104 A Strange Place and Strange Rewards

In a realm that was untouchable for the living. A realm that was so thick with the smell of death that nothing could escape from it. Inside a castle that was filled with countless lost souls, a single entity draped in a black robe was standing in front of a tall mirror.

She didn't have any flesh, not even a vein or muscle, only bones. She was one of the oldest being ever existed. She governed the afterlife, guiding souls toward their last resting place. Mistress Death was her name. Not much was known about her in this Universe. She had never directly involved herself with the world of the living.

In the mirror she was looking at, was a sight of a boy getting stabbed in the chest while she was fleeing.

"Oh ho... What do we do now? The bet that you made, it seems I am the winner." muttered Death.

She glanced at her shoulder. Behind her, a woman was sleeping on a bed with no sign of ever waking up. Though she was inside the realm of death, the sleeping beauty was very much alive.

"How pitiful. You sacrificed so much, even half of your soul, only to see your beloved son failing to uphold your legacy."

The mirror now showed the boy's sliver of life, slowly coming through the mirror. Mistress Death turned toward him. She slowly moved her hand closer to his face. Her fingertip almost touching Edward's cheek. And then, when her cold bone touched the boy's flesh, Edward was covered by a bright light. The light forcefully swatted Death's decaying hand, it resisted her existence.

"This power! It's you again! Vanessa!"

The light came from an item that suddenly appeared in front of Edward. Vanessa's aura was wrapped around the item. It was obvious that the item, the Scribbled Paleville Map, was made by her. The light began pulling Edward's soul back into the mirror, back into the realm of the living, where he was supposed to be.

Mistress Death kept watching silently as a flicker of life returned into the boy's body. He, alongside a little girl that was holding his hand, was wrapped by the light coming from the map and vanished from the sight of the mirror. No one knew where they would end up at.

Mistress Death, contrary to what she felt a moment ago, was actually smiling at the result before her eyes. Though no one would ever know because her skull couldn't show any kind of expression.

"She never failed to amuse me."

===°°°°===

"Kuaah!"

The moment I opened my eyes, I gasped for air while holding my chest. I felt suffocated, but after taking several deep breaths, it got a bit better. But still, I couldn't stop breathing heavily. My whole body was sweating from the shock I felt before. I just died.

I was laying on a hard floor with mist covering my visions. I couldn't stop the tears that were falling from my cheek. Eventually, a light sob came out of my mouth.

"I failed..."

Flashes of random scenes filled my mind. All the memories that I made when I was alive. All the friends that I made along the way. My family.

[Sir.]

My hand couldn't stop trembling, but weirdly enough something or someone was holding my hand. It was a small hand, but for me, it was a massive comfort for the current me.

[Edward, Sir.]

While tears and snot were dripping on my bulletproof vest, I mumbled, "Weird... hicks... I'm still wearing my old clothes."

My eyes were looking at the small hand wrapping my palm, I followed it and stared at the owner of the hand. It was Eve, sleeping on my lap.

"Uuh? She died with me as well..." I burst into tears once again, now with a completely different reason, "Uwaaah... how am I going to take this responsibility?"

[Sir! You haven't died yet!] shouted Regina. My head was buzzing. It felt like a loudspeaker that was installed inside my eardrums suddenly explode.

"Uhh? Is that you Regina?" I muttered.

[Finally. You're not dead yet, Sir.] said, Regina.

"Uwaah, why are you saying that? Oh no... Regina is in denial." I burst into tears again at the poor fellow inside my mind.

[This little...] I could hear a vein popped somewhere inside my mind. No way, must be my imagination.

The ruckus that I singlehandedly caused seemed to woke Eve up. While still holding my hand, she used her other hand to rub her sleepy eyes. She blinked a few times before our eyes finally met. Her eyes were swollen and red, possibly, from crying.

"Mr. Butterfly..." muttered Eve.

"Eve..."

""Uwaaah!""

Eve leaped toward me, intending to hug me, but she miscalculated the timing and, once again, her head slammed to my jaw. We both yelped in pain. Of course, she was the one that was hurt the most.

"Wait a minute, you can still feel pain after death?"

[Sigh... you're not dead, Sir. Look up.] informed Regina.

As I followed her order, I saw a paper floating above my head. I knew what it was. How can I not? I had done countless research on it for the past two years, but I couldn't find any progress. I thought it was just trash all along.

Regina proceeded to explain everything that happened after I lost consciousness. At the moment when I was on the verge of death, it triggered the one and only prerequisite for the Scribbled Paleville Map to activate. The requirement was simple, I need to be in touch with Death without letting myself be taken by it. I didn't know what kind of Sadistic bastard made the rule, but when I met him/her I wouldn't let it slide.

[You've been sleeping for three hours. During that time, Eve couldn't stop crying, trying to wake you up.]

I was surprised by Regina's words. No wonder, Eve's eyes were swollen and red. I made her uselessly worry about me.

"Thank you, Eve." I smiled, rubbing her small head.

Eve just cried and cried. For the first time, she met someone that could make her smile. Someone that cared for her without any pretense. To immediately losing him, was painful for her.

"But why did the back of my head felt numb?"

Eve was startled, immediately faking herself as if he was oblivious to it by whistling and evading my eyes, though her whistling couldn't produce any sound, only air.

'So cute.' I smiled.

Regina, as a professional whistleblower, told me that Eve kept pulling my arm to wake me up. But since I was still unconscious, my upper body kept falling back onto the ground, bumping my head. She kept trying, but eventually, she gave up, crying, and fell asleep. Though I didn't mind with it, I hope next time she would go easy on me.

