The Extra's Odyssey

'Despite saying you don't want to die, aren't just seeking your death?'

-BANG!

I punched the wall next to me in frustration.

"When did I try to die? Everything I did was necessary."

Looking at the path going toward the training hall, I stopped. I left my room to train, but I had forgotten that Leon and Lilith would also be there.

Turning around, I started roaming aimlessly. I don't think I can handle Lilith and Leon in this condition.

'You just keep blabbering how you don't want to die when instead are you only trying to die.'

No matter how much I walked, the words never left my head. Feeling tired, I plopped onto a bench along the path.

"What should I do?"

I wasn't sure anymore.

Remembering Eth's words was suffocating. I felt like my entire existence was being denied.

What did he mean by that I was trying to die?

The last two years of my previous life were the most painful. Every day I wanted to gouge my heart out and throw it away. Living through a single day was hell.

But even then I continued living.

I had gotten my revenge. But that same revenge had shattered whatever was left of me.

But I continued living.

Yes, didn't I continue living for those two years? Every second of it was hell. Every time I heard my heart beating, I wanted to die.

But even then I made sure to keep living, no, I made sure I didn't die.

I wanted to deny Eth's words, but deep down I knew he was correct because...

…I was happy when I died.

When my heart stopped beating was when I felt at peace.

"Shit"

This was the perfect word to describe how I was feeling right now. I felt like a piece of shit.

Everything Eth was saying was true.

It was laughable. Like how I was trying to kill myself despite saying I wanted to live. How I would have never noticed this fact if not for Eth.

"Haaa…"

Closing my eyes, I listened to the music of the wind.

The rustling of leaves, the whistling of cold air, the faint noises of people. Everything came together in a pleasing harmony.

I chuckled slightly as I noticed my actions. Music was one thing that always soothed me. If reading books was why I looked forward to another day, then music was what kept me sane through that day.

Thanks to Eth, I realized my mistake. I understood where I was wrong all along.

I had to change my ways.

There were many things to do, but there was one thing that I had to do first.

"I'm sorry, Eth."

This kid had done nothing wrong. He was suffering because of me. Had I never transmigrated, he would never have lost his own body.

Despite being the one who was using his body, I treated him poorly.

He must have not told me about resonance because he felt that I might do something crazy.

Feeling slightly embarrassed, I scratched the back of my head. How bad was my condition that a kid had to help me stand on my feet?

Without Eth's words, I wouldn't have realized my own actions were wrong.

"Er..Eth?"

I felt the connection between Eth and me blocked. This meant he couldn't listen to what I was saying.

It seemed he didn't want to talk.

"I'll have to wait for him to open the connection or reach proficient mastery in my art to talk to him."

I had decided.

I was going to help him with everything within my power. This was the least I could do for using his body.

Meow~

Suddenly, I heard an animalistic cry.

It pleasantly shocked me when I glanced at the source of the familiar cry. Looking down, I saw the same black cat that I met a week back, near my feet.

"You again?"

This was the second time it appeared when I was sad. Smiling, I bent to pick the cat.

I don't know why, but I felt a little happy when it appeared. Though it seemed that the cat didn't share my sentiments.

MEOW!!

I pulled back my hand. The top of my palm now reflected a bright red color under the pale moonlight.

"You really are a beast."

I chuckled. The area where the cat scratched stung. Ignoring that little pain, I was staring at the cat with curiosity when I remembered why it had come to me the previous time.

Checking my pockets, I bitterly smiled.

"I don't have anything to give you today."

Meow-

Right on cue, it meowed, as if snorting, and leaped onto my thighs. Then it curled itself into a ball and purred.

"You are cute."

I smiled. Even if the cat was intelligent, it wouldn't understand everything I said.

And as I thought, the cat didn't show any reaction. Looking at its sleeping figure, I opened my status.

"Status"

======

Name: Nathan Hunt

Rank: Meta

Level: 10

Exp: 1500/1500

Remaining SP – 10

Stigma: [Iridescence]

-->Stats:

Strength – 12

Agility – 23

Stamina – 14

Constitution – 15

Ether – 13

Intelligence – 13

Luck – -13

--> Arts:

[Armory of Eridu [Legacy]]

A legacy left behind by one of the twelve ancient heroes. It's the ultimate art of weapon creation and summoning. Upon mastery, the user can create an uncountable number of weapons to overwhelm any battlefield.

