After Alia applied a bottle full of healing potion to Quinn's wounds and bruises, she walked up to and stood behind .
anwhile, I too applied so of the healing potion to the area where Quinn had stabbed earlier.
It took around five minutes for the effects of Embrace Discard to die down, and all my stats returned to normal.
The duration for which one can maintain the effects of Embrace Discard is directly proportional to their mana core rank.
Soone with a stronger mana core like Nero would be able to maintain his boosted stats for a long ti.
However, there was a side effect of using Embrace Discard that I experienced but wasn't ntioned in the novel - executing pain.
The pain was anguishing.
It felt like every muscle fiber in my body was being ripped asunder while every bone in my body cried out in agony.
Additionally, my head felt like it would explode at any mont, and my abdon, where my mana core was situated, felt like it was on fire.
Despite the waves of pain assaulting my body, I maintained a poker face because I couldn't afford to show weakness. Not here, not now.
What irritated was the fact that such a side effect of using Embrace Discard wasn't ntioned in the novel, so it ca off as a surprise.
I don't like surprises. I want everything under my control, so it irked to an extent I couldn't describe.
Nero, who used Phoenix's Embrace hundreds of tis, never experienced any pain whatsoever.
This could an one of two things:
Either the author was too lazy to describe things, which wouldn't be surprising since he really was a bad author, or Nero never experienced pain because he was broken.
Co to think of it, Nero's pain tolerance was incredibly high in the story.
I rember reading about a vampire cutting his hand off, and Nero just stood there and fought back, unfazed and displaying no pain whatsoever.
"Uh, would you mind putting on a shirt?"
"Why are you standing so close if you have a problem with not wearing anything?"
My shirt was burnt to ashes when I used my armor. So currently, I was not wearing anything on top, causing Alia, who was standing right behind , to display discomfort.
"Because I don't want him to kill first when he wakes up," Alia shrugged.
"...So you're fine with dying after ?" I looked at her absurdly.
"Of course," she nodded. "Since that way, I would be able to see you die."
"...Alia."
"That's my na."
"You're ruthless."
"Hmph."
Shaking my head, I took out a spare shirt from the dinsional storage of my smart bracelet and began to put it on.
"And oh," Alia coughed. "You owe one."
"Rember when you almost fucked up and gave our victory away to Class 1-C-8 in the Mock War? Who saved you then?" I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, was it ? I think it was . By that calculation, I owe you nothing."
"....Tsk."
Wow!! Did this chick just click her tongue at ?! The audacity of this girl!
Yes, before coming here, I asked Alia to accompany since I knew I would need an elent of surprise while going against Quinn.
I gave her one Null Attribute Light Arrow and asked her to shoot Quinn on my signal.
Needless to say, she missed my signal on purpose and let Quinn land an extra hit or two on .
Tsk. This girl.
"Uh…"
"What now?"
"What's that red thing on your chest? It wasn't there before. Is that the armor relic that you used earlier?"
A frown appeared on my face as I heard Alia's question.
"How in the world do you know it wasn't there before?"
"....."
At my question, Alia rely sealed her lips and averted her eyes. It looked like she was holding back an urge to say sothing.
Then I rembered. I saw it in Lucas' mories. While forcing himself on her, he took his shirt off. Before he could go any further, his father and sister broke into his room and got him off her.
Wow.
There was only one way I could've made this conversation awkward, and I just did that.
I have a talent for fucking things up.
Letting out a long sigh, I massaged my forehead. I debated whether to apologize or not but then quickly decided not to.
Though I did decide to answer her question, "Yes, it's the very sa armor relic. I can summon that armor from this ruby on my chest."
"O-oh, I see," Alia nodded back. "So I guess that massive outburst of power you displayed earlier was an application of this relic?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Once I shed the armor, I gain an incrent in my stats."
"Is there a cooldown ti?"
"There is not."
"Wow! This relic is broken!"
Broken? I guess you can say that.
I get nigh-impenetrable defense, and when I want, I can boost my strength. If I die, I'll be brought back to life once. As long as I don't die, I can use the armor again.
It seed like a broken relic to too at the start. After all, that's the reason the first thing I did after coming to this world was obtain it.
However, now that I know there's a side effect to using Embrace Discard, I don't think it's broken anymore.
Now, to so people, I might be sounding like a pussy. Being scared of little pain.
To those people, I just have one thing to say:
Co take my place. Co and fucking take my place! Experience the pain I'm currently experiencing, and then say those words!
I don't even think I can use Embrace Discard twice in a row. My body wouldn't be able to handle the strain. It will break.
Still, I guess it wouldn't be wrong to call it broken.
Alia sighed, "I have to admit, rich young lords are on a different level."
I raised an eyebrow, barely holding back a laugh, "I'm sorry. What?"
