When Noah came to once more, he was still in the black void surrounded by nothingness.
He could faintly remember the pain and fear, but they seemed unimportant, like a distant echo. His emotions felt removed. Those last moments he could recall had been full of rage directed at the monster. However, what had it got him? Other than more pain. Nothing. A small voice wanted to argue that it helped him fight back but he suppressed it right away. Abject loneliness ate away at his sanity.
Perhaps those memories were just a nightmare.
Noah was hoping so. That the hollow, empty sensation gnawing at his mind which is about to be nearly drowned out by the accompanying silence and darkness was just his imagination. Hah, Who was he kidding now?
There it was. The recurring denial. Never one to face his problems head-on. Vera was right. Some things just don't change. He could only lash out at the world like a child when nothing seemed to go his way. Whenever someone became a nuisance, he made sure to make their lives more miserable than his. That was the only way he knew to solve his problems. His current life was just a performance he coaxed himself into enacting. What more could you expect out of a slab of flesh and blood trying to imitate living a happy life and failing spectacularly.
He chuckled dryly. Look at that, his emotions don't seem to completely dry up. He could hate himself just fine.
His mind was completely numb to his surroundings by now. If he wasn't hallucinating anymore, he should either be dead or in a coma. Good riddance.
How did he gain consciousness anyway? He had come to grips with his circumstances that he was deader than dead. There wasn't anything he could point the reason to.
No, there was something. Something else was present here with him. He could sense its presence. His vicinity was even lighted up slightly.
There was a sudden movement. He wanted to say he got shocked but in reality, he felt nothing even when that something hugged him from behind. His muted emotions judged it as insignificant. Though, he was being presumptuous in his thinking as those same emotions stirred violently when he heard her voice.
"How are ya doing?"
His eyes widened as he swiveled his head behind to see her green eyes.
Those same eyes turned downcast taking in his current appearance. His face must have looked like shit.
"Right, shouldn't have asked that." She said sympathetically.
The shock at her appearance soon faded to caution. He had a wary look remembering the previous nightmarish situation. This encounter couldn't be any more disturbing. He freed himself from her hold and then floated away pushing against her body.
Noticing his guarded actions, she reassured him.
"Don't worry, I won't bite you. Just hear me out."
She floated to his side and softly said.
"Want me to tell ya something?"
"..."
He didn't give any response. Once was enough. He may be many things. Sociopathic, cynical, pessimistic. Sure. But masochist wasn't one of them. He wasn't very eager to experience that nightmare again.
Apparently, his silence wasn't enough to deter her.
"Since there is no response, I will take that as your acquiescence."
She pinched his cheek.
"Now that I notice," She said. "I really don't like seeing you moping around. You need to fortify your mind to wake up. It is trying to push you down harder."
He caught her muttering something under her breath "I have to try to rouse up his emotions." or something in the same vein. Was she thinking he was under someone's control? Laughable. No one can control him.
"Hey, trying to get out is tough. Opening yourself to others may make you feel vulnerable but closing yourself off is much worse. Moreover, doesn't such a sheltered life sounds boring? I mean, what is life if not risky, adventurous. Every day, you get out in the world and face problems. That's the beauty of life. Don't give in to your fear. Listen to your inner voice."
He stifled a snort. Real or not, he didn't wish to give any more ammo to her. It was taxing enough hearing her give the "positive" talk.
"The world's not a pretty place. There's enough depressing stuff going on. However, you don't need me to remind you of that. I'm sure your mind is filled with those thoughts. But that doesn't mean you should get swept up. That's such a waste. Don't let the world dictate your actions."
'Frighteningly optimistic, aren't we?' He could never get around to her constant hopeful attitude. Guess that was part of her charm. At least there couldn't be too much optimism in life.
Noah said that a bit too soon.
Her eyes were rolled to the side in recollection before she proudly stated, throwing her arms out in a pose.
"We have to be greater than what we suffer."
