Memories

When I left the cave, Treyni-san was waiting for me outside with a very serious expression. However, to my relief, she just stared at me for a moment and let out a sigh.

"And then?" She asked me calmly, which was surprising considering how explosive she was a little while ago. But luckily, there haven't been any misunderstandings so far.

"I... I was analyzing the Charybdis Core... After all, it's a powerful being, so I thought about copying its abilities..." I revealed my trump card, the copy, as it was necessary to explain myself in this situation. Let's just go with the flow for now.

"Copy?" As expected, she questioned me about it.

"Well... I'd rather not delve too much into that part?" I replied, feeling a bit uneasy. Revealing the details about the ability at this moment wouldn't be a good idea.

"Haahh... Fine, I'll just ignore that for now. But I hope this won't happen again, Mika-san!" Fortunately, Treyni-san let it go, although she was clearly stressed about it. But for now, let's move forward.

"Alright, I apologize, Treyni-san..." I said, scratching my head nervously.

After our conversation, she returned to the forest. Now it was nighttime, and I was alone. I could finally analyze what I had acquired. First, I obtained an intrinsic ability that became an extra skill, the monster summon (Megalodon). This ability must be the one Charybdis uses to summon the Megalodon...

Anyway, I can't use it now; maybe I'll need it as bait to attract my enemies' attention. According to the Reader, I also acquired the Unique Skill, Infinite Prison, the ability that was used to seal Charybdis, or at least I think so. After all, the Reader might have just gathered information about this skill and combined it with the dimensional barrier that surrounded the Charybdis Core.

<<Incorrect. It is exactly the same skill as the hero's.>>

"... What?" I asked the Reader, feeling like my mind was entering a trance. So, it's really possible to copy unique skills just by analyzing traces of them? Then why didn't I copy this skill when I was with Veldora?!

<<Response. Previously, my analysis capacity was inferior, so acquiring information was difficult. But in my current state, analyzing this skill wasn't a problem.>>

That's suspicious... Could the Reader's analysis capacity be close to Raphael's? I mean, they seem to share a similar charge, as the Reader was able to analyze an entire unique skill just by touching the barrier. That's scary...

<<My analysis capacity still doesn't compare to the Ultimate Skill, Lord of Wisdom Raphael, but I am far superior to the Great Sage.>>

'... So you've even analyzed that from my memories, huh?'

"Haah, you impress me a lot, Reader..."

<<Response. I still have much room for improvement.>>

"Yes... You said that back when you were still the Great Erudite, haha." I spoke as I walked toward the top of the cave, sat there, and gazed at the stars. The starry sky, something I could never see during my life on planet Earth...

I always lived in fear that I could die the next day. I lived with that fear for 8 years of my life. Of course, it calmed down as I "improved," but now that I've reincarnated, I don't have to worry about tomorrow anymore. Well, technically I still do, but not every day.

I... I miss my mother and father... I miss them... But now I have to live to the fullest here...

'...'

'Reader... Search my memories for "mother" and "father."'

<<Affirmative. Initiating operation --------------- >>

"Gugh!!!" Suddenly, an immense pain filled my head and spread throughout my body. This time, it was different from the first error of the Reader; it felt like a final warning not to delve too much into my past life-

And then my mind went completely dark. I couldn't see anything anymore, engulfed in darkness, and it felt like parts of me were leaving my body.

'Mother... Father... Who...?'

And then my mind faded away completely.

Day 26, Month 07, Year 2010... ... ... 6:00 Tiriring!!* Tiriring!!* Tiriring!!* The alarm clock rang loudly, and a boy was lying in his bed, struggling to get up and also to turn off the clock. When he finally managed to do it, his face was revealed from under the covers. The boy had messy black hair due to just waking up, and he appeared to be around 8 years old. Today was the boy's birthday, and it was also the day he would go on a school trip with his classmates from school.

Slowly getting up from his bed, someone rushed into his room, knocking on his door and then barging in.

"Happy birthday, Akagi!!" It was Mitou Takuda, the boy's father, a tall man with hair just like his son's. He was lively and loved his family more than anything.

"Dad!!" Running towards his father, the boy hugged him tightly, and right behind him was Mitou Akari, the boy's mother, a woman with equally long black hair. She was also heading towards her husband and son to join the hug.

