Seeing the look of confusion, he continued, “I can’t tell how many of the tally marks you read. Just know because I was sleeping doesn’t mean I don’t know you were spying into my past. But it isn’t important, right now I am just a rusty sword. The name I used to have is gone, even if I could remember it, I wouldn’t use it anyways.”
Following behind him, she couldn’t help but look around a bit cautiously, soon after she would peek at him from time to time. No matter how she looked he wasn’t just a transparent fog and even the less defined version was gone, and he completely looked like a real person, a real kid. As if sensing her gaze, he looked behind him with a sidelong glance. When their eyes met, she looked away, which was met with a scoff as he turned back around.
The silence was awkward, combined with the immeasurable amount of questions she finally couldn’t take the silence and spoke about some of her questions out loud, “What exactly are you?”
There was a slight hesitation in his steps as he came to a stop very briefly before continuing to lead the way forward, “How the hell am I supposed to know.”
She couldn’t help but question this, “What?”
Without stopping this time he didn’t even bother to turn around to look at her as he continued to walk with a stable pace, “One day I woke up and couldn’t move. Shortly after I noticed an energy, I had no idea of its purpose. As naturally as breathing, that energy would surround me and I would absentmindedly breathe it in without choice. Like an invisible poison, I had no choice but to take it in.”
As if pondering about his next words or just trying to remember the exact feelings he had back then, “I could do nothing but sit there helplessly as I looked around in the hall I was being detained in. In the end many things happened, as for what I am I don’t know. Though the one that created me calls me a sword spirit.”
While she heard the entirety of his words, there was a part of it she focused on more than the rest, “You met Mad Blacksmith Izic?”
This time there was an actual reaction. Turning around as he stopped completely to look at her like she was an idiot, “How the fuck am I supposed to know? The first people I ever met were people I came across after I left that room. Though, met would be a rather optimistic phrase. The only information I have is about the person that created me is a strange stone that allows you to inspect its contents with mana.”
Slightly disappointed, she didn’t say very much. Because of the pace they were moving, it was a bit uncomfortable for her. These halls were filled with traps, though she had come through this hall more than once, it didn’t mean there wouldn’t be any changes. By the time the connection between the two translated the conversation, she guessed they had already made it to the halfway point from the room to the crossroad.
She still had many questions but was thinking over the stuff he had already spoken about. From his tone, she was a bit put off by the clear hostility. The words translated didn’t have that many emotions, but it didn’t stop her from feeling the emotions behind his words. It was simply harder than normal as the connection allowed her to feel it but unlike spoken words the two were given to her separately even if they were delivered at the same time.
Curiosity could be dangerous. Even if she wanted to know, her survival was currently in the hands of the cynical person with a few screws loose. Though from the little information she had he clearly had a reason for it. She had never thought of the possibility of being put in his position. The more she thought about it, the less she was in the mood to talk. Because of this silence, they soon made it to the crossroads.
While she slowed down ever so slightly, the back of the person in front of her never slowed down at all, as if he hadn’t even seen those paths. In the end she picked up her speed to catch up but couldn’t help but question where they were going. Still, for the moment, could keep her curiosity in check and decided to find out personally. The less conflict she had with the boy, the better. Especially when every time he opened his mouth, he would say something offensively.
Only once they made it to the room she had fallen in, did they come to a stop. By this point, her curiosity had reached a peak. It was very hard for her to keep it in check, still she was doing the best she could. She had searched this room extensively. When she finally gave up, she pushed herself to try going down one of the side paths and ended up with a serious injury that had barely gotten better.
Once the boy stopped in front of a wall did he turn over to answer her questions. She thought she was relatively good at keeping her emotions hidden, but he simply looked at her once, “This is the way out.”
Once he finished speaking, he took a step and disappeared into the wall. It was a very hair-raising sight to see. No matter how she looked at it, he was basically real, outside a tiny mana signature she would say he was the same as a person. Though she knew this wasn’t true. The mana signature coming from him was only possible to barely feel through the connection in her arm. No matter how, she looked at him and tried to sense him. When her mana reached the boy or scanned the area he was standing in, she couldn’t feel a single thing.
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Even though she was hesitating, he didn’t come back, so it appeared he was waiting for her on the other side. With a large bit of hesitation, she finally bucked up her courage and walked through the wall. Halfway through, she could hear a ringing in her ears as she heard a light-hearted and generally delighted burst of laughing. It started off fairly quiet as if trying to stifle it, but very quickly it burst out.
