Nero Statlas’s Perspective

My mind was frighteningly blank as I watched Liana standing a few metres away.

To be honest, I didn’t want to be here. I was physically and mentally exhausted, but this extra activity was mandatory.

And although I had somehow survived everything that had happened, I had ultimately been deceived.

Why did I have to act so overly clever?

I’d been in real trouble from the moment I’d signed the soul contract with Keith. The terms of the contract were clear: neither of us was to speak of what had happened, and in return Keith would provide me with information about my father, and I would repay him later by fulfilling a request of his choosing in the future.

But the problem lay in that ’information’.

The only information Keith possessed was that Lord Damon had died, a fact everyone already knew.

Worse still, it was actually true.

We hadn’t even agreed on the nature of the information he would provide me with, so I was now indebted to him for a future favour without having received anything of real value in return...

But well, at least I’d made it back alive.

I’d think about this problem later.

I sighed slowly as I stopped near Liana, who was holding the Silver Trinity Flower.

"Hello, Nero."

She said it in a cheerful tone, but my mind had already drifted off to a completely different place.

Is what’s happening just a coincidence?

I mean, this is at least the fourth time I’ve seen the Silver Trinity Flower in a single week.

It can’t possibly be just a coincidence... can it?

"Does this have anything to do with that ancient being?"

It wasn’t an unlikely possibility.

The flower appeared before me just as I was about to give up, and it gave me hope once more whilst guiding me towards the warehouse that contained a part of that ancient being.

It can’t be that simple.

And does that ancient creature have anything to do with the author?

To be honest, I felt completely lost.

I know full well that it’s more complicated than it seems.

I love the Silver Trinity Flower because my father loved it so much...

Wait a moment...

Could it be that—

No. No, that’s impossible. What I’m thinking right now can’t be true. It simply... doesn’t make any sense at all.

I took several deep breaths until my thoughts calmed down a little.

’I mustn’t forget the rule.’

I had to stop thinking about it. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened last time.

So I turned my attention to Liana. She looked a bit flustered, muttering incomprehensible words.

Or at least, they were supposed to be incomprehensible. Unfortunately, I could hear her.

"A beautiful woman like me talking to a bloke like him, and yet he ignores me... It’s the end of the world, yes, there’s no other explanation. Or maybe he’s just doing it to look cool."

I felt things would get out of hand if I let her run off with her imagination any further, so I said:

"Sorry, my mind’s a bit foggy."

She raised an eyebrow immediately.

"Confused? Were you thinking deeply about new ways to bully people in the future, or what?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"Oh... did I arrive early? Or has everyone already got on?"

"Yes, you’re doing that on purpose. You’re rudely ignoring me."

"So it seems not everyone’s arrived yet, has it?"

"..."

"I mean, since you’re still standing here chatting to me so casually, that means you’re not in a hurry. And if you’re not in a hurry, that means the rest haven’t arrived yet."

The corner of her eye twitched.

"You bastard—"

But I had already walked away. Even so, I was pretty sure she’d just sworn at me.

"Oh."

I stopped when I spotted Liwa and Srin near the bus door. Srin was trying to push Liwa inside, whilst he looked as though he’d completely lost the will to live.

I hesitated for a moment.

To be honest, I didn’t want to interrupt what was happening.

But Serein noticed me out of the corner of her eye and said:

"He’s in shock because everyone decided at the last minute not to sign up."

To be honest, I hadn’t expected that. But well, it’s for the best.

If everyone had joined the club, it would have meant more noise and commotion, and I could do without all that.

Srin gritted her teeth and said:

"But... c-can you help me here? I’m struggling a bit, as you can see."

Actually, I didn’t want to.

I was absolutely exhausted.

Still, I couldn’t refuse; that wouldn’t have been proper, would it?

So I helped her.

After some effort, we managed to get Liwa to sit in the front seat, whilst I felt a bit uncomfortable with the looks the bus driver was giving us, but I ignored it.

As I was heading towards one of the seats, Srin suddenly grabbed my hand.

I turned to her and said:

"What’s the matter?"

