Thunder echoing in the night

A bit late, but here it is.

At least I am posting the chapter on the day it was supposed to be released...

I hope you all enjoy it!

Peace!

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"I've finally left that hellhole…" Philip exclaimed as he looked at the open sky

I almost got lost because I entered the wrong teleportation gate... That was pretty embarrassing, I felt like a kid lost in the supermarket.

'After a long day fighting in the subterranean depths of the Academy, hunting creatures, seeking treasures, dealing with annoying teenagers, and finally, saving a brat, Philip made his way out of the complex maze of hallways with the sole purpose of resting.'

'Although, despite his rush for a way out, he did not forget about his priorities, such as exchanging the bodies of the monsters for credits, and sharing the rest with Viera, since because she left before him, their party had been automatically disbanded.'

'And Philip wouldn't run away with the money she worked so hard to make...'

"It's already night huh…" He said as he looked at the sky, seeing the 3 moons shining with all of their glory

"I've missed this fresh air…" He said with a smile as he stretched his arms

'He stood there letting the weak wind hit his skin for a good minute before he resumed his thoughts.'

"First, I need a bath."

I might be able to remove the blood of my fallen enemies from my body, but not the smell.

"After that…"

I could go to sleep, but now that I've left that damn place, I'm not as tired as before…

Even though I did all of that… My body is simply too strange sometimes.

'Philip shook his head and made his way back to his home, thinking about what to do.'

"Tomorrow..."

Tomorrow is supposedly the start of my training with Fabrin.

I've paid my debts with him by saving his daughter, although he himself said it wasn't a matter of paying anything, and that we were even from the beggining.

Although I feel a bit better to do something from my end.

There are also these credits I got from hunting, that guy told me I could exchange them for some good things, but I have no idea how and what to even grab…

I'll have to wait for tomorrow to go and ask him about this since right now, he should be busy with his work.

"Apart from that… I could visit a few libraries…"

I've been wanting to test something since I came back from the memories…

And what better time than right now when most students are relaxing?

'Philip smiled, and said:'

"As for those two girls… I hope they are fine."

I didn't find it, but I now have a connection to her.

Once things calm down more, I'll visit her again and see if I can find more about the object.

"Although I believe she will come to me on her own... Deeming her personality."

Even if just to thank me, she will come.

Until then… I'll train with Fabrin and study in these libraries.

"Although I have something to do here, I can't forget my secondary objective..."

Get stronger. It's all about the grind.

To fully master all of the abilities I currently have and develop more, and then, find a way to get a new Class.

But that is relatively far into the future as I can't even properly use what I already have...

/THUD!/

'Philip kicked a rock on the ground annoyed, he used a bit too much strength and the rock flew to a tree, making it tremble slightly as it lodged itself into its trunk.'

"Sigh."

…

/Around half an hour later…/

'After taking a shower and changing his clothes, Philip left his home and went to the nearest library to exact his plan, or better put, a little test.'

'He was previously considering whether or not to just hit the bed and sleep till morning, but after a plentiful meal and a hot bath his energy had returned to its peak.'

'The wonder of having an extreme body, he could go on for days without the need to sleep. And although his body may be fine, his mind isn't... He was a bit tired.'

'But his desire to proceed with his experiment kept him going, preventing him from sleeping...'

[Identity checked]

/Creak!/

'Philip checked his identity and the library opened its doors, welcoming him inside.'

'He did a quick search around the place but found no one, it was only him and his books, under the sound of a clock in the ceiling.'

"There is no one here… Good."

Since today is a special day that requires the attention of many teachers, and while the 5th-year students were fighting for riches underground, the other students were given a one-day holiday.

So I imagine everyone is either resting in their dorms or fooling around, few would study under such circumstances.

"I know I wouldn't, much less these kids."

Most of all, no student would come all of the way here in the middle of the forest to read books in this library, especially when there are so many better alternatives.

"Still... It makes me wonder why they built so many libraries in the first place… And decided to put some in such desolate places..."

ANYWAY!

Time to work.

Fingers crossed...

'Philip opened his inventory and took out something similar to a large rectangular black box 1.5M tall, 60Cm wide, and deep…'

'The box was extremely polished, so much so he could even see his reflection in it.'

"Cough!... Initiate system. Password: #Xx_404_69_Sword_JSAR_xX"

'Once he was done, Philip felt a bit embarrassed, it felt much funnier when he put this as the password before...'

I'll change it to something else later...

Before someone makes fun of me.