I spent quite a few minutes comforting her, stopping her from crying, and apologizing. During this time, I also checked the reward I got from before and took the floating map, and observed it.

But first, I opened my Character Status tab.

I leveled four times after defeating Brahman. Compared to the previous two Quest it wasn't a lot. But it was understandable as the more I leveled up, the more experience it needed. Although my leveling speed was drastically nerfed by the end of the Questline, it was still a bountiful experience. Now I had 60 unused stat points. Should I ever raised either one of my stats to 101 points, I could gain a new ability related to the stats.

But, which one should I raise? Which one do I dearly lack at the moment?

Strength? I mainly used guns to fight. Using Shadow Blade on my knives was great and all. But then, I would be forced to fight in close range. My Constitution wasn't high enough to allow me to endure that kind of pressure. And in a long term, it would show how lacking it would be as it would limit the use of my other abilities.

Raising my Dexterity might be tempting. I could raise my speed, the accuracy of my shot, and the nimbleness of my movement. But I didn't think my current speed, accuracy, and nimbleness were lacking, right now.

Yes, the Genma from before might have overpowered me in terms of speed. But they also overpowered me both in Strength and Constitution. Choosing either one of them wouldn't change the result.

"So, Intelligence is the only answer."

All of my active abilities needed an enormous amount of Mana Point. I could only use Firaga 11 times in a row. After that, I would be forced to save my mana, letting it regenerate naturally, or consume MP Potions if I had one. In battle, when every second count, having overwhelming Mana Points would exponentially boost my combat potential.

"It's a gamble at this point. Regina, assign 45 stat points to INT."

[Wise decision, Sir.]

As my INT Stats reached 101 marks, I could feel my thought process accelerated so much I could feel the world slowed down when I focused. And also I feel, smarter.

The ability's description was just a single sentence. But it was something I needed the most.

"Jackpot!"

I couldn't help but cheer on my luck. Eve was confused at what I was doing, talking all alone, but she just stayed silent while wondering inside her mind, 'Did Mr. Butterfly got dumber after hitting his head?'

The Character Status then got updated.

Feeling satisfied after gloating at the new ability, I closed the Character Status tab and opened my Mailbox. There were two unchecked notifications. I clicked on the first reward and started reading its content.

<Congratulations! You have been rewarded a new S-Rank ability, Telekinesis.>

'So basically it's something like what Jean Grey have, but I have complete control on it unlike her.'

I already have various ideas on how to apply this ability in combat. But my excitement hadn't reached its peak yet as I moved my finger toward the second reward.

<Congratulations! You have been rewarded new S-Class equipment, Gem Regalia.>

My eyes were glittering with excitement, I immediately took it out of the Mailbox and equipped it. Though the AT seemed like normal inline skates, the difference came in the placement of the Regalia. Unlike the Fang Regalia which was equipped on the back wheel of an AT or the Thunder Regalia that was in a form of full-suit body armor, the Gem regalia was placed horizontally on top of the AT, right behind the toe. When activated, it would bloom from a plain 'donut' design, to expand like a blooming flower.

When deployed, the Gem Regalia: Hardest Apostolica creates heavy vibrations wherever I wanted. It was centered on how to utilize this vibration.

Air Trecks, especially one with Regalia, was a device that could bend the law of physics to what we desire as long as we have the capability.

It came from the manga, Air Gear. It was a manga whose earlier volumes were only about racing and air tricks, however, after the existence of Regalia was known, it became a full-blown war manga with the intention to kill one and another only by using Air Trecks alone.

And now, I have one of the Eight Kings of Road's Regalia in my hands. But there was one thing that confused me quite a bit. I thought Gem Regalia would be ranked as an A-Class equipment, not S-Class. I expected that the S-Class Regalia would be the Sky or Storm Regalia.

Realizing that I was thinking too much about it, I shook my head. For now, all I had to do now was mastering this Regalia. Everything aside from that could be postponed to a later time.

As I equipped the Air Trecks, I checked my footings and balance. Having 51 points in Dexterity was quite helpful as I could immediately familiarize myself with it. Not only that, but my special ability, the Physical & Matter Movement Prediction, combined with Photographic Reflexes would help me master it in a short time. I expected after a week, I would be able to understand the nook and cranny of this Regalia.

I lightly hopped to check if the AT was equipped properly, "It seems there's no problem."

Eve stood next to me, her eyes were glued at my AT. She was curious about how a pair of inline skates suddenly appeared in thin air.

"How do I look, Eve?" I asked.

"Eve raised his head raised both of his thumbs, "you looked cool, Mr. Butterfly.

I smiled before turning around and crouched in front of her. "Hop on! Let's try it now."

"Yay!"

To activate the AT all I need to do was just kick the ground and glide. The speed of the AT heavily depended on the user's leg strength. Just like the description, it was a self-propelled device, the assist motor accelerates based on the force of the kicks.

Tang!

(A/N: Sound effect, not the Dynasty.)

With a single kick, we glide through the mist. The air was blowing on our faces, it felt exhilarating.

[It's the other way around, Sir.]

Using the Spin-Turn Stop technique, I immediately decelerated and shamelessly turned around without responding to Regina's follow-up mockery.

With Eve on my back, I plunged into the mist, following the asphalt road under my feet. Who knew what would welcome us by the end of the road. But one thing was sure, there was no way back.

10 seconds later, the mist started thinning out, revealing a single asphalt road in the middle of a forest. Our trace couldn't be seen anymore from where I teleported to. It was as if we were never there, to begin with.

At the side of the road, there was one single welcome sign with green painting and white fonts, standing tall and proud. Four words were written on it. Four words that would make me question my choice in taking the road.

Welcome to Silent Hill.

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