28th King, James day 9988

  It's my brother's 15th birthday soon. Although there isn't a tradition of giving gifts on birthdays in this world, I'm considering getting him something for it since he has always treated me well. I'll have to buy something soon that he might be interested in.

  Leaving the casino, I decided to not return to the barony right away. I’ve never been to 18th street before, the place I'm supposed to meet her subordinate tomorrow night. 18th street should be on the older side of the city, not quite a slum, but largely abandoned. Anyone with money has already left to move to the newer side of the city as it has developed. I want to scope out the meeting place in advance, that way if things go awry, I have a better chance of escaping. I’m quite nervous to meet them, but at the same time I feel giddy thinking about the chance to get stronger.

  Grasping the rim of my hat, I pull it down as low as possible trying to hide my face as I walk through the street. I don’t want anyone to recognize me in this area, as it would be unsuitable for someone of my status. As I walk farther through the city, less and less buildings have their lights on showing the large abandonment of the area. I suppose it makes sense for an area for criminals to operate, as the police most likely care less about the safety of the people in this area than the nicer side of the city. Although they are a public service, there is obviously preferential treatment in the protection of the wealthier civilians.

  Turning the corner, I walk down the almost empty 18th street. The few people on the street are a mix of poor individuals who seem to be on their last legs of life, and sketchy people who make one want to cross to the opposite side of the road, so you don’t walk past them. Many of the buildings have bars in their windows, entirely closed down for business. After walking down the entire street, I could not find any building called The Peaceful Dragon. She surely would not give me the wrong place to meet, so I must have just missed the mahjong parlor.

  Retracing my paces, I walk back down the street returning from the way I came, keeping my eyes open for the mahjong parlor. On a stone staircase outside of a building, a small old sign with a red dragon mahjong tile with most of its color faded. It makes sense that I didn’t see this sign since I came down the street the other way before I would have never noticed it. Since this is the only mahjong parlor on the street it must be the place. Knowing where it is now, I quickly head back to the barony.

  Once I'm back, I return to my room and hang up my hat, changing back into my normal clothes. Since I'm still trying to disguise my blood aspect, I head to the library. My younger brother is in the library, diligently studying any book he can get his hands on. The desk he is sitting at is cluttered with books across it giving a disorganized atmosphere to the otherwise clean library.

  “Hello, Keith. How have your studies been?”

  He looks up from his book.

  “Heath where have you been? Father bought new books for the library today, come study with me. Look, this one is about how the new automobiles work. It is super interesting.”

  I sit down next to him looking at the titles of the new books that are scattered across the table. Most of them are about the newest inventions that the best craft and knowledge aspect users have been producing under the new king. Neon signs, automobiles, firearms, bras, polygraphs, and zeppelins. The books across the table are all dedicated to a single new invention. This world is quickly advancing in technology making me worried I won't get the chance to use my modern knowledge from reincarnating. After all, I wasn't truly knowledgeable on how things were made. I could never fully explain how a car works or a gun like these people are making.

  Wanting to look diligent, I picked up a book to study from the table without really looking. Skimming through the book, I read about the polygraph and how it measures the changes in your body to tell for fluctuations because of dishonest responses. Of course, because of my past life I know that it doesn't really work perfectly as a lie detector. If someone practiced staying calm while lying it would be possible to fool the polygraph. Reading the mechanical part of how it works, I just leave the book open and stare at it mindlessly, not really interested in studying.

  It would be nice if I could move out of the barony and didn't need to keep up appearances anymore. Technically it's not impossible, we have money after all, but it would be hard to convince my father of a reason for me to live separately. After all, he values the idea of me and my brother competing with each other to motivate each other. Of course, this doesn't actually happen. My brother is quite happy studying on his own and doesn't need the motivation to diligently study, while I won't see any results no matter how much I study since I don't have a knowledge aspect. The perks of living in the barony outweigh this minor inconvenience in my mind though. Who could run away from such luxury?

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Already tired of studying, I decided to make conversation with my brother.

  “You turn 15 soon right Keith? Are you nervous?”

  “No, I spend most of my time studying and I really enjoy it. I'm sure I'll awaken a knowledge aspect like you brother!”

  Like me… I feel a little guilty hearing that. If only I just awakened a body aspect like that bastard Roman, I wouldn't have to pretend to like studying right now. And it's his fault for always antagonizing me that I ended up with this blood aspect. At least I'll finally be able to make some progress soon. Although I didn't know the abilities of the witch, I know that witch is part of a blood path. I'm going to be intertwining myself with the darker side of the world tomorrow by going. The number of people with blood aspects who work public jobs are far and few between after all. And the way she contacted me definitely wasn't something an official would do.

