“So you really are, aren't you?”
“I am me. What kind of fucking stupid question is that?”
“Ah, apologies. So, by any chance, can I see your real body?”
“I am soul bound, I can’t do much on my own. But more importantly, why are you here?”
The answer wasn’t very quick, instead there was some silence before there was a burst of laughing followed by a series of wet coughs. In the end he only answered in a few words as if avoiding the question, “For one last adventure.”
After that, there weren't any more questions or answers. Instead, she could hear the boy talking through the connection, “You should stop pretending to be asleep. It’s very obvious, plus you need at least the water this person has. To first spy on him then ask for his water… At first, I didn’t think there was much to like about you, but that shamelessness isn’t bad.”
While she only understood the words from the connection, she still couldn’t help but open her eyes with a bit of a heated face as she heard a laugh mixed in between wet coughing following the boy’s words. Very quickly, she could see John leaning against the wall.
His face was pale, and he just tossed one of his full containers of water once she had sat up with a bit of trouble. She wanted to ask, only she couldn’t bring herself to ask how the two of them were communicating, as she was too embarrassed to say anything. When she thought back, she only heard one voice when she first woke up. Only after a few replies did she start to get the boy’s answers. It appeared at that point it became obvious she was awake.
Once she took a drink, she felt a lot better. She didn’t know how long she was out for, but her lips were incredibly dry. Thinking about it now, she glanced at the boy who was sitting against the wall next to John. John wasn’t saying anything, however, he kept inspecting the boy. As for the boy, seeming with deadpan annoyed face, still didn’t say anything.
Only after she finished the entire container of water did she feel refreshed. With water in her system, she went to take out some compressed biscuits from her rucksack. When she felt empty air, she took it off to see that it had been completely sliced apart when she dove and reached the door. It took a bit of effort as she was still a bit exhausted, the door hadn’t closed. Squeezing through, she found a few biscuits still wrapped in cloth.
Even with the added water, she still felt a little bit parched. She knew she had drunk a bit much because of her injury and the elevated mental state. While she was seriously injured, John had his entire hand sliced off… Not only that, she now appeared in front of him with the finished product soul bound, meaning the entire reason they came here was now pointless. It was just a miracle they were both even alive.
Because of that single action, she didn’t have the heart to ask for more water. She wished she hadn’t left that water that had spilled. While nasty the bricked hall was rather spotless, it was very likely the only person that ever even used it was Izic himself. So it made sense taking that water even if disgusting wasn’t that bad, but it was that wasteful. When she slipped through, she could feel the recent consumption had given her a bit of energy.
Entering the room again, she could see the shadows on the other end of the hall. She felt guilty as she had the finished product, even if she wanted to give it to John and throw it away, she couldn’t. Therefore, she could do nothing but lower her gaze. She only found out seconds later she had been staring too intensely.
“Hahaha…” A burst of light-hearted laughter spilled out before a bunch of coughing followed suit. John only stopped after a long string of coughing, “Go ahead, a deal is a deal. Those do belong to you, I just hope you’re not disappointed.”
This time John didn’t laugh, instead it was the boy that burst out laughing as if he was about to cry. While she felt a bit embarrassed, she just let it go over her head. She needed a very large amount of money if she wanted to take the old man’s last name. Turning to look at John, she only saw a smile before seeing the boy wave her off. She felt like something was wrong but didn’t know what it was. Only once she took a few weak steps did she stop.
“Oh, this lost lamb has gotten smarter. Don’t worry, there is only one trap in this room, and it isn’t something that can reset itself.”
Looking back at the boy, she wanted to open her mouth, as the floor in front of her was the general area she had originally fallen from. Seeing her looking over at him, he could only spit out another hateful remark, “The floor in front of you isn’t a trap. Little lamb, you’re too weak to be in here. Honestly, both of you are. There is a trap down there, but the floor is a secret passage. The only trap in this room is further ahead, however, it has already been triggered and can’t reset itself.”
Hearing this, she had no other avenue but to turn away before she said anything else. Moving up against the wall to be sure, she moved past it until she reached the weapons. When she looked over to the other side, she could see the two were still against the wall and hadn’t moved at all. Moving through the row of weapons, she found a dagger that was something she loved to use. It was artful and absolutely beautiful.
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When she reached her hand out to grab onto it, she could feel the handle was a bit stiff. Once she pulled it off the weapon stand, she found the other part of the weapon had disappeared. The grip holding the handle had lost its stability and fell. Following suit was the handle she had grabbed onto, once pulled it slowly disintegrated into powder and slipped through her fingers. Very quickly, she tried to grab other weapons, only everything did the same. Kicking over a stand, she saw the end result was a new layer of powder coating the floor.
Once she went back, she had a dejected look on her face, “From what this guy told me, other laboratories have failed products and one finished product. My guess is that the failed products were made as potential containers that failed to meet the requirements. As for the finished products, those from what the bastard left behind are also failed products. They failed to absorb a soul. Judging from the fact he said they are also called cursed items, it is likely that instead of a soul, they absorbed something else.”
With her disappointment, she felt tired again. It grew quiet for a while, but before she could sleep, she heard the boy talking to John again. Listening to the two talk was like a lullaby that allowed her to sleep. It was strange and somehow comfortable to hear other people, she found comfort in knowing she wasn’t alone.
When she woke up, she only saw John. He had his eyes closed and was still against the wall. Possibly sensing her gaze, he slowly opened his eyes to look at her. She had a bit of a guilty conscience, as John had come here to extend his life. Still he hadn’t said anything, instead all he wanted was spoken with a hopeful tone, “Can I see the finished product?”
She hesitated slightly, with a bit of hesitation she probed the seal in her arm. She didn’t feel any rejection, so she simply willed it out and handed it with two hands to John. It was only at this moment, she noticed the crack that was created when she carelessly tossed the blade away had closed to a great extent. There was still a crack, however it wasn’t nearly as easy to see through the blade.
With a gentle smile, he handed the blade back to her, “I still have some things I want to do here. So you can go on ahead without me. Here, with this, our deal is done. Now go on and get out of here.”
Barely catching it, she found a recording crystal in her hands. She didn’t know how to feel. Like an enigma, John continued to puzzle her with his words and actions. Even when she handed him his cut-off hand, he looked pleasantly surprised before he simