7 Memory
"So this boy is the one who ended both of my daughters' lives."
"Lord Dick, please give your orders."
"Throw him in the basement. Rena will probably be angry if we go through the ritual right away."
"Yes, my lord."
***
[Basement of Lord's Mansion]
Tap... Tap... Tap...
A man slowly headed towards a cell at the end of the corridor of the basement with Sou tucked on his shoulder. The corridor was infested with the rotting smell of naked corpses, mostly men.
"Hey! Stop dilly-dallying and throw that kid away! We got some ni~ce girls in the stock."
"Yeah yeah, don't you lot dare to start before me!"
"We'll be waiting."
They ran off shouting gibberish.
"Tsk! I bet they will start before me."
Schwing!
The man staggered.
"F... ck..."
The part above his mouth cut open, revealing the insides of his head. Sou landed safely, keeping his balance.
"At least I can materialize Flame Blade."
{You have gained 10 Experience Point}
-You do not have Mental Fortitude. Killing backlash will commence (Trial kills included).
Sou's heart suddenly started to pound harder. His legs trembled as he saw the disjointed head with its insides sprawled all over the floor like spaghetti. His mind went blank and fear rushed through his body.
Blegh!
He threw up continuously. He fell to the floor, panting heavily as if he was exhausted beyond the limit.
(I may not have realised before, but... I have killed people with my own two hands... But didn't know the aftereffects would be this severe and intense!)
(...)
(But I was also killed by human hands, by those very hands which nurtured me, fed me, embraced me and loved me.)
He sat on the floor and leaned on the basement's wall with his hands on his forehead, reflecting upon what is right and wrong.
A recollection of his past came floating in front of his eyes.
***
[Sou's Previous Life]
"Brother, why killing is bad?"
A six-year-old tugged the sleeves of a boy who was gazing at the drizzle with a kind face. The boy shifted his gaze towards the six-year-old and showed the warmest of smiles.
"You see, the one who created us sent us here for a particular purpose and since we are beings who cannot stand on without support, God created a fragile supporter, known as 'soul'. That 'soul' supports us with a nearly-exhausted fire known as 'life'. Since 'life' is something the 'soul' uses to support us, it is also a creation of God. Now, 'life' is so fragile that even a breeze can extinguish it. Just think about it, there are cases of people dying due to sudden sounds during their sleep. Stupid, right? But this just shows how delicate 'life' is. And since we know that we will fall without the supporter, we cling to it desperately until we have achieved that particular purpose."
"So?"
"So, what do you think happens if you extinguish the flame of 'life'?"
"The person is killed."
"Well, yeah, that's true, but what do you think happens to YOU when you extinguish someone's flame of 'life'."
The six-year-old plastered a serious expression along with an expression of anticipation on his face.
"What happens?"
"You commit the act of defying God by destroying the sole thing He created and bestowed upon us to achieve our purpose."
The boy's facial expression changed and he wore a grim expression while the child was looking at the boy with scared eyes.
"You commit one of the gravest sins."
The drizzle turned into a downpour. The sound of raindrops falling echoed throughout the room. And in the middle of the dripping sounds, a child's crying reverberated.
***
[Basement of Lord's Mansion]
Sou started to think about the sins he committed, and of course, the three killings were the most prominent ones.
Some time passed.
Tring!
{'Mental Fortitude I' has been granted because of Cain's orders}
A new frame that Sou has never watched before replaced the previous one.
(What?)
Sou's mind went into perplexity.
(Cain? Are they the ones who created the system? And why did they suddenly grant me Mental Fortitude?)
But no matter how much he thought, he never reached an answer.
(Cain... let's not think about that now.)
{Mental Fortitude I}
-It is the first stage of the passive skill 'Mental Fortitude'. It keeps the user's composure stable and allows the user to assess situations calmly. It provides 5% resistance against mental attacks.
Sou stared at the frame with astonishment painted over his face as it faded away. As a reader and watcher of a lot of fantasy novels and animes, he knew that he would get a skill like that, but experiencing the scenes he saw sitting behind the books and T.V. the rest of his life unfolding in real life had a different thrill.
He looked at the deed he has done sprawled on the floor. He felt the sudden urge to vomit. If it was a few seconds, maybe he would not be able to hold up, but now, thanks to the newfound skill, he resisted it by closing his eyes and sighing.
"Haa..."
He stood up and walked to the lying corpse. He stared at it as if he was searching for something. His eyes fell on the blood-soaked sword.
