When Rey woke up, he quickly used the Map function that he learned follows him since he's bound to the keep, and rushed to the nearest restroom. He hadn't used the restroom in over a day, and he was nearly ready to burst. After that and taking a shower, Rey spent a good part of the day learning his way around his new Palace before settling in the Master Suite, which is now his by right.
The Master Suite wasn't just a simple floor of the palace, but his entirely own tower that was located at the center of the roof, but can be accessed from inside the keep by pressing his hand along an Inscription by his staircase. The Master's Suite had many floors full of different rooms. A lab room, his own library, a personal training room, etc. It was his bedroom that covered the top two floors with an amazing view that he was currently at.
Sitting on his new new desk that had a beautiful view overlooking the repaired courtyard and the city, several blank scrolls were rolled out in front of Rey at the moment. With the knowledge from the Inheritance Scroll, Rey had to work to sort out that knowledge properly within his brain, and he still had to study it to become proficient at it. It was much like having a full textbook in his head, but still having to search for the answer he wanted.
Currently, Rey was prioritizing 3 things for now, Inscription, Rock Bullet, and Mana Wall. Inscription was an obvious as it would become one of the most powerful weapons in his arsenal. He chose to learn Rock Bullet as his first offensive spell as he learned something wonderful about magic in this world. People weren't necessarily locked to using certain elements. Yes, people had Compatibility when it came to an element, but if one was diligent and talented enough, they could learn all of the elements.
Thanks to Jinbe being bound to Rey, he could tell the elements Rey is mostly compatible with are Earth, Water, Poison, Darkness, and Lightning. This apparently baffled Jinbe as most people only have 1 or 2 elements they're strongly compatible with, while Rey had 5. Jinbe even said that he sensed even more elements that he should be able to use easily, but it turns out the element he's weakest to are Light and Holy, so much so that spells with those elements can even do more damage to him than others.
This fact worried Rey as he thought of the Prophecy claiming him to be some sort of, Dark Master. This were starting to definitely line up with him not being the Hero, but definitely a Villain if this was a story. Still, Rey shock off those troublesome thoughts and refocused on studying.
Rey had no interest in becoming some Hero anyway, as that sounded way to troublesome. But, if he ended up branded a Villain, he didn't mind taking out whoever got in his way of living a fun, carefree life. He lost all of his naive thoughts about killing someone the moment he nearly got killed from the Necromancer.
As he was studying, a loud growl sounded out in the room. Rey was confused on where it was coming from until he realized it was his stomach. He hadn't eaten anything in over two days, and he was starving. As he explored the Keep a little, Rey learned with not too much surprise that the food that was being stored inside of the huge kitchen was spoiled and nearly fossilized.
'Jinbe, as much as I want to keep studying, I might die from hunger before I learn something.' Rey said as he leaned back in his plush ebony wood chair.
'Hmm, I've been wondering this for a while now, but why haven't you checked that Space Ring on your finger yet? If I'm remembering it correctly, you got it by scavenging in that war, right? That soldier might've placed some provisions or other valuables in there. Plus, by the materials alone, it looks high-end, so it likely has a lot of storage space as well. You wouldn't have to keep carrying you staff and knapsack like a Commoner.' Jinbe said in an inquisitive tone, but Rey couldn't help feeling that was a sly dig at him.
'I'm not sure, honestly. So much shit has happened all at once since I came to this damn world, I haven't had the time to sort everything out. But, you make a good point. I assume like most things I just need to connect my Mana with it?' Rey asked, getting an affirmative from Jinbe.
Channeling his mana into the Space Ring, Rey's eyes shot open, as not only was there a transparent Inventory screen that popped up in front of him, his consciousness was connected with the Space Ring itself, and he instinctually knew how to work it and what it contained. It was like sprouting a new limb and knowing right away how to use it.
Like Jinbe said, the Space Ring was vast, as there were a great many items inside of there and Rey could feel that it wasn't even remotely close to being filled. He found loads of random things like coins, spare outfits, Tomes, Manuals, Gems, and the things that Rey needed the most at the moment, food and drinks. The person who owned this ring must've been insanely rich, as Rey made a small fortune just with the amount of coins the ring had. There were barrels full of water and expensive wine, as well as many platters of still hot food that baffled Rey to no end.
'Space Rings, especially ones of high quality like the one you have, are incredibly useful, as they can not only hold a great many things, it can keep them in the same condition you stored them forever. As long as it isn't a living thing or ridiculously large, you can store it within that Space Ring. On top of that, they're Thief-proof as well. Just the fact that you were able to even wear it, let alone access it was already an impossibility, but I've come to learn that impossibilities may be a common thing once you're involved.' Jinbe said in a mirthful tone.
Unable to ignore his hunger anymore more, Rey took out a few of the platters and one of the barrels that so happened to contain honey mead, and tore through the meals. By the end, nearly half of the barrel was empty and several platters were stacked on top of each other on the side of the desk. Rubbing his full belly and fighting of the Itis that was threatening to set in, Rey was still amazed by how much food he was able to eat in this world. He felt like the gluttonous main characters from 'Dragon Cube X', or, 'Two-Piece'.
With his hunger now solved, Rey refocused on studying. Days sped by before Rey had a definite grasp on his new subjects. Standing in his personal training room, wearing his black and green outfit that he got from Perry's General Store that day, Rey stood facing a wooden, Runed training dummy, fully focused as he channeled his mana.
