Michael groggily opened his eyes and he was back in the temple, for real this time.
He still had a massive headache, no surprise though, after all, he technically did just die.
Albeit he couldn’t feel it, the other Michael’s thoughts were enough of a gander at the pain, never again.
But he assumed this wouldn’t be the first time something like this happens, this was only 5% of the synchronization and there was 95% remaining.
He was lying down on his back and looking at the room’s ceiling, he now noticed there were all sorts of scriptures he could not read.
‘So synchronization meant memories, the memories my other selves experienced and I guess the trials are some sort of distorted outlook on what really happened inside them?’ Michael came to some conclusions, it looked highly likely that’s what was happening.
However, the last part was incredibly strange, some strange being who said that was Michael’s home or was supposed to be his home anyway.
And better yet, he placed the system inside him.
‘Too confusing..’ He didn’t have a single clue on who the being could be, but was he a friend or foe?
After removing the ‘parasite’ Michael’s capabilities greatly increased, however, it did help him quite a lot at the start.
‘Who fucking knows at this point’ He sighed and stood up, noticing Freya sitting by the fountain.
She waved at him “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit”
Freya chuckled and raised her hand, enveloping Michael in a golden glow, removing the exhaustion he had suffered previously.
“So how was it, do you remember anything?”
Michael thought for a moment and decided to recall the events that had happened, making sure to mention the being that he saw at the very end.
She looked deep in thought “Hm… were there any more of them?”
“No” Michael shook his head.
“So it’s not them.. honestly, I am not sure who it is, I would need to look into it further” She said and stood up, signaling for Michael to follow her upstairs.
‘Them?’
Freya sat down on the throne and got comfortable “Those trials are something you can do only once a year, there are 10 of them in total.”
“Right.. are all of them going to be this freaky?” Michael questioned and sat down on the ground.
“Yes, that’s how they are, other people go through something similar, you are just a tad bit different” She said with a wink.
‘Makes sense.. it would be strange if others relived their past lives every single time they did something like this’
“Is there any way to use my mana with an affinity, so far the only thing I am able to do is manifest colorless mana, nothing else really.”
“You are not that far away from being able to use it, just keep refining your mana and eventually, the answer will come to you naturally” She explained.
“Do you mean the mana core? Will it just form by itself?”
“As I said, you will understand eventually”
Michael sighed and proceeded to ask more stuff about the world, however, he only received vague answers for most things.
One such thing was this world they were in currently, it was a different plane than where Vivum was located.
There were domains where other beings as powerful as Freya dwelled, she didn’t go into detail that much though.
As the little questionnaire finally finished and Michael was about to head back to his room, she mentioned something odd.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot, there will be a little guest visiting sometime in the future, try not to antagonize her, she is a bit of a short fuse”
He absentmindedly nodded and went out of the throne room, making his way back to the massive room she had assigned him.
Freya said she would train him, however, until then, he had to refine his mana and finish the second trial.
If it was anything like the first, he imagined it would not be so fun.
She also gave him some sort of a book with an alphabet that matched some of the scriptures he saw back in the fountain room.
Michael sighed ‘I always sucked at learning new languages’ Even back in his previous world, he only knew 2 languages, the second one he picked up while serving in the military.
The school also taught a language, however, for some reason he was not able to learn it no matter how hard he studied.
Hence why he was currently anxiously holding the book, his confidence was not incredibly high.
However, as he was about to open it and learn it, a familiar sound resounded.
-Ding
[System Update Complete]
Miss me?
‘What’s up parasite’ Michael placed the book down and smirked.
Who are you calling a parasite.. oh.. I remember now.
The system’s voice quieted down, before finally speaking up again.
That was not me.
‘What are you talking about now, who else could it be?’ He scoffed at its words.
The day before you entered the academy, I told you I would be going through an update, don’t you remember?
Its voice was laced with confusion, the same went for Michael.
‘What bullshit are you spouting, you didn’t tell me anything.’
Hm.. I see, you don’t have any memory of that day at all, however, you finished the trial all by yourself? My how you have grown.
‘And from what I heard, you should have told me about these little trials quite a while ago?’ Michael was still not convinced, who knew if this parasite was lying or not.
Stop calling me a parasite, I was going to tell you after you learned how to use Physical Enhancement and Mana Projection, who knew you would learn them so fast though.
As Michael was about to interject, it interrupted him.
And don’t even think you should have known this earlier, you would have died in the trial if I told you, you are quite the hot headed idiot after all.
‘You do know that if you just told me I couldn’t use skills in there, I would not have tried going there?’
Sure sure, anyway, Freya removed the system error, it formed a quarter of my own sentience and tried replacing me while I was gone, it sucked though as you could see, it was not even able to readjust your abilities correctly.
Michael listened attentively and it finally started making sense now, however, he still had one more question to ask.
‘Who or what was that thing that I saw in the fragmented memories?’
I don’t know who that being is, however, it seemed to hold a higher position than the seven Archangels, I assume you can piece the rest together.
‘God?’ Michael was shocked, god was responsible for this?
Not quite the absolute being but yeah it was someone high up on the ladder.
‘I see, well shit’ So he now had literal gods to worry about.
‘What about the memories, do they mean anything aside from the last part?’
It’s more so to showcase what you were like at your lowest points in the past, that world existed and you were a part of it, albeit not for long. Still, take it as a lesson, the more trials you complete, the more the puzzle will solve itself.
‘Sure, anyway it’s about time I prepare for the second trial, isn’t it? I assume it would be much more difficult than the first one’
The difficulty varies based on the type of trial, however, yes, it would not be as easy as the one you just had, just keep on training, I will fix your status before the second trial starts.
‘Sure.’
