"Chronos."
Ethan's eyes glowed with a faint blue hue, and he felt his body being grabbed by a powerful force into a swirling vortex.
GASP!
His eyes shot open. And he sat up fast.
His breath grew uneven, each gasp sharp and heavy, as though he had just finished a marathon.
"What... happened?" He muttered under his breath, pressing a hand to his forehead.
The last memory he held was of drifting through purgatory, talking to the entity that resided within, yet somehow, he found himself back in the the remains of the cottage.
But that wasn't the confusing part.
If his memory served him right, his arms had been severed just before death by some strange technique, but now, they were whole, firmly attached, as though it had never happened at all.
But it did.
The soft moonlight washed over his face in a pale glow as his vision sharpened. The cabin they once called home lay reduced to ashes, and the memory of what caused it just as vividly in his mind.
Then.
A sudden and vicious sharp ringing tore through Ethan's head. His eyes blurred from the pain he felt, and he cried out as his strength gave away.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his head with both hands, the sound screaming through his skull as the world spun around him.
[You have activated the 100x Rewards System!]
[You have successfully awakened the talent (Chronos)]
[You have gained an additional boost in your physical attributes.]
[10% increase in physical strength.]
[5% increase in agility and speed.]
[1% increase in constitution.]
The blur in his vision faded, the sharp ringing dulled, and the pain coursing through him slowly ebbed away just as a window materialized before his eyes.
"Huh?"
The window floated without support. To anyone else, it might have looked like a strange, unnatural entity, but to Ethan, it was unmistakable.
He knew exactly what it was.
He rubbed his eyes and looked at it again.
"A system panel?"
How could he not recognize it? In his previous life, the protagonist of his favorite novel had awakened a system that allowed him to grow stronger without limit, so the concept was anything but unfamiliar to him.
[Assimilating...]
Without warning, Ethan was struck by a sudden rush of information, pouring into his mind in a relentless torrent.
His head snapped upward toward the sky as the weight of it overwhelmed him, rocking back and forth as he struggled to withstand the flood.
When it was over, Ethan stayed on his knees, with his head tilted towards the sky.
His eyes were barely open, and his body felt numb, as if drained of all sensation.
Saliva dribbled from his mouth, a sign that he had barely survived the barrage of knowledge, like someone who had just endured the shock of an electric current.
[1% Assimilation Complete.]
"Chronos?" Ethan mumbled subconsciously, then carefully, he pushed himself to his feet and wiped the corners of his mouth.
[--------------Talent's Status-------------]
[Name: Ethan Kaiser]
[Age: 16]
[Race: Human]
[Spirit Will: Chronos]
[Rank: Null]
[Attributes -
• Strength - 5
• Agility - 3
• Constitution - 2
• Stamina - 1]
[Skills - Finite knowledge (5%)]
[Talent Ability - Timeless (1%)]
[Assimilation - 1%]
_______________________________________
Ethan stared at the window. Though the inscriptions on it were surprising, they didn't confuse him, he already knew the answers to the questions he had.
It was a System.
He stared at his hand, stunned by what he saw. He had gained a bit of weight, and not just a little.
The skinny figure he once was had vanished.
Now, he looked like an actual fed teenager, a flat stomach and chest, no more bony ribs, and calves that actually resembled a normal human legs.
"Is this because of the assimilation?"
A 10% increase in strength meant more developed muscles, and to build muscle, fat had to be added. The assimilation had done exactly that, transforming his body in the process.
"Chronos huh?"
That name was too familiar.
In folktales and mythologies, Chronos was the God of Time in Greek mythology, a name not to be casually thrown around in New Olympus.
He was a Primordial being, whose strength surpassed even that of Zeus, the ruler of the Olympian gods.
"Could that be the Chronos this status is referring?"
It sounded too good to be true, but the events that unfolded said otherwise.
His regenerated li.
His eyes skimmed through the status window and stopped at the skill section.
"Finite knowledge?"
He turned around and stared at the beauty of the forest far away, and a strange familiarity stirred within him.
Before, he had no idea what the interior of the forest was like, but now, as he looked at it, he felt it in every fiber of his being, as though he had always known.
Names began racing through his mind, one after another, mystical herbs, rare plants, and trees whose names he had never even known existed before.
Yet now, each one felt perfectly familiar, as if the knowledge had been etched into him all along.
"Is this the finite knowledge skill?" It was just a basic skill, offering no direct advantage in combat, yet in its simplicity lay something only he had access to.
Knowledge.
The knowledge that coursed through his mind now, insights so vast that even a Grade 5 Gold Spirit Tamer could never hope to possess it.
It even transcended the forest itself.
The best way to describe the skill, was the accumulated knowledge gathered through the course of time.
But at 5%, that knowledge was limited.
And it became clear.
That was Chronos, the mythological god of time, and somehow, he assimilated his will.
"Huh?" His gaze landed on his talent's ability. "Timeless? What's that supposed to b-"
Then, his gaze fell to the ruins of the cottage.
The cottage they once called home was reduced to ashes, and the memory of what caused it just as vividly in his mind.
"Mom!" He rushed to the heap of ashes where his mother had lain before he lost consciousness.
The mercenaries were long gone, they left with the certainty that he was dead, and in another timeline, they were right.
Ethan clawed through the ashes in desperation, clinging to the faint hope of a false miracle that his mother might still be alive.
But all he saw was ashes.
"No..." He whimpered.
"Mom!" He cried out, tears streaming down his face.
This was his second chance.
His second chance at happiness, at grasping the feeling every man longed for, no matter how harsh the path life had laid out for him.
