16 The Old Man's True Identity
... Cough!...Cough!!...Cough!!!...
The last thing I remember was the old stabbing of that big syringe, probably big enough to contain half a liter of liquid, into my heart while I was being restrained by his Magic.
The old man then started Injecting whatever that big syringe contained directly into my heart and the unbearable pain made me lose consciousness.
The next thing I knew was waking up from the sound of the old man's coughing and seeing him sitting on the floor with his back resting on the wall.
Every time he would cough, blood would come out of his mouth staining the floor and the clothes he was wearing. From that look, I clearly understand one thing.
The old man is dying.
But why?... We have gathered everything he needs. He should have finished making the cure medicine. He should have been better by now.
"What exactly happened?"
"So you finally awake, Siel."
"Old man, explain everything to me right now!"
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[Goddess' Assassin System]
[Mode (1)]
[Life (10/10)]
[Mana (0/100)]
[Status (Deteriorating)]
[STR (30), AGI (30), VIT (30), DEX (35), INT (40)]
[Element: FIRE (0), WIND (0), GROUND (0), WATER (0), LIGHT (0), DARK (3)]
[Combat Power (165)]
[Level (0)]
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"...Cough!... Do you really want to know everything, Siel?"
"Of course, old man!!!... Why are you dying? Aren't you supposed to finish making the cure for your sickness? And what did you do to me? What was inside of that big syringe that you injected into my heart?"
The old man listens to all my questions while still sitting on the floor. Seeing this, I try to stand from the chair where I'm supposed to be restrained earlier.
But just as I was able to stand up, I slowly lost the strength of my legs which made me kneel on the floor.
"Don't suddenly stand like that. The potion is already inside your body but it still needs some time to start working its purpose."
"Potion?... What are you saying, old man? Why do I need that potion inside me?!"
"Right... I guess you wouldn't know. Don't you feel always tired and sluggish these last few days, Siel?"
"How did you know that, old man? Besides, what does my tiredness and sluggishness have to do with you injecting me with that potion, old man?"
"Well... That is because your fake body is dying because it is rapidly deteriorating, Siel."
My fake body is dying... Wait... fake body?...
"Old man, answer me. How do you know that my body is fake?"
"Do you really want to know that, Siel?"
"Answer me, old man!!!"
"Don't get mad now, Siel..."
While I was still kneeling with both of my knees on the floor, I started shouting at the old man.
"How won't I get mad, old man!... The only people who know that my body is fake are those damn lunatics who were doing that hideous experiment!... Tell me, old man, are you actually one of them?"
The old man stayed silent for a bit before giving his answer.
"That's right, Siel... I am once a part of their group..."
"Damn it, old man!... Explain yourself or I will kill you right now!"
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***Narration POV - Old man***
Humans are just like a Magical Beast when it comes to Magic. Once we learn to use the Magic of a certain Element, a Magic Crystal will form around our hearts.
The reason behind this phenomenon was so that we Human and Magical Beast could change or convert the Mana, the power of Virtue, into the Element we have and use Magic.
The more Element you the stronger you can possibly become... But the humans could not take it all.
Having three elements makes any strong enough to be praised by the Nobles around you. Having four elements will make the King and Queen notice you... But having five elements will slowly destroy your heart and kill you. And Certainly, having six elements is impossible.
But I'm someone who wants to defy the impossible... Because I'm once a Great Mage who wants to have all the Elements of Magic
An arrogant Great Mage of the Kingdom who wants to prove that he's the chosen one and that his heart can take all the burden of having a six Magic Crystal.
"You can simply guess what happened next... Cough!...Cough!...Cough!..."
"You came out wrong... Right, old man?"
"I was fine yet with the fifth Magic Crystal forming in my heart but after the six, it feels like I'm burning and crushing my heart every time I would use Magic."
Not only did having six Elements of Magic stop me from being able to use Magic but my body also started to feel the burden of it and lose its strength.
"That's when I realized I'm dying. And to my desperation, the research I'm doing to fix my mistake and heal my body turns in the direction of something I wouldn't be proud of and regret for the rest of my life."
"You research how to transfer yourself to another person's body, right?"
"More accurately, how to transfer my Soul into someone else body."
My research led to the discovery that if I use a fragment of the Hero's Sword, I might be just able to accomplish my goal.
But searching for a fragment of the Hero's Sword is almost impossible, not with me alone.
"That's what led me to work with that bastard Admel. He is a researcher and a Nobel who devoted almost half of his life to searching for a fragment of the Hero's Sword."
"I helped fund his research and he got interested in what I'm working too. Fortunately were able to find a small fragment of the Hero's Sword at the Ruins of the Holy Kingdom."
"Fortunately, you, damn old man!"
"I understand what you mean... Even I wish we didn't find anything that day. Because that day start the hideous crime were about to make."
With my research about the Human Soul and Admel's research about the fragment of the Hero's Sword, we started that hideous experiment of transferring another Human's soul into someone else body.
At first, we're using criminals, bandits, and thieves: bodies as lab rats until we later Admel start using people from the slump.
I didn't care back then, all I wanted was to complete the experiment and save myself before I die. And when we thought that the experiment was finally complete, it was finally my time to save myself...
"Who is he?"
"Who is what, Siel?"
"The name of the origin person of your body! At least you remember his name right, old man?!"
"I don't... I just asked Admel to find a person with three Elements in Magic... I didn't even bother to read who he was..."
"Damn it, old man!... How can you be that heartless!"
"That's why I'm only asking you to call me Mister... Because I know, I don't deserve to use his name."
"Damn it!... And what happened after that, if you're experiment really complete, why are you here dying in this forest?"
"That's because Admel is an idiot and the experiment has a huge flaw."
After I undergo the experiment to transfer my soul into someone else body that I chose under Admel's supervision, it takes some time for my soul to adapt to my new body. During that time, Admel thought it was a failed experiment and threw my old body and new body into the Ditch.
Somehow, my new body survives the fall. And when I woke up and saw myself, I saw the failure that I made and the cause of it... That made me realize that all I did was useless.
"What do you mean, old man?"
"One look was all it took for a Great Mage like me to understand that my new body and my soul are not holding together and that my body is deteriorating as well as my soul. It also takes one look at that mountain of corpses to realize the price of what I've done."
That time, I realized the gravity of my crime. I wanted to atone for what I had done, and the idea of killing myself in front of that mountain of corpses came to my mind. But still, my will to live overlaps that thought.
So I stand up and escape. Bust that hole wall into the metal gate and walk to the dark trench all the way into the forest hoping that somehow I will be able to find a cure for my new body.
"So it's all your fault, old man?... That hideous experiment, the mountains of corpses, me being forcefully transmigrated into this world, and that little girl's death... Damn it!... Old man... Damn it!!!"
