Lin...
No,my name is Ayen Watcher now.
In my previous life, I've been a normal middle school student with otaku-ish interests.
As with all the novels and fanfictions I've read, one day I'd died by Truck-kun and woke up to realise I'm reincarnated.
The in-universe explanation for me remembering my past life's memories is, magic. Accidental magic.
Yes, the ten year old Ayen Watcher is the son of a Wizarding Family. Lore: Harry Potter universe.
Sadly, my family situation is less than preferable.
Unable to overcome his wife's death, my workaholic father rarely ever visits the Watcher estate, preferring to instead continue his work day and night to the detriment of his own health. Big guess why, I look so much like his wife that looking at me is enough to evoke his memories.
The previous Ayen, too, isn't much of a normal child. Saddled with dreams of a life not his, he's grown exceptionally independent and emotionally detached from his absentee father, preferring to instead read all sorts of books or learn housework and gardening from the Watcher estate's House Elf.
A sad, lonely, empty existence — that's how the previous Ayen look at his life.
I, however, am shocked at the deeply cringey edgelord-ish thoughts the ten year old had. And sad, because that's now me.
After getting out of the funk that all isekai protagonists have, I've decided to explore.
It's now the afternoon, and the mid-July sun and comfortable cloudy sun lulls me into sleep.
Ayen ate his food by the time I've completely awakened, so it's now time for an afternoon nap.
Usually, Ayen messes with the garden with the supervision of the House Elves, but I don't feel like that now.
Utterly drained and slightly excited to try my new Cheat, the 【Spirituality: Dreams of Knowledge】, I lay down in the lawn and closed my eyes.
I can sense the House Elves erecting a shade umbrella over me, but by that point, my consciousness is blurring the fine line between reality and dreams.
A lull in my thoughts is succeeded by a blue flash of an rpg-like status screen appearing abruptly in front of me.
「Welcome!」
「Spirituality: 24/24」
「Would you like to configure your Dream?」
Staring at it for a while, I've concluded a few things.
Firstly, it seems I can't have a limitless supply of knowledge. There's a cost involved — my Spirituality.
I'm assuming the maximum Spirituality will increase with time or training, but first of all, I need a tutorial in how to use my cheat.
【Tutorial.】
An ethereal voice that seemed to echo from somewhere deep inside me flowed from my throat. I'm reeling in shock at my unfamiliar voice, and another screen appeared before me.
「Please select the cost.」
Hmm. I'm not sure about the regen rate, so I'll go with the lowest setting for now.
【One.】
Followed by my voice, a kaleidoscope of colors appeared before me for an instant, before I found myself experiencing 【Knowledge】in its purest form.
It's as if I've spent time studying, and comprehending what I've studied, and as soon as the 【Dream】 ended, I just knew the concepts.
【Fuck.】
Ignoring the ethereal voice, I'm hopping in this dark void of nothing, unable to contain my giddiness.
【Isn't this too overpowered?】
My ethereal voice flowed in this space.
There is a valid reason for my giddiness. A totally valid reason.
First off, the time conversion. A single point of Spirituality can be spent in exchange for an hour of 【Knowledge】. Consequently, it takes an hour to regen one point of Spirituality. There's no demerit to having zero Spirituality balance like headaches or nausea.
Second, this 【Knowledge】 is something comprehended deeply into my subconscious, so deeply that it's become a second nature for me.
Third, and this is a bit of a bummer, the 【Knowledge】takes a looong ass time to get me to comprehend it, and unless I'm willing to spend Spirituality points on this, there's no way around it.
Fourth, it takes one whole year to increase my maximum Spirituality by one point. I can find suitable Knowledge to increase this speed, but that's high level stuff highly cost inefficient for a noob like me. I've better spend my points making a solid foundation on all subjects before I even attempt it.
Fifth, I can spend points so that the 【Knowledge】obtained can instantly be used in the real world. It's a fascinating piece of magic and Spirituality, where my Body adopts to it as if I've practiced in the real world the whole time.
There's more to the impromptu Tutorial, and I've firmly grasped the specifics.
For now...
【Tutorial: Two points. Comprehension acceleration: Two points.】
I found myself spending two hours Comprehending various aspects of my Cheat, at a speed of two hours virtual time per one hour real time, for a total of four hours.
By the time I finished, I've spent a total of three hours in the Dreamscape.
Aside from the basics of spending my Spirituality points, I've learned another aspect of my Cheat: Spirituality.
Points to spend on 【Dreams of Knowledge】aside, I can use Spirituality in the real world too, just like how I can use mana to power magic.
First: Spiritual Sense. I can sense the Spirituality of all things in existence, living and non-living. It's like I have a three dimensional map of my surroundings in my head at all times. Further, I can expend Spirituality to see through concealment-type spells, wards, curses and such. I can sense when someone or something is either Divining something about me, messing with my natural Luck or Fate, or even cursing me through my hair, blood or other Dark Magic.
Second: Spirituality Spells. Just like how I can use mana to power spells, I can instead use Spirituality to perform the same feats. Or use a mix of mana and spirituality. The power of a spell increases with more Spirituality spent. In fact, if I pour a whole point of Spirituality to power a single spell, even basic spells show devastating effects. Usually fractions of a single point are enough to increase a spell's power.
Finally: Spirituality Pressure. When applied on a living or non-living thing, a metaphysical weight gathers on their Spirituality. With enough Spirituality Pressure, I can even crush their Spirituality, which generally leads to either unconsciousness, coma, insanity, permanent memory loss, or death in living things, and either destruction, turning to ash, or straight up getting erased from existence in case of non-living things. Naturally, the cost is also great for greater feats, and it's an inefficient use of Spirituality when I can instead use the same Spirituality or even magic for the same effects. So unless a situation demands exclusive use of Spirituality Pressure, I won't be using it.
In addition, Spirituality Pressure can be used to block all kinds of Divination, Curses and various other types of interferences. In that sense, I can use Spirituality Pressure to block or even erase spells, charms, enchantments, and all types of magic. It's costly, but very useful.
The basic functions of Spirituality are concluded as such.
By the time I exited my three hours of 【Dream】, the afternoon sun gave way to dusk, the sounds of birds cawing and hooting in the sky accompanied by the sounds of various critters seemed as if welcoming me to the waking world.
The grumbles of my stomach interrupted my musings, and I've skipped my way to the Walker's villa, crossing the grass field I've been sleeping on with a pep in my step.