[Voice recognition pass. Keyword pass. Initiating all systems…] Said the black box in a male, mechanical tone

'Suddenly, two metal straps were released from one of its sides, allowing Philip to put the box on his back and use it as a… Backpack.'

'But of course, he didn't, he wasn't going to do field work.'

[All_Purpose Multi-Tool FJSS V3.2.c has initiated]

"It works!... Of course it works…"

I was afraid it may malfunction due to how sensitive some of the pieces within it are, and I was afraid they could've malfunctioned due to this world's unique environment.

But I may have been wrong. This thing was built to last and work in harsh environments so it was expected of it to work.

[Processing…]

[No internet connection]

"If you could connect with the internet I would literally cry..."

[Disclaimer, unknown interference frequency is compromising the accuracy of the environmental scan…]

"Ignore it for now."

Has it detected mana? Or some other form of energy signature?

Oh well, I can calibrate it over time to cope with these energies...

[Air quality: Suitable for Human life]

[Nitrogen concentration 68.21%

Oxygen concentration 28.23%

Argon…

...

Unknown element 0.02%

Unknown element 0.0031%

Unknown element...]

"What's that at the end?" Philip asked himself as he read

Unknown elements?

Interesting. But it's to be expected.

With such a weird world filled with exotic fauna and flora, unique materials are bound to be created and released into the said environment.

A few exotic gasses and metals are the least of my problems right now.

[Disclaimer, 342 unknown forms of microscopic life have been detected within the breathable air, recommended course of action...]

"Ignore that as well…"

[Disclaimer, Gravity is currently at around 1.4G]

"Yeah, that too…"

I never felt the change in gravity, but I have some recollections of the other summoned heroes complaining about it.

Oh well, I got simply too strong at the start to feel the change.

[Result of the calculations: You are currently not on Earth]

[Currently location not within the Database]

"No shit sherlock…"

'Philip let out an exaggerated sigh as he heard the mechanical voice of his machine.'

"So far so good, it has done everything I wanted it to do." He said with a proud smile

When I finished my last mission back in the memory, I was given the chance to bring with me 3 things.

One of them was the Muramasa sword.

The second one was the mechanical heart I stripped from Armstrong, which in the end, I fused it with the Muramasa sword to improve its overall qualities.

But there was one last spot that I didn't know how to fill since I didn't have anything that precious to bring with me.

"And I got pretty lost on what to bring..."

But I couldn't just leave without something special, and my first idea was to bring a Metal gear with me...

But I needed something that could operate for long periods of time without losing its overall effectiveness.

It had to be easy to repair, or at least have a very long lifetime of at least 2 or more years, since I can't see myself being able to repair anything like a mechanical arm in this place…

And within 2 years I would probably outgrow the need for such an item in the first place, or at least, settle myself in a way that repairs might be possible.

But most importantly, I didn't need a weapon because my body was my weapon.

What good will it make if I brought an offensive Metal gear with me?

Weaker and more useless than me, it would become obsolete once its energy or bullets ran out.

And unless I brought with me a Nuclear warhead, I can't see it as being useful...

So after a lot of researching, I came across this little guy.

"All_Purpose Multi-Too…"

Used by scout units to analyze terrain and by research teams for... Obviously research.

It can recharge itself with sunlight, but it even has something like a crank, allowing it to be recharged by converting mechanical force into electric energy.

It has an 3D printer to print new parts if necessary, but that is quite useless since I don't have the necessary material bags compatible with the printer…

If I put everything together, it's like a micro advanced lab…

"But this isn't the reason why I brought it with me…" He said with a devilish smile

"Activate scan mode!"

[Scanning mode activated]

'The backpack started to change, and a hole opened on the side where something similar to a dark controller was released into the open.'

'Philip grabbed the controller and stored the rest of the backpack in his inventory…'

[Connection with control center lost… Trying to reconnect…]

"No need."

[Understood, but such action will result in loss of efficiency and speed at analyzing the terrain, it's recommended to recover the control center as soon as possible] Replied the AI within the controller

"I am aware of that."

But I don't need you to analyze anything, only record, and sort.

'Without wasting anymore time, Philip went to the closest bookshelf and grabbed a book.'

/Click!/

'He pressed a button and a white light was released from the controller, illuminating the book faintly… And after a few seconds…'

[Scanning complete, displaying results]

[The object at hand seems to be a book, written in an unknown language via an archaic method with unknown materials]

[The composition of the book seems to be a mix of animal and plant origin, very similar to traditional books]

"Hum... A rather decent analysis!"

Better than I expected for a first-time try.

"This is indeed a book, did you manage to scan the information within it?"

