(NATHANIEL) “You look like you haven’t slept a wink.” Sammy noted as he looked at me.
It seemed that he noticed my eye bags.
And to be fair, it wasn’t like I was trying to hide them.
I had spent the entire night in a rigorous cycle of divining the enchantments of all the sixty-one Memories I had received, along with practicing Cogitation and Spirit Vision.
Damian also went to my room to ask me for assistance with something, so I had to plan that out as well, which didn’t help.
So, I was definitely in bad shape.
I only sighed and waited as Sammy took his rather uncharacteristically small portion of food.
I, however, took much more food than I normally would.
I hadn’t eaten for nearly four days, so there was a pretty good chance that I could probably eat a whole horse.
“Would you hurry it up already?” Amy spoke with a slightly impatient look, and to this I gave a mere nod.
Sammy and I waited for the others to get their own portions before we decided to walk toward a table.
None of us spoke, and for good reason, as pretty much everyone was searching for a particular table.
Eventually, I spotted the table that we were searching for.
It was the table at which a young girl with flowing locks of golden hair and expressionless eyes was staring at her food.
Opposite her was a young man with black hair and particularly pale skin.
‘Hmmm, should I try to make a good first impression?’ Walking beside Sammy, I felt my shadow move slightly.
Raising a brow, I gave it a look.
The shadow, in turn, looked from me to Sammy, namely his shadow, and once I looked at it, I hummed.
‘Aha, so that’s why…’ There, connected to Sammy’s feet, was a shadow.
However, that shadow in particular was strange, much stranger than my own.
It was a shadow that was much larger than it should’ve been, and instead of being just like normal, it looked as if it were wearing terrifying armor.
It also seemed much denser than a normal shadow.
Throwing my own shadow a look, I smirked.
‘Is the mighty Blade of Death scared of a shadow?’ I cooed, and it seemed to hear my thoughts as it gave me a glare.
“Hey, did you notice your shadow?” Posing Sammy the question, he only sighed.
“I’ve been trying to ignore it, to be honest.
Looks scary as hell.” Nodding to this, I looked to the table where Sunny and Cassie were.
‘Ehh, I’m sure it’ll be fine.’ Turning to look behind me, I spoke under my breath to Amy.
“Hey, we’ll try to get on the good side of the cohort.” Amy wrinkled her brows and cocked her head to look past me.
Once she noticed the two, she nodded and turned to Steven, who was chatting with Martin, while Liam had somehow appeared to the right of Sammy.
As we approached, I quickened my pace slightly, and as I did, Sunny’s head perked up and he turned to look directly at me.
I gave him a smile.
However, what I received was a genuine look of disgust.
After that, I stopped and looked at him, a little bewildered.
Sammy approached, and before he could even say anything, Sunny looked at him and visibly shivered.
Hurriedly, he shot up from his seat, took his tray of food, and scurried away.
Blinking in confusion, Sammy and I looked at each other, and from behind us Martin and Steven walked up with smirks.
“Good job, guys.
Really.” Steven looked toward us with a smirk plastered across his face.
Glaring at the bastard, I was about to make a comment.
However, I didn’t get the chance, as when Steven tried to approach Cassie, I heard an almost silent yelp.
Once I looked past the two dunderheads, I saw that the blind Seer had a petrified look on her face, and by the direction of her gaze, she was looking directly at Steven.
Before he could say anything, she reached into her pocket and fiddled with a strange device.
Soon, a young woman dressed professionally came over.
She helped Cassie to her feet and took her tray, while the blind Seer put a hand through her arm and used her as a human walking stick.
When they were gone, I smirked and walked past Steven, taking in his dumbfounded expression.
“Hehe, good job man.
Way to make a good first impression.” Then my steps carried me toward the seat where Cassie had been sitting, and before I sat down, I heard Sammy make his own comment.
“Good job, dude.
No idea how you managed to scare off a blind chick.” Steven looked at Sammy with a glare as he sat opposite me.
Soon enough, all of us were seated, and we began to eat.
Every now and then I’d hear Liam and Sammy chatting it up, along with Damian trying to move the vegetables from his sandwich onto Sammy’s tray.
After a few minutes, all of us were done with our food.
“Khm, all right.
So I guess it’s time for the first official meeting of the Transmigrator Gang.” I stated simply, earning the attention of the six of them.
Martin raised a brow and replied with the corners of his lips hooked upward.
“Oh, so are you the leader of the group?” Not bothered by his remark, I answered frankly.
“No one is the leader.
But hey, if you want to be one, show yourself to actually be capable of leading the group well and not talking to minors.” Lampooning slightly, I watched as Martin gritted his teeth and shot out of his seat opposite me.
“Stop!
You’re the one who made that shit up!
