A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 278 The Mystery of Amnesia
"Hey kid, let me tell you some stories about the Kingdom of Yangen."

"That was many years ago. Damn, who remembers if it was fifty or sixty years ago, when the old King Yangen was still on the throne. Ho ho, possessing the best Central Plains and the bravest army of the Western Continent, although the expedition against the Legacy of the Heroes severely weakened the kingdom, they were still one of the top powers in the Western Continent."

"That year... let me think, when was it? The Lionheart Knights of Yangen fought the Imperial Iron Cavalry to a draw. That was the only time in hundreds of years that the Imperial army was forced to retreat when facing a human army!!"

The owner, Selvi, slammed his glass on the table, splashing the sweet ale, nearly hitting Quinn across the table. He exclaimed excitedly, "That Lionheart Knights commander, with just a 'Ha!', sent even the clouds, the battlefield winds, and the souls lurking beneath his hooves flying! And look at those Imperial cavalry, led by the Imperial Guard Konstantinovich! He rubbed his eyes, and upon seeing them from afar, nearly fell off his horse in fright!"

Quinn watched his boss, who was spitting as he spoke, with boredom.

"'Retreat! Retreat now!' he shouted, and the Empire's Golden Iron Cavalry suffered their first humiliating defeat! They fled without a fight! What could have frightened away the Imperial Iron Hoof, a force capable of fighting the Demon King's army to a 1:1 ratio? It was the sword of the Lionheart Knight Commander! The renowned Witch-Slayer Knight! Known to everyone in the Northern Continent."

The boss gulped down two mouthfuls of wine, then said in a measured tone, "Wrong, wrong, wrong! That's true, overwhelming power. Even before the battle or the drawing of the sword, it allows even the strongest warriors of the empire to sense the power befitting an ultimate expert."

Quinn was sweating so much that it looked like soybeans were about to pop out of his face.

"No, boss, I want to know about what happened out of control, not listen to storytelling."

Just then, Mrs. Servi came over with a steaming bowl of black sesame pies, placed them in front of Quinn, and gave her son a disapproving look.

"Can't we talk about serious matters in front of children?"

"He has a child? I can smell his perfume; he must have just gotten out of bed with a woman."

Quinn thought to himself, "That dog has a nose! He clearly took two showers."

It was six o'clock in the evening when he dropped Chaldale off at St. Mary's School and rushed to the tavern.

With Ankuya not around, the only thing I can do is discuss the possibility of losing control with my boss.

"Ahem, where were we again?" The boss grabbed half of the black sesame pie without any politeness, showing absolutely no sense of morality in letting the younger generation eat more.

"out of control."

"Oh, out of control. Speaking of the Lionheart Knights Commander, the strongest man in the Kingdom of Yangen—after repelling the Imperial army, it was discovered that his supernatural abilities were becoming unstable."

"Do you remember what I said about what kind of person is less likely to lose control?"

Quinn immediately replied: "Unwavering belief, exceptional perseverance, faith or life goals, and maintaining one's true self while absorbing traits."

"The conclusion is that you must have a strong inner self."

The boss's slightly narrowed eyes revealed a hint of nostalgia. "That knight commander was still very young that year. But he was already a high-sequence superhuman, and his advancement speed was no slower than that of a hero."

"In his early years, what sustained him was revenge." He paused, "But after he had slaughtered all the wizards who deserved to die in the Northern Continent, that belief in revenge faded. In its place came a sense of confusion and emptiness, a feeling of having no worthy adversary."

"That's when things got out of control."

Quinn listened while eating.

The old lady from Servi is a really good cook; this black sesame pie even reminded him of the sesame pastries from his hometown.

Do you know how finely black sesame seeds need to be ground before using them as filling? They need to release oil; they must taste like flowing sand to be considered合格 (qualified/acceptable), sweet but not cloying. It's said that this is the requirement for pastries made in the palace.

"Before my grandfather opened his food stall, he sold mooncakes. His black sesame filling was a closely guarded secret. He supported my dad with the money he earned from mooncakes. Oh, but he sold more five-nut mooncakes than black sesame, but even dogs wouldn't eat those. What's wrong with studying civil engineering? Inheriting a food stall is useless. You need to consider national policy trends. Studying civil engineering has a much brighter future."

In a university dormitory.

The person kneading the filling with him in the bathtub was cursing and swearing.

When it tasted right after eating it, it seemed to be about the same flavor.

Before he knew it, Quinn had finished his black sesame pie.

