Aron's smile widened as he exclaimed in his head, "It's about time you showed up," then asked, "So, what did you find?"
[I found something strange inside you. It took me a while just to be able to sense it. Fortunately, I was able to find out the exact nature of it.]
Aron couldn't contain his curiosity any longer and eagerly asked, "Yes? Go on, what is it?"
[... *.Will you just shut up and let me focus for a second* …] The other voice of the system snapped irritably.
"S-sorry," Aron apologized. 'Wait! Why do I have to apologize? Am I not his master?'
"Aron?" Raum called. The sudden apology puzzled the little raven.
"Hum?" Aron realized he had spoken out loud and quickly reassured the little raven, "Oh, there's no need to worry; I'm just talking with someone here," he said, tapping his forehead.
Raum stared at Aron, his expression blank. "Is my first and only friend crazy? Please, no!"
"Pffft, HAHAHA," Aron burst into laughter, amused by the look on Raum's face. "No, I'm not crazy. You can say it's one of my skills."
After a moment of hesitation, Raum gathered his courage to ask a question that had been weighing on his mind.
"Aron, I've wanted to ask this question for some time, but I always hesitate," he paused before continuing, "You're not human, are you?"
Aron raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Raum's observation. "What makes you think I'm not?"
"It's your eyes," Raum explained. "They change; sometimes they glow in red, and sometimes, especially when you get angry, they completely change to flaming crimson. Those aren't normal human eyes... Aron, are you a demon?"
Aron touched his eyes, surprised by the realization. 'They change? I didn't know that.'
"No, I'm not a demon; actually, I'm a Dragon," he replied casually, like it was nothing important.
"..." Raum froze, his breathing ceased, and his brain struggled to process the revelation. Slowly, his mind started to warm up, and eventually, he snapped.
"D-D-Dragon! O-Oh my god! They exist, but wait, why does he look like that? I thought dragons were giant flying creatures that could breathe fire... B-But he said he's a dragon... Ughhh!!! My head!!" Raum was freaking out.
"..."
Aron ignored Raum's mental break and turned his attention back to the system, urging it to explain its findings. "What did you discover?"
The system didn't waste any time. It revealed, [Master, I found magic seals and chains inside you; I found hundreds, if not thousands, of them around your heart, brain, core, muscles, and your senses. Most importantly, your soul. Hundreds of chains wrapped around it. Master, your entire existence is sealed.]
Aron's face furrowed with a mix of concern and anger. He didn't fully comprehend the meaning, but the idea of being sealed with chains from the inside ignited a fiery rage within him.
[Fortunately, I discovered that one of the seals has some cracks, a weak seal, yes, but the mana that slips through the fractures is what's now providing you with your powers.]
Aron quickly caught a certain detail and pressed for more information.
"You said, 'Cracks.' How?"
[Exactly. When I analyzed that seal, I discovered what caused the cracks. You remember the XP you get when you kill a creature? That XP is actually mana that your body absorbs. When that mana reaches a certain point, it attacks one of the seals. The second thing is your memory. Recovering just those images caused significant damage to the seal.]
Aron's mind raced as he absorbed and processed the information. Leaning against the wall, he absentmindedly played with Raum's dark feathers.
"So, there are thousands of chains and seals, correct?"
[Yes, Master.]
He continued, "And my current power comes from the weakest seal."
[Affirmative, Master. The seal is the lowest and the weakest one of all.]
A wide grin spread across his face, revealing his teeth. "...Then how much stronger would I be if I could break all those chains and seals?" That's the primary focus for Aron. Strength. Even with his existence sealed, he saw an opportunity.
[According to my calculations, considering the number of seals and chains as well as the amount of strength you currently possess, I can roughly compare you to that masked man. When he grabbed your arm, I caught a glimpse of his strength. Right now, he's much stronger than you, but if you unseal everything inside you, I can absolutely guarantee that you will become one of the strongest beings on this earth, if not the strongest.]
The system's words struck Aron's heart with resounding truth. Before encountering the masked man, he was 100% motivated to become stronger. Then, after their encounter, that number jumped to 200%.
However hearing the system's proclamation, his motivation skyrocketed to new heights, thousands. Aron became so fired up and motivated that he wanted to go right now and begin slaying creatures and monsters while absorbing mana to break his seals.
In the midst of his excitement, Aron almost forgot about something crucial. He immediately asked the system about it.
"System, did you find anything about how I got sealed in the first place?"
[No, Master. I believe that information is buried within your memories. However, by analyzing the mana of the seals, I discovered that the seal's mana matches yours by 80% perfectly. My guess is that you sealed yourself.]
