Warm; that was how it felt. Basil couldn't say anything to describe the feeling other than warm. It felt like sunbathing on an early summer day.
The weightlessness never bothered him since the beginning. Of course, it was weird to feel weightless, but at least he didn't feel like he was spinning like an idiot dog chasing its tail.
If he would like to be corny, it felt like he was in his mother's embrace. He quickly snorted at that thought. He had never received a mother's love; he didn't even know his mother other than her name.
Nevertheless, he was really close to close his eyes—not that his eyes were opened; he couldn't see anything! It was a strange occurrence for him.
Previously, his mind was in a state of disarray due to his death, so he didn't quite pay any attention to his surrounding. Now that he did, he was slightly bewildered.
It felt like a lucid dream where you could do anything, but couldn't do anything at the same time. He was aware of his surrounding, even without opening his eyes—he didn't even know how to open his eyes. It was very confusing, but he chose to merely ride the flow.
After an indeterminate amount of time, he felt his body slowly regained its weight.
Lo and behold, it was because there was a pulling force on his body that was increasingly getting stronger by the second. Which means, he was getting closer to the gravity source; in other words, he was falling.
'The development is great. Did I just make a deal with an omnipotent being to be turned to paste?'
He had an inkling already: the very being he had met earlier was an omnipotent being. After all, who could just show up after he died, and offer him something cliche like fixing his regrets?
Judging by the line said by the omnipotent being, it was likely that he would be sent to the past; it was easy to deduce it, especially for someone like him.
He was different than those people who were slow on the uptake. Just like that, he momentarily forgot his body was getting pulled stronger than before.
By the time he realized it. The sense of foreboding he felt was so thick, he couldn't even think of a solution.
'Am I going to die for the second time? However, I strangely feel ecstatic.'
He wasn't a talkative person at the very first place. Given his stoic and rather cold demeanor, no one would dare to casually start a conversation with him. Therefore, he often had his moment of weirdness in his head.
'Whatever ...' He shrugged astrally. 'This Lord will take what this predicament has to offer.'
Even at times like this, he didn't forget to act like himself. Just when he embraced himself for impact ...
Plink!
He felt like he fell like a drop of water.
'Hm?'
As expected of Basil, his reaction was pretty dull: he merely quirked his eyebrow. Normally, people would be flustered when things didn't go as they had expected, even if it was for the better.
However, Basil was different. He wasn't someone who thought the world is revolving around him; he knew to not expect everything would go as he wished. Therefore, he could remain unsurprised until the end.
Shrugging lightly once again, he relaxed his body. He was lying on something comfortable enough. If he were to guess, it would be a bed.
'Hm? A bed? I can feel my body!' Realisation dawned upon him.
Without wasting anymore time, he opened his eyes. An unfamiliar ceiling greeted him—to be precise, it was a ceiling he had long forgotten. A sense of nostalgic washed over him, though it went faster than it came.
This ceiling reminded him of his struggle back at those painful days. Yes, it wasn't only bitter, but also painful.He righted sat himself up on the bed, then looked around.
The room was plain: a fourth of it was occupied by a rack filled with books; there was a fairly big desk with books on top of it in front of his bed; and on his side, there was a rather luxurious medium sized closet.
He got off the bed and immediately noticed his extremely feeble, and untrained body. Clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, he went to look at the mirror attached to one of the doors of the closet.
When he saw his look in the mirror, an exclamation came out of his mouth, "Who is this sissy? ... Well, it's me. But, where has my manly appearance gone to?!"
He was close to losing himself. He was looking at his younger self; He looked like a girl in his youth. It was one of the reasons he had always been bullied back on those days.
At the later days, he had trained so hard just for the sake of getting a manly appearance. He did turn manlier, but he was still pretty. However at that time, no one dare enough to say it on his face.
"Huuh..." A sigh escaped. "Judging by my appearance, bone density, and the amount of Mana or lack thereof, I am currently 16. So, it means I have returned to 40 years ago."
Just using his experience, he could know precisely the time he had been sent back. He didn't feel proud about it; it was only natural for him. Half a century was a lot of time to learn many things.
"Hmmm... My body feels sore." He groaned lightly.
As he was sure there must be something wrong with his body, he immediately checked on his body. Lifting his tunic shirt, he could see a battered white skin.
Despite so, he wasn't flustered; he merely inspected it. He had already had it in his last life.
"It isn't that long since I got these injuries. Judging by the color, and the muscle state, it is likely from two hours ago. They did quite a number on this body." He was referring to his bully.
He wore his shirt back and was about to tend his injury, when a bell followed by a mechanical asexual voice rang in his head.
[Ding!]
[Guide to Omniscience has successfully merged with The Chosen One!]
[Analyzing The Chosen One's mental capability...]
[Analyzation Complete!]
[Result: The Chosen One is retarded]
[Initiating Brain Configuration!]
