Kaltes

"I'm Kaltes."

"Kaltes Herz Vespertine"

It means 'Cold Heart'.

My father, Ranke Von Vespertine, named me so because he thought it suited me. He is a very accomplished man. Thoroughly a narcissist inside out. My mother, Himmel Von Vespertine, didn't like my name much.

So, she always called me 'Damon'.

Which effectively means 'a demon's child'.

"A witty move," my father would compliment her.

As such, it became a hobby of mine to decipher the meanings behind people's names. Knowing how much thought was given to someone's name is entertaining.

'Ranke' means 'vine'.

'Himmel' means 'sky'.

How idiotically ironic. Vines always grow upwards trying to reach the sky. But Himmel was always the one trying to reach Ranke, in status and in ability. She miserably failed though.

Not that she was much of a competition in the first place to Ranke.

Himmel died today. It was a long illness. A nerve sickness. She had it ever since I was born. Now after ten years, seemed like it finally broke through her.

As I placed the white and blue lilies on her gravestone, a few of the drops of rain ran over my shoulder curling up inside the umbrella that my servant, Behan, was holding. He was a slave from a foreign land that Ranke had brought to take care of me. He was under a suppression spell for loyalty purposes. I believed it to be quite convenient.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse.

Not a very suitable one for holding a funeral.

How annoying.

Himmel's funeral was being held in the Vespertine duchy's cathedral. The family from Himmel's side had long cut all ties with Vespertine.

'A haughty man with no class,' was what my maternal grandfather called Ranke when Himmel married him.

It's honestly surprising that Himmel and Ranke married out of love. If anything, there was only respect between these two.

"It's as if the skies are mourning her death too."

"Such a beautiful soul, leaving the world so soon."

"To leave such a young son behind."

"Poor child, with such a father at that."

The nobles from the empire were quite chatty about Himmel's death.

Well, it is to be expected. Vespertine is the only Grand Duchy of the great empire of Scadrial. And the Grand Duke Vespertine just lost his wife while still being of marriageable age. The nobles must be devising all sorts of plans to get their daughters married into Vespertine.

Given Ranke's disposition, it wasn't a farfetched hope.

Or that would've been the case if I wasn't born.

Ah, it's pouring now.

Now that there was already a first-born heir, Ranke wasn't obliged to remarry. He could but the child of the second wife wouldn't be considered first in line to inherit the Duchy. However, that only applied as long as I was there, alive.

I can already sense some death stares at my back. I must seem like a thorn in their eyes now. A motherless child with an unloving father. The perfect target.

I was, in their opinion, doomed with Ranke.

Well, Himmel was a nice mother.

But I felt nothing like the heart-wrenching pain they were talking about. Himmel's death didn't mean much to me. She was ill and she died. It is causing some inconvenience to my survival chances, though.

Ranke wasn't much bothered either. That is how he pretended, at least. I don't understand why he was sad about the death of the woman he always clashed with.

Perhaps, a feeling of boredom now that the entertainment was gone.

Now with this, we all receded to the cathedral. The weather, as I said before, wasn't very amicable.

Now inside and warm, the horde of people began sharing their sympathies.

"The late Grand Duchess was such a warm person, your grace," a blonde man (Marquis Schlange) similar to Ranke's age told him. "I know it must be a great loss for you to lose such a capable wife."

Marquis Schlange was known for the exiliars produced in his estate.

"The late Grand Duchess was the most beautiful maiden in her time," a woman (Countess Schwein) somewhat resembling a fat piece of flesh said. "Oh! How I envied her beauty! You can so see her features in the young duke's handsome face."

Countess Schwein was a mage. Quite an achievement for a woman.

I can ascertain that she looked at me with the similar 'envy'.

"She was a fine woman," Ranke remarked. "A bit too ambitious for a woman but suitable to me. What do you say, Kaltes?"

"Mother was a woman of peculiar interests," I said. "A responsible and daring lady as well suited for Vespertine."

It was a well-prepared answer. And it certainly drew out a positive reaction.

"How mature," a man with raven black hair and strange hazel eyes said as he stood beside Ranke. A young boy somewhat older than me followed behind this man and stood beside him.

A very meek-looking boy he was. A miniature version of the man beside him.

But the way they were both dressed luxuriously told a lot about their status.

Schwein clicked her tongue, muttering, "How rude to butt in…" and joined the older ladies talking.

"I believe I should give the friends some space," Schlange said eyeing that raven-haired man and the boy beside as he too, seemed to flee.

