Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After having his eyes upgraded, Leif started advancing his plan. After getting used to his new vision, he started taking his bow and arrows that he had prepared. When he decided on the magical animal he wanted to sacrifice, he had prepared these items.

Training and mastering archery with enhanced vision is like the difference between a pond and an ocean; his proficiency rises like the sun, and he starts hunting animals and foraging in the forest for extra money. With his newfound wealth, he can now begin planning his escape from the village. Although the wizard still comes here, he wants to explore a bit more of the world beyond these villages.

With his new archery skills, new eyesight, and map he created using the Grimoire's ability to store information, this not only helps him but also strengthens his connection with his artifact. It also helps with his successful rituals; he can now communicate with the artifact much easier. Previously, he had to concentrate, but now he can do it with just one thought.

Leif started walking down the dirt road towards the market. The thing about the monthly market was Leif could always hear it first, even with his newly enhanced vision. It was brimming with noise, like a nest of bees. People were either coming or going, and the smoke from cooking filled the air. The sound of drums from the performers trying to be the center of attention filled the atmosphere.

Leif didn't like the market too much; he didn't have a lot of money, and Leif hated seeing parents with their children. Leif didn't know why - he was a man with a memory of his past life. Why couldn't he just move on from his deceased parents?

'It doesn't help that I have no companion.' Thought Leif, as he stepped into the bustling market, embracing himself into the vibrancy that surrounded him, tasting the warmth of humanity. There were vendors trying to sell their wares, a beggar on the street, a boy screaming in joy while sucking on a candy, and the more Leif observed them, the more he realised his incompatibility with everyone – not just due to his modern knowledge and, but also because he truly didn't have a genuine connection with anyone here.

His enhanced vision is the first extraordinary power he has wielded both in this life and last life, but ironically it was this very power that brought him back to reality; this power gave him the sense of safety that had been missing since he regained his memories from his past life.

'Home, power, money, when I get it all, I start looking for what I miss.' Leif bit his thumb to wake himself from this wallow; human connections were the weakest part of himself, even as a psychopath. He knew humans were social animals, he may have lacked some empathy, but it didn't mean he rejected connection. It was just, why should I lower my standards for others? Leif pushed down the voices of his parents in his head and activated his eyes.

His brown eye glints, and the world explodes into color—not just natural colors, but also pale primaries that overlay the real world.

A blue trail on the ground, created by gaps in the crowd that kept changing as the crowd moved. A gaseous green light, like poison, appeared above the pickpocket and troublemaker.

He saw a bright yellow color for the food that appeared in his vision, dark blue for items that might be important for his travel supplies, and red spots for non-human dangers like potholes or the knives of juggling clowns.

As his brain tries to get used to the enhanced vision and the color, the blue color that represents a safe and efficient route, has been modified to avoid the poisonous green color.

Leif started walking and rubbed his eye; his enhanced vision had brought him both benefits and challenges. His eyes could now see double the vision of an eagle, capturing the smallest details from afar. However, it didn't upgrade his brain, which often left him overwhelmed with sensations and information.

That's why he developed the VG (Video Game), Vision, a technique he created by combining theories and knowledge from his past life, such as video games, virtual reality, augmented reality and some other psychology and neurology knowledge. A visualisation that summarises the data he sees as colours only, so his brain can just focus on the meaning of the colours, giving him some space to think and react.

Leif kept blinking his eyes, adjusting and modifying the technique and kept using this enhanced vision on his way to the tailor.

As he walked past a crowd, he saw the priest of the Radiant Kingdom religion. The priest was preaching to a group of people, so he glanced at him and steered away from them.

Leif didn't like this religion; he once got inside the church, but his soul kept getting uncomfortable and he always felt he was being watched. Leif wanted to believe a priest was watching him, but Leif knew the feeling of being watched came from the symbol on the church - a tower bathed in light.

He also disliked their teaching because the Radiant Kingdom didn't see children as humans but as seeds of evil. In their teachings, all souls came from the Radiant Kingdom, their god's kingdom, and the world was a place for human trials filled with evil seed. When a soul fell down, it was stained with evil seed and needed strict watch from parents, priests, and God, with discipline used to make them obedient and repeated teachings from the pastors to cleanse them of the evil seed. Leif was thankful that he was born an orphan. Imagining living in that kind of household would be hell.

