Chapter 17: New Dreams
After coming out of his shocked and frozen state, he looked at the transparent red screen again and again to confirm if what he was seeing right in front of him was not a joke or anything.
Finally, after reading it for the third time, words couldn't help but come out of his mouth.
"Is that it?!"
He felt betrayed, as from how grandiose the previous messages were, he had thought of getting something overpowering. However, seeing that he had only one ability, even that seemed to be in the form of some strange riddle.
[You have become the owner of Ethelarion Replisis.]
[Name: Arthur]
[Age: 17]
[Race: Lower Human???]
[Class: None]
[Title: Owner of Ethelarion Replisis]
[#Authority: I am the shadow that walks with you,
Not quite the same, but near and true.
Half the strength but all your face,
Absorb me to reclaim your grace.]
He didn't know how the ability would work or how powerful it would be, but just from the fact that he only had one ability, he felt quite underwhelmed by it—and even that was in the form of some riddle.
'Argh, I knew my shitty luck could never be this good.'
It felt like he was brought from the sky back to reality on the ground, but after a few more minutes of cursing his own luck, he accepted the fact that he only had that one ability after getting so much build-up from the previous message.
'Still, it's better than nothing. I just have to solve the riddle and see how powerful the ability actually is.'
He read the strange text a few times, but he couldn't think of anything right now, especially when it's quite hard to keep himself awake, as his body is telling him to rest.
He had also noticed his race, which is lower human—like how it's supposed to be, as from his memory, he understood that this planet that elves had taken over or saved from the monsters consists mostly of lower humans like him. But he still couldn't understand why there were question marks right next to his race.
Knowing that thinking about it wouldn't get him any answer, he focused on the title, which says "Owner of Ethelarion Replisis." He had understood that the strange stone he had swallowed earlier seemed to have the name 'Ethelarion Replisis.'
He focused on the title, which only said the name he wanted to know more about, and just as he thought of this, a new red transparent panel appeared in front of the previous one.
[Title: Owner of the Ethelarion Replisis]
[Effects]
[Stat Enhancement: +300% Mana Regeneration, +200% Intelligence, +100% to all core stats.]
[Existence Imprint: Death doesn't erase you; your name is etched in the Akashic Records. Memory of the bearer echoes across timelines; resurrection is easier.]
[Eternal: Your soul stands fortified beyond measure, impervious to nearly all curses that exist within the universe.]
After carefully reading the effect of the title, even if Arthur isn't used to this new world and this is the first time he has gotten any kind of title, just from the effect he got from the two effects is enough for him to realize how crazy this title actually is.
'I don't seem to fully understand what this Existence Imprint is and how it's going to help him; however, just from reading the other two effects, Stat Enhancement and Eternal he knew it is not small.'
'Resurrection, Akashic Record.'
He knew what resurrection meant, and for Akashic Records, he had some idea what that could be, but for now, he didn't focus on them too much, as it seemed too far for him now to think about these things.
He focused on the first effect once again. Seeing the 300% mana regeneration, Arthur felt confused, as from his memories, he didn't seem to have awakened like others and had no mana to begin with.
A sudden thought came to his mind.
'Could it be!'
He frantically used one hand to fold the sleeve of his right hand, and seeing that there was no strange tattoo on his forearm, Arthur realized that he seemed to have awakened.
It was still quite a shock to him, so he even checked his other hand in caution and saw there was no slave mark on that hand either.
Now the reality finally sank into his mind.
'I am not a slave anymore.'
Out of all things, the best thing Arthur could imagine would be being awakened. While the thought of spending a leisurely life in here doesn't sound bad, especially with beautiful elves who seem to be interested in him—
But all of these thoughts are out of the question now. Being reincarnated in a new magical world, he wanted to explore the world, learn magic, fight monsters, become strong, and live a free life not bound by any restraints, on his own terms.
His breaths became erratic, and his whole body was shaking in excitement for what the future held for him.
'And I have come to know from the memories of Arthur that people who can use magic can live much longer than normal people.'
He doesn't know much detail about it, but just the thought of a long life full of freedom fills him with excitement.
He had read about adventurers in countless novels he had read in his previous life. He wants to be just like them—a free soul.
He can hear his own laugh after so long. He knew he was happy right now.
Calming down after a few minutes, Arthur looked at the red transparent screen once again.
[You have become the owner of Ethelarion Replisis.]
[Name: Arthur]
[Age: 17]
[Race: Lower Human???]
[Class: None]
[Title: Owner of Ethelarion Replisis]
[#Ability: I am the shadow that walks with you,
Not quite the same, but near and true.
Half the strength but all your face,
Absorb me to reclaim your grace.
Arthur knows that to get strong, he has to solve this riddle, and he is ready for it. Unlike before, he is not depressed.
Knowing what he had to do to live the life to get the life he wanted, Arthur is excited for the challenges ahead.
In his previous world, after his mom passed away, he didn't have much motivation to do anything, and his life of working as a cashier in a nearby shop was pretty fine with him, as to him, living while enjoying novels and manga he loved and eating noodles was enough.
'It would have been better if I were richer, but I was mostly content with his mediocre life—or that's what he had made himself believe.'
'Deep down, I knew I wasn't satisfied by living as a fat man who had no social life and a single friend to speak of.'
He wanted to have friends—and if possible, a girlfriend too—but that was out of reach for him. But he had never tried his hardest to achieve those things. That's what he regretted the most.
But not anymore, as now he had a new dream he wanted to strive for, and unlike last time, when he had given up on being a doctor, he wasn't going to do anything that he would regret later on.
'If I had tried harder, my life would have been different, even in my previous life.'
Yet he is not going to complain about it anymore. Now that he has learned his lesson, he is not going to repeat those same mistakes ever again and will do everything he has to do to achieve his dreams now.
The fire of commitment, fueled by his previous life's regret, is now burning stronger than ever in amethyst-eyes.