I crushed the letter between my fingers until it crumpled. "That bastard Jevan…" I muttered. I'd thought he was just a wretched vagrant who'd fallen victim to some lunatic, but apparently that lunatic hadn't been spouting nonsense at all. And the worst part? He might have stolen those pieces from that bastard and left me with a mountain of enemies who hate me and whose names I don't even know.

Couldn't you, genius, have written a list of your enemies instead of this useless drivel? Or even a single line: "Beware this man, I borrowed money from him and never paid it back" or "watch out for that guy, I hit him once and he still holds a grudge."

I sighed and wiped my face with the palm of my hand. No point being angry now. I had to focus on what was in front of me. I'd gotten tools that might help me defend myself. But before celebrating, I needed to know their side effects. I didn't want to end up paralyzed in the middle of a life or death situation.

I reached out and took the leather notebook from inside the box. Its smell was a mix of dust and old leather. I sat on the edge of the bed and began flipping through its pages. I skimmed most of the writing until I got to what I wanted about the system pieces. The first one was the "sad mask."

I reached in and pulled it from the box. An entirely white mask, with a wide black frown painted across it. According to what was written, the mask carries the Madness Authority. When worn, your strength and speed greatly increase, and no matter how badly you're injured you keep moving and fighting, even if your body is cut in half. But as soon as you take it off the effect disappears. It can also conceal your presence and make people less aware of you or what you're wearing.

Honestly the idea of fighting even after being split in two was tempting, especially since my own Authority might keep me from dying even after I removed it. But when I got to the drawbacks my expression changed.

When you wear the mask you grow more insane over time. When you take it off you gradually return to normal unless you've worn it for far too long, in which case the negative effects become permanent. When I read that I put the mask back in its place in frustration. Then I kept flipping pages until I got to the next piece: the "Glove of Legal Authority."

"Why does that idiot insist on these stupid names?"

Anyway, the glove gives you the ability to impose laws on any person or group within three meters. It can also restrain people and prevent them from moving for a time that depends on your willpower and the opponent's strength.

As for the drawbacks: any law you impose applies to you too. On top of that you can't use this ability on people without a legal justification in short, they have to be criminals or have broken the law. At least that one doesn't turn me into a lunatic. I put on the gloves and the engravings on them glowed with a faint golden light, and a strange shiver crawled up my arms to my shoulders.

I heard a sharp thud followed by the sound of shattering glass. I turned quickly to find Raghu standing frozen beside the broken mirror, with Timaeus sitting next to him staring at him intently and meowing as if to say "he did it."

I had a long list of questions starting with how Raghu was communicating with a cat. But, as usual, I chose to ignore it. My life already had enough headaches. Rago was strange. He looked harmless and stupid, which is a perfect recipe if you want to die as fast as possible. If he hadn't told me how he died, I would have assumed he'd been beaten to death by some random thug in the street.

At first I thought he was pretending, but his soul was different from the other souls I saw. Usually souls range from light red and grow darker the more the person is consumed by a desire for revenge. His was bright white. That alone told me he didn't even care about avenging himself on Valentine. Which is what I expected unlike the other souls, he didn't spend every morning and evening screaming for release.

I returned my eyes to the notebook and kept reading. The following pages were full of information about Authorities and how to acquire one. There are only two ways: either you inherit it from your bloodline, or you obtain it through system pieces. The second way requires you to break the piece's seal and mutter a set of words in an ancient language so the Authority enters your body. The problem is the success rate is extremely low even after performing the sealing ritual.

The notebook was like an encyclopaedia. I spent hours flipping its pages, discovering that it didn't just contain information about Authorities but also about the Investigation Bureau, the nobles, and secret organizations and more.

"Son of a… what kind of life did you live? Couldn't you just live like a normal person? You would've spared me all this trouble maybe I wouldn't even be here at all."

But there was no point being angry about that. I had to test my new equipment. And luckily I had an idea of the perfect place for that. I put on the cloak then covered my face with the mask, and immediately I felt my senses multiply at least tenfold. They'd already been sharp, but now it was like the difference between having senses three times stronger than a normal human and thirty times stronger.

But the strangest thing was that the ghosts floating around me disappeared completely, and my mind became clear as water.

Weird for a mask that's supposed to hold the Madness Authority. I gripped the sword, tightened my hold on it, then gently pushed the door open and stepped into the street. Behind me, Timaeus was walking confidently. I tried to push the cat away, but it insisted on sticking with me.

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