They then went downstairs and into the kitchen for a relaxed morning together. They all sat at the table, gave thanks for the food, and the boy, excited, got ready and grabbed what he needed. He hurried his father to finish eating so they could head to school soon, while his mother chuckled in the corner. A typical morning in the Mitou family.

7:50 Father and son drove to school, as they lived a bit far away and had to hurry on the road. But they arrived just in time before the gate closed. The boy said goodbye to his father, entered the school, and headed to his classroom, where he found his two friends, Natsuki Yuki, an energetic girl with messy, naturally red hair and red eyes, and Yamamoto Hiroki, a calm and intelligent boy with neat black hair, black eyes and square glasses. He always carried a book with him.

Those were the boy's friends, his best friends, considering that he was very extroverted, kind, and loved to communicate with various people. As a result, he had many people who could rely on him, and he could rely on them.

"Happy birthday, Mitou!" His two friends remembered his birthday, which made the boy feel both emotional and happy. He went to hug them in gratitude.

During the next classes, the trio remained anxious about the upcoming school trip, which led to them receiving scoldings for not paying attention in class.

9:00 At the end of the second class of the first period, the students left for the school buses, excited for the excursion.

It was a very special day for the boy; it was his birthday and his first school trip. Moreover, he would be going with his best friends on a beautiful day with very few clouds. It was the best day for his birthday to fall on.

As they headed towards the buses, they discussed what they would do during the trip. When they finally reached the bus, they had to wait a bit longer since they had arrived earlier than everyone else.

After the wait, the trio sat at the back of the bus in a row. The boy sat by the window, and his companions were on his right side.

The bus started moving, and the journey was about to begin.

9:20 During the trip, the boy could see things outside the city he lived in. After all, he had never left his hometown before, but now he could venture outside with his friends.

Outside the bus, the forest landscape was beautiful, passing quickly as they watched from above.

Nothing could go wrong during that trip.

Nothing...

Nothing was supposed to go wrong.

10:20 On the way back from the excursion, the bus had to take a different route than the original one, which the boy thought was a good thing as he could see a new scenery he hadn't seen before.

However, the weather unexpectedly turned bad, even though it had been clear before. And that wasn't the only problem.

Halfway through the journey, at a spot where many cars were passing at once, heavy rain had taken over, flooding the area and making visibility poor. This was a problem, as besides the lack of vision, it was difficult to move properly on the wet road.

I guess you can already see where this is going...

A car lost control, skidding on the water, and it couldn't have seen properly due to the rain. In a desperate attempt to avoid that car, the bus driver made an abrupt maneuver, causing the bus to flip over into the forest, causing a completely unexpected accident.

That accident shouldn't have killed as many people as it did, but it killed more than it should have, especially given the shock it brought to children of that age. We could say that half died, and the other half was severely injured. The boy was part of that other half, but only barely, or rather, thanks to a miracle.

Shortly before the boy fainted due to the shock, a completely white figure with long hair and dark eyes appeared to him. The figure held the boy's chin while speaking to him, "Survive... There are still things you need to do..." Then the figure vanished, and the boy fainted completely.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the authorities to arrive and rescue the surviving children. Many families were crying due to loss, while others were crying because of their children's condition.

The boy fell into a coma for a whole year, and his family was desperate, but they were also relieved that he survived.

The boy lost his friends during that incident, and it wasn't like they died; it was as if they disappeared. But the authorities confirmed that they had died.

And after waking up from his coma, the boy lived alone, only with the company of his parents and that figure that appeared and spoke to him once a year.

Five years after waking up from the coma, the boy encountered a story that touched his heart. The name of the story was Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken. It was one of the best stories he had ever read, and that reading helped him remain calm about his condition.

And two years later, that boy died from an internal injury that hadn't been treated yet, leading to his death.

That boy was named Mitou Akagi, and the figure that spoke to him was ----------------- .

"Nyu..." Mika woke up from his slumber, gazing at the already dawning sky. He was very confused about what had happened, what he had dreamed, his past? But this wasn't the time to dream about it, he thought to himself.

<<Good morning, master.>>

"Ah, good morning, Reader... How long did I sleep?"

<<Just one day, master.>>

"Good... But, what was that? Suddenly, you had an error, my head started to hurt, and then I fainted?"

<<Apparently, that was indeed the case, but I believe there's no need to worry about it.>>

"Alright, then I guess I'll go back to the city and take a look around there..."

Getting up from the top of the cave, Mika jumped down and started walking towards the city calmly, but it was evident that there were still things bothering his mind.