After plundering everything from the United Swords Guild, Damian made his way to the other side of the city to ensure he wasn't being followed.
Although he knew he was already strong enough to be among the top 100 Awakeners in the world, he would likely be placed somewhere in the top 50 to 60.
This was because, unlike him, others were constantly leveling up, and forces like the Zhao family in China were increasing their power through Qi cultivation.
Even with his strength, he could still be killed if he crossed paths with those monsters.
He was particularly concerned about the Zhao family of China, the true backers of the United Swords Guild.
They were a family of monsters, with every member likely being a high-level Awakener.
Of course, Damian knew he would die if he faced them at this point.
Damian was fortunate that the United Swords Guild was a relatively new guild, so not many Awakeners had joined.
This might also be due to the fact that the guild only seemed to accept swordsmen.
"Well, it's not like they are weak. Even though they're fairly new, they'll become one of the top five guilds in Italy in two years with the help of their backing," Damian muttered.
"I just hope they forget about what happened today and don't come after me... for their sake, of course."
Damian shook his head and began to look through the things he had plundered from the United Swords Guild.
To his disappointment, it wasn't much.
He had only acquired three sword skills and a Qi cultivation method.
It might seem like nothing, but considering that the Awakeners on Earth hadn't even started climbing the tower or entered the Tower Realm yet, it was already quite impressive that this guild had them.
There were even some top guilds that didn't possess any martial techniques but instead relied purely on their self-developed skills, techniques, and innate Awakener abilities to rise through the ranks.
"The United Swords Guild was very fortunate to have one of the five martial families from China as their backer," Damian mused.
He was sure the guild master had received these techniques from the Zhao family.
The Zhao family wasn't a simple family; their history with martial arts was long-standing.
As their influence and power grew, they would likely even go on to create their own techniques.
Damian then looked at the remaining items he looted from the guild.
His eyes fell on a book that contained the [Knowledge of Qi] from the system, similar to how he had received [Knowledge of Mana] as a reward.
"Very interesting. Someone even obtained [Knowledge of Qi] as a reward from the system... People are growing too fast, much faster than before my regression," Damian muttered, rubbing his chin.
Just like Damian, someone from China, probably a member of the Zhao family, had likely made an achievement that the system rewarded them with [Knowledge of Qi].
This person had graciously written it down and even shared it with the United Swords Guild.
Next, his gaze landed on the dagger he had acquired.
"This is nice... should come in handy," he thought, inspecting it.
He then grabbed the laptop the guild had given him, which contained all the information they had on the current state of the world.
"Time to read," he said, finding a quiet spot to sit alone and started reading through everything.
He first opened the file titled "Awakeners" and skimmed through the profiles of the top-level Awakeners.
He didn't read everything; he only made himself familiar with their names and general information, nothing more.
It took him about an hour to get through the basic information in the file.
It was too difficult to absorb all the details, as each profile was too extensive.
At one point, his head started to hurt, but he didn't stop.
[Conditions have been met.]
[You have awakened a unique talent, 'Rumination Clarity.]
[Unique Talent: Rumination Clarity]
[Gives you unparalleled ability to learn, understand, and comprehend anything in the shortest amount of time your body and mind are capable of.]
{Effects: 1. Gives you perfect memory and recall; anything you memorize, you can remember for the rest of your life.
2. Increases learning speed to an unparalleled level, according to what your body and brain are capable of handling.
3.Passively increases your mental power.}
Damian blinked as he stared at the system notification, his face filled with surprise. "Did I just awaken another talent? What the actual fuck?"
"The very reason I was so helpless before my regression, why I died in such a pathetic way, was because I didn't have a single talent. But now, not one, not two, but three talents—and that's not even counting the unique ability I awakened to boot?"
"Just why is this happening to me? If I had talents, why didn't they awaken before my regression? What's so different now? Could my regression be the cause, perhaps?" Damian felt a wave of frustration wash over him.
He desperately wanted to understand the reason behind his regression, why these talents hadn't appeared before, and what, or who, was responsible for all of this.
Far away, in a world many times larger than Earth, stood a castle stretching for hundreds of kilometers.
Within its vast throne room, a mature woman of otherworldly beauty sat alone.
Her hair was a pure, silvery white, and her deep blue eyes glimmered with an ethereal light.
She wore an opulent royal robe of unparalleled craftsmanship, and a silvery-gold tiara shaped like a majestic firebird rested elegantly on her head.
Leaning her face against her hand on the throne's armrest, she exuded an aura of boredom.
The room was utterly silent, as she had dismissed everyone earlier.
Suddenly, a small frown appeared on her pale, flawless face. "Why do I feel like someone is talking shit about me?"
"Whatever... I wonder how he's doing," she murmured, a wistful tone in her voice as she thought of a certain child.
"I want to be by his side, but it's still too early for him to know about us. I will wait until he reaches level 200 or something before I even consider letting others know that I'm aware of his whereabouts. Until then, I have to keep him safe. Maybe I will go to the Towers Realm and protect him from the shadows," she sighed again, her expression tinged with weariness.
Her musings were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a presence materializing out of thin air.
Another woman emerged, this one with flowing silver hair cascading down to her waist and eyes that shimmered with a mysterious glint.
Like the white-haired woman, her beauty was otherworldly, on par with her counterpart.
"Lenora... what brings you here?" the white-haired woman asked with a small smile.
Even though the white-haired woman had asked the question, she already had a good idea of why Lenora was here.
Lenora observed her for a few seconds before speaking. "I have memories of an alternate version of my life, which shouldn't be possible unless someone changed the past, and I'm now living in a rewritten future."
"Maybe your dimensional awareness is acting up again... or perhaps you're just imagining things?" the white-haired woman replied with a smile.
Lenora sighed. "Ma'am, as the head of the household, it's your responsibility to share whatever is happening. You're the one person in the entire universe who has that artifact."
"An artifact with the power to rewrite the past and future without disrupting the rivers of time. The artifact he gifted you," Lenora added.
The white-haired woman sighed. "Fine. I should have known your dimensional awareness would pick up on the fact that someone changed the past... But it's not as though I did anything wrong. After all, he gifted it to me, and I can use it however I see fit."
It was clear to Lenora that the mistress of the household wouldn't reveal much more, and there wasn't much she could do about it beyond asking.
"What did you do with the Prism of Reversion, Family Head?" Lenora pressed.
"Let's just say what I did was necessary." The white-haired woman rose from her throne, casting a final glance at Lenora.
"I simply corrected what was wrong, what those Time Lord bastards meddled with... Everything will be fine now. Everything will go smoothly."