"Took you long enough."
Hearing his cold and indifferent voice, my mind blanked and for that one moment, I forgot about all the pain that I was going through and sobered up a little.
"H...how?"
I incredulously asked. Because of the experience I just went through, and all of the screaming I did, my voice was extremely hoarse. It was barely audible, but the other Ren nevertheless understood what I was trying to say as he simply looked at me with a cold and indifferent look.
"It's all thanks to you."
He coldly said before removing his elbow from the armrest of the chair.
Standing up and walking around the place, I could only follow him through my gaze as I still couldn't move my body. It just refused to listen to me.
"Ren."
As my eyes were still locked on the other Ren, a familiar voice entered my ears. Turning my head, I spotted Angelica looking at me from the distance.
Her complexion was somewhat pale, nevertheless, she looked fine. From the looks of it, she was able to go through the curse break without too many problems.
"Did you finish?"
She asked as her eyes paused on me.
It took me a moment for me to process what she was saying and snapping my head in the direction of where the other Ren was standing, I wondered to myself.
'Can she not see him?'
Alternating my head between him and her, it appeared to me that she couldn't.
Just to make sure, I asked Angelica if she could see anyone else in the room. And as expected, shaking her head, Angelica replied.
"Do you see anyone else in the room?"
"No."
"I see."
I muttered while supporting my body up with one hand. The pain was no longer there, and it seemed like the after-effects of the contract break had finally ended.
"Khhh.."
It took me a while to properly stand as I stumbled repeatedly. Once I was able to stand, I moved toward a nearby sofa and the first thing I did once I settled there was ask Angelica just how much time had passed since the contract break.
Hopefully, I wasn't out for a whole week. If so, explaining to the others what I was doing in the meantime would be extremely troublesome.
"Exactly how much time has passed?"
"Fifteen hours."
"...Fifteen?"
Pursing my lips, I lowered my head.
If I said I wasn't surprised at the moment that would be a lie. Everything felt like a blur to me and I had long lost my sense of time. If I had to be honest, I thought that a lot more time had passed.
It felt as though weeks or even days had passed. But this was good.
Twitch. Twitch.
Whilst in thought, my shoulders kept twitching. My head also started to hurt. Leaning back on the sofa, I let out a long exhale.
"Haa..."
Despite the fact that I was no longer being subjected to the pain, I could barely move my body.
Every little movement felt as though millions of needles were stabbing my body. It was agonizing.
It was then that Angelica's surprised voice took my attention away from the pain.
"Your rank."
"My rank?"
Furrowing my brows, my heart sank.
'Right, I probably lost a rank due to what just happened.'
It was inevitable, but it still sucked. Closing my eyes, I softly said inside my mind.
'Status.'
===Status===
Name : Ren Dover
Rank : B +
Strength : B
Agility : B +
Stamina : B +
Intelligence : B
Mana capacity : A -
Luck : A +
Charm : B -
--> Profession :
[Swordsmanship lvl.4]
The degree of understanding of the sword has evolved to the next level. User will find it easier to understand previously harder concepts.
--> Martial Manual :
[★★★★★ Keiki style] - Essence realm of mastery.
Sword art created by Grandmaster Toshimoto Keiki. A five-star module focused primarily on reaching the apex of swordsmanship and speed. Upon mastery, the sword art becomes so fast that before an opponent could even think about their next move, their heads would already be rolling on the ground.
[★★★ Ring of vindication] - Essence realm of mastery.
Highly advanced sword art that creates a perfect ring of defense around the user. The ring can create a three-dimensional sphere that protects the user from all sides upon mastery. Because of the lack of offensive capabilities, the manual was graded three stars.
[★★★ Drifting steps] - Essence realm of mastery.
Movement art that progresses with each step. With every step taken, user speed will increase. Unless the user stops, speed will continuously improve until the user either runs out of mana or is injured.
[★★★✰ Quick-slash style] - Greater realm of mastery.
A sword art fully focused on speed. With one quick draw, the user gains the ability to kill an opponent without them noticing anything had happened. Created to replicate the Keiki style. After years of research, this sword art was the result.
[★★★ Full-body martial arts] - Greater realm of mastery.
Hand-to-Hand combat technique dedicated to utilizing every single part of the body to incapacitate the enemy. It may be a 3-star art, but upon mastery, it can be used to complement other forms of martial art.
--> Skills :
[[G] Monarch's indifference]
A skill that enables users to erase all emotions, and act as a supreme monarch that only calculates the best option regardless of circumstance.
[[D] The one]
A skill that enables the user to instill fear into the opponents' minds resulting in them feeling like they were standing before a sovereign that overlooked everything. The skill may work on individuals who are one rank higher than them, however, if the difference between the two parties is greater than two ranks, the skill effect diminishes.
[[A] Eyes of Chronos]
Upon using this skill, the user will be able to see everything in slow motion. The more mana is used, the slower the time will be in their eyes.
[[?] ?????]
???????????????????????????????????????????????
==========
"...My rank."
Angelica's reaction finally made more sense. Staring at my screen, I was left in disbelief by the fact that my rank had not dropped at all.
The shock lasted for quite a while as I wondered to myself.
'How is this possible?'
Realistically speaking, I should've without a doubt dropped a rank. Even though there was a chance for me to not drop, with my luck, I didn't think that that was possible.
So how was it possible for me to have not dropped?
"It's because you consumed the seed of limit."
