Chapter 253: The Prophet [1]

Chapter 252

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Episode 64 - The Prophet [1]

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"By the way, you cut your hair."

Astrid asked after briefly looking at me. I nodded in response.

"Yes, about two hours ago. You noticed pretty quickly."

"That’s because your hair was covering part of the bandages over your eyes. It also covered your ears to some extent, so it was hard to see your face."

As I walked down the hallway with Astrid, I asked.

"What’s your Specialty?"

Astrid immediately replied.

"Actually, I would have liked to be an Elementalist."

"It’s because you think Liora is adorable."

"Yes, I like fairies and spirits. If I were an Elementalist, I could form contracts with them."

"Then your Specialty is..."

"...Swordsman, although I don’t know why, since I’ve never even touched a knife. I don’t feel like I have any talent for it, either."

".....!"

Although I could answer her question, I didn’t. If Astrid was my blood sister, it wouldn’t be strange for her to have awakened the Swordsman Specialty.

This was because of the Family Bloodline.

If the ancestors of a family possessed great talent with the sword, their descendants would inherit that talent, even if they had descendants who were mixed with Mages.

If a Great Mage with immense talent had a child with a Swordsman who had little talent, but whose ancestor possessed tremendous talent, their son or daughter would inherit the blood of their ancestor over the newer blood—their mother’s blood, that of a Mage.

This was known as a Family Bloodline.

As long as the descendants continued to have parents who wielded the sword, and then one day a Mage was born instead of a Swordsman, the blood of the sword wielder would dominate the mother’s blood, and the bloodline that knew only the sword would be passed down, even if the descendant did not inherit their ancestor’s talent.

"What Traits did you Awaken?"

At that moment, I asked the question I was most curious about.

If I, who possessed the Unique Trait: Eyes of the End, had awakened one, then Astrid might have awakened something similar.

’It’s not as if it’s an absolute rule.’

She might have talent with the sword, but her Awakened Unique Trait could be ordinary or average, without anything particularly special.

So I was curious whether she had Awakened a Unique Trait. Not necessarily something like Eyes of the End, but a Trait that had never been seen before.

At my question, Astrid remained silent for a moment before finally answering.

"I Awakened a Unique Trait, although its name is pretty cool."

"What do you mean?"

"Like I said, I just like the name of the Unique Trait."

"Then what’s it called?"

"My Unique Trait is called ’Beginning as the End.’ It’s pretty cool, right? It can mean many things that I’m familiar with."

’Beginning as the End... It’s not a Trait I’ve heard of anywhere, and it doesn’t exist in my memories either.’

However, it carried the word ’End.’ That meant it had some connection to Eyes of the End.

However, my Unique Trait could be considered the End, or the conclusion of something, whereas Astrid’s represented a beginning, but also an ending.

’What could it mean?’

Since Astrid didn’t have a Status Window, she was forced to uncover each of the secrets and powers contained within her Unique Trait herself.

When a person Awakens a Trait, the name of the Trait automatically appears in their mind.

"Ah, but that’s not the only Unique Trait."

".....?"

"What do you mean?"

"Yes, I actually have three Unique Traits, but judging by your reaction, that means it’s not normal, right?"

Astrid looked at me with a hint of concern in her voice. However, I quickly shook my head and said.

"This might sound... fascinating or absurd, but listen. No one has ever Awakened three Unique Traits during their Awakening. Even those who have Awakened two Unique Traits are known as great heroes who saved this world, people who reached truly extraordinary levels of power."

I wasn’t lying. According to my master, she had Awakened two Unique Traits and had noticed something peculiar compared to those who had only Awakened a single Unique Trait.

’Her talent is exceptionally absurd, and above all, the chances of reaching Eleven Stars increase tremendously.’

It was almost like a kind of Destiny chosen by luck.

For some reason, those who had Awakened only a single Unique Trait had never managed to reach Eleven Stars. Of course, this was merely speculation based on my master’s observations.

It wasn’t necessarily an absolute rule.

But my master had noticed clear differences, not only in talent, but also in what an Awakened could ultimately achieve.

"That really sounds like you’re messing with me, but it seems like it’s true."

"Yes, so don’t tell anyone. Ah, by the way, what are the names of your other two Unique Traits? Can I know them?"

"Of course. My second Unique Trait is called ’Nine Heavens,’ and the last one is called ’Eternal Darkness of the Eclipse.’ They’re pretty cool names to me too, right?"

"Haha, yeah..."

A cold sweat ran down my forehead as I concealed my disbelief.

