Not long after, Leoz and the others had finished their job. They didn't bother with the town's people and immediately came toward here. When they saw Alex was in Anna's embrace. They silently walked away and spread out to protect the area.
Alex slowly regained his composure. He had calmed down.
He didn't know why, but a sentence was echoing in his mind. It said, 'It is alright to stumble and fall, but make sure to stand up and pick your weapon again.'
He recalled his previous experiences, from the earth to here. He ended up agreeing with those words. He then looked at Anna and smiled. "Sorry, I made you worry."
Anna smiled. "Young Master, you don't need to shoulder everything by yourself. You are not alone. You have all of us. Please rely on us. We prefer to let others die than see you die. You might feel it is absurd, but it is our purpose.
Although I know you sent us to that place to gather EXPs and Gacha Tickets. But, as Young Master knows, we are in a place where we put our life on the line. One mistake can lead us to our death. But, I believe this experience will make you stronger and wiser."
Lecturing after comforting him, as expected of Anna. Alex didn't think about it, though. Alex closed his eyes and smiled, weighing her words in his mind. "Thank you, Anna."
"Yes. I'm glad to see you back, Young Master."
Alex rose from her embrace. He adjusted his state of mind a bit. "Have you finished there?"
"Yes. Leoz and the others were protecting us in the distance. If Young Master wants to rest for a while, you can."
Alex checked their status from their card.
Anna had another level up. Fabio also managed to reach 3-Star Martial Grandmaster while Nelson became a 6-Star Martial Grandmaster.
He then looked at his Gacha Tickets.
[Gacha Ticket x192
Premium Ticket x0
Dart x0
Summoning Ticket x0
Summoning Coin x69]
He remembered that his System issued a mission for him. As the system said, she was just supporting him. If he didn't want to kill the phoenix, the mission would never exist.
[Mission: Kill the Phoenix (Completed)
Reward: 5x Premium Ticket]
He claimed the reward and used it immediately. This time, he opened every ball by himself.
[Rank 4 Rising Flame Alchemy Cauldron (SR) x1]
[Steel Chain (C) x1]
[Grandmaster Stage Monster Blood (R) x1]
[One Random UR Spirit card (UR) x1]
[Grandmaster Stage Monster Skin (R) x1]
Alex's eyes widened, he was surprised to see another UR. He felt UR became easier to get. He recalled, at his first premium gacha, he didn't even get any UR. Now, he felt every time he used 'Draw x5' in Premium Gacha. He would get a UR.
"System, isn't the UR becomes easier to get?" Alex was unsure, so he wanted to ask if there was a change he didn't know.
[After the system fixed the Normal Gacha where you can only get maximum of Rare Rank Gacha, System also needs to balance that. To balance that, System decided to raise the probability for SR and UR in the Premium Gacha. Of course, you would still get Rare Item or below. Or should I change like back then?]
"Of course not. Thank you, System." Alex replied hurriedly. Knowing his SR and UR probability had increased, he really wanted to exchange his Normal Gacha Ticket to Premium Ticket. To do that, he could only exchange two hundred Gacha Tickets for one Premium Ticket, though.
He also looked at the new rare rank item. After he reached Martial Grandmaster, his reward for rare rank items had changed too. When he was a Martial Master, he would only get Rank 2 or Master Stage materials from rare rank items.
So, seeing this improvement, Alex was satisfied. Alex was happy when he got the cauldron too. After all, his current cauldron was only a Rank 3 Alchemy Cauldron. If he had this Rank 4 Alchemy Cauldron, his chance in making a pill would increase.
Finally, he saved the best thing for the last. He took out his only UR reward, 'One Random Spirit Card'. Alex was wondering what he would get. He took out the card.
The card was filled with rainbow color with a '?' mark on both sides.
"Use," Alex said, trying to use the card. Surprisingly, the card didn't change. He asked the system for this, "System, how do I use this?"
[You should say, 'Reveal']
After hearing that, she said again. "Reveal."
Finally, the card released a smoke, trying to be mysterious. Its appearance slowly changed to a green card. It had a picture of a person with full heavy armor, holding two half-shield in both hands. The name of the spirits was Greg.
Anna was watching him this entire time. When he got the 'Random Spirit Card', he was expecting for her sister in her heart. Unfortunately, luck didn't grant her wish. Alex got the only defender in the system, Greg.