[Displaying results…]

'The white light flashes once more, showing a small 3D hologram in front of Philip.'

'It was a perfect copy of this book, down to its last detail…'

'Using the controller, he could easily flip each page and easily read the contents of the book.'

'To make sure everything was correct, he opened the book and checked several pages, but all of them were 100% identical, even the more complex ones where magical runes and symbols were displayed and illustrated.'

"..."

'Upon looking at the overwhelming success of his operation, Philip couldn't hold it in anymore as a very twisted smile formed on his face as he said:'

"Open a new archive, name it, Library N.07."

[Archive created, what shall it be the contents of this library?]

"Information and knowledge scanned. From now on, compile every book following the order I scan them into individuals bookshelves."

[Understood, due to the lack of information in regards to this language, what shall be the name of this book?]

"Keep it as seen in the front of the book until you can translate yourself." He said as he read the front of the book

[Understood]

'With his twisted smile on his face, Philip took a few steps back and pointed the controller at the entire bookshelf…'

/Click!/

'The process of analyzing words was just that simple for this machine as within a few seconds, the entire bookshelf had been added to the archives of the machine…'

'It took a bit longer this time, but the change was only of about a few extra seconds.'

"Haha… Haha…"

'Philip had the urge to laugh loudly, but he kept his cool and continued to scan the library…'

"... Perfect..."

If I don't have time to read all of the books within this Academy, then I just need to bring them out with me!

Once I scan everything and let the AI process the information, I will have access to an entire library at the tip of my fingers…

I'll be able to read books whenever I want and slowly improve my capabilities without having to try my luck finding the right book every time.

Whenever I want, I can have the Ai search for the perfect book with the contents I need.

As they say, make your life easier, not harder.

"But…"

I am concerned about the Academy's reaction to this act of mine.

It is true students are free to use any means that fit them when they study, be it in the forms of special artifacts to aid in studying, potions, or copying a book to bring it back with them for later.

Since it is prohibited to bring the books out of the library unless you order a book for some time, but that costs a bit...

Under normal circumstances, I could say this is my artifact, but it's simply too good at its job!

There is a reason why a casino will tell you to leave once you've made too much money...

I am certain someone would've created something similar to this in this Academy's long history and considering I never heard of one, they were probably taken care of…

I could be overthinking of course, something I usually tend to do...

But until the Spirit of the Academy says otherwise, I'll keep copying it all.

Of course, I need to keep myself out of prying eyes else I may be punished by someone else… For whatever reason they seem fit.

"This place has a knack for people overstepping their authority or abusing it, so it's best to simply remain…"

'But Philip stopped, realizing his mistake:'

"That's big coming from me…"

Didn't I just cause chaos just an hour ago? Who I'm I to remain low profile…

"Although I was using a mask, I am sure they will come after me one day if they aren't already…"

I doubt they will remain silent.

'Philip shook his head, focusing on the task at hand.'

"Until someone stops me, I need to scan as many libraries as I can."

I'll start with the ones in the periphery and slowly get closer to the more dangerous area which is the central library.

If I could scan that as well…

I would be rich in both material and intellectual ways...

/CLICK!/

'Philip continued on his scan spree, smiling with glee as his archive of books grew thicker…'

…

/At the same time deep below the Academy…/

'Inside a heavily secure cave decorated with many banners, tables, tents, and even a few isolated pieces of carpet, a group of girls could be seen talking around a circular table…'

'All of them were very pretty, even the tomboyish girl with a scar in her chin had her own unique beauty.'

'They seemed to be in the middle of a pretty heavy topic as most of them were frowning... Not all though as some seemed to find this situation, amusing.'

"And this is what happened, Sister Din." Said a girl wearing a green dress towards a beautiful lady with long dark-blue hair

'However, this girl was different from the others, on a deeper note, most of these girls were actually different from each other, they were almost all from different races!'

'It wasn't difficult to see, but some of these girls had pointed ears, others had strange details such as whiskers growing near their cheeks, and even tails, while some even had more exotic details such as feathers…'

'Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Beast and Demi Humans… Together at the same table, and surprisingly enough, they all seemed to respect each other. A very rare sight in this place to be sure.'

"It seems that little plan came to an end faster than we thought… No matter." Said their leader with a bored expression

'With flowing blue hair that went almost all the way to the ground, including a pair of crystalline clear green eyes and pointy ears, she was a beautiful young woman…'

'But her massive sword near her chair and the heavy decorated armor she was wearing seemed to indicate that she wasn't just a pretty flower.'

'This flower had thorns... And they seemed painful.'

