Chronicles of Forgotten Extra

As soon as Alden's body entered the portal, he found himself drifting in a dark void.

The place was pitch black, except for something floating in the distance.

A golden-colored book hovered silently in the air.

Alden recognized it instantly.

How could he not?

It was the same book that had caused him so much pain—so much that he'd once wished for death.

The Eclipse Codex.

But… where is this place?

And why is that floating here?

Is this my mind space? Or soul space?

A soft chime echoed, and a shimmering blue window appeared before him.

[THE ▒▒▒▒▒ TRIAL HAS BEEN COMPLETED]

[THE ▒▒▒▒▒ INSIDE YOUR SOUL INCREASED]

[2% → 8%]

[THE FIRST TRIAL IS COMPLETED]

[REWARD — BREAKTHROUGH TO ADVANCED INTERMEDIATE RANK RECEIVED]

[REWARD — SKILL: VOIDHEART RECEIVED]

A surge of energy rushed through him, followed by a cold sensation spreading across his body.

And yet, Alden's expression didn't change.

His mind had never felt clearer.

Something's… different.

It's quiet.

The constant noise in my head—it's gone.

Weird, but kind of nice.

Could this be the effect of that new skill?

Only one way to find out.

Status.

He thought the word, and the familiar blue window appeared.

___

[STATUS]

[NAME — ALDEN DRAVEN]

[TITLES — SLAYER OF RULER, VANQUISHER OF CHAOS, THE THIRD SUPREME, WALKER OF THE FRACTURED REALMS (NEW)]

[MANA CORE — INITIATE (ADVANCED)]

[POTENTIAL — LIMITLESS]

[MANA TOME — THE ECLIPSE CODEX (PRIMORDIAL)]

[WEAPON ART — SEVENFOLD RUIN (???)]

[SUPREME ABILITY — LIMITLESS ASCENSION]

[SOULBOUND WEAPON — SWORD OF CHAOS]

[STATS]

STR — F+

AGI — F+

INT — E

VIT — F+

END — E

MANA — 6000/6000

[▒▒▒▒▒ Trial]

You may challenge the trial, but each success increases the cooldown before the next attempt.

Death in the trial means death in reality.

[Next Trial — N/A]

[Skills]

(New)

___

Alden scanned the window, eyes narrowing slightly.

As the system said, he'd broken through to the Advanced rank.

But that wasn't all.

He would've been happy if it were just that.

I thought only stats that hadn't reached the next threshold would increase.

But all of them went up—slightly, sure, but enough to matter.

If things go well, I might hit the next major rank soon.

Another thing caught his eye.

A new title.

Wait… weren't titles only given during the tutorial?

I assumed so.

Guess not.

Apparently, they can be earned normally too. But what are the conditions?

He focused on the newest one.

__

[Walker of the Fractured Realms]

You've stepped where mortals were never meant to tread… and returned intact. Your body remembers the tear of space, the silence between worlds.

Effects:

Immune to teleportation aftereffects

Can resist forceful teleportation attempts

Slight affinity to the space element]

__

What the actual hell?

Space?

Alden's eyes widened as he read.

Finally, no more puking my guts out after teleporting.

And wait… space element affinity?

That means I could maybe use space magic someday.

Even if it's a "slight" affinity—it still counts.

Freaking teleportation.

What NEET hasn't dreamed of teleporting?

I don't know about others, but I sure as hell did.

Still, even if Alden wanted to practice space magic… how?

He didn't have a space core.

Hell, he didn't even have a regular mana core—his was a shadow core, filled mostly with shadow mana.

There was a way, though.

The same way ordinary people used elemental magic.

Unlike Alden, who had a Primordial-rank cultivation tome that included methods for forming a shadow core, most people didn't have any elemental core at all.

Their tomes didn't provide that.

Cultivation tomes below Primordial rank rarely included core-formation techniques.

So how did they cast elemental spells?

Simple.

Even though their tomes lacked core-forming methods, they still contained techniques to temporarily convert ambient mana into elemental mana.

It was inefficient—slow and costly—but it worked.

Tomes below Primordial rank were judged mainly by how efficiently they could convert ambient mana.

Which means…

Even with just a slight affinity, I can start experimenting with space magic—at least theoretically.

And that idea alone is enough to make me grin.

But where do I find a good tome for that?

Oh, how can I forget?

I got the right person for it.

Jeremy Voidforge.

Alden's mouth curled up to form a smirk. His eyes started calculating.

Jeremy was dangerous. A villain.

Which was exactly why Alden had been thinking—repeatedly—about becoming his disciple.

But it wasn't like Jeremy was going to give up just because Alden refused.

Alden knew that, but he was still hesitant to accept the offer.

But somehow, he didn't feel that hesitation now. Instead, his mind started calculating the future plan.

How should I scam—I mean accept his offer politely?

Alden's smirk widened.

Well anyways.

Time for the final dish.

My first and only skill for now.

Reveal yourself, NULLHEART.

Alden thought in his mind.

Yeah, that sounded cringe.

Glad I didn't say that out loud.

Not like anyone was here to listen to that.

Just then, another system window appeared, brighter than ever.

Damn, even brighter in this void?

Seriously, can't you tone it down a bit?

Man, I hate light mode. Why can't the system have a dark theme?

But there was no response from the system.

Which was to be expected.

__

[VOIDHEART]

[Rank - ??? ]

[PASSIVE]

[Description - Grants complete immunity to soul damage, poison, illusions, and emotional manipulation.

Emotions remain, but rationality is heightened, allowing the user to act with cold clarity even under pressure.]

__

The skill window showed details of his new skill, which honestly sounded too cool.

I mean, just the name gave it an edgy feeling.

How could one not think of something cool with that name?

And Alden's expectations were not ruined.

His eyes kept widening as he kept reading the description.

Soul damage immunity—check.

Poison immunity—check.

Illusion immunity—check.

Emotion manipulation immunity—check.

Heightened rationality—check.

He stared at the skill for another few seconds.

Then grinned.

Yup. That's officially cool as hell.

Alden stared into the void, the glow of the system window fading as silence returned.

His thoughts flowed freely, no longer weighed down by doubt or noise.

The future stretched ahead, uncertain yet filled with possibilities. Power, danger, and choices awaited him beyond this space.

For now, though, he stood still—an odd sense of calm anchoring him. Everything felt clearer, like the fog had finally lifted.

But what does heightened rationality mean?