"Vespertine never disappoints," the raven-haired man looked at me with curious eyes. "It's good manners that show calmness in the face of adversity."

"You flatter me, sire…," I said as I did not know his name.

"He is Duke Einar, Kaltes," Ranke said. "An old acquaintance and dear friend of mine."

Ah, Einar Duchy. Now Schlange and Schwein's attitude was understandable.

Einar was originally not a part of Scadrial. They were a rebel nation of the North until recently which Scadrial often clashed with. But with Ranke's negotiations and leadership, Einar became a vassal of Scadrial but retained full autonomy as one of the conditions.

The people of Scadrial, however, called them savages and uncivil. Therefore, people originally from Einar are not perceived with much respect in Scadrial.

"You jest, Ranke," Duke Einar said with a chuckle. "I'm more of a savage than you so friendship with me is a down for you. Well, what a fine young man you've raised here. Licht could never. He was busy bawling his eyes out when his mother died than attending to the guests."

A haughty and loud voice. Savage, indeed.

The meek boy beside Duke Einar lowered his head while grinding his teeth.

How obvious.

"You flatter me with such praise, sire," I said. "I am nothing compared to my father."

Flattery and obedience are always less annoying than ridicule and opposition no matter who is in front of you. Gets things done a lot faster and easier.

"Now that I see, you have a striking resemblance to your father. With silver hair and ruby-like red eyes, Vespertine did hog all the 'pretty' genes of Scadrial," Einar remarked ruffling his hand through my hair.

How rude. But it's refreshing how he indirectly called everyone in the Cathedral Hall ugly. Another reason to hate Einar was just added to these noble's list.

"Well, I must say that Lady Himmel did have a fair share in making you handsome, you have her features, young duke," Einar said with somewhat of a weird fascination in his eyes.

"Look at you, finding ways to say that I'm not handsome enough," Ranke said. His expression was like when he finds something uncomfortable like him being compared to others. A narcissist to the bone.

"You have a natural charm, Ranke," Einar said. "Your son has feminine beauty mingled into a man. It's a heartstopper among Einar women these days. Pray tell me otherwise but we are long out of the admired ones by the maidens. Or do you wish to remarry already?"

It was a dangerous statement. I bet Einar didn't know himself what he had just asked as a simpleton he is. But the entire Cathedral Hall became as silent as an empty one. I bet it would echo if I said something.

"No, of course," Ranke said, being alone audible in the dead silent hall. "Himmel was the only woman capable of being my wife. I deem no other woman worthy. I say it's like a habit for it to be HER and only HER."

The chattering and conversations resumed as if nothing had happened. It was, but, clear how Ranke had just blown all the plans some 'esteemed' people were cooking.

To others, it must sound as if he was head over heels for her.

"Under the note of marriage, Wand," Ranke continued with Einar. "I have heard your wife left behind a child."

"Are you asking for my daughter, Ranke?" Einar said as his eyes lit up.

It had quite the opposite effect on Licht as he looked up in horror.

It had a similar effect on everyone in the Cathedral Hall too. It's almost boring how predictable they all are.

"Yes. I have a proposition for you," Ranke said placing his hand on my shoulder. "A marriage between Vespertine and Einar, how do you say?"

I could see Einar rising to high spirits as he heard the words. Licht on the other hand, seemed horrified. His sister must be precious to him.

"What would I not give for that, Ranke?!" Einar yelled in joy. "Let's fix the negotiations right away, I say!"

"Father…!"

Licht looked up at his father, cowering in fear.

"Must we…!"

"Quiet, son!" Einar shut Licht's mouth with those words before he could even finish speaking.

"Kaltes," Ranke looked at me. "Why don't you and Licht return to the estate ahead of us and get some rest? Wand and I have some matters to discuss. It would be appreciated if we had one less thing to worry about."

"As you say, father," I said. "Please, Licht."

I held out my hand towards Licht. He looked back at me in rage, slapped my hand away, and stormed out of the Cathedral Hall.

"I swear! That boy!" Einar shouted.

"Please don't worry, sire, I will talk to Licht. I'm sure he'll understand if someone his age talks to him," I said to calm him down.

Nothing good comes out of getting Ranke in a bad mood with the negotiation failing because of this.

"I'll trust you for this then, young duke," Einar said, sighing.

"Now, depart, Kaltes," Ranke said and left with Einar.

I got out of there quickly as remaining would only attract flies.