"What?" Aron's eyes widened in shock. He pondered, "Impossible. Surely I wasn't that stupid to seal that amount of power, right?" He shook his head, dismissing the thought. The possibility of him being foolish in the past didn't sit well with him.
Regaining his composure, he focused on the present. "So, how should we proceed from now on?"
[You can hunt monsters and absorb their cores; that will provide steady progress. However, you should prioritize recovering your memories as quickly as possible. Memories caused more damage, and recovering them all will break most of the seals and chains.]
Aron nodded, contemplating the plan, and then rested his head on his palm. His fingers never stopped playing with Raum's feather, and the raven melted into his touch.
"Kaahh! Kah~"
"Are you okay there, buddy?"
"Kaahh! Yes I'm fine, I…just…Need to sleep"
Minutes passed in silence before Aron shifted the topic. "System, what exactly are you? As far as I know, I didn't have you before I absorbed that coffin."
[Apologies, Master, but I have no information about the origin of the system. And to correct a misunderstanding, I'm not the system; I'm just a 'User Assistance' created by the system to help, guide, and protect you.]
[When you absorbed the coffin and the system started attaching itself to you, something went wrong during the process, forcing the system to lock itself and prevent corruption from affecting your mind and body. As an emergency measure, the system created me. I can tap into the system's data and use it to assist you.] The system clarified
"Hmm?" Aron stroked his chin thoughtfully. "So, you're like a librarian, the system is the library, and the data is the books that you can access. Is that correct?"
[Correct. However, the amount of books I can access now is tiny compared to the size of the library, and some books are corrupted and damaged.]
Aron sighed and shook his head. The absence or loss of knowledge was never a favorable situation. 'Knowledge is power,' Aron understands this fact very well. Since emerging from that coffin and discovering his lost memories, he had always felt like he was traversing through a mist.
Suddenly, an idea sprouted in Aron's mind. "System, I have an idea," he shared, intrigued by his newfound plan. "Can you create another library?"
[Please elaborate, Master.] Curious, the system asked for further explanation.
"What I mean is... as we encounter numerous creatures, monsters, places, and people, the amount of knowledge will be vast. I don't want to lose any valuable information, so I want you to create a place to store it. Since the original knowledge from the system is corrupted and locked, we need an alternative solution."
[That's a grea….*Finally you put your head to good use*...]
"..."
"Tsk… Are you still alive? Too bad"
[...*W-What did you say you little shi~*...SLAP!!]
[Ahem…That's a great idea, Master. Given that I can hear and see everything around you, collecting information will be simple.]
"..." Aron smiled, hearing the excitement in the system's voice. Shortly after, a notification appeared, catching Aron's attention.
[A new skill is being developed.]
The system announced, [Master, I have managed to create a new skill. The place to store knowledge is complete.]
[Master, will you do me the honor of naming this place?]
Aron smiled and nodded. "The name will be the Shadow Library."
[Name accepted]
[New skill created]
[Shadow Library: "You understand the meaning of 'Knowledge is power', Your hunger for knowledge is unlimited"
A space was created inside your mind using mana, the librarian will store everything he sees and hears.]
***
In a certain house in Larton town.
A man clad in full plate armor stood, observing an injured man lying in bed. His voice demanding, he shouted, "What happened? Speak! Who dares to attack one of my members?"
The two friends of the injured man exchanged nervous glances before one of them mustered the courage to explain.
"B-Boss... W-We were at the guild. When Billy here saw a man flirting with that red-beauty Cila, he got really angry. So…" He stopped, hesitated to continue.
"Go on, speak. Damnit!" The Boss starts losing patience.
"Y-yes, Boss, S-sorry... Billy wanted to teach that man a lesson for approaching his woman... he tried to cut the man's path with his legs and make him stop, but the man kept walking, and in the end he... he broke Billy's legs, nearly killing him."
The boss's anger surged, and he questioned the two men, "And what did you two do about it?"
The men bowed their heads, clearly afraid, and one of them stammered.
"We... We did nothing, boss. That man was terrifying. We almost died just by looking into his eyes."
The full-plate man regarded his men with mixed feelings. If he didn't know them well, he might have thought they were cowards. Nevertheless, the two men appeared broken, and he realized the gravity of the situation.
'...Fuck!! Not good. I must take action; our reputation is at stake.'
"Do you know that man?"
The two men shook their heads. "N-No Boss, we never saw him before, but it seems like he's a new member of the guild."
Deciding on a course of action, he instructed his men, "Good, I want both of you to stay at the guild. He'll have to show his face there at some point to take quests. When you see him, send word and follow him. Understood?"
The two men nodded, their voices trembling, "Y-yes Boss."
'I'll show you the consequences of crossing me.' The full-plate man vowed to make the unknown man pay for hurting his man and interfering with his group.