Warlock of Oceans: My Poseidon System

And then, upon feeling my mind become as clear as the night sky on a summer evening, I picked a card. Exactly one card and then flipped it over, causing the woman's smile to grow even wider. This sent chills down my spine as she slowly opened those thin lips of hers.

"The Hanged Man. Interesting. I can see it in your eyes… it's a befitting match," The woman muttered, her voice sending chills down my spine once again. Goosebumps erupted across my skin, covering each and every inch of my body as the woman pushed my hand, holding the card, further toward me.

"What does it mean? Am I going to be hanged in the future?" I began to swesaaat as the image of a man hanging upside down from a wooden log shaped into that of a cross stared at me. The man's hair was golden and flickering like the fire of the sun. And speaking of the sun, the man's head was encapsulated in a glowing aura looking similar to that of a sun.

"Fufufufu…" The woman lightly chuckled before placing both elbows on the stand and leaning forward. "You cannot help yourself through independent action. There is no avenue for the will to regain control until the situation has passed. Study and meditate on the position you find yourself in. Only those who possess wisdom, patience, and optimism will be able to see through limitations, including possible humiliation, to grasp the inspiring lesson one can gain from such an experience."

I just stared at the woman, hearing her describe both of my lives so far.

"Tch… Okay, so what now? Do I just stay here forever? Am I bound to this place, or can I return to earth? I have a mission I need to complete, and if I don't, well, I'm going to be-"

"Going to be what?" A voice scraped the back of my head, causing me to turn my neck and look at Poseidon, who appeared just a few meters away. "She won't do anything to you no matter what you pull. Even if you miss the next few missions, the most she'll do is kick you out of that Dagger group you're in. This isn't like your previous life. People aren't as cruel, and as long as you stay low and not pull anything sketchy, then this life that I've prepared for you… a peaceful one at that will be perfect."

"I have no purpose in that other world but following your orders. Everything I've built around me is centered on accomplishing the missions you give out to me. There will be no peace when I return, and okay, they aren't the same. These two lives of mine aren't the same, but the person I was before was dragged over to this world. So if you have any complaints, just blame the woman that forgot to remove my memories or whatever."

The man clasped my hands in between his scarred pale white hands. He brought them to his forehead, and as his already blinded eyes seemed to close, he uttered two words that meant absolutely nothing to me.

"I'm sorry."

And just like that, I felt something suck my entire being into the floor below, causing me to plummet through the darkness of the abyss. I fell and fell and fell, and as the G-forces caused my stomach and intestines to churn, I felt my consciousness get sucked out of my body. It was an instant snap of disconnection from my limbs, my brain, my very being until I reappeared back in my room, in my dorm, on the campus, collapsed on the ground, sweating. Profusely at that.

I quickly looked over at the clock ticking just above the door. No time had passed. Nothing had happened besides this new knowledge of mine that I was… a fucking hanged man. Those sets of cards looked familiar, so as I quickly gathered everything that I needed for the mission, I skimmed between articles before finding exactly what was presented to me.

"A card of the major arcana and represents surrender, letting go, and a new perspective… hmmm… yeah, I don't know what that is supposed to mean-"

[Tarot Power has been infused into your system]

『Status』

[Name: Cyrus]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Aether Magician]

[Level: 3/50] (0/100) XP Needed

[HP: 50/50 MP: 30/30 SP: 15/15] - Normal Human

[Strength: 10] - Normal Human

[Defense: 5] - Normal Human

[Magic: 15] - Normal Human

[Speed: 10] - Normal Human

[Aether: 20] - Non Human

[Skills: [Tidal Strike] [Water Magic] [Water Ring] [Poison Murky Water] [Mana Control]

[Aetheric Infusion] [Aether Control] [Aether Explosion] [Aether Creation]

[Tarot Power: [Locked] [Locked] [Locked] [Locked]n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[Runic Skills: [Fingers: Water Strings] [Arm: Brand of the Controller]

[Passive Skills: [Water Body] [Light Allied Aura] [Dark Enemy Aura] [Trait: Aether] [Angel Core]

[Master of Mana: [Foreign Mana Control] Read exclusive adventures at empire

…

[System has been altered]

[Quest has been altered]

[You have received a new side quest]

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[Side Quest: Slaughter The Evil Doers]

[Description: Go against the orders of your superior and participate in the fight. Completely overwhelm the enemy with a cold bloodlust. Make them fear your very presence, as this denial of an order will go a long way for a dog who always laps up the missions and quests of its Master, Boss, or Leader. Good Luck. ]

[Reward: [Runic Skill - Spine: Brand of the Angel] [Tarot Skill: World of Flesh]

[Penalty Upon Failure: Loss of Five Random Stat Points]

[Time Left: 45 Hours Remaining]

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I stared at these new alterations of the previous quest I had and the new section that was injected into my system. From what I could tell, I was going to be able to wield the power of the tarot card I most likely pulled… from the obvious observations, yet, the Tarot Skill given to me by my altered quest didn't make sense. [World of Flesh]? I've never heard of that skill before, and I have no clue how that even relates to The Hanged Man in the first place.

Deciding I needed to focus up on this mission, I placed all of these thoughts that I had towards the back of my head. I shoved them so far back that there was only room for me to plan out my actions as I reread the details of the mission we were given.

It was a commission by somebody who usually hired mercenaries to do their dirty work. A noble whose kid I wouldn't be surprised goes to the Academy of Blades due to their specialty in spears. But that's beside the point, as our target is a few bandits who are constantly interfering with the trading supplies through various routes across the city. Trains are being constantly hijacked, but shipping materials by air was way too expensive for their liking. I could only assume unimaginable losses were bound to happen if they were forced to ship their materials by flying through the sky.

These bandits specialized in dark magic, meaning that dark women might know something about them. Possibly offshoots of the dark temple since that's the only real place you can learn such things, or maybe even direct followers from the temple. I had no clue how that temple worked, but from what I could tell just by the descriptions of Azzaroth, they were no different than the light temple.

"Damn…" I cracked my neck, left and then right. "This might be a bit tough." Obviously, that's for the others, but if I joined in, I should be able to increase our firepower and win. And I might get punished once again, but if I can obtain those juicy skills from this quest, then doing anything would be worth it. I'd even cut off an arm to obtain those skills… especially a rune for my spine.

As soon as I arrived at the rendezvous point, I saw the woman clad in black. She wasn't going to help us, but as this was our first mission, she was most likely going to watch over us.

"Okay, your clothes are fine, but you'll need to hide your identities. I'll be giving you a mask that will not only filter the polluted air for where we're going but enhance your night vision and allow you to zoom in like binoculars. And the obvious, well, they will hide your appearance," The woman explained, handing out masks shaped like that of Oni.

Oni were monsters that had various tusks and horns and were shaped like that of ogres. And this mask really leaned into its grotesque nature. But what was really interesting about these masks was that they weren't the usual easily camouflage colors like gray, black, or possibly white in certain circumstances. They were pink, green, and blue to hide in, with the glowing neon light scattered across the cyberpunk city.

"Okay, I'm assuming everybody reviewed the commission. Failure will not be tolerated, but I also won't allow any of you to die. If any of you are about to scrape death, I will step in. I would also like the entire team to know that Cyrus will be our main intel and communicator with me. I will sit back in some other building, and he will relay every drop of information he can see, hear, feel, smell, taste, and touch. In addition, I will be relaying orders through him, so keep your ears open. Now, let's get going."