Night had fallen already. A chilly weather had created a thick mist around the trees. And the Cathedral Graveyard looked like a hellish dungeon in that.

Under a particularly mistier tree, Licht was helping a rather bulky woman move to a bench, which I found unexpected with the way he had stormed out.

"Countess Schwein," I said immediately recognizing the 'envious' lady. "What caused you such injury?"

Her ankle seemed twisted. Blue-black from the excessive weight that was put on it after injury. She was already in a stupor because of the pain.

"She… she needs to be home," Licht said, trembling with embarrassment. "Can you please help her get home?"

It must be quite shameful for him to ask for help from someone he just shunned a few moments ago.

How amusing.

"No," I said. "I'm prohibited to have unexpected guests at Vespertine."

"Please," Licht yelled pleadingly. "We can take a detour and drop her off to her estate."

A foolish and overly kind boy. He must be itching to do something that could prove to the Scadrial nobles that Einar weren't that much of uncivil people.

"You must know that I'm taking a risk helping you, Licht," I said.

"I… I understand," he muttered while pouting.

Well, it was quite annoying to get that redundant piece of fat into the carriage with us as she had let go of all control of her body and become dead weight.

My servant, Behan, had a few instances where he almost broke his back.

Schwein fell asleep the moment the carriage started.

Licht was sitting beside me as there was no comfortable space left on the other side.

I could see Licht fidgeting beside me. I paid no attention and continued looking outside the window. The woods outside Schwein County were quite hideous.

"Duke Vespertine," he said at length. "Will you really do it? Marry my sister…"

"If Father wishes so, then yes," I answered.

"But that child is only seven! You are a child yourself! What are you…. Ten or something?! How could you just agree to it?!" Licht shouted.

"Pray be less loud, we have an ear with us right now," I said looking at Schwein. "And our fathers are not that foolish people to marry children, Licht."

He looked at me with absolute doubt. It amazes me how someone can be so transparent about how they feel. Licht wouldn't last one day in noble high society.

"I mean what I say, Licht, I swear on Vespertine's name that what you're fearing will not happen," I said reassuring him. How annoying. "What they must have decided on is an engagement with the promise of marriage. We will most likely be study mates along with you as we spend time together. What you're fearing will only happen after I safely inherit Vespertine. There are chances that I might not even be alive to inher…."

As if to deliver a demon, my words were not finished and I felt a sharp wound on my back. A sword, piercing through the carriage's wood injured my left side.

Ah, it was a suit I liked a lot. What a waste.

Licht shouted to me, almost deafening me. And the carriage door opened.

"Behan…," I said. My mind was fluttering because of the loss of blood.

'Behan' in the holy language of Scadrial means 'brother'.

But in a foreign language which I studied in the Royal Library, it's a half word. The full word is "behandeln", which means 'traitor'.

How ironic, Behan was indeed a traitor holding a sword right at my neck. He barfed a few mouthfuls of blood. Well, his insides must be getting crushed because of the suppression spell as he just betrayed me.

Schwein who had been dead asleep, woke up in the panic Licht was causing. Hurling her meaty hand, she slapped Licht right across the face.

"Quiet, you brat!" She shouted. It sounded quite ugly.

Licht immediately cowered against me. For children, violence is quite an effective controlling method. Licht trembled.

How useless.

The whole situation was quite alarming but not in the least bit surprising.

"Your daughter must be delighted, Countess Schwein," I said as it was quite an easy guess. "Marrying her into Vespertine must have been your dream with the envious woman you are."

It is getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open.

"You're indeed Vespertine blood," Schwein said smirking as she threw me out of the carriage along with Licht. "How unfortunate, had you been a decade older, I wouldn't have had to kill you. With your face, my daughter would've loved you a lot."

Her ankle miraculously regained incredible strength as she jumped down from the carriage. I am evident the ground shook with that.

I looked around, this wasn't the Schwein County Woods. She must've used an illusion spell. That means no one knows where we are right now. Help seems impossible. That means there is only one option.

"I'm quite lucky, I'd say, it's a pleasure to not marry that witch of a daughter you have," I said. "Say, Schwein, let me propose a deal to you."

Schwein growled with anger and yanked my hair out. Women are indeed strong as Ranke says.

"What deal? Kaltes, or should I call you Damon? That's what your mother called you right? The child of a demon," Schwein said holding my head up with my hair. "You must really be, ha!"

I looked at Behan, he must've been planning to betray me for quite a while seeing how much Schwein knows. Maybe, Himmel's death too was orchestrated. How foolish.

