"Just why is it that you play music, my child?"
These words were said in such an inhumanly melodious voice that they resonated for a few seconds in my mind.
"I play music to express and forget." I answered as honestly as possible, dredging up the forgotten feelings that were hidden deep within me.
"Such a simple, yet profound answer coming from a child, just what happened for you to be like that?"
'Yeah, I got reincarnated so I'm technically not a child.'
"Life just kept throwing trials my way."
"You are just like me, my child, but what did you do with these trials?"
"I saw them, and then I overcame them."
She paused, looking thoughtful for a moment.
...
"My child, do you wish for power? A power that can flatten cities, a power that can part the oceans, a power that could truly destroy the world?"
"Yes."
"Then your wish will be granted. My child, a child of music, you will now no longer be homeless, you will no longer be lonely, you will no longer want for anything, as you are now a child of Aria, the one who shook the world itself with her music."
"Prepare yourself, my child, as you will now be reborn anew."
With that, the entire statue turned into particles of light and rushed towards my body.
My world turned black.
...
As my senses came back to me, I noticed an intense pain right at the tip of my forehead.
"Ugghh."
I opened my eyes and blinked for a few seconds, trying to refocus them.
I sat up, and there, right at my feet, was an old leather book with the name, "The Sound that Resonated with the World," on it.
I picked it up and stored it in my backpack, whilst taking a mirror out.
I held it in front of my face and parted my long black hair.
And right there, on my forehead, were the lines of a newly branded stigma.
"I actually got it, the sound stigma!"
I tried to shout in joy, but it came out sounding more like a croak, as Akimitsu wouldn't let me get rid of my expressionless expression.
I then used "Concealment [SS]" on it and the lines then disappeared.
I had to do this as if I showed up to Laramil Academy with a new stigma, there would definitely be an uproar. I would probably then become a lab rat after that.
They would also question and possibly torture me for an eternity, as although most people knew that there were other stigmas other than the original 14, only a select few knew how they were made.
You see, to break into the 10th realm of mastery, one would need total control over one of their stigmas, and as their unique understanding of it increased, they would be "enlightened", breaking into the 10th realm and creating a new stigma. These unique stigmas could only be given directly by the holder of the stigma, and once they did, they would lose it.
And although a lot of the "main line" nobles had one of these "unique" stigmas, they were still weak compared to the sound stigma.
This was all due to the fact that Aria had mastered both the wind and space stigmas to create the sound stigma. With that being the case, the sound stigma was probably the only "unique" stigma on this continent to be born from two different stigmas instead of only taking characteristics from one.
Back in the present, I tried to play my flute again.
But, instead of the beautiful melodies that I had played in the beginning, the notes that came out of the flute were scratchy and jagged, and were extremely hard on the ears making you feel like your brain was screaming.
"Sigh, it seems like I can only practice this magic and manual in soundproof rooms before I get the hang of it."
After checking that I had taken everything with me, I quickly left that hidden garden and traveled back to the town of Ornam.
Not spending any time to rest, as I had already spent a day and a half of my allotted week just getting the sound manual, I quickly boarded a train to my next destination, the seaside town of Noveres.
I decided to start reading my manual on the train ride there.
First, was the history of Aria.
She had been born during the time of the War of Havoc. When she was only 2 years old, her parents had been killed by the demonic forces and she had become an orphan. After realizing that she had a talent in magic, the angelic side had nurtured her up to an 8th realm master.
It was then that they started putting her in battles.
After a few years, she became known as the "Music Witch", famous for killing millions of enemy forces with beautiful music.
But then, after the war ended and she had become a 10th realm demigod, she had been summoned to the royal palace.
She had come, expecting orders to remain in the shadows or something like that, but had been backstabbed instead, by her own lover, the prince of Laramil.
She had fought back, and had been able to flee to the Forest of Mist, losing her pursuers in the fog, and then she found that garden, where she died a pitiful death.
She had then left her inheritance in that garden for someone with an unparalleled musical talent to find, and that was where I had found it 300 years later.
'Such a heartbreaking story... but so awfully fucking cliche.'
I cringed but continued on reading.
The manual explained the theory behind sound magic and how to use it with an instrument.
Of course, I couldn't practice it right now, so I just focused on reading it and memorizing the techniques.
'It's sad that my photographic memory didn't transfer over with me, but that's expected because we have different brains.'
My memories had transferred over with me, but my brain hadn't, so I didn't have my reading addiction, but I also didn't have my photographic memory.
I tried my best to memorize as much of the manual as possible before I grew tired and fell asleep.