*The blood pact*

When he finished making his list, he realized that he had also finished eating. He got up, returned the pencil to the receptionist, and then immediately headed back to his room. It was time to take a closer look at this mysterious book, which was undoubtedly related to magic. Even in his home world, the pentagram symbol was used to represent magic.

He focused on Kevin's memory and discovered the methods Kevin had attempted to open the book. Kevin really wasn't very resourceful or smart; he had even tried to burn the book out of desperation. What surprised him, though, was that the book had absolutely no visible damage. He examined the seal and saw that it was not a lock that could be broken, so there had to be some other way to open it.

It was then that he recalled the conversation he had with Alan about Axel's sword. Alan had told him that Axel made a blood pact with his sword so it would recognize him as its new master and allow him to use its powers. He chose to try this method; it was worth a shot. So, he pulled out one dagger and cut one of his fingers to let a few drops of blood fall on the book.

Kevin's eyes widened; it seemed to work. With each drop of blood that fell on the book, the pentagram became more and more golden, and when the fifth drop landed, the seal disappeared, and the book swung open.

Kevin took it in his hands, a little surprised because the book was completely blank; there was absolutely nothing written inside. Just as he was about to put it down, disappointed by this discovery, he saw a golden glow that quickly transformed into a beam that split in two. One of the beams hit him in the middle of his forehead, and the other struck him on his left chest, very close to his heart.

The golden beam aimed at his chest burned his skin, but he had already experienced much more excruciating pain than that, so he just gritted his teeth and waited for the pain to subside. As for the beam on his forehead, he felt nothing wrong with that one.

After five minutes, the two beams disappeared, and the book ignited on its own, with purple flames burning it to dust. Kevin stood up hastily to get away from the threatening purple flames, relieved to see that they vanished along with the book.

Regardless of whether the book was missing or not, he could feel that the link between them had been successfully created. He was just wondering how he could activate this link.

He walked over to the bathroom mirror and removed his shirt to examine the burn he felt on his chest. But he froze when he saw his reflection; he hadn't gotten used to this new face yet. Kevin was the opposite of who he had been.

His old body had an ordinary face that went easily unnoticed; he was also of average height, which made it easier for him to disappear quickly without being spotted. But Kevin was the opposite of that. Although his face still had childish traces, he could see that he was going to grow up to be a gorgeous young man. For now, he could be called cute, but soon he would become handsome.

He had short black hair, green eyes that looked like emeralds, and his facial features were all perfectly proportioned. His skin was pale and smooth, and his lips were red, which created a striking and seductive contrast.

He sighed helplessly; a face like that would surely get him into more trouble than advantages, not to mention that he intended to turn Kevin's body into a real war machine, which would make him even more attractive.

Finally, he stopped staring at his face, as there was no mark on his forehead, and focused his attention on his chest. A pentagram, resembling a tattoo traced in purple ink, had appeared just above his heart. He touched it out of curiosity, and a holographic screen materialized before his eyes.

After recovering from this unexpected turn of events, he smirked. The screen looked more or less like the ones used in his home world to play virtual reality games. It suited him perfectly; after all, that had been his favorite pastime during his free time in his past life.

His stats were right in front of him, and just seeing them displayed like that—even if he suspected it a little—almost made him want to cry.

[ STATS ]

Name: KEVIN

Race: Human

Level: 1

Class: Mage

Exp: 0 / 100

Strength: 2

Agility: 2

Stamina: 1

Soul Force: 180

Perception: 10

HP: 10 / 10

That was it for his poor stats. After checking the holographic screen, he found more menus: Skills, Quests, Inventory, and Store. He decided to check the Skills menu; he wondered if the affinities he had with the elements would be there too.

He first tried to touch it with his finger, but his hand passed through the holographic screen. If it wasn't a tactile screen, then it had to be connected to his mind. He thought about opening the Skills menu, and the screen instantly changed to display his Skills. He was so amazed by what he saw that it left him completely speechless.

[ INNATE SKILLS ]

Blessed by the Gods: Your body will remain in perfect health; no disease or harmful substances will harm you.

Warrior Spirit Level 1: Due to your fighting spirit, when your HP drops below 10%, all your stats will be multiplied by 10.

[ PASSIVE SKILLS ]

Perception Level 1: Allows you to see your opponent's level if it is not more than 30 levels above yours.

Soul Force required to activate: None

Recovery Level 1: 30 minutes of rest allows you to recover 50 points of Soul Force.

[ ACTIVE SKILLS ]

Observation Level 1: Allows you to copy spells and abilities up to level 5.

Soul Force required to activate: The amount will depend on the skill or spell level.

[ MASTERY OF THE ELEMENTS ]

Lightning Element Level 5: 0 / 20,000

Spell: None

Water Element Level 3: 0 / 5,000

Spell: None

Wind Element Level 1: 0 / 1,000

Spell: None

Fire Element Level 0: 0 / 200

Earth Element Level 0: 0 / 200

At least this screen answered one of his many questions: his skills learned in his past life were mixed with what he had inherited from Kevin's body.