27 History

When he first received the mission, Lorn thought long and hard about what he could do, but honestly, the best way was to just do nothing. Eventually, Sybil would reach a conclusion on her own. They were going to be spending a lot of time together after all.

But if she was specifically asking about him… then he needed to answer properly. Lorn would've loved to talk about the truth but it was impossible for him to do so with the researchers listening in on the conversation.

So, he needed to make up something similar.

"I was born to a wealthy family," Lorn began. "I had a sister above me, Min, and a half-brother below me, Yun. My mother had left and my stepmother… well, she turned out unsuitable for my father's standards, so she was turned away, leaving only us three siblings and our father, who owned a pretty large business."

'Except it was actually a country,' Lorn chuckled inwardly

"Our father was a strict man with high standards and a stubborn mindset. A terrible combination. He had his own perfect vision for all three of us. I was to take over his business, Min was to become my aide, and Yun was to… bring the Ashin name to different countries. Internationalize, so to speak.

"The problem was… none of us really wanted to do it his way. Min actually wanted to take over the business, Yun wanted to stay at home and aid her, and I just wanted to leave somewhere else. I thought that perhaps I could slip away from my father's influence when I went abroad."

"Why not just allow you to do what you all wanted?"

"He was fine with letting me go abroad and keeping Yun close. But Min succeeding him, he couldn't allow. He felt that women couldn't rule the same way men could. They had too many weaknesses. Their spurs of emotion, their feebler physiques, their monthly irrationality. But the biggest weakness in his eyes were the fact that they felt too much love for their children. That that love often stood in the way of important decisions that needed to be made."

Despite his initial intentions, Lorn was mentioning a lot of truths.

"He could overlook the previous 'flaws' in Min, but he couldn't do it for the last one. For Min to succeed him, he demanded she get her womb removed."

Sybil's eyes shook slightly.

"Don't look too sad," Lorn chuckled. "Min and I decided to run away soon after. We asked Yun to join us, but the boy was reluctant, so we left him. Things seemed to be going well. We gathered some money, had some fake documents with fake names issued for the both of us, got on a boat, and headed towards the One Country."

The boat ride was fine, but before that, Lorn and Min needed to traverse ten kilometers of mountainous terrain filled with either lawless terrorists or impoverished locals, but he spared Sybil the story. It was two months filled with desperation, hunger and constant anxiety, but not much else.

"But when we arrived at border control, the person checking our passports said something I still remember clearly to this day. 'Welcome back, Mr. Lorn Ashin.'… Even though we made sure to double check our documents before boarding the boat and at the time, the fake names were still there… but when we arrived at our destination, the name on all of our documents had magically changed to our true names."

"Was it your father?"

"Must've been."

"But if he knew you were leaving him… why wouldn't he stop you?"

"Who knows?" Lorn sighed. "But he did leave us one clear message with his action. 'No matter what you do in your lives, you must remember your origins'."

Lorn suddenly felt like smoking. But it was just nostalgia. And when the feeling fizzled out, a headache appeared.

'I spoke too much.'

If the researchers decided to thoroughly check his background, then perhaps they might find his true origins. He wondered how that would affect things. Probably not by much. Especially if he made good progress as a beta-tester. But most likely, they'd just think he was lying for whatever reason, but he couldn't help but worry.

'I'm something of an heir to an international criminal after all…'

But he didn't regret it too much. He didn't want to lie to Sybil about his past and give her wrong impressions. Mostly because of the mission, but there was still a bit of sincerity in his decision.

"From then on, Min and I went our separate ways," he continued. "I'm not sure what happened to her, but I fucked up and got into gambling and suddenly piled a huge debt. Thought I could easily resolve the problem considering my origins, but didn't really work that way. Eventually, I lost all my possessions, and was forced into the streets."

Sybil gently rubbed his shoulder.

"It was hard and, most of all, humiliating, but I learned much during that time. I've grown a lot as well. At least I'm sure I wouldn't go gambling once again," Lorn chuckled. "And thanks to that whole ordeal, I found an opportunity to come here, to the One World."

