Warm. That was how it felt. He couldn't say anything to describe the feeling other than warm. It felt like sunbathing on an early summer day. It just warm. If he would like to describe it, it felt like he was in his mother's embrace.
He snorted at that thought. He had never received mother's love, nor did he know his mother. To simplify the matter, he settled with describing it as comfortable.
The weightlessness never bothered him since the beginning. Of course, it was weird to feel weightless. But, at least he didn't feel like he was spinning like an idiot dog chasing its tail.
He was really close to close his eyes, not that his eyes were opened. He couldn't see anything! It was a strange occurrence to him. Previously, his mind was in a state of disarray due to his death, so he didn't quite pay any attention to his surrounding. Now that he did, he was a little bewildered.
It felt like a lucid dream where you could do anything, but couldn't do it at the same time. When he thought to open his eyes, he was aware of his surrounding, forcing him to close them back. No. He didn't even know how to open his eyes.
It was very confusing, but he chose to go with the flow and chill. Just like that, he felt a pull. He felt his body regained its weight slowly.
Then, turned out it was because the pulling force was getting stronger by the second. It could only mean one thing. He was getting closer to the gravity source. At that moment...
'Just great! Did I make a deal with an omnipotent being just to be turned to paste?'
He had inkling already. The very being he met earlier was an omnipotent being. After all, who could just show up after he died, and offered him something cliche like fixing his regrets? Judging by the line said by the omnipotent being, it was likely that he would be sent to the past.
It was easy to deduce it, especially for someone like him. He was different than those people who were slow on the uptake. Just like that, he momentarily forgot that his body was getting pulled stronger than before.
By the time he realized it. A sense of foreboding was so thick he couldn't even think of a solution.
'Am I going to end for the second time? But, strangely I feel ecstatic.'
He wasn't a talkative person at the very first place. Given his stoic and rather cold demeanor, no one would dare to casually start a conversation with him. Thus, he often had his moment of weirdness in his head.
'Whatever. This Lord will take what this predicament has to offer.'
Even at times like this, he didn't forget to act like himself. Just when he embraced himself for impact...
Plink!
He dropped like a drop of water.
'Hm?'
As expected of Basil. The reaction was pretty dull. He merely quirked his eyebrow! Normally, people would be flustered when things didn't go as they had expected.
However, Basil was different. He wasn't someone who thought the world was spinning around him. He knew to not expect everything would go as he wished. Therefore, he could remain unsurprised until the end.
Deciding to go with the flow, he relaxed his body. He was lying on something pretty comfortable. If he were to guess, it would be a bed.
'Hm? A bed? I can feel my body!'
A realisation dawned upon him. Without wasting anymore time, he opened his eyes. An unfamiliar ceiling greeted him. No, to be precise, it was a ceiling he had long forgotten. A sense of nostalgic washed over him. Though it went faster than it came.
This ceiling reminded him of his struggle back at those painful days. Yes, it wasn't only bitter, but also painful.
He righted himself and sat on the bed. The room was plain. A fourth of it was occupied by a rack filled with books. There was one desk with books on top, in front of his bed. On his side, there was a rather luxurious medium sized closet.
He got off the bed and immediately noticed his extremely feeble and untrained body. Clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction, he went to the mirror attached on one of the doors of the closet.
When he saw his look in the mirror an exclamation came out of his mouth.
"Who is this sissy? Well, it's me. But.. where has my manly appearance gone!?"
He was close to losing himself. It was himself in his youth. He looked like a girl in his youth. It was one of the reasons he had always been bullied back those days.
At the later days, he trained so hard just for the sake of getting a manly appearance. He did turn manlier, though he was still pretty. Undoubtedly, no one dare enough to say it on his face.
"Huuh..." A sigh escaped. "Judging by my appearance, bone's density and the amount of Mana or lack thereof, I am 16 currently. So, it means I have returned to 40 years ago."
Just using his experience, he could know precisely the time he was sent back. He didn't feel proud about it. It was normal to him. Half a century was a lot of time to learn many things.
"Hmmm... My body feels sore."
A light groan was heard before he went to check his body. He lifted his tunic shirt and there a battered white skin was exposed. He wasn't flustered. He he had already had it in his last life. He merely inspected it.
"It wasn't that long since I got these. Judging by the color and the muscle state, it is likely two hours ago. They did quite a number on this body."
He wore his shirt back and was about to tend his injury when a bell followed by a mechanical asexual voice rang in his head.
[Ding!]
[Guide to Omniscience is successfully merged with The Chosen One]
[Analyzing The Chosen One's mental capability...]
[Analyzation Complete!]
[Result: The Chosen One is retarded]
[Initiate Brain Configuration!]
