...Darkness, he found himself floating in a sea of black again, small waves crashing against his body, however, they did not move him an inch, as if he were frozen in time.
But this time, he was fine. This darkness that consumed his surroundings was not frightening nor filled with the icy touch of death, it was a gloom that embraced his body with an unmatched warmth, and he knew very well what it was due to...
But before he could rejoice in those shadows, a flash of blinding light brought him back from that gloomy sea to his cold reality.
"...10 more minutes..."
Arthur lay in his bed, the one he had decided to rest on the day before in order to calm his mind, despite everything that had happened in that short time, he managed to get a sleep that was restful enough to keep his sanity.
And unlike him, the sunlight still shone directly at him, reprimanding his lazy attitude, which succeeded at its task because no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to return to that darkness.
"..."
With a grunt of dissatisfaction, he slowly sat up in bed, he knew that this was the moment where he should think carefully about everything that had happened, and most importantly, understand his situation more deeply.
After all, his haste yesterday was not only due to his need to understand where he was, no. That was just an excuse to be able to escape the thoughts that threatened to torment him.
He was scared.
And who wouldn't be? He was alone, in a completely different world, without companions, without family, and most likely he would be forced to survive countless dangers in order to even dream of a tomorrow.
But that was not the worst of it all, what affected him the most was what he knew.
"There must be a way..."
He had died, and although he now had a new life due to the grace of some divine being, the reality was that he was not going to be able to return to his old life.
"...If I got here, I must be able to go back..."
His mother, whom he had cared for since she lost her strength due to her age, whom he had longed for as the person he loved most, was gone.
"...no."
His father, who had taught him how to be a man, who had given his best to be able to give a home and food to his son and wife, was gone.
His friends, those with whom he spent most of his life, with whom he had built such a lasting bond that even after years of disconnection, they still knew each other like the back of their hand, were gone.
"..."
He wanted to deny it, to bury those thoughts deep in his mind, to forget even the fact that he had died and to cling to the hopeful idea that there was a way home, as unlikely as it was.
But it was difficult, very difficult.
A tear fell down his cheek, then another, and another followed until he burst into tears, his pathetic moans echoing in the lonely room, making him even more mournful.
But…
He held the sheet tightly, and with half-decided determination, he told himself that it was too early to despair, after all, the spell would probably have something to make him come home, something that would make him regain the life that was taken from him.
And as a coup de grace, he remembered words that he thought he had forgotten, a refreshing conversation that worked as a catalyst to regain the determination that had been faltering for a moment.
That conversation had not come out of nowhere, his mother had found him at his lowest point, when he thought that the whole world was coming down on him and he could not find the strength or the determination to face it, he doubted, he feared, and most importantly... he did not even bother to try.
"Arty... You know, I once felt the same way, you know what your grandmother told me? 'Obstacles aren't there to stop you, they're there to be overcome little by little, after all, even a wall was built brick by brick.' At first I didn't believe her, I thought she was against me too, but the more time I spent crying and kicking, the more I realized I had to do something..."
That conversation had not only helped him enormously at the time, it still kept convincing him to keep trying, even long after it had happened.
Just those words were enough to get his determination back.
And in turn, they were what propelled him out of bed, leaving him standing in that slightly sunlit room, a situation that changed the moment he opened the curtains, letting in the radiant light of a new day completely.
"...I'll be back, no matter what it takes."
He slowly wiped the tears from his face and turned back to the bed, trying to remember as much as he could about the world he was in.
He scrolled through fragmented memories and cursed that he hadn't read the entire novel, but even if he had, he would have forgotten important parts due to his weak memory.
"Fine, let's do this."
He quickly tried to access the spell's runes, using every command he knew or could remember, however, none of them triggered the infamous status window or anything remotely similar.
And that was because he wasn't in the spell yet, he hadn't even gotten sick, which translates to him not even having an Aspect or attributes yet.
"...Which means I'm not an awakened, which translates to..."
He can't make money legally.
After all, who would hire someone without the slightest record of identity or work experience? It was easier to become a serial killer since he didn't have any identity that could expose him...
"No, no way."
Unfortunately, without leaving aside his morals, he found himself in a very terrible situation. Without any way to earn money, he would have no way to buy food, and without food...
He would die of hunger.
"This wall seems unscalable... Is there really no other alternative?"
Even if he is someone with morals, if he has no choice but to take that path, he will do it gladly. After all, his past is stained, whether he wants it or not.
But before making a decision regarding the method, he decided to observe a little more, so determined, he decided to leave the room heading outside, ready to face this battered reality.
The view that awaited him when he left the house was not something out of this world since he had seen it before, however, he was still surprised by the advanced vehicles that circulated from time to time, with an unknown destination.
He took the initiative and began his walk, the soft whistling of the wind colliding against his body, which made him remember that strange place and the flowers that moved despite the absence of that element. He looked up and his eyes observed the sun for a second, before changing direction back to the ground.
"...What kind of idiot looks directly at the sun?"
He rubbed his eyes hard as he continued walking, that action was a total stupidity, and even though he had managed to lessen his worry, the pain in his eyes did not seem to stop.
Leaving his eyes alone, he slowly opened them trying to adapt to the light that shone with less intensity than the sun, the view was still the same, houses, streets, vehicles... Everything was normal.
