Chronicles of Forgotten Extra

Alden's vision finally stabilised after some time.

He found himself in a strange world.

He looked around him to find the objective of the trial.

The first thing Alden saw after was…a dancing gorilla.

Hmm, what's that?

He blinked.

I think I am hallucinating.

Rubbed his eyes.

Looked again.

Hmm.

Yep.

Still there.

What the hell?

A gorilla in an elegant, noblewoman's dress was twirling like she was at some royal ball.

The gorilla turned, locking eyes with him as a gentle looking smile appeared on her face.

"Ohhh my, who do we have here?" A smooth, feminine voice came from the gorilla.

…What?

Alden's brain froze for a moment.

Wait.

'Did that gorilla just talk?'

And why does she sound like an aristocratic lady from some drama?"

What the hell?

Have I finally lost it?

The gorilla... no, the talking gorilla—walked toward him.

"A newcomer, I see." She gave a graceful curtsy, completely unfazed by the absurdity of the situation. "Nice to meet you. I'm Gretta."

Alden's eyes widened in disbelief.

But he quickly reeled in his shock.

He had read a lot of strange things in his past life as Damien.

But this?

This was breaking new ground.

He couldn't feel any power from the gorilla, but all his senses were going violently.

If his experience had taught him anything, it was to never offend the unknown.

Especially when his instincts were screaming that even a single misstep could erase him from existence.

"Hello, I'm Alden." He greeted with a polite bow despite his brain still short-circuiting. "Nice to meet you."

"Ooh, a polite one we have here. How delightful." Gretta said, clapping her hands together.

She examined him with an amused glint in her eyes. "So you are the next successor of Chaos arts, huh?"

Huh?

Is she related to the trial?

Well that was obvious.

If she is here that definitely means she is related to trial.

But thankfully it seems, she is like a guide.

Alden heaved a mental sigh of relief.

Because if he had to fight her, he was sure he wouldn't even last a millisecond.

Alden straightened, curious to finally get some answers. "Can you please tell me about the Chaos Arts, ma'am?"

"Just Ms. Gretta is fine," she corrected. "Tell me, what do you know about Chaos?"

"Isn't that the energy that is present in monsters from dungeons?"

"I see, I see…" She added, thinking about something deeply. "Can you tell me where you are from?"

Alden felt puzzled as to why she was asking something about that…

It was a strange question. But he answered anyway. "The Vallorian Empire."

"No, dear. I meant your world…" She sighed.

Alden blinked.

World?

He was confused.

Why would she ask that?

Does she know something I don't?

Is Eryndor not as isolated as we think?

Were there other worlds?

If so, why hadn't Eryndor ever made contact with them?

Were they underdeveloped?

Or… was there something actively preventing them from crossing galaxies?

Yeah, that could be possible.

Eryndor was well advanced, and with a mix of magic and technology, they had the means to do space travel.

But even with magic and technology intertwined, Eryndor had never discovered a way to leave its own galaxy.

"Eryndor." Alden answered finally.

Gretta closed her eyes for a moment as if sensing something.

Then, she shook her head slightly.

"Sorry, child… but I can't tell you anything about that yet." Gretta said. "You see, even if I say something, you won't understand a thing."

"Does that mean I won't be able to inherit the Chaos art?" Alden's body stiffened.

"No…no, there is no problem about inheriting it." Gretta reassured him gently, "You can still learn it."

Which only confused him further.

Alden didn't understand her.

She said she can't tell anything, and at the same time, she says that he will be able to inherit it.

"I know what you're thinking," Gretta said, smirking. "But trust me, you'll understand after you inherit the Weapon Art."

"Alright. How do I inherit it?" Alden took a deep breath.

Gretta's smirk widened, which for some reason Alden found very ominous.

"You'll just have to pass 'a few simple' trials.".

A chill ran down Alden's spine as he heard the word simple trial.

He had seen enough to know that when someone powerful called something

Simple? It was anything but.

"What… what do I have to do?" He asked cautiously, his hesitation visible.

"Well, the first thing you have to do is…"

Gretta took a dramatic pause as if revealing some secret of the century.

Alden listened carefully.

"You have to dance."

A long silence stretched between them.

"Huh?"

Alden's brain completely froze.

'What now?'

'I have to dance,'

'What did that mean?'

Alden blinked.

Then he blinked again.

