Michael was currently lying by the fire, the system forced him to ‘train’ for the last 4 hours, to say he looked horrible was an understatement.
That, added to the fact that he was being stared at by now 2 people, made him pretty uncomfortable.
Since he was bored and didn’t really have anything else to do at the moment, he decided to try talking with Astraea.
However, he didn’t exactly know what kind of a question to ask, he was not very well versed in this world’s happenings.
Michael didn’t want to sound too strange while asking her questions, he wanted to get to know her a bit while also learning a bit about this world.
As he was contemplating what to ask her, she suddenly walked up to him and sat down beside him, staring into his eyes before darting to the very top of his head.
“Can I try it on?” Astraea asked as she was trying to take off the floating halo from his head.
‘..System?’ Michael was extremely confused now, why could she see it?
How would I know?
“How long have you been able to see it?” He asked, trying to seek some confirmation.
She gave up trying to take it off and with a pouting expression, walked back to the other side of the fire and sat back down.
“Since the start” She replied as her silver eyes were still locked onto his.
‘I guess that’s why she is staring so much, she likes the halo..’ Michael chuckled inwardly before giving up, he didn’t know how to even begin a conversation with her.
Astraea had been an anomaly since the first time he met her, she was by no means normal.
The memories she made him remember, the halo that only he could see.
From what he understood, they were very deeply connected in the past, even if the memories he had of her were incomplete.
“Astraea, do you ever feel like there is something you need to remember but can’t?” He asked while lying down by the fire, his body finally did not feel cold anymore.
Michael looked up at her to meet her eyes and for some reason, they seemed a bit unfocused for a moment before finally regaining clarity.
She tilted her head to the side “No?”
However, the unfocused eyes were a bit of a giveaway for him, he knew something was up, he just didn’t exactly know how to get her to remember.
Michael could not see any sort of status effect on her with his Eyes of the Healer skill, so it was definitely something different.
The more he got to know her, even if it was extremely little, it provided him with some comfort.
Soothing the inner regret his past self had endured seemed difficult, yet easy at the same time.
Michael just wished he could finally unlock all of his memories, he would love to get to know her more.
“I see… don’t you have somewhere to be though? Why would you stick around with us?” He asked with a small tinge of curiosity.
However, he was met with silence, it did not seem like she wanted to answer his question
Michael assumed she had a home or a family to return to, maybe they wouldn’t be similar in this regard as well.
‘System, how many times did I have a family? Besides the one I had in my previously world.’
Not sure, I can’t see that deeply, but from what little I can see, you were always an orphan.
‘Aren’t I technically an archangel? Isn’t God something like my father?’ He inwardly chuckled while taking a glance at Astraea’s expression.
He didn’t know if he imagined it, but it looked like a small frown had been present for just a moment.
If you are referring to how archangels were born, they just came into existence, similar to god, making him like your stepfather in a way..
The system trailed off at the very end, drawing a confused look out of Michael.
‘What’s wrong?’
Well… God is dead, I can tell you that much, not sure who is in charge now, however, it’s definitely not him.
‘Oh…’ Michael’s eyes slightly widened in shock as he rolled around, turning his back to the 2 people around the campfire.
‘How do you know he’s dead?’
I can feel it.
‘That’s pretty vague.. but whatever.’
As he was lost in his conversation with the system, Astraea suddenly spoke up.
“Have we met before?”
Upon hearing those words, he immediately turned back around and stared into her confused looking eyes.
‘So she is actually just like me.. damn.’
Michael did not know how to reply to this question, technically, they have met before, but just not exactly recently…
Just tell her how it is, if anything, it is in your best interests to make her regain her memory.
‘I guess..’ Michael agreed and nodded at her, confirming her thoughts.
She looked to be in thought for a moment, her eyes turning slightly unfocused “I see.”
With those words, Astraea turned around and lied down, finally taking her eyes away from him.
It seemed like his confirmation did have some kind of an impact as it was the first time she willingly looked away from him.
Michael turned to Orin and noticed he was already fast asleep, with only him remaining awake.
He thought of sleeping, however, after what happened earlier, he was not exactly in the best of moods.
Sleep was definitely not on his mind.
He decided to get up and walk outside, maybe explore a little bit.
It was also about time he checked his status, it’s been a while since he last did so.
‘Status’
+—+
Name: Michael
Age: 14 years old
Race: Human
Affinity: Light [Supreme]
Mana Purity: 16% -> 21
Mana Core: Flow
Mana Core Rank: Tier 1
-:- 6% Progress to next Tier -:-
-Titles:
* Ruthless Combatant
# Raise all your stats by 1 Minor Rank when facing enemies at least 1 tier above you
* Being of Light
# Increase the effectiveness of your Light affinity based spells by 25%
* ???
-Stats
HP: 87/100% / Regen 5% HP Per Hour
MP: 62/100% / Regen 10% MP Per Hour
STR: Tier 1 [C+]
END: Tier 1 [B-] -> [B]
AGI: Tier 1 [B+]
INT: Tier 1 [A-] -> [A]
CHA: Tier 1 [D+] -> [C-]
-Skills / [Skill Merging]
Herald of Light [Advanced] [Passive]
Mirage of Light [Intermediate] [Passive]
Physical Enhancement [Intermediate] [Passive]
Eyes of The Healer [Intermediate] [Passive]
Hand-to-hand combat [Beginner] [Passive]
Discipline [Basic] [Passive]
Shooting mastery [Beginner] [Passive]
Purify [Intermediate] [Active]
Aegis of Light [Intermediate] [Active]
Sword of Light [Basic] [Active]
Piercing Light [Intermediate] [Active]
Veil of Detection [Basic] [Active]
+—+
‘5% huh.. 4 hours of torture turned out to be worth only 5%…’ Michael couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at the progress.
People usually take a couple of days to get that if they were to constantly be fighting, this is good progress.
‘Yeah.. will I be training under the sun as well?’
Of course.
Michael rolled his eyes and took another glance at his status, a few of the stats went up and mana purity did as well.
However, he was curious about one thing in particular ‘I am technically an archangel right?’
I guess?
‘Then why does it still say that I am a human?’
Do you think your body could handle the bloodline of an archangel? It is still a few Tiers away and even then, it would take a while to get the most out of it, it is considered one of the strongest in the universe after all.
‘I see…’ Michael grumbled a little before standing up and heading outside of the cave.
He wouldn’t sleep tonight and likely the next night after that, the sunlight would likely hurt more than the cold did.
Yeah, you are right, it will hurt like hell.
Michael ignored the system’s snarky comment and headed out into the forest, quite a few red dots were present on his map.
But there was also something strange, among them was a single yellow dot, it did not make much sense as it was in the middle of all the other ones.
At first, he thought they were fighting, however, the red dots were not moving at all.
‘Can you feel anything off?’
It’s some kind of a leader type monster, not sure exactly, you would need to get closer.
‘How strong is it?’ Michael asked and slowly made his way over, not trying to wake the others behind him.
A bit stronger than that fanatic you faced on top of the mountain, it’s a good target dummy if you decide to fight it.
Michael began summoning his Swords of Light and sent them into the sky, as a form of insurance in case the battle goes south.
‘I see..’
