Galaxy's First Ruler

…

Like a motionless statue, Aldrich stood in one place, letting the pain coursing through him sink in.

The words he had just spoken were yet to die away, and the damped voice he had heard was yet to return to the embrace of this world. The only thing that was different about Aldrich after standing up was the constant sound coming out of his body.

Rippp!

Pop!!

Chirrrkkkk!!!

Hidden under the cover of his Devil's Aura Greatcoat, his body didn't show the changes it was going through. The mask hid his face, leaving the hint of bloody eyes to seep out from the eyeholes. Only the part above his wrists was in contact with the open-air, giving a chance to let others see his current state.

Alas, there was no one there to see that mind-numbing scene.

After a few seconds, Aldrich nodded to himself and turned his head from left to right to look around.

It was a small room, as he had already guessed. There was one bed, one table, and one chair. Well, the chair was already shredded to pieces by the Pillar of Footprints, which was lying under the table. There was a simple cupboard and wardrobe opposite the bed, but it was empty.

There was a simple door too, which was latched from inside. Yet, none of this was surprising enough to Aldrich, not more than the things placed over the table.

There were two pairs of white jackets and pants placed neatly there. There wasn't any hint of creases on any of them, and in one look they looked like a uniform rather than casual clothes. Under the table there were two pairs of white shoes, just waiting for Aldrich to wear them.

Whoop-Whooooop!!!

Over the clothes, there was a black ball hovering in the air. From time to time, it kept letting out rhythmic sounds as if last traces of water were getting drained out of a bathtub. Aldrich was quite familiar with these types of black balls, and it would be better to say almost all Dreamers were familiar with these black balls.

These pitch-black balls, as Aldrich had found out, were tiny wormholes. And they popped up in front of every Dreamer within a Dungeon as rewards.

'Hmm…'

Aldrich let out a grunt, guessing what could this be, and took a step towards the table.

Rippp!!

Cr-ra-ckkk!!

Cruchhhh!!!

The skin on Aldrich's hands peeled off, his fingers bent at an uneven angle, and one of his knees crushed under his own weight. But in the next moments, all injuries were healed because of his tremendous Vitality.

Yes, for a Common Ranked Dreamer, it was indeed tremendous.

This Vitality was high enough for any other Dreamer, fallen from Viscount to Common, to beg for death. This healing power, along with this unbearable pain, was the most toxic thing in this world for Aldrich right now.

But Aldrich didn't stop.

Step…

Step after step, he kept losing his muscles. He kept getting his bones crushed, and with his tendons dangling out like some butchered meat, he kept getting healed. Aldrich extended his hand, his eyes almost dead, and touched the black ball.

Contrary to his expectations, there was no notification from RECORD. The black ball disintegrated and a cuff-link appeared in its place. The cuff-link looked glossy gray from the angle Aldrich was looking at it. As the black ball around it disappeared, the cuff-link fell on the white clothes under it. But this time, Aldrich could see the Stats hovering over the cuff-link, telling Aldrich its function.

[…

Item: Djedi Cuff-link Imitation

Type: Accessory

Rank: ???

Durability: 500/500

Minimum Usage Condition: Perception 100, Correspondence 100

Description: An imitation of the cuff-link made by one of the greatest magicians surpassing the boundaries of time

Item-specific Skill: Mass Illusion

Item-specific Skill consumption: NA

Item-specific Skill's Detail: Dreamer can overlap any false image over himself, and his Items without losing their intended functions

Warning: The Mass Illusion will disappear once the cuff-links are destroyed

Warning: While remaining in close contact with another Higher Ranked Dreamer for long, the Mass Illusion Skill will fail

...]

This wasn't the first time Aldrich had encountered an Item without a Rank.

The first Items Aldrich had used were also similar to this cuff-link. Unlike others, Aldrich didn't get any starter Item from RECORD. And buying Items from Dreamers, which they had got from the Dungeons, wouldn't have worked because of the lack of Proficiency Skills.

At that time, Aldrich had gone with the most basic thing he could do. That was to use his money like water and pour it into buying Items made by other Dreamers. The Mana Grenades he had amassed for his first raid also didn't have any rank. They were just a product of someone's Skill.

It was like using a crude version of Aldrich's Metacreativity. These Skills used by others needed many raw materials, blueprints based on the original material, and had many limitations. Such as this cuff-link which had such a big discrepancy between its Durability and Minimum Usage Condition.

If Aldrich wanted, he could have made a much better Item than this. But with all his ExPs gone, he doubted if he could even make an Item of this quality anymore. Aldrich stared at the shiny Item and thought.

'What does "She" want from me…'

At one glance, Aldrich could tell that the purpose of this Item wasn't to enhance him in some way. It was just a way for the giver to tell him that Aldrich would need to blend him into the world outside this room. And that included hiding his Mask, his Ancient Relic, and his appearance.

Cr-rack!

Aldrich reached out to the cuff-link, but before his fingers could touch the Item, his forearm broke in half in between.

Aldrich stared at his forearm, as the cracked bones started to heal as soon as they broke. There wasn't any painful grunt, nor was there any furrowing of brows. If there was any stabbing pain, it was buried deep within him, like a volcano hidden under the depths of an ocean.

And there would come the time for its eruption, bringing with it a devastating fury.