.
.
.
The recollection playing in my head came to an end. I was back in the same office in front of Donte.
Donte hadn't moved an inch from where he was earlier, I was also standing in the same spot as earlier.
Has no time passed?
What was that weird dream I had? It felt as if that were my memories. It felt genuine...
Wait this must be the trait [Faker!]!
I'll use this to my advantage! Donte still had that same dark expression on his face, I was clueless about why he had it.
"You must know why I wanted to enter the Family's vault." I didn't hesitate to speak this time.
"I wanted to search for my..."
I began to think of that daydream I just had.
That's it, it was Dorian's mother! My mother.
"I wanted to search for my mother's necklace..." An unexpected surge of despair struck me. My excitement had abruptly ceased.
Why was that?
"I understand very much that you have lost that necklace." Donte began to despair, his tone was quiet.
"That is what you had told me, and that is why I let you enter that vault. As compensation..."
Okay?
"Um... Yeah-" I tried to understand his words. So Dorian had lost his mother's necklace, so he searched in the vault for it? What kind of-
"But still where is that soul necklace?" Donte kept the same tone as before.
Dang it!
We were back at square one, this man still didn't believe that I didn't have the soul necklace. We've gotten nowhere in this conversation, and the longer this goes the more likely I will be caught.
Think more...
What was Joseph and Donte talking about before I entered the room?
"Father, you know the necklace I lost, Joseph told you about how it went missing right?" I started to pry into their earlier convo.
"Yes?" He just said yes...
I put a smile on my face, I got no information. That was probably a dumb question.
The conversation from Joseph and Donte's discussion earlier began to play in my brain.
...
"Master, the youngest seems to look a little confused, I believe that this person could not be him." He was warning Donte.
"Hmm..." His brows rose and began to move. His eyes began to stare at the door.
"Believe me or not, but he doesn't seem to have any artifact on him, I checked his pockets moments before he entered the mansion.
...
The scene started to blur into reality again.
How did he do that?
Joseph searched my pockets but didn't find it in my back pocket.
This must be my [Faker!] trait, if only the conversation went on a little longer.
"I was a little confused because I've never touched such a precious necklace."
"I've never knew you could trust me so little Father."
"Because you-!" He started to raise his voice again.
"Because I have the golden necklace in my pockets already." I was bluffing.
Donte went quiet and his angry face went sour again.
"The golden necklace with the emerald was made by you and Mother right?"
"Yes." Donte looked like he was going to cry.
"It broke the day before I requested to enter the vault. I wanted to take the artifact that could rewind an object's state."
"You mean that!" Donte's eyes widen, he didn't expect me to take my second brother's artifact.
"Of course, I gave it back to my second brother, how could I possibly take it from him? He felt bad for me so he let me take the artifact from the family's vault." It was already gone because Dorian's second brother, Dargion Andras, had already taken it without Donte realizing it.
"Then what happened to the soul necklace?" Donte began to trust me.
"Of course, you remember that Eldest Brother took it right?" Donte looked at me confused.
"No... He never took-"
"Clearly you remember!" I instilled the thought into him, "Because he went off to the border to fight God's deity. He told me to tell you."
There was no such text in [Give Up? Never!] where Dorian and the eldest son of the Andras family, Grandus, talked. I'm trying to think of a reason.
"Nonsense. Grandus would never talk to you, Dorian." Donte became suspicious again.
"That's exactly why he told me to tell you..." What could he have possibly needed to tell me that only Dorian could do?
"Grandus knew I was already going to the vault, so he warned me that the Shaping Will was gone."
Grandus had succession to the vault because he was going to take the family over if he completed his subjugation of God's deity.
That was the sole piece of information I knew about in [Give Up? Never!], yet I believe he failed and was slain. I can't recall.
I have no line of succession towards this family anyway, not that I need it, so that's exactly why he would tell me.
Probably
"His message to me was only short, but Grandus was the person who broke the necklace in the first place," I spoke a simple falsehood, and my heart began to race once more.
I didn't feel great saying all this, my mental exhaustion from using [Faker!] to think of these acts made me weary.
Sounds emerged from his mouth as it opened. I hope he spoke from a place of belief.
"Dorian..." He sounded too casual, but his facial expression told a different story, my stomach began to turn and swirl.
What if he doesn't believe me?
What was the point of all this bluffing?
Why am I even doing all of this?
What was the point of talking with him?
Please...
"You may leave for now." The cold gaze on his face was still there. His eyes pierced my eyes.
Why?