Leif finally arrived at the tailor shop; as he entered, he was almost knocked over by a mother with a child in her hand. He also heard chattering in the shop, seeing several women trying on gowns, looking at fabrics, and gossiping. The air carried the scent of soft cloth and a hint of perfume. Leif could hear children crying and fussing as the tailor's assistant took their measurements.

He met a well-endowed woman with an upward tornado hairstyle in bright orange color. Leif wasn't an expert on hairstyles, but he was really impressed that the woman could hold her hair in such a structure with only a honey-colored wooden hairpin.

"Oh, Leif, come here. I have prepared all of your clothes for you. Look, I even gave you some thread and a needle in case you need them." The woman's voice was soft and kind as she spoke. Her hands were large and warm on his shoulder as she led him into the changing room before rushing off to greet her other customers.

Inside the changing booth, Leif could smell the scent of herbs in a flat, one-metre grey stone. He liked to call this rock a mirror rock. It was a special stone that, when rubbed with a combination of leaf juice and fruit, would become reflective enough to function as a mirror.

Another hint that he was in a different world. While many things in this world were familiar—words and people—there were also many things, like the Gleaming Bird, the creepy church, and even this stone.

Leif quickly undressed and changed into his new clothes, observing his reflection in the mirror. His grey hair was still wild and unkempt, spread in all directions like a bird's nest. He touched his grey hair, which just brushed against his ear, tracing the faint scar on his ear, remembering the fight that had caused it.

The new tunic and trousers were in muted brown colors that would blend well with the autumn forest season. His cloak was also brown, matching his warm brown eyes. His new boots were made of animal hide, reaching up to his mid-knees and laced with leather knots. His leather belt was primarily used to hold his pouch and water bottle, while his hunting knife remained on his left hip. He would soon head to the blacksmith to pick up his dagger.

Leif hummed in front of the mirror, mimicking how his mother used her fingers to smooth down his wild hair. He tried to do that, but gave up since he had no one to impress besides his sun-kissed skin and warm brown eyes, which was complemented by his unusual gray hair would charm anyone.

After paying the tailor for his new clothes, Leif walked into the blacksmith's shop to retrieve his dagger. Nothing really special happened there.

After his shopping Leif starts hiking into the mountain near the village, thinking about some temporary plans—like mining some salt minerals he found while hunting a deer.

He was considering making jerky as his main food for the journey. But the more he hiked, the more he realised that while he knew how to refine salt, he had no idea how to make jerky.

Was it really as simple as salting meat? Even if Leif was 100% confident, would it really be that tasty? Was he going to waste his time refining a jerky recipe?

"Also, Naruto running from branch to branch is unrealistic with my current stamina," he said. He found the Naruto-style tree jumping/running was cool and efficient, but he realised that he would need more stamina to pull it off. Finally, he reached the spot and saw the overgrowth that hid the cave containing the rock salt.

It seemed in this world, small hidden caves were becoming my lucky charm. The cave contained a small salt mine, located at the base of the mountain, surrounded by protruding rocks.

He had discovered it while tracking a bird to hone my eye and archery skills. By accident, he caught a whiff of salt in the air and followed its scent, eventually leading him to this hidden treasure.

He sat down to gulp some water from his water pouch and used his dagger to cut away the bushes and vines that were invading his sitting spot. He accessed his Grimoire and tried to use the artefact to create a delicious jerky recipe.

After all, the Grimoire had the ability to appraise knowledge. Leif had ignored the part of the Grimoire that said it could only appraise magical knowledge.

Maybe the real magic was the smile on someone's face when they were eating good food, he thought as he kept inserting knowledge into the Grimoire but five minutes later, the Grimoire remained silent.

The Grimoire did not respond, and if it could have given more complex answers, it would give Leif a pitying and concerned gaze.

Seeing this, Leif tapped his knee; he really wanted to make his own jerky, but if it would be a waste of time and effort, he might as well not do it. He currently had two goals: the immediate one was finding magic knowledge, and the long-term one was to create a child to carry his parents' wishes.

Leif threw the jerky making from his plan, cut the plants that were growing in the entrance of the cave, and crouched to get inside. Thankfully, there was no barbed wire or weird animals, or corpses, Leif didn't like how often he met them in the wilderness.

