章節 11: Poster
My hand lands on the orb and something akin to electric current jolts through my body. My hair stands on end. Inside the orb, a swirling blackness appears. The stars in the clouds above dim and no constellations light up.
I swore. A sinking feeling in my gut.
"It's… It's Void Darkness!" exclaimed a particularly loud man in the audience.
The room fills with murmuring
Void Darkness is a special tier-less spirit-root. It appears most often in non-humans and artificial bodies. Because those who possess it often lack human morals, people tend to discriminate violently against those who carry it. Worse still, this 'spirit-root' is impossible to cultivate within the mortal plane.
"Void Darkness spirit-root" the administrator confirms with a frown.
This made the crowd erupt into a frenzy:
"Boo! Go home monster!"
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, coming here today!"
"Administrator please kill this animal! No need for further assessment!"
Two men in the crowd scream in unison, "I recognize him! I recognize him!"
"That's the guy from the King's wanted poster!"
"That's the thief the farmers were reporting!"
"SILENCE! I will deal with this. Hold your tongues!" roared the proctor.
The translucent formations grow opaque.
I want to run, but I know I won't escape. The proctor's aura suppresses all movement in the surroundings. Soon the assessment stage is completely isolated from the rest of the hall. Only a few of the administrator guards and the proctor remain inside the formation with me.
"Poster," says the proctor as he retracts his aura yet remains standing with his arms locked behind his back.
A lightly armored guard behind the proctor at the edge of the formation sorts through a ream of paper. He pulls out a page and hands it to the guard standing beside him. This guard takes two exaggerated military steps forward and presents it to the proctor with a bowed head. The proctor breaks his rigid posture and snaps the paper from the guard's hand. He finally lowers his head while holding the fresh yellow parchment. He glances between it and me.
"What in Auster brought you to this assessment, Reinhold?"
He turns the poster around and to my shock, it says: "WANTED ALIVE: Reinhold" with a picture of my face, "10,000 gold coins for information leading to his capture."
I am shocked speechless.
How could my predecessor get this body into so much trouble without a trained body or cultivation?
The name on the poster is a name I chose at random from my memories. How did they guess it? Is it this boy's actual name? Assuming it is, did some of this body's memories bleed over? I carefully try to recall the memory that prompted this name, but I am assured it's something I overheard in my castle as Lord Mallory. No, I can't recall any memories from the previous owner of the body.
The proctor gets impatient with me. "Well? Speak."
"I… Would you believe me if I tell you that you've got the wrong person?"
The proctor scowls at me.
"No? Well… the truth is… I've lost my memories and don't know who I am anymore."
"Hmm… This is... Swear using this truth-stone." The proctor tosses a palm-sized stone.
I catch the gray-blue stone. It's smooth and warm in my hand. These stones have a special spiritual consciousness able to determine if you are telling the truth or not.
I raise the stone. "I swear on this truth-stone. I have no memories of any event that happened to this body before, a week ago."
The stone glows green. "Hum. [Truth]"
My eyes widen, and I glance at the stone in my hand. My ability can even translate the humming caused by the spirit in the truth stone!
"Very well… I am unaware of your history. However, you will be traveling with me until I can clarify your situation. I hope you understand and will cooperate. If you come with me, you will at least learn about your past."
I consider the situation. Escape is unlikely at the moment, so I'll try trading for the information I came here for.
"I'll cooperate fully if you can do me a favor. Please, let me finish the assessment." I clasp my hands in a formal greeting.
"I can accede to this request." He waves his hand.
I take a deep breath and walk to the scroll of bloodlines and bite my finger, letting the blood fall onto the scroll. The leather surface rapidly absorbs the drop of blood. Red text materializes where the drop had fallen. The letters grow out one by one to form words and a circular symbol. The sky above does not react.
My fist clenches involuntarily causing my finger to spurt more blood falling uselessly to the floor.
"Mortal Stage, Void Physique," I mutter while frowning.
Unlike Void Darkness spirit-root, Void Physique is trainable. However, the void physique starts at the lowest point of any other physique, granting no benefits or specialties at the start. However, it's said the void physique can be trained to mimic other physiques, but it will be weaker than the originals. Worst of all, strengthening it requires a greater amount of resources.
"Come now, the last test." A hint of sympathy is in the proctor's voice.
I step through the door. My vision distorts, and I find myself in a dream world.
My grandfather sits before me in front of a chessboard in a set of white robes. He is meditating with his legs crossed at first, but he opens his eyes and tugs on his long beard. He reaches forward and moves a pawn. I notice that the game is already midway through, and I will play black.
"Reinhold,"
I'm taken aback. Shouldn't he be calling me by my former name as he did when I talked with him in the past? Wasn't this dreamland constructed from my memories?
"Let's talk about your good brother. What are your feelings toward him after what he did?" In the void next to us, the frozen figure of my brother appears. His face isn't the distorted likeness of an eldritch monster, but the one I memorized with one eye sad and crying and one eye full of longing.
I move a piece on the board to play the game along with him.
"I… I don't hate him," I say moving the knight.
"Why not?"
"I don't believe he was himself that night… and I don't understand the situation. We've done so much together..."
"Do you know your brother?"
"Of course!"
"Then you know, right?"
"That this is not my brother? That, this is only a puppet?" I answer with what I believe to be the strongest possibility. Perhaps deep in my subconscious, I had found some clues. Maybe I knew something was wrong with him before the incident.
"This is the way he always was."
"Huh?" What does that mean? This statement doesn't seem to track with my suspicions, but this sort of experience should magnify my subconscious... What am I missing?
"Open your eyes. This figure is only the puppet, not your brother."
"Oh, is that so? But, I don't know if I can trust you, Checkmate." I say ending the game in my victory. In my experience, a gut feeling can often be misleading. I'll have to investigate the truth and let the evidence I find be my guide, not my subconscious.
My grandfather smiles and says, "I am proud of you. Go! Become someone great once again!"
"I will," I say as the scene dissolves into the void and I finish stepping through the door of trials.
The door glows and the clouds reveal the image of a phoenix.
"Saint Rank Intelligence, Proud Phoenix Soul!"
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票