52 Memory Fragment

Seeing the staggering price tag, David couldn't help but get excited. He currently had a total of 1190 DP, and just this memory fragment alone would cost almost all of his wealth.

But he felt that was indeed reasonable. After all, it wasn't just a memory fragment that he would be buying. Along with the memory fragment, he would also be learning all the life experiences, as well as the combat skills of the person.

In the end, he confirmed the purchase, albeit with a little internal struggle.

DING!

[Do you wish to access the memories now?]

He asked, "How long will the entire process take?"

[25:40:02]

"Damn!" David was taken aback. "Almost twenty-six hours!?" Fortunately, he had told Natasha to only meet him the day after tomorrow; otherwise he wouldn't have been able to explain himself. And he trusted her enough to know that she wouldn't invade his privacy.

His eyes shone with resolve as he lay down on his bed, then nodded. "Alright, system. Do it!"

The next moment, his eyes rolled back and his consciousness drifted into an unknown place lost in the ravages of time.

...

"Remember, Zorath. You must embrace the shadow and forsake the light," said an old man with a long white beard. He was wearing tattered robes and sitting cross-legged inside a dimly lit cavern.

In front of him, sat a young, black-haired, brown-eyed boy on his knees. The boy didn't understand much of what the geezer said, but he nodded anyway.

The old man continued, "You're meant to be the best of us, child. I pray to the God of Death that you become the man you were always meant to be and bring balance to this war-torn land."

Once again, the boy simply nodded, his face showing a hint of boredom.

Seeing this, the old man chuckled. "Alright, you may go now. Train diligently."

"Yes, leader!" Young Zorath nodded and then got up to his feet. He turned and ran out of the cavern. It seemed that the youth really liked to train.

"Zorath," the old man called out to him. "You must always remember, it's our sworn duty as the disciples of the House of Shadows to bring balance to this unbalanced world."

Zorath-cum-David turned around and solemnly nodded, then left the cavern. Over the next thirteen years, all he did was train. He sharpened his blade and honed his skills. His steps became whispers, and his presence a mere figment.

He became a master of stealth and secrecy. He became… the unseen!

When he finally turned eighteen, he drew his blade for the very first time and took a life. He offered it to the God he worshiped and became a true assassin of the House of Shadows.

With honed skills and unwavering focus, he reaped the lives of his victims with unwavering precision. All of them were granted a quick death, an act of mercy on his part. According to him, their sins were already paid for by their deaths; there was no need for extra brutality.

He killed humans and monsters alike, and with every life he took, he perfected his art—the art of killing!

Over time, his legend spread. Although his identity forever remained anonymous, the people of the land knew there was an assassin that could kill anyone he chose to. They saw him as an emissary of death!

The populace shuddered in fear, believing that he would one day destroy the world. But he never did. He was the balance in this unbalanced world. He judged only the unjust and brought equilibrium to lands that were once filled with chaos.

Empires rose and fell, but his deeds echoed through time. He existed without a name, without an identity. Yet the whole world knew of him. The Unseen, they called him.

After having become the leader of the House of Shadows and the greatest assassin in the world, David came to a realization. It was that the path of an assassin was filled with uncertainty and becoming one meant embracing the unknown.

As he lay on his deathbed, old and decrepit and surrounded by his family and loved ones, he was content and happy. He thought back to more than a hundred years prior when the previous leader had called him to the cavern and told him what it meant to be a disciple of the House of Shadows.

His lips curled up into a faint smile and he thought, 'Leader… are you proud of the assassin... no, the man I've become?'

David's life flashed before his eyes as he finally neared death's doorstep. He thought back to the first time he had taken a life, the first time he fell in love, the first time he had his heart broken, the birth of his first child, the death of his wife, and every other thing that'd left a lasting impact on him.

In the end, he lightly nodded, and the smile on his face remained. 'Yeah… it was a life well lived….'

He thought back to his wife and a drop of tear trickled down his face. He wasn't sad, but happy. Finally, he was going to reunite with her. 'My love… wait for me….'

Zorath Raven finally breathed his last. The greatest assassin to ever walk the lands had returned to the embrace of the God of Death.

...

David opened his eyes and gazed at the unfamiliar ceiling of his apartment in Staten Island. After having lived more than a century as Zorath Raven, he now felt extremely disoriented.

According to him, he had just died a moment ago, and now he was up and in this strange place. He looked around his apartment, which was vastly different from the middle-earth-style world he was just in, and mumbled, "Where am I? Is this… the afterlife?"

He got up from the bed and began exploring the foreign apartment, incredulously gazing at the electronics around him. When he entered his bathroom and his gaze fell upon his reflection in the mirror, he froze.

The person in the mirror… he seemed to know him.

Initially, he was confused as he looked at the black-haired, black-eyed youth in the glass, but slowly, memories began emerging. No, more precisely, memories were recalled—memories of David Watson!

He finally remembered his childhood and upbringing in Brooklyn; his first friend, Elena; his life as a gangster in the Rosetti family; his death and subsequent rebirth; the system; and finally, he remembered the memory fragment he had bought from the system shop.

Involuntarily, his eyes reddened and tears began uncontrollably streaming down his face. He broke down as he hiccuped, "W-Who am I? Am I not… Zorath? Am I not… the Unseen?"

He clasped his head and fell to his knees. He couldn't believe the life he had just lived as Zorath wasn't real. It was just a memory fragment from the system. He was having great difficulty trying to come to terms with this reality.

A long time later, after having cried his fill, he rose to his feet and wiped away his tears. He washed his face in the sink and intently looked at his reflection in the mirror. His face began to overlap with Zorath's, and even his old face from before his transformation.

He saw the innocent and immature brown-haired and brown-eyed face of David Watson. Then he saw the cold and hardened black-haired and brown-eyed face of Zorath Raven. Finally, he saw his own perplexed black-haired and black-eyed face.

"Who am I?"

He no longer considered himself to be David Watson, for David had died that night during the shootout in the warehouse. Nor did he think of himself as Zorath Raven, for that was just a memory. But undoubtedly, both of those identities now made him who he was.

He was David. He was Zorath. At the same time, he was also someone else. Someone… more.

Suddenly, his gaze landed on the system panel. As he read the name of the system, his eyes glazed over. "Dream Walker…."

The next moment, he looked back into the mirror. This time, however, his face didn't have a shred of confusion. Instead, his eyes shone with certainty. Absolute certainty.

"I know who I am.

"I know who I must become."