It was then that a voice suddenly whispered from behind me, causing me to jump up in shock and almost caused me to fall off my chair. This obviously did not go unnoticed by Angelica who looked at me strangely.
"What's wrong?"
Turning my head and staring at the chair I was sitting on before, I saw the other Ren calmly standing and staring at me with his emotionless eyes. Pursing my lips, I softly said.
"...Nothing. The pain has still not vanished."
"Oh."
Angelica nodded and dropped the topic altogether. Placing my hand on the ground, I tried to stand up, but yet again I had difficulty in doing as I had no strength in my body. It took me a couple of seconds to get back in my seat.
Propping my elbow on the armrest, I supported my chin with my arm. Messaging my eyes, and letting out a long sigh, I mumbled in a very soft voice.
"What does the seed of limit have to do with anything?"
Actually, there were other questions that I wanted to ask, but at the moment, I really wanted to understand what he meant by his previous words.
Staring at me for a couple of seconds, the other Ren opened his mouth and explained.
"By canceling a mana contract, what you are doing is damaging your soul as well as your talent limiter. The damage to the talent limiter is the reason why most people drop a rank when breaching the contract, however in your case, a case where you have no limiter, no such law applied, and therefore, are exempt from having your rank decrease."
I was a bit surprised by the fact that he was willing to explain to me the reasoning why I did not rank down, but upon hearing his words, I found that his words made a lot of sense.
'Indeed, since my talent limit is removed if it becomes damaged there really won't be any changes.'
The more I mused over his words, the more I found that they made sense. Generally, it wasn't impossible for someone's talent to be damaged. There were many ways to do it, and apparently surviving a mana contract breach was one of those methods.
Theoretically, I should've had my talent drop, but since I had no limit to my talent, there was no such drop. Once I realized this, I was left pleasantly surprised. I mean, who would be happy about the prospect of losing their hard work?
Suppressing my joy, I turned to look at Angelica and solemnly said.
"Angelica, can you leave the room for a bit? I need some time to myself."
"...Okay."
Angelica was a little bit taken aback by my words, but upon seeing the state that I was in, she complied. Standing up from the spot she was previously in, Angelica calmly walked out of the room, leaving me alone with the other Ren.
The moment Angelica left the room, I instantly asked.
"How come you're here?"
Clenching my fists my gaze sharpened as I looked at the other Ren.
Calmly staring back at me, the other Ren said nothing. He had this 'you already know the answer' type of look on his face that irked me to no end. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't know.
Once again, I asked.
"Why did you suddenly show up out of nowhere? Answer me."
Once again the other Ren didn't say anything as he remained silent. My brows furrowed.
'Fine, since you won't say anything, I'll just figure it out myself!'
Calming myself down, I looked back at the events that just happened.
'All of this happened as soon as I breached the contract. Therefore, the key to his appearance should lie in the breach of contract.'
It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand this much. The real question was why?
Why would he suddenly show up as soon as the contract was breached?
Activating the chip inside of my head, all sorts of different ideas started to spring inside my mind as I tried to find any connection with the current situation.
This all happened within a second and by the time the second passed, an idea suddenly sprung inside of my mind as I turned to look at the other Ren.
'Wait, what if…'
"So you've figured it out."
As though he could read my mind, Ren stood up.
"You're theory is correct. The only reason you can see me is because of the damage you took to your soul."
"!"
Hearing his word I instantly became more conscious.
It was as I deducted. Since the other Ren was another soul, or consciousness, the moment my soul got damaged he took advantage of the situation and appeared.
Once my thoughts paused there, the first thought I had in mind was, 'Is he trying to take control of my body!' My body jerked a little as extreme solemness flashed across my face.
"I'm not."
The other Ren said. Seemingly being able to read my mind.
Glancing around the room with a detached look, he continued. "I'm not here to take over your body, nor do I have any interest in taking over your body. My goal is simple"
Staring at me with his deep blue eyes, Ren suddenly raised his right hand.
Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.
As soon as he raised his right hand, a sharp, hard, nonresonant sound, like that produced by two pieces of metal striking one against the other suddenly resounded across the room as metallic chains sprung out from the ground before they quickly latched themselves onto Ren.
Staring at the chains with an indifferent look on his face, Ren softly said.
"Take a proper look."
Raising his left hand, more chains sprung out from the floor as they latched themselves onto his left arm. Staring at the chains with a calm look on his face, Ren said.
"I just wanted to show you just what kind of curse you're going to go through."
Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank. Clank.
Following his words, more chains sprung out as they slowly started to bind his arms and legs before pulling him down to the ground.
Staring at the chains, I looked at the other Ren and asked.
"What's going on?"
"Our curse."
Ren replied, as his body slowly started sinking into the ground. Seeing that he was about to leave, I tried to get as much information as possible.
"What curse? Elaborate!"
"I'm not allowed to say, but you'll eventually know. We'll be seeing each other soon enough."
Then, his next words caused my blood to freeze.
"Right, I wanted to remind you. The moment I disappear, you will once again resume your contact breach pain. I was suppressing the pain for you till now."
"Huh?!"
"Have some rest."
"Wa-Hauuuugh!"
Not even a moment after he said those words, a sudden rush of pain suddenly engulfed my entire being. Caught off-guard, I was unable to resit and my eyes rolled back behind my head.
Thud—!
The last thing I could remember was hitting the ground before passing out.
