Chapter 2: Embodiment of Venom
It had been nearly twenty years since Nith's reincarnation.
If someone were to ask him how he felt about it, he would fix them with a steady gaze before turning away. His new life wasn't as exciting as one might think.
Despite being reborn into a noble house, Nith's potential and abilities were assessed early on by his parents, who discarded him upon learning that he didn't possess even an ounce of mana.
They hadn't been entirely heartless, though, as Nith received a small mansion of his own.
He even had maids and other personnel, but his parents often expressed discomfort about him living on their lands.
His siblings also annoyed him to no end, ultimately driving Nith to abandon his house at the age of thirteen.
He then wandered from one town to another, doing chores in inns, smithies, and other stores for pennies. His circumstances changed when he met Kyouka, an alchemist in her late twenties who was also on a journey.
Her adventure was nearing its end as she had earned enough income and recognition to start her own potion store.
Fate seemed to have brought them together, and since then, Nith's life had improved.
'I've confirmed that this world is the same one where I fought Serqet,' Nith thought as he closed the store. Going upstairs, his thoughts drifted to what he received upon his reincarnation: a skill that was both a gift and a curse.
[Embodiment of Venom (SSS) (Passive) (Dormant) — Your mana is gone, replaced by poison. You can turn any liquid within you into poison and create new types of poison upon consuming materials. Your immune system against toxins is beyond perfect.]
'In a world where the best poison of a Lv. 999 Poison Mage would cause no more than a fever, I've become the fucking embodiment of venom! Curse my luck! I should have been a fire mage like I wanted in the beginning!' Nith cursed inwardly as he ascended the stairs, hands shoved deep into his pockets and brows furrowed.
He didn't notice someone pop out of the corner to block his way.
Spreading her arms wide, Kyouka shouted, "Nith, I've hit a wall—" but upon noticing his expression, she scurried away and screamed, "DEMON!"
Nith raised his eyes and looked at the woman who had crossed her arms as if warding off an actual demon.
If she were back in her early teens, perhaps she would have looked adorable. But she was a woman close to her thirties—tall, mature, voluptuous—standing like an idiot, unbecoming of her age or allure. At least, that's what Nith thought.
"What did you say?" he asked as he approached her.
Kyouka replied with a smile, "I hit a wall, so I thought you could help me!"
"Oh, the wall? It doesn't look like you actually hit it," he said, pushing her bangs up to expose her forehead. He then grabbed a clump of her hair, got a proper grip on her small head, and smashed her face-first into the wall.
BANG!
Letting her head go, he said, "Now you did."
"I meant a wall in alchemy, you callous asshole!" Kyouka snapped, holding her reddened forehead and glaring at him.
Nith turned around. "I heard that 'demon,' you callous bitch."
Kyouka stuck out her tongue before replying, "Why were you angry? I mean, you're always mad, but it was different this time. Wait, I recall you having the same expression on the night when we first met."
"I just remembered something shitty, but it's going to change soon," he smirked.
Although his passive skill was dormant, it had already messed with his life. He didn't have mana, so he was even below commoners. Had the world not been advanced enough to create appliances for humans like him to perform alchemy, he would have remained a mere store assistant, unable to achieve much in his life by the age of twenty.
The reason it stayed dormant for so long was that Nith's body needed time to develop to accommodate this passive skill.
Kyouka clapped her hands. "Right! The special day is coming! Your twentieth birthday! You see, my lovely friend, I've been thinking a lot about your present! It's hard to come up with something good for a mean asshole like you, so I'll give you a cliché!"
"A cliché, what?" Nith asked.
Kyouka crossed her arms, bringing her ample chest to attention, and cast a sidelong glance at Nith. "Do you want dinner at the fancy restaurant across from our store… or me?"
"Dinner, thanks," Nith replied, turning around and heading to his room.
'He didn't even consider me?!' Kyouka thought before rushing after him. "Stop! Don't you know that there's a tax discount for married couples?! There's even a harem tax, so I'll let you marry as many bimbos as you want!"
"Fuck off, I'm not marrying a woman who sells her high-quality potions for pennies! Your life choices are ridiculous!" Nith shouted back, slamming his room door shut with a loud bang.
"And that includes getting you under my wing!" Kyouka yelled through the door. "Come to my workplace tomorrow, or forget about dinner!"
-
'Others must have achieved a lot by now. Meanwhile, I'm stuck with an idiot witch and without any skill or title to speak of,' Nith thought as he changed his work uniform into a casual shirt and pants. 'Or maybe I'm the only one who reincarnated into this game world two thousand years later.'
He had thought numerous times about the other top players who had witnessed Serqet's curse. If they were in this world, he should have heard something about them by now. Maybe they woke up earlier than he did, or maybe some were still waiting to be born.
Whatever the case, he couldn't meet them yet, or anyone for that matter.
He needed his passive skill to awaken, then earn titles and make his way to the top once again.
Earning titles had become the only way to become stronger now that players were gone. No more leveling up by mindlessly killing monsters in groups. One had to achieve titles through hard work, wits, or trials.