He couldn't quite follow the strange event happening to him. However, he could get the most crucial part of it—
'I, this Lord, am a retard? Insolent!'
—or not.
Just as he was about to look for the source of the voice, an excruciating pain assaulted his head; his sight quickly went blurry. Fortunately, he knew better than anyone what to do in this kind of situation.
'I need to head to the bed!'
Yes, a bed was necessary for this. Just imagine what could go wrong when you let your body carelessly fall to the ground. Concussion would definitely happen!
By the time he reached his bed, Basil had already lost his consciousness.
Plop!
His body fell to the bed face first. Just like that, he remained unmoving. After who knows how long had passed, his hands suddenly pushed his body upward.
He stood quietly in front of his bed for awhile, before commenting, "I feel light-headed; I can think faster. I can speed up my thoughts to let me see things slowly."
He murmured quietly while observing his surrounding. Right now, he looked like someone admiring something he had never encountered before.
"I hadn't learned Magic at this point. Obviously, I don't have any Mana inside my body. So, this is all thanks to my improved brain," he mused. "Compared to this, saying that I was retarded didn't feel so wrong ... Of course, it's still wrong."
He remained adamant upon his mental capability.
"Then, what is that Guide to Omniscience?" He wondered.
He was about to form several theories in his mind about it, when the same mechanical voice rang in his head.
[Answering The Chosen One's ignorance...]
[Guide to Omniscience, as its name implies, is a guide that provides every knowledge to The Chosen One until he/she reaches the state of Omniscience.]
[The knowledge would not be given unconditionally, for The Chosen One has to fulfill a certain condition to be provided with the knowledge.]
'Hm? Condition? What is the condition?' He asked mentally.
[Congratulations for clearing one of your ignorance!]
[Just as the word goes, "Dare he not to ask, may he remain astray!" You have to ask to be given the answer.]
'So from this, I can deduce that I don't have to say it with my mouth for my question to be answered.' He nodded his head. 'Then, who gave me the Guide?'
[The Chosen One has not yet given the authority to know.]
'Huh? So I'm not worthy enough? Then, what does The Chosen One mean?'
[As its name implies, The Chosen One is someone who is bestowed with Guide to Omniscience.]
[The Chosen One has two options regarding the Guide to Omniscience. First, The Chosen One can attain Omniscience with the Guide. Second, The Chosen One can choose to reject the Guide. However, the latter is highly unrecommended.]
'Hmm... Is the Guide sentient?'
[The Guide is not sentient. The Guide was created with a very complicated program which prioritizes helping The Chosen One.]
[Although the Guide isn't sentient, by the time the Guide is merged with The Chosen One, the Guide will be similar to a symbiote, in which The Chosen One needs the symbiote.]
'Hmph! Look at this arrogant thing. You need me to exist, don't you?'
[No, the Guide doesn't need The Chosen One fo exist. The Guide could just return to where it belongs, if The Chosen One chose to reject it.]
'...' Basil opted to stay silent.
He wasn't speechless though; it wasn't in his character to be flustered by something inanimate.
[The Guide is not inanimate. The Guide was made with a profound concept where the boundary between inanimate objects and living things is blurred ...]
It had much to say, but he chose to ignore it. He was pondering to himself. He was recalling the deal he had made with the omnipotent being—he TRIED to recall the deal he had made with the omnipotent being.
After a few intake of breath later, he concluded he hadn't been told the deal. The last thing he heard was, "Enjoy your trip!" How did he suppose to formulate something out of that?
He thought that being sent to the past was the deal he had made. Upon the sudden appearance of the Guide however, he deduced that it was the real deal. Therefore, he wouldn't reject it.
There were so many things he hadn't discovered about the Guide, and he planned to uncover it one by one.
'Though, I know many things already. What does it have to offer?'
[Contrary to The Chosen One's belief, his knowledge is merely a grain of sand in one of the thousands of the beaches in the entire universe. Compared to the knowledge contained in the Guide to Omniscience, The Chosen One is no better than a retard.]
'My, my, look at this arrogant thing. Was that the reason you called me a retard before?'
[No, it wasn't. The reason why Brain Configuration was initiated was due to the damage to the Host's soul which caused a mental handicap.]
[Another reason was to provide a suitable vessel—The Chosen One's brain—for accepting the knowledge that will be embedded in The Chosen One's brain in the future.]
'So, the knowledge would be embedded in my brain directly. Then, would I instantly learn the full knowledge provided by the Guide?'
[Yes, and no. The knowledge will be instantly learned by the Host, however not the full knowledge is given. To have the full knowledge, The Chosen One must ask the suitable question.]
'Okay, I got it already.' Basil nodded his head.
His decision was reaffirmed once again. He, Basil Pacifer, would announce his presence to the world once again.
"This time, I, Basil Pacifer, will make the world bend to my will!"
Just as usual, he remained himself—overbearing.