Noah couldn't hide the incredulous look any longer. What was she doing? Quoting some famous sayings won't turn this half-assed thing into a touching speech.
His expression seemed to have registered to her as she became flushed before floating down.
"Come on, get up. I can't keep up the corny speech any longer."
"I can't" He murmured. How much more ignorant could she be?
"Why not?" She let out a long-suffering sigh at this. Despite knowing it wouldn't be easy, she still felt disappointed thinking all of this was still not effective.
"There's no ground." He replied impassively.
His response made her face blank before she smiled in relief.
"Who says you need one?" She gave him a solid tug.
Before he could resist, Noah was standing there in the darkness with her. She brought him in closer touching their heads.
"Remember our promise."
The words triggered something in him. He fidgeted nervously avoiding her gaze. Trying to pry her off, she tightened her grip in response.
"Everyone deserves second chances, including you."
No, he didn't. Not him.
"Believe in others, especially your friends. Not to mention trust yourself. I am not seeing that yet in you."
Something seemed to have ruptured as the haze over his mind cleared.
'Ooh, that was a close one.'
What was wrong with him? It was as if all his negative emotions were amplified, with an emo-phase to boot. How embarrassing. At least he was cognizant of that. He was starting to think he had been robbed of even that. How many times had he been mind-fucked today?
It made him feel like a nihilistic sociopath. He hoped to never experience that again.
He very much liked living, thank you.
That Xorz-whatever was really out for his blood. All this time, he had never really hated something for its existence but now he could say for certain, he wouldn't bat an eye even if that thing get burned in hell. In fact, he was all in for some barbequed tentacles.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
He was brought out of his thoughts by some loud coughs. Turning to face the something which saved him, he still wasn't able to believe she was there to save him.
Finally, Noah couldn't help but voice out his suspicion.
"You are not real, aren't you?"
She just gave a smile, amusement apparent in her voice.
"Of course not, you think I can ever compare to the real deal. I am just a figment of your imagination. Your self-defense mechanism, so to speak through which you are trying to cope with this situation."
"Thought so, you seem way too chill to be her."
"I see your crappy mouth's back to normal." She grinned.
He grinned back.
"It had to, listening to that speech. So, technically... I was consoled by myself. Talk about new levels of misery."
Scratching her cheek, she confessed.
"Well, I had some help."
A transparent figure emerged out of the inky darkness behind her. It materialized into the figure of human-sized Vanadis. He was alarmed by her sudden arrival. However, more astonishing was her height which surprisingly made a lot of difference to her presence. The previous intimidating factor was lessened considerably.
"What are you doing here?" He asked cautiously. Warning bells were ringing in his mind.
Vanadis looked a little bemused by the question. That gave way for an irate look seeing his guarded behavior.
"What am I doing here? Let's see. For starters, Preventing you from going insane. Then, restoring your cracked soul. Did I forget to mention I was also suppressing the soul imprint lodged inside you by that Dweller? Should I have not done that? I guess you want to turn into an insane tentacle monster. What a weird taste."
"Ok, ok, I get it. I am sorry for saying that. It was just that your appearance was too abrupt." He held up his hands in defeat. He regretted saying that when she just saved his life multiple times. if it wasn't for her, he would be buried six feet under the ground. Or the multiversal equivalent of that. One could choose whatever they want.
"Damn right, you should be. You don't know how troublesome the situation was." She sighed. The stuff she had to do for him. She just wished he tried not to get into trouble deliberately. Trouble seeking him out was already a foregone conclusion. She especially made sure of that.
His future looked pretty murky to her. To the wielder of Chaos Eyes. What headache had she brought upon herself?
"Was that monster too strong?" He didn't really know how strong she was. At first glance, the odds looked stacked up against her. A 12-ft titan against a planet-sized being. Go figure that yourself.
"No, that monster wasn't much of a problem. What is troubling is your attitude. You did put up quite a good resistance but you have to do better. I won't be there to help you next time." She explained.
"What do you mean?"
