Interrogation

"Yes." Trace answered, not even bothering to lie.

A look of glee crossed Crimson's face as she grinned. "Let me guess? You are a reincarnate of the Scion of Quaking Skies? No, Warping Silver?" 

"Uh, no. I come from Earth. Is reincarnation normal?" Trace said warily. 

"Never heard of Earth. No, reincarnation isn't common. It's rare, but not unheard of. Some reincarnate, others regress. The regressors can only be found by Time and Karmic cultivators. After all, what has happened that hasn't already happened in the multiverse?"

"So," Crimson continued. "Did your world have Essence? How strong were you? Someone of your expertise should be able to climb back to the peak, right?"

"Uh..." Trace shook his head. "My world had no cultivators that I knew of. I was a normal person."

"Oh." Crimson sighed, looking like a kid who had gotten clothes for Christmas. 

"So then, what Dao did you grasp?" Crimson asked with renewed interest. 

Trace said nothing. He wasn't willing to give away his secrets.

Crimson shrugged. She then seemed as if she was looking at something in front of her. It took a second for Trace to realize it might be a version of his status screen.

"The Dao of Power?" Crimson narrowed her eyes. "You're cultivating a Dao outside of Heaven's Path." Crimson, however, did not elaborate.

"Well, you're pretty strong for your level or whatever. The way you used your Dao against that mutt was atrocious, but expected for someone like you." Crimson said. "Alright, we're done asking questions. Go away. This whole thing was a huge waste of my time."

Trace had no time to say anything as he blinked, and found himself back inside his tree. The movement was so smooth that it felt as if the whole thing was a fever dream. The garpon wasn't here, though.

But Trace couldn't deny that the information he had gained from that was valuable. He now knew that Earth could get integrated as well. It didn't matter, as he had no one he was particularly close to.

Well, no one except Jack, but even then, it was just association. 

Trace shook his head and returned his attention back to his quest, which he had completed.

Demon Slayer (Unique): Kill 10 barghest/Kill 10 gywolli, OR kill 10 beasts of demonic descent. Reward: E-Grade Equipment, Body Tempering Manual. (10/10) - barghest. Claim?

Claim! Trace thought.

The System responded. Suddenly, an array of items appeared before him.

One was what looked like a small black pouch. The other was what looked like claws made of bone that were fit to be worn on his hand. There were also clothes. Comfy, sleek black pants that looked quite comfortable. On further inspection, it seemed to be made out of the fur of some animal. The shirt was presumably made out of the same cloth, with long sleeves. Both looked fashionable, which made Trace wonder how they could be E-Grade equipment. It didn't matter, as he was glad to finally get some clothes.

The Body Tempering Manual, like his Bloodline Manual, was stored in a corner of his mind. And it also seemed he could practice The Body Tempering Manual right now.

It was called [The Power Vajra Sublimation], and there were 10 layers. The manual went hand in hand with his bloodline nodes, but he could practice the first layer as he was right now. The second layer required some materials his did not have access to at the moment.

Trace turned his attention to the claws. They were rather self-explanatory, though he did wish he had an identification skill that worked on non-living objects. Speaking of which, he was now regretting not having used [Intrusive Eye] on Crimson. He had trusted her too easily. This even made him wonder if she did something to his mind... 

Still, he had gotten a lot of information out of that encounter. 

Trace slowly picked up the claws and felt a rush of information enter his head. It wasn't much, just knowledge of the weapon's name and that it wasn't a Tool Spirit, whatever that was.

The claws, aptly named [Primal Talons], gave off a wild and unhinged aura. When Trace squeezed it, he found that he couldn't even bend it. Even lightly putting his finger on the claws were enough to draw blood.

Trace immediately put them on and found that they easily fit his hand and stood on his knuckles. They were many, many times stronger than him, to the point where he felt that he couldn't use the thing to its full potential.

Trace felt like wolverine as he punched at the air, the claws seeming able to actually cut through the air.

Well, that was an experiment for later. Trace took off [Primal Talons], making sure to not accidentally cut off a finger.

Trace quickly donned on the clothes, which also fit him perfectly. There was no underwear, but he very much didn't care. Trace assumed that these E-Grade clothes would function as armor, and he was given a very interesting surprise. And he was also right. These clothes were extremely comfortable and didn't impede his movements at all.

From the rush of information he gained, the clothes had a Self-Clean and Self-Repair function, which was insanely useful.

To experiment, Trace took the [Primal Talons] and poked them against the edge of the shirt. Trace had to exert a considerable force just to poke a hole through the shirt. For most things in this forest, it would be more than enough.

Trace then turned his attention to the sack. Paying more attention now, it was as big as his fist and was pitch black. It was too the point where it seemed to absorb everything, like a literal void. Of course, it was nothing compared to the hooded man from his vision.

Trace picked it up and opened it. He couldn't see a single thing inside- it was like a bottomless abyss. Trace poked one finger inside the the sack and found immense pain. He immediately retracted his hand, only to find his finger had been completely cut off cleanly.

Fucking System with it's System-fuckery! Trace thought angrily as he clenched the stump that used to be his finger.

A drop of his blood hit the sack, and he was immediately presented new information.

As it turned out, the reason he had gotten injured earlier was mainly because he hadn't bound himself to the sack. It was actually called a Cosmos Sack, and was a Low-Grade one. 

Trace intuitively knew how it worked, and couldn't believe it.

It was essentially magic. It created a whole alternate pocket space where you could store any non-living item. All you had to do was touch the Cosmos Sack and draw out the item you wish.

Trace was eager to test it out, and he lifted up the Cosmos Sack.

Almost as soon as he had touched it, the image of a room appeared in his head. The room was 10 meters across and 10 meters wide. A perfect square. Trace wasn't sure how this even worked. Was it a pocket dimension? Did it teleport to an actual place?

It didn't matter, as Trace had finally gotten an inventory. Trace put the Cosmos Sack inside of his pocket and quickly got the [Primal Talons]. He then touched the Cosmos Sack and mentally willed the [Primal Talons] to go.

They disappeared, and in his minds' eye, Trace could see them appear in the room. He then willed it again, and they both appeared in his hands.

After playing with it, a childish grin appeared on Trace's face.

This changed everything.