He heard the sound of a small stream coming from within the cave; the temperature dropped, and he felt his skin cool, as if in a familiar office building. The air was so humid that it made him feel like his skin was moisturiser while the air had that pungent salty air.

Salt was important for human consumption, and it was a wise choice to spare his time and effort to mine it, since he can get a better quality salt with his modern knowledge.

Looking at the small cave, the walls covered in salt, Leif cursed.

"Goddamnit!" After crouching to enter the cave, he realised that he had forgotten to bring any tools for mining or even a bucket or pan to boil the salt. Leif sighed knowing this is not his fault after all his parents hadn't raised him to be a child miner but he couldn't just climb back down without doing something.

He looked around at his surroundings, despite being totally isolated. There were still signs of life inside this small cave. He saw a surprisingly large spider in the corner and a snake seemingly sleeping in another corner, which he spotted with his enhanced vision. This was why he had taken so many risks with the ritual for this eye. Now, there was nothing that could escape his sight, and his journey through the forest had become a challenge rather than a life-or-death mission.

He saw the salt crystals jutting from the cave wall and started thinking about his archery training with the help of his enhanced vision and VG Vision. Now, thinking about it, he really needed a name for his new vision or ability. He couldn't keep calling it enhanced vision.

He took a rock and began scribbling names onto it until he finally settled on "Treasure Eye." He wanted to call it "Solomon's Eye," but he realised that the guy was more famous for his 72 demons and prophecy. He also considered using "Arcana," but it felt too middle-school or generic. Finally, he settled on "Treasure" as the name of his plan to connect his eye with the Grimoire so that it would have the ability to detect magic.

"What exactly do I want to do?" Leif whispered to himself. At this point, he felt lost. The goal of having a child without a woman was something more for his parents—to honour them and grant their wish.

He activated his Treasure Eye and faced the wall. Holding his dagger in his hand, he activated the VG Vision and then did rough calculations with his brain. Using his enhanced vision, he stabbed where the salt crystal was weakest and stabbed.

'Whatever I want to do, I need freedom to accomplish and it shall start from being a child miner.'

Leif began using the salt rock as a means to improve his dagger mastery. Using his enhanced eye, he analysed the salt crystals and visualised the weakest point to strike at with his dagger. Next, he utilised the Grimoire to gather information about the dagger and the altered structure of the salt.

Time seemed to pass as he trained; not only had he gotten used to his new dagger, collected a lot of rock salt, gathered more data, and refined his techniques, but Leif also sat on the floor, noticed a scratch on the dagger, and realised he needed to buy another whetstone.

He drank more water from his water pouch, then rolled on the floor and activated his Treasure Eye. The Grimoire had just warned him, and he could feel something flying past his body. His Treasure Eye quickly scanned the entire cave, and his frown deepened when he saw nothing.

He saw the snake and spider hiding in the corner. If a dangerous beast were in the area, there would have been an obvious change. That meant the thing that attacked him was small and probably could fly.

He dodged again and realised another fact. While being invisible, the thing that attacked him was also smart enough to attack him from a blind spot. But he finally found a clue. He could see the creature—it was like an optical illusion. The creature was invisible, but there was some kind of light distortion in the ground of the cave. There was good news: as long as he kept paying attention to the creature, he wouldn't lose sight of it. But the thing knew how to ambush, and every ambush predator had at least these two characteristics: fatal weapons and fast speed. The small invisible creature was probably trying to regain its energy, and that's where the problem came in.

His Treasure Eye only enhanced his vision, not his brain. If he couldn't notice the light distortion, he would die. Therefore, this period of time was the best opportunity for him to find a solution.

'What I need is a way to see the creature or dispel its invisibility; I have no way to do either. That ritual is a way to project the Grimoire into my eyes, borrowing its ability to identify magical knowledge. There are two risks in my move: One, I've never really tried it before, there is a risk it would fail.'

Secondly, he would be screwed if this creature wasn't a magical animal, like the jerky recipe; anything that wasn't magical would be useless to the Grimoire.

Taking a deep breath, Leif kept his eyes fixed on the creature, drawing the Grimoire symbol with his eyes open, using his imagination and strong focus as pen.

