“Ya found something?”

  Irene peeked her out from the book she was busy reading, curiously glancing at Arthur. He was carrying various books between his left hand and torso, while studying a specific book's front and backside with his free hand.

  He nodded, letting the books fall from his grasp and onto the wooden table. After the loud sound of hardbacks hitting the wood, Arthur let himself fall onto one of the one seaters.

  “Yeah. This seemed interesting.”

  He picked up the last book, the Apothecary's Archives, flipping it to let Irene read its title. She waited a second before nodding, thinking for a few seconds.

  “Were ya a medicine maker, or something like that? Did it trigger a flashback, or something like that?”

  Arthur tilted his head. “What do you mean? No, it just, it seemed interesting.”

  Of course, there was the matter of the Archive, but he wouldn't tell Irene about it. He was planning on keeping the nature of his Gift somewhat secret, if possible. Especially considering he didn't trust Irene completely yet.

  He wanted to keep his cards hidden. A slightly confused expression spread on Irene's face, her attention and eyes wandering off. She seemed to be thinking of something. Her index finger moved in front of her lips, and she spoke with uncertainty in her voice.

  “Oh, I thought ya wanted to try and find out more about your past, you know…”

  Suddenly, her question made sense to Arthur. Not only that, but he thought he understood her a little better. Maybe she pointed out the library specifically to help him regain his memories, by reading through books.

  Although, unless that body's identity was someone of extreme importance, like a historical figure or a researcher who made incredible breakthroughs, he doubted he would find any information.

  His lips curved upwards slightly, smiling without even noticing it. She was a good kid, that much was for sure. Irene giggled, embarrassed by her blunder, going back to the book she was reading prior.

  “There's no need for that. My memories are already returning, somewhat.”

  Irene looked back up from her book. “Oh, that's good! That's good!”

  That was only a half lie. While he didn't know anything about that body yet, apart from the fact that it was most likely tied to Ayn, he possessed information about Irminsul. Of course, that was through the Archive.

  And even if he hadn't tried yet to ask about that body, the Archive could most likely answer any question he held about it. After all, the Gift wasn't creating information out of thin air. Those were all things that body knew.

  It's not like Arthur wasn't curious about the original owner of that body, or its experiences before the transmigration. However, he simply had more urgent matters to tend to, such as figuring out how to use Ark.

  He glanced off into space, asking a question through his thoughts. ‘Whose body is this, anyways?’

  [That body is yours, Arthur Luria's.]

  Arthur rolled his eyes at the obvious response from the Archive. For something that knew so much, it sure was lacking in conversational skills. Even if he was pretty sure it was just doing that to be annoying.

  ‘Alright. Whose body was this, before I transmigrated?’

  He smirked, this time it was obvious what question he was asking. Unless the Archive replied with something vague like ‘an elf’, or ‘a human’, it was obvious he was asking about the identity of that body.

  The next moment, a dreadful chill spread through the entirety of Arthur's body. His eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and fear.

  In the days that he possessed the Archive for, he figured out some things about the Gift. First of all, even if it seemed to have a personality of its own, it was still a Gift at its core. Whenever Arthur asked a question, it answered, one way or another.

  The Archive seemed to be all knowing. Or rather, since it was supposedly taking information from that body's mind, that body had a big deal of knowledge stored inside.

  Occasionally, the Archive refused to answer Arthur's inquiries. Either by providing a roundabout answer, like the one it provided initially when Arthur asked about the body's identity.

  Or, in the occasion it was something the Archive had no knowledge of, such as the prison's layout and how to get to the library, no text window appeared at all, staying silent and recording information during the process.

  Other times, it provided a specific answer. So far, Arthur had only seen it in regards for matters regarding the nature of prayers and rituals, or extremely important Historical figures, like the founder of Archêometry.

  [Any further information would be dangerous to Arthur Luria's mind.]

  Arthur swallowed hard. He could feel his heartbeat growing more frantic and fast, and he tried to calm himself down. He took in a few deep breaths.

  He glanced over at Irene. She was still reading her book, and didn't seem to notice the boy panicking. Good, he wouldn't have to make up some lie to explain it to her. However, even if he started to hide it, that panic was very much present.

  ‘There has to be something you can tell me, right? Any information? His name? Any blood relatives?’

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Arthur brainstormed questions to ask the Archive, to try and get any, no matter how unimportant, piece of information from it. However, the answer didn't change, and that only made Arthur more anxious.

  Just who could that body have been, that even knowing his name was information dangerous for his mind?

  The feeling of dread washing over him only grew, as he tried to calm himself by breathing. Arthur didn't have any interest in finding out about ‘his’ past before. But knowing that body might have been owned by someone important changed things greatly.

  He rummaged through his pockets, finding no cigarettes, as usual. He clicked his tongue, lighting one up would have done wonders for his nerves at that moment. Finding the tin container, he played with it a bit with his hands, before managing to calm down somewhat.

  Glancing at the floating text window, he swallowed once more. For now, all he knew was that information about that body was dangerous. He didn't know how or why, but he knew at least that it was important.

  The only person apart from the Archive that could help him with his questions, most likely, was Ayn. However, he had no method of contacting him. He glanced at the Archive once more.

  ‘Is it possible for me to read that information, in the future?’