Plus I’m a minor, dumbass!
How would I talk to minors?!” Steven grabbed onto his shoulder before he could continue on, which in turn made Martin glare at him.
However, before Martin could burst out again, Steven shook his head in disappointment.
“You know, for someone that needs to be a ragebaiter, you’re rather easily ragebaited.
And please…
don’t blurt things about talking to minors aloud.” Steven was red in the face, while the others looked away from him with embarrassed expressions.
Martin blinked and looked around, now clearly seeing all the…
looks he was receiving.
Sitting down with a thud, Martin pressed his lips together and remained silent.
I focused on him for a bit and turned to Damian, who smiled and gave me a thumbs-up.
‘There goes that, I guess.
Maybe I’ll ask Liam or Sammy to add fuel to the fire.’ Noting to ask the two for help, I cleared my throat and spoke again.
“Okay then, now let…
hmmm.
Oh right!” Quickly focusing, I summoned a Memory.
White sparks ignited in my hands, and soon a quartz stone gilded with veins of emerald appeared.
After I summoned the [Soundless Confluence], I placed it on the table, and its passive enchantment took hold.
Connecting my index and middle fingers and bringing them just above my nose, between my brows, I tapped three times.
The next moment, the world around me was bathed in countless colors.
My eyes adjusted for a little while, and once everything became clear, I looked toward the Memory.
Bathed in a radiant whitish-green color, I turned and saw that the AOE the Memory produced when summoned was present.
It looked as if a small, liquid-like barrier was surrounding our table, extending slightly beyond it.
Nodding, I looked down, and just as I did, I locked onto Steven.
There, around him, was a frighteningly familiar pair of white, hypnotic eyes.
Narrowing my eyes, I locked onto them, and in turn, those same terrifying eyes locked onto me with unhidden hostility.
Looking at them, I waited for a bit, but they didn’t disappear.
Instead, they seemed to cement their existence even more.
“Hey, Steven, did you see those eyes?” Steven, who was looking curiously at the Memory on the table, brought his gaze up and met mine.
He shrugged slightly and looked up without moving his head.
“I’ve just been ignoring them, and it’s not like I know how to get rid of them.” From the side, I saw Liam look a bit confused.
He closed his eyes and seemed to focus.
Soon, he opened them again, though this time they seemed to be swallowed by darkness.
Once he looked at Steven, he backed away slightly.
Giving the space behind Steven an unblinking stare, he scowled.
“I don’t think ignoring them is a wise choice…” Shaking his head, Steven simply gave an exasperated sigh.
“Look, I’d like to get rid of them as well, but hey, what can I do?
I mean, sure, it’s like I’m having a starving kid look at me as if it wants food, but oh well.
I’m in no position to do anything about it.” With that, he looked at the Memory and posed a question.
“Anyway, what does that Memory do?” Noting just how badly his Flaw seemed to be affecting him, I closed my eyes and tapped my fingers on the same spot again, promptly deactivating my spirit vision.
“It’s a Memory that creates a small area around itself.
While we’re in that area, all sound will be absorbed into it before it can get out of that certain area.
So basically the ideal Memory for us.” Then I simply took the heavy Memory and placed it under the table so it wouldn’t draw too much attention.
“So what’s the plan?
How exactly do we proceed?” I asked them, to which they all looked at me in confusion.
“Proceed with what exactly?
There’s a couple dozen things to proceed with.” Amy asked me, and I looked to my left toward her.
That captivating face still made it a little embarrassing for me to look at.
Sure, she was always beautiful, but her face was just unbelievable now.
‘Hmm, I guess Nether really has a thing for beautiful ladies.
I respect it, buddy.
I respect it, buddy…’ Turning to her and then away, I shrugged.
“Well, first I guess we could talk about our classes.
Which ones did everyone take?” Everyone then began to say which classes they were taking.
Amy was taking Combat Training mostly, and apart from that, a few classes later in the day in Wilderness Survival.
It made sense.
After all, she was following Twilight Giant, so in order to digest the Sequence Nine potion she’d have to act as a warrior.
Sammy was also taking Combat Training, and he also had a few hours of free time, which he was going to spend in the library, along with only two classes in Wilderness Survival.
Steven was taking Wilderness Survival, Runic Language, Sorcery Management, and Artisan’s Delight.
Of course, these made the most sense, with his pathways focusing mostly on those things.
Liam was taking Combat Training mostly and just one class each in Wilderness Survival and Runic Language.
After I thought about it for a bit, it was pretty perfect.
After all, he could easily digest the Monster potion in Combat Training.
Martin was only taking Combat Training, and since he had the knowledge of a Hunter, he was pretty certain that he’d manage without Wilderness Survival.
Damian was taking Wilderness Survival, and apart from that, a few classes in Sorcery Management.
