Only I Am A Reader

"That makes sense…"

Staring at the ceiling, Leo quietly drifted into thought. This was more than understandable. If his earlier attempt just now had actually succeeded, then this world would no longer make sense.

To begin with, the core ability that accompanied his role as a reader was 'True Reading'. Leo was someone that relied on 'escapism' to manifest his abilities, escaping the normal world's boundaries to break the rules of normalcy!

Even the Sword Breath surging through his body, the fragment rooted deeply within, or the heavy sword he currently 'equipped', all of these were manifested in this restricted reality thanks to Leo's accomplishment in breaking the rules of the novel's world. He was a variable, and his variability was his greatest weapon!

'Does that mean…'

Just as Leo was about to dive even deeper into thought regarding his identity, he felt something climbing on his body. He did leave the door open, but…

Meowww…

"Darkie!"

Unlike technology which he had grown slightly unaccustomed to, Leo's memory of the little furry creature on his body had barely faded. This was none other than Dark, Leo's one and only pet!

Their sleeping schedules had clashed when Leo had just 'returned' yesterday so he could only glance at Dark's sleeping face. Now, however, it was time to make up for 8 years of separation!

Meow!

Dark's black fur glistened under the room's lighting as it squiggled in Leo's hands, opening its colorful eyes that shone like brilliant gemstones.

"If only I could have brought you along!"

Dark wasn't just a mere pet for Leo, it was also his friend, one that didn't require him to feign sociability. Moreover, the man and the cat's eyes were a match!

Although they weren't a perfect match-up, Leo's sky blue eye was reflected by Dark, while his emerald green eye's counterpart was Dark's amethyst purple eye.

Meowww!

"You are right, rest is rest."

Deciding to forget the tons of thoughts clouding his mind, Leo wholeheartedly devoted himself to lightly playing with Dark while his body recovered. Before he knew it, two hours had already passed…

`~~~`~~~`~~~`

"No living things I guess…"

Standing alone within the Reading Space, Leo looked around in disappointment. He was slowly figuring out more and more about his limitations.

Even though he firmly held Dark in his hands as he thought of entering with him, no such thing happened. However, Leo bent down and picked up Crane's steel alloy sword; that was just an experiment he conducted alongside his original purpose.

Swish!

'Let's see how rusty I have become.'

With a quick sword swing, Leo started to practice the basics he began with at the Sword Continent. After a good night of sleep, his memory was no longer hazy, but Leo's knowledge of Swordsmanship felt strangely theoretical, which was why he wanted to do some quick practice to understand his current skill level.

'Not… bad?'

As he swung the sword more and more, Leo felt his flow become smoother. He was progressing through the basics with a breeze, but even he was perplexed about what was happening.

There was no sudden triggering of 'Skill Reading', just pure practical experience. This body of his which had only practiced kendo for a few weeks before was already getting familiar with Rain's sword technique!

"Is it a difference in talent?"

An unrealistic guess came out of Leo's mouth before he thoroughly denied it. This wasn't just about talent, his body had felt incredibly unfamiliar with the sword when he had just picked it up, but it now almost felt like another limb of his…

While his 'True Sword Body' actually matched that metaphor, its effect on his Swordsmanship was almost nonexistent. In fact, in order to apply his sword technique through his 'Sword Hand', Leo had to spend time modifying it and mixing it with Close Quarter Combat. In the end, Leo only found one explanation that fit his current situation!

"This is the real reward for achieving 100% synchronization?"

Leo directly manipulated the Personal Book to return to the page containing the log of his 'reward stage'!

[ Personal Skills will be completed inherited! ]

This was definitely it!

Back when Leo had first read this, he believed it to be useless as his skills were already part of his memory, rather than being a reward, it was supposed to be something complementary. The only effective reward in his eyes was the Physique and Mind bonuses.

However, it was only now that he finally understood what this small sentence implied! This wasn't a matter of knowledge but muscle memory!

"To think that I judged a book by its cover…"

Leo couldn't help but mock himself. His arm muscles' integration of his old muscle memory made him barely capable of holding the sword with a shaken grip, but it had merely taken an hour for this body of his to perfectly execute Rain's sword technique!

As long as he didn't overdo it, Leo believed that it would only take him a week or so to reach the peak that he had barely touched on his last day as Arthur!

The statistics' bonuses weren't even worth a penny in comparison. Aside from Mind that seemed to be strictly related to his mental capacity, increasing Physique was something that Leo could achieve in a few years' time if he put his mind to it. However, his skills were the result of 8 years of effort coupled with several instances of attribute triggering, receiving this was at least the same as saving a decade of dedicated practice!

Looking at his 'talent' in comparison, Leo completely understood the negative number at its side. Since this was something that he just received through 'Reality Reading', it was only natural that his original familiarity didn't transfer over. Thankfully, this was an ability that he only spent 4 months on back then, with his prior experience in the bag, it would take even less to catch up.

'Oh?'

Just as Leo was returned to his page again, the existence of an unfamiliar pair of brackets caught his eyes. Something had changed before he was notified about it once again.

"It seems like it wouldn't even get a chance to miss being Arthur…"