Book Restoration System: Savior Of The Forsaken Legends [BL]

Auri sat cross-legged on a patch of grass and stared absentmindedly into the fire. From across the campfire, Darius tended to his sword, running a cloth along the length of its blade. The fire crackled between them, its embers flickering into the quiet of the night as it slowly consumed the firewood.

It wasn't that Auri disliked the silence, but his companion's brooding demeanor prickled at him as if he's in an un-skippable scene with an antsy NPC. It made him want to say something ridiculous just to get rid of the awkwardness hanging above them.

Darius reminded him of tragic antiheroes in games, or an anime protagonist who got reincarnated in the wrong story. The man was an enigma—a brooding character shrouded in mystery and with a tragic backstory. The half mask he was wearing even added to that effect! It made Auri wonder what kind of life had shaped him to become so distant and distrustful of others? Maybe he was betrayed by someone? That's a common theme for a character like him.

"Is there something on my face?" Darius asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

Auri blinked, only realizing he had been staring until he was caught red-handed.

"If you have something to say, just say it. I can't read minds."

Clearing his throat, Auri straightened his back and tried to think of something casual to ask. "I was just wondering..."

And so, just like any curious person would do, he pointed to the most obvious thing that would draw attention to the enigmatic man.

"Why are you wearing a mask?"

Darius' hand didn't stop moving. "That's what you are curious about?"

"Naturally," Auri answered with a shrug. "What? Did you wear a mask and expect people wouldn't be curious about what you are hiding under it? If it's because you got a huge scar or if it's just purely for aesthetic like, you know, just to look mysterious and cool?"

"Whatever my reason is, I don't think that is any of your concern. And I'm not obligated to satisfy your curiosity."

Auri rolled his eyes. "'Kay, Mr. Edgy Overlord."

The rhythm of Darius' movements broke at the weird nickname, and Auri couldn't stop the smirk forming on his lips when Darius turned to him with a scowl. But instead of engaging in a verbal banter, Darius just returned to his previous task.

Boring.

Auri covered his mouth when a yawn suddenly tried to escape him.

"You should sleep," Darius said, finally putting his sword back to its scabbard. "Tomorrow is a long journey. It will take us an entire day to reach the Ruhad Fortress by foot."

"Ruhad Fortress?"

"That's the nearest village from here."

"Oh."

Darius stood from the log he was sitting on. "I'll patrol the area and keep watch. Get some rest."

"Err..." Auri glanced down at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck. "This may really sound stupid, but I don't really have anything to sleep on."

Darius looked at him, his piercing blue eyes boring into him with silent judgement. "You came all the way here without supplies? And here I thought you were a person with some kind of intellect. It turns out you are just another fool."

If he was in a manga, he would have been impaled by speech bubbles with the words 'stupid', 'fool' and 'idiot' written on them. But it's not like he could explain that he was sent here from another world and came unprepared.

Auri clicked his tongue and turned away. "I lost them, okay?"

"Were you robbed?"

"S-Something like that," Auri lied, watching Darius from the corner of his eyes. "It's not like I wanted it to happen."

Darius' stare lingered for a moment before he closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. Without another word, he marched back towards the log and grabbed a thick bedroll from his pack.

"Here." Darius tossed the rolled-up blanket to Auri, who barely caught it in time. "Use this for now."

Auri blinked in surprise, not expecting Darius' another show of generosity. "W-What about you, though?"

"It's fine. I can go on for days without sleep. One night without one is nothing."

Auri looked down at the blanket and smiled. "Thanks, Darius. You already gave me your food earlier. Now, you're sharing your blanket for me to sleep on. You try to hide it, but you are really kind behind your mask."

Darius scoffed, already turning away. "I am anything but kind. I'm just not like the bastards from the Holy Empire who spout nonsense about the Goddess' mercy but ignore the needs of their people."

Auri's mind went back to his previous statement. Was that Darius' reply to what he said earlier?

"By the way." Darius paused to send him a glance over his shoulder. "It takes a whole day to dry that blanket, so try not to sully it with your drool. Unless you plan to stay here for another day cleaning it up."

"I-I'll keep that in mind," Auri said, trying not to hurl the blanket back to its owner.

Darius had slipped into the shadows and disappeared, and when Auri can no longer feel his presence, he used the skill [Memory Tracing] on the blanket.

[Memory Tracing] was the first sub-skill of [Archivist's Trace] that he had unlocked, and it branched out further into the more specific skill [Realm Chronicles], where he could trace memories from the land within a five-meter radius. He had only used the skill to aid in his navigation, so this will be his first time using it specifically to an item.

As Auri focused his mind into the blanket, memories entwined in its fabric flickered in his mind in fragments.

Endless roads. Sandstorms. Darius reading a scroll. Starlit sky. People attacking. Darius stitching a wound. Freezing nights. Darius undressing. Darius looking so sexy in the lake.

Auri stopped the skill before he saw something more inappropriate than the last memory. Those weren't the things he needed to know!

[You just used the Sub-Skill: Memory Tracing to gain insights into the memories imprinted in an inanimate object. Sub-Skill Branch: Matter Recollections is added to your active skills. Uploading updates to your Beginner's Manual. Please refer to the manual for more details about the Sub-Skill Branch: Matter Recollections.]

"Just as I thought," Auri said, staring at the system notification. "I can unlock more skills if I perform a more specific action using the condition of an already existing skill. I can now look into the memories of places and objects. I wonder if I can use [Memory Tracing] on a person too."

As more ideas and possibilities entered his mind, Auri fell into deep concentration that he had forgotten to set up the bedroll for sleep.

"Why aren't you sleeping yet?"

Auri jolted at Darius' voice. "O-Oh! Yeah, I'm going to sleep now."

"You should have done that when I gave you the blanket."

"I'm doing it now." Auri unfolded the blanket and lay it on the ground. "This looks bigger than expected. I think it can fit two people. Would you like to sleep together?"

Darius gave him an unimpressed look.

"Fine. I just thought I'd offer." Auri shrugged and lay down on the makeshift bed, turning away. "Good night, Mr. Edgy Overlord."