Mastery - Novice

-->Skills:

[Pierce [Common]]

Extend the tip of your weapon by 5 feet.

[Synchronization] – Locked

- Temporarily boost your overall rank, skill ranks, and mastery in arts by one rank.

- Synchronize with ???

- ???

Number of Uses: 3

Unlock Requirements: Iota-rank

>>>[Quest] :-

Find and kill ???? Mammon.

Reward – Pandora's Heart, ???, ???

Failure Penalty – ???

Time Limit – 12 years: 354 days: 22 hours

======

Without thinking twice, I allocated the free SP.

[Ether - 13 --> Ether - 23]

I immediately felt changes in my body. I could feel my ether core expanding at fearsome speed. It felt like my stomach was swelling.

The surrounding air churned and raged, waking the cat, as my expanding Ether core greedily devoured the Ether in the air.

The process took a few minutes to complete.

"Huu…"

Closing my eyes, I exhaled loudly. I could feel that although my ether core was slightly larger than before, the capacity had increased almost twice.

My art depended solely on my Ether capacity and my concentration. Thus, I decided to increase my ether capacity.

Meow~

The cat was looking at me with twinkling eyes. The way it was staring at my abdomen, I almost felt that it was looking at my ether core.

Suppressing my laugh, I used my dimensional ring and took out a black orb.

This was the same orb that I got with the Ether manual and my Art. Naturally, I had high expectations of it.

Up till now, I couldn't use it because I had less than 20 Ether stats.

But that had changed now.

Channeling the ether inside my right arm, I activated the orb. I was excited to see what this orb was.

FLASH-

A bright white light flashed from the orb, forcing me to close my eyes.

After the flash subsided, I slowly opened my eyes and looked at my palm.

"Earrings?"

In my hand were two sword-shaped earrings. They were very light and were entirely black. Ignoring its appearance, I checked its status.

What mattered was its function, not how it looked!

[User must equip the accessory before accessing its status.]

I immediately wore the earrings. What was the use of waiting for this long if I couldn't even check its status?

Thankfully, they were magnetic(?) earrings, so I didn't have to punch holes in my ears to wear them.

Then I hurriedly checked the earring's status. Fortunately, there were no more requirements to see the status.

======

Mephistopheles Earrings [Legacy] (Cursed)

These earrings had seen the life of the Ancient Evil until its death at the hands of the Ancient Heroes. Living together with the Ancient evil throughout its life had granted these earrings the status of an artifact.

--> Skills:

[Domination Decree Lvl1]

- As the apex ruler of Evil, anyone with Evil disposition finds it hard to go against your will.

- A ruler only reveals their face when they deem it necessary. Without your approval, no one can recognize you.

- Requirements for Lvl2: One subordinate with Evil disposition.

[Absolute Evil Lvl1] (Passive)

- 10% resistance against the physical and magical attacks of beings with Evil disposition

- 10% increase in physical and magical damage against beings with Good disposition.

- Requirements for Lvl2: 100 Kills

--> Curse: The user can never remove the earrings.

=======

I felt a lot more excited after reading the status. The skills were very good and useful!

Moreover, both of them were growth-type skills. This wasn't even their final form!

As for the curse, I ignored it. It only made me unable to remove the earrings, which wasn't much.

The skills [Domination Decree] and [Absolute Evil] were impressive.

[Domination Decree] will make the beings with evil disposition succumb under my ether pressure. Also, with this skill, I wouldn't have to worry about someone recognizing me if I had to do something.

[Absolute Evil] was a passive skill. This meant it was always activated! The perks it gave were also incredible.

Passive attack boost and resistance were something anyone would kill for. And I got both of them!

Everyone had dispositions such as Good, Neutral or Evil. So, my skill would work on almost everybody.

I myself had my disposition as Chaotic-Neutral. But I knew that Neutral disposition was rare. Everyone is inclined toward either good or evil, even if slightly.

The Chaotic showed that I wasn't right in my head. So, my being Neutral was a unique case.

*Yawn*

I noticed that my eyes were dropping heavily. After I cleared my head thanks to Eth, I was feeling lightheaded.

By the time I checked the earring the sleep had already almost devoured me.

Before I could leave for my room, I fell asleep on the bench.