Second Manual (1) - 5

"Attention passengers, we have arrived, please make sure to take your belongings and exit the train."

I sleepily opened my eyes to the sounds of bags being dragged out of storage bins and people walking about.

Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I concentrated and could faintly hear the cries of seagulls, the sound of cars honking in traffic, and the waves crashing on the shore.

'Hmm, the sound stigma seems to be already affecting my body.'

Seeing that most people had already left the train, I quickly shouldered my pack and exited.

"Hooooo... haaaaaa"

I deeply breathed in the salty oceanside air.

...

'This reminds me of Japan.'

Taking in the scenery, a singular tear escaped from the folds of my eyes and streaked down my cheek.

After coming to this world, I had been so caught up in trying my best to survive that I had forgotten what my home was like. It was only now that I realized how much I missed the beauty of Japan.

'Home... I can't forgive myself for already starting to forget it.'

'I w-wonder how they're doing?'

Remembering my family and my love, I quickly suppressed a choked sub that had been welling up in the back of my throat before wiping the stray tear off. I then started walking slowly towards the ocean.

Letting my nose and ears guide me, I ran desperately, quickly finding myself facing a beach that stretched in both direction, further than the eye could see, and the deep blue sparkling water that was the ocean.

I could only forget my worries as I beheld the scenery before me.

"Stunning, just absolutely stunning." I murmured under my breath.

Although I had seen things like magic for the first time and the mystical garden that housed Aria's inheritance, the most stunning view for me since coming to this world was the scene right in front of me.

I didn't know if it was because of the familiarity to home, my reminiscence to my family, or if it was just because it was an alluring combination of both beauty and simplicity, the view in front of me was probably the most perfect spectacle that I had ever seen in my life.

I stood there like a statue, lost in my thoughts for the next 30 minutes before turning my gaze away.

I walked down the coastline while cars and other people passed by me.

Oh, if you were wondering if the cars were futuristic-looking or something, they weren't.

Sure, they had some futuristic parts to them, but they mostly looked like cars back from my old world.

The main difference was that cars now used magic crystals instead of gasoline as fuel.

This was due to the fact that common grade magic crystals were extremely abundant, and they produced zero emissions into the atmosphere, solving a lot of the issues the world was facing back then due to global warming.

Magic crystals were created when mana seeped into certain crystals like quartz and such, supercharging them.

One common grade magic crystal was enough to power a car for a whole month, and the rarer grades could even do more amazing things, although they were extremely rare.

Due to this feature, magic crystals were now used in almost everything these days, even replacing steam as the main producer of electricity to our homes.

They were also used to power bullet trains and even aircraft.

Of course, with all these good inventions, there were also some bad ones.

Magic crystals were extremely volatile when in their raw form, so they were also used as extremely explosive bombs.

But, this was a matter for another time.

Seemingly lost in thought, I walked in complete silence until the sun started setting.

Taking one final look at the sun setting over the ocean, the waves reflecting the reddish-orange light, dyeing the sky and clouds shades of pink and red, I turned away and started walking towards a mountain in the distance.

As I climbed the mountain, the night air started getting colder, and the sounds of insects and small animals scurrying about got louder.

It wasn't until the moon reached its highest peak that I finally was able to see a cave above me.

I had been climbing manageable parts of the mountain for a while, but this cave was nestled in a cliff that overlooked a sheer drop into absolute darkness.

Most people wouldn't even think about going into this cave, but I already knew the method so I climbed a little bit higher, reaching an area that was about 15 meters above the entrance of the cave.

I then sat down and slid my feet over the edge.

"Hoooo, haaaaaa."

I then slid right over.

I felt my stomach drop as I plunged straight down.

'5'

'4'

'3'

'2'

'1'

'Now!'

I stuck my hands into what seemed like nothingness as I continued falling, but a jarring pain followed a second afterward, almost as if something had ripped my arm out of its socket.

Clinging onto the bottom edge of the cave, I slowly pulled myself up.

...

Breathing heavily, I collapsed on the floor of the cave.

'That... was probably the most exhilarating thing I have ever done!'

Of course, Akimitsu had done way more dangerous things in his life, but this was the first time that I, myself, had actually risked my life like that, well, I guess it wasn't the first as I probably did some stuff that was way crazier in my previous transmigrations, at least, that was if my hypothesis about the system was correct.

And even though Akimitsu's body was easily able to heal quickly, and I started breathing normally again after a few seconds, I still laid there, as my mind was still racing from the stimulation of feeling like I was on the edge of dying.

After letting my thoughts settle, I pulled myself up and looked at my surroundings.

I was in a dark cave, with moss making most parts of the cave seem even darker.

I was still able to "see" perfectly fine though, as my hearing was so good now, due to my sound stigma, that I could basically use echolocation through the sounds that my steps made.

I then hurriedly scurried into the darkness.