"Rock Bullet." Rey said calmly, as he learned that it was best if he didn't shout every spell like an asshole.
In fact, if he whispered it, that meant less chance of his enemy knowing what was coming and potentially dodging his attack.
As his mana stirred, a sharp, jagged rock the size of a small fist formed before Rey's hand. Making a 'finger pistol' out of his hand, Rey aimed at the training dummy before he "fired", the Rock Bullet shooting out at blinding speed before another quickly formed and took it's place. Rey learned that if he kept feeding mana into the spell, Rock Bullet will keep forming.
As the Rock Bullet soared through the air and was about to hit the training dummy, the dummy suddenly jerked to the side, dodging the spell, before it began dashing at Rey with impossible speed.
"Tsk, damn agile dummy!" Rey cursed as he ran forward to meet the dummy, not once did he stop firing oof his bullets.
As the two were about to clash, the dummy gained a sudden boost of speed that surprised Rey, who was barely able to block the kick at his side with his arm. Sliding back a few feet, Rey kept the momentum and did a backflip as the dummy's foot smashed through the ground where he would've been. Seeing the dummy had it's foot stuck, Rey didn't let this chance slip by as he ran forward and pelted the dummy with a few bullets.
As the dummy raised it's arms to block the bullets that blasted small holes in it's wooden body, it was unable to block the kick that Rey sent to it's kneecap before he spun on his hands and delivered a powerful double kick to it's head and it's now uncovered chest. A resounding crack let out as the dummy's leg that was kicked, snapped apart, and it's body flew back before smacking against the wall. The Inscriptions that covered the room lit up as room and dummy began healing itself, while a transparent screen appeared in front of Rey.
"Congratulations on defeating the Peak-Novice setting!" read the notification that Rey was now familiar with. He had been training diligently in this room for over a week.
'You did very well, Young One, especially considering that Peak-Novice is still one level above you. I believe that you're ready to start using the Training Dungeon.' Jinbe declared, giving Rey some good news.
Rey was very eager before to try the Training Dungeon, but, considering he was nearly killed by a Necromancer at the same stage as him and couldn't even begin to defend himself against the Sea Dragon, it was clear that Rey needed some serious training, especially since one could be killed within the Training Dungeon.
Not wanting to idiotically risk his life like they do on anime, Rey trained hard in the much safer Training Room, as it had similar Runes that Harris's training ground did, only far better.
'But, I think it's time that you go out and get some much needed supplies. The food and drinks within your Space Ring are getting low and time can be very tricky within the Training Dungeon. It's good to be prepared. Just make sure that you wear your Shinigami cloak and mask, as not much time has passed since you're supposed "death", and you still aren't strong enough to beat away the common level Vanguardian if they spot you.' Jinbe said, reminding Rey of the dangers of the outside world.
Eager to get out of the Keep and use the teleporter, Rey quickly pulled his cloak and mask from his Space Ring and wore them. Pulling out a simple 'Mirror' Talisman he learned to make from the Basic Inscription manual, Rey pushed a tiny bit of mana into it as the spell stored within it activated and formed a full-bodied mirror in front of him.
The hooded cloak he threw on was originally black and white, which he learned were the Shinigami's official colors, but as Rey felt the cloak bound to him, the long white vest that was attached on top of the black clock shifted to become the color green, as a beautiful black lotus appeared on the front and back of the vest. It perfectly covered most of his form and didn't feel restrictive in the slightest.
Placing the mask over his face felt awkward with his new lion features and he thought it wouldn't work, until the mask shifted and morphed over his maw. The mask itself was a featureless black mask that didn't have any eye holes, yet he could still see perfectly somehow. Thanks to being a Sensor, Rey could feel that like the cloak, the mask was Runed, but he couldn't tell their functions yet.
In his full Shinigami garb, Rey had to admit that he looked pretty badass, especially with the hood up. Seeing himself dressed like that almost made him want to get himself a katana and yell, "Bankai!", but he knew that he wasn't a sword guy, so it'd likely never happen.
Traveling back to the throne room, this was the first time Rey had been back in that room in over a week. Sitting on the throne, Rey wasted no time as he brought up the Menu and selected the Teleporter option.
Teleporter:
Shore's Landing
Heaven's Perch
Diamond's Cove
'Those are the only locations which remain? That is truly saddening to see. This list once boasted countless Hardpoints, now it is declined into this,' Jinbe said with a depressed tone.
'If you would like to have those other Hardpoints available, I'm afraid you'll have to go to each location yourself and find a way to activate them. For now, I highly recommend choosing Shore's Landing. It's not too far from Harrend Village, which means the level of other people you run into shouldn't be too high for you to deal with in case there is an emergency.' Jinbe informed.
Having learned to trust Jinbe's wisdom, Rey selected, Shore's Landing, as the mana in the air swirled around him before a bright light flashed, forcing him to close his eyes the same was he did when he teleported to Sky Keep. When he opened his eyes, he was now standing on a tall hill that offered a great view over a massive, sprawling coastal city. Even with Rey's new enhanced vision, he couldn't see the end of the fantasy metropolis.
Taking his first steps towards the front of the city's gate, Rey had no idea he would soon meet someone who was very adamant on finding him.