"You need me dead, Schwein," I said. "No need to make an enemy out of Einar. Let Licht go."

"Why now, he has seen me, Damon," Schwein said holding Licht's face in her massive meaty hand. "I'm not foolish enough to leave a witness alive. And who cares about one lowly Einar brat dying."

Licht trembled. It must have been one hell of a reality check for him.

"You're a mage, you can easily erase his memories," I said. "Or... Are you perhaps trying to save mana, Schwein."

I looked at Behan and said," She must have promised to remove the suppression spell from you, I guess. But being the fool you are, you must not know."

"What trickery are you planning now, boy?" Schwein yanked on my hair harder than before. "Oi! Servant! Do as you are told if you want what was promised!"

She must be envious of my hair too, considering how little of it her large head had.

Behan looked a little hesitant, but he raised his sword again and advanced towards me.

"Die," I said. "The moment I die, your heart will burst because you broke the suppression spell."

Behan stopped.

"What?" he questioned.

"Hey do what you're told!" Schwein lost her temper in anxiety. How simple.

"Have I ever lied, Behan?" I spoke. "You know me better than anyone."

Behan pondered as he looked at me.

If I had to say what was my specialty, I'd say how incredibly convincing my face looks. It had earned me a lot of things easily.

"You lied to me!" Behan flung the sword towards Schwein and cut through her arm that was holding my hair. "You never planned on saving me! You witch!"

I fell on the ground as I saw Licht crawling towards me trembling and trying to raise me up. Well, he did have some use as a cane.

"You fool! There is no way out now! You've already injured a Vespertine!" Schwein shouted. "The moment he gets out of here alive you're dead anyway!"

"Well, then we all must die here today!" Behan sounded a bit insane. "If I'm dying! I'll take you all with me!!!"

He flung his sword and cut off Schwein's injured arm and ugly, horrendous shrieks of pain filled the woods. However, she immediately used a spell to nullify the pain.

"The carriage," I whispered to Licht. "Get us to the carriage."

He nodded silently. I'd have killed him myself had he said another word in his loud Einar voice.

We slowly began crawling towards the carriage as I was in no condition to walk. The adrenaline rush was coming down and the pain was starting to hit me now.

Licht and I had now reached the carriage.

"Get in," I said

"What?! What about you?!" Licht shouted.

"Be quiet for once for heaven's sake," I said as I took out a scroll from my coat. "Start the spell, I don't have mana."

I said as I sat on the outside rim of the carriage.

A teleportation scroll needs at least three things to be used.

One, a medium. That is the carriage.

Second, a mana flow. Licht can provide that as he is older than me and has learned to use mana.

And third, enough time to absorb the mana.

To buy time, one of us needs to hold down the two of those from interfering with the scroll. It would have been ideal if Licht could do this, but he's the only one with mana. That means I need to keep them fighting each other.

Ah, my eyes are getting closed. I looked below at my wound. Oh. The sword had poison on it. I could see the skin around the wound turning blue. That's why the blood wasn't stopping.

Schwein threw away Behan with a spell.

"Nasty cunning brat!" She said running towards me.

"Kaltes!!" Licht ran towards me. "Get inside! She will kill you!"

You fool, why aren't you starting the spell?

What are you doing out here?

Ah, Schwein is holding him up from his neck? Is she choking him? How troublesome.

I can't keep my eyes open anymore.

Is this where it ends?

How disappointing.

Beep.

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[SYSTEM DETECTION HAS STARTED]

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[PROCEEDING TO ANALYZE]

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[ANALYSIS COMPLETION: 10%]

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[ANALYSIS COMPLETION:37%]

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[ANALYSIS COMPLETION:89%]

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[ANALYSIS COMPLETION:100%]

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[INITIALIZING NUETRALIZATION]

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[NUETRALIZATION INITIATED]

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[TRAIT DETECTION HAS STARTED]

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[TRAIT DETECTION HAS BEEN HALTED]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[RESTARTING TRAIT DETECTION]

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[TRAIT DETECTION HAS BEEN HALTED]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

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[REDIRECTING TO NEGATIVE TRAITS]

[STARTING NEGATIVE TRAIT DETECTION]

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[NEGATIVE TRAIT DETECTION COMPLETE]

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[NEGATIVE TRAIT: PSYCHOPATH]

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[INITIALIZING RESPONSE]

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[OPERATING SYSTEM COMPATIBLE TO NEGATIVE TRAIT HAS BEEN ENABLED]

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[PSYCHOPATH POINT SYSTEM HAS BEEN INITIALIZED]

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[CONGRATUATIONS]

[WELCOME TO PSYCHOPATH POINT SYSTEM]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ INSTRUCTIONS?] [YES] [NO]

Beep.

