Elizabeth was currently sitting in a hot, warm bath, finally able to relax after days of being on edge. And what better way was there to take off that edge than being in a hot, warm bath. As she sat in the water, she looked at her wobbling reflection staring back at her, a four-year-old version of herself to be exact. The more she looked at it, the more annoyed she got. She still had questions about her flaw. Would she always age regress twelve years physically every morning, or would it be random every time? Since the difference between the look she had when she woke up seemed to be thirty years more than her normal age.
"Hopefully, I just turn twelve years younger every morning..." She hoped that was the case, since even though she had the body of a four-year-old, she believed she could somehow salvage the situation, although she had a feeling her flaw would not be that simple. After all, it was a flaw for a divine aspect.
Pushing those thoughts aside, she refocused on the runes she had to summon. "Let's check the memories I got..."
Name: Elizabeth
True Name: Siren of the Last Haven
Rank: Dreamer
Heaven Cores: [2/7]
Fragments of Heaven: [71/2000]
Attributes: [Split Spirit], [Siren of the Sea], [Spirited]
Aspect: [Avatar of Skies]
Aspect Rank: Divine
Memories: [Pinkey of Rethen], [The King's Glory], [Drop of Ichor], [Last Hope]Echoes: —
Her eyes remained on the aspect rank for a little longer. She still could not believe that she was in possession of a divine aspect.
'Heh.'
Her eyes were then drawn to the memories. 'Drop of Ichor, huh...' She hurriedly focused on it, excitement bubbling in her chest.
Memory: [Drop of Ichor]
Memory Rank: Unknown
Memory Type: Unknown
Memory Description: [Her mind was as brilliant as the myriad of stars she ruled over, her tenebrous black eyes held the depths of the ocean she commanded, her voice was so enchanting the storm quieted down to listen and guided many broken souls to safety. She was flawless, and everlasting.
But at the end of a war, one that happened at the dawn of time, she was flawless no more. This was new to her, and she was intrigued by her flaw and hated it. She wished to erase it out of existence but could not bring herself to do so. So she learned how to live with a flaw, and soon learned to love her flaw, and because of that, she made a mistake that cost her and the other gods their everlasting life.]
The more she read the runes of the memory, the more confused she became. Never before had she heard of a memory that was of unknown rank and type. She had expected it to be of the Sacred rank, since she had gotten it directly from killing Rethen.
'What's with me and getting things related to the storm god?' Everything, including her nightmare, was linked to this very goddess. Her aspect as well, since it was meant to be some vessel for the goddess herself. Now she had two memories that mentioned her.
'But this one is weird...' She held out her hand and summoned the memory.
Instantly, golden sparks of light appeared in the air in front of her and began to dance across her palms before gathering into a spherical drop of blinding, golden liquid. The moment she saw it, she felt her body being drawn to it, almost like she was looking at a piece of herself she had lost a long time ago and was excited to reunite with. Before she could question why she was feeling that way, she heard the spell whisper to her, its voice warm and joyful, so much so she almost...almost mistook it for a human's.
[You have acquired a drop of ichor. Do you wish to consume it?]
'What?'
She blinked rapidly in confusion, sitting up in her bath as she stared at the runes. 'Consume a memory? Could one even do such a thing, and for what purpose?' The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. What would happen if she consumed it?
'...Would I die?'
She quickly shook her head. No, she would not die. The spell was fair. It had rewarded her for facing a terrible nightmare trial with a divine aspect and memories beyond her rank. If the spell had given her this as a reward for killing Rethen, then surely the memory in front of her, despite how mysterious it seemed, was good for her.
She sighed before she smiled. "Yes."
[...As you wish.]
The golden liquid slowly began to move from her palm, floating toward her forehead and stopping mere inches away. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she saw electric sparks ignite in it.
'What!? Wait, I am in wat—!'
Before she could react, the golden liquid shot through her skull, ignoring her skin and bone completely. For a split second, her brain was on fire, as in it actually electrocuted. Her thoughts melted away in a second, yet she was still conscious, feeling every ounce of pain her body was going through, especially her brain. It felt like someone had tied her head to a lightning rod and lightning kept striking it every second. It was so painful that she could not even scream, let alone move.
While that was happening inside her head, her body was draining the bathwater at a visible pace. The water, as it entered her body, slowly helped her regain strength and gradually heal her brain.
[You have acquired a new Attribute.]
Suddenly the pain vanished just as quickly as it had come, the event lasting only a few seconds. Elizabeth opened her eyes, which glowed gold for a moment as she slowly regained control.
'-er... huh?' She sat up, looking around in confusion before suddenly clutching her head, letting out a muffled scream.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw the world in a completely differently light. Her field of view had increased, and she could see the small gap in the cement at the far side of the bathroom in vivid detail. Her peripheral vision felt just as clear as her direct sight. That was not all. She felt like she could see everything around her in vivid detail, as if her peripheral vision had increased from 180 to 360. Not only could she see it, she could also feel everything as well, as if her sensitivity to the world had heightened dramatically.
But the change that shocked her the most was her mind as everything pailed compared to it. While she had two minds before, each had felt like they were simply sharing the capacity of one brain to function. Now she felt like she had two brains in her head, each with its own unique thought process going on. She felt like her second mind had already figured out what the function of the unknown memory was in a split second, the moment she became aware again.
'The memory somehow improved the speed at which I think and the capacity of my brain to supernatural levels... no, to divine levels. This memory came from a sacred being, after all, and it was related to the storm god.'
'This is insane.' She knew that at the moment, both her minds were having trouble focusing, or more accurately, having trouble because they were focusing on too many things at the same time. She felt overstimulated yet not overwhelmed at the same time.
'This...is a feeling that will take a while to get used to...'
All in all, it was an incredible boon. She could not think of anything negative about it.
She tried to focus on the next memory, doing her best to drown out the flood of thoughts rushing through her head.
Memory: [Last Hope]
Memory Rank: Ascendant
Memory Tier: II
Memory Type: Weapon
Memory Description: [The last heirloom of a long-forgotten civilization, created using the shards of the leftover egg of an abomination that had terrorized them for far too long.]
Memory Enchantments: [Sharp Presence], [Punishment], [Float]
'Finally, a normal memory...'
Although she was slightly sad it was not a never before seen and unique memory, it was crazy how an Ascendant memory was now considered normal for her. She had not even received her first awakened memory yet. It was not normal for her to possess such things. She probably had better memories than some rich kid from a great legacy clan.
As she looked at the memory enchantments, she could not help but wonder what they did, even though most of them sounded straightforward. She was mostly confused about what Punishment did.
Suddenly, something happened.
Memory Enchantments: [Punishment]
Enchantment Description: [The more cuts this blade makes, the sharper it gets. Foes cut by it shall be slowly weakened.]
'...What in tarnation?'