[Altar Of Choices]

Keith gazed at Ivan's back strangely. He too had naturally heard the loud slap, but by the time he turned to gaze in the direction of the sound, a strangely ominous feeling brushed past him, making his body freeze.

It was only for a split second, but even that seemed to have been too long, as by the time he gazed in the direction of the sound, he saw nothing but the blurry figures of the gang.

Then a gentle breeze brushed past him and by the next instance, the man was confused as to why he had turned to gaze at the gang.

He shrugged his shoulders noticing Ivan follow after his bot with his forehead cowered in cold sweat.

Though strange, 'It shouldn't be that weird, but....' Keith thought, because even though he consoled himself with his thoughts, he felt that something was amiss and strange, but he couldn't quite point at what it was he was feeling.

"Anyway..." Keith muttered under his breath, gazing at S-11's back as his bot hadn't even turned to gaze at event taken place.

'mind's eye was proven to be not-so-useful and too common of a skill....' He pondered.

"... I guess, I'll let the room decide, This time."

*

Inside the door was an ancient-looking room which could be said to have been lost in time, because everything was cave-like with thick veins holding them firm in place.

The dense veins above their heads were seen to be converging to the middle of the cave, and one could tell from the size of the cave, its veins, and its length that it was and could definitely hold a giant inside, without much difficulty.

The cave definitely was indescribably strange, yet it held an even stranger part.

The veins which were, possibly, roots of a tree, even though the academy was underground, who knew how in depths they were actually in; these converged roots had created a cavity in-between, and from the cavity, peered through a blinding bright morning light, lighting up the entire cave and shone directly on top of a rectangular raised slab which could be called an altar of kinds.

The light wasn't and couldn't be natural;

Yet it felt and seemed to be natural.

It was kind of phenomenon that would entice a human's curiosity that was dominated by his/hers greed most of the time.

As if it wasn't enough, there even sounded the sounds of a fresh waterfall.

'..... No matter how many times I see it, it still seems as beautiful as it was the first time I saw it....' Keith muttered inwardly in his amazement.

Every time they, the [Cadets], ascend a floor, they are granted a chance to choose another skill from here, hence he had entered the [Altar Of Choices] three times before he couldn't and didn't need to anymore.

[One's soul is said to only be able to house a total of 10 skills, and a stronger soul is recorded to be able to house 11 skills only. Here, you shall choose, and your choice shall determine the path you shall walk. Beware, once chosen, there is no going back] The [Altar Of Choices], or 'the room,' warned.

'Unless, you regress, like me.' Keith thought Inwardly.

And after the warning, the bots told them that they are to pick the skill books on their own, with their own choices, due to which the crowd dispersed and walked towards the short yet massive seeming bookshelves that descended from the ceiling of the cave after the room's words ended.

The bookshelves continued to float above ground but still was low enough to be reached by the crowd.

Keith, instead, gazed at Ivan, and his gang's back for a moment, noticing them walking towards the skill books, Keith walked towards the altar to let the room choose for him.

DING-!

As soon as he stepped in front of the altar, a soft soothing ring of a bell sounded and with an abrupt daze, Keith's consciousness shifted before he stood, no, floated somewhere that wasn't the cave.

DING-!

[User's title [Returnee] has been recorded]

[User [Keith Frazier] has been recorded]

[Keith Frazier: Mortal who reached the limits of the human bloodline, yet was unable to transcend past the limits due to being unable to acquire a [Job] or a [Class], came across an opportunity to obtain the [Job: Time Keeper] just before the records of the [Unprecedented End Of Aerith] were recorded. Under the [Job]'s influence, the [Jobless] obtained their first [Exclusive Skill], the 11th Skill, [Regression], and has thus, returned to the past to walk the unseen future by becoming the [Worlds Of Aerith]'s first Heaven-Defying Star]

[[?&@₹%@%₹?&] is gazing down at the user]

As soon as that notification pop up after the rest of the notifications that confused Keith to no end; he felt as if something was holding him, as if he was trapped in the palm of something [Absolute], where he would never be able escape from.

Then, the powers in his body surged out forcefully, making him feel a kind of pain he hadn't ever felt and would never want to feel again, before an uncanny and ominous blob of grey blood, which was the state of the powers that had been running wild and free within Keith till that moment, manifested outside his body thumping rather rhythmically.

After the pain ended, Keith gazed at blob with labourer breaths, only to notice something squirming within the blob of grey blood, he didn't know what it, heck, he didn't even know what was going on.

First, he was summoned somewhere he didn't know, then the summary of his so-called recorded life was read to him, then somebody gazed at him and just pulled out that disgusting thing from his body!

"I'm thankful for that, but what the fuck is going on here!! I wanted nothing more than get a few skills and fuck off of here!! But, what's going on!!?? And where the fuck did that even come from!!??" Keith roared in pain and annoyance.

[@%₹@!₹?/×÷€$@₹€¥¿¡] An indescribable words in an indescribable voice sounded in his consciousness as if those words were spoken directly with his soul rather than him. But, strangely maybe because the voice wanted him to, he understood those words.

'[The thing in front of you is the smallest [Chaos]'s smallest, a sand grain-sized, energy. Due to [Chaos] also being an [Attributive] part of the [Origin], it exists everywhere the [Origin] does, and due to your experience with [True Death], a sand grain-sized [Chaos] attributed magic power seeped into your soul]'

"..... doesn't that mean I would have died if it wasn't extracted out like this?" Keith muttered in disbelief, because he, thanks to his regression, had seen what had happened to [Earth] which was affected by [Chaos] which is commonly called [Rot] by survivors from [Earth].

'No, like, isn't the MC, me, supposed to experience pain of unimaginable kinds, overcome everything, and somehow gain the ability to wield this [Chaos]?' Keith fantasized.

DING-!

[User is given a choice to retain the 'removed' [Attribute] [Chaos], or gain a chance to obtain skills from the records, [The Past Life]]

".... wha"

[[?&@₹%@%₹?&] is curious to see what the [Heaven-Defying Star]'s choice would be]