The body enhancements he saw were… interesting, to say the least. One made his eyesight see through the dark, while another gave him the ability to breathe underwater. Each gave him a strength that seemed otherworldly, and honestly, a bit ridiculous. “Flying? That’s insane…” The more he focused on each one, however, the less powerful they became. To see in the dark made his eyes more sensitive to light, to fly would make him brittle and weigh less... And the one to make him breathe underwater… was disgusting.

Some seemed to have no downsides, however. One was a boon of strength, adding 40 strength to his… Stats, whatever that was. Another was just as simple, giving him an increase in intelligence of 25 stats. Neither seemed to have a problem, and he couldn’t find a reason to choose against them. The idea of becoming a genius comforted him a bit, and if forty strength meant what he thought it meant then he’d be a powerhouse. The last card he wanted, though, was… risky.

Increase your talent. You learn skills faster and you can train harder. You can become stronger than others, faster. Fate is not on your side, however.

Unlike the other cards, this one had a short and sweet description. And unlike the other cards, this one was extremely ominous. Talent at the cost of some trouble in the future. It seemed like a recipe for disaster, but the idea was too tempting… His old man had always told him that he was a talentless hack, that if he had even an ounce of talent in his body, he’d have risen above and beyond what he’d done so easily…

He picked the card up, earning a raised eyebrow from the angel in front of him. All he did was smile in return. He didn’t really see a reason to trust fate after what the little angel had told him, anyways. If fate was so easily denied then he saw no reason why he shouldn’t challenge it. Hell, with his luck as low as it was, he didn’t really feel like adding to that misfortune was really that big a deal. “I’ll pick these three, lady.”

The angel gave him a peculiar look, as if she’d wanted to say something but didn’t have the nerve to do so. He didnt care even if she had tried to dissuade him. He had made up his mind on these cards, and nothing was going to stop him. Eventually, the angel just sighed, snapping her fingers and magically erasing all the cards on the desk, leaving only the ones he’d chosen. “You picked two rather boring cards, not to mention conflicting.”

He knew what cards she meant, but conflicting? “What is so conflicting about having both the strength to fight and the knowledge to learn? One cannot go without the other.” The angel looked at him as if he was stupid, only for her eyes to widen in realization. “Oh, heavens. That’s right, you never had time to accustom yourself into the modern world properly… I should have punished that angel a lot more harshly! Oh, this is going to be such a bother.”

He watched as the angel buried her head in her hands, “If I knew you were such a pushover, I’d have personally handled her punishment myself.” His eyes narrowed, unsure how he should feel about such a violent person. All she did was dismissively wave her hand at him, a tired look on her face. “You goddamn caveman, you probably don’t even know how a toilet works.” What! He resented that! The outhouse back home was perfectly fine!

She only groaned louder, hitting her head on the desk.

He watched as the girl reacted so violently to his silence. It had been on his mind for a while now, but… Something was wrong,right… it couldn’t be, right? He had to know. “Can… Can you read my mind?” The angel gave him a look as if wondering if he was stupid to have just realized. Well, maybe he was. It had been happening for quite a while now, but he had chalked it up to what his old man had called ‘woman’s intuition.’ she smacked her own forehead, groaning out loud as she fell back on her chair. “Woman’s intuition!? If all women could read minds then they’d have already strung you up by your legs, boy!”

What!? But he remembered how perceptive the girl he met at the gym was, guessing his every need and want. Was that also a case of mind-reading!? The angel flinched, before waving her hand dismissively. “That’s because you’re simple, boy. That girl was probably into the dumb and strong type, else she’d have had the intelligence to run from you the moment she saw you.” He wanted to argue, to tell her that he was actually quite a quick learner. The angel didn’t even give him that. “Well, I’m sure if you’re such a quick learner then you’ll have no trouble in the new world.”

Like that, he was thrown back into the shattered void, his mind slowing back to a crawl as he witnessed that vast expanse. He didn’t see the creature anymore, just a giant and empty void. It was terrifying and beautiful, but he didn’t really feel the same feeling as when the giant monster was moving through it. All it felt like was an empty eggshell. The remains of a creation that had abandoned its home for greater things.

And then he woke up back in the middle of the town, the blue screen still shining in front of him.