Puzzled with her expression, he looked at her. "Anna, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Anna shook her head, trying to change her expression back to usual.
"Do you know this, Greg? He looks like he is a guardian or something?" Alex asked while looking at Greg's status.
[Gred (Earth)
Level: 1/80 (-)
Exp: 0/1000
HP: 1000
ATK: 4
DEF: 10]
"He is the best defender. For us, we call him the Spirit Guardian. He specializes in defense, but he also can attack. Although he might not be able to have a jump rank fight, he won't lose to them. In fact, he might be able to win.
Usually, he will wear his opponent out with his absurd defense. His opponent will try to attack him but to no avail. After they are exhausted, he will then attack them. Well, I'm sure Young Master knows how it feels too. To fight an absurd defensive monster. It is frustrating.
His hair is white, and his face is handsome, he also has a good body build. Sadly, he always wears armor. Seeing him without armor is a one in a million chance. He also doesn't talk much. That's all, I guess." Anna said while thinking if she missed some points or not. "Oh that's right, although his element is classified as Earth Element, his actual element is Metal.
"I see." Alex nodded. He looked at the card in his hand and said, "Summon."
The usual rainbow gate appeared in front of him and started opening its door. The figure of a full body armor guy appeared from within the gate. Greg seemed not to have any issue with his armor, Alex thought after seeing his movement.
"Young Master." Greg put his shield down and kneeled.
"Yes. Nice to meet you, Greg." Alex said.
Greg didn't say anything. He only gave Alex a nod.
Seeing this, Alex couldn't say anything. According to Anna, Greg was a quiet guy. Well, the spirits seemed to have many personalities. He was a bit curious, so he asked. "Anna, can you tell me about the other spirits too?"
"You mean...Spirits like us?" Anna asked before answering him.
"Yeah." Alex nodded.
Anna recalled the five other spirits in her mind. After she finished, she finally explained.
"The first is Vera Donatelli. Young Master must already know about this since I have told you last time. She is another Incurable Tsun-Tsun spirit. With Fabio as her husband, they were known as Tsun-Tsun Idiotic Couple. Oh, I almost forgot, She has an Ice Attribute.
Then move to the second person who is Artur. He is... Well, his personality might be good and might not be. Which one do you want to hear first, Young Master?" Anna asked him with a weird expression.
Alex was perplexed. He answered, "Then the good one first."
"Alright, the good one is he is a nice person."
Alex became more confused after hearing that. He tilted his head and asked, "Then the bad one?"
"He is too nice."
"What do you mean?" Alex furrowed his eyebrows.
"Emm... Well, you can say he is a friend of justice as he is filled with righteousness. His sense of justice is annoying sometimes as it became a trouble a few times. Well, the good thing is, sometimes, we also get rewarded by his righteousness." Anna explained while adding something in her heart. 'Well, Young Master loved to bully him too, though. Since he would never get angry. It is amusing to see him getting blamed by you even though he is not the one who did it.'
Alex couldn't really understand this one. So he just skipped this one. "Alright, next."
"Next will be the twin. The older one is male, and his name is Jean. The younger one is Jeanne. Their personality is a bit... Ugh, it is a bit awkward to say this. The younger one, Jeanne, is an S. Even Nelson praised the way of her torture.
He sometimes asked her to perform so he could get the information. But, it is better if you don't say or see something like that. It is a bit hardcore. -Gasp!- Just recalling it makes me shudder.
The older one, Jean, is the opposite of her. He is an M. Both of them always play something like what Young Master has in your memory if an S and an M meet. It just they were a little bit more hardcore.
Anyway, Jean is the only one that manages to control Jeanne. Of course, you also can control her. You just need to order it. Alright, that's all. I don't want to talk about that weird twin again!!" Anna pouted.
Alex made a weird expression. It wasn't a disgusted face or sour face. He didn't know what kind of expression he made. Alex can't help but comment, "Say, isn't Spirits have a weird but wide taste?"
Anna widened her eyes, wanting to deny it. "It is... as you say."
In the end, she couldn't deny it.
Alex shrugged his shoulder. "The last one."
"The last one is Anya. She is my twin sister. Her personality... Maybe Young Master should experience it yourself." She refused to answer this one.
