The furthest shelf from here was memories starting at five years old, and it only held hundreds of memories on its shelves. They were my strongest memories of that time, very few could be made into books when I started practicing. It was sad because many memories of my mother were in faded memories, in books that their cover was worn. She had died not too long after that and it really drove a spike through the family making the family make more distance between each other every day.

It was part of the reason I had started to practice this as I didn't want to forget the face of my mother who had long been gone. The smell of spice that reminded me of cinnamon, and vanilla that always surrounded her. How her fingers always felt warm as they brushed my cheek making me feel the safest I felt in my life. I always wondered how my father who only cared about efficiency could ever win her over, but then again in the memories with her, he always had a warm smile I never saw again after her pa.s.sing.

Half of me was ready for my death, to be honest, to see my mother again, but I wasn't willing to give up. If I met her again in the afterlife she would be disappointed in me if I ever did that.

"August 23rd through the 25th, six years ago." The shelves s.h.i.+fted in front of me, leaving me staring at about a hundred books. Much like a search function allowed you to narrow down trillions of websites, speaking out the timeframe of the memories resulted in narrowing the books down quite a bit. It still included times in which I thought back to that date, and from here on out would probably have this exact moment in the search should I try again.

This was the last time I was healthy before I noticed a numbness in my left hand. I had been through those memories a hundred times looking for the reason I ended up like this without any clues, but I had never suspected it was done by another person.

A cynical smile came to my lips, "I am worth billions of dollars if my father had a heart."

With my naivety shattered, I knew not just look for things that I did to myself that day, but to the others around me. This time I felt like something would turn up now that I had more information. Picking up each book one by one to look through the memory, I shook my head until the fifth book.

The smell of fire, the pop of wood, the taste of whiskey, the feeling of a s.h.a.g carpet…

"Chinese medicine will get you nowhere James, no one would ever let a certified doctor give them wild herbs and snake blood as a prescription." One man spoke to a short, and skinny, balding man who I had only met a few times. He was one of those men who you'd put away your good silverware before you'd invite over.

James shook his head, "There are many things that modern science can not cure! What if Chinese medicine could cure AIDS or old age?"

"If that was true then some old Chinese man would have come out and said something." The man responded.

During this time I was putting together a small puzzle that lay on the table, a package of Redvines lay on the carpet under me. This was my house six years ago before I could no longer walk. There was a fire raging during the night as my father enjoyed the smell of burning cedar while he had his meetings.

Shadows around me flickered slowly, they were intensified because I had a distinct fear of the dark at the time since I had a wild imagination. There were only five people in the room, my father not one of them. Of the five the clearest conversation was between James and the unknown redhead that stood across from him sipping at some whiskey. This wasn't due to their proximity, but because during that time he was listening to them talk out of curiosity.

My father always had people over from different professions, always trying to make deals or connections with each person he met. He wanted more powerful allies to back him as he tried to make crazier inventions. It was said that he was a sinkhole for money that sometimes let loose a geyser of gold, so it wasn't unusual for people to take bets on his progress.

James was someone I knew very well though, he was my care doctor. He didn't try to diagnose my sickness or treat it as he had already failed to do such at the very beginning. He instead just made sure I was comfortable and changed the necessary equipment like my feeding tube when needed.

I didn't have a good impression of him, he always took my father's money too greedily, and he always took offerings off of my desk to eat them himself. He had once said that I didn't need them as I couldn't even swallow the treats. I had no one to complain to, would just look the other way when the doctor did these things, and my father ignored any attempts to contact him.

"There are things that defy our logic out there." James lowered his voice quite a bit, "I found a recipe for a gu called Transcendence that sacrifices the body to make the mind do so much more than it should."

"So it makes you smart? Like that one movie where the guy was taking that pill?" The redhead asked doubtfully.

"It has nothing to do with intellect, it is said that those who take it gain higher reflexes, heightened awareness, and the ability to change the trajectory of arrows mid-flight. We're talking about physics here." Jame's eyes seemed almost feverish, and their voices got more distant. Obviously, I had stopped paying attention to them in this memory but their voices were still there. Looking back at myself, a butler had given me a chocolate shake, and I seemed very excited.

"Why are you even mentioning this to me?" The redhead seemed even more suspicious of James's claims.

"I need.. a human test subject. Someone who is rich enough to utilize everything to save themselves. I need to know the cure to Transcendence." James seemed to think of something and he looked to me as this part of the room turned black, soon the room was gone. I had left the scene, and the memory was now in a different part of the house.

The current me didn't follow, I had found out who killed me. Doctor James McKaine.. that son of a b.i.t.c.h. I always had a bad feeling about him but I didn't think he had the b.a.l.l.s to actually do anything like this.

Closing the book, a new message appeared in front of me, the countdown still going down.