I was perplexed. Of course, I naturally had no idea what kind of powers her Traits possessed. Even so...

’...Just from their names alone, it’s obvious they’re no ordinary Traits.’

In any case, no one should find out.

’If someone discovers it, then I’ll have to take Astrid to ’that’ place where no one could ever find her.’

Finally, we arrived in front of the director’s office.

Astrid and I stopped, and just as I was about to knock on the door, I suddenly asked.

"Oh, right, you Awakened the power of a Heart’s Strength."

Astrid nodded slightly.

"Yes, it’s called Divine Heart, although I remember that when you told me you had reached Five Stars, I felt a sharp pain in my chest right before you told me. Could there be a connection?"

"....?!"

’What the hell...’

***

Ting! Ting!

The door to Mia’s shop opened, and Astrid and I walked inside.

The girl looked around and approached the display cases and shelves filled with all kinds of Potions.

"So this is what Potions look like."

Astrid murmured as she approached and examined them closely.

Just then, Mia’s voice rang out softly as she appeared from behind the reception desk.

"Oh, Master is already back and..."

She looked at Astrid and then at me.

"With a girl. Mhm, by the way, this girl looks..."

Before she could continue, I gestured for her to remain silent.

Mia immediately noticed and fell silent, as if she understood.

A few minutes later, we were sitting on the sofa in the main living room.

"Master, so this girl..."

"I’m her temporary guardian, so she’ll be staying here until January of next year. It was a request from the orphanage director due to certain circumstances, and since I’m very close to her, she asked me for the favor."

Mia nodded slightly.

’Fortunately, Astrid didn’t suspect anything at the time.’

When the director and I were figuring out how to deceive Astrid, the best option at the time was to make me her ’temporary guardian’ due to certain circumstances involving Astrid.

Of course, since all of this was a lie, we had to make it believable and feasible somehow.

Fortunately, it worked, and Astrid didn’t suspect anything.

’Aah, good. Now she won’t be in danger if something unexpected happens.’

Many people were aware of how close I was to Astrid.

Starting tomorrow, I would be hunted everywhere, and among those people, there would be some who would do everything they could to find me. If they discovered how close I was to Astrid, they might go after her.

’For now, it’s better for her to stay here until the next two Chapters are resolved.’

In any case, there was something else that wouldn’t leave my mind.

’Astrid really does have the same Heart’s Strength as me.’

My Heart’s Strength had evolved after reaching Five Stars and became known as Divine Heart.

But if what Astrid said was true, then...

’We’re connected by the same life.’

If Astrid dies, I will die too.

This was an extremely strange phenomenon among Awakened who possessed a Heart’s Strength.

If a member of a family somehow Awakened the same Heart’s Strength as another member of their family, a phenomenon known as the ’Heart of Life Bond’ would occur: if one party died, the other would die as well.

’I don’t know whether to call it good or bad.’

’Bad,’ because if I die, Astrid will die too; and ’good,’ because it means Astrid has the same characteristics as my Heart’s Strength, since technically, it’s the same one.

"Oh, Astrid, what a beautiful name."

"The matriarch of the orphanage said that when she found me at the orphanage’s doorstep, in the little cradle my parents had left me in, there was a note with my birthday and my name."

"Ugh, you must miss your parents, right?"

"Actually, yes, but at the same time, I don’t, since I never knew them."

"Do you resent them for abandoning you?"

"Well... I don’t know if I feel angry or not."

"Oh, I understand. Sorry for asking."

"No, it’s okay."

While Mia and Astrid chatted casually, I was lost in my thoughts.

I couldn’t help but worry.

’It doesn’t bother me that Astrid is my weakness, but...’

What if my opponent discovers that killing Astrid would naturally kill me as well? That would make Astrid an absolute target.

That alone made me think of the worst-case scenario, especially...

’The day I am Destined to die.’

Astrid could be the key to making that Destiny come true exactly as it was meant to.

———————

Author’s Note.

Um, sorry, I’ve been sick these past few days so I decided not to write for this novel.

However, since my new novel is... naturally new, I couldn’t leave it unpublished, and writing two novels at the same time obviously takes twice as long.

Anyway, I’m feeling a bit better now, so I’ll see if I can go back to posting two Chapters a day like before.

Oh, and about the end of this Chapter, it’s a spoiler.

They will probably forget it, since Adel’s (his sister’s) weakness will be a moment of despair when Adel fights the Final Enemies of this story.

One more announcement: we only have three arcs left before we finally finish Part One of Three of this story, so I hope you enjoy these last three arcs.