"So… your name is Kanzaki H. Aria?" Rian asked casually, one hand propping his chin, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses.
The girl, who had just shot at him, nodded slightly. "Just Aria. Call me Aria, it's fine."
They were now sitting side by side in front of the stand that had earlier been the scene of their absurd scuffle.
Some time had passed since the chaos, thankfully mediated by other Herald nearby.
Otherwise, Aria might have thrown a grenade at Rian, which would have obviously disrupted trade in the area—or at the very least, caused permanent damage to Rian's face.
Now, with cooler heads and slightly restrained egos, they began to speak more maturely—or at least, tried to.
"You're my servant now," Aria said suddenly, without looking at Rian. "So you have to follow me. Forever."
Rian let out a long sigh, his gaze, hidden behind his sunglasses, staring blankly at the sky.
"I'm not anyone's servant, and I'll never be yours either."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Aria snapped, her voice fiery. She closed her eyes for a moment, then jabbed a finger straight at Rian. "You have no right to refuse! You're my servant now! Period!"
Brimming with energy, Aria stood in front of Rian, pointing her finger exactly between his sunglasses and his nose.
"Come on! Let's go run missions in other worlds—right now!" she said, confident.
Rian stared at the little girl with a weary look, then muttered, "For the SPX serum I forgot to buy… what kind of logic is that?"
He straightened his slightly dusty trousers, gave them a pat, then turned his body and glanced back over his shoulder.
"All right, all right… this handsome man understands."
But before Aria could smile in triumph, Rian raised a finger. "However… this handsome man has important business. It'll take about eight days."
Aria narrowed her eyes, then sighed and crossed her arms.
"Fine. I get it. In eight days, meet me at the Entertainment Area—at the café." Her gaze sharpened. "If you don't show up… I'll put holes in your body!"
Rian responded with a faint smile and a nod, "All right, all right. But don't put holes in this handsome face of mine."
And so, after "defeating" Aria with the promise of their meeting in eight days, Rian and the girl parted ways.
Rian strolled casually toward the Residential Area, his new home in this world.
Meanwhile, from behind, Aria stood silently, watching Rian's retreating back. Her yellow eyes shone with a piercing gaze, as if analyzing a newly discovered puzzle in life.
***
In a dim, empty room devoid of furniture, Rian stood in the center, wearing all of his Equipment and Accessories.
The room was located in his residence within the Residential Area. As a newly arrived Herald, it was no surprise that the space was still bare.
Rian intended to decorate it eventually, but not now—there were far too many things he needed to handle first.
After equipping all his gear, Rian opened the status screen and tapped on the Equipment tab to activate the effects of each enhancement.
____________________
> Equipment:
- Knight Killer (unequipped)
Tier: Bronze
Type: Weapon
Effect: Grants the user a 50% increase in attack power and an additional 25% bonus against armored enemies.
Price: 20,000 System Points
- White Glove (equipped)
Tier: Black
Type: Gloves
Effect: Increases Physical Strength and Durability by 20%
Price: 4,000 System Points
- Wolf Armor (equipped)
Tier: Black
Type: Armor
Effect: Increases Physical Strength and Durability by 20%
Price: 4,000 System Points
- Black Trouser (equipped)
Tier: Black
Type: Pants
Effect: Increases Movement Speed and Jump Height by 20%
Price: 4,000 System Points
- Wind Shoe (equipped)
Tier: Black
Type: Shoes
Effect: Increases Movement Speed and Jump Height by 20%
Price: 4,000 System Points
> Accessories:
- Fake Earring (equipped)
Tier: Black
Type: Accessory
Effect: Targets Special Abilities and converts stamina into special energy (1 INT = 10 stamina).
Note: INT value is still counted.
Price: 10,000 System Points
- Void Ring (equipped)
Tier: Black
Type: Accessory
Effect: Increases all Attributes by +2 points. Contains a small space of 7 cubic meters, usable for item storage.
Price: 4,000 System Points
____________________
Once the enhancement effects from all his Equipment were activated, Rian felt his body slightly lighter.
