21st January, I still can’t believe what happened. I saw a falling red star when I was going back from work, but when I told my roommate, they mocked me.
22nd January, I saw it again! I’m sure of it! I have this inexplicable urge to see it again. It must be a sign from the Gods! It must be!
26th January, I stayed all night and was able to see it again, but it came straight at me! When I woke up, I felt a bit different. I heard sinister murmurs in my head, is the devil whispering in my ear? I must go to the church to pray.
12th February, I actually got powers from the so-called Paths of Extinctions System! I was so busy fleeing to the border and couldn’t complete the mission it ‘entrusted’ me. Still, I got a lot of available paths… I wonder what they are? They have seemingly normal names like ‘Soldier’ and ‘Judge’. Admittedly, some are more enticing than others.
14th February, I used all my available PE in the ‘soldier main path’, which subsequently strengthened my body and granted me ‘skills’. I was even able to Rom, who’s much larger than me. I still don’t feel confident tough, with the raging war, there’s a big chance I die if I join the military. Then again, if we get captured, either they kill us or forcefully conscript us.
27th February, the second Moon literally turned black! I was notified by the System about a tribulation but nothing happened. I just felt a bit weird and out of breath. Is it due to the mystical ‘Fateless’ Skill? If only the System was more generous with its explanation.
2nd April, fuck this shitty System! I can’t figure out a thing! I want to know where it came from! Is it a higher-grade Artifact? An Impiety Artifact? It seems like one, but it’s intangible and even when I used it in front of the commander, he didn’t notice a thing!
18th January, I’m really tired. I no longer feel the need to do anything. I wish I could hibernate like a bear.
2nd January, I discovered clues about the System but I was almost killed! Damnit! Who-... or what were those freaks?
28th February, Paths of Extinction, even after all these years, I still don’t know its meaning. I’ve actually changed my tactic. I’m going to unlock all the Paths, even the minor ones, and count them.
15th May, I’m researching astrology. The System is definitely not from this planet. Is it from the Land of Gods, perhaps?
13th July, they’re calling me a deviant and a blasphemer. Their fear of the unknown and their ignorance will continue to beget misery and injustice. I will leave their nations and create one of my own!
A man with curly and short brown hair, sky-blue eyes, and long and thick eyebrows closed the diary and let out an exasperated sigh. He drew a semi-circle on the table, causing a magical and bottomless black space to appear.
He casually tossed small-sized yellow papers inside and drew the same symbol again.
“Edward Heart, the Mad Emperor. He wasn’t as crazy as people portrayed him to be. It’s clear that it’s an outside influence… likely to be the System. Why did he disappear? Did he actually achieve Godhood? I need to collect more pages.”
The exiled vagabond, Frederic Whitefort, sipped on his cold lemon tea and enjoyed the sight of the falling snow. The room he was in, albeit small, was cozy and filled with the scent of books and paper.
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Frederic was a history-enthusiast and was obsessed with anything mystical and strange. Due to his unending obsessiveness and adamance about following family traditions, he was exiled from home, but he didn’t care.
He was smart enough to procure money for his travel through the use of his decent talent in combat and his collection of old and cursed artifacts. His reputation was rock-bottom, so much so that he was considered a criminal in the Nezulian Republic.
After contemplating with himself for more than an hour, Frederic paced around the room, seemingly looking for something.
“Aha! I found you!”
He kicked a stack of books to the side and hastily knelt down, snatching a squirming wooden eyeball that lacked any pupils.
He stared at it for a bit and complained, “It’ll decrease my lifespan but one year… no matter! I’m running out of clues and the witches won’t accommodate it now that the job is over.”
He returned to the table near the window and sat down, his back straight and his cheeks a little red.
“Divination it is!”
Frederic put the wooden eyeball and muttered a few words under his breath, which caused a reaction. The eyeball seemed to have come to life as crimson veins protruded and wriggled disgustingly like worms.
The Eye of Malediction spun clockwise before focusing on the handsome blond-haired man. An ominous swirling black light burst from the eyeball, bathing Frederic in a bone-chilling and sinister aura.
His vision turned dark for a moment before his surroundings changed. Curious and unwilling to waste this opportunity after sacrificing a year of his remaining life, Frederic looked around and, fortunately, recognized the place.
‘It’s Erys. The clue is a student?’
Frederic was there for barely ten seconds before he returned to the warm room, cold sweating dripping off his forehead. He carefully lifted the Eye of Malediction and put it in a small and exquisite golden box, though he knew it would try to hide from him. However, the strange thing was that, despite its innumerable escape attempts, it only tried to hide from his sight and never actually fled far away.
“Fate really bounds me to that conservative nation. Now then, how can I smuggle myself in?”
…
“Two black stars? My god!”
Samuel smacked his lips and glanced at the locked door of the room. He had been worried about his friend’s sudden disappearance but didn’t have the means to look for him.
Azmer disappeared too, and the surprising thing was that they came back together.
“Knowing you, I doubt I’ll hear the full truth. Whatever! It’s good to have you back.”
Samuel chuckled and patted Zeke’s shoulder, a beaming smile on his face.
Zeke nodded back, his impression of the detective’s son changing slowly but surely.
“E-excuse me… can you help me again?”
Once the two’s conversation came to an end, Alan, who was minding his business, timidly approached Zeke while bowing and presenting his notebook. He clearly was asking for more ‘tutoring’.
“Ah! Yeah I want help too! That damn Christopher wants all of us to write a 20-page essay. It’s madness, I’m telling you!”
Although he was tired, Zeke didn’t object and spent approximately an hour explaining something and answering their questions, which were mostly related to Theoretical Aether Manipulation or Mathematics.
By the time he was done and laid on his bed, Azmer returned from wherever he had been, looking as grumpy and gloomy as ever before.
It was quite noticeable that he has been way less talkative and more preoccupied with training or studying. Then again, Rodrick had been his only friend and now that they no longer hang out together, Azmer no longer had any motive to do anything but improving himself.
He cast a cold glance at Zeke before going to his bed and silently lying down, seemingly absent-minded.
‘I already knew that he was stronger than his actual rank. Why is he keeping a low profile though? I thought he wanted to please his father by showing good results. This is definitely not the way to do it.’
Azmer too, had an overly-successful sibling, one who was significantly more talented. Zeke’s knowledge about Azmer’s family was limited, but, at the very least, knew that Azmer always sought validation from his stern and prideful father.
Zeke was lost in thought and unknowingly ended up falling asleep. Unlike all the previous dreamless nights, however, he ‘awakened’ in his dream and was totally lucid.
‘What’s happening?’
He panicked a bit but quickly composed himself and looked around, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings; The place was unusually dark and cold, and the architecture was not from the Nezulian Republic or its neighbors.
‘It’s a mausoleum.’
He was inside a mausoleum from an unknown, and possibly forgotten era.
Zeke tentatively walked around, squinting his eyes and trying to see through the darkness. Eventually, he got accustomed to the obscurity and saw a huge statue that was made of black crystal.
‘It's like the Crown’s when it was in Amelia’s body. So this isn’t just a random dream but a revelation from the System? Is it because I absorbed the Crown?’