He couldn't quite follow the strange event happening to him. However, he could get the most crucial part of it —
'I, this Lord, am a retard? Insolent!'
— or not.
Just as he was about to look for the source of the voice, an excruciating pain assaulted his head. His sight went blurry. Fortunately, he knew better than anyone what to do in this kind of situation.
'I need to head to the bed!'
Yes, a bed was necessary for this. Just imagine what could go wrong when you let your body carelessly landed on the ground! Concussion had the highest possibility to happen.
By the time he reached his bed, he had already lost his consciousness.
Puk!
His body slammed into the bed face on. Just like that, he remained unmoving. After who knows how long had past, his hands pushed his body upward, and he stood quietly in front of his bed.
"I feel light-headed. I can think faster. I can speed up my thoughts, making me see things slowly."
He murmured quietly while observing his surrounding. Right now, he looked like someone admiring something he had never encountered before.
"I hadn't learned Magic at this point. Obviously, I don't have any Mana inside my body. So, this is all thanks to my improved brain. Compared to this, saying that I was retarded didn't feel wrong. Of course, it's still wrong."
It seemed he remained adamant upon his mental capability.
"Then, what was that Guide to Omniscience?"
He was about to form several theories in his mind about it, when the same mechanical voice rang in his head.
[Answering The Chosen One's ignorance...]
[Guide to Omniscience, as its name implies, is a guide that provides every knowledge to The Chosen One until he/she reaches the state of Omniscience. The knowledge would not be given unconditionally, for The Chosen One has to fulfill a certain condition to be provided with the knowledge.]
'Hm? Condition? What is the condition?'
[Congratulations for clearing one of your ignorance!]
[Just as the word goes, "Dare he not to ask, may he remain astray!" You have to ask to be given the answer.]
'So, from this I could deduce that I don't have to say it with my mouth for my question to be answered. Then, who gave me the Guide?'
[The Chosen One has not yet given the authority to know.]
'Huh? So I'm not worthy enough? Then, what does The Chosen One mean?'
[As its name implies, The Chosen One is someone bestowed with Guide to Omniscience. The Chosen One has two options regarding the Guide to Omniscience. First, The Chosen One can attain Omniscience with the Guide. Second, The Chosen One can choose to reject the Guide. However, the latter is highly unrecommended.]
'Hmm... Is the Guide sentient?'
[The Guide is not sentient. The Guide was created with a very complicated program which is aiming at the helpfulness to The Chosen One. Although the Guide isn't sentient, by the time the Guide is merged with The Chosen One, the Guide will be similar to the symbiote, in which the Host needs the symbiote.]
'Hmph! Look at this arrogant thing. You need me to exist, don't you?'
[No, the Guide doesn't need the Host to exist. The Guide could just return to where it belongs, if the Host chose to reject it.]
'...'
He wasn't speechless though. It wasn't in his character to be flustered with something inanimate.
[The Guide is not inanimate. The Guide was made with a profound concept where the boundary between inanimate object and living things is blurred...]
It had much to say. However, he chose to ignore it. Instead, he had a pondering look on his face. He remembered the deal he made with the omnipotent being. No, he tried to think the deal he made with the omnipotent being.
It couldn't be helped. He wasn't told the deal. The last thing he heard was, "Enjoy your trip!" How could he suppose to formulate something out of that?
He thought that being sent to the past was the deal he had made. Now, with the existence of the Guide, he deduced that it was the real deal. Therefore, he wouldn't reject it.
There were so many things he hadn't discovered about the Guide, and he planned to uncover it one by one.
'Though, I know many things already. What it has to offer?'
[Contrary to the Host's belief, his knowledge is merely a grain of sand on thousands of the beaches in the entire universe. Compared to the knowledge contained in the Guide to Omniscience, the Host is no better than a retard.]
'My, my, look at this arrogant thing. Was that the reason you called me a retard before?'
[No, it wasn't. The reason why Brain Configuration was initiated was due to the damage to the Host's soul, resulting in the mental handicap. Another reason was to provide a suitable brain for accepting the knowledge that would be embedded in the Host's brain.]
'I see. So the knowledge would be embedded in my brain directly. Then, would I instantly learn the full knowledge provided by the Guide?'
[Yes, and no. The knowledge will be instantly learned by the Host, yet not the full knowledge is given. To have the full knowledge, the Host must ask the suitable question.]
'Okay, I got it already.'
No reply came out of the Guide anymore. His decision was reaffirmed once again. He, Basil Pacifer, will announce his presence to the world once again.
"This time, I, Basil Pacifer, will make the world bend to my will!"
Just as usual, he remained overbearing.
