“Cyriel?” Adon said, rushing over a short while after hearing Cyriel’s scream. “What’s the matter?"

“I-I don’t know! Just go get Syra, there’s something wrong with Taryl!”

Even with my mind muddled in a fog of anguish, Cyriel’s panic-stricken voice pierced straight through me. I didn’t hear a response from Adon, maybe he already left, with the pain racking at my very being I couldn’t be bothered to worry about the two… soon, even Cyriel’s hysterical yelling ceased… becoming little less than white noise in the background of my agony.

I could feel myself slipping into the cracks of madness as the pain flared, spreading from my hands to my forearms. Then, like a wild forest fire, the concentrated pain seared through my arms to the rest of my body. ‘This is it…’ Finally, I felt my mind slowly shut down.

[Punishment terminated.]

[Quests updated to match your new rate of learning.]

[The God watching over you wishes you luck.]

But then it stopped. The anguish receded, and only Eve’s monotone voice resonated throughout my consciousness. As my senses adjusted, I felt a flurry of emotions well up in my chest. ‘‘Watching over’? ‘Wishes you luck’? After putting me through hell, yet again?’ Anger washed over me as I realized I had no control over my own death. However, I didn’t wallow in despair and helplessness. Instead, I used the intense anger to glue together my shambled mind.

There was no sugar coating it, nor could I run or hide from it—I was simply a toy for this Goddess, a lifeless puppet. The anger kept building up—gradually turning into a torrent of mindless hatred. But I eventually got myself to calm down. After all, there wasn’t much I could do about it now. And I had to admit I was being quite pathetic since my reincarnation, a second chance at life; one with magic at that.

This wasn’t the time to degenerate to my old habits.

Even with the sensation of my skin simmering, bombarding my nervous system—my mind was leveled. Still as the surface of an undisturbed lake. Not a single ripple of emotion fluctuated throughout my head. When I finally regained my sight, a new world greeted me. Thin blue smoke-like streaks of energy undulated in every direction, filling the entire room to the brim.

Cyriel gasped sharply when she noticed I was staring at her curiously as she wiped the foam away from my mouth with a damp cloth. She must have been taken aback by the fact I wasn’t crying, unlike the biological siren beside me. “S-sweetie…?” she mumbled, loss for words. Though the thick streams of tears rolling down her cheeks spoke volumes.

Strangely, I didn’t feel the usual biting sense of guilt when I saw her worry about me like this. As I tried to understand my current state of mind, I heard murmuring come from the entrance of the room.

“Boy, you better tell me why you rushed this old lady over here at this hour. During the midnight storms, no less!”

A worldly voice I didn’t recognize grumbled intensely. It was more than obvious the owner of the voice was annoyed.

“Elder Syra, I told you already my son needs your help.”

“Syra, please hurry over here!” Cyriel yelled toward the voices of Adon and the new arrival, her voice strained.

“You really have no respect for me, girl,” the new arrival said, clicking their tongue in disapproval. “It’s always the same with you, Cyriel. At least the boy has a sliver of respect left for his elders,” the voice continued murmuring, getting closer with each passing second.

“Hmm? This is bad,” Syra said, scrunching her face in confusion as she gazed down at me intently. The elderly elf had deep blue eyes, tanned skinned, and her white hair was neatly tied into a ponytail at the back of her head—revealing her pointed ears, which had several earrings attached to them.

Syra brought the old staff she was carrying closer to her lips, shaking the gold ornaments adorning it. She then began chanting something under her breath to the staff. As she chanted, the surrounding streaks of energy gathered and swirled around the top of the staff. Soon after, the clump of energy burst into a shower of white light before seeping into the old elf’s body.

“What did you say happened?” Syra asked, her voice tensing up considerably.

“I-I don’t know… I came into the room… then… a-and…”

“We don’t know,” Adon said, burying his dismayed wife’s head in his chest. An act that incited her to break down further without worry. “He was like this when Cyriel came to check upon them.”

He spoke bluntly, but I heard his voice tremble slightly as he finished his sentence. His tough-guy act was quite admirable.