'Nope. Nope. I definitely misheard.'

"Uh… sorry, Ms. Gretta. I think I misheard. Could you, um… repeat that?"

She chuckled.

"You heard me right, dear. If you want to proceed to the next step, you must dance. And not just any dance—you must dance well enough to satisfy me."

Alden suddenly had a flashback of a scene of his childhood from his previous life as Damien.

His aunt's mischievous voice echoed in his mind: Dance for me, Damian, and I'll perhaps give you candy.'

…Wasn't this the same situation?

"Don't look at me like that, child," Gretta laughed, clearly amused by his reaction. "If you want to blame someone, blame my real body."

"I'm merely a shadow left behind, doing my job." She gestured grandly to herself, barely holding back her laughter.

'Yeah, sure. Just doing your job.' Alden thought but didn't say anything.

"Take as much time as you want, as the time in this space is slowed down."

"So don't worry about time in this space," she continued. "Even if you spend thousands of years here, only ten days will pass outside."

Alden felt another ominous feeling creeping inside him.

It felt as if the trial was going to be a long one…

"You can rest in that mansion over there."

Gretta pointed towards a grand mansion to the side.

What the?

Where the hell had that come from?

Alden felt puzzled.

Why hadn't he noticed such a huge mansion before?

A massive pink mansion loomed in the distance.

Has it always been there?

"There are many trees with various fruits for you to eat." Gretta said with a gentle smile. "Go and rest now; our dancing classes will start tomorrow."

Her smile widened just a little too much.

"You won't be able to proceed to the next step until I'm satisfied with your progress."

Alden had a feeling that meant he was trapped here until further notice.

He was overwhelmed with all the information.

He walked off, his mind was still processing all the information.

"What had just happened?"

Lost in his thoughts, he soon arrived in front of the mansion.

It looked even grander up close, its pink walls somehow both elegant and ridiculous.

He opened the huge gates, stepping inside.

Tall trees stretched toward the sky. Strangely, he didn't sense any danger from them.

Inside there were many tall trees with their branches filled with suspiciously glowing fruit.

They were safe as he didn't feel any danger from them.

He quickly made his way towards the mansion.

He reached the entrance, pushed open the massive doors, and entered inside.

The space was a lot bigger than it seemed outside.

'Space magic.'

"Who are you mortals?" A cold voice sliced through the air.

Huh?

Alden turned his head towards the source of the voice, his muscles tensing up unconsciously.

He saw a panda wearing a butler outfit.

…What?

For a split second, Alden considered the possibility that this entire trial was just some elaborate, sleep-deprived hallucination of his.

But he quickly suppressed it because that panda looked dangerous.

Unlike Gretta, who didn't emit even a small fluctuation of energy, this panda was emitting a dangerous amount of energy.

He hadn't felt this strong energy from even the principal, who was at peak Overlord rank.

And most of all, Alden could feel that the panda wasn't even trying to intimidate Alden.

The energy was just unconscious emission.

That Panda was stronger than Overlord Rank.

That means only one thing—he is at least Primordial Rank.

F*ck, where is this, and why are there so many strong people here?

"Ms.Gretta sent me here." Alden responded respectfully, keeping his inner turmoil well hidden.

"Oh, I see, the mistress sent you here." The panda nodded, his voice softening more than before.

MISTRESS.

"You may choose any room you like," the panda continued. "And I advise you to rest because you'll be needing that a lot for what's to come."

Alden's eyes twitched.

Even the panda was foreshadowing doom now?

"Thank you, sir." Alden thanked the panda as politely as possible.

"No need to be so polite, just call me Biribri."

…Biribri.

Sure. Why not?

"Thank you, Biribri." Alden said before quickly heading upstairs.

He finally entered one of the lavish rooms, slumping onto the ridiculously soft bed.

The bed was even more lavish than the one back in the Draven estate.

But he wasn't enjoying it.

No.

His mind was currently not minding its business.

He didn't know what was going on.

He was in a strange space.

He saw a dancing gorilla who was just a shadow left by someone and was still powerful enough to keep Primordial Rank's existence as a servant.

He had some mandatory dancing lessons to attend.

He couldn't even begin to understand what was going on.

It was too chaotic.

But then again… He was here to inherit the Chaos Arts. And chaos, apparently, was exactly what he got.

He wasn't tired, but his mind felt heavy as he let his body drift into sleep.

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