Inside Wayne Manor.
Bruce worked on purchasing plans for the manor's furniture, along with deciding which old equipment needed to be removed and sold. Danvers helped organize the paperwork, including reports on their savings, the upper limit of available funds, monthly living expenses, and so on.
Danvers did most of the work. Girls tended to be more meticulous about such things.
Bruce's attention was divided. His hands moved slowly through the work, while his mind remained on Extraordinaries.
Although Bruce had acquired some information about Extraordinaries, this was his first encounter with extraordinary beings. Both had shown him goodwill, but his wariness had not diminished.
For now, all he knew was that these two extraordinary beings wanted to use him to open the Dark Bible and obtain what lay inside.
According to them, the Dark Bible could grant immensely powerful abilities.
Extraordinary powers such as magic circles and witchcraft.
Bruce was tempted. Not only could extraordinary beings obtain these powers, but ordinary people like him could as well. Though he was not exactly ordinary, he was still a little afraid.
Would this Dark Bible corrupt me and turn me into a crazed, uncontrollable monster?
Even if it didn't corrupt me, would the Goddess of the Night Church consider the powers obtained from it evil?
The name "Dark Bible" alone suggested something the authorities would never sanction, something filled with darkness, evil, and terror.
Despite all these misgivings, despite being utterly terrified, Bruce was still willing to give it a try.
His willingness to take this step also had something to do with his character stats panel. The Grand Trend had given him a hint: Wayne Manor concealed secrets, and he would gain something from them, provided he was cautious enough.
Bruce felt this probably had a great deal to do with the Dark Bible, or perhaps the book itself was what the hint referred to.
Whatever he stood to gain at Wayne Manor might lie within it.
Then there was the matter of his Extraordinary identity.
Fawcett had said that becoming an Extraordinary depended on acquiring an identity.
Believer, Night Watcher, and Secret Prayer were all identities one could acquire. If he wanted to become an Extraordinary, he would also have to choose one. But what sort of identity would suit him?
There were far too many kinds of Extraordinaries.
Extraordinaries were rare as individuals, yet vast as a group.
When I have some free time this afternoon, I'll ask Fawcett which Extraordinary identity offers the most room for advancement after acquiring it. He should know what abilities come with the different identities.
Bruce took the choice of an Extraordinary identity seriously. He did not want to choose one only to discover that its abilities were practically useless.
Bruce had kept Fawcett, the Vengeful Spirit Doll, in a corner of the study. He was not in the way, after all. As a doll, he needed neither exercise nor food or drink. He was just a little ugly, and seeing him move around in the dead of night was rather frightening.
That afternoon, Bruce returned to the study to read and asked Fawcett the questions he had in mind.
They concerned the choice of an Extraordinary identity and advancement.
Fawcett looked at Bruce. He had intended to cover this when he explained the finer details of Extraordinaries that day, but Bruce had already brought it up himself. Excellent. The fact that he had thought of this showed that he was a very cautious person.
Since Bruce had asked, Fawcett answered honestly.
Choosing an Extraordinary identity was extremely important, because, unfortunately, the choice could only be made once. A wrong choice was a wrong choice, and there was no changing it.
A human body could merge with a prepared potion only once. After someone consumed a potion for one identity, other potion formulas would have no effect, though they might cause diarrhea. The only exception was if their body died and they could obtain a new one.
Just like Fawcett's current situation.
If he changed bodies,
and the new body had sufficient spirituality, he could consume potions made from other formulas. However, he could not give Bruce a definitive answer to his question. Bruce had to choose his own Extraordinary identity, and Fawcett did not know very many of them himself.
"Your choice of identity depends on your personal priorities. I can't make that decision for you."
"Different identities come with different abilities. I only know those of a Secret Prayer. I don't understand the specific abilities of the other identities, so I can only give you a general direction to consider."
"Also, advancement as an Extraordinary can essentially be understood as uncovering the abilities your identity should possess. The stronger you become, the stronger those abilities become."
Fawcett spoke earnestly.
The choice of identity lay entirely in Bruce's hands and depended on which Extraordinary identity's abilities appealed to him most. Although Fawcett had once been an Extraordinary, he could not make the decision for Bruce.
Bruce nodded. He still knew far too few Extraordinary identities and needed to deepen his understanding of Extraordinaries.
"Then what is the ultimate destination for an Extraordinary?"
As Bruce understood it, Extraordinaries acquired extraordinary powers, so their ultimate achievements ought to have something to do with gods-becoming a god, for example, or attaining eternal life. These were common endings in many novels he had read in his previous life.
Fawcett shrugged. "Who knows? Becoming strong, I suppose."
This question was even further beyond his ability to answer. He had never encountered Extraordinaries at a deeper level, much less gods. In any case, they would certainly become stronger, which made that a reasonably accurate answer.
Bruce still needed to consider his choice of Extraordinary identity carefully.