"..." Alex didn't say anything. After another minute of silence, Anna became tense. Alex suddenly spoke, "Anna. I am a reincarnated person, right?"
Anna shivered when she heard that. She thought about what to say. Eventually, she answered, "Yes."
Alex had some awareness about this after his Master, Maxwell, told him about reincarnation. The truth became apparent after he met the spirits. He made a bitter smile while asking, "Then, the one you love is the previous me, right? What if I don't get back my memory, will you leave me?"
Anna's eyes opened wide when she heard what Alex said. Instead of cowering upon his question. She looked at his eyes with a serious expression. She suddenly kissed him in the mouth.
The kiss was a breeze. Alex couldn't feel anything because he was dumbstruck by the sudden kiss.
After she kissed him, she smiled at him and said, "Young Mas... No, Alex. This is my answer. Whether you can get your memory back or not. I will always stand beside you. Even if it turns out you are not him, I will still stand beside you.
This past one and a half years is not a joke. Although at first, I might love you because you are him. After this long process, I also started loving this current you. So, whatever if you are your previous self or not. I don't care because I love you. Knowing that alone is enough for me.
But I think you won't become your previous self. I am a bit sure of it. I still remember the last thing you said. You said, 'Please take care of the next me, try to make me fall in love with you again if possible.'
You didn't say to recover your memory or anything. But instead, your previous self is giving you a chance to choose. Because you and he are different. You are you, and he is he. Whether you love us back or not, we still love you. That is enough for us."
Alex was shocked to hear Anna say all of this. At first, he was thinking a little bit pessimistic about this. He refrained from asking this question a few times and finally asked it now.
He closed his eyes. He didn't know why, but he wanted to cry from asking that stupid question. 'He is he, and his previous self is his previous self.'
After weighing for a few minutes, he decided to let his past go and let the future decide when the time came. Without his previous memory, will he fall in love with them again? The answer to that question lay in the future.
Even so, he also had developed a certain degree of affection for Anna. Hearing those words from Anna really made his heart happy. Finally, Anna appeared in the picture of him with Alicia and Firia.
Not long after, Leoz and the others had finished their job. They didn't bother with the town's people and immediately came toward here. When they saw Alex was in Anna's embrace. They silently walked away and spread out to protect the area.
Alex slowly regained his composure. He had calmed down.
He didn't know why, but a sentence was echoing in his mind. It said, 'It is alright to stumble and fall, but make sure to stand up and pick your weapon again.'
He recalled his previous experiences, from the earth to here. He ended up agreeing with those words. He then looked at Anna and smiled. "Sorry, I made you worry."
Anna smiled. "Young Master, you don't need to shoulder everything by yourself. You are not alone. You have all of us. Please rely on us. We prefer to let others die than see you die. You might feel it is absurd, but it is our purpose.
Although I know you sent us to that place to gather EXPs and Gacha Tickets. But, as Young Master knows, we are in a place where we put our life on the line. One mistake can lead us to our death. But, I believe this experience will make you stronger and wiser."
Lecturing after comforting him, as expected of Anna. Alex didn't think about it, though. Alex closed his eyes and smiled, weighing her words in his mind. "Thank you, Anna."
"Yes. I'm glad to see you back, Young Master."
Alex rose from her embrace. He adjusted his state of mind a bit. "Have you finished there?"
"Yes. Leoz and the others were protecting us in the distance. If Young Master wants to rest for a while, you can."
Alex checked their status from their card.
Anna had another level up. Fabio also managed to reach 3-Star Martial Grandmaster while Nelson became a 6-Star Martial Grandmaster.
He then looked at his Gacha Tickets.
[Gacha Ticket x192
Premium Ticket x0
Dart x0
Summoning Ticket x0
Summoning Coin x69]
He remembered that his System issued a mission for him. As the system said, she was just supporting him. If he didn't want to kill the phoenix, the mission would never exist.
[Mission: Kill the Phoenix (Completed)
Reward: 5x Premium Ticket]
He claimed the reward and used it immediately. This time, he opened every ball by himself.
