Light exploded around me.
Like a gentle morning. Like dawn breaking after a very long night.
The void dissolved.
I felt myself being pulled into.. Myself? Falling upward while going downward.
Breaking the silence, a voice rang out. Soft and comforting.
"Live a good life, little brother. Solve mysteries I never could." I heard his voice..
Yuto.
Then everything disappeared.
My eyes shot wide awake
Gasp!
I fought for air. I tried to sit up straight. Pain was lacing through every part of my body. Every fiber.
The paralysis from the Mandrake had finally worn off, but it felt like I'd fallen through a 50 story building.
"Ow. Fuck fuck fuck ow.." I groaned, forcing myself up.. Slowly this time.
I was back in my closet bedroom. The ritual circle completely burned out around me, the Arcane Crystal dust nothing but ash and scorch marks.
The smell of smoke lingered in the air.
How long was I out for?
I fumbled for the Crystal Interface and the screen lit up. The screen lit up and showed 7:23 AM.
I'd started around 12 AM.
That was nearly seven hours. Seven hours that felt like literal lifetimes.
My hands were shaking as I inspected my bodies. No injuries, everything was in my head– my soul. My palms still had dried blood from my nails though.
The Path I chose huh..?
According to my studies everyone's 'Path' interface manifests differently.
For some it's a game interface, a person, flowers, animals, anything.
I closed my eyes and focused on my center. There I felt it, my Stygian Core. The epicenter of all of my essence, and my second heart.
Then I willed it forward.. The interface.
Yellow evidence markers materialized around my vision—the kind police use at crime scenes, but floating, translucent.
Each marker held a new piece of "evidence." In this case my stats.
[Subject: Hiroto Takatana]
[Path: Oculist]
[Stage: I]
[Stygian Purity: 32%]
I turned my head to look at another marker.
[Abilities]
Keen Eye (Passive) : You see what others don't. You witness the essence of truth. Clues, details, lies become more visible to you. Your perception cuts through deception.
Attention to Detail (Passive) : Your vision is not normal. Your eyes are an anomaly. A detail will never evade your watchful eye. Your vision is enhanced greatly—you can see things at distances and in conditions that would be impossible for normal humans.
Judgement's Eye (Active Cooldown N/A) : Those who are affected by this ability have greatly reduced movement. The effect is greater the bigger the difference is in strength. Inversely it is weaker with a gap in strength. The more sinful the victim the greater the effect. As long as you have essence this eye will judge. (Multiplicative)
Timekeeper Eye (Active Cooldown : 7 days): In a 10 feet by 10 feet radius (3 meters x 3 meters) You can recollect information from the past. All events within the last 24 hours are reproduced to you in perfect clarity. Fast forward and rewind to your heart's content. The replay will stay as long as you have essence.
These abilities were quite good. They would be crucial in this new case.
I looked around the room and everything felt more vivid. Almost as if things that weren't there before magically appeared into existence.
The cigarette marks that were scuffed by a shoe all over the ground.
The erased scribbling all over the walls—faint, but visible now. Words I couldn't quite make out, all ending with curses and desperate pleas. The handwriting grew more erratic toward the end.
"Please""I can't""Why me""Pathless pathless pathless"
The original Hiroto was… suffering. Badly.
I felt a pang of sympathy for the body's previous owner. Whatever had happened to him, it hadn't been good.
Then I turned towards the broken shards of glass on the ground.
My dark hair was unkempt and frizzy from the trial. My face looked gaunt, tired.
But my eyes. They were different.
They felt more vivid. The color was… shifting? The murky golden hue I'd had before was becoming lighter, clearer. As I watched, they slowly changed from gold to a striking ice blue.
The change took about five minutes, the color bleeding from the edges of my iris inward like ink in water.
Must be a side effect of my path.
I glanced at the icon for Timekeeper's Eye.
The Viridian Lens was stolen 3 days ago.. It was no good.
I turned my arm over and glanced at my wrist.
There it was. The mark I'd been too afraid to check until now.
I slowly turned my left arm over.
A silver pattern traced across my skin—circular, resembling an eye with geometric patterns radiating outward. At the center, a Roman numeral glowed faintly:
I
Stage 1.
I wasn't Pathless anymore.
I touched the mark gently. It was warm, pulsing faintly with my heartbeat.
I did it.
"Alright Yuto.." I smirked. "Quite a nice parting gift you left me. I'll put it to good use."