Name: Elliot Dresmr

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Level: 1

Occupation: none

Class: None

Strength: 46

Vitality: 10

Dexterity: 4

Agility: 8

Intelligence: 49

Wisdom: 8

Charm: 10

Luck: 2

Skills: Strength of a Tyrant (Passive), Cunning of a snake (passive) Talent of the insane (passive) Pk Memory-AA “Elliot Dresmr” (passive, concealed)

Unused stat points: 0

Quest: Receive a bag of rice (completed) Bring a bag of rice home to mother. (ongoing)

(Your mother has kindly asked you to bring her a bag of rice from the town square. A kind bearded man named Gerald holds what you need. Deliver the rice to your mother and bask in her praise! She must be worried sick by now! You’ll receive one free stat point as a reward.)

There was new information, but he couldn’t worry about that now. He threw the sack up into the air with as much ease as one would if they were in their prime, bolting towards his house with all the fear in the world. Memories of the boy had entered his mind, filling him in on the knowledge of the world. The quest he’d been given had completely understated what was at stake here. His mother would indeed be worried, but her way of worrying involved a lot more than just a hug and some tears. Even though his strength was insane, his vitality was still that of the child’s. If the intelligence was of his past life…

Then the child’s vitality had been one of the highest stats about him. He shuddered as he looked into Elliot’s memories, the beatings they’d taken not so much different than the ones he’d taken with the old man. He grinned as he recalled more and more memories, though. This Elliot kid might really have deserved each and every one of those beatings. He picked up the pace, the dirt ground below him cracking as he pushed extra effort into his legs.

It wasn’t exactly the speed he was looking for, less moving with agility and more like he was throwing himself forward with reckless abandon. He slowed to a proper pace moments before his house came into sight, a massive building that looked older than any other in the area. Repositioning the sack of rice to make it seem like it weighed more to him than it actually did, he made his way inside. “Mom? Sister?” He called out quietly, hoping no one would hear him. The swing from behind had made him know otherwise. “You stupid child! Where were you!? I spent the last half hour scouring the town for you!”

He ducked under the second swing, dropping the sack of rice beside him. His mom wasn’t someone you could simply take a hit from, even if the weapon was a simple cane. “I went to Gerald himself to ask where you went! What was the point in asking you to grab me rice if I had to go there myself!” She swung at him once per word, and he struggled with all his might to dodge them until an unlucky swing hit him square in the chest, sending him flying.

That… had hurt far less than he remembered. It seemed that since the old Elliot hadn’t had quite as much training as the 17-year-old he was before this, the pain of her old hits was very still fresh and vibrant for him. The memories might have made it out to seem extremely painful, but for the Elliot, he was now… Well, they still hurt, but not to any crippling level. He picked himself up, a distraught look on his face. “I’m sorry, Maribelle… I didn’t mean to worry you so much.”

As he looked into the kid’s memories, he noticed quite a lot of things about his mother. A lot of things that made her resemble his old man quite a bit, in fact. She was harsh, and wasn’t one to forgive easily… But one thing that both had a weakness for was complete sincerity. In his old life, he knew the old man cared for him, even if he refused to show it. One time he’d made a new bow for the old man to shoot when he was 14 years old. The old man went on for hours about such a shoddy bow could never replace the one he’d owned.

He’d never stopped using that ‘shoddy’ bow since, gifting his own bow to the boy a year later. So when he acted honestly hurt, and responded with her name rather than just ‘mom’... He could see the guilt on her face set in, only to be covered again with a hesitant look. “I… Elliot. I wasn’t… Worried or anything... No, I was, but…” She stumbled over her words with a flushed face, trying to find the correct thing to say after such an honest apology. Elliot tried to keep the smile from his face. His mom sure was adorable.

“It’s ok, mom. I deserved it after being so late. The time had gotten away from me.” He smiled as he walked to his mom, enveloping her legs in a hug. Even though he had never talked to a woman since today, he didn’t feel nervous around his mom. It seemed Elliot’s memories truly loved his mother, even with all the harsh punishments. He looked up to find Maribelle with a shaky frown on her face, as if she didn’t know whether to be shouting or crying.

Eventually she chose, kneeling down and crushing her son’s body against her’s, hot tears spilling from her face and onto his nape. “I… I thought the other school had gotten their grimy hands on you… Augh…” Her sobs only became more pronounced as she crushed him between her arms even harder. Elliot couldn’t even cry out. Even with his vitality and new strength, he was nowhere near the level of his mom, which was terrifying. He remained still, awkwardly being hugged by his mom in front of the entrance until the door opened once more, revealing the only other member of his family. “Mom?” She asked, noticing the sobbing mess of a woman clutching her son.

Elliot only looked at her with panicked eyes, before putting a finger over his mouth to indicate her to be quiet. This was the first time in a while either had seen their mom shed tears. Who knew just how terrible the training would be because of it.