He looked at his boss in a daze. This feeling was not abrupt. The feeling of waking up from the memory was like a patient who had been under anesthesia waking up. Although his hearing, smell, touch and sight were all real, the memories in his brain were hazy, like a white fog that he could not recall no matter what.

"Hey little glutton, just say you want some. Why are you staring at me like that? Here, have a piece.

The shopkeeper, rather stingy, broke off a small piece of pie and handed it to Quinn; it was a little bigger than a finger, not enough for two bites.

“I just…” Quinn rubbed his hair irritably. “That amnesia is back. I can’t remember anything you just said, like I didn’t hear you, and I can’t remember what I was doing or thinking.”

The boss looked at him slowly, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"That knight commander is a lot like you. Sometimes he's in a daze, unable to distinguish between reality and dreams even though it's daytime. The alienation brought about by his extraordinary abilities is becoming increasingly severe. When he was rewarded by the king and stood in the crowded palace, surrounded by praise and applause, he felt as if he were standing on a desolate mountaintop, without oxygen, supported by a sense of emptiness, so quiet that he could only hear the sound of his own heartbeat."

"He became irritable, and the influence of his extraordinary abilities on his humanity began to intensify exponentially. In the lower and middle sequences, he was humble and hardworking, like an impeccable gentleman. But as his tendency to lose control intensified, he became irritable, easily angered, arrogant, and domineering."

"The essence of losing control is the takeover of humanity by extraordinary traits. You must practice the sequence you choose, such as a thief stealing, hiding, and surviving in dangerous and high-pressure environments. The more extraordinary traits are integrated and advanced, the more your humanity will resemble the traits pursued by the extraordinary traits. When your humanity and extraordinary traits become homogeneous, loss of control occurs."

Quinn remained silent for a long time.

Theft, hiding, surviving in a dangerous and high-pressure environment.
Less than two days after being promoted to [Ash], I did not feel any increase in my extraordinary power, but this kind of confusion and amnesia occurred twice in a row.

Throughout, the Brave trait has suppressed the Thief trait, and Quinn has never felt any influence from the Extraordinary trait.

While moments of confusion and amnesia do occur occasionally, they are not this frequent.

Could it be that the effect of rank suppression is weakened after advancing to the seventh rank of the Heroic Order?
The boss's words were true; it's quite obvious. Today at the Golden Wind Casino, when killing those Razorback members, I could have easily called for Ike to handle them, or simply charged in head-on with my katana. Instead, I subconsciously devised a plan more befitting an assassin.
The names of extraordinary traits are highly related to abilities. The word 'ashes' evokes the feeling of burning to ashes. Could this be a premonition that I'll be doomed if I don't advance to Sequence Six?

As soon as the thought crossed your mind, a system notification appeared in your field of vision.

[You can ignite your soul with the Primal Flame and enter the state of 'The One Who Embraces Fire'. Please note that once a soul is ignited, it cannot be extinguished.]

[Upon igniting your soul, you will directly advance to Hero's Path Sequence Six. Please note again that once a soul is ignited, it cannot be extinguished. If no soul fragments are available to repair the soul, death will result from the soul burning out.]

Quinn, the First Flame, had never heard of such a thing. He had never even read about it in Grindelwald's library.

Although he still had plenty of soul fragments, Quinn was reluctant to take the risk. The system didn't specify the rate at which souls burned after Sequence Six, or the amount of soul fragments needed to repair a soul. Most importantly, 'igniting the soul' was a very dangerous thing from a mystical perspective.

"How did the commander of the knights deal with the loss of control?" Quinn asked.

The boss, elbowing his double chin, said listlessly, "He's starting to be more chivalrous."

"He doesn't touch women, doesn't drink alcohol, and doesn't listen to any praise or flattery. Whenever his extraordinary qualities cause his emotions to fluctuate, he becomes even more composed and polite, to everyone. He fights against loss of control with willpower and against laziness with diligence; he lives a life as rigorous as the gears of a steam engine." "Did he succeed?" Quinn asked with awe.

"nonsense."

The boss rolled his eyes at him: "Of course it failed. If a superhuman who could make the empire choose to withdraw its troops were still alive, how could Yangen possibly have fallen?"

"...Died from losing control?"

The boss shook his head in silence.

"No, he died at the hands of some ridiculous little people, but I can tell you that these methods didn't work. Towards the end of his life, his tendency to lose control became irresistible, and he became self-destructive and succumbed to his desires, which ironically stabilized his extraordinary abilities somewhat."