[Rank 4 Rising Flame Alchemy Cauldron (SR) x1]
[Steel Chain (C) x1]
[Grandmaster Stage Monster Blood (R) x1]
[One Random UR Spirit card (UR) x1]
[Grandmaster Stage Monster Skin (R) x1]
Alex's eyes widened, he was surprised to see another UR. He felt UR became easier to get. He recalled, at his first premium gacha, he didn't even get any UR. Now, he felt every time he used 'Draw x5' in Premium Gacha. He would get a UR.
"System, isn't the UR becomes easier to get?" Alex was unsure, so he wanted to ask if there was a change he didn't know.
[After the system fixed the Normal Gacha where you can only get maximum of Rare Rank Gacha, System also needs to balance that. To balance that, System decided to raise the probability for SR and UR in the Premium Gacha. Of course, you would still get Rare Item or below. Or should I change like back then?]
"Of course not. Thank you, System." Alex replied hurriedly. Knowing his SR and UR probability had increased, he really wanted to exchange his Normal Gacha Ticket to Premium Ticket. To do that, he could only exchange two hundred Gacha Tickets for one Premium Ticket, though.
He also looked at the new rare rank item. After he reached Martial Grandmaster, his reward for rare rank items had changed too. When he was a Martial Master, he would only get Rank 2 or Master Stage materials from rare rank items.
So, seeing this improvement, Alex was satisfied. Alex was happy when he got the cauldron too. After all, his current cauldron was only a Rank 3 Alchemy Cauldron. If he had this Rank 4 Alchemy Cauldron, his chance in making a pill would increase.
Finally, he saved the best thing for the last. He took out his only UR reward, 'One Random Spirit Card'. Alex was wondering what he would get. He took out the card.
The card was filled with rainbow color with a '?' mark on both sides.
"Use," Alex said, trying to use the card. Surprisingly, the card didn't change. He asked the system for this, "System, how do I use this?"
[You should say, 'Reveal']
After hearing that, she said again. "Reveal."
Finally, the card released a smoke, trying to be mysterious. Its appearance slowly changed to a green card. It had a picture of a person with full heavy armor, holding two half-shield in both hands. The name of the spirits was Greg.
Anna was watching him this entire time. When he got the 'Random Spirit Card', he was expecting for her sister in her heart. Unfortunately, luck didn't grant her wish. Alex got the only defender in the system, Greg.
Puzzled with her expression, he looked at her. "Anna, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Anna shook her head, trying to change her expression back to usual.
"Do you know this, Greg? He looks like he is a guardian or something?" Alex asked while looking at Greg's status.
[Gred (Earth)
Level: 1/80 (-)
Exp: 0/1000
HP: 1000
ATK: 4
DEF: 10]
"He is the best defender. For us, we call him the Spirit Guardian. He specializes in defense, but he also can attack. Although he might not be able to have a jump rank fight, he won't lose to them. In fact, he might be able to win.
Usually, he will wear his opponent out with his absurd defense. His opponent will try to attack him but to no avail. After they are exhausted, he will then attack them. Well, I'm sure Young Master knows how it feels too. To fight an absurd defensive monster. It is frustrating.
His hair is white, and his face is handsome, he also has a good body build. Sadly, he always wears armor. Seeing him without armor is a one in a million chance. He also doesn't talk much. That's all, I guess." Anna said while thinking if she missed some points or not. "Oh that's right, although his element is classified as Earth Element, his actual element is Metal.
"I see." Alex nodded. He looked at the card in his hand and said, "Summon."
The usual rainbow gate appeared in front of him and started opening its door. The figure of a full body armor guy appeared from within the gate. Greg seemed not to have any issue with his armor, Alex thought after seeing his movement.
"Young Master." Greg put his shield down and kneeled.
"Yes. Nice to meet you, Greg." Alex said.
Greg didn't say anything. He only gave Alex a nod.
Seeing this, Alex couldn't say anything. According to Anna, Greg was a quiet guy. Well, the spirits seemed to have many personalities. He was a bit curious, so he asked. "Anna, can you tell me about the other spirits too?"
"You mean...Spirits like us?" Anna asked before answering him.
"Yeah." Alex nodded.
Anna recalled the five other spirits in her mind. After she finished, she finally explained.
"The first is Vera Donatelli. Young Master must already know about this since I have told you last time. She is another Incurable Tsun-Tsun spirit. With Fabio as her husband, they were known as Tsun-Tsun Idiotic Couple. Oh, I almost forgot, She has an Ice Attribute.
