A Villain's Survival Guide

Leomaris’s POV:

At Rosay’s mansion, Leomaris finally slipped out of his sister’s room after checking in on her and shifting her sleeping position so the fatigue wouldn’t hit her too hard when she woke.

He knew it well enough: lying fixed in a single position with no ability to move. He’d been bedridden in his past life, after all.

He knew well enough that Rosay wasn’t bedridden as such, she was hibernating, due to wake in less than three months, but he couldn’t help himself. The little things he had once wished never stopped in his previous life, he could at least do for her.

Now he was in the laboratory. A small room within the mansion, reserved strictly for chemistry and the development of solutions for evolutionary synchronisations.

Every wall was lined with shelves stuffed with potions, empty jars, and every manner of chemical apparatus. The room had a sharp, solvent-like smell to it, with something acrid lurking underneath that caught in the throat.

Not that it bothered Leomaris. He’d been here a few days prior and had put together the Ascension Orb, a solution meant to carry him through his evolution to the rank of Sorcerer. But he’d bottled it.

"Now I have no choice. Instructor Moon selected me as his trainee... and I was first on the list as well."

He breathed out a sigh. The fear had passed. He’d verified his personality synchronisation with his entity, Mystery.

What kept him held up was Instructor Moon’s motivations. Leomaris had enemies in no short supply, his own family included, and the Firstlight Goddess on top of that.

He had a mark that would eventually make any devoted worshipper of the Firstlight Goddess despise him, and beside that, an unholy presence that all but gave him the bearing of a devil.

Instructor Moon was a devoted follower of the Firstlight Goddess with ties to the Spire Magic Tower. His unholy presence alone was enough, add his fraught relationship with the Goddess, and Instructor Moon was a natural enemy by any measure.

"But if it’s none of them, then he’s definitely the one who wants Rosay dead. Which means I’m an enemy no matter what."

He let out a sigh.

He didn’t want to be hasty and write Instructor Moon off as an enemy from the start. Going by his reputation at the academy, the man had a love for strength, so selecting first-year cadets to train wasn’t abnormal, not when there were so many promising ones about.

Precautions were in order all the same. He’d practically died twice already, and if a third came around, he wasn’t confident he could cheat death again. He needed to get stronger, even if it meant completing the Goddess’s curse on his body.

He made his way to the table by the window. There on the rack was his solution, the Ascension Orb. A plain white liquid was contained in a test tube, stoppered with rubber.

He reached for the tube with a heavy heart, pulling the rubber stopper free with quiet care.

As though gravity had no claim on it, the liquid crept out of the tube of its own accord, climbing free until it suspended itself in the air. It turned about slowly, like a bubble of water, until it had settled into a perfect sphere.

Leomaris swallowed hard, steeling himself as it began drifting toward him.

The orb drifted toward his chest, and the instant it made contact, it sank clean through his clothes and disappeared into him entirely.

Leomaris’s chest tightened, and he went down on one knee. Something shifted within his body. His eyes dilated, his skin crawled and dried out, sweat ran off him in rivulets, his heart hammered, and his stomach shrivelled.

For a moment, it seemed he’d taken something his body had no right to accept, but as the seconds ticked by, relief washed over him. His mind cleared, and his eyes sparked with hope.

He got back to his feet and, as though he’d always known what to do at this moment, brought two fingers, index and middle, to his chest and massaged the area over his heart, brief and gentle.

He did this three more times, stopping only when his heart finally settled.

He smiled and stretched his body.

He’d always known sealing a personality synchronisation wouldn’t be as bad as the others, but from blood synchronisation onwards, the higher the rank, the more it would cost him.

"This feels refreshing."

His eyes dropped to the magic circle on the back of his left hand. With a thought, he dismissed it, and his grimoire came forth in its place.

He and Mystery shared the same personality now, and even without flipping the grimoire open, he had a fair idea of what abilities she would bring him.

When he first opened the grimoire, everything was gone: his name, his previous skills, the lot. Then, in black ink, the words began appearing one after another.

—

First page

[ Name: Leomaris Runerth

Age: 18

Rank: Sorcerer

Rank merit: Excellent Understanding

Contracted entity: Mystery

Contractual cost: Memory Loss.Twice per use. ]

Second page:

[ Conceal: An innate ability that renders its user difficult to comprehend by individuals of equal or lesser strength. Additionally, it grants the ability to conceal the existence, presence, and traces of the user, along with anyone or anything connected to them. ]

Third page:

[ Null: An ability that allows the user to nullify any ability, provided the user possesses a complete understanding of its fundamental principles. Upon nullification, the complexity of that ability increases by a factor of four, making it significantly more difficult for its wielder to remaster. Furthermore, so long as the ability continues to be used, it remains vulnerable to subsequent nullification. ]

Fourth page:

[ Solve: An ability that allows the user to unravel any physical or psychological phenomenon as though it were a puzzle. Upon fully solving an aspect, the user gains complete mastery over it, including any associated information, knowledge, or abilities.

Thereafter, the difficulty required to master that aspect is tripled. If another individual achieves mastery despite this increased difficulty, the user forfeits all mastery over that aspect until it is remastered.

Solved skills:

Mercy of Death Sword Arts

Sixth Sense

Infinite Flow Martial Arts

Death Trance

False Entity: Heliara, the Watching Flame

Hyper Boost. ]

Fifth page:

[ Learn: This ability allows you to uncover the mysteries and secrets of others once apparent signs of suspicion have been discovered. Such signs must be evidence that would appear suspicious to anyone but yourself. However, if the suspicions are less obvious or insufficiently proven, the ability will fail to trigger. ]

Sixth page:

[ Paradox: The ability to cloak yourself in any mystery of your choosing. The greater the mystery’s influence upon the world, the easier it becomes to embody. However, this ability lasts for only one day and must be reactivated at the start of each new day. ]

—

Leomaris gritted his teeth in irritation. If he hadn’t gained an understanding of Mystery, he’d be celebrating himself right now. None the wiser.

His abilities had improved no end, and his newest ability, Paradox, was something to die for. Yet Leomaris couldn’t force so much as a smile.

He understood Mystery’s goal now. Like a contract with the devil.

It wanted to lure Leomaris in with tempting abilities, making sure he’d use them often. With the contractual cost at two memories per use, he could burn through the lot in a month flat if he gave in.

But still, he was glad enough. He understood every ability listed perfectly, and though he hadn’t mastered lots of them and some would still need his own skills to pull off, it was what he’d bargained for.

"Now I just need to spend the next few days consuming the remaining myths surrounding the Goddess."

They had a four-day break following their mid-semester examination, and then it was off to the Pandora Floating Island for a brief excursion. After, training with Instructor Moon would kick off.

Best prepare himself for the worst.