"So, you still suggest I find a form of entertainment that can help me control my temper?" Quinn frowned slightly.

"The loss of control over low-order sequences and high-order sequences are not the same thing."

The boss took a sip of his drink and said calmly, "You're just a little mentally unstable right now, but your characteristics are still quite stable. There's no need to worry too much. Many superhumans experience problems like yours when they reach Sequence Nine."

"Amnesia, confusion, autism, vivid dreams. All sorts of things. As long as it doesn't reach the point where you can't distinguish between reality and dreams, it's not considered serious."

"This is actually a kind of..."

He stared into Quinn's dark eyes and uttered two words: "Opportunity."

Quinn humbly lowered his head and placed two bottles of 20-year-old royal red wine, which he had retrieved from Amamiya Nene's wine cellar, on the table: "Please enlighten me."

"The reason you can't remember what was in your mind when you were in a daze is because your mind is too weak to retain that high-level knowledge."

"Too weak mentally?"

“Ultimately,” the boss pondered, trying to find a way to make Quinn understand without revealing too much danger, “this extraordinary ability is a ‘key’.”

"When you show signs of losing control, it means that this 'key' is too active. It will open some 'doors' that shouldn't be opened. You briefly see what's behind the door, and when you can't understand what it is, you naturally can't imprint it in your mind."

Quinn seemed to be deep in thought.

"For example, knowledge from the Age of Gods, belonging to higher-order powers, fragments of history, or those high-ranking beings?"

"It seems you did learn something at the academy." The shopkeeper nodded slightly. "Yes, but more than that. It might also be memories that belong to you."

If we were to explain how these perplexing phenomena arise, their only commonality would be their 'déjà vu' feeling.

He heard or saw something that seemed familiar.

For example, Pepe's "Farewell" during the Arcane Festival, the sunset this afternoon, and the delicious black sesame pies.
But Quinn couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly he was familiar with.

"One of the ingredients in the 'Thief' potion is a thief's finger." The shopkeeper made him quickly recall the bloody finger that had been dissolved by the potion.

"After you took that potion, it meant you formed a spiritual connection with the finger. Whether its owner was alive or dead, human or not, it became a part of your soul."

"You mean, what I'm seeing is an 'impurity' from the potion?" Quinn suddenly realized.

No wonder it felt so familiar, yet I had no corresponding memory of it.

"It's highly likely. It's probably true."

The boss glanced at him and said meaningfully, "There's another possibility."

What you see is part of your memory, but it has been erased by some force.

"Through the confusion of losing control, you can briefly see a part of it, but your rationality does not allow you to record it."

Quinn blinked.

My real name seems to be in this situation, but the system didn't charge any other memory fees, right?
"In any case, enhancing mental strength is the most effective method." The boss pointed to his temple: "Meditation, or fusion of traits. The former is far less effective than the latter, but the latter is a double-edged sword. As your mental strength increases with the advancement of your extraordinary traits, your uncontrolled madness will also become stronger."

He nodded knowingly.

Perhaps after advancing to Sequence Six of the Hero, the [Assassin] trait can be suppressed.

"Don't worry too much, kid, you're nothing yet."

“There’s only one symptom right now.” Quinn asked cautiously after recalling the events, “You mean, short-term amnesia isn’t serious?”

"It doesn't count unless you lose your memory in a critical moment. You can try suppressing it with addictive methods."

The boss paused, then grinned mischievously and said, "Superhumans don't have many children. You're already Sequence Seven, you only look the same as ordinary people, but your inner self is completely different, so it's very difficult for you to reproduce with ordinary humans."

"I know about the Branson family; they also have fertility issues. You know what I mean?"

Quinn was furious: "Who do you take me for? Women's rights cannot be trampled on!"

The boss sneered, too lazy to even retort.

"By the way, how come you seem so familiar with the story of the Lionheart Knights Commander of Yengen?"

"I know a lot of stories," the boss boasted again. "The Emperor has drunk with me, the Pope has called me 'brother,' and even Grindelwald's headmaster..."

jingle.

The doorbell rang from behind. There were very few customers in the tavern today, and the old man and the young man came in through the door on the Eastwell side.

As soon as Quinn entered, he heard the older man say in a condescending tone, "Yousser, do you think the minister's glass will fill itself with whiskey?"

"Please wait a moment, I'll buy it for you right away."

Quinn turned around and met the gaze of a tall, handsome blond boy dressed in airship factory work clothes.

Both of them were somewhat taken aback, not expecting to see each other here.

(End of this chapter)