I had no real idea why he was taking Sorcery Management since, by what he was saying, his Aspect was related to corruption.
But I suppose it was worthwhile for him to try and test out what he could do with it.
After they finished, I was the last to tell them mine.
“Well, I’m taking Wilderness Survival for the majority of the day, while I also have only three classes in Runic Language.” After I said mine, Sammy decided to say something himself.
“Okay, I’m gonna ask since no one else seems brave enough to…
How are we gonna make it back home?” His words settled in the silent dome, and everyone grew quiet.
A few minutes passed by awkwardly, and soon enough, I felt Liam’s gaze on me.
“Well…
if we were transported to a fictional universe, then we should also be able to go back, right?” After he finished, he looked at me again.
Frowning in response, I looked at him in confusion.
“Why are you looking at me though?” Lowering his eyes, he closed them and exhaled.
“Well, out of the seven of us, you are the only one that met the god of the pathway.
I mean, sure, I also kinda saw what I believe to be Ouroboros and Will, but it was only from a distance.
So I can’t really say.” Digesting his words, I furrowed my brows, “Beating around the bush doesn’t suit you.” Liam seemed surprised by my remark, but he merely chuckled dryly.
“Well, if you take the throne of Lord of the Mysteries, then you should be able to take us back with your Door authorities.” After he said that, it seemed that the rest of the gang, who had been confused, realized it as well, and conflicting expressions marred their faces.
Amy then turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder, “Look, I know it’s a lot of pressure…” The words seemed to almost wound her, but she simply pushed forward with what she was trying to say.
“…but you are likely our only hope of returning home.” Once she was done, I turned away from her and rubbed my face.
‘Right…
no pressure.’ Sure, I wanted to return home as badly as the others did, but even then…
I didn’t know if I would be capable of doing so.
After all, my Flaw was more than likely going to make me completely inhuman by that point.
So who knows?
Maybe in the future I would completely neglect my friends and maybe even think that returning home was pointless.
Such a thing was naturally terrifying, but even so, I really did want to go back home.
And that desire to go back hone was frustratingly painful.
Before I could respond, I felt a hand come from my right.
Looking to the side, I saw Damian give me an encouraging smile.
“Let’s not do that, guys.
Sure, he can probably do that, but it doesn’t mean that he’s the only one.
Hell, Steven, maybe you can become fucking Rick Sanchez and create a portal to our world.” Steven seemed taken aback, and then Damian looked at Sammy.
“And can’t you maybe envision a portal to our world?” Without missing a beat, Sammy waved his hand.
“Like hell I can.
Well maybe, but it was never shown in the novel, you know, envisioning a portal to a completely different universe.” Smirking, Damian shook his head.
“Well, you’ll try then, so let’s drop the heavy subject.” With that said, everyone looked a bit more uplifted, and i in turn received a few apologies, which was nice to hear.
I was going to thank Damian for his support…
However, his face was framed by a greedy smile.
“Anyway, with that said and done…
I wanted to ask you, how many Memories did you get from committing genocide?” My face fell, and by what I was able to see, it seemed that, for some reason, everyone was overcome with a strange look.
“Ahhh…
Umm, only a few…” Damian got closer and put his arm around my shoulder with a friendly smile.
“Well, I didn’t get any Memories!
Can you believe that?
Ahh, what I wouldn’t do for a few…” Following this, Sammy added on with a wide grin.
“Yeah, you know, I didn’t get any either.
And Nate, my friend, you seem to be lying.
Your eyes seemed a little shifty, so it must mean that you did get quite a few.
I’d wager at least a hundred.
No, actually, by that little twitch, maybe eighty or less.” ‘Damn you!
You filthy Spectator!’ I tried to save some face, but before I could speak, I saw movement from the corner of my eye.
Martin seemed to catch on and leaned forward toward me slightly.
“What a coincidence.
I only got one Memory.
I could really use another…
well, maybe a couple more.” What followed was one of the most humiliating moments ever, as I was pressed for Memories by everyone, even Amy joined in!
‘You greedy mongrels!
I worked hard for them!
Well…
maybe I’ll only give a few out.
I mean, some of them seem to be good for them.’ And by the end of our conversation…
I was left with twenty-three Memories…
_________________________ Author’s Note: Did you all think i’d really let Nathaniel keep his Memories?
Ha!
As if, he should be grateful that i gave him five cores!
Anyway next chap is on Friday, also the auxiliry chap has been released so be sure to check that out if you want to see the gang’s Runes.
Also maybe i’ll release a chap on Sunday, i’ll see if i can, i took a free day off work today since it was hell yesterday.
But i gotta work the rest of the week so yeah, i don’t think i’ll have much free time.
See you all next time!
And happy reading!