Mission Complete:

James McKaine has poisoned you to find the cure for his gu, due to lack of Chinese Medicine no one has been able to find a cure. Your death is just around the corner, and you have two paths to take.

Forgive James:

You gain access to a book of healing to make sure nothing like this happens to others.

Kill James:

Gain the knowledge of the Alchemist Artephius that talks about breeding, and body grafting.

Rewards for Current Quest Completion:

Rank: S

The poison in your body will travel with you in death, and be beneficial to you in the next life.

This was an easy choice for me, I am not a saint, the ones that plan to harm me should be completely destroyed. Luckily I had the tools, coming out of my mind palace I grabbed the candies near my bed with my one still moving arm.

There were some really strong medications being added to my body in hopes that one of them would be effective. Using my orange juice, I started mixing the various drugs together into a very heavy paste. Rolling the candies in the paste all of the candies started to look like a powdered candy.

My eyes stared at the candies as I thought to myself, 'Was I really going to kill someone?' What surprised me was there wasn't a shred of doubt or hesitation, 'Yes, he deserves it.'

Rolling all the candies into the mixture, I left them all out to dry and have James eat the candies. He was sort of a glutton so he would probably grab a handful before shoving them into his mouth. I wasn't sure what the effects will be, but I hoped that they would kill them. I felt like then if nothing else, I could leave this world with no regrets that I could change in such a short time.

After calling in a few nurses, I had them gather me a series of books. I had studied electronics, and mechanics in hope to work with my father on a project when I was older. That interest turned into the thoughts of creating a robotic body for myself or even an exoskeleton. According to my doctors, making something like that wouldn't be an issue, the issue was that my organs were failing as well.

Those delusions went away quickly, but I found that I had a pa.s.sion for mechanics. Finding out how things worked, how they were put together made me feel complete in a lot of ways. The books were very basic in nature, but a refresher was needed if I was going to rely on them to survive.

The reward for my last quest was something that could help me out in my next life, so every ounce of knowledge I gain could be beneficial. I didn't know what technology level they would be at, nor if I would be able to keep my knowledge. There were other books with me, some of them by Bear Grylls, most of them talking about how to survive in the wild. A book on business was thrown to the side called the 'Art of the Deal' but it was confusing and contradictory it held no use.

Even though I had never moved my body to fight like my character in VR, there was the knowledge there. My trainer was an expert in short blades weapons and I had the knowledge of how to handle many blades from a dagger to a short sword. My favorite weapons due to their decisiveness were still the Kurkri, the talon-like curve of them could slice through many weak places especially if you knew human anatomy.

I had a quiet two days to myself, and I started to worry that I would die before I could complete my quest. I contemplated calling James to come to see me, but that would be suspicious as I had no reason to contact him. In the end, I left it up to fate as I read my books. Each one could be a vital lifeline for me in the future.

In my mind palace, I set aside the books I read, summarizing them, adding sights and sounds to each image so I would remember each easier. I put a large emphasis on surviving the wilds since the worst scenario I could think of would be one where technology is in the Middle Ages or even more primitive. Maybe I had read too many stories, but simple skills always seemed the most important in them.

"Ah, it's always good to see my favorite patient, working hard to study?" A very familiar voice popped up. The man had gotten a lot heavier over the years and his stomach moved like jello as he walked.

"James." My eyes turned to him as I couldn't help but clench the book in my hand.

He s.h.i.+vered once my eyes met his, as he felt some sort of primal fear. The feeling pa.s.sed as quickly as it came, and he brushed it off as his imagination. Walking to the other side of my bed he grabbed a handful of candy, "What's with the survival books? Planning on going on a trip?"

"I have something planned in two days actually." I watched as he shoveled down some of the candies in the bowl.

A slight chuckle came from him as he shook his head, a smile coming over his 'powdered' lips. "More of that VR game right? It's seriously a waste of…" His words faltered as he clenched his chest a look of confusion and pain coming to his face.

I closed my book, and looked at James, "With this, our debts are paid in full. Now I can leave this world with a lighter heart. I forgive you for killing me James, for now, I have done the same to you."

Quest Complete:

You have taken his life and resolved him of his sins, your speed and decisiveness have shown their worth. Now your only worry is to resolve yourself of any charges as these will inconvenience your loved ones when you die.

Mission: Hide all evidence of wrongdoing, or mislead investigations.

Reward Based on Results.

Moving over to the side of the bed was hard, but with a lot of effort I wiped off James's lips and hands of the powder. Now the last was the candy, and there was only one place I could hide the last of them.

I grabbed the last of the candy and ate them all without hesitating. This way it would look like both of us had been killed the same way. Nothing happened at first, but the machines around me started to suddenly go haywire baring our warnings as my heart rate jumped up.

In my final moments, I felt like a sharp sword pierced through my chest, the world around me being plunged into darkness. My name is Alexander McRath, and my death is just the beginning of my story.