"It means you can't keep doubting yourself. I have killed that monster but a Demi-god isn't some joke you could meet one day on street. Guess what, you won big time. Met the real deal on an Interplanar highway. Beings of that rank can be quite stubborn. The instant you made eye contact with it, it imprinted itself on your soul." She pointed her finger at him and continued.
"That imprint is now going to try to pry open your soul and eat you up from the inside. I would consider not showing any weakness if you don't want to become a snack for a soul-sucking monster. Correction, a mere imprint of a soul-sucking monster."
He mulled over her statement.
"I wouldn't fancy that either. Anything else to note."
"Nothing that comes to my mind right now. You should head back. Others should be worrying for you." He was taking it much more calmly than she thought. Was she missing out on something? All that she was able to glean was he had fought and then got thrashed by the imprint.
Noah could feel a tugging in the back of his mind. He could intuitively feel that it was his way out.
"Thanks again, Vanadis."
"No problem, kiddo."
Turning to face the silent third person, he said sincerely.
"Even if you aren't real. I would still like to say this, you saved me. Hope you're doing fine. Sis"
She had a small smile the entire time.
He tuned in on getting out as he felt himself getting yanked out of this place.
The silence returned to the place which was soon disrupted by Vanadis' giggling.
"You are quite the jester. Why not tell him the truth? It would have looked hilarious seeing him shocked."
"I would feel bad. He can also be distrusting sometimes. I don't think he would have believed me if I introduced myself as the real one."
"Your soul isn't fully capable of Astral Projection yet. I should drop you off in your body. I'm surprised you are capable of keeping up a straight face with the stress placed on your soul."
"I had to look up the part as an adult."
Vanadis placed her hand on her shoulder. She was about to initiate the Skill but was suddenly interrupted.
"Sorry to disturb you, Miss Vanadis but I was curious." 'Sis' said. "My apologies beforehand if I come off as rude. I believe you could have saved him much faster than me going in to bring him out of that state.."
"Vanadis will do. I just can't. Akasha restricted everyone from interfering with the Integration. Me saving him from that Demi-god was barely possible because of my soul-bind to him and the impossible nature of the foe he was facing. It was a sheer coincidence. That's why I couldn't destroy the imprint."
"Oh, that's why your voice came into my mind all of sudden. Then, dropped a bomb on me saying if I don't come with you, Noah will die."
"Sorry for that, You can see the situation was quite urgent."
"Regretfully, it was. Noah still isn't able to let go." She trailed off focusing on the place Noah was occupying a few minutes ago.
"He can be quite a handful." Vanadis remarked offhandedly.
"He sure can.."
The two figures disappeared in a rainbow flash of light traversing into the Astral Plane.
...
Noah could be seen lying on a bed motionless. His eyelid twitched slightly before both eyes slowly opened.
Despite not being a minor, he never really had alcohol before. Partly, that could be because of Lana's strict discipline. No smokes and drinks. That was the rule of the house. He couldn't bring himself to disappoint her in any way. However, a major reason was his personal distaste. Drunks reminded him of them. He hated losing control of his mental faculties. Therefore, he never had the opportunity to get drunk, much less of getting a hangover. Nevertheless, he could say for sure that hangovers could be the least of his concerns after today.
A migraine had him holding his head in pain. Twisting around in the bed, the veins in his head throbbed as if someone was trying to drill through his skull.
Concurrently, his joints were on fire. He was dizzy and light-headed, hungry and hollowed out. It was as if he had a severe case of fever. Thankfully, the pain was quickly becoming subdued.
The intensity calmed down enough for him to think rationally. His fuzzy thoughts revved up as he regained clarity of mind.
Sitting upright, he registered his surroundings. He looked to be in a tent. Possibly one of those in the training field. Lying in a wooden bed with a sorry excuse for a mattress. Wooden training equipment was stashed in the corner. There were shelves, chests, and all sorts of goods placed around. One thing stood out to him. Crates.
