Extra's Descent - Chapter 94

Unravel [1]
A lot of things were possible in the new world.

So somehow…

Maybe somehow.

Just a fleeting thought.

Brandon had come up with a theory that his memories were tampered with.

Creaaak….

But as he entered the original Brandon Locke’s childhood room, there were no hints of feeling nostalgic.

Just unfamiliarity.

The sight before him was completely new to him.

“Hahaha.”

Just the thought of it made him stifle a laugh.

After all the relationships he had built up with the people around him, he had started hoping that he was at least part of their story.

But…

“No.”

He was a stranger.

A fake playing the role of Brandon Locke.

That much became clear to him.

“Right.”

Shaking his head, he entered the room.

With his hands on his waist, Brandon thoroughly scanned the room.

Doing so, he had come to realize that the original Brandon liked to keep things minimalistic.

The room was as plain as a room could get.

As if that original Brandon had never been a child in the first place.

A plain white bed on the corner. A table beside it with a lampshade on the top.

A bookshelf that was filled to the brim with books, situated on the other side of the corner, and a balcony to top the whole room’s aesthetic.

And that was it.

A boring room.

Settling his bag on the side of the bed, Brandon turned his head to take in the view outside the window.

It was dusk. The sun was about to set, and the moon was about to rise.

He then turned his head to glance at another shelf.

Picture frames.

There were a bunch of picture frames.

Standing up, he walked towards it. Picking up the frame to scan the picture, an image of a young boy with pale-white hair and ice-blue eyes registered.

He was smiling.

A bright smile.

Just like how any child would smile.

“Hm?”

But what caught his attention were the boy’s eyes.

He was smiling, and yet…

His eyes…

They seemed,

Sad.

Or detached.

The thought had left Brandon puzzled.

From what he could make out with the just the few conversations he had with Belle and Brianna back then, Brandon Locke seemed to be an enthusiastic person.

And yet there were no signs of such enthusiasm in any of the photos.

Sure, he was smiling.

But his eyes told a different story.

Why?

The original Brandon Locke had the privilege anyone would wish for.

A loving family, wealth, looks, some kind of status.

And…

A complete family.

So why?

Was he ungrateful?

Brandon felt a bit bitter.

The thought irked him as he unknowingly gripped the frame tightly.

But as he scanned the photo even more, the boy…

He didn’t seem ungrateful.

He just looked as if he was done with everything.

As if he felt compelled to live.

From what he could make out, the boy seemed to be five years old.

Too young to have such scary thoughts.

Yet another mystery to ponder about.

But since there were no answers, Brandon put the frame down and started scanning the rest of the photos.

Another one.

This time, there were two of them.

The same boy, but he stood next to a girl taller than him.

With the same pale-white hair, and ice blue eyes. It was none other than his older sister, Belle Locke.

In the photo, her hair was tied to a ponytail, as she adorned black framed glasses.

The two wore wide smiles.

There was nothing peculiar that caught Brandon’s attention about the younger Belle.

She seemed like a lively little girl.

But yet again, the boy…

His eyes were still detached.

“…”

Once again, there was no point in pondering about it as he placed the frame back down.

For the next few minutes or so, Brandon scanned each of the picture frames present.

There were a total of seventeen picture frames.

A family photo, a solo photo, another photo with his older sister.

The setting was different in the next set of photos, like they were capturing significant moments in the original Brandon Locke’s life.

And that was when guilt started to take hold of him.

“Haha.”

He stifled a laugh.

But it was one of shame.

He was a stranger. A novel reader who had replaced a youth who was a son, and a sibling to the family.

And an extra in the Path to Ascension novel.

But even extras had their own lives to live.

Their own story.

That much was certain.

Whatever happened to the original Brandon Locke was out of his control.

He had never asked for any of this to happen.

“Haaa….”

Placing the photo back down, Brandon let out an audible sigh.

Looking around, his next agenda was to scan the drawers.

And with such thoughts, that was what he did.

Surely, there was more information lying around.

Like a diary of some sort.

The first drawer had nothing that caught his interest.

But the second drawer on the other hand had notebooks.

Flip—

The first notebook wasn’t a diary, nor did it have any stories of Brandon’s childhood.

The same went for the other notebooks, which were nothing but a bunch of doodles.

“Wait.”

As Brandon continued to scan the notebooks, he had come to realize that they were not just random doodles.

They were…

“Magic Circles?”

Another mystery.

And thus he placed the notebook in his bag.

He then scanned more of the notebooks. There were a lot. Some had random doodles, while some had magic circles.

They had to be of some use. Which is why Brandon placed the interesting ones in his bag.

With the notebooks in the drawer dwindling, the end of the drawer caught his attention.

“…”

There was a large thick book that seemed to have been hidden by the other notebooks.

No, as he picked it up, he had realized it was a tome.

On the front cover, there was an initial on it.

B.

Most likely meant Brandon.

His interest immediately skyrocketed as his eyes lit up.

Brandon Locke was a lot more interesting than he gave him credit for.

Opening it, the pages seemed old. The words were written with ink.

“So it wasn’t printed?”

Hand written.

The penmanship was extremely professional as well.

Flip—

He started flipping the pages.

Flip– Flip—

And as he continued flipping, his eyes widened.

“This…”

That was because it seemed to be research.

Magic research.

More so about the basic affinities.

But what was the point?

There were textbooks to help one master their basic affinity.

But maybe Brandon was just that kind of person.

“So he was a scholar?”

Or a researcher?

Or maybe a mix of both.

Most likely.

“….Huh?”

His eyes widened.

Flip—

As soon as he landed on a certain page, he continued to flip the pages.

Flip, Flip, Flip—

“Is this… Real?”

It seemed to be a research on a certain affinity.

An affinity that Brandon now had.

The [Curse] affinity.

“What in the…”

To all the kinds of abilities a [Curse] affinity user had.

Cursed Threads.

—Too much mana can make the threads brittle, while too little can make them weak….

He started skimming.

He can read it properly later. Just the confirmation was enough.

—Enhance the strength of the threads by layering mana….

—Keep your hand movements smooth and controlled….

.

.

And he continued skimming.

Cursed Flames.

Mark of Despair.

Abyssal Chains.

Soul Drain.

Binding Vow.

They were all there. The same abilities that presented itself in his system.

“So these really were the only curse abilities…”

He frowned.

“But how does he know all this…?”

The information was detailed. As if it was a guide made just for him.

But the [Curse] affinity was rare, even frowned upon. There were no such books about it so to speak.

So where did he get all the information from?

“Did he have the [Curse] affinity as well?”

He had to know more.

Flip— Flip——

He continued flipping the page.

And as he kept doing so, his eyes widened even more.

The book had more than just the [Curse] affinity.

“What…?”

Celestial affinity.

Quantum affinity.

Light affinity.

Holy affinity.

Shadow affinity.

.

.

There were a lot of special affinities written down in detail, with all of the abilities and how to properly execute them.

“…”

—Time affi….

And the page ended there.

“No…”

It was the last page.