New Reality

"Where am I?" Erlen asked out of reflex as he slowly opened his eyes as he heard the carriage moving. He sat up and looked around in disbelief. He checked his chest and saw that the giant wound completely disappeared. There wasn't even a scar to look at. Another thing he noticed is the crescent moon tattoo on his left hand.

"It seems like that tattoo functions as something like a contract between you and your soul sword. Why not try calling it?"

"No way, I don't have a soul swor- who are you?" Erlen was about to finish the sentence when he noticed that he didn't even know who is he talking with. He looked up, and a tanned middle-aged man in a ragged brown robe appeared before his eyes. The man heartily poured a bottle of wine inside his mouth as if it was water.

"Ah, hahaha, I should introduce myself, huh? My name is Melhard, and I'm your new sword instructor. Ah, that's right. I forgot to congratulate you. You are a student of the Lisore Blade Mage Academy from now on. How lucky you don't have to take the entrance exam. Your teacher is awesome." Said Melhard in his slightly fallen apart style.

"New sword instructor? Student? Who decided that?"

"I decided it just now."

Erlen heard this and looked at the man with empty eyes as if he suddenly became the dumbest person in the world. He then suddenly jumped forward and ripped out the wine bottle from Melhards hand. Erlen tasted the wine and spat it out in the next moment.

"Old man, this one is disgusting. I give you a better one if you explain my current situation properly." Said Erlen with a smug smile, knowing that he found a weakness.

"Tch, You are clearly a drunkard, yet you look this pretty. Fine, this old man will explain your current situation. I don't know how much do you remember after you lost consciousness. The whole thing started yesterday night. I happily slurped on my wine on the roof when you suddenly committed suicide. I thought it was a pity to die like this since you looked like a talented brat at first glance.

So I grabbed you and ever so gently placed your corpse on my shoulder. That's when I noticed that you don't have an ounce of magic power inside you. Luckily I remembered a soul sword that I once found when I was on an adventure. This soul sword was special since it chooses its owner, not like the usual soul swords.

I thought, why not give it a try since you are already dead. Long story short, I dragged your dead body up the mountain, and the sword sucked your blood and formed a contract with you after that. Your wound closed, and you started breathing again. I decided to take you to the blade mage academy after that. This new sword of yours interests me."

Sloppily explained Melhard befitting his lazy character. He left out the elixir part on purpose and the fact that he mentioned the academy to his brother, Ryle. Erlen took a sip out of the wine bottle and tossed it back to Melhard. He acted as if it was his reward.

"Anyway, your soul sword disappeared after it made a contract with you. You should try and concentrate on that tattoo already."

Erlen was still in a daze when Melhard said that. Having magic power and a soul sword right after he committed suicide. Who has luck like this? Erlen concentrated on the crescent moon-shaped tattoo on his left hand and felt a strong connection between himself and a person. It was not a sword.

Erlen called out to the person inside his mind, and a blue light flashed up in the air. The sword was in his hands in the next second as if he pulled it out from the nothingness. It looked like a longer-than-average, single-edged katana with a black hilt. The blade was the same black color, but the edge had a blue shine. The crossguard of the sword was dark blue.

The mysterious shining runes on the blade were unreadable for others, but Erlen was able to read it as the owner of the sword. The name of this sword was Aurora. Usually, the name of soul swords had a historical origin. Erlen, the blade mage fanatic, held a tremendous amount of historical knowledge, but the name Aurora still didn't ring a bell.

"How magical, how mysterious. I never saw a sword appear out of thin air like this before. We blade mages have to carry our soul swords around all day. That tattoo is really convenient. What are your soul skills?"

Melhard started rambling excitedly. He turned out to be just as obsessed with blade mages as his soon-to-be disciple. Erlen ignored him and looked at the floating blue text which appeared when he summoned his sword.

[Name: Erlen Ravensword]

[Race: ???]

[Soul sword level: 1]

[Core level: Black]

[Skills:]

>Demon king's Ambition

>Moonlight Swordsmanship

>Demonic Body

>Magic Affinity

>Cannibalism

>Memories of the Moonlight Princess (locked)

Erlen saw the last skill and remembered that there should have been a memory transfer between blade mage and soul sword, but that didn't happen to him. He then looked at the other skills and freaked out.

'Cannibalism? Demonic body? What are those question marks beside my race? What is a black core?' Question after question popped up inside his mind, but not a single answer. The situation was alarming.

'Heh, who cares! I was supposed to die today but lived. My dream also came true. If it means that I sold my soul to the devil, then I accept it without hesitation.