Soul of Blades - Chapter 49: Missing Time (Patreon)

Authors note: Update to chapter 48 - Alex acquired (stole) some relics.

“Alex felt that he had chosen well. Very well. Alongside various blades with increased sharpness and durability enchantments, Alex had secured four items and placed them in his inventory, with no plans to take them out or even have them appraised. A pair of gloves, a cloak, an aged wooden stake, and a grimoire. He had no idea what they did, but they were filled with more mana than any other item he had seen, save for the blue crystal sword.

They were most likely the greatest of lost heirlooms, and as long as they were in his possession, they would remain lost. At least until he was certain he could defend himself against the supposed power of the great families.

Those items were nestled safely in his inventory, untouched.”

Chapter 49: Missing Time

Alex wondered if gods were real, singular or plural, he couldn't be sure. He believed in the possibility of a god, sure. But his second life had challenged the very notion of deity in ways he had yet to digest.

Alex huffed, idly running his hands through gold coins in frustration.

He had studied many religions throughout his youth, delving deep into practically all of them. His pilgrimage had required a very strange and specific mind state; he found himself having to completely abandon the very idea of making decisions, creating a mental sub-process that made decisions for him, regardless of how he felt or thought. During that time he'd regularly exercised the ability to split and partition his mind, always choosing the option that matched whatever frame of reference he used as a checksum, even if and when the entirety of his being believed the opposite was true. 

How he felt hadn’t mattered, and what he believed had mattered even less. 

Exploring every religion taught Alex a surprising lesson: Sometimes, your beliefs couldn't be trusted. He found that logic, too, was a double-edged sword— with the right amount of confirmation bias, it could be used to justify anything, from the present belief in a flat earth to conspiracies of lizard people ruling Earth.

But then again, there was nothing that totally disproved the idea that lizard people were ruling the planet either. Alex smiled at the ludicrous nature of his thoughts. 

It was ironically leaps of faith that guided him when sailing through storms of uncertainty, and bungee jumps with nothing but impartial objectivity as his tether. And with that handshake, his latest mental leap of faith was telling him one thing despite all evidence to the contrary;

There was something really strange about Fred.

Alex found himself standing in Grenthar’s smithy, by the forge and in the middle of shaking Fred's hand. He didn't quite remember how the handshake had started, only that it had a middle and would soon have an end. Something about the guy just didn't sit right with him, causing an undercurrent of warning every time their paths crossed. Alex couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but the back of his mind buzzed in warning whenever he looked at, or spoke to the man. It was as if his enhanced mental stats buzzed in alarm, as if the man's very presence disturbed Alex’s high intelligence in a way he hadn't known was possible. 

Alex released Fred’s hand and stepped back to sort and pile the arrayed treasure.

He thought back to the entrance of John's friend, Fred, who introduced himself as the town's only cobbler. Fred had entered in a mild and unassuming manner, disrupting the entirety of his day's plans to deliver a message to Alex. The message was a pretty important one; it told Alex that both Lyra’s adventuring team and the town's Baron were looking for him. And somehow amidst the conversation they had ended up shaking hands. Alex presumed he had shook Fred’s hand idly, a subconscious act. but try as he might, he just couldn't remember how the handshake started. Am I missing time?—

The room erupted in laughter, tearing Alex away from a very delicately held stream of thought as John told a joke about shoes. The thought fell to pieces like a dandelion in the wind, scattered and never to be recovered. John's jest was pretty terrible and hardly made sense,  But his joke still somehow caused Alex to chuckle. That guy was a hoot.

Alex’s gaze swept from Gren the smith, who was busy wiping tears of laughter from his eyes to better study a jeweled crown— beginning to hyperventilate with intensity as he took in its details, to Fred, who stood in discussion with John and Mira. The cobbler was short, even by earth standards. Far shorter than Alex, and stocky but in a stumpy sort of way, like a tree-trunk but somehow compact and mobile. 

