33 I am...

Albert slowly opened his eyes from the forced sleep that he was out into. However, instead of meeting the wilderness where he ended up at, he was instead met with an endless white plain.

[Welcome to the Synchronization Zone]

[Here, you shall be introduced to the basic ability of your template.]

[Note: The time here is slower than in the real world.]

[One day here is equivalent to one hour outside.]

'Well ain't that familiar...' Albert thought calmly before standing up from his laying position. 'The last time I was here, I was only about to get Ezio's temp—'

"You're finally awake! Hǎo(Good)! You made this emperor wait, but I shall let it pass this once." Out of nowhere, a pompous and lively voice interrupted Albert.

Turning around, Albert saw where the voice came from.

Sitting on a chair, a tall man that had a blindfold on his face was sitting cross-legged as he looked at Albert.

Out of the endless white plain, only he had a luxurious and lavishly made chair that had golden dragon patterns on them.

"Now that you've laid your eyes on me, why don't we get started?" The man said with a smile. He then gestured two of his fingers downwards. "Humble yourself."

"..." Albert was at the loss for a moment before thinking of something and following his orders. He crouched down and kneeled with one leg.

Seeing this, the man with the blindfold laughed. "Hǎo! This is how one should express themselves in front of an emperor!"

"I like you already!" The man said as he pointed at Albert. "You've got proper manners than that previous master of yours here."

"My previous master?" Albert questioned. "Do you mean Ezio— my mentor?"

"Yes!" The man nodded with annoyance. "I met him here some time ago and have never seen someone so rude! I kept telling him to prostrate himself and I'll let him off the hook, but he kept being stubborn and stood equally with me! Hmph, how preposterous."

"..." Albert looked at the man in front of him and silently sighed. 'They met here, huh...'

Intending to change the topic, Albert coughed. "Forgive me but... would you mind introducing yourself?"

"First of all, you do not command me, young one." The man with the blindfold held his hand up and shook two fingers. "And secondly..."

"You are in the presence of The King where it All Began." He said as the air around him began to vibrate. "The First Emperor..."

"Qin Shi Huang." He said with a hit of grandeur.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness." Albert said. 'Though, I already know you from the manga...'

"Hǎo!" Qin Shi Huang nodded with satisfaction as he saw Albert's humbleness. "Well then, I don't intend to waste time so I'll get straight to the point."

"?" Albert first guessed what kind of training he'll be out up to. 'I wonder how it will go? Will the synchronization zone change to mountain terrains...?'

However, while Albert was thinking, Qin Shi Huang suddenly appeared in front of him in a blink of an eye.

'How th—' Before Albert could finish his sentence, Qin Shi Huang grabbed his face.

"Mou-Mantai(Not to worry)..." Qin Shi Huang leisurely said with a smile. "I have no qualms with you inheriting my abilities... but can you endure the pain?"

[Notice. The Qin Shi Huang template is activating.]

[To adapt the template, the user is given "Mirror Touch Synesthesia" and "Enhanced Senses"]

[The "Ezio Auditore" template shall be deactivated. Note: the user can switch back to this template if you deactivate your current one.]

Qin Shi Huang then finished and dropped Albert down.

'My eyes!' Albert fell to his knees as his eyes writhed in pain. It was as if tiny worms were eating away his eyes and replacing them with another. 'It hurts like hell...!'

Albert felt like vomiting from the sheer amount of pain he was experiencing. The eyes are the most closest part close to the brain, as such, it is extremely sensitive to stimulation.

Now imagine that those extremely sensitive eyes are being eaten away and being healed over and over again. It was a nightmare.

Finally, after a few minutes worths of pure anguish, the pain began to subside.

[Integration successful.]

Albert slowly lifted his head up, with cold sweat beads falling down his face. He then slowly opened his eyes...

...only to reveal two eyes that had glittering white stars as their pupils on them.

[Mirror Touch Synesthesia has been granted to the user.]

'Mirror Touch Synesthesia...' Albert thought of this and a chill ran down his back. 'Wait... doesn't this mean...'

Tss—*

Suddenly, he felt a burning sensation is in his lower body and Albert's eyes quickly widened. "What the—?!'

"That's him right?"

"Yeah, that's him..."

"That cursed bastard..."

"...what...?" Albert wondered where those voices came from. They were all different and individual voices, but that was impossible.

There was only he and Qin Shi Huang in the synchronization zone... right?

Albert looked up and saw where the voice came from.

Dozens of people were surrounding him and all of them looked at him with disdain.

Hatred, disdain, resentment, grudge, and curse... all the people present had those emotions in their eyes.

Looking around more, Albert saw that the synchronization zone changed and he was now in the middle of a town, surrounded by a lot of people. 'What's happ—'

"A-Aghh—!" Albert's thoughts were cut off as he felt the burning sensation on his body grow stronger.

Tss—*

Grip*

Albert dropped to his knees as he clutched his fists in pain. However, he soon noticed another thing.

His hands... became small!

'Huh?!' He then realized what was happening. He...