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ INSTRUCTIONS?] [YES] [NO]

Beep.

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ INSTRUCTIONS?] [YES] [NO]

Beep.

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ INSTRUCTIONS?] [YES] [NO]

Beep.

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ INSTRUCTIONS?] [YES] [NO]

Beep.

I opened my eyes. I heard a lot of weird noises when I was unconscious. But I would never have imagined that I would see something like that the moment I opened my eyes.

A blue inscription flowed in the air right in front of me. I know no spell that could do this. Perhaps, Illusion magic?

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO READ INSTRUCTIONS?] [YES] [NO]

Beep.

And this strange sound that pierces through my ears. I can somehow read these flowing inscriptions. They are not written in Scadrial Holy Language.

Let's see what are they.

"Would you like to read instructions?" I mumbled what was written in front of me. "Yes? And no?"

I pondered for a moment.

"Yes," I said as I tried to touch the affirming inscription.

[INSTRUCTIONS]

[1. THIS IS AN AUTONOMOUS AI SYSTEM THAT HAS SPREAD INTO INTERDIMENSIONAL PORTALS ACROSS VARIOUS WORLDS. THIS TECHNOLOGY ORIGINATED FROM EARTH IN DIMENSION 0. NO FURTHER INFORMATION CAN BE PROVIDED REGARDING THE SYSTEM'S ORIGINS.]

[2. YOUR SYSTEM'S NAME IS 'PSYCHOPATH POINT SYSTEM'. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SOMEONE HAS MET THE REQUIREMENT TO ENABLE THIS OPERATING SYSTEM. CONGRATULATIONS AS THE FIRST USER.]

[3. THE SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES BASED ON YOUR ABILITIES AND SUFFICIENT REWARDS WILL BE ISSUED FOR THE EFFORT YOU PUT IN.]

[4. YOU CAN THOROUGHLY TRUST THE SYSTEM AS A SECOND MIND AS IT'LL ALWAYS WORK FOR YOUR BENEFIT.]

[5. YOU CANNOT REMOVE THE SYSTEM ONCE IT HAS BEEN ENABLED. FORCEFULLY DOING SO WILL RESULT IN SELF-DESTRUCT AND CAUSE YOU FATAL DAMAGE.]

[6. YOU CAN INTERACT WITH THE SYSTEM FROM YOUR MIND AND TO BE USER-FRIENDLY, THE SYSTEM WILL LEARN FROM YOUR CHOICES AND MORPH INTO YOUR IDEAL MATCH.]

[7. IN CASE YOU REVEAL THE SYSTEM'S EXISTENCE TO SOMEONE ELSE IN ANY FORM, SIMILAR ACTIONS AS INSTRUCTION 5 WILL BE TAKEN.]

[8. LAST, BUT MOST IMPORTANT, DON'T RESUME WITH NEGATIVE TRAITS AS MAIN. SWITCH TO A POSITIVE TRAIT OR KEEP THE SYSTEM REDUNDANT IN THAT CASE. REPEATED: DON'T RESUME WITH NEGATIVE TRAITS.]

[WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESUME?] [YES] [NO]

I looked at the inscriptions or messages to be exact as I read through the 'Instructions'.

There was definitely written 'NEGATIVE TRAIT' on the thing called 'TRAIT'.

If it had been any other day, I would've gone with the safest option and chosen [NO] as the Instructions said. But my situation was quite dire. Not that I had no other choice than to trust this strange unknown entity in front of me. It just was so intriguing that I felt the need to see it further.

As I said [YES], it made that disgusting sound again.

Beep.

[CHECKING PSYCHOPATHIC OBSESSIONS VIA PSYCHOPATH POINT SYSTEM]

[ONE OBSESSION DETECTED]

[NAMES]

[GENERATING SKILL BASED ON OBSESSION]

[SKILL CREATION COMPLETE]

[SKILL: COLLECTOR OF NAMES LEVEL:1]

[DESCRIPTION]

[IF YOU KNOW THE MEANING OF SOMEONE'S NAME, YOU CAN HOLD THE STRING TO THEIR HEART. IF YOU PULL THE STRING, THEIR HEART WILL BURST CAUSING DEATH. FURTHER FEATURES WILL BE UNLOCKED WHEN SKILL IS LEVELED UP.]

