Chapter 277: The Wheel’s First Turn
Hearing the familiar, gentle voice, Ruvian snapped awake from his sleep. He was deathly pale, reeking of sweat as though he had drowned and was brought back from the lake.
The aftertaste of death was still horrifyingly vivid, clinging stubbornly to his senses until the urge to vomit became almost unbearable.
Unable to hold it back any longer, Ruvian doubled over the side of the bed and threw up.
The moment Avina saw him, terror flashed across her face. She rushed to his side and steadied him by his shoulders.
"Ruvian! What’s wrong!?"
However, Ruvian remained unresponsive.
His mind was still elsewhere.
As for Yuzuki?
This time, for some reason, he was no longer trapped behind Ruvian’s eyes. Instead, he possessed a corporeal body of his own and could traverse the vision freely, so long as he stayed within Ruvian’s vicinity.
After discovering he could do that, Yuzuki pulled over a chair and sat beside the desk.
’So... OG Ruvian was a regressor, huh?’
Judging from the vision he had just witnessed and the way Ruvian reacted, this appeared to be his very first regression.
Frankly speaking, this was quite the revelation to him as well.
However, if that was truly the case, and if Ruvian was such a pivotal figure, as he ought to be because of an ability like that, then why had the novel he read never mentioned any of it?
Yuzuki fell silent.
Then, an even bigger question surfaced.
’...Hold on. Then which timeline was the novel actually written in?’
If the novel had followed Zian’s perspective all along, then which regression cycle had Ruvian been on for the story of the version Yuzuki had proofread?
More importantly still, Ruvian and Zian had seemed like close friends in the vision he had witnessed earlier. If they had been that close even before the regression cycle began, then why hadn’t Zian become friends with Ruvian in the novel?
’Ugh... damn it. This is so confusing.’
Yuzuki let out a weary sigh and rubbed a hand across his face, his gaze drifting toward Ruvian, who was slowly beginning to calm down on the bed beside his mother.
’And also...’
Yuzuki sighed.
Now that he thought about it, if Ruvian was truly a regressor, then why the hell hadn’t he inherited that ability after transmigrating into his body? Why the hell did he get the blessing of a strong mind instead of regression?
’Haaa... so many damn questions, yet not a single damn answer.’ He clicked his tongue.
Because of that, he decided to stick even closer to Ruvian. Chasing answers blindly was pointless. For now, all he could do was watch, wait, and piece everything together one clue at a time.
*****
After Ruvian had finally calmed down, he explained to his mother that he had merely suffered a terrible nightmare.
Avina wasn’t entirely convinced. She pressed him for the truth, but Ruvian refused to back down, repeatedly insisting that he was perfectly fine.
Once she finally left the room, Ruvian immediately turned his attention to his [Runeheart] and began inspecting it. Yuzuki silently observed as he pried into it.
Honestly, he had been worried he wouldn’t be able to see it anymore now that he was no longer experiencing the world through Ruvian’s eyes. Fortunately, that fear proved unnecessary.
He could still see Ruvian’s [Runeheart] without any issue.
{}---『RUNEHEART』---{}
◇ Name: Ruvian Castelor
◇ Age: 17
◇ Spellcore: Tier 1
◇ Rank: Fifth-Class Magus
◇ Magic Affinity: None
[Mana Resonance: (0/100)]
==[General Attributes]==
Strength: F
Agility: F
Endurance: F
Vitality: F+
Perception: E-
==[Magic Attributes]==
Mana Control: F+
Casting Speed: F
Magic Power: F-
Mental Strength: F
Mana Sensitivity: E-
Mana Essence: [100/100]
==========
Yuzuki was stunned by the stats. It suddenly dawned on him that the people of this world perceived their [Runeheart] differently from the way he did.
’It doesn’t show his blessing and affinity mastery.’
He was different because of the Editorial System.
’Wait... why the hell do I need to wait for him? I can just do it myself, right? We are practically the same person? Or did we not?’
Will it still work?
On a whim, Yuzuki summoned his own [Runeheart].
Fortunately, it still worked.
The familiar runic letters materialized before him, though this time they contained additional information.
==[Innate Blessings]==
- [Blessing of the Wheel of Time]
==[Affinity Mastery]==
- [None]
=========
’Just as I thought... his blessing is different from mine.’
Ruvian stared at the floating runes without blinking. His fingers slowly curled into a fist as his breathing turned uneven.
Then, he lowered his head and whispered, "I have... I have returned to the past. These are the attributes of the old me, before I enrolled into Velthia."
His gaze slowly traced every line of his [Runeheart]. The familiar values staring back at him were so pitiful that a bitter smile almost escaped his lips.
"But... what am I supposed to do now?" Ruvian muttered, his fingers trembling as they slowly tightened around the edge of the blanket.
"The demons are still out there. None of this has happened yet... of course it hasn’t."
He lowered his head even further, his lips pressing into a thin line. "But in about a year... they’re going to attack the capital."
The last few words barely left his mouth, almost swallowed by the silence.
Yuzuki’s brows slowly knit together. His eyes remained fixed on Ruvian as those words echoed inside his mind.
’A year?’
That was the biggest piece of information he had uncovered so far.
The novel he had read ended with the Sevenfold Tournament Arc. That point in the story was still well before the one-year mark. No wonder he hadn’t recognized the horrifying events he had just witnessed.
But if the invasion was still about a year away, would that be enough time to prepare? More importantly, what had the OG Ruvian done to stop it?
Then, another knock came from the door, followed by a familiar silhouette stretching across the doorway. When Ruvian looked up, he saw his mother standing there, framed by the worn wooden door.
Her gentle blue eyes rested on him with quiet warmth, a kindness that only made the tightness in his chest grow stronger.
"Are you feeling better now, Ruvian?" she asked softly. "Also breakfast is ready. Come downstairs and eat before it gets cold. Maybe that would help you out. And Ciela is waiting for you too."
A faint blush crept onto Ruvian’s cheeks. He lowered his gaze for a moment before giving a small nod.
"Ah... yes. I’ll get ready and come down soon... Mom."
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[Chapter 277: The Wheel’s First Turn]