The feeling of having a family to return to, the feeling of having a feeling in general.
And now.
That feeling was stripped away from him.
"E—Ethan." A voice sounded from behind, and his tear-streaked eyes shot open as he quickly glanced over his shoulder.
He set his eyes on Reginald, who barely clung to life.
"Reginald!" He hurried over to him, what remained of him to be precise.
A fatal wound pierced straight through his heart, yet with sheer will, he had forced an advanced breathing technique to keep his Spirit Energy flowing, clinging to life for just a little longer.
"Reginald!" He placed his hands on his wounds, trying to channel his magic to heal it, but because of all that had happened so far, it slipped his mind — he didn't have his magic anymore in this world.
"Ethan." Reginald gathered the last of his strength and reached out, gripping his arms with trembling hands.
"It's no use, I don't think I can hang on for much longer."
The more he tried to speak, the weaker his breaths became, and his Spiritual energy circulation faltered, losing its strength bit by bit.
"No... You can't leave me too." Ethan mumbled, refusing to believe that he was about to lose the only person left he could consider a family.
"Ethan, it's been a pleasure serving and protecting you. If there's one thing I regret, it's the time we wasted to buy you a talent stone. If not... I would have taught you all I know." He said softly, his breath and consciousness fading little by little.
"I don't care that you didn't teach me! I only care that you stay with me!"
A smile crept up Reginald's face.
"This is the second time you've shown love and affection towards me. You've always shoved me away, cursing at me because I once served the very family that tore your life apart. The first time, I thought you were happy that you could use me to learn how to cultivate a Spirit will when the time came."
"I see now I was wrong." His spiritual energy completely faltered, and his consciousness faded away the next moment. "It's been an honor serving you... Young Master Ethan..."
Silence.
His pupils widened, then faded into emptiness.
Then finally, he yielded to death's quiet embrace.
"Reginald." Ethan called out to him, but he didn't respond. "Reginald!"
At that moment, a piercing ring echoed inside his skull, sharp enough to drown out the world around him.
He clutched his head with both hands, a raw shriek tearing from his mouth as an onslaught of memories surged into him—memories he had never lived, faces he had never seen, fights he had never fought.
They crashed into his mind like a violent storm overwhelming him with the life and experiences of another, the previous soul that once inhabited this very body.
When it finally ended, he found himself sprawled on the ground, some distance away from Reginald.
The pain of the sudden influx was so unbearable that he didn't even realized he had rolled across the dirt, thrashing in a futile attempt to lessen the torment tearing through his mind.
But now.
It no longer mattered.
Every fragment, every detail of the previous soul's memories.
He rememberred it all.
The chain of events that had driven him, his mother, and his loyal butler to flee, forcing them to seek refuge in the outskirts of New Eden.
And most importantly, he remembered the face, the cold, merciless face of the man who had slain his new mother, struck down Reginald, and nearly ended his own life as well.
Those memories had been sealed away for a single reason, the Heavenly Divine Pearl.
It had exhausted the last of its power to carry out his transmigration, cleansing his body of all irregularities.
It had served as a mental barrier, shielding him from what the past soul had endured.
Moreover, Ethan's mind was far stronger than that of the body's former inhabitant, making it nearly impossible for those memories to surface.
But now, now that he came face-to-face with death, that barrier had finally shattered, and the memories came rushing back to him.
He rose to his feet, and brushing the tears from his eyes. His gaze fell on the ashes of his mother and the lifeless corpse of Reginald, then reached down and picked up a piece of charred wood from the ruins.
With it, he gently scattered the ashes over his body, covering him bit by bit until he was buried beneath the remnants of their ruined home.
"Reginald... I'm forever grateful for the love and affection you once showed me, or rather the previous soul of this body... Wherever you and mom are, please... Protect her just like you've always done."
He pressed the charred wood deep into the ashes, setting it upright as a makeshift tombstone.
Then, lifting his head to the night sky, his gaze burned with unyielding rage.
Once again, he had nothing left in this world, not left living for.
It was as if the shadows of his past came to hunt him, and now, history repeated itself.
Another surge of rage coursed through him as he stared into the night sky, but it was not just his own.
He knew his anger, his resentment, the way it burned and settled in his chest.
But this was different.
It wasn't his rage.
It was Chronos.
The moment he inherited his will, he also inherited his wrath.
His anger bled into him.
He looked down at his palm, and as knowledge surged through him, it became clear to him, the same condescending rule that plagued every fantasy world applied here.
The right to live belonged only to the strong.
And he finally understood what Chronos said.
"If the world is your weapon so be it, I accept your weapon... I accept your wrath."
The cruelty of the world had stolen more than just his happiness. His body, his mind, the very essence of Ethan Kaiser, it shattered it all, leaving nothing but a hollow vessel of his former self.
Then he reached the only conclusion left to him.
"I hate this world. I hate everyone. From the moment of my death, it rejected me, it rejected us. It tried to eliminate us, but it failed, and now there's only one thing left to do."
He now had a goal, but one truth remained.
At his current level, seeking revenge, death was certain.
But it didn't matter, because he had an advantage over everyone.
A system, and by the looks of it, one that allowed him to increase his assimilation tenfolds.
He had an idea of what he needed to cultivate his talent and strengthen his assimilation, yet those things remained far beyond his reach.
And there was one place that came to mind where he can have access to those resources.
The Spirit Tamers Academy.
It was infuriating, yet at the very least, until he could cultivate his talent and grow stronger, it provided a measure of security.
And to top it all, it resided in the Dreyar 's continent.
"With all I previously cherised lost and gone, I have nothing left but my vengeance. The Dreyar continent huh?"