[USAGE PER DAY: 0/2]

[USAGE PER DAY CAN BE INCREASED BY LEVELING UP THE SKILL.]

I looked at the 'skill'. It seemed too good to be true, to be honest. I needed to test it out.

Someone whose name's meaning I knew.

As I looked around, I saw Behan and Schwein fighting. Licht was unconscious beside me. How utterly useless. It wouldn't have come to this if this fool just had stayed inside and activated the spell.

Out of the three people present, I knew the meaning of one person's name.

Behan.

"Traitor," I said out loud and my eyes burned. It wasn't an excruciating pain but still very disturbing. In an annoying manner as a persistent itch behind my eyes. But now, I could see my hand holding a black string that disappeared at a length.

"If you pull the string, their heart would burst causing death," I said.

But I was curious about something. After all, curiosity was what made me interact with this 'system' in the first place.

"How much do I need to pull?"

I pulled it slightly; I could see an anguished expression on Behan's face.

It proved that it worked at least.

I added a little bit of force.

Behan was now clearly in pain. He clutched his chest as he fell on his knees.

"Ha! Is that all your strength amounted to, you gutter rat!" Schwein said as she mocked him.

"No! Shut up, you witch!" Behan yelled throwing his sword at Schwein.

How idiotic, throwing away the only weapon he had.

"Argh!!!!!" Behan shrieked.

"What is now happening to this peasant?" Schwein was now a little confused. "I'm not even using a spell on you!"

In a split second, a glint of joy appeared in Schwein's eyes. She laughed and snickered as she kicked at Behan who was now crawling with pain, gnawing at his chest.

"Your heart is where it hurts, right?" she asked Behan while nudging at him with her bulky leg. "That must mean that Vespertine brat is dying."

Ah, so that is what she's thinking. Well, it's plausible to conclude that given the situation.

Behan shrieked and shrieked, and Schwein just stood there mocking him and enjoying him writhing in pain. Must be one of her hobbies. Mages are weird folk.

But I could not afford to entertain Schwein with this any longer.

I pulled the string a little harder.

Behan's shrieks did become louder but he was not dying. How cumbersome.

"I can't… I can't die like this!!" he yelled after some time. He must be beginning to enter the fear phase of death. "I promised her that I would become a knight!! I can't die like this!!!"

Ah, right, Behan had a sister back in his country. He once told me about her when I was taking my swordsmanship classes. They both wanted to become knights and trained daily for that. But Scadrial invaded their country and his sister died in the war. Behan was captured as a slave.

He told me multiple times that he wanted to be a knight. His skills were quite remarkable too. I could help him become free and pursue his dreams.

But…

It has nothing to do with me. Why should I care?

"Please!!! Save me!!" Behan begged as he groveled at Schwein's feet. "I can't die like this!!! Please!!! I'd do anything!!!"

Behan cried and screamed. Schwein was thoroughly enjoying herself.

How foolish. Begging the wrong person and trusting the wrong person. Someone like him would only cause damage if given a sword. The rotting wound on my back was the perfect example.

But how much do I need to pull so he will die? I had been pulling the thread harder and harder for a while now. He did seem in much more pain every time I increased the strength but he was not dying.

I felt a chill.

I looked at my wound. The fabric over my slit wound was red with blood. Torn apart, it wasn't very effective in stopping the cold misty wind.

Ah, that must be it.

I yanked at the thread in my hand and broke it.

Behan dropped dead and the thread disappeared.

That was how it was done. To kill someone, you just don't need to pull the thread but pull with the intent to break it.

Beep.

['BEHAN: TRAITOR' HAS BEEN COLLECTED]

[SKILL: 'COLLECTOR OF NAMES' HAS LEVELED UP]

[SKILL: COLLECTOR OF NAMES LEVEL:2]

[FIRST USE OF THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN MADE]

[UNLOCKING STATUS WINDOW]

[NAME: KALTES HERZ VESPERTINE]

[AGE: 5]

[TRAIT: PSYCHOPATH (NEGATIVE)]

[TITLE: THE ONE WHOSE NAME IS 'COLD-HEART']

[SPEED: 10 (COMMON)]

[STRENGTH: 9 (WEAK)]

[INTELLIGENCE: 45 (RARE)]

[CHARM: 32 (RARE)]

[MANA: 764 MP (TRANSCENDANT)]

[POTENTIAL: ERROR]

[SKILL POINTS: 5 (CAN BE USED TO INCREASE STATS)]

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[NOTE: STATUS WINDOW REPRESENTS YOUR ABILITIES IN A NUMERICAL FORMAT FOR YOU TO REALIZE YOUR CAPABILITIES.]