He truly felt as though he were treading on thin ice.
One wrong step, and he would regret it for the rest of his life.
The first choice was crucial. He could choose an Extraordinary identity only once, and he had only one chance to gamble.
In that case, to obtain an Extraordinary identity that suited him and appealed to him, he would put off becoming an Extraordinary until he had learned enough about the available identities.
He had an innate ability to develop his spirituality. Although the abilities it might yield were unknown, he might develop something powerful enough to rival an Extraordinary. Of course, that was merely an optimistic possibility.
What Bruce needed to do now was meet more Extraordinaries and learn about their various identities and the tendencies of their abilities.
Once he understood Extraordinaries well enough, he would decide which identity to acquire.
Bruce thought of Isco Higher Academy. Its tuition was expensive, but it had what he needed. It seemed he would have to make arrangements after all.
Fawcett did recommend the Secret Prayer identity. He himself was a Secret Prayer, so if Bruce became one, he could help Bruce quickly familiarize himself with its abilities.
Secret Prayer was a peculiar identity, somewhat similar to Believer. It was also connected to hidden entities such as gods, allowing its holder to pray to those entities and borrow their powers.
The powers of any hidden entity could be borrowed, offering countless variations and a multitude of abilities.
However, Secret Prayers merely obtained extraordinary powers through prayer; they did not believe in any god. Once they embraced a particular god, they would become Believers and could no longer borrow powers from other hidden entities. Their powers as Secret Prayers would become limited to a single source.
Thus, Secret Prayers never embraced any god!
This was somewhat similar to Bruce's current circumstances. He did not believe in any god either. However, there was something unusual about him, and rashly making contact with gods carried a certain risk. If some mysterious entity took notice of him, that would be even worse.
That unusual quality alone meant Bruce could only politely decline this identity.
"Although you aren't considering an Extraordinary identity for now, your safety is still a concern. I remember that Flaikent was once a swordsman. There should be some swordsmanship notes among his books. You could study them."
At that moment, the Ghost passed through the wall into the study.
He was also concerned about Bruce's safety. Without any means of dealing with hidden threats, Bruce's frail body might not even be a match for an ordinary person. That would not do. For Bruce's safety, and to ensure that he could develop smoothly, the Ghost felt obliged to remind him.
"Swordsmanship notes?"
Bruce remembered that there were indeed several blades resembling rapiers among Wayne Manor's collection, along with decorative cross-hilted swords. There were also books on swordsmanship and combat in the study, but he had simply ignored them.
He had no interest in wielding a sword.
Still, learning a little swordsmanship for self-defense seemed reasonable. Combat techniques would work too. He could treat it as exercise.
If he wanted to defend himself, he could also purchase firearms. The Rune Kingdom did not prohibit their sale, but since they were produced by the Church of the God of Machinery, they were relatively scarce and expensive.
Bruce dug out several sets of swordsmanship notes from the study.
Flaikent had collected all these notes, which recorded various sword techniques.
There were written explanations as well as illustrated demonstrations.
The illustrations were simple: a stick figure wielding a sword. The joints, however, were drawn in considerable detail. Each movement had accompanying text explaining its function and primary purpose.
Every step was broken down and explained thoroughly, making the notes very practical.
Bruce slowly worked his way through the swordsmanship notes. He also began to realize that mastering this style would probably make him an expert swordsman. However, learning it would take considerable time and require constant refinement and practice.
But what good would mastering it do?
Against uncanny incidents, these little fighting skills wouldn't stand a chance. I'd still end up dead.
For now, Bruce could only put those uncanny incidents out of his mind.
"Tomorrow, I'll make a trip to Rhode Town. When I went there to handle the inheritance paperwork, I think I saw a few swordsmanship schools. They seemed to have instructors teaching swordsmanship. Even if they only teach flashy moves, they must offer the basics. That would be more useful than fumbling around at home by myself."
Bruce's thinking was simple.
Swordsmanship required repeated physical training, after all. If he made a mistake and damaged his body through improper practice, that would be disastrous. Even straining his back would be bad enough.
Specialized skills were best taught by professionals.
I wonder if there's an Extraordinary identity like Swordsmanship Instructor. If I acquired that identity, would I be able to unleash the true power of swordsmanship?
Bruce began imagining the possibilities. After all, there were many Extraordinary identities, and only a few were widely known.
Or perhaps there were identities such as Martial Artist or Weapons Master.
Artisan, Hunter, and Traveler were known Extraordinary identities, each corresponding to different extraordinary powers. The ones Bruce had imagined might therefore exist as well; he simply had not encountered them yet.
I wonder if Millionaire or Moneybags could also be Extraordinary identities with extraordinary abilities. Would their power be showering gold coins everywhere like a celestial maiden scattering flowers? Coin tossing, for short-or just tossing money away like an idiot?