The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

[Fourth Requirement: Obtain a phrase from the Golden Scriptures.]

[Requirement Status: Unfulfilled.]

Ravian’s gaze froze on the words, and merely reading the name seemed to weigh down his mind, accompanied by a faint sense that something within him was at odds with it.

’The Golden Scriptures?’ Ravian repeated in his mind.

Before he could continue his question, another window expanded over the first.

[Warning.]

[If the Host finds them, he must not look at their contents.]

[The Host must do no more than touch them, and Sovereign Pride will handle the rest.]

[Again: Do not attempt to understand anything within them.]

The usual calm vanished from Ravian’s face, replaced by intense focus and razor-sharp vigilance.

The wording of the warning was unfamiliar; the System had not merely forbidden him from using something or told him that his rank was insufficient, but had warned him against even attempting to understand it or examine its contents.

He reread the requirement’s name, finding nothing in the words that explained the warning.

’You want me to obtain a phrase from something I’m not supposed to read?’

[The Host is not required to interpret the phrase.]

[The Host needs only touch whatever bears it, whether a book, a sheet of paper, or even a letter; Sovereign Pride will handle the rest.]

Ravian scratched the edge of his eyebrow with one finger.

He could have objected to the strangeness of the request, but he saw no point in disputing the danger. Not long ago, merely looking into the Void within his soul had nearly robbed him of his consciousness despite his Absolute Focus.

The ability to focus on something was no guarantee that looking at it was a good idea. Yet something else seemed to flicker behind Ravian’s eyes, though he chose not to voice it.

’All right. We only touch it; we don’t read it or try to understand it.’

He would have preferred to know more, but the repeated warning did not encourage him to test how many answers he could pry out of the System. What had happened with Truth was more than enough to show him that his regression was not the absolute safeguard he had believed it to be, while finding the Scriptures themselves remained a problem he had yet to begin solving.

He closed the windows and remained seated for a few moments, organizing everything he had learned so far to decide his next step.

He needed to fulfill the condition whose Records he had lost—the kill condition—then obtain a Seventh-Rank heart, find a phrase he was not allowed to read, and retain at least ten extra lives throughout it all. His Physique had already completed the necessary advancement this time, sparing him the need to push it through another transformation to fulfill that requirement.

The Eighth Rank did not seem close, but it was no longer a vague unknown, and the path ahead was much easier for Ravian to navigate than before, especially compared to when he had still been a Tenth-Rank Awakened. His current situation was a vast improvement over his previous blind stumbling.

Ravian rose from the bed, stretching his arms out slightly before lowering them again. His supple body offered little resistance, his joints cracking after their prolonged stillness, and he no longer felt the disturbance that had weighed upon his soul since his return from the Nightmare; instead, he felt far stronger than he had expected.

He opened the door and stepped into the corridor.

Larette was approaching from the other end, and when she saw him, she slowed her steps before drawing closer with a smile on her delicate face.

”Rayan, my father has agreed to meet you,” she said with quiet excitement, keeping her voice low in the corridor.

Ravian raised his eyes to her.

”Already? When did that happen?”

”If you’re ready, I can take you to him now, if you’d like,” Larette said, playfully tugging his hand with both of hers.

She was about to say something else when her gaze dropped to his hand, where her fingers had brushed against a dried patch on his pale palm, and her eyes widened.

”Is that blood?”

”Oh.” Ravian looked at the small spot on his palm as though he had only just remembered it was there.

”Just a slight nosebleed from exhaustion. It’s already stopped, so don’t worry,” Ravian said, patting her head as though she were a little girl.

She did not seem convinced that his answer explained everything, so she lifted her eyes to his face and studied him for a moment.

”Are you really all right?”

Larette seemed to have realized that Ravian disliked excessive worry and chatter, so she was trying her hardest to rein both in.

Ravian looked at her for a moment, then nodded.

”Better than before... much better.”

It was an entirely truthful answer, even if it lacked the details she might have wanted.

He gave her a moment to study him before adding, ”But I need to bathe first. I haven’t had a bath in a while, and I’d rather not sit before your father looking this disheveled.”

Larette glanced at his clothes, then back at his face.

”I don’t think you’re ugly at all,” Larette said, simply stating the truth as she saw it, before continuing. ”And you could have asked for a bath to be prepared at any time while you were in your room, Rayan.”

’Why does that sound so inappropriate to me?’ Ravian thought as he looked at her beautiful, innocent smile. ’It must be that damned Nightmare making me think like this.’

Once again, Ravian was blaming others for his own dirty thoughts.

”It seems I got caught up in a few things and forgot to ask you earlier, Larette,” Ravian said simply, scratching the back of his head.

”I noticed,” Larette said, nodding again and again with her attention fixed intently on him.

She resembled a bear cub as she made those odd little movements, but Ravian offered no comment and preferred to wrap things up quickly.

Nor did Larette try to pry anything else out of him; instead, she turned to a maid passing nearby and asked her to prepare the bath and bring clean towels before turning back to him.

”I’ll tell my father you’re getting ready. Do you need anything else?”

He almost limited his requests to water and clothes, but the System’s words about soul refinement returned to his mind.

”Are there books on Soul Crown refinement in the manor’s library?”

Larette raised an eyebrow.

”Of course.”

”I want a clear reference that starts with the basics and doesn’t assume the reader already knows some of what it covers,” Ravian said before pausing briefly. ”Put simply, I want something a person reading about soul power for the first time could understand.”

”The basics? Are you planning to give it to a beggar on the street or something?” Larette asked.

The remark struck Ravian like a train straight to the heart, but he let none of it show on his face.

”Especially the basics, please.”