CHAPTER 21: CHAPTER 21: BECOMING A COUNT

Seeing her decisively open the lid and drink the potion, Zayden felt both amazed and expectant.

As she drank the liquid, Haruka’s expression became strange, but she ended up drinking all the liquid.

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[Multiplier 3x!]

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[Recovery +6!]

[Speed +3!]

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[A new Count!]

Suddenly, a voice seemed to echo from the sky.

And then, time froze around them.

A strange phenomenon, Zayden felt his heart racing as something inside him changed.

"What more..."

Words of incomprehension escaped his mouth and he saw Haruka frozen, as if she had been exposed to the hairs of the Goddess Medusa and had been turned into a statue.

A fluctuation in the sky.

A radiant white light like from strong spotlights.

From the light, he saw something emerging from what seemed to be a magic rune. It was something metallic and with cracked details.

Gradually, he saw what seemed to be a portal appear. It was a portal of double bronze doors.

On one side, there was a mark that stood out what seemed to be a strong wind blowing. On the other side, it was something more like a healing miracle, a kind of baby angel making a white light come out of its hands and hit a wounded dragon.

Its magnitude was indescribable. Its mere existence made Zayden unable to look away.

When the portal came out completely from the magic circle, something like baby angels holding trumpets began to appear and surround the top of the portal.

In the background, a song with several perfectly synchronized female voices could be heard.

[The human limit is almost impossible to break.]

The masculine, powerful and ethereal voice from before echoed in the sky again.

"Who is it?" Zayden shouted.

However, the voice continued with its narrative.

[Either one is born with a limit break, or it depends on something like a miracle. The miracle is nothing more than a gift given to some humans who managed to break the human limit.]

This voice began to talk about something he didn’t understand at first, but then, he thought about the moment when his attributes increased in speed and recovery.

The being from the sky with the ethereal voice shouted: [Human who was able to break the limit, receive your gift!]

The doors of the portal opened. A blinding flash of golden light came out of the portal.

From the flash of light, two beams of light stood out, one green and another milky white. One hit the back of the left hand and the other the right. Soon, two crests were created in the air, right above the backs of their hands.

At the same time, the golden light enveloped Zayden and his eyes became neon golden.

The music sung in chorus increased.

The trumpets of the angels became louder and something shiny came out of their trumpets that enveloped Zayden too.

A kind of transformation seemed to be happening to him.

When Zayden regained consciousness, he heard that voice from before.

[You have become a [Baron] of dual attribute. Your achievement is memorable. In the last thousand years, only one person in the entire world has achieved the same feat.]

’Who is it?’

Zayden wanted to know, but he couldn’t even speak or control his body. He was still in a near-sleep state, something similar to sleep paralysis. He could hear, but he couldn’t move or see.

The voice continued.

[Now that you have become a [Baron], the lens that hides the supernatural has fallen. You will begin to see the world in a different way. Unexplainable things, even fantastical ones, will appear. But it’s okay, you are still a new Baron and are under the protection of that Lord. One year, for one year, you will be protected.]

’Baron? That Lord? What is all this?’

[Baron, an authority in the supernatural world. The lowest rank among supernatural beings. A Baron possesses the bronze crest, but in rare cases, a dual attribute Baron can compete with those of a higher rank.]

’Higher rank?’

[The world classification is as follows: Rank E — Baron/Baroness; Rank D — Viscount/Viscountess; Rank C — Count/Countess; Rank B — Marquis/Marchioness; Rank A — Duke/Duchess; Rank S — King/Queen; and, finally, at the absolute top, Rank SS/SSS — Emperor/Empress!]

In its final words, the ethereal voice said: [Good luck, new [Baron] on your journey. And, be careful!]

The final warning in a grave tone made him shudder a little.

Meanwhile, the background music, as well as the trumpets of the ’angels’ ceased.

The portal in the sky closed and began to enter back into a magic circle.

Zayden looks at the backs of his hands.

