I understand, Sir Knight and I am ready to accompany you for my trial but could I ask for a few minutes to freshen up and collect myself? I assure you, I will follow without any resistance. I simply do not wish to greet His Majesty, the one as glorious as the sun, the one whose rays shine upon us poor people, the one..."
I continued the glazing like a fanatic until, exactly as I had expected, the knight leading the group interrupted me out of sheer exhaustion.
"Yes. Take as much time as you need. We will wait outside your room and please do not attempt to escape as the consequences would be troublesome for your own sake."
"Yes, Sir Knight."
I nodded politely as they left me alone for a while but the moment the door closed, I turned toward Amyra who had concern on her face even more obvious than before. After all, who wouldn’t be worried if their troublesome and usually quiet brother suddenly started talking so grandly after supposedly committing a grave sin?
"Don’t worry, Sis. Like I said before, just trust your brother and let me do my thing. I promise I won’t be harmed since I haven’t committed this crime."
She still looked reluctant but I gently pushed her toward the door.
"Don’t worry about me and go take a nap. By the time you wake up, everything will be resolved."
... or more screwed.
Naturally I kept the last thought to myself and threw her out of my room as well. After all, I had important matters to attend to, like checking exactly what I had stolen from that golden child of fate.
Once she was gone, I jumped onto my bed, carefully avoiding the hole Amyra had made in my mattress, out of which soft white cotton was peeking out annoyingly, and opened my personal status window.
"Time to see if I hit the jackpot!"
════〔 STATUS 〕════
▸ NAME: ⟦ Zenith Von Ruinbringer ⟧
▸ TALENT: ⟦ 1. R̶e̶g̶r̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ (Consumed) , 2. Insight ⟧
▸ Core: ⟦ Tier III Mortal ⟧
▸ AFFINITIES: ⟦ Vector (Reinforcer) ⟧
▸ CORE TRAIT: ⟦Chaos Mind — Your thoughts keep wandering in endless loops of chaotic thoughts, making it far too difficult to panic or get surprised. ⟧
▸ ATTRIBUTES: ⟦Swordsmanship (A), Mana Manipulation (C), Mana Capacity (G), Physique (H), Mind (A)⟧
▸ SKILLS
⟐ Passive - None
⟐ Active - None
▸ NOTE:「Even the world cannot comprehend how something so pitiful survives. A separate rank had to be created merely to classify your physique」
═══════════════════
The moment I scanned through my status window, only one thought came to mind...
"What the hell is this fuckery?"
Two things bothered me the most.
The name of the newly awakened talent and the note attached at the end of my status window.
From what I remembered, this wasn’t how the status window, the supposed reflection of souls fused with the world’s will, was supposed to work. It was meant to be nothing more than a holographic screen reflecting a person’s soul back at them.
I had never heard of anyone receiving sarcastic commentary along with it.
The second issue was naturally the newly stolen talent. Just from the name alone, I understood one thing...
"This was definitely not the overpowered cheat that bastard Aurelion always used."
Still, I calmed down almost immediately.
Names could be deceiving.
After all, my own affinity carried the name of one of the most broken elements imaginable, something that didn’t even exist in this world, and yet its applications were limited to my own body because it was a reinforcement-type affinity. Not to mention the absurd cost required to use it properly.
So, after taking a deep breath and entering my ever-so-peaceful state, I focused on the talents section as a detailed window immediately opened before me, displaying its information in depth.
—
▸ TALENT:
⟦ 1. R̶e̶g̶r̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶ (Consumed) — A forbidden talent having the ability to defy time itself. Upon death at the hands of a stronger existence, the user could return several years into the past. The User can copy one of the killer’s talents. If multiple talents existed, the inheritance is random.⟧
⟦2. Insight — A sacred talent once granted to the World’s Chosen before it was stolen by a Vile Demon King. By touching the flow of the World’s Will, the user may glimpse hidden truths. It reveals fragments of others, strengthens the mind, conceals details about its wielder from prying eyes, and occasionally grants random insights. The wielder can even hide the flow of mana within their body from watchful eyes at will.⟧
—
"Argh... fuck."
I cursed under my breath because there was no way this thing was broken.
It was undeniably useful and mysterious. It touched the Will of the World itself, concealed my mana and even hid details about me from others but...
It wasn’t something that would make me overpowered instantly.
I also noticed that the description of the regression talent had changed slightly. I was sure it hadn’t mentioned anything about random selection before, combined with that note beneath my status window, I immediately understood.
It was probably one of the abilities of Insight.
If I hadn’t been expecting something absurdly overpowered, I probably would have found it quite funny and even useful but now it seems I will have to enter the Forbidden Ruins much earlier this time.
After all, it contained the thing that could improve my talent. Those ruins were what had enhanced my Regression talent in my previous life and added the copy aspect to it. So naturally, I was hoping they could somehow improve this Insight Talent as well.
"Things are going to be troublesome until I meet you again, Lily..."
I let out a sigh and checked the rest of my status window.
My affinity sat there as uselessly as ever.
Vector.
It was the only other cheat the world had given me because, according to every book in existence, such an affinity simply did not exist. It was also one of the major reasons those damned gods hated me.
In theory, it allowed me to influence the direction and force acting upon my own body but in practice, this damned thing consumed mana like a thirsty man discovering water. Still, it had some pretty absurd effects... though by the end of my life, I had only managed to scratch the surface and it seems I would have to rely on this poor thing once again to save myself and who knew? Maybe this time I could finally push it further than I had in my previous life.
Other than that, everything was more or less as I had expected. My Swordsmanship and Mana Manipulation seemed to have followed me across time since both of them depended on my knowledge rather than my body but using them at that level would be quite difficult with my current body.
My rank was also the same as it had been at this point in the previous timeline.
The absolute lowest.
Mortal Rank.
There was no surprise regarding my Physique or Mana Capacity either since those were curses I had been born with but that note at the end kept getting on my nerves.
Still, I let it be and pulled my body off the mattress because even for being known as quite patient, it wasn’t a good idea to make the Holy Knights wait for long.
I went through my daily routine as usual and freshened up before wearing a formal outfit, complimenting my features.
Only once I made sure that I looked as perfect as ever, I walked toward the door where the Holy Knights were waiting to escort me for the past hour.
As for the situation at hand...
Yeah.
I wasn’t dying this soon after regressing.