'She also had a strange symbol on her forehead, like a cross with an extra line in it…'

"What should we do now?" Asked a small girl with yellow hair tied into twin tails

'No, it wasn't a child, but a dwarf lady!... A dwarf child?'

"We'll continue with what we've been doing obviously, the Great Hunt is almost coming to an end after all." Said another one of the girls, a human girl whose face was hidden by a hood

'But the tomboy girl said in a serious tone:'

"What about the person who disrupted our operations?"

"Him?... Hum…" Said the leader

'She seemed to have gone into deep thought, and going completely against her domineering presence, she put her left index finger on her chin and said out loud:'

"I wonder what we should do?…"

'One of the girls, a girl with a smug smile and a pair of wolf ears on her head said:'

"I think there is no need to pursue him if the problem stems from those guys."

"Not only did they fail in doing their part, their stupidity was what caused the dissolution of the toll station in the first place."

"Sigh, as I've said before, this plan was unnecessary to begin with, and now many of the students have a grudge against us…" She said as she shrugged

"So I think this is a great opportunity... To push the blame to someone else!"

'The tomboy girl then replied:'

"In exchange for going into an alliance with those 2, they promised a part of the tool fees, and although we refused that, they gave us several territories as compensation for us to hold the line with them, don't you remember that?"

'The cat girl whistled, ignoring the tomboy…'

"#!"

She's annoying but she is right...

'This made the tomboy roll her eyes in annoyance and anger.'

"Everyone… If it's about going after someone, shouldn't we just keep it towards ourselves?" Asked a girl with a few strange feathers growing near her eyebrows

"There is no need to go after this man because we didn't lose anything with the dissolution of the toll pass, on the contrary, we only gained because of that."

"Since now those two groups have lost a considerable source of income while also becoming the current center of public hate."

"Although... I don't think it's suitable to complain and prosecute the other two groups for their ineptitude since that might backfire on us…"

"COME ON!"

"You're too passive! What you said is true, and it has convinced me, but as a group faction, we can't lose the opportunity to deal an extra blow to our competitors!" Said the tomboy girl in a loud tone

"Kick them while they are down!" Exclaimed the wolf girl

"..."

/Silence/

"It seems everyone is rather silent today…" Said their leader Din

"In this case, how about we ask for an outsider's opinion?"

"Hum?... Oh! That might work!" Said the wolf girl with a wide smile

'Dia turned around with a gentle smile and said:'

"Little Larin, why don't you come here and…"

"Didn't I tell you to not call me little?... Aunt Dinna?" Said a voice from within one of the tents within the cavern

'From within the tent, a beautiful young girl stepped out into the light…'

'Long dark hair, purple eyes and sharp ears… Signifying she was of elven royalty.'

'She also had a blue tiara on her head adorned with green crystals, and right below that on her forehead was a strange symbol similar albeit different from the one on Dinna's forehead, shining faintly on forehead.'

"Oh? And didn't I tell you to not call me Aunt?" Said Dinna

'The two remained there, staring at each other for a small while until they were stopped by one of the other girls.'

"So? May I inquire in which way you need my help?" Asked Larin

"Don't tell me you haven't been listening?"

"I told you I would not interfere with your matters aun... Older sister."

'Dinna smiled at her reply.'

"Here… Take a look at this man and tell me, how should we deal with him?" Asked Dinna playfully as she took out a rectangular piece of wood

'She shook it slightly, and the image of Philip was shown like a magic mirror…'

"?!"

'But against everyone's expectations, Larin suddenly took the piece of wood out of Dinna's hands without a single shred of decency.'

"..."

This man... It's him!

"Do you know him?" Dinna asked with a curious expression

"... Yes."

"You do? This makes things simpler. Could you tell us more about him?" She asked with a very curious expression

"No."

"Why not?!" Dinna asked with a frown

"Because…"

"Because he is a very important guest of her majesty." Replied a male voice from within the very same tent Larin came from

'It was a tall Elf with a sword on his waist, the sword's hilt had a symbol that was very much like the one on Larin's forehead.'

'His body was muscular, but not overly so. He had a thin brown beard and his hair was neatly cut, being rather short for an Elf.'

"Jiu…" Larin said in a low tone

'Jiu nodded, understanding her meaning.'

"I am very sorry Madam Dinna, but could you please ignore him for now?"

'Dinna was shocked that even this man had spoken in favor of him, making her even more curious about who he was.'