Why would he expect otherwise? Maybe sleep was taking its toll on him, who would have thought that sleeping a whole day would make his body crave even more rest.
He continued walking, his eyes were half-closed from sleep and because they had to adapt to the light again, it seems that he and the light do not get along too well. Returning to concentrate on the reason why he went out, he decided to focus his tired eyes on looking for a cafeteria, a place he would find in a short time.
"...How lucky, I can hardly handle myself anymore..."
Having found what he was looking for, he moved on to the second reason why he had gone out. Arthur didn't go for a walk for no reason, he was looking for some nearby establishment where he could pay with money, he was aiming to check if the money from his world worked in this one.
"... Hey, hello. I'd like a latte, please."
He looked at the cashier in front of him, her facial features were average, perhaps she could be considered pretty, however, there was something about her that aroused a feeling of strangeness in him, focusing his attention on her, he analyzed her face carefully.
❝"Sir?" — The cashier called out to the stranger who had been staring at her, what had gotten into that madman? ❞
"Huh?"
"Sir?"
He blinked once, then twice. He instinctively took the money out of his wallet and handed it to her, trying not to show the surprise that was contained within. The young woman looked at him, then at his money, and back at him as if she was trying to decipher his intentions.
"...We don't take money other than credits, I'm sorry."
It was to be expected, he didn't think a decentralized currency would stay in effect for long, which in short means that his money is useless and worthless.
"Ah, I'm so sorry. Do you know of any place where I could exchange them for credits?"
The cashier looked at him again, this time trying to figure out if he was serious or if he was playing with her, exchange houses had been extinct for years, even if some still existed, money like the one he had in his hands belonged in a museum.
Of course, Arthur didn't know any of this, his actions seemed crazy to all the natives of that world, but to him, everything he was doing was common sense.
Noticing the girl's gaze, he quickly put the money in his pocket and gave an embarrassed smile, understanding that it wasn't something he should ask.
"...I'm kidding! Look at the time, I'm late for work, nice to meet you!"
He quickly walked away from the establishment, forgetting the fatigue he had from the sleep, as if his shame was even stronger than his physical needs.
But even so, with his mind filled with shame, he couldn't forget what he saw, as he focused on the girl from before, he could see what she was going to say.
No, it would be more correct to say that he "read" what she was going to say, as if her actions were literally written on her face, her words and her thoughts, as if he was some kind of omniscient reader.
"...It must have been a coincidence, right?"
Deciding to check if it was a hallucination from the dream, he looked around for any unsuspecting passersby and found him, a young man who looked to be in his 20s, dressed in a suit and looking quite overwhelmed as he sat on a bench, staring blankly into the air.
Cautiously, he walked over to his side and sat down, steeling himself for what might be the craziest action he'd ever done, trying to "read" a person as if they were a character in a book.
"...Hey, excuse me."
He tapped the young man's shoulder and glared at him, slowly, he could make out some words on his face that seemed to narrate the boy's future actions to anyone who was interested enough to stare at him.
❝"Yes?"— I looked at the boy beside me, he seemed pretty well dressed, but I'd heard that thieves use flashy clothes to trick the unsuspecting...❞
"Yes?"
As if it were a divine joke, the man repeated the same word he had read, just as it had happened with the cashier at the cafe, but still not fully believing it, Arthur spoke in response to what he had read.
"I'm not a thief, don't worry."
The stranger's face twisted into one of surprise, clearly not expecting the boy to read his mind from one moment to the next, but with an expression of sudden enlightenment, he clicked his tongue and gave an apprehensive smile.
"Are you an awakened? Come on man, say it before, I almost had a heart attack."
"...My bad, I was just trying out my Aspect ability, sorry, see you later!"
With a quick goodbye, he left the young man wondering on that bench, walking quickly to his house while his mind became even more disordered, he had "read" a person, was this the ability he had been given for coming to this world?
"...No."
No, if it was like that, he would have known. What kind of being gives an ability out of nowhere and without saying a single word about it?
"...Shit, that sounds like the spell."
He sighed, maybe if it was like that, his ability was to be able to see the thoughts and actions of people in the near future, but as a disadvantage, it required him to concentrate on them.
"In what situation would it be of help to me? I mean, I can imagine some, but…"
But how would he survive the spell like that? He didn't know if he could read nightmare creatures, he didn't know if he had any other limitations, and he didn't even know if reading cost him any kind of energy, what if he died from lack of mana or something?
He had to think it over carefully, going over the information he had and stop speculating. First of all, he had to get home and rest, then he could worry about his abilities.
And as he thought that, the sleep that had been repressed by all the strong emotions he had hit him like a bucket of cold water, his eyes hardly stayed open and his steps became slow.
Fortunately, he was close to his house, so he didn't fall asleep in the middle of the street, although he was about to do so trying to climb the stairs to his room, each step he took seemed like a task of Herculean magnitudes, however, he managed to persevere.
Having achieved his goal, he was rewarded by the warmth and softness of his bed that embraced his sleepy body, making his consciousness less and less lucid.
Sleep had won, and with this victory, he was getting closer step by step to his goal, to take him to the reign of the spell.
Unfortunately, Arthur was too sleepy to realize that his time was running out.