The Record

The figure stared at Vince; the desolate surroundings were calm, the bright sun illuminating his face.

"So I'm the first? Welcome, bearer of the "Record"."

"Who are you? Where the hell is this place, and how did I end up here?"

"Oh! It's amazing how we all asked the first thing during our first time haha." His laugh was genuinely happy: "This place is your memories, or rather, my memories."

"How so, memories?" Vince had a confused and shocked countenance.

"Let me start from the beginning, then; why don't we sit down? The memory the register used to record me is not very inviting."

The man then rose from the floor and shook his hands slightly. A small, polished wooden table appeared between Vince and him, his bloodied armor now becoming an elegant black robe.

"Please sit down; there's a lot to be explained."

Vince hesitated; after all, the situation was strange, and he had just dealt with a devil whose illusions and manipulations were the main weapons.

However, he had a strange feeling to see this man; it was like seeing a long-lost twin brother, another half of the same coin.

He then followed the man and took a few steps towards the table, sitting in one of the chairs.

"I understand the hesitation; It was the same with me," the man sighed.

He then crossed his arms and continued, "You're a little late, honestly; that thing in your chest, that makes you one "Branded in Red," made us have to create countermeasures."

"Do you know what that mark on my chest is and what those magical eyes are?"

"As for your eyes, it can be said that I know better than anyone; already related to the brand, I'm not sure about many things, and much cannot be said."

"Why can't you say some things about her?" Vince asked, confused.

"Because of the contract, everything that affects you also affects me; one of those things is one of the clauses of the brand, called 'I will not share about the promise.'"

"But didn't you say those were my memories?" "Why can't you share with myself here?"

"Good question" He then created two porcelain cups, and a boiling black liquid filled them. "The answer to that is that we share; we are similar, but we are not the same person; we do not share the same soul after all."

"What exactly are you, then?"

"I am an amalgamation of thoughts, the "record" of the experiences and life of Arthur Van Pretoriad Armadiem; in me are contained his hopes and desires for the future bearer."

"Arthur Van Pretoriad Armadiem, the lord of all swords, God of blades, founder of the empire!" Vince yelled, completely shocked.

If what the man in front of him said was true, he was a legendary figure, a swordsman who surpassed the level of master, a grand master, perhaps even beyond that, the hero who slew the black dragon Razezasherade and founded the largest empire in the world.

"From your reaction, it seems that even in your era, my name still remains." The pride on the man's face was visible.

"You're not lying, are you? Shit, I've been disrespectful before; should I call you your majesty? Damn, I cursed in front of him again!"

Vince was genuinely nervous. In his childhood, he admired kings and nobles; obviously, this disappeared as he grew up, giving way to his contempt for them.

However, the man in front of him was a hero among the heroes; even though he was from a different kingdom, myths about him were told all over the world, and even the rivals of the empire would not dare ridicule his name or contest his deeds, such was his popularity.

"Don't call me that, please; I'm already dead after all." He then took a sip of tea with extreme elegance. "Only Arthur is fine; I'll call you Vince too."

"If you're saying... Arthur" Vince couldn't deny that a youthful excitement was growing in his heart; the ancient hero of legends he heard was in front of him, even if it was only a memory.

"Let's get back to it; let me explain to you what the "Record" is."

"Your eyes are something generated from the desire of a single human, the desire to glimpse someone one day surpassing mortal limits."

The landscape of the sword tomb next to Vince began to change. The landscape changed to a vast field of golden wheat, with humans tilling the land.

"Since ancient times, humans have been born as the weakest of races, beings who could not live without the protection of others.

Then we received the gift of magic due to the efforts of two entities:

The ancient silver dragon lord, Zimbarth, and the first wizard, Aleister,

Somehow Aleister's intellect and Zimbarth's powers managed to create a way for humans to make use of the primordial essence, "Mana."

However, Aleister, despite being a genius, was mortal; even if he could now use magic, he would never be able to progress and develop it fast enough to see it in all its glory.

In his old age, he found himself in a dilemma: none of the people he tried to have as disciples had good talents for learning the ways of magic, added the fact that in ancient times few could actually read, and even if they did, how long would it take for someone to learn anything from his notes?

He didn't want the newborn magic to be buried with him.

Then he again sought out his friend, Zimbarth,

From here on, little is known about what actually happened, but Aleister's knowledge followed into the next era, even after his early death."

And that knowledge came in the form of those eyes. "The "Record," I presume, "Vince's face was a mixture of emotions: shock, excitement, and curiosity.

"Exactly, our eyes were the main factor that allowed magical knowledge to continue to exist, allowing its bearers time to improve their knowledge and spread it to humans.

For ages, the bearers have always had a dream that has become a chain that has always united all of us, the realms beyond transcendence.

The painful memories of what humans faced under the rule of higher beings also came along with knowledge, the joint desire to break through the barrier of mortality and finally manage to dictate your own destiny."

Vince felt his body and mind tremble; his hair was ruffled, but not from fear.

"And you are the last bearer, the heir to all the knowledge and experiences of those who came before you, and the last hope of this age."

