Chapter 2: So what now?
A Few days passed, and Ang finally sorted out his thoughts and findings.
First: Blood Awakening.
[System Notification]
[It is an event where one unleashes a mysterious power, surpassing even the mightiest of Arts. This is the essence of Blood Awakening. It might vary from person to person, mainly depending on lineage.]
"My blood awakening is something related to death. Based on Old Master's words, my consciousness might have travelled back in time after my death. It likely only happens once, hence his warning on not dying again."
"Second: This system notification thing."
[System Notification]
[The System is now an integral part of you. Its sole purpose is to provide you with the information in my catalogues whenever needed.]
"Well, that answers that. It must be part of my blood awakening. It imprints data in my head as if I already know them. In the past couple of days, it has been triggered multiple times. I am still trying to figure out what conditions trigger it. I assume it is mainly related to stuff I do not know about or have only limited knowledge about.
Weirdly, it states the Art of silence and its uses, which I should have known since it's a very commonly used art in the martial world. Have I lost a few of my memories from the future?"
[System Notifications:]
[Blood Awakening dives into the realm of magic and miracles, so an appropriate payment must be made. In your case, the payment was some of your memories.]
"Wait! I heard that the penalty for using Art will always be related to the Art itself. By that logic, does my awakening transfer my future memories to my current self?"
System: Yes.
"If that is the case, what are you? I thought you were part of my awakening."
System: I am a compensation.
"What??"
System:
When a blood awakening occurs, the result is determined by the payment one is willing to make. The higher the payment cost, the stronger the awakening. The payment you make acts as a catalyst to perform the awakening. Payment has to take place at the same time as the awakening. But you are one of the exceptional cases where awakening is only triggered after you die. Hence, the awakening gets triggered without payment.
However, the awakening cannot stop once it is triggered, so a part of it is consumed to complete the process. This will result in an incomplete awakening. The world does not allow incomplete awakening, so compensation is provided in such cases. In your case, you will have access to the knowledge of your ancestors to compensate for your missing memories from the future.
Well, I do not have any complaints. I guess.
Third: My current predicament.
I am currently a 20-year-old version of myself, nowhere near the level I was before death. This might or might not be a problem based on my future actions.
Previously, I was a lustful man who lacked strength. I offended a lady from the Qiang clan, one of the eleven noble families of the Martial world.
System:
[Eleven Nobel families. After Saura, the great warrior, dominated the then-chaotic continent of Mara, he established a council of ten elders. They were chosen based on their strengths and contributions. They are selected in pairs to counter one another in case of corruption. They were:
Jian and Qian were well-versed in both sword and blade. They were to be enforcers of the law.
Niho and Nipo were well-versed in both spear and stick. They were responsible for the protection of the people.
Oyun and Gelin were well-versed in Education and politics. They were responsible for maintaining politics, Education, and strategy.
Yuhe and Du were well-versed in both Medicine and Poison. They are responsible for medicine and poison research and development.
Yen and Jin were well-versed in business. They are responsible for trade and commerce.
Once they were assigned and the continent stabilized, Saura retired and lived in peace.
Out of respect for Saura, they gave him the title of First Nobel and his family as the First Noble family.
The current eleven great families are the descendants of these ten elders and Saura.]
"Well, that was informative. Even though my family is considered a Nobel, it was only because of our lineage of Saura. No wonder the Qian family retaliated so hard, even though I was from one of the noble families. Thinking without strength, titles have no meaning. I then turned to dark arts, which led to meeting the demonic faction; one after another, I ended up as the lord of the demonic faction."
"This time, I will not repeat the same mistakes. I will lead the life I want and will not die at any cost."
"Master, your dinner is ready.", an old voice resounded from the closed door. It was old man Rue.
"Well, I guess it's time for Dinner ", thought Ang, opening the door of his room.
Old man Rue was waiting for him outside the door.
He followed Old Rue to the Dinner table, barely noticing any makers or workers. "This brings back memories," he thought. At this point, they were almost out of money to run their house, which made him desperate to act on noble ladies. He expected to get married to one of them and turn the tables around.
After dinner, Ang went for a walk along the estate. The family mansion was as big as every other Nobel house. However, the main issue was that it was poorly maintained due to a lack of personnel.
Maybe I can turn things around this time if I can develop the family reputation. It can become a strong backbone that supports me in times of need. Even Shin, the great warrior, became what he was due to the support of his family.
While he was walking along the training grounds, he noticed someone training. This piqued his interest, and he wanted to find out who was training so hard at this hour of the day.
System:
[Swift Arts - One can move about 50% faster by casting swift arts on themselves or make others fast by casting them on others.
Effective time - lasts for 10 mins in your current state.
Penalty - will reduce 50 % movement speed of the caster for the next 10 minutes.]
[Do you want to learn the skill?]
"Wait! Wait! I can simply learn the arts just like that? More importantly, I should already know how to use this Art as it was a typical art taught to all the nobles at a very young age so they could escape from any unforeseen events."
System:
[You are correct! The payment for your blood awakening was very high, so your memories about using the arts have been taken as a penalty.]
Ang : ...
System: ...
Ang: ....
System: ....
Ang: is there something else I need to know about my memories?
System: [This should be it].
Ang: Good. So, do I get to learn any art instantly as compensation?
System: No. Instant learning can only happen with the arts your body is naturally capable of. You already used Swift Arts until yesterday, so your body is used to them. As such, I can instantly imprint a swift art that suits your body.
Ang: Fine. I Acknowledge the imprint.
System:
[Searching for the most suitable Swift Art...]
[Silent Swift art is considered the most suitable Swift Art for this body.]
[Due to extreme compatibility, the Effectiveness is raised, and the penalty is reduced by 10%]
[Imprinting Silent Swift Art...]
[Imprint complete.]
[You can now use Silent Swift Art.]
[Effect: 60% rise in speed up to 11 mins.]
[Special Effect: Reduce the chance of tracking your movements.]
[Penalty: reduces movement speed by 40% for 9 mins.]
Ang: Wow! Obtaining a named Art is considered a good achievement, even among Nobles. Although the effects are minor, they can be crucial in a life-or-death situation. Moreover, the effects of Art do stack up as one gets stronger.
After feeling happy about the Art, he quickly cast it upon himself and ran towards the training grounds.