“I see…” Syra closed her eyes, her expression turning solemn, stretching the few wrinkles on her face. “… The boy is cursed.”

“… Cursed?”

“W-what do you mean, Syra?!”

“Just as I said. The boy has been cursed by something I can’t possibly see through or comprehend,” Syra said, lifting my tiny arms. The skin on my arms was scarred with grotesque dark purple burns, pink translucent liquid oozed from underneath the peeling charred skin. Overall, it was a gruesome sight. “But what I can do is heal his injuries the best I can. It doesn’t seem like we need to amputate him… for now.”

At her words, Adon heaved a sigh. Whether it was relief or pent-up anxiety, I couldn’t tell. Cyriel… just broke down even further. It didn’t take long for Syra to start treating my wounds. She invoked multiple healing spells as she placed her hands on my arms and chest. Greenlight emanated from her hands, closing my wounds to a certain degree.

What I noticed during the procedure was that this time the streaks of green energy poured out of her body, and the ambient energy around her didn’t react to her at all.

“This is all I can do for now,” Syra said, wiping the beads of sweat off her forehead with the sleeve of her robe. It seems healing me proved to be quite taxing for her, “I’ll be coming over frequently to make sure his wounds heal properly.”

With those words she ordered Adon to take her home, leaving a weary Cyriel alone with me and Alice. I pretended to fall asleep as soon as Cyriel finished bandaging my arms and chest. After she was done, Cyriel took Alice—who was still crying—and left me to my sleep.

‘Full Status.’

+

Names: Taryl Oryil

Titles: ■■■, ■■, ■, ■■■, ■■, ■, ■■, ■■, ■■, ■■■, ■■, ■■, ■■■, ■■■, ■■■, ■■, ■■■, ■■, ■■■, ■■■, ■■■■, ■, Overseer of Past Lives, ■■, ■

Class: -

Race: Dark Apostle Elf

Level: 0

Mana Affinity: Unknown [Accept ambient mana!]

Mana: -

Mana Regeneration: -

Intelligence: 1268

Agility: 0

Vitality: 1

Lesser Spell Archives: [Accessible]

Higher Spell Archives: [Sealed]

Passive Skills:

Cold Mind: level 9 [Unsealed!] [Leveled up!]

Active skills:

Reverse Meditation: level 33 [New!] [leveled up!]

Absolute skills:

Countless Cursed Lives: level 99

Lover’s Covenant: level 2 [Cannot increase level: Sealed]

Curses:

Dolorous Soul: [Self-inflicted]

Soul Corrosion Upon Death: [Curse Charmed by The Slothful Moon Goddess]

Soul Corrosion Upon Neglection of Quest: [Curse Charmed by The Slothful Moon Goddess]

Sealed Essence: [Curse Charmed by ■■■■] [Curse weakened by The Slothful Moon Goddess]

Blessing:

Divine Guidance to Strength: [Blessed by the Slothful Moon Goddess]

Perceive Past Lives: [Blessed by The Slothful Moon Goddess]

Quests:

Accept & absorb ambient Mana: Incomplete [Duration one week]

Find out how to increase your mana capacity to 450+: [Duration seven years]

Failure will result in Soul Corrosion

+

Slightly taken aback by the spike in my intelligence and the now accessible [Spell Archives], I continued to inspect the two new skills without wasting time.

+

Skill: Cold Mind

Skill type: Passive

Level: 9

Effects:

Induces a state of calm, logical thinking in cases of emotional distraught.

+

+

Skill: Reverse Meditation

Skill type: Active

Level: 33

Effects:

Gain intelligence by going through physical, spiritual, or emotional anguish

+

The weight a single skill had over my personality was terrifying, but that fear was thrown to the back of my head as I had a sudden epiphany… The reason I can now perceive mana must be because of my high intelligence stat. That means it would’ve been impossible for me to sense it before my Soul was Corroded—assuming that was the reason for the sudden increase in the state.

‘No, no. That can’t be. Maybe I could see mana after hitting the twentieth or thirtieth mark of the stat? After all, I gave up relatively quickly…’

Dispelling my doubts. I concentrated on the innate feeling within my body that was instructing me to absorb mana.