Fred had just sort of turned up in the Smithy at some point over the last few minutes, but nobody really remembered how he entered, just that he was among them. They must have missed it, swept up in their He just sort of appeared, as in one moment he wasn't there and in the next moment he was. That is pretty strange, isn't it? Alex felt a nagging persistent sense of wrongness at the thought, but the thought faded as quickly as it came, stripped from Alex like velcro, leaving imprints in the wake of its removal. 

And within those soft imprints, an inexplicable discomfort lingered in Alex's mind, challenging this perception. Wondering if hyper-wary distrust had taken hold or if Fred's ordinary facade masked something more, Alex found himself torn.

Alex found himself studying the town cobbler as the man mildly gave Mira’s Greaves and metallic soles a complimentary servicing before moving on to Johns. Fred was dressed in a simple white tunic and leather bottoms and boots. He seemed pretty unremarkable after everything Alex had seen in this world, and he would probably have been considered so on earth too. Like the kind of guy you would expect to deliver your mail, or do your taxes, or clean your shoes. All in all, Fred seemed like a pretty regular guy.

But that isn't right, is it? Alex scratched his chin as he continued to study the man. Fred was average, normal, and unremarkable. That was the conclusion Alex found himself constantly coming to. 

It seemed right, and appeared so. But it didn't feel right.

Something felt severely wrong. His brain churned in vertigo the longer he rebelled against the thought. The longer he studied Fred. Am I being paranoid? Alex wondered, Is he messing with my mind, somehow? Is it a passive? Or am I just being super irrational and extremely suspicious?

Alex decided to assess his situation objectively to boil it down to two possible outcomes. Then he would have to simply decide between the lesser of two evils; Either he was being extremely irrational and taking his random dislike for a seemingly nice guy way too far and way too seriously, or he couldn't trust his own thoughts and he was experiencing a very valid and sudden urge of rational paranoia, all geared towards and incited by the most boring man in town. 

And if the unlikely latter option was true, he couldn't trust his own thoughts. But he could trust objectivity in its place. 

So… this is a world where pretty much anything and everything is possible. I have enhanced senses and stats, and the intelligence stat is related to the mind as well as currently being my highest stat. And my mind feels weird whenever I interact with Fred, who feels like a very normal, quite possibly boring man. I can even sense his boring heartbeat, slow, and well paced. How does a person manage to have a boring heartbeat?!  Alex buried his head in his hand in deliberation.

So, crazy magic world—check. Mind related stat causing nausea around one specific person—check. Unbelievably boring whatsisface’ clearly acting as the catalyst— check.

Alex shook his head and chuckled at the absurdity of his thoughts, he felt like a person suspecting their grandmother of being a hired assassin. It was ludicrous. Every fiber of his being told him that Fred was normal, only exceptional in his ability to  behave exactly like everyone else. Alex had no evidence besides his reasoning and what essentially boiled down to what he'd heard the kids back on earth refer to as ‘Vibes’. 

But it feels weird, it's probably because it's weird as all hell, Alex huffed in conclusion. 

Fred’s hiding something.

Despite the man's apparent normalcy and mild mannered, almost harmless nature. There was definitely something weird about the short and stocky town cobbler. Alex decided to go against his every instinct but one; the very idea that Fred was anything but normal caused his mind to blur and his thoughts to drift.

Fred’s arrival always had a way of subtly shifting the atmosphere for Alex, though it seemed to glide past everyone else unnoticed. Their handshake was one of those moments Alex found himself puzzling over — initiated without memory, concluded with a lingering unease.

"Strange, isn't it? How news finds its way," Fred mused, breaking into Alex's thoughts with his message that turned Alex’s day on its head — a search party led by Lyra’s team and the town's Baron, seeking Alex for aid in an ‘Incursion Dungeon going critical’… whatever that means, the phrase sounded familiar, but he hadn’t consumed enough pupular media to recall exactly what it meant. I should’ve spent less time training and more time watching movies, then this world would be a breeze, he huffed internally. 

“Err… yes, Fred. News is pretty strange I guess.” Pondering over Fred’s plainness, Alex battled with the potential meaning of a dungeon ‘going critical’. To incur means to invade, right? So maybe it means a dungeon is going to invade the town? Or the world? Eight dungeon stages the size of the first island I woke up on, invading this tiny town. Hmm… that’s… actually pretty bad. Alex’s eyes widened in realisation.

