Memories are from the most important qualities of living beings. It helps them understand their surroundings and devise paths of action to guarantee their development and survival.
Zhou Heng's system may show itself lacking and seemingly be useful only after the world-hopping experience ends. But after the 'pain training' that he experienced, Zhou Heng discovered that he may have underestimated the system's benefits, not only protecting his mind but also allowing him to gain control over his memories.
It is said that a human being can use actions to stimulate the brain and gain access to certain memories as if it was a password or a key. But what about the contrary direction?
Certainly, a human could 'remember' situations and the body will react to them. Soldiers that lose limbs or were injured in traumatic experiences, just from remembering those experiences could feel their muscles tingle and body shake.
Just like Helena's natural fear of Jacob Harding. The mention of his name could bring memories of him to her mind, and her body would start shaking as much as when she experienced the terror firsthand many years ago.
But one could also say, that no matter how much a human can remember, the feeling... The 'sensations' that the body experienced at most would be only a part of the true experience.
But Zhou Heng once again discovered something special from his system. It didn't grant him access to control his brain to the point that he had authority over his nerves. But as long as he gave the system the order, he could 'live' again those experiences stored in the Records Section.
It took some time to adapt his concentration, but when he succeeded, he was somehow grateful for his caution. He already prepared a towel to bite to not alarm his 'guardian' Helena that has been taking care of him like a treasure since yesterday's incident.
Helena that was worried about his mental state, was only relieved when he showed no sequels the next morning and was even happier when she heard him say that today was a 'free day'.
So the beautiful madam left him in his appointed room and focused on bringing supplements and any kind of things that could help the development of her new child.
Little did she know that what she considered the safest place for him, staying in his room without another contact with anyone else than her, wasn't safe of any kind.
Suppressed groans and tears rained upon Zhou Heng's pillow. He decided to do small 'doses' of memories. Asking the system to focus on yesterday's memories for a fixed amount of time.
After the hellish experience, Zhou Heng also asked the system to bring some 'good' memories from the records to steel his resolve. He was beating himself with a stick to later dream with the carrot.
His body was shaking and his muscles recalled the agony to the point that there wasn't any physical stimulation yet they were already rock tense.
Strictly speaking, Jacob Harding didn't damage his body, he didn't beat, cut, or pierced his body. What he did was more like a massage, but the objective wasn't to relieve but to stimulate the nerves and cause the maximum amount of painful reactions.
Jacob Harding at that moment smiled and said that he knew just a few basics of medicine and anatomy. He wasn't being humble, he really didn't know too much about the theme, just enough to fulfill the training. He also stated that he had his own personal medic and he would appear in the later stages of the pain teachings.
Recalling his words during the relief self-training, Zhou Heng felt a fire burning in his heart, what any other being would call resolve and willpower was finally appearing in him.
With a ruthless look, Zhou Heng continued again, and again. Soon two hours passed and he fell unconscious, the system forcibly stopped the experience and 'shut down' Zhou Heng's consciousness in order to protect his mind.
Chronic pain could affect his brain performance and the system's purpose was to protect his mind. Zhou Heng understood that and agreed with the system arrangement before the experience started.
When he woke up, the system informed him that he passed out for twenty minutes. Zhou Heng's body was stiff but it was far better than before.
He frowned and took the towel from his mouth, noticing bits of blood on it and how wet was the bed from his sweat he realized how careless he was.
Passing out from the 'hell' experience could get him discovered by Helena. So he decided to take it more calmly in the next sessions.
Getting up he took the bed sheets and the towel and folded them slowly, his stiff body felt uncomfortable along with the layers of sweat covering him.
He went out of the room and walked to the bathroom previously shown by Helena. He was also delighted that she had a tub with clean water.
She seemed very happy when she told him that the entire street had privileges in many ways. One being, the good sewer system coming from the river. She also told him that he could take a bath whenever he wanted.
This time he decided to wait for a bit. The day was still young and he wanted to train some more, so he was fated to sweat more today.
He brought the bed sheet and put them to a side. He wanted to clean the blood more than the sweat. In the process, he used water to clean the sweat from his face and arms.
When he finished he left them to dry and walked to the first floor. Coming down he hear some rustlings when he discovered that it was Helena with a sewing needle preparing some clothes for him.
She carried a gentle expression that brought warmth to his heart, he faintly realized that this scene will be probably part of his good memories that would relieve him in the future.
When she saw him a concerned look appeared on her face. Leaving the things in her hands to a side, she walked toward him with a gentle smile.
''I was careless, I should have left the door open or something for you to call me if you need something.'' She took him from the arms and guided him to the couch. ''Are you hungry?''