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[FIRST USE OF PSYCHOPATH POINT SYSTEM HAS BEEN MADE]

[FIRST USE REWARDS WILL NOW BE ISSUED]

[REWARD 1: SKILL: 'WILL TAKER' HAS BEEN CREATED]

[SKILL: WILL TAKER]

[DESCRIPTION]

[YOU CAN TAKE THE WILL OF THOSE WHOM YOU HAVE KILLED.]

[USAGE PER DAY: ∞/∞]

[REWARD 2: SKILL: 'WORLD EYES (INCOMPLETE)' HAS BEEN CREATED]

[SKILL: WORLD EYES (INCOMPLETE)]

[MANA REQ: 10,000 MP]

[DESCRIPTION]

[WHEN IN PHYSICAL CONTACT, YOU CAN SEE A GLIMPSE OF A PERSON'S PAST.]

[USAGE PER DAY: ∞/∞]

[NOTE: THIS SKILL IS INCOMPLETE. UPON COMPLETION, PHYSICAL CONTACT IS NO LONGER A REQUIREMENT, AND MANA REQUIREMENT WILL BE GREATLY REDUCED.]

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[SKILLS]

[COLLECTOR OF NAMES (LEVEL:2)]

[WILL TAKER]

[WORLD EYES (INCOMPLETE)]

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[SKILL: 'WILL TAKER' HAS BEEN USED]

[BEHAN'S WILL HAS BEEN TAKEN]

['I WILL BECOME A KNIGHT!' HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE WILL LIBRARY]

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Beep

I stared at the bombardment of these messages that had suddenly appeared in front of me with that nauseous sound as soon as Behan died.

Apparently, I had made some progress.

The skill 'Collector of Names' has, what the system called, leveled up. And I gained two new skills because I'm the first one to use this system. Doesn't do much help with the 'negative' blinking quite aggressively in red color on the trait area.

The skill 'World Eyes' was quite easy to understand and the mana requirement seemed like a sarcastic joke alongside the infinite number of uses. However, the use and function of this skill was quite clear.

But 'Will Taker' was different. I have remotely no idea what its function could be. My only fear was that it was not some skill that forced me to complete dead folk's last wishes. As it had just collected Behan's will as 'I will become a knight'.

That would be quite troublesome and annoying.

But now given my situation, I didn't have the luxury of taking my time to test it out.

I appear to have five 'points' that I could add to any of the mentioned 'stats.' What I needed the most right now was 'Strength'. I have no idea where I am, so increasing speed and making a run for it will only take me so far.

And I have enough 'Intelligence', so adding more to it wouldn't do me any good at the present. And if 'Charm' could stop this lump of a woman from killing me, it would already have with how significantly high it was in the 'Status Window'. If anything, I think she would probably enjoy seeing my pretty face dying. Her hobbies are quite clear with how she treated Behan.

So only 'Strength' was a useful option. Enough strength so I won't yet die with poison and if that crazy hag tried to hit me.

I have one use of 'Collector of Names' left. If only I knew the meaning of her name. Should've taken this hobby quite seriously.

"Now, now," Schwein said as she looked in my direction. She was a bit confused, "How did this fellow die when you're still alive, brat?"

"A little trick I used," I said.

Making her believe I had a card up my sleeve could buy me some time.

I suddenly felt my head ring with a piercing beeping sound.

Beep!

[SYSTEM CAN NOT BE REVEALED]

[YOU DO NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY]

Beep!

"This little trick of yours seems to be taking a toll on you," Schwein said as I held my head to relieve the pain. "A one-time thing, it appears."

Just a little more time.

"Schwein," I said. "Behan isn't dead."

Schwein looked at me, bewildered. Then she immediately spun around fearing an attack from behind. But all there was the corpse of Behan, pale in Pallor Mortis.

But her spinning around was enough time for me to flip over to the other side of the carriage. I panted as I ran towards the misty woods with all the strength I had acquired.

"You cunning rat!!!" I heard Schwein yell behind me. "You think you can escape with these petty tricks!!!"

I could hear the large thumping sounds of her running after me.

Just a little more time, I just need a little more time.

I felt suddenly being lifted up from behind.

