Bab 5: New Skill Unlocked (Part 1)

Argider's face went as white as a sheet as the courtesan's arm snaked around her waist, those delicate fingers settling with a possessive squeeze that made her heart practically leap out of her chest.

"Pardon?" she squeaked, her voice hitting an unexpected high note. She met the courtesan's gaze—sharp, intelligent, and intensely amused. It was like the woman could see right through her, stripping away every shred of dignity with a single look.

"Don't play coy, honey," the courtesan purred, her sly smile widening.

To make matters worse, Argider caught a whiff of that heady, intoxicating perfume that fogged up her mind faster than the strongest ale. An absurd, traitorous part of her wanted nothing more than to dive headfirst into this web of seductive fragrance.

Focus, Argider, she scolded herself, this is not the time to turn into a blushing idiot.

"You may not have considered it before, but I can see you've got potential," the courtesan crooned, cool as ice and twice as confident.

Potential? For what? Argider's mind was scrambling as she tried to place this enigma of a woman. She mentally searched through her past escapades in Elysium Boudoir, back when her own charm had women all but swooning at her feet. But not a single memory of gray eyes and lush lashes came to mind.

Before she could recover her bearings, the courtesan gave her a little nudge forward, and Argider stumbled along, as graceful as a tipsy goat.

"W-Wait!" she stammered, clinging to some shred of dignity.

"Hush, now," the courtesan replied with a smirk, shushing her like a naughty child. "You'll find this isn't nearly as terrible as you think, my dear."

How on earth do I get out of this? she thought panickly, mentally shaking her fist at fate for landing her in this absurd mess—one that smelled far too good for her own good.

"Ugh, I hate this cursed female body!" Argider fumed to herself. "My cousin would have the whole room eating out of his hand by now. Meanwhile, I'm standing here like a confused chicken, can't read emotions to save my life, and they dare call me a playboy?"

For as long as she could remember, Argider had kept her walls high, pretending she didn't give a damn about what people thought.

She'd sworn she'd never let anyone get under her skin, but it felt like the world had it out for her. Everyone else seemed to wield emotions like some flashy, deadly weapon, while she stood there with all the emotional grace of a brick.

She felt like a kid lost in a storm, helplessly dodging verbal daggers and the hidden agendas of people who thought "feelings" were some kind of strategic weapon. It wasn't fair!

Everyone else seemed to navigate this stuff like it was child's play, while she was out here fumbling, tripping, and somehow managing to make a mess of even the simplest interactions.

It left her feeling trapped, as hopeless as her father—who, for all his faults, at least owned his scummy nature. But Argider? She was just a trainwreck trying to steer through a world that clearly had its rules set up by people with an actual emotional compass.

"I...I really don't want to..." Argider's voice trailed off, slowly becoming demoralized.

Beep!

— [Warning: Cognitive & Bodily Adjustment!]

[Fast Install] ....

[Loading Resources] ...

— [Inserted 'Mental Thrivation' Cultivation Formula. User Is Currently A 'Perceiver', The Lowest Rank Of All Political-Based Systems]

— [Realized Redemption System Skill: Empath - The Ability To Heightened One's Sense Into Other People's Temperament's And Emotions]

— [Empath Skill | Level One: The user will appear in a state of temporary suspension as they access the inner psyche of another individual. They will absorb the target's mental processes and emotional makeup, along with their internal state. For external observers, this process may appear as a mere moment, but the user will experience a different, altered perception of time within the target's mind.]

— [Additional Information: The capabilities of the skill will go beyond boundaries as one progresses and cultivates through the system, which means, it does not merely act as an absorber of emotions.]

— [Synchronizing Percentage: 1%]

— [Synchronizing Percentage: 15%]

— [Synchronizing Percentage: 41%]

....

— [Synchronizing Percentage: 100%]

Argider's eyes glimmered like translucent light, and before she could even finish reading the words displayed before her, time seemed to slow down.

Her vision transformed into a parallel reality, her spirit forcefully extracted from her body like being devoured by a blackhole. Yet, at the core of this chaotic vacuum, a singular point of light shone brilliantly.

There was a collision between the unreal space and her insubstantial form, her clothes devoured by an intense gravitional pull, reduced to ash in an instant.

The world around her smeared into a chaotic blur, as if multiple sequences compressed into a single moment.

Every part of her being slowly succumbed to a queasy sensation as the world around her became an amalgamation of her own flesh.

"You impure woman!" came the aggressive thuds.

It was a chorus of frantic pleas.

"No, please! Have mercy! Please don't!" there was a woman who protested in fear, pleading for mercy and begging for the violence to cease.

One memory after another, the woman scream's were often cut into a wail of pain as that same man grabbed a hold of her hair. Her attempts of escape were proven futile under their impenetrable pull.

Even if they managed to break free from one prison, they would only found themselves ensnared within another, a never-ending cycle of confinement and longing for freedom.

All of that resulted into a barrage of sensations and memories overwhelming Argider, each one a crushing weight, causing her body to convulse uncontrollably...

She was absorbing it all at once, the sheer volume of experiences almost drowning her in a sea of emotions.

For a moment, Argider's vision transcended the norms of her human perspective and expanded into a panoramic view.

She was hurled into a different space, compelled to observe a typhoon of words writing themselves in thin air that lunged towards her immediately, her mouth foaming.

"I think about it a lot. I think about the past. I have seen my son rot. I have seen him happy. I have seen too much. I have seen too many things, all easily dying. Except me. I want to die. I have seen the demise of too many lives. But not me. Let me die. I have seen new many things. I have seen too much. But not me. I don't want to see. I don't want to become old. Not like this. I will die. I want to die. I want him to stop hitting me. I don't want to go back. I don't want to go back. I think I'll die. I think he'll kill me. I am broken. I can't run. I'm a butterfly with no wings. Beautiful, but can't fly. I don't think I can fly. I am broken. I just want to be happy. I want to go back. I want to go back to my home. I want to go back. I want to go back when I was a child. I want to go back."