(Hmm... Well, materializing the Flame Blade takes up a lot of mana, and considering my mana pool, it would last one minute at most.)
He bent down and picked up the sword. As he was picking it up, a small shine at the corner of his eye caught his attention. The shine was originating from beneath the dead boy. Sou raised one of his brows in curiosity. He kicked the body away and a sound of metal deopping came.
The sound was a bit sharp but shallow. It was not so loud but high-pitched enough to irritate Sou's ears. Sou picked up the item and a smile appeared on his face.
It was a dagger, polished and well-maintained. Its edge was sharp enough to cut through flesh like butter.
(A sword-dagger combination... hehe...)
Tring!
{Sub-space}
-A spatial space to store items. Infinitely many items can be stored.
(Sub-space?)
Sou concentrated his focus on the sword.
"Sub-space."
A purple-lined crack appeared at the tip of the sword. Slowly, the crack began to widen and started to swallow the sword, and within some second, the sword was neither in his grip nor his sight, and the purple distortion also disappeared out of existence.
Seeing the phenomenon unfold in front of his eyes, Sou let out an exhausted chuckle with his eyes widened.
"Ha, haha... Am I in some kind of game?"
As soon as the sword disappeared, Sou felt like a sting has been attached to his brain with the sword on the other end of the string.
(Let's try summoning it without the chant.)
Sou tried to follow the string to the sword in his mind. It was difficult since he experienced something like this for the first time, but he managed to summon it.
(Hmm... It will take some effort.)
He stored the weapons in the Sub-space and glanced at his hands.
"Hm?"
He hurriedly patted his body.
"What? Is this a ... child's body?"
(Now that I think about it, that red-haired said something about turning ten.)
He thought for a moment.
(Since I've got a system helping me with everything, it must have a profile or something like that.)
A panel popped up in front of his eyes.
{Status}
-It shows the user's personal information including Experience Points accumulated, Level, Stats and others. You can also spend points gathered to increase your Stats.
(Yes, this is the thing that I have been looking for!)
"Status."
AGE- 7
EQUIPPED TITLE(s)- DESTROYER, DOMINATOR
LVL- 5
HP- 100
MP- 35
STRENGTH- 10 (+)
AGILITY- 20 (+)
WISDOM- 80 (+)
ENDURANCE- 15 (+)
ADRENALINE- 10 (+)
EXP POINTS- 55
(So my age is seven years, huh... And my name is Sou... Reynolds?"
Tring!
{Memory Synchronisation is going to take place}
Suddenly, Sou's mind was rushed with memories of a boy with Sou's face and name- but not Sou himself- from his birth to his end.
"Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Reynold. It is a healthy boy."
"Oh, look how cute he is!"
"Yeah yeah, cute because he got your silver hairs and eyes. Hmph!"
"Aww... don't be like that! Look, he got your face! I am sure he will grow up to be a splendid and handsome man."
"Whose son do you think he is? hehe..."
***
"Son! Come and train with your dad!"
"Dear, wipe that grin off! No one is going to train with you if you make such a creepy face."
"Hahaha!!"
***
"Ho... you've got quite the hang of the sword."
"All thanks to your training dad!"
"My God! How cute can my son be?!"
"Hehe~"
***
"Lily!! Get down!!"
"Dear! Sou's still there!"
"What?! Sou! Huh..?"
"Dear!"
"He is barely four... and he managed to wield 'Lightning'..."
***
"Sou, isn't it about time you start your academic life?"
"Your father is right, Sou. How about attending Zicrus Academy?"
"Yeah, let's do it Sou. We are also thinking of moving there."
***
"Sou... c'mon... let's train... your father is bored to death."
"It's the middle of the night dad!"
"So what? It's not like you are doing something important..."
"I am reading."
"Hmph! So boring."
***
"We will be reaching Loa by tomorrow."
"I can't wait to reach Zicrus!"
"Right?"
***
"Sou, your mother!!"
"Mom!!"
"Kyaa"
Crackle!
"Arghhh! You br-"
Schwing!
"Huff huff... I guess help's here..."
"SOU DODGE!!"
"Eh? Gahh!"
"SOU!!"
"The crying faces... are really... painful..."
"...At least they will... live..."
***
[Basement of Lord's Mansion]
Drip...
A drop of water fell to the ground from Sou's cheeks. His moistened eyes overflowed with tears. He lifted his arm and covered his eyes.
"Haha... Damn it..."
***