"Why am I the last, and how so last hope of this age?"

"For the simple fact that this world will end, no one will be alive to inherit those eyes."

"Wait what? The world will end, why? A scream filled the space.

"A long time ago, the children of chaos became greedy and turned against him; they won, but with that the barrier between dimensions has been weakened."

"What does that mean?"

"With the weak barrier, creatures like the devil you dealt with earlier can cross to that side. You still know little about the cosmos; let's not get into that too much now; it's just going to end up confusing you."

"How long until it happens?"

"Who knows? The gods still keep the barrier strong somehow, maybe tomorrow, 1 or 10 years from now she falls, the only certainty is that it sure won't hold out much longer."

Fuck," Vince sighed.

"Calm down; there is still hope."

"What hope?"

"...You, absorb everything you can from our memories and get stronger, stronger enough to be the one who steps on instead of the one who gets trampled on."

It would be impossible to say that Vince was not nervous; some time ago he was a mere unlucky peasant, and now he is the possible last heir to a great fate.

"Don't get too nervous; honestly, if you fail, no one will blame you; some of us with dirtier personalities will definitely curse you, but they're already dead; what difference does it make? Haha"

"Well, I would be lying if I said that knowing this didn't make me nervous.; there's too much information to process in no time." He sighed and said, "But what can that "Record" do then? And I'am a reincarnation of you?"

"You're not; we are all related to some degree to Aleister; the man was a breeding machine." He shook his head. "But nothing beyond that; we are all people with different personalities and souls, as I said earlier; you are just someone with some degree of kinship who has inherited the record in this age."

"I got it; in a way, I'm more relaxed that way."

"As for what this little beauty can do, it's a lot of things," his eyes flashed. "It allows you to access all the memories of the previous bearers; you will probably have ease recording spells and learning almost everything that a previous wielder learned; after all, you already know; it is all a matter of relearning."

The empty tea cup on the table then filled up again. "It's also a natural catalyst; some of us etch our signature spells into it, and you'll be able to use them over time."

"So that's why sometimes Im able to cancel spells?"

"Yes, even if the brand gets in the way, more intense feelings and desires sometimes activate the eye trigger; however, don't do it often; everything in the world has a cost; don't you remember the pain and blood?"

"...I remember it like it happened now" Vince continued, "What about the red lines and perfect vision?"

"The lines you see are not a product of your eyes, but of the mark on your chest; it uses only your eyes as a catalyst; perfect vision is one of the characteristics that have been inherited; the eye has adapted due to innate talents that the ancient wielders possessed."

"So and---"

"Sorry to interrupt you; but there's not much time left and I need to say something," he said suddenly as he looked up.

"Your brand prevents the registration from working in the normal way; you will still inherit some things, like talent for learning, but not all the knowledge will be there. To get in deeper contact and inherit the will of previous users, you will have to find certain items strongly linked to them."

"...The sword, she was yours."

"Exactly, the name of the sword is 'Moonlight', It can cut anything, and it's also the key to getting you out of this place."

The world then began to tremble.

"I wish you luck, bearer of this age; may fate be kind to you."

Everything began to disintegrate into particles of white light.

The man looked gently at him as he sipped tea; the sun on his back seemed like a distant mirage now.

Vince quickly said something but found himself back in the white hall.

Something shoved his face hard, and he found himself flying a few feet.

"Why did you hit so hard?" Bernard shouted

"I... I..." Sila got lost in words.

"On guard!" cried Herman.

Vince opened his eyes and saw weapons pointed at him, a sharp pain in his cheek.

"That's familiar," he said slowly.

"Is it you, Vince, or did the devil take your body?" Sila said worriedly.

"It's him; I don't feel the same malicious aura," Herman said as he sheathed his sword.

The group didn't even doubt his words and put away their weapons.

"Then why did you hit me?" Vince said, rubbing his cheek.

Sila made a guilty face and said, "You touched the sword and went into a trance; your mouth and face were weird. We think the devil might have possessed you somehow."

"Don't blame her; we've seen similar symptoms before; the difference is that usually they're not just false alarms," Herman sighed.

"So what happened?" Bertrand asked curiously:

"A lot of things, a lot of things, but let's talk outside of here; this place gives me goosebumps," Vince said as he stood up, the beautiful sword firmly fastened in his hands.

"Moonlight" he muttered, "why do I feel a feeling of happiness coming from you?"

"Let's go then; a lot of things need to be answered, one of which is how this very close place has never been found before," Herman said as he made his way to the door of the room.

"Aren't we going to explore and see if there are any treasures?" Bernard asked

"No, there may be hidden dangers yet; we're short on numbers, and without supplies for a longer mission, we're coming back."

"You're right," he sighed.

The group then headed out of the room.

What no one noticed, not even Herman's eagle vision, was a black figure merging with Bertrand's shadow and a green light flashing within her.

'Humans are so easy to fool.'

The group then left, crossing the destroyed gate.

Bertrand could not even imagine the calamity that he carried in his shadow.