Zhou Heng looked at her and nodded, ''Can you give me something to drink''
Helena smiled and went to the kitchen, ''Wait there, we will eat together.''
The lunch was quite warm, and Helena and Heng shared a good conversation for the first time. He opened up to her and even talked about the orphanage, she was delighted about this and listened with joy.
He had two special reasons for this. The first one was the guilt and confidence from her identity as his fated helper and the second was Alisa.
He wanted to create some contact between Helena and Alisa. This may be seen as dangerous with Jacob Harding around but the problem was that it already happened. Harding knew about him and the orphanage, with a bit more effort he may already know about Alisa's existence.
The point is also Alisa's own actions, he is glad and at the same time concerned that if he doesn't contact her for a time she will surely try to look for him, and going blind would be a dead-end for her.
Now that he can't evade her, he wanted at least to manage everything in an organized way. With the help of Helena, contacting Alisa would be easier.
When he proposed the idea to Helena, her expression grew softer, glad that her child was an emotional person and wanted to reassure his friend.
With a smile, she promised him to look for Alisa when she had time. She also expressed her clear interest in the hazel-haired girl and asked about her preferences.
If Zhou Heng was older she would surely try to joke about romantic affairs.
When lunch was over, Helena told him that she need to go out for a bit and told him to rest more. Zhou Heng nodded and went to take a bath.
In the tub, he started once again the training, but this time it was more controlled to not fall unconscious and drown himself.
The cold water of the tub was uncomfortable but it helped greatly to relax his muscles. When he noticed that his skin was too affected by the water, he went out and started thinking of ways to improve the training.
He asked the system if he could maintain the state of recalling painful memories even when he was moving and wasn't focused. To his fortune or misfortune, the system replied that the experience could be maintained but it won't be as 'effective' as when the system had complete control over his brain.
For Zhou Heng, this was already very good, if he was training martial arts while suffering his combat skills would grow more quickly. Just like training with weights but the burden would be more mental than physical.
For the rest of the day Zhou Heng walked around Helena's house, he took some books and tried to read while using the system to train.
Of course, he was just starting, he could concentrate and sometimes he would stop to rest or try anyway to distract himself from the pain.
When Helena arrived he smiled as if nothing happened and shared another conversation with her, the entire time he was clenching his hands and gritting his teeth while taking care of her noticing.
In his mind, he tried to joke about his situation, 'Who else in the world will train, pain tolerance, acting skills, and concentration at the same time? Not even the Hero!'
He only gave himself a rest when it was time to sleep. As his sheets were drying in the bathroom Helena took him to sleep with her.
He easily agreed and fell asleep as fast as he got into the bed. His mental endurance was expended for the entire day so he needed urgently to rest.
Helena kissed his forehead and stroked his hair until very late.
*****
[Host, time to wake up]
The next day Heng felt more refreshed after sleeping so much after the exhausting experience. He stretched lazily for a few moments before getting up.
He cleaned himself in the bathroom and went to have breakfast with Helena. After resting for a time, he prepared and went out with a determined expression on his face. Leaving the fearful Helena behind.
When he arrived at the bookstore he gave his greetings to the clerk and walked inside, meeting with Harding that seemed as if nothing changed after those two days.
''Oh?'' Harding was a bit surprised at Zhou Heng's expression which didn't contain fear or any negative emotion. He laughed a bit and signaled at the table where a few books rested.
''Select one and read until it's time. Do you want pear or peach juice?''
Zhou Heng looked at the books, there were four in total; An encyclopedia of Bausmat, A fantasy tale about a sword and a king, a book with teachings about animals and their biology, and the last one being an introduction to music theory.
Without selecting, he looked at Harding and saw that he didn't pay much attention to him, engrossed on the book in his hands.
''Peach juice.'' Heng said while taking seat. Then he extended his hands towards the books and paused for a moment, with a slight smile he took the four books and put them on his legs. taking the encyclopedia and started memorizing the pages with only a few glances.
Harding that was focused on his book lost his concentration for a moment and looked at Zhou Heng with raised eyebrows.
''Starting from today you will read for at least two hours every day. You are allowed to take books home, but...'' For a moment Harding's gaze was playful but it send chills to Zhou Heng back. ''If you fail to meet with my requirements you will truly suffer, Heng.''
Zhou Heng swallowed, but he took the risk. He isn't normal, he had a system different from others, this was part of his strength and he wanted to show it, to entice Harding in giving him more recourses.
''I understand. I am confident in my memory, so you have to test my understanding.'' Heng said while looking at Harding's eyes.
''Haha, that sounded quite funny. Well, we'll see it in the future.'' Harding smiled and laughed in a good mood.