Breaking the taboo

"AAAAH!" Theo desperately took in some air.

The sensation of suffocation still lingered in his brain.

He didn't experience such a gruesome death directly, but he felt it as if he did.

'IT HURTS!' Theo would scream his heart out if not for how precious air was to him right now.

And so he ended up torn between crying from all the pain of his beaten-up body and desperately gasping for the air, trying to wipe the scene of his death from his memory.

'Is this how I am going to reincarnate?!'

Theo had enough time in that strange void he was in to figure out what was going on. And judging by the connection between Theo and his new body, it wasn't some sort of transmigration, but a second life.

And to make things sweet, he started it with the fresh memory of his other self's death. And to make things even better, all the injuries from the beating that killed him still lingered.

It was only some sort of miracle that he could now take a proper breath in, in spite of his smashed windpipe.

'Wait,' Theo suddenly thought, once he got ever so slightly used to the pain. 'I'm not actually injured all that bad?'

The young man did a quick check of the new model of his own body.

There were still some bruises and sore spots left, but the state of his body didn't connect with the overwhelming pain he felt!

'I feel like both of my legs were torn off, all their bones shattered and then dislocated,' Theo thought, the sense of curiosity allowing him to somewhat put the pain on a further perspective. 'But they are here and they look… fine?'

Theo blinked his eyes a few times, confirming a relatively well-off state of his flesh.

No matter how much pain filled his brain, he couldn't deny what he could see with his own two eyes.

'Wait, where in all hell am I?' Theo then focused on a different topic.

He looked up with the intention of looking around…

But there was something that instantly caught his attention instead.

[Magic System Installation in progress]

A single line of information decorated the top of the see-through window floating before Theo's eyes.

[Stop-gap measure: Suggestion]

The first line of text in a sub-window below was a little more helpful.

But… there wasn't any text further down.

Only a simple black rectangle with a tilted, gray triangle in its middle.

'I didn't waste several years' worth of my life on watching Yourtube to struggle with this puzzle,' Theo thought, forcing his hand up and gently tapping at the play arrow.

"What is a suggestion?"

A voice entered the young man's head.

"Think about lemons. Those juicy, round, and extremely sour citruses," the voice continued without the slightest care in the world for its recipient's state of mind. "Imagine cutting a lemon in half. Its rich juice leaves a stain on the knife. As you put the knife away, the leftover juice oozes an intense aroma that penetrates the glans of your nose."

The lecture exploded with details.

"Now, you raise half of the lemon to your mouth and take a bite. Its potent, sour juice rushes down your mouth, filling every nook and cranny with the same, sour taste."

The lecturer finally came to the end of his monologue.

"Now ask yourself, why am I salivating so much right now?" the voice then asked, full of amusement.

"This is the power of suggestion. A power to imprint images directly upon the minds of others. A natural evolution and ultimate form of all speech."

The lecturer's tone changed to a more serious, profound one.

"Now, what would happen if we sprinkled some mana on top?"

The lesson abruptly ended.

The lecturer's question remained without an answer.

'That's a yourtube video for you,' Theo thought, pulling his eyebrows together while his face took on an unpleasant look. 'It wouldn't be one without a cliffhanger at the end,'

Theo cursed.

He took one more look at the entirety of the message window. Yet, there was nothing else for him to see.

The installation of his system continued with no progress bar to track its completion.

'I guess I will have to do with what I have,' Theo thought, forcing a positive attitude onto himself. 'I didn't reincarnate to complain. And since it's my second time in life, I can at least hope to prevent some of the mistakes I did originally!'

Theo fired himself up before finally picking up the task from before he was interrupted.

He raised his eyes and took a sweeping look at his surroundings.

'Bushes, bushes, some trees, and even more bushes,' Theo thought.

And a distant part of his consciousness instantly brought forth a certain sense of understanding.

'It's my hiding spot in the sect garden,' Theo somehow realized, the original memories of his body now mixing with his own.

'And if the scenario that I can now remember will continue to repeat…' Theo thought as he looked at his hand, checking the insane rate at which his bruises continued to heal.

Then, he sharply turned his head to the side, towards the garden's entrance.

It was hard to see through all the greenery, but Theo soon managed to peer past all those obstacles…

Right on time to see a massively built man in his twenties pass through the garden's gate.

He was wearing the white clothes of the sect disciple, the same kind that Theo noticed on himself. The look on his face was stern, nearly angry, but not as much as furious.

"Theo!" the man shouted as he stood his ground. He then looked around, rested his arms on his hips, and shouted. "Where the hell are you?!"

'Not good,' Theo quickly took another look at the state of his body. 'If I recall correctly…'

Theo's mind turned into a mess when a flurry of memories assaulted him, forcing his brain to work them through in an instant.

'He is the only one that doesn't know,' Theo thought, gulping his saliva down.

Paichi, the friendly mountain of muscles, discipline, and utmost reverence for the sect. A man so talented and hardworking that he could obliterate nearly everyone within the sect, save for the masters and elders.

And someone whom Theo was ordered by the sect master himself never to arouse any anger.

For the sect, the struggle and pain of its failed disciple were endlessly less important than the proper nurturing of one of its star disciples!

Or in other words, a worm-like existence like Theo could never bother a genius like Paichi with his meaningless problems!

Theo gulped his saliva down.

'That's not good,' he thought, instantly recognizing the danger of his situation. 'I need to hide long enough for all my injuries to fade away!'

If there was one thing that Theo wanted to avoid with all his soul right after reincarnating… it was drawing unnecessary attention.

And by revealing his wounds to the kind-hearted Paichi, he wouldn't be able to contain his senior's rage.

'The elder won't be happy if Paichi gets agitated over my case…' Theo thought, scouring his mind for a way to avoid the disaster.

"Theo!" Paichi shouted again. "We have no time for this today!"

Paichi's tone was urgent. And what was even more surprising, there were signs of nervousness lingering at the bottom of his eyes.

"Our master is summoning you!"

Theo's face tensed up.

'Master? Are you for real?'

Hints of panic settled in the young man's soul.

To be directly summoned by a master spelled either a great reward, great challenge… or a great punishment.

'It can't be about the beating I got before reincarnating,' Theo soberly rationalized. 'If he cared about my well-being, he would never allow this situation to go on for years. And if it's not about the beating…'

Theo desperately scoured his brain for any possible clues. And as his eyes danced around in panic, they ended up resting upon the title of the system message that he could still see.

[Magic System Installation in progress]

'Magic…' Theo thought as the realization dawned upon him.

'Isn't magic… the greatest taboo for the cultivators?!' his brain produced an answer based on the memories Theo had yet to digest.

Then, his entire body froze.

Direct summons to the master. Installation of a magic system.

'Isn't he going to just kill me for breaking the taboo?'