On the left hand, there was a crest similar to the caduceus; a staff with two coiled snakes and two wings on top. On its wings, there was a pair of golden eyes. On the right hand, it was even stranger. The crest was similar to a compass, but soon he understood that it was more like a car’s speedometer with six points.

Each point probably represented a gear.

When he thought about using it, his body heated up and the needle went straight to the ’first gear’.

When he saw the time that had previously been frozen around return, he emitted the intention to stop using the crest.

The moment he did that, the two crests magically disappeared.

"Zayden?"

At the same time, Haruka who was unfrozen, called out to him.

Looking at her, seeing that she was okay, he sighed and asked: "How are you feeling?"

His question made her pause for a brief moment.

And then, looking at her hands, she replied, with confusion etched on her beautiful face: "Normal? A little different maybe? Honestly I don’t know what changed."

Zayden was going to say something, but then he saw something floating in the air in the distance.

It was a kind of specter.

Its ghostly form was dark and sinister.

A shrill moan came out of its abnormally wide-open mouth.

Zayden pretended not to see that with the number "[1]" on top of its head.

Zayden turned his gaze back to Haruka when she added: "But... I don’t feel as tired as before."

He pretended to deduce: "So... It must be something related to recovery."

She yawned.

With one eye closed and a tear threatening to fall, she said: "Could it be? I’m getting sleepy. Go first and I’ll call you later, okay?"

"Yes, better that way." Zayden nodded while getting up.

...

Outside Haruka’s house, still at the door, they kissed briefly.

"I won’t watch you leave." Saying that, she stayed inside the house while he put on his shoes and left her house.

"See you later." He said as he said goodbye.

"Yes, see you later." She smiled beautifully.

In the car, Zayden drove away slowly.

While driving, he saw some strange things.

As that voice had said, ’the lens that hides the supernatural has fallen’. He saw next to the moon, a second moon. This moon had a mystical color, sometimes it seemed golden, sometimes blue, others white, but mostly, gray.

Another thing were the ’specters’. He saw some while driving. Their hideous appearances were frightening.

Some didn’t even have a human form, it was something more animalistic and the numbers on top of their heads were from 1 to 9 so far.

Strangely, these specters avoided him or simply didn’t care about him.

Zayden came to think: ’It must be because of the protection that that being mentioned.’

Whatever it is, he didn’t want to face a supernatural being at that moment.

...

In the presidential suite, Zayden took a long bath and threw himself on the soft bed.

Looking at the ceiling with his right hand extended, he saw the crest appear.

’Status.’ He murmured in his mind.

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[– Zayden Valtrex –]

Race: Human

Title: [Baron]

Level: 1

Next level: 0% - [0/100]

Wealth: 643,598,931 yen

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[– Attributes –]

[Strength F]: 19 [Intelligence F]: 19 [Speed E]: 18 - 21 [Recovery E]: 19 - 25 [Luck E]: 23 [Spiritual Power E]: 20

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Seeing not only the increase in the ’speed’ and ’recovery’ attributes, but also the addition of a new attribute, he tried to use it.

First, he closed his eyes, then articulating his right hand fingers well, he sent his intention to use ’Spiritual Energy’.

For a brief moment, he saw his fingers enveloped by a kind of bronze-colored aura.

When it disappeared, he tried once more, but became unable to use it.

’By the way, after everything that happened, why is the ’system’ so silent?’ Zayden became thoughtful.

After all, he basically became a supernatural being and should have been registered with two new skills or something like that. However, when he went to his skills tab, nothing new appeared.

Aside from the changes in his status – title and attributes – it didn’t seem like any other change was happening in the system.

The reason for that, he didn’t know, but he was curious, even a little disappointed.

However, his disappointment didn’t last long.

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[Hidden Mission: First ’Death’]

[No time limit task: Kill a supernatural being of level 2+!]

[Task Reward: 2x [Silver Mystery Gift Box]]

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A more than satisfactory reward. The first time he opened a box like this, he received two skills.