Crates that looked awfully familiar. Focusing on them, he found the batch of swords he made yesterday.
'So this is where they were delivered.'
He tilted his head as he noticed the herbal scent wafting through an incense placed by his bedside. Another noteworthy thing was the small bonsai plant his bedside looking like a miniature replica of the Legua tree in the Inn.
Before he could move around, the tent entrance flipped open and a noble entered with a relaxed stride. He looked noticeably young. Like mid-20s young. Dressed in a luxurious robe with silver and gold linings, faint runic signs strobed around the cloth. A regal aura emanated from his being. His very presence commanded respect.
Yup, that was definitely someone much older than he looked.
He was holding onto a cup containing some tea in his hand.
"You finally woke up"
"Who're you?" Seeing an unfamiliar face put him on guard.
"You were out cold for the last three hours. Here, hold this for me." Saying so, he handed him the cup.
His hand remained fixed in position as Noah wasn't reaching out to accept. He could now remember him as the noble he had spotted together with the knights. It still didn't put him at ease, though.
"Here"
The noble's smile only grew wider as he urged him. The awkward silence continued for a long time before Noah chose to give in.
Not knowing where he was going with this, he accepted the teacup.
'What a strange fellow.' he thought.
"As for your question, your healer for the moment. Prospective to change." He began making rounds around the bed with a luminous pair of eyes. Looking satisfied with what he saw, he continued.
"Mind checking your status for me."
Noah was tempted to ask more but curiosity about his status dwarfed it. He was personally more interested to know what the heck happened to him.
Checking on his Status, he was swarmed with notifications.
[Status Log]
New skill [Meditation] Acquired!
Skill Initiated...
[Astral Projection (Incomplete)]
Bonus Records Acquired!
*LVL UP*
Race: Human(F) reached LVL 2
Survived an encounter with a Demi-god
Bonus Records Acquired!
Title: [Balls of Adamantite (Locked)] Granted
...
[Status]
Name: Noah
Race: Human(F) - LVL 2
Profession: N/A
Status: Weakened (Severe Soul Trauma) - [Buff: Greater Recovery] [Buff: Reverse Entropy] [Blessing: Universal Tongue (Limited)] [Blessing of the Titanos Ragnarok]
Talent: [Intelligent] [Focused Mind]
Stats
Strength: 1.4
Agility: 1.2
Vitality: 1.3
Constitution: 1.3
Endurance: 1.3
Perception: 1.2
Intelligence: 1.7
Wisdom: 1.5
Willpower: 1.7
Skills: [Language] [Meditation]
'Now we're talking. New Skills. Thought I would get something. Then there's the locked Title. That's a shame. Dying and coming back just to get a locked feature. Akasha's pretty stingy. And here I was excited to know what a title could offer.'
He could see many new things and was eager to think about the effects. His stats were increased but he had yet to feel something. Was the increase so minor that he couldn't perceive it?
He could go on and on with his thoughts but he was brought out from his musings by the noble.
"From the looks of it, you seem to have LVL'ed up. Congrats on that but we can celebrate that later on. Could you tell me your Status condition?"
His brows furrowed in confusion. Did he mentioned anything about leveling up to him? Or was he that easy to see through? He wasn't about to care about it now. Mages do what they do better than anybody, which was pulling out bullshit.
"It is showing Weakened next to which is Severe Soul Trauma."
"Hmm, As expected." His gaze steeled on him as replied. "You don't look half-dead or comatose to me. Is that really all?"
"Yeah..." His voice trailed off uncertainly. He was sweating inwardly at the moment. And most likely outwardly too. He wasn't sure if he could say about the Buffs on the Status Page to him. They sounded quite powerful and he had no excuses for where they came them. What should he do? Continue acting ignorant and maybe he would just forget about it.
"I forgot to tell you. I can detect the high-grade Buffs placed on you. Your Patron seems responsible enough. Made my work much easier."
Or not.
His face became stunned hearing those words.