"It's okay Jiu…"

'But the moment she shut her mouth, Jiu and Larin heard something on their minds:'

{I hope to hear more about this once the Great Hunt ends}

'Once she said that, Larin let out a small sigh and went back to her tent while Jiu bowed slightly and went after her, leaving the girls behind to discuss their strategies and other issues…'

…

"It's him, Jim!" Larin said in a rather excited tone

"Yes it's him, but princess…"

It seems Fate has played a rather interesting trick on us...

'Jim looked at her with a deep expression.'

"I know! But he said it himself that he would drink tea with me by the next time we meet…"

"So this time... I want to properly thank him."

'Jiu looked at the elven girl with a conflicted tone as she ran back to her bed, letting out a sigh as he knew this was far from over…'

"..."

I also wanted to meet him, as my life debt has yet to be repaid.

But I have to question myself...

If he left without telling us his name, did he want to be found in the first place?

I only hope he isn't offended by her rash actions...

…

/At the same time, far away, in the South of the continent.../

'In a magnificent city that shimmered even in the night, a young man with black hair could be seen sitting on the roof of an extremely extravagant palace, gazing into the moons almost covered by the foggy sky with pensive eyes.'

'His hair and eyes were as dark as the sky, and his mood seemed... Melancholic.'

'Why would a young man have such depressed eyes?'

"..."

It's still the same, no matter how many times I look at it.

This beauty, shining its light into this dark world... Mocking it for not being as pure as it.

"And this city..."

It hasn't changed in the slightest... Perhaps it's a bit bigger than before. But it still stinks the same...

The people, smiling and cheerfully, unaware of the fact they are nothing but cattle for these Nobles.

Under a false idea of being safe under these massive walls, they have yet to understand that they aren't being protected from what's outside, but being kept from leaving.

"Such an unfortunate thing..."

'The young man raised his hand, and a small blue spark was created, but the young man only smiled helplessly at it.'

"So this is what I ended up as? The legacy I left behind and inherited once more... Everything I stood against... Can there be any bigger mockery than this?"

How much have they defamed me?

How much more will they have to kick me down for them to be satisfied?

This accursed royalty built on the shoulders of backstabbers...

"Sigh..."

It seems that not only were my abilities downgraded, but even my will has taken its toll under the weight of time.

'The young man got on his knees and watched at the foot of the palace, where he could see many young people enjoying a small party for themselves...'

"Heroes... What a joke."

People dragged out of their normal life and into a strange mysterious world...

"I used to hate them, resent them for having everything laid out for them, for having immeasurable talent without effort while others sweat blood under intense training..."

But now, I'm one of them...

I grew up as a normal man in a not-so-normal world, and now...

"I am one of them."

It's under these circumstances that I can understand I may have misunderstood most of them.

These memories in my head... Before I left this place and until I came back...

These 17 years of life... The life of Oliver Fall... Thanks to them I can now understand.

"Time has passed, but nothing has changed, this city, this world, these people..."

Even I have changed, now under a new name, I am Oliver, no one else.

"But what should I do from now on?"

There is no one waiting for me...

No one to see...

No one to take revenge on...

'Oliver raised his head to stare at the moons.'

"Time has washed away my sorrows as there is nothing left of my old self in this world."

"But I am not alone."

My family is waiting for me, my friends are here...

It's time to move on...

"Um... Something is wrong..."

/THUNDER!/

'The foggy sky suddenly rumbled, and a lightning bolt flashed in the sky.'

"Perhaps this is the will of fate."

Indeed, my previous statements are wrong.

'Between all of the fingers of his hands, small sparks of lighting formed and jumped, dancing in his palms.'

"I am very proof of my own existence."

I keep talking as if everything was gone, but I ended up forgetting about what I am now.

"A hero... Someone with a 'fate'... An ending... Is also a beginning."

I wonder what it has in offer for me?

My achievements in the past allowed me to be here in the future. This isn't a new life from zero per see, but a rebirth.

'For the first time, the young man smiled.'

"How far will I go this time?"

Can I live a life without regrets?

'He continued to stare at the moon, thinking about the meaning of his life.'

...

/Back at the Academy.../

"Muwahahaha!"

'Deep in the night within a library, a man laughed out loud...'

...

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Notes

The end was more of a joke than an actual thing...

This chapter had a lot of things going on for it, from the showcase of his 3 objects of choice to the showcase of Oliver, the person who (possibly) reincarnated.

I wrote these last 1K words now at night, so they may be wrong in regards to the story progression, so be warned that I may come back to fix them.

What did you think?

Are you disappointed Philip didn't bring a giant metal gear with him? Or do you perhaps feel underwhelmed by his choice?

I want to hear your opinions!

Although I'll only reply tomorrow... I need to sleep.

Adios!