The Author's POV

"Took you long enough."

Hearing his cold and indifferent voice, my mind blanked and for that one moment, I forgot about all the pain that I was going through and sobered up a little.

"H...how?"

I incredulously asked. Because of the experience I just went through, and all of the screaming I did, my voice was extremely hoarse. It was barely audible, but the other Ren nevertheless understood what I was trying to say as he simply looked at me with a cold and indifferent look.

"It's all thanks to you."

He coldly said before removing his elbow from the armrest of the chair.

Standing up and walking around the place, I could only follow him through my gaze as I still couldn't move my body. It just refused to listen to me.

"Ren."

As my eyes were still locked on the other Ren, a familiar voice entered my ears. Turning my head, I spotted Angelica looking at me from the distance.

Her complexion was somewhat pale, nevertheless, she looked fine. From the looks of it, she was able to go through the curse break without too many problems.

"Did you finish?"

She asked as her eyes paused on me.

It took me a moment for me to process what she was saying and snapping my head in the direction of where the other Ren was standing, I wondered to myself.

'Can she not see him?'

Alternating my head between him and her, it appeared to me that she couldn't.

Just to make sure, I asked Angelica if she could see anyone else in the room. And as expected, shaking her head, Angelica replied.

"Do you see anyone else in the room?"

"No."

"I see."

I muttered while supporting my body up with one hand. The pain was no longer there, and it seemed like the after-effects of the contract break had finally ended.

"Khhh.."

It took me a while to properly stand as I stumbled repeatedly. Once I was able to stand, I moved toward a nearby sofa and the first thing I did once I settled there was ask Angelica just how much time had passed since the contract break.

Hopefully, I wasn't out for a whole week. If so, explaining to the others what I was doing in the meantime would be extremely troublesome.

"Exactly how much time has passed?"

"Fifteen hours."

"...Fifteen?"

Pursing my lips, I lowered my head.

If I said I wasn't surprised at the moment that would be a lie. Everything felt like a blur to me and I had long lost my sense of time. If I had to be honest, I thought that a lot more time had passed.

It felt as though weeks or even days had passed. But this was good.

Twitch. Twitch.

Whilst in thought, my shoulders kept twitching. My head also started to hurt. Leaning back on the sofa, I let out a long exhale.

"Haa..."

Despite the fact that I was no longer being subjected to the pain, I could barely move my body.

Every little movement felt as though millions of needles were stabbing my body. It was agonizing.

It was then that Angelica's surprised voice took my attention away from the pain.

"Your rank."

"My rank?"

Furrowing my brows, my heart sank.

a rank

inevitable, but it still sucked. Closing my

'Status.'

===Status===

Name : Ren Dover

Rank : B +

Strength : B

Agility : B +

Stamina : B +

Intelligence : B

:

Luck : A +

Charm : B -

--> Profession :

[Swordsmanship lvl.4]

of the sword has evolved to the next level.

--> Martial Manual :

style] - Essence realm of

the apex of swordsmanship and speed. Upon mastery, the sword

Ring of vindication] - Essence realm

defense around the user. The ring can create a three-dimensional sphere that protects the user from all sides upon mastery. Because of the lack of offensive capabilities, the manual was

steps] -

user speed will increase. Unless the user stops, speed will continuously improve until the user either runs

style] - Greater realm of

fully focused on speed. With one quick draw, the user gains the ability to kill an opponent without them noticing anything had happened. Created to replicate the Keiki style. After years of research, this sword art

arts] - Greater realm

may be a 3-star art, but upon mastery, it can be used to complement other forms

--> Skills :

[[G] Monarch's indifference]

emotions, and act as a supreme monarch

[[D] The one]

them feeling like they were standing before a sovereign that overlooked everything. The skill may work on individuals who are one rank higher than them, however, if the difference between the two

[[A] Eyes of Chronos]

skill, the user will be able to see everything in slow motion. The more mana is used, the slower the time will be in their

[[?] ?????]

???????????????????????????????????????????????

==========

"...My rank."

was left in disbelief by the fact

lasted for quite a

'How is this possible?'

dropped a rank. Even though there was a chance for me to not drop, with my luck, I didn't think

for me to have

consumed

in shock and almost caused me to fall

"What's wrong?"

the chair I was sitting on before, I saw the other Ren calmly standing and staring at me with his emotionless eyes. Pursing my lips, I softly

has

"Oh."

had difficulty in doing as I had no strength in my body. It

armrest, I supported my chin with my arm. Messaging my eyes, and letting out a long sigh, I mumbled in

limit have

other questions that I wanted to ask, but at the moment,

couple of seconds, the

canceling a mana contract, what you are doing is damaging your soul as well as your talent limiter. The damage to the talent limiter is the reason why most people drop a rank when breaching the contract, however in your case, a case where you have no

fact that he was willing to explain to me the reasoning why I did not rank down, but upon hearing his words, I found that his words made a lot

if it

sense. Generally, it wasn't impossible for someone's talent to be damaged. There were many ways to do it, and apparently surviving a mana contract breach

talent, there was no such drop. Once I realized this, I was left pleasantly surprised. I mean, who would

turned to look at

for a bit? I need some

"...Okay."

a little bit taken aback by my words, but upon seeing the state that I was in, she complied. Standing up from the spot she

moment Angelica left the

"How come you're here?"

as I

me, the other Ren said nothing. He had this 'you already know the answer' type of look on his face that irked me to no

Once again, I asked.