She stared at me for a few seconds. Then I noticed a slight blush appearing on her face before she said hesitantly:

"Y... You look even more handsome than yesterday."

"..."

"O... oh, sorry."

She let go of my hand immediately... covered her face with her hands and hurried over to Liana.

I stood there for a moment, my face expressionless. Then I shook my head weakly. I sat down in one of the back seats.

...

...

...

The bus had been on the road for about an hour, but I hadn’t been able to sleep; every time I closed my eyes, images of what had happened in the arena flashed before me.

So I stayed awake, but there was a problem: I had no idea where we were actually going.

I’d forgotten to ask where we were going.

And now it would be a bit awkward to ask after all this time, wouldn’t it?

I sighed silently.

In fact, I was feeling terribly bored.

So I had to find something to kill the time with.

I tapped my glasses twice. Immediately, a transparent screen appeared in front of me.

My fingers moved quickly over the transparent keyboard as I opened ’The Designer’s Tale’.

In the blink of an eye, my status appeared before me.

Host Name: Nero the Stateless

Class: Swordsman

Proficiency: Great

Rank: Intermediate (F+ → E)

Strength: F+ → E

Agility: F+ → E

Endurance: F− → F

Speed: F+ → E

Mana: F+ → F

Magic: G− → G

Combat Path: None

Skills:

[Shadowy Forms] — King Class

Affinity: [Lightning] [Earth]

Talents: [Telekinesis]

Legacy: [The Last Traveller] — Class: (?)

"..."

To be honest, I didn’t expect my stats to rise like this.

I mean, I wasn’t supposed to reach this level so quickly; my aptitude is average to begin with.

But when I thought about it, I felt I deserved it.

I lost all my limbs.

And I turned into something like jelly for a while.

So yes, I deserve this boost.

There’s also a possibility that the fragment of the ancient being is linked to what happened.

Although I don’t know exactly what happened.

Did I merge with it?

Did it become a part of me?

Or is it something completely different?

Honestly, I don’t have an answer. All I know is that I don’t feel the presence of another being inside my body.

I sighed a little as I checked how many excess points I now had.

Current excess points: 1045

"Haha..."

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. Just looking at that number was strangely satisfying.

But suddenly I furrowed my brow.

"Huh, what’s going on?"

The screen started flickering on and off repeatedly, as if the system had glitched for no apparent reason.

Is there a virus?

Hmm...

It gave me a slight headache, but my attention was suddenly drawn to the view outside the window.

It seemed the bus was climbing towards the hills.

When I looked down, I saw a vast lake stretching to the horizon, so much so that it looked as though a piece of the sky had fallen to earth and settled there.

Its waters were astonishingly clear, reflecting the white clouds suspended in the sky as if it were a giant mirror.

Every now and then, small ripples would appear on its calm surface, spreading out in silver circles that slowly widened before fading away.

The lake was surrounded by dense forests of dark green trees, whilst huge grey boulders were scattered amongst them; and on the far shore, soared towering hills, their colours shifting between green and brown, whilst mist shrouded the peaks of some, giving them a mysterious appearance as if they belonged to another world.

But suddenly...

Crack—a spark

"Huh? What’s that?"

I looked up abruptly. I heard a deep sound shaking the air.

It was like the roar of a massive storm filled with lightning, or as if thousands of thunderclaps had exploded at once.

At first I thought I was imagining it. The sky was completely clear.

There wasn’t a single cloud to suggest a storm was coming.

But the sound didn’t fade. Quite the opposite. It grew louder with every passing second.

I felt the hairs on my neck stand on end, as I began to search with my eyes for its source, and at that moment I saw Liana and Srin looking at each other.

Then they turned towards me. That was when I realised I wasn’t the only one who had heard it. Even Liwa, who had seemed to have lost the will to live just a moment ago, slowly raised his head.

At the same time, the bus was approaching the top of the hill.

Moments later, it began to descend on the other side. My eyes widened as wide as they could go. I felt as though my breath had stopped for a moment.

"What on earth is this hell..."