He was experiencing Qin Shi Huang— or rather Ying Zheng's past!

And the burning sensation he was feeling was from the Mirror Touch Synesthesia!

That means... From now on, anyone who looks at Albert with deep hate, burns would manifest on his body!

Likewise, if Albert saw someone get injured, he too would feel the pain and even a wound would form on his body!

"This is your first training." Suddenly, Qin Shi Huang's voice rang in his mind. "I call this..."

"The eternal torture."

"You little shit!" Suddenly, the voices around him began to rise.

"You wretched bastard shouldn't have been born!"

"Why hasn't he even died yet? Worthless..."

"You damned Qin kid..."

Soon, all of them began to kick Albert's body around.

'It hurts like hell!' Albert teared up. He wanted to get up and attack with his experience as an assassin, but something was forcing his body down.

He wanted to jump from one person to another after killing them... yet he can't do it.

"Straighten your mind." Qin Shi Huang's voice inside his mind said. "Don't let them get to you. It's the burn you should worry about."

'I know!' Albert felt the burns spreading to his upper body. 'Endure! Just... Endure... IT...!'

Suddenly, Albert's face twitched for several seconds before it formed a forced and awkward smile.

He then looked at the people beating him up with his awkward smile.

"Tch... this creepy shit..."

"Disgusting..."

"He always smiled like that like a creep..."

"I told you he's a cursed child..."

However, the voices didn't stop, and continued looking at him with hate. 'Why does this remind me of my early days as Albert...'

'It's okay...' Albert thought before shakily standing up. 'It's... alright.'

Grin*

The same awkward and forced smoke appeared on his face again. 'You just need to smile...'

'And they'll forgive me... won't they?'

"Hoh...?" Qin Shi Huang, who was sitting on top of a rooftop not far away, saw Albert and smirked. "He's quick to adapt..."

And so started Albert's painful torture.

* * *

"Master... who is that man?" A woman said. "He's been sleeping for sixteen hours now..."

On top of Mount Aocang, inside the Adeptus known as Cloud Retainer's adobe.

In an area where the floor seems to be made of clouds, a single island was floating.

On it was a white crane and a woman.

"Hah..." Cloud Retainer sighed. "You needn't worry, my child. He will only stay here until he heals."

"If not for this one's benevolence, this one would have ignored and left him alone in the wild." Cloud Retainer said while examining something.

"Yes, master..." The woman who is known as Shenhe nodded.

"Well then," Cloud Retainer said. "Go check on him and see if he's up. If he is, do speak with him and see if you can befriend him."

"Your nightmares and homicidal urges have been growing stronger lately, so perhaps communication with another human would soothe your mind." Cloud Retainer suggested. "Moreover, one can sense that he's a harmless fellow. At least not for you."

Due to her unique constitution, Shenhe was born with incredible strength, but comes with it is uncontrollable homicidal urges and extreme hostility towards anyone.

Fortunately, Cloud Retainer and the other Adepti created red sacred ropes that can seal those urges. Now, Shenhe always have those red ropes on her body.

"Yes, master." Shenhe said before leaving.

Shenhe then bowed to Cloud Retainer before leaving Cloud Retainer's personal domain where she researches various things.

After leaving, Shenhe found herself in her own adobe. It was a house inside Cloud Retainer's adobe that was built only for Shenhe.

However, today was an exception. Because someone was sleeping in the room she doesn't use.

Shenhe looked around and saw that the room where the man was resting had a gap.

"Did he wake up?" Shenhe muttered with her expressionless face.

She then walked over to the door and opened... only to see no one inside.

"..." Shenhe looked a bit more and closed the door again. "He must have left. This is troublesome. If he wanders around Master's adobe..."

Tak—*

However, Shenhe suddenly heard a noise coming from the bathroom. 'He's still here?'

Curious, Shenhe walked to the bathroom door and knocked on it. "Is anyone inside?"

"..." Silence was the first thing Shenhe received before someone replied. "I'll be done in a second!"

"...alright..." Shenhe expressionlessly said before going back to her living room and waited for the man.

After a few more seconds, the bathroom door opened and someone came out.

Shenhe saw him and her first impressions were...

'...why is he dressed like that?'

He had very bizarre clothing. He wears an intricate bare-shouldered robe, which is something only females wore.

And of course, the Centipede tattoo on his face can't be left unseen by Shenhe too.

"I thank you for letting me stay here," The man said as he approached her, extending his hand which had two sharp nail guards, intending to shake hands with her.

Shenhe moved her eyes and looked at his face and saw his blindfold. "...are you blind?"

"My, how blunt." The man chuckled. He then raised his fingers and shook them. "But no, I'm not blind. Just something similar to it."

"?" Shenhe didn't know what the man was talking about. In the end, she just stood up and shook his hand.

"My name is Shenhe." She introduced herself.

"Humble to meet you, Shenhe. I am Yi..." The man nodded with a smile and opened his mouth, but for a moment, he hesitated. After a few seconds, he continued.

"Qin Shi Huang."