Hikaru took a deep breath. He was astonished by the sensation of having a living body. It seemed as though everything he felt until now was simply a product of his own imagination. His stomach felt sticky from something. He checked to find it wet with blood.
(Can you tell? It's me. Roland.)
Hikaru heard a voice come from within him and he nodded. Feeling his clothes, he knew they were what Roland wore earlier. The room was dark, though he could tell it was properly furnished. Its interior design was just like the European high class hotel rooms he saw on television.
(With your soul transferred into my body, anything wrong with it should be fixed. My body will gradually get used to you. Take a look at the mirror.)
A mirror…
Hikaru stood in front of a huge mirror on the wall and saw Roland's face. Except it had black hair.
(Please grant my wish.)
「Your wish…」
(You should know what it is by now. After all, you have access to my memories.)
It was just like Roland said. Hikaru's mind was a jumbled mess right now. He had both memories of his life in Japan and Roland's memories of his life in this world – a world with dragons and magic.
「Vengeance against Count Morgstad…」
Roland was born from a viscount family. Count Morgstad framed his parents for an evil deed resulting in both being sentenced to death. His family's land and assets were expropriated and Roland himself was supposed to be sent to the sticks; the parents may be guilty but the child is innocent is what they said.
But Roland was a gifted sorcerer. One could say that Morgstad wanted to destroy his whole family for fear of his gifts. And so even though there was no threat to his life anymore, Roland swore to exact revenge on the Count.
(You just have to kill Count Morgstad.)
「…Hmm, yes.」
(Your stealing skills were splendid. You may have a knack for such things.)
A compliment? Not sure if I should be happy about that.
(I only have about an hour left. Kill him before then.)
「An hour?!」
(If you fail, I'll kill you.)
「Wha–?!」
(I'll soon be summoned to heaven and I'll either be reincarnated or enter paradise. But you will be destroyed, soul and all.)
Hikaru knew he was telling the truth. After all, he had Roland's memories. There's no saving once the soul is destroyed. He never really believed in life after death. He didn't think it existed. But now that he knew it did, being "destroyed" didn't sound so good.
「You tricked me. That kinda pisses me off.」
(I'm sorry for threatening you. There was just no other way.)
Having inherited Roland's memories, Hikaru understood his thirst for revenge. Roland's parents were honest, just, and upright – loved by everyone, and they were taken from him unreasonably. Sentenced to death, they were crucified, their bodies left abandoned in the royal capital.
Perhaps because he shared Roland's memories, Hikaru didn't feel much resistance in having to kill someone. Roland firmly believed that Count Morgstad was someone who deserved to die.
「Kill someone… We haven't even prepared for it or anything.」
(You have your "gift" for that, don't you?)
「…Gift?」
(You can call it God's blessing. You stole one, didn't you? Something that shone bright.)
Oh, that thing…
(You'll know if you check my memories. It's like an ability that one can use once his soul is reincarnated. In this world, it should manifest into a Skill, or some magic or special art that only you can… use.)
Roland's voice grew fainter.
(I can't speak any more than this… I can only remind you of your remaining time from here on out.)
His voice was gone now.
Magic… Special art… Skill.
Do I really have any of those?
「!」
Then suddenly, Hikaru felt something inside him. He focused his mind to it, and…
A board the size of an A4 paper, radiating pale green light, emerged before him.
[Soul Board]Hikaru
Age: 15 Rank: 0
15
○
(55 minutes left…)
Hikaru knew Roland was serious.
Maybe this thing is some kind of a Skill?
On the board was a huge circle. Its surface was smooth like some sort of a tablet.
「What's this…?」
He touched it and a robotic voice rang inside his head.
[Unlock Soul Board? 1 point required.]
Unlock? Point required? I have no idea what those mean, but there's no point in not using it.
「Unlock.」
Words appeared on the screen.
[Vitality]
..[Natural Recovery]0
..[Stamina]0
..[Immunity]
..[Perception]
Vitality was written at the center and branched out.
「A Skill Tree?」
It was the same system as the solo RPGs and MMORPGs he'd played before. You tend to have more free time when you're good at academics. So Hikaru played games. Though his playstyle involved being extremely efficient.
A Skill Tree's effects were manifested once it's unlocked by consuming a Skill Point. In fact, the number 15 on top changed to a 14.
「15 points because I'm 15 years old? So what, I get one point per year? That sucks.」
Hikaru mulled things over. What do I do? He had to kill someone and in order to do that, there were crucial steps he had to go through first. Like getting close to someone of noble status. Can I do it? They must be on guard. So how do I allocate my Skill Points to help me get the job done?
…No, before that. Can I even kill someone?
「Now is not the time to think about that.」
He had to do it, or he's dead. Hikaru was a sore loser. He's made it this far and he wasn't going to just die here without having done anything.
(50 minutes.)
He could hear Roland's faint voice.
Should I spend points on Natural Recovery? Nah. It's not going to be a fight of endurance. Which means Stamina and Immunity are both out of the question as well. That leaves only Perception.
「But that would result in too much imbalance. Actually, it was already imbalanced the moment only these Skills were available. Normally, there'd be Weapon or Magic Skills as well.」
Hikaru examined the board.