After closing the Status Screen, Rian switched to Digital Mode, rendering all his equipped gear invisible to others.
His gaze then fell on a dagger in his right hand, its blade serrated, colored orange and black, with a gray hilt.
This dagger was known as the Knight Killer, the iconic weapon of the Shadow Monarch, Sung Jinwoo. Somehow, this legendary weapon had appeared at the Auction House, allowing Rian to acquire it.
However, unlike his other equipment, Rian could not activate the Knight Killer's effects.
The reason was simple: Rian was still at Authority Level 5, which only permitted the use of equipment up to Black Tier. Meanwhile, the Knight Killer was Bronze Tier, which could only be wielded fully by a Authority Level 4.
Even though he couldn't activate its effects, Rian didn't mind much. After all, the Knight Killer was already sharp and powerful enough, considering it was the iconic weapon of Sung Jinwoo.
The reason Rian wanted the Knight Killer was simple: its shape reminded him of a cleaver, one of the signature weapons of traditional martial artists.
For Rian, there was nothing more fitting than wielding a weapon that matched his old fighting style, rather than learning entirely new Techniques and Combat Styles.
After admiring the Knight Killer, Rian stored it inside the Void Ring, his small spatial storage accessory. With just a focused thought, the dagger was instantly absorbed into the ring.
Besides the Knight Killer, Rian also stored his Revolver along with all the bullets previously kept in his belt pouch, as well as the Chainsaw Sword hanging on his back.
Once done, Rian closed his eyes, concentrating to feel the special energy within his body, especially in his right hand, now clenched tightly.
This energy originated from the effects of the Fake Earring. Even without a related profession, thanks to the earring, he could simulate access to special energy and… activate Limitless.
Rian's current stance was almost identical to Yuji's when he had to consume Sukuna's Finger or a Cursed Womb: Death Painting.
Rian was like an object that first needed to be immersed in Cursed Energy before he could truly possess and use it himself.
"Found it…" he murmured softly, slowly opening the palm of his right hand.
Instantly, a blue energy appeared, flowing gently like a fire burning slowly.
"So… this is Special Energy?" Rian murmured, staring at the glowing flame with curiosity.
He began analyzing how Limitless worked based on the information he had.
"Logically… because of the Six Eyes, this handsome man should be able to access Gojo clan's unique Limitless automatically."
Rian wasn't wrong. The Six Eyes were indeed intrinsically connected to Limitless. That meant he should naturally be able to activate the innate technique.
When Rian obtained the Six Eyes, the system had adjusted the structure of his brain to allow him to access Limitless automatically, just like the original users of the technique.
In simple terms, the moment he acquired the Six Eyes, Rian was already destined to be able to use Limitless.
However, this time the system didn't give years to carve out the innate technique like an ordinary sorcerer.
Instead, the moment the Six Eyes were implanted, the structure of Rian's right prefrontal cortex was instantly modified, directly copying and embedding the Limitless formula like encrypted data forcibly made compatible with new hardware.
A shortcut.
But still legitimate.
That's why, the moment the Special Energy appeared in his body, the Six Eyes immediately knew what to do. Because essentially, Limitless had already become a part of him.
Yet, for some reason, Rian couldn't activate Limitless at all, despite his full concentration. The blue energy only flowed gently in his hand, like a calm flame that would never explode.
"This is weird… Why won't it activate? I already understand the concept."
"From the data I've collected, plus the Six Eyes that can see the tiniest details… and energy manipulation down to the atomic level, right?" Rian murmured, puzzled.
Ding!
____________________
Name: Rian Andromeda
Race: Human
Title: Sparkle
Job: none
Level Authority: 5
***
STR : 27 (+12)
VIT : 26 (+12)
AGI : 28 (+12)
INT : 23 (+12) [+10]
____________________
"All in all, there's nothing wrong," he muttered, cutting off the energy flow. "The effects are already applied properly… Proof being, the values appear in my Status."
Rian suddenly snapped, realizing something.
"Wait…" he squinted. "Don't tell me…"