"What do you mean?"

"I probably shouldn't mention this but... it's risky to travel here," Lorn said silently. "So, only people with a desperate need for money volunteer. Through our experiences, they're trying to minimize the risks."

Sybil sat close to Lorn, a frown on her face. She took some time before speaking again.

"I'm sorry for your situation back there."

"Thanks," Lorn smiled. "But honestly, I feel lucky being able to come here before everyone else."

He thought about mentioning the reasoning for him wanting to do extraordinary deeds to receive benefits from the One Country, but it was probably better not to mention that story.

"Oh," Sybil exclaimed. "Our Spirit Bond just became stronger."

Lorn picked up his mirror and saw the notification.

[MISSION COMPLETE: Your spirit partner's understanding of you has increased. She has reached her own conclusion on what kind of person you are.]

[CONGRATULATIONS: Your Spirit Bond has Ranked up! Bond level – E. Two random skills can be learned, one random skill can be chosen. As you have no skills that your partner doesn't have, you shall receive all three skills. You can now share up to 30% of your maximum Spirit and 5% of your maximum Health.]

[The two spirit partners have shown care towards each other. Relevant benefits are received. You can now see each other's Health and Spirit stats. You will be able to feel each other's general direction.]

[You may now absorb spirits together. By doing so, you will both receive 60% of the spirits total value. But when absorbing separately, you will only receive 50% of its original value.]

[GAINED SKILL: Spirit Meditation Lv.0 – Spirit Consumption reduced by 10%. Effects overlap with Innate Skill, Meditation Lv.4! The two skills merge and become Focusing Spirit Meditation – Spirit Consumption reduced by 5%, Willpower multiplied by 1.1]

[GAINED SKILL: Dimensional Sense Lv.0. As the system decides that you're unable to use this skill at this moment, you receive the downgraded version: Acrobatic Sense Lv. 0 – Dexterity multiplied by 1.1]

[Please choose a skill of your liking: Elastic Body, Reflex Enhancement, Aerodynamics, Gravitational Push, Weight Reduction, Weight Increase, Gravitational Force, Spirit Burst, Spirit Usage Optimization, Probability Alteration.]

As Lorn finished reading through the whole thing, Sybil spoke.

"I guess for the time being, you'll be getting all the benefits," Sybil sighed. "Which skills did you get?"

"Spirit Meditation and Dimensional Sense. But the latter was downgraded to Acrobatic Sense."

"You're really lucky, you know that?" Sybil sighed again. "In that case, you should work on Acrobatic Sense. When you get it to Lv.10, it'll transform into Dimensional Sense and become really, really useful."

"Someday, I'll give you the best skills you could imagine."

"I'm sure you will," Sybil shrugged. "And also, did you get a notification asking you to choose a skill?"

"Yes. I think I'm seeing all your skills."

"You should choose Gravitational Push, then. With it, you'll be able to shoot stones like I do, and you can use it to fly through the air. It's really useful if you know how to use it. Especially with Acrobatic Sense."

Lorn looked through all the skills once more.

"Can I ask what Probability Alteration does?" he asked.

From the name, it sounded like a pretty overpowered thing.

"It's a passive skill that allows you to aim better. It's a bit weird. Rarely, when you throw something, you can almost feel your hands moving outside your own control to correct your shot. Also, when I shoot myself to the sky, I can sometimes feel it changing the direction of my Gravitational Push ever so slightly. I still land in the general area I want to, but when I arrive there, I see a sharp branch or a pitfall where I would've landed otherwise."

"That's pretty good, isn't it?"

"Maybe it is, but I don't really feel it strongly. Those moments happen quite rarely in the first place, and it's not like I never miss. It's not consistent enough."

"…"

"…"

"I think I still want that skill."

"Sure, sure. It's your choice, after all."

"I will receive the Probability Alteration Skill," Lorn said, clearing his voice.

[GAINED SKILL: Probability Alteration Lv.1, Faith Stat created.]

'Faith stat? What? Why?'