  There are a few criminals who reform and end up working for the police or something, but it can be said that they are the minority. After all, among the police they will surely be discriminated against for their blood aspect even if they reform. Living like that must be very painful so it's safe to assume the witch lady was part of a gang or organization of some sort. If things get too dangerous, I can probably safely withdraw by simply staying in the comfort of the barony to avoid them.

  “I'm sure you will Keith, you study even more than me and I awakened a knowledge aspect. You will be the pride of the barony I'm sure,” I say, giving him a reassuring smile and patting him on the back as I get up from my chair.

  The next hours pass by in a blur, going to bed, waking up, eating, and studying like normal. My mind can't help but think about my meeting tonight the whole time. Looking out the window, the sun had finally set so I put on a trench coat and a hat and head out. The street lights slowly started to disappear, as I headed farther East until I arrived at the dark 18th street. Walking through the already familiar street, I headed directly to the stairs and opened the door entering The Peaceful Dragon.

  Inside is a rectangular room lit with red lighting, with a mini bar on the wall, and a mahjong table as the center of the room. At the table sits only a single young man, with messy black hair and clear skin making him look very handsome. He is wearing a light flowing hanfu with a sword attached to his waist. His cerulean eyes match the color of the two pointed horns sprouting from his forehead, partially covered by his messy hair. They look a bit like coral, but I know that they are a trait of someone with a beast aspect. The blue horns obviously aren't a common animal trait. I suspect that they might be some kind of dragon's, undoubtedly a rare and powerful path regardless of his ascension. Dragons have long been extinct, but some dragons have become higher beings that still exist, making it possible for someone with a beast aspect to follow a dragon path.

  Since entering the room, the man hasn't moved or looked up to notice me. This man is most likely the person who I'm supposed to meet so I hesitantly sit down across the table from him. Now that I've sat down, he finally looks up and speaks to me.

  “Madam Xue Yan has a task for you.” He slides a revolver with a slip of paper under it. “There is an information broker at The Silver Lounge that needs to be silenced named Doug Mercer. Kill him and come back here if you want to find out more about what's on that paper.”

  Xue Yan must be the name of the witch I met before. His body language and tone leave no room for conversation, but I still hesitate. After a moment, I pick up the revolver and the paper underneath it, shoving them into a large hidden pocket inside my trench coat and leaving the mahjong parlor without looking back. Walking back to the barony, I constantly scan my peripheral vision glancing to my sides for anyone who might be looking at me. Carrying around the gun makes me feel on edge, I know it's not something I should possess. For a normal citizen to possess a revolver, it must be smuggled or stolen somehow. To my knowledge, only police had gotten their hands on revolvers, and they were not sold to the public at all yet.

  After a nerve-racking walk in the dark back, I get back to my room and quickly shut the door behind me. Going over to my desk, I light a candle and place the revolver in the desk drawer, locking it shut with the key. Taking out the note, I begin to read the information on it. In the top right of the paper, is a stamp of the red dragon mahjong tile, possibly the organization's symbol since it was at the meeting place too.

  Written on the note it says,

  “Ascension 1 blood cultist

  Ascension 1 assassin

  Ascension 1 shadow worshipper”

  It looks to be three different blood paths, assuming I complete the mission, I will most likely get information on one of them. Since they presented all of them to me, it's probably my choice which one I want to pick. With the limited information it is hard to make a sound judgment, but I still consider it in my head for a while.

  The blood cultist sounds like something I've read in a newspaper before, and it seems a bit disgusting. I believe they embrace the regenerative nature of the blood aspect, and offer boys offerings to a higher being, sometimes their own or sometimes others.

  An assassin isn't something I know much about, but I can infer what they do just from the name. For me, who has no experience killing someone, and is quite a tall man with no stealth skills to speak of, it seems hard to imagine myself being a good assassin.

  Finally, the shadow worshipper seems a bit interesting to me as it reminds me of the dark shadowy smoke in my awakening dream. In general, not everyone of the same ascension will be as strong as each other. A holy knight whose awakening dream was meeting an angel will probably be stronger than a holy knight who was in a gladiator pit in their awakening dream. Because of this, it's best to pick a path that feels familiar to your awakening dream. Compared to the other two, shadow worshipper is the clear choice for me. I burn the note over the candle, leaving no evidence that I ever had it before getting in my bed planning my next actions in my head as I drift to sleep.