“Where’s Lyra and her team now?” Alex asked with a sense of increasing urgency. Fred simply nodded in understanding. “They're on their way, I sent a message the moment I entered.” He held up a thin piece of parchment inscribed with glowing fractals, as if that would explain everything. Instantly, Alex assumed it was some kind of messaging device and decided to play along rather than betray his ignorance of what Fred’s demeanor implied was common knowledge. “I see,” he said. “Thanks. Tell her to hurry.”

Alex figured he'd get the full picture from Lyra, and a politically altered version of events from the baron. If he had his way, he wouldn't bother meeting the baron at all. Who would want to waste their time with politicking when you could just gain money and power instead?

Fred pushed his chair back, the sound briefly filling the space. "I'm heading out," he said. "Good to meet you, Alex, Mira. See you, John, Gren. I'll pass the message to Lyra."

"Just Lyra, please. Skip the Baron," Alex stated, his focus on Fred.

"Sure, I can do that. Take care," Fred replied, nodding. He straightened, turned and walked towards the exit. lifting his hand in a wave. his warm smile reached his eyes as he turned towards the door.

John, alongside Mira, voiced their goodbyes, their chorus of well-wishes filling the smithy. Gren, chuckling, offered Fred a casual salute. Alex was silent and responded with a subtle nod, eyes following Fred’s fading form until the door shut behind him.

Alex scratched at the rising hairs in the back of his neck. That guy gave him the Heebie jeebies.

***

[Quest: ‘Sapient Saviour’ Completed! - You have been graded as the highest contributor!]

[Error- Reward ‘Insight of the Imperial’ detected. Reward removed]

[All living humans evacuated. Highest possible achievement gained.]

[Adjusting rewards]

[Reward: E-Grade Class Skill Crystal x1 has been placed in your inventory!]

[Reward: E-Grade Skill Crystal x1 has been placed in your inventory!]

[Reward: E- grade weaponry - ‘Lomion’s FlameBlade, has been placed in your inventory!]

That was the notification Alex saw shortly after Fred left the smithy. Both he and John were stood stock still, staring into the empty spaces before them at messages only they could see, each with heartbeats that increased with each detail of reward they absorbed.

The instant Alex felt the items land in his inventory, he summoned them before him, with a crystal landing in each palm and blade clattering softly at his feet.

One crystal of blue, softly swirling brightness, and one slightly larger crystal, gold in colour. It was the purest gold Alex had ever seen, and yet somehow clear and transparent. Even the mana within was gold, a color so striking it seeped out of the bounds of the item, bleeding into the world around it. It made him question whether he had ever truly seen the colour before.

All else faded away as Alex tapped into the crystal

[Please make selection]

He willed his acceptance, and another notification appeared.

[System Message: Choose one of 2 Skills]

[F-grade Skill 1: Immortal Mamluk (Passive): The Sovereign systemically conquers all, and rules all. the soul of your greatest foe will be pulled from the wheel of samsara and shackled to yours, its spirit forever bound to reside within your shadow. It will become your personal assassin, acting as an immediate layer of defense during the day, able to absorb damage in your place,  while being able to be summoned completely into the world at night, or in the sun's absence. This assassin, armed with duplicates of weapons held at death, will fight for a limited duration, its skill and strength reflecting the user’s mastery level. Peak mastery allows for the summoning of an elite assassin of the same soul, armed with peak statistics to further enhance combat effectiveness.

[F-grade Skill 2: Assimilate Nexus (Active): To the true sovereign, laws, rules, and boundaries are merely suggestions, easily broken. Grants the user the ability to subvert the system's skill granting processes to corrupt skill crystals and assimilate them to your class, changing their nature and how they function, and increasing their capabilities through assimilation. All altered skills will be twisted to relate to your class; designated “systemic sword sovereign.” All skill crystals of the same grade or lower may be affected. Can be utilized during the skill selection process. Peak mastery and understanding will increase the skill’s grade, leading to the assimilation of higher grade skills.] 

Drifting in a familiar black expanse, Alex considered his options