Then move to the second person who is Artur. He is... Well, his personality might be good and might not be. Which one do you want to hear first, Young Master?" Anna asked him with a weird expression.
Alex was perplexed. He answered, "Then the good one first."
"Alright, the good one is he is a nice person."
Alex became more confused after hearing that. He tilted his head and asked, "Then the bad one?"
"He is too nice."
"What do you mean?" Alex furrowed his eyebrows.
"Emm... Well, you can say he is a friend of justice as he is filled with righteousness. His sense of justice is annoying sometimes as it became a trouble a few times. Well, the good thing is, sometimes, we also get rewarded by his righteousness." Anna explained while adding something in her heart. 'Well, Young Master loved to bully him too, though. Since he would never get angry. It is amusing to see him getting blamed by you even though he is not the one who did it.'
Alex couldn't really understand this one. So he just skipped this one. "Alright, next."
"Next will be the twin. The older one is male, and his name is Jean. The younger one is Jeanne. Their personality is a bit... Ugh, it is a bit awkward to say this. The younger one, Jeanne, is an S. Even Nelson praised the way of her torture.
He sometimes asked her to perform so he could get the information. But, it is better if you don't say or see something like that. It is a bit hardcore. -Gasp!- Just recalling it makes me shudder.
The older one, Jean, is the opposite of her. He is an M. Both of them always play something like what Young Master has in your memory if an S and an M meet. It just they were a little bit more hardcore.
Anyway, Jean is the only one that manages to control Jeanne. Of course, you also can control her. You just need to order it. Alright, that's all. I don't want to talk about that weird twin again!!" Anna pouted.
Alex made a weird expression. It wasn't a disgusted face or sour face. He didn't know what kind of expression he made. Alex can't help but comment, "Say, isn't Spirits have a weird but wide taste?"
Anna widened her eyes, wanting to deny it. "It is... as you say."
In the end, she couldn't deny it.
Alex shrugged his shoulder. "The last one."
"The last one is Anya. She is my twin sister. Her personality... Maybe Young Master should experience it yourself." She refused to answer this one.
"..." Alex didn't say anything. After another minute of silence, Anna became tense. Alex suddenly spoke, "Anna. I am a reincarnated person, right?"
Anna shivered when she heard that. She thought about what to say. Eventually, she answered, "Yes."
Alex had some awareness about this after his Master, Maxwell, told him about reincarnation. The truth became apparent after he met the spirits. He made a bitter smile while asking, "Then, the one you love is the previous me, right? What if I don't get back my memory, will you leave me?"
Anna's eyes opened wide when she heard what Alex said. Instead of cowering upon his question. She looked at his eyes with a serious expression. She suddenly kissed him in the mouth.
The kiss was a breeze. Alex couldn't feel anything because he was dumbstruck by the sudden kiss.
After she kissed him, she smiled at him and said, "Young Mas... No, Alex. This is my answer. Whether you can get your memory back or not. I will always stand beside you. Even if it turns out you are not him, I will still stand beside you.
This past one and a half years is not a joke. Although at first, I might love you because you are him. After this long process, I also started loving this current you. So, whatever if you are your previous self or not. I don't care because I love you. Knowing that alone is enough for me.
But I think you won't become your previous self. I am a bit sure of it. I still remember the last thing you said. You said, 'Please take care of the next me, try to make me fall in love with you again if possible.'
You didn't say to recover your memory or anything. But instead, your previous self is giving you a chance to choose. Because you and he are different. You are you, and he is he. Whether you love us back or not, we still love you. That is enough for us."
Alex was shocked to hear Anna say all of this. At first, he was thinking a little bit pessimistic about this. He refrained from asking this question a few times and finally asked it now.
He closed his eyes. He didn't know why, but he wanted to cry from asking that stupid question. 'He is he, and his previous self is his previous self.'
After weighing for a few minutes, he decided to let his past go and let the future decide when the time came. Without his previous memory, will he fall in love with them again? The answer to that question lay in the future.
Even so, he also had developed a certain degree of affection for Anna. Hearing those words from Anna really made his heart happy. Finally, Anna appeared in the picture of him with Alicia and Firia.