"Well," she began, "you used an Illusion relic during the mock war to change your appearance, you used two arrow relics against Quinn now, and you had this sa armor relic at that ti too. Those things aren't cheap."
"I'm not rich," I replied, shaking my head with a bitter smile. "I told you before. I just have connections."
"Connections to the god of this world, I'm assuming," Alia said, rolling her eyes.
I couldn't argue with that, so I just shrugged.
I an, I really do have sothing akin to a connection with the god of this world, so I guess she is right?
"But I'm not an elite young lord anymore," I said. "I just have my surna, but my noble titles were revoked. Even in the Western Continent, I don't have any authority now."
"Yeah, who's to bla for that?"
"..."
Tsk. This girl.
"Haaa," Alia let out another short sigh. "But still, an elite must be fun, no? People bow their heads before you wherever you go. You do whatever the fuck you want with no consequences. You can have the prettiest girls, drink the fanciest wine, and have your bodyguards beat up anyone who may offend you for even bumping into you down the street. It must feel good, right?"
The frown on my face grew deeper. Where does she want this conversation to head? I an, I think I have an idea of what she wants to talk about.
So with an arched eyebrow, I played along, "Alia, do you hate elites?"
Alia gave a short chuckle, noticing that I had understood her intentions. "I don't hate elites. I hate when elite young lords act entitled to everything. They think they deserve fancy treatnt just because of their birthright. They act as if everyone should automatically respect or fear them, even though they have done nothing to earn it. So nobles even discriminate against commoners just because they were born with a silver spoon."
I see.
So this is what she was trying to say.
Everything she said described the old Lucas. So that's her plan. She is trying to guilt-trip .
Why? Does she still want to apologize?
"Al–" I began to respond, but Alia interrupted .
"I know not all elites are like that," she said, taking a deep breath as if she were preparing to unload a heavy burden off her chest. "Y-You weren't like that before."
Wait, wait, wait!
"Wha–" confused, I tried to interrupt, but she continued speaking.
"But after your awakening, you changed. Your personality flipped, and you beca depressed. I heard that you were having a hard ti with your brother and your family," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "I-I… uh, I wanted to help you, t-to console you, but you closed your heart to everyone. You stopped talking and started pushing people away, including . You didn't even let in, and that hurt!"
"Alia–" I tried to interject again, but she kept talking, her words flowing out rapidly.
"You e-even started getting involved with the wrong kind of people and bullying commoners in our school. Y-You a-also acted as if you didn't know , and when I tried to confront y-you, you… Hic!" Her voice trailed off, and she began to hiccup and sob.
"Alia!" finally getting a window, I quickly interrupted her, shocked by her words. "What are you talking about?"
"If you wanted to have that way, all you had to do was ask, Lucas!" Alia raised her voice, her body shaking but her head still down. "I would have gladly given you everything I had. So why did you act like that?! W-Why did you force ?! Why did you break my trust?! And when I asked you to apologize, you–!"
"Alia, calm down," I said, grabbing her by the shoulders. She took a few sharp breaths before finally calming down.
"Alia, answer this one thing," I said while trying so hard to not let my voice break.
In the next mont, with my tone barely above a whisper, I asked, "Did I know you before the 'incident'?"
Going from what I've read in the novel and the mories that I inherited from the owner of the body I'm currently in, Lucas did NOT know Alia before he tried to force himself on her.
They were in the sa class. However, they never interacted or knew each other prior to shortly before Lucas' little horny show.
But if that's the case, then why is the girl in front of acting as if she had known Lucas long before that?!
To answer , Alia raised her head and matched my gaze.
My heart sank seeing the sight in front of .
Tears were running down her blushing red cheeks. Her erald green eyes, filled with tears to the brim, vulnerably looked at .
"Did you know ?" she looked at with a saddened look. It was as if she was mourning a ti that was but long gone. "We were friends, Lucas! We were friends since our childhood!"
"....."
Blank.
My mind was blank.
Rember what I said about not liking surprises? Yeah, scratch that. I now HATE surprises.
What the fuck is this plot twist?!
Nothing like this was ntioned in the novel?! Moreover, nothing like this was in Lucas' mories!
I an, if they really known each other since childhood, then Lucas would surely rember about it, right?!
So then why?!
Why do I not have any mories of interacting with her before the 'incident.'
As I looked at the sight of Alia crying and sobbing, for so reason, I felt my chest tightening and twisting in pain.
Before I could even think about saying sothing, Alia wiped the tears off her face and continued.
"And although you pretended to not notice, you knew that I had feel–"
"Arghh!"
Right when she was in the middle of her point, a dissatisfied groan cut her off.
Both Alia and I instantly dropped this topic and looked over at Quinn. His limp body was finally starting to move, and he was getting up.
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