「A tablet… in that case…」
With his finger on the screen, he flicked to the left. The ○ screen swiped past and changed into a ◎.
「I knew it. So the circle is the Vitality Skill Tree window.」
He swiped and swiped. Next was a triangle, then a diamond, a pentagon, a hexagon, and the last was blank. After that, it came back to the circle window. Seven windows in total.
「So if one point is needed to unlock a Skill Tree, I'll have to use seven points just to find something useful.」
(45 minutes.)
Time was running out.
Hikaru dug through Roland's memories. Right now, he was in a high class hotel in a town called Pond. Count Morgstad was in his villa. He could run there in less than five minutes if he used the shortest route. The Count's room was most likely on the third floor. I need fifteen… no, twenty minutes to get close to him.
「I don't have much information to think of something. I'll just have to unlock everything and find a useful Skill.」
[Unlock Soul Board? 1 point required.]
「Yes.」
The ◎ window opened.
[Magical Power]
..[Mana]0
..[Spirit Affinity]
「Magic, huh… Can I even use magic?」
It's something I've never used before. I have Roland's memories, but not his intellect. I recall Roland doing magical experiments in the past, but I don't have the details and there's just no time to go over them. Moreover, Roland's magical abilities leaned towards the art of crossing worlds.
[Unlock Soul Board? 1 point required.]
「Unlock.」
The △ window opened.
[Physical Strength]
..[Strength]0
..[Weapon Mastery]
Weapons. Things that are indispensable in killing someone…
「Are there even weapons around here?」
He surveyed the room. A dagger of plain make but with a sharp blade lay on the floor. The weapon used to stab Roland. It was enough for his purpose.
「…Still, my biggest problem is whether I can get to Count Morgstad or not.」
Nobles of this world didn't normally receive guests at night and based on Roland's memories, it was already nearing midnight. Wind rattled a closed window. Faint light streamed in through the coarse glass window, but the continuous downpour made it all but dark outside.
「Strong weapons mean nothing if I don't make it to the man. I could kill everyone who gets in my way…」
「Yeah, no.」Hikaru muttered under his breath.
He wasn't sure he could get away with mass murder without being found out.
(40 minutes.)
On to the next board.
[Unlock Soul Board? 1 point required.]
「Yes.」
The ◇ window opened.
[Agility]
..[Instantaneous Power Burst]0
..[Flexibility]0
..[Balance]0
..[Stealth]
Hikaru's intuition screamed "This is it". Stealth. With this, I can get close to Count Morgstad unnoticed.
[Unlock Stealth? 1 point required.]
「Yes.」
[Stealth]
..[Life Obfuscation]0
..[Mana Obfuscation]0
..[Imperceptibility]0
「…I see. So the ones without the zeroes have to be unlocked.」
In order to see the Skills available, you have to first spend a point to unlock a field. Otherwise, it would be useless. It all sounds absurd, but I don't have time to complain about this Skill Tree.
「What's this Life Obfuscation thing anyway—」
The instant he raised the question, every Skill's definition sprang up in his mind.
[Life Obfuscation]Hide yourself from Life force detection Skills. Max:5.
[Mana Obfuscation]Hide yourself from mana detection Skills. Max:5.
[Imperceptibility]User can't be detected by scent, hearing, or sight. Max:5.
Huh, so there are detection Skills. I have ten points left. Should I allocate them equally or no?
「Detection using the senses would normally be the most troublesome. They might have guard dogs, after all.」
Some people say dogs have a million to a hundred million times more powerful sense of smell than humans. They should have excellent hearing as well. I already know that this world has dogs.
So what about the other two detection Skills? Based off Roland's memories, not a lot of people have these sorts of abilities.
「For now I'll put a point in Life Obfuscation, one point in Mana Obfuscation, and five points in Imperceptibility.」
Hikaru entered the numbers.
[Stealth]
..[Life Obfuscation]1
..[Mana Obfuscation]1
..[Imperceptibility]5 (MAX)
….[Assassination]0
「…Assassination.」
Hikaru shivered from the coldness of the word. The Skill appeared after he put five points into Imperceptibility.
[Assassination]When the user attacks without the target noticing, the attack will have a fatal effect. Max: 3.
It was the perfect Skill for Hikaru's purpose. He had three points left as well.
「Man, this is too good to be true.」
It felt like someone was watching him from the sidelines, setting things up for him.
「35 minutes… Hurry…」
Can I quietly close in on my target and kill him? He may be vulnerable but I haven't killed anyone before. Neither have I stabbed someone in the heart. But if killing him will guarantee my life in this world…
Hikaru put the rest of his points on Assassination.
[Stealth]
..[Life Obfuscation]1
..[Mana Obfuscation]1
..[Imperceptibility]5 (MAX)
….[Assassination]3 (MAX)
...[Snipe]0
Another Skill popped up. This one will allow me to kill a target from long-range. If I had to choose, I'd pick this one. It's not like I actually want to kill the Count from point-blank.
「…Let's do this.」
With Roland's body, and the knife used to stab Roland in hand, Hikaru stepped out into the pouring rain. He strode through the front lobby, but the staff on duty failed to notice that someone went past him.