Frey flipped a silver coin between his fingers, eyes drifting toward the window where rain poured in relentless sheets.
Somehow, while he'd been lost in thought, reminiscing about his past, the sky had broken open. The sound of heavy rain filled the quiet night.
Now, he finally understood why he'd regained his past life memories. It was all because of his innate talent, which had awakened after forming his spirit bond.
Innate talents were just like natural gifts, something one was born with. They only manifested once a person's Soul Seed began to form, and only a rare few humans ever possessed one.
Some were common, shared by many, while others were unique to a single individual.
His own innate talent, Eidetic Soul, belonged to the latter. Any talent rank carrying the prefix Legend was considered one of a kind.
Just like spirit aptitude, the rarity and power of talents were ranked, from Mortal to Divine.
He closed his eyes and focused. Within his Spirit Sea, the details of his talent unfolded before him in glowing runic letters.
— ✦ —
[ Eidetic Soul ]
Rank: Legend Celestial
Type: Talent
Description:
Godfrey Sinclair's soul possesses perfect clarity and recall, retaining every memory in exquisite detail.
Effects:
◆ Perfect recall of all memories, past and present, regardless of external suppression or alteration.
◆ Immunity to memory erasure, mental illusions, or mind control affecting memories.
◆ Photogenic memory: everything you see is retained permanently and can be recalled at will.
— ✦ —
It was a broken talent, no doubt about it, but it still felt a little lackluster when compared to Vespera's.
After forming a spirit bond, both the human and the spirit gained the right to share each other's talents.
In other words, he could use Vespera's ability… and she could use his.
That alone was a problem.
If she ever regained her past memories… and if she truly was who he thought she was—
Frey grimaced, his expression darkening just at the thought.
His first life had been on a distant planet called Qianluo, where Qi flowed through everything, and those who could harness it were called Cultivators.
He was born into a royal family, named Zhen Godfrey. As was expected of a young master, he was both a prodigy and a playboy — a genius who knew exactly how to indulge in life's pleasures.
Concubines, wives, and admirers — he had them all, and he treated each with care, love, and attention, as a master should.
Then came the absurdity. In his mid-twenties, just as he was on the brink of ascending to the Nascent Soul stage, betrayal struck. His favorite wife, Mei Calissa, drove a sword into his chest at the moment of his breakthrough.
Pain and disbelief flooded him, but before his eyes could close forever, he saw her do the unthinkable: she plunged the same cursed sword into her own heart. With a haunting smile, she embraced him as they slipped together into death.
Her last words lingered in his mind like a joke gone horribly wrong:
"You are… only mine, Zhen… only mine… or no one else."
Frey's head throbbed even now as he recalled it. Fucking bitch… Did she really kill me because I spread my love equally to all my women?!
And yet, that absurdity paled compared to what awaited him in his second life.
In his second life on Earth, he was Frey Montclair, born into a normal but happy family.
His first girlfriend, Rin Vespera, had everything his dream girl should — beauty, kindness, effortless grace. Life in college was perfect… until it wasn't.
He watched in stunned silence as Rin beat his childhood friend Maria, even going so far as to shave her head. The reason? Maria had the audacity to talk to him too often.
Months passed, and the pattern continued. Any girl who got close to him suffered Rin's punishments, while Rin herself skated free, protected by her filthy-rich family.
Finally, he ended the toxic relationship, thinking it was the best decision of his life.
For a while, nothing happened… until a year later when he started dating Maria.
Everything went to hell on a college trip. He watched Maria pushed off a cliff by Rin. When he tried to save her, he slipped… and absurdly, Rin jumped with him. Midair, she embraced him and whispered:
"We are meant to be together, Frey. Maria, that bitch, separated us. But now… we'll be together forever."
Unsurprisingly, all three died. The next day, the headlines read: "Three College Students Die in Mountain Trekking Accident."
Of course, Frey never saw them; he was already dead after all.
"Just wonderful… fucking brilliant." Frey cursed under his breath as he pushed himself off the couch.
The reason he was even thinking about all that bullshit was simple — the name of his Spirit Bond had reminded him of her.
Vespera Calistra.
He was almost certain, 99 percent sure, that it was the same bitch. Just like him, she was here. But unlike him, she had been born here decades, maybe even centuries ago.
Now, with his talent shared with her, she would awaken all her past memories… every life they had shared. And he was not thrilled in the slightest.
Some might say it would be easy if he just stayed loyal to her, never spoke to another woman. But—
"Absolutely not! Who the hell does that bitch think I am? I am Godfrey! I'll show her exactly how many women I can charm at once. Hell, I'll start my own bloody football team — eleven kids from eleven different women, one per position! Goalkeeper, striker, midfield… I'll even make her watch every game!"
Frey drew a deep breath, trying to calm the rage twisting his face.
And he wasn't joking… especially now, with the gifts he had received from bonding with his dear Vespera.
He focused on the details of his Spirit Bond, and a new panel appeared, revealing everything about his spirit.
— ✦ —
[ — Spirit Bond — ]
Primordial Spirit: Vespera Calistra [ Eros' Shard ]
Spirit Lineage: Primordial Fox [ Fox Lineage ]
Title: [ ■□v■rei□n ■f □i■ ] [ ■□■□■ ]...
Aptitude Rank: Common Mortal
Progress: [ Eros' Pearls: 0 / 100 ] → Rare Mortal
Affinity: Lust | Charm | Illusion
[ Note: Find and complete all seven shards of Vespera to awaken her from her deep slumber. ]
Current Shards: 1 / 7 [ Lust ]
— ✦ —
Frey couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity. There was no way she could be a Common Mortal aptitude spirit with the sheer power he had gained from her, especially her Innate Talent and Core Gift.
He focused his attention on those two abilities, examining them closely.
— ✦ —
[ Seven Deadly Sins ] [ 1 / 7 ]
Rank: Legend Divine
Type: Talent
Description:
"Vespera Calistra's" spirit soul is divided into seven Shards, each representing one of the Deadly Sins. Through your bond, you can awaken the latent power within these Shards to strengthen both the Spirit's aptitude and your own core stats.
Effects :
[ Eros' Shard ] — [ Lust ]
◆ Absorb the lust and desires of others, converting them into Eros' Pearls. These Pearls can be used to enhance the aptitude of any Spirit with the affinities of Lust | Charm | Illusion or to boost your Mental Core stat.
◆ Eros' Pearls : [ 0 ]
— ✦ —
Frey could only shake his head. Even after reading it again, it still felt absurd. No wonder it was ranked Divine.
Whatever happened to her that caused her to shatter into seven shards was likely the reason her aptitude was stuck at the Mortal rank for now.
And Frey was certain of one thing; once he found the rest of her shards, this talent would evolve even further.
He smirked, eyes gleaming as he turned his gaze to the Core Gift next.
— ✦ —
[ Sin of Lust ]
Type: Core Ability
Effect:
Through intimate acts, you can absorb the lust, desires, and cravings of others, gradually corrupting them into submission and obsessive loyalty. Once a target is fully corrupted, you can copy one of their Spirit Gifts(excluding their Core Gift) at random.
◆ Copy slots: 5 [ 0 / 5 ]
— ✦ —
"Hehe... so the abilities I gained from the Eros' Shard are basically telling me to fuck around and get stronger. Oh, I just love it." Frey chuckled, lips curling in amusement.
Now if only he had someone to test them on.
Just then, a soft knock knock echoed from the main door.
Frey's smile deepened, stretching wider with anticipation.