Volume 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Special Skill: Soul Board
Hikaru took a deep breath. He was astonished by the sensation of having a living body. It seemed as though everything he felt until now was simply a product of his own imagination. His stomach felt sticky from something. He checked to find it wet with blood.
(Can you tell? It's me. Roland.)
Hikaru heard a voice come from within him and he nodded. Feeling his clothes, he knew they were what Roland wore earlier. The room was dark, though he could tell it was properly furnished. Its interior design was just like the European high cla.s.s hotel rooms he saw on television.
(With your soul transferred into my body, anything wrong with it should be fixed. My body will gradually get used to you. Take a look at the mirror.)
A mirror…
Hikaru stood in front of a huge mirror on the wall and saw Roland's face. Except it had black hair.
(Please grant my wish.)
「Your wish…」
(You should know what it is by now. After all, you have access to my memories.)
It was just like Roland said. Hikaru's mind was a jumbled mess right now. He had both memories of his life in j.a.pan and Roland's memories of his life in this world - a world with dragons and magic.
「Vengeance against Count Morgstad…」
Roland was born from a viscount family. Count Morgstad framed his parents for an evil deed resulting in both being sentenced to death. His family's land and a.s.sets were expropriated and Roland himself was supposed to be sent to the sticks; the parents may be guilty but the child is innocent is what they said.
But Roland was a gifted sorcerer. One could say that Morgstad wanted to destroy his whole family for fear of his gifts. And so even though there was no threat to his life anymore, Roland swore to exact revenge on the Count.
(You just have to kill Count Morgstad.)
「…Hmm, yes.」
(Your stealing skills were splendid. You may have a knack for such things.)
A compliment? Not sure if I should be happy about that.
(I only have about an hour left. Kill him before them.)
「An hour?!」
(If you fail, I'll kill you.)
「Wh?!」
(I'll soon be summoned to heaven and I'll either be reincarnated or enter paradise. But you will be destroyed, soul and all.)
Hikaru knew he was telling the truth. After all, he had Roland's memories. There's no saving once the soul is destroyed. He never really believed in life after death. He didn't think it existed. But now that he knew it did, being ”destroyed” didn't sound so good.
「You tricked me. That kinda p.i.s.ses me off.」
(I'm sorry for threatening you. There was just no other way.)
Having inherited Roland's memories, Hikaru understood his thirst for revenge. Roland's parents were honest, just, and upright - loved by everyone, and they were taken from him unreasonably. Sentenced to death, they were crucified, their bodies left abandoned in the royal capital.
Perhaps because he shared Roland's memories, Hikaru didn't feel much resistance in having to kill someone. Roland firmly believed that Count Morgstad was someone who deserved to die.
「Kill someone… We haven't even prepared for it or anything.」
(You have your ”gift” for that, don't you?)
「…Gift?」
(You can call it G.o.d's blessing. You stole one, didn't you? Something that shone bright.)
Oh, that thing…
(You'll know if you check my memories. It's like an ability that one can use once his soul is reincarnated. In this world, it should manifest into a Skill, or some magic or special art that only you can… use.)
Roland's voice grew fainter.
(I can't speak any more than this… I can only remind you of your remaining time from here on out.)
His voice was gone now.
Magic… Special art… Skill.
Do I really have any of those?
Then suddenly, Hikaru felt something inside him. He focused his mind to it, and…
A board the size of an A4 paper, radiating pale green light, emerged before him.
【Soul Board】Hikaru
Age: 15 Rank: 0
15
(55 minutes left…)
Hikaru knew Roland was serious.
Maybe this thing is some kind of a Skill?
On the board was a huge circle. Its surface was smooth like some sort of a tablet.
「What's this…?」
He touched it and a robotic voice rang inside his head.
【Unlock Soul Board? 1 point required.】
Unlock? Point required? I have no idea what those mean, but there's no point in not using it.
「Unlock.」
Words appeared on the screen.
【Vitality】
..【Natural Recovery】0
..【Stamina】0
..【Immunity】
..【Perception】
Vitality was written at the center and branched out.
「A Skill Tree?」
It was the same system as the solo RPGs and MMORPGs he'd played before. You tend to have more free time when you're good at academics. So Hikaru played games. Though his playstyle involved being extremely efficient.
A Skill Tree's effects were manifested once it's unlocked by consuming a Skill Point. In fact, the number 15 on top changed to a 14.
「15 points because I'm 15 years old? So what, I get one point per year? That sucks.」
Hikaru mulled things over. What do I do? He had to kill someone and in order to do that, there were crucial steps he had to go through first. Like getting close to someone of n.o.ble status. Can I do it? They must be on guard. So how do I allocate my Skill Points to help me get the job done?
…No, before that. Can I even kill someone?
「Now is not the time to think about that.」
He had to do it, or he's dead. Hikaru was a sore loser. He's made it this far and he wasn't going to just die here without having done anything.
(50 minutes.)
He could hear Roland's faint voice.
Should I spend points on Natural Recovery? Nah. It's not going to be a fight of endurance. Which means Stamina and Immunity are both out of the question as well. That leaves only Perception.
「But that would result in too much imbalance. Actually, it was already imbalanced the moment only these Skills were available. Normally, there'd be Weapon or Magic Skills as well.」
Hikaru examined the board.
「A tablet… in that case…」
With his finger on the screen, he flicked to the left. The ○ screen swiped past and changed into a ◎.
「I knew it. So the circle is the Vitality Skill Tree window.」
He swiped and swiped. Next was a triangle, then a diamond, a pentagon, a hexagon, and the last was blank. After that, it came back to the circle window. Seven windows in total.
「So if one point is needed to unlock a Skill Tree, I'll have to use seven points just to find something useful.」
(45 minutes.)