I could only accept his remarks after feeding him so many false lies.
Was this [Faker!]'s doing that made him believe me? I was confused...
I thought that standing in Donte's office would most likely make me get caught, so I just quickly opened the door and completely shut it on the way out.
I pulled on the necklace from my back pocket and just stared at it.
"I'll make sure to use this damn necklace for the better," I muttered to myself and then realized that other people might be around so I quickly walked away from the office and put the necklace back in my right pocket.
Ding!
----
[Quest Cleared!]
[Rewards For Clearing This Quest!]:
| - +1000 SP! (Soul Points) |
----
Only the blue window appeared in front of me, its text was displayed in front of my eyes.
What do I do with all these Soul Points now that I have them?
1000 soul points was for sure a lot, so maybe I should invest them when I get back to Dorian's room.
I began to wander across the passageway for seemingly hours, but the sun outside the windows didn't seem to fall. It kept hitting me with a source of uneasiness as I felt completely lost.
I could remember what the double door that led back to Dorian's room looked like, but I couldn't find the place in this maze.
The mansion's hallway was too long to continue walking. My body began to increasingly become heavier.
Damn if only Joseph was here to help guide me again.
Where did he go after leaving me and Donte alone?
I've been walking for a while, but I couldn't find where I came from. So I sat down against the corridor's wall to finally look at my system.
But heavy body started to rejuvenate, so in the meantime;
Status Open
The red window appeared next to the already open blue window.
----
| [Shop] - SP |
| [Shop] - VP |
----
I needed to invest my newly earned Soul Points I've gotten from the somehow cleared quest.
----
| [Shop] - SP |
|Mental Soul Power: 00022/100000 [+/-]|
|Physical Soul Power: 0000110/100000 [+/-]|
|Soul Points (SP) Remaining: 1000|
----
Considering I had already invested a lot into 'Physical Soul Power' I should try to invest half of them into the 'Mental Soul Power'. But what did the Mental Soul Power even do?
Physical Soul Power increased my body's physical strength a little. Did Mental Soul Power make me stronger or something?
Without a worry, I clicked the [+] on Mental Soul Power.
The numbers started to rise from 22->522
I didn't feel any difference as the numbers began to rise. Maybe it contributes to the strength of my soul weapon?
I realized I hadn't manifested a soul weapon yet...
It's been chaos ever since I've transmigrated into Dorian, seriously. I didn't realize how old Dorian is, or how Dorian even looks. What if he looked like a commoner right now?
There were no mirrors to see Dorian's face, maybe I'd wander into the next door I see.
Anyway, with this stat window, I think I look fine for now;
----
| [Shop] - SP |
|Mental Soul Power: 00522/100000 [+/-]|
|Physical Soul Power: 0000110/100000 [+/-]|
|Soul Points (SP) Remaining: 500|
----
I would've liked it if I got more VP to upgrade [Faker!] or buy a new trait but I guess it's okay for now.
Why not invest the remaining Soul Points in Physical Power?
[Phyiscal Soul Power: 110->610]
I felt less tired than when I was at Donte's office, and my body felt lighter.
----
| [Shop] - SP |
|Mental Soul Power: 00522/100000 [+/-]|
|Physical Soul Power: 0000610/100000 [+/-]|
|Soul Points (SP) Remaining: 0|
----
Ding!
The blue window changed again.
----
[Achievement!] 500 Soul Power in Both Mental & Physical |
| - [Reward]: Gain the ability to form a soul weapon |
----
Was it that simple? I was surprised at how easy it was; maybe the reward was worthwhile. I could now form a soul weapon?
How do I form a soul weapon?
I've read about it in Allan's story, he was in the desperate act of fighting one of God's demons, but right now I am not.
I'm just sitting on a red carpet in a corridor. That's kind of sad, to be honest.
What did Allan feel when he was forming a soul weapon? He felt desperate, a need for a weapon to protect himself...
I began to think of a weapon I desperately needed. I put my hand forward and began to close my eyes.
A weapon that can be compared to Dorian.
Something that I can protect myself with.
I could feel heat gathering at the tips of my hands, I started to concentrate harder.
Something that can make me stand out above the rest
A weapon that can rival Allan's.
Perhaps I was looking for a scythe weapon like Allan's, which would be quite awesome. The handle was forming in my hands.
I haven't opened my eyes yet. I could feel it was light yet firm, and the firmer I grabbed it, the more force the handle pushed back.
This was it!
I opened my eyes to see my soul weapon, it had fully formed.
It was...!
A fucking steel pole...