Taking a step back, she felt extremely uncomfortable. But when she felt something between her nose and mouth, she heard the laughter reach a new height as she looked over. The boy was holding his side as he was bent over. Once the ringing in her ears stopped, she looked at the solid wall she just walked into. She wanted to get angry, but before she could, she heard the boy speaking as she felt pure happiness being transferred to her, “Are you stupid? I thought this before, but really, you’re not just a little dumb. But that was a good laugh, thanks for that.”
“Are you serious? Do you even know how to get out of here? I am seriously injured and stupid shit like this could easily cause my wounds to open, and I will bleed out, and you will once again be stuck in here! You say I am stupid but look at you, maybe you were locked in that room for a reason. If I die and fail to take you out of here, do you think you’ll be able to see the outside world?” Willing it out, she took hold of the sword and threw it against the wall leading out of the room into the hall.
Even though she couldn’t remove the soul bound link between them, this would at least allow her to vent some of her emotions. Though she did pause slightly when in between the clanking of metal against the wall was ringing out there was a different sound that sounded like something cracking. Though at the moment she didn’t feel terrible. It was only when the image of the boy became unstable before it slowly pieced itself back together when a scar ran down his left forehead as it ran down his nose to the right end of his chin.
The boy was still smiling, as if unaware of the scar on his face. She even thought that the scar might have been physically conjured by the boy for sympathy. He had the same look as he did when he originally came out of the sword. The fancy looking fabric that was made with solid colors was gone. In its place was just a generic image of a body that didn’t have any real details, the body wasn’t real to begin with.
“It seems I was too hard on you…” Hesitating slightly to draw her attention, the boy continued, “I was treating you like an equal, ah, I shouldn’t do something so useless. Allow me to fix my attitude and explain to the dimwit in the room that came from outside. For this greenhouse flower that never had to feed, cloth, or worry about the big bad world. Allow this, being locked inside a solitary room isolated from the world, to explain to you how the real world works.”
“I may have come from a world where there was only one intelligent race, I have no idea what is outside, but I do know this… There are intelligent beings in this world. As you are very much proof of that. Intelligent beings are rather extraordinary in the fact they have self-awareness. Because of this, when times are tough, they will always look out for themselves. A large majority might not admit or know it themselves. When push comes to shove, if someone has to suffer, they will decide for it to be you, instead of them.”
Without stopping, he continued, “Now open your eyes and look. I have been locked in that room for an untold amount of time. Even when I got out, I was stuck in this abandoned dump without any way to explore the outside world. I have the appearance of a child not because I want to, but because it was chosen for me. I have yet to figure out why, but one thing is obvious from just appearance. Look at my actual body, you have seen it. Now there is a crack through the blade that allows you to see the other side.”
Bringing up a fog limb, it turned into a hand as he pointed at her, “Ask yourself this, do you think I will be able to help you? The obvious answer is no. I can’t do very much of anything. If you attempt to use me as a sword now, more than ever I will shatter into pieces and I will probably die. So even now you’re alone. Even when I tell you the truth, you take it as absolute truth as if me telling you if your head gets cut off you will be fine. Does that mean you should cut your own head off?”
“I already told you the wall is fake, figure out the rest yourself. If you can’t. Then go take my body back to the stage and finish walking down one of the two side paths. I don’t wish this isolation on just about anyone. Look here, idiot, this wall is fake.” After saying everything he had to say, he paused slightly before looking at her before pulling up one hand, as his hand made contact with the wall before he slipped through to the other side.
She wasn’t sure what to do. She stood there quietly for a while before finally moving over to the sword. Once she picked it up she looked and as he said there was a crack that made it possible to see through the entire part of the blade. With a thought, it very quickly disappeared from her hand. Sitting down against the wall, she quietly thought over his words. She didn’t agree with them, nor did she completely want to understand them.
When he walked through the wall the first time it was subtle, but the second time he exaggerated his movements as his hand and foot made contact. Next to what she did was like a normal stride but more importantly the first contact with the wall was done by two limbs and not his face. She couldn’t completely eliminate he wasn’t completely crazy and just fucking with her, but…
The laboratory was an impossible existence to begin with. It was far more believable that anything inside was closer to fiction than truth. Though this also didn’t mean what he said was true. But she could feel a slight mana signature on the other side of the wall through the connection. She just wasn’t sure if there was anything on the other side.
Standing up, she started to push on the wall. No matter what she did. From pushing, hammering, even knocking to find anything at all, ended with nothing changing or being found. The wall was solid, no matter how she looked at it, the wall was completely real. As she started to doubt the boy she remembered his words, he said it more than once the wall was fake. He didn’t elaborate but distinctively repeated the same words as if emphasizing it.