"Oh Grimoire, born from chaos and the unknown," referring to the place where the Grimoire was born and its source, which was born from him, a literal alien in this world.

"You are the Light of Secrets and the Judge of Magic." Referring to the Grimoire's function of preserving knowledge that had hopelessly wandered in the chaos between worlds and its ability to judge the authenticity of magical knowledge.

"Listen to my prayer, endow this eye with your wisdom. Listen to my prayer, give me the blessing to see magic." Leif's eyes and mind seemed to open. He felt thousands of starlights falling into his eye, specifically into the special symbol, the true face of his treasure eye. Leif grimaced as he tried to open his eyes; there was warmth in his eye, and it seemed the Grimoire hadn't finished its business, it seared his brain, scanned it before finding the part of his brain that stored his VG Vision technique, sent his power into there, and connected it to the Treasure Eye symbol.

Leif suddenly felt a foreign hand in his mind, like someone connecting another controller. Normally, he would need concentration to focus on the color of an object he wanted to pay attention to, but now the Grimoire had hijacked his eyes and technique to start marking anything magical including the beetle with a purple glow.

Leif still couldn't see the creature's true form, but now he could track it. He sheathed his dagger and quickly shot an arrow at the creature.

Clang, a sound like crashing metal spreading through the cave when the arrow hit the small creature, it created a spark and the arrow flung uselessly from the creature.

But his action wasn't useless; his arrow had made the creature invisibility fail and he can see its true form.

It was a small beetle, the size of his palm. The creature had a small stinger in its mouth and a beautifully structured exoskeleton on its upper body, which he could capture in detail through his Treasure Eye. The exoskeleton was transparent and had a crystalline, kaleidoscopic structure.

He gritted his teeth and shot the creature with an accurate arrow again and again, and cursed himself for getting an enemy that blocked all his advantages; of course, his shooting wasn't desperate or angry – he was just thinking of a plan.

He kept his eyes open, feeling the strain in them and tears in the corners of his eyes; he stopped breathing as the beetle jumped again. Leif threw his bow, held his dagger, and opened his pouch, which contained his old shirt and pants.

His eyes caught the stinger of the beetle, imagining five-centimetre, ultra-hard, straight, stiff black stingers stabbing into his body, making him shiver. He held the clothes and threw them into the stinger, his beloved clothes were pierced by the beetle, but the rest of his body was entangled within it. Leif saw its underbelly was unprotected from the hard exoskeleton; he gripped his dagger and stabbed it, pushing his hand to slam the beetle against the cave wall and twisting his dagger into it, turning it into mushy meat.

He pulled out his dagger and kicked the bug corpse away from him; his butt hit the floor, and his breath was ragged. His arm was trembling, but he didn't dare take his eyes off the corpse.

After two minutes of catching his breath, Leif picked up the bow he had thrown and took aim at the beetle. He fired the first arrow, which struck the creature's body and caused it to roll over, exposing its destroyed underbelly. Then he fired three more arrows, just to make sure the beetle stayed dead. Finally, he started gathering the loot.

The most precious part of the beetle was the hard crystal exoskeleton. It was very hard, and he couldn't really deal with it right now.

He broke its stinger with his dagger and easily stabbed it into the wall; he discovered it was so sharp it pierced through the rock. He could probably modify his arrows and use the stinger as an arrowhead, Leif immediately wrote this plan down in the Grimoire.

"Sweet loot. But how am I going to deal with the exoskeleton?" He knew it was the most precious part of the beetle. He didn't know any blacksmithing, and giving it to a blacksmith might attract the wrong attention. If a higher-up ambushed him with a soldier, he would still be in big trouble.

He finally thought of his Grimoire. Since he had already successfully performed two rituals, perhaps he could create another one. He had some ideas about the outcome, but he needed to use the Grimoire as the judging artifact once again to make sure if his idea was correct or not.

Finally, he had an idea. He knew the Grimoire could convert something into pure information, so his plan was to borrow the concept of the three realms - underworld, earth, and heaven. Sending the beetle corpse into the Grimoire would hopefully allow him to capture the magical information from the beetle. If he succeeded, hehe, that would be great news for him.

Leif smiled and laughed; he found the prospect of the ritual actually more satisfying than the loot itself.