  Even if that knowledge was dangerous, it didn't mean it would stay so forever. Arthur breathed out a sigh of relief, hearing the Archive's mechanical clicking. It was writing a different response.

  [It all depends on Arthur Luria's choices, and how he treats his body and soul.]

  It was a cryptic answer, but not a negative one. It wasn't a positive one either, though. It all depended on how he would treat his body and soul. Arthur wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but he realized that being stuck on it would do him no good.

  He leaned back on the couch, finally having managed to catch his breath and calm his heart. It was scary, understanding that his body might hold knowledge that could damage his mind, but he couldn't do anything about it.

  What he could do, was take good care of his body and soul. In other words,

  “Train and read more, I guess.”

  He muttered under his breath, picking back up the Apothecary's Archives of Medicine. Reading something that not even the Archive had knowledge of could be a good start to training his soul. Well, he was training his mind, but it probably counted.

  Before he opened the book, a thought flashed in his mind. He turned towards Irene and caught her attention by tapping on the armrest of her one seater.

  “You said that honorary cadets can borrow books, right?”

  Irene shifted her gaze towards him and nodded. “Yeah, why?”

  “How many at a time?”

  She glanced off, thinking for a few seconds. “I don't think there's a limit to how many, we're just expected not to steal them… Wait, did ya accept Sol's offer?”

  Arthur took in the information, a slight smile appearing on his face. He shook his head at Irene's question, extending a hand and shaking it, too.

  “No, not yet. I still don't know what it even is, you know… But still, he ordered the staff to consider me an honorary cadet.”

  “Ohhh, I see!! Well, once you accept, tell me!” The glow on Irene's face diminished slightly, but still, her positive attitude was almost overwhelming for Arthur. He wasn't used to being around people that acted that genuine.

  He nodded in response to her words, before moving towards the table. He picked up some of the books which he had put in the stack, setting them aside. Some were books about Archêometry, some about the history of Teiws and of Wiguric.

  He was planning on taking them back with him to the medical bay, to read them between sessions of attempted Dipping. He really needed something to help him pass the time, apart from the Archive.

  After sitting back down on the couch, he finally opened the book. From the title, and the plain cover, he expected it to be a sort of medical cookbook. However, on the first page he found an index, followed by a prologue in prose.

  “To whoever this may concern.

  “To you, the reader who found these records, and whoever you might want to share these texts with. I ask of you, sincerely and truthfully, to only regard this as the records of an Apothecary. Additionally, I ask to be remembered only by that title, the Apothecary. The reasons for this choice may be clear to some, and cryptic to others. You may choose to not heed my wishes, of course. You have no obligation nor need to do so. Ultimately, that is simply a sincere request, for my situation requires me to only be known as the Apothecary. Memory is a fickle thing; one who may know me as the Apothecary, would have no method or way to remember my existence as — —.”

  Arthur’s eyes slowly read over the text, taking in each word, without skipping any. He wasn't sure whether that first paragraph had some deeper meaning, or it was simply the frame to the book itself.

  However, it was interesting. Even if it ended up being a work of fiction, he was already hooked by those few lines of text.

  There were still a few paragraphs left in the first page, that prologue was longer than he thought it would be.

  “Now that the matter of my identity has been cleared, if the Hall allows it, let me introduce you, dear reader, to the contents of these records. The title should explain it all: this book is the only one of its kind. It is a diary of sorts, or perhaps a cookbook as some may consider it. Its contents are as plain and clear as its title: most, if not all, of my discoveries and developments in the medical field have been recorded inside these archives. You might have already noticed, dear reader, these archives aren't particularly large in size. In fact, this is only part of the archives to which I have given written form. At this point in time, I have no knowledge over whether I shall produce more of these records, the form that they will take, or such information. I deeply apologize for misleading you, dear reader, when picking up this record, wherever you might have found it. This first archive contains varied information regarding potions and alchemy, their medical benefits, and additional usages for certain concoctions. Do note, dear reader, that when producing any sort of medical potion, the process and ingredients are equally as important. I digress. The index, on the very first page of the archives, provides with an alphabetical list of my most prized discoveries. However, on the next pages, you may find a catalog of concoctions depending on their effects, dear reader.”

  ‘This guy sure talks a lot.’

  Arthur snickered to himself, reaching the end of the page. He noticed that some words were hollowed out, erased from the pages, which added to the air of mystery surrounding the character of the Apothecary.

  Even if this was just a unique way to catch the reader's attention, it definitely proved successful. Arthur turned over the page, reaching the secondary index.

  At the very top of the page, written in large letters were the words “Concoctions and Usages;”. Various subtitles were present, categorizing the different listed medicines for their intended purposes.

  Arthur tilted his head slightly. He was expecting the various categories to be things such as the form of the medicine, dividing pills, potions and powders. Or maybe depending on the ailment or illness they treated.

  It was quite different. The first subtitle, under the large words, was named “Medical Usage”. It was a short paragraph, containing the names of the concoctions to the left, followed by the situations in which they should be taken, and the page number on the far right.

  That paragraph was the shortest, among the ones listed on those pages. Arthur stood up straighter, now even more interested in those records. The subtitles had names such as “Physical Growth”, “Ley Lines Support” and “Magical Growth”.