"Got you!!" Schwein yelled in my ear as she lifted me in the air. "Now you're dead!!!"

She pinched my back where I had my wound. It was a horrendous pain. But I didn't even have the energy to scream left. Schwein threw me at a tree and I hit my head.

What a monstrous woman. Warrior would've suited her more than being a mage.

I honestly couldn't face her anymore. One more hit and it would be over for me.

"Five… Four…" I counted. "Three…"

"What? Have you gone mad with the fear of death?" Schwein mocked.

"Two…"

Schwein rushed towards me in irritation.

"One."

Schwein dropped right then and there.

"What?" Schwein's voice had become weak. "What is happening? Why can't I move my body? What did you do, you bastard?!?"

I looked at her. What an absolutely foolish woman. Even housemaids have more sense than her.

"Hypovolemic Shock, loss of bodily function due to too much blood loss," I said. "It has been roughly an hour since your arm has been cut off."

I coughed up some blood. The poison was doing magnificent work. I took out a bottle from my pocket with some pills and ate one. Well, it's not the first time I've been poisoned, so I keep a regular antidote on me. Come to think of it, it must have been Behan who poisoned me each time.

"It's common sense to stop bleeding whenever there is a large wound," I said while looking at Schwein, unable to move barely keeping her eyes open. "You used a spell to counter the pain, but the blood kept flowing. Did you forget that Behan's sword had a bleeding poison on it? Well, you had a large body, so an ample amount of blood. It was quite annoying to wait for you to bleed enough."

I stood up and went to Schwein.

"I will not be killing you, Schwein," I said. She looked relieved. How foolish.

"That doesn't mean I'll be helping you either," I said. "In an hour or two, most of your organs will stop working and you'll enter coma. If not found, you'll probably either die due to starvation or become monster feed."

I picked out one pill from the bottle and put it near the tree against which Schwein had thrown me.

"Here," I said. "Save yourself if you can."

I left as I saw her trying to drag her lump of a body to that pill. Well, it would be quite a motivation for her to lose weight.

If she survives, I'd have a nice lab rat to test these new abilities on. If she didn't, well, it's none of my business.

I wasn't in a very bright condition either. The poison had spread a little too much in my wait.

I reached the carriage and slapped Licht awake.

"Ha!" he yelled as he awoke. "Don't kill me!!"

"The scroll," I said. "Activate the scroll."

"But… what about Schwein and… that servant…?" he muttered as he looked around.

'Should I just leave him behind?' I pondered with full seriousness.

'No, he is Ranke's friend's son. It'll be troublesome.'

"Just do it," I said getting into the carriage. "Schwein killed Behan. I led her into the woods and made her get lost. She might be back anytime, so hurry up."

Licht being a fool helped for the first time as he easily believed this story full of astronomical loopholes and hurried to activate the scroll.

As the light from the scroll emerged, I looked outside the window at Behan's dead body, which some wild animal had already started feeding on. Licht trembled at the sight. How weak.

As we disappeared from that forest, I felt my consciousness fly.

Ting.

[YOU HAVE ENTERED SLEEP]

[SKILL: 'WILL TAKER' HAS BEEN ACTIVATED]

[PLEASE CHOOSE A 'WILL' FROM THE WILL LIBRARY]

[OPTIONS]

[1. I WILL BECOME A KNIGHT!]

I stared at the blue message in the pitch-black space as it blinked in front of me.

The system changed that annoying sound of 'Beep' to a less annoying 'Ting'. Ah, it did say it would morph itself to my liking.

As I looked around myself, there was nothing but darkness.

The messages said I had entered sleep.

"Is this what they call Lucid Dreaming?" I said as I chose the only 'Will' in my 'Will Library'.

Ting.

[WILL HAS BEEN STARTED]

[I WILL BECOME A KNIGHT!]

[GIVING NECESSARY TASKS]

[RUNNING: 0/20 KM]

[PUSHUPS: 0/1000]

[SWING THE SWORD: 0/1000]

[TIME LIMIT: THIS SLEEP SESSION]

[PENALTY ON INCOMPLETION: PARALYSIS OF LOWER BODY DUE TO POISON]

[TIME UNTIL WILL COMPLETION: 5 YEARS]

I stared at those texts for some time. It was utterly annoying. But having checked the credibility of the 'system' myself, I was sure I would wake up paralyzed in my lower body if I didn't do what was mentioned.

With no wait, I started running into the abyss of darkness.

How troublesome.