The Extra's Odyssey Chapter 36 Behind The Veil [1]

"Accept"
[You have accepted the Quest]
[Acceptance Reward Received – Skill[Synchronization]
======
[Synchronization] – Locked
--> Temporarily boots your overall rank, skill ranks, and mastery in arts by one rank.
--> Synchronize with ???
--> ???
Number of Uses: 4
Unlock Requirements: Iota-rank
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My eyes widened at the description of Synchronization.
Gaining a rank, even if temporary, was nothing to scoff at. There were some skills or artifacts that boost your rank, but most of them won't be effective from Enma-rank.
Enma-rank was the boundary that separated humans and 'real' superhumans. After crossing Enma-rank the power gap between ranks increases many folds.
The biggest boon about the skill was that it had no rank restriction. I could even use it as a Hatamoto or Gamma rank awakener.
But the second line in the description bothered me.
"What will I synchronize with?"
This line was a glaring red flag no matter how you see it. It didn't help to lessen my suspicion that this kind of skill was something never shown in 'Hero has Returned'.
I racked my brain for any possible answer, but nothing came to my mind.
The skill couldn't have been any more suspicious. It was almost as if someone didn't want me to use it.
"I should only use this skill after knowing what I was going to synchronize with. "
Since I didn't know what I would synchronize with and the number of uses was limited, I decided to not use it until I was sure what it was.
"Let's look at the book first."
Flipping the book open, I began experimenting with it.
The first thing I did was rewrite the lines.
Picking a pen, I tried to write the lines before words automatically appeared on the page.
I was able to write in the book, but everything was erased after 10 seconds.
The next thing I did was erase the written content.
But whatever I did, I couldn't make any changes to what was already written in the book.
"Ah! I should try with ether."
Can't believe I made such a rookie mistake.
Circulating ether into my palms, I grabbed the book.
Unlike the previous times, the moment I touched the book, something different happened.
The golden patterns on the cover lit up brightly, while the red patterns lit dimly.
Instinctively realising what I had to do, I increased the amount of ether. Immediately, two more lines appeared inside the book.
Up-till now, the words were being written in real-time. But the moment I supplied ether, two more lines of context appeared in one go, and after that, more words stopped appearing.
Waiting for a few seconds, the words again started continuously appearing.
"Is this…."
I again supplied ether, but this time in a much larger quantity.
The moment I did so, half a page worth of context suddenly appeared. After waiting for a minute, the words again started being written in the book.
My lips curled up as I realized what this book could do.
Still, I needed to make sure my theory was correct, so I experimented for a few more minutes with a stopwatch.
After half an hour, I was lying on my bed while heavily panting. Sweat covered my entire forehead and my clothes clung to my body. Yet there was a smile on my face.
"The book can show me the future proportional to the amount of ether I supply."
The concept was similar to the web novels I used to read.
Ether was the currency I had to pay to read chapters that were not yet released. After I unlock the extra chaps, I had to wait for the regular chapter to reach where I was for the story to continue or use even more ether to unlock more chapters.
Only that in this case what I got was more number of lines and not chapters.
I felt euphoric. The book actually was an OP item.
The ability was very helpful. If used correctly, it could overturn dangerous situations. I could also use the book to see if the story was going on the correct path.
I could only see up to two pages worth of future and with the detailed writing style of the book, I doubted if it was more than a few minutes in reality. Yet the potential the book held was unlimited.
As long as my ether reserves grew, I will be able to see much farther in the future.
Subconsciously, I exhaled a long sigh, and the strength left my body.
Finally, after a month of arriving in this world, I felt at ease.
This was the first time I got something that was actually useful and had no backlash I could see.
Earlier, when I said that I was getting an OP cheat, I was only half serious.
It wasn't my fault, though. Since arriving in this world, everything was going in a twisted way, no matter how hard I tried.
In the Entrance Examination, I antagonized Ryan.
After that, I came into Ward thinking that everything will be fine from here.
Only to later know that Lilith and Isabell knew Nathan. Also, for reasons unknown to me, Leon was trying to befriend me.
Finally, I got an opportunity called Lark, which I used to set my status as an insane person. Now, Leon and Lilith no longer bothered me.
But this only led Mia to me.
Since the beginning, everything was only a downward spiral.
"The Dungeon of Trials is even worse."
The massacre that would happen in the Dungeon of trial was dangerous. But it could be avoided if one was lucky.
The problem was, for me, the severity of danger didn't depend on luck.
"Nether and Ether are opposite in nature. I will be the first priority of the Royal Demon."
I couldn't tell anybody.
I couldn't ask for help.
I wasn't allowed to skip the test.
Many a time, I thought about giving up and running away.
After all, I was supposed to survive an unkillable being that, should it detect the presence of Ether, would leave everything to devour me.
But now, holding the book in my hands, I was feeling a lot calmer.
"It's actually helpful."
This book cut my anxieties by a lot. It was the first thing I received in this world that held no demerit.
"The skill and the quest are debatable, but if you can hear it, thanks HB."
Today would be the first day I could sleep peacefully in this world.
***
Around midnight, Nathan was peacefully sleeping on his bed.
On his desk rested a black book that read 'Saga of Heroes'. The book had golden and dimly lit red patterns on its cover.
The curtains fluttered from the night breeze, allowing the moonlight to enter.
Unknown to Nathan inside his soul, there were changes the moment he received the Synchronisation.
At the far end of the void, which couldn't be brightened by the constellations, there was an enormous black veil.
Hours passed as Nathan's chest rose and sank rhythmically. Pale moonlight entered the room, basking in the room in its silvery color.
Everything was peaceful when suddenly a string of notifications appeared in front of Nathan.
[Code Black! Code Black!]
[■■■■■■■■■■■ found]
[Requesting permission to increase the rate of Edna]
[Permission granted]
[Beginning the Extermination]
Nathan's body twitched once.
But it didn't stop there.
One twitch, two twitches, three twitches. Within seconds, his body began spasming all over.
He contorted as the spasms increased in ferocity.
A groan leaked from Nathan's mouth and his eyes fluttered open.
But there was no semblance of life in his eyes.
He completely looked like a doll, lifeless.
Inside his soul, cracks began appearing. The empty void started shattering, revealing a grey sky beyond it.
Large turbulence exited from the cracks wreaking havoc inside his soul. The constellations Nathan had painstakingly created started breaking.
Nathan's body didn't show any reaction to other than his earlier groan and the spasms. It was almost as if it was a corpse and not an alive person.
The cracks began enlarging at an alarming pace. Soon they reached the veil hidden in the corner of Nathan's soul.
The moment cracks touched the veil, something even more astonishing happened.
CLANK-! CLANK-!
Like a loud thunderclap, the noise of the clanking of chains reverberated throughout his soul. The noise increased in magnitude and kept steadily increasing.
By now, cracks covered almost the entirety of Nathan's soul, revealing the grey sky, but the veil remained unperturbed.
Finally, the cracks touched the veil.
CLANK-! CLANK-!
Instantly, hundreds of chains erupted from the veil. They extended limitlessly and wrapped around the cracks.
Within seconds, a chain was wrapped around every single crack, halting their growth.
The rattling of chains echoed as they started tightening around the cracks. Slowly, the cracks started mending.
Yet the turbulence exiting them didn't stop and kept wreaking havoc. Hundreds of new cracks formed every second from the turbulence.
Nathan's soul was the one on the verge of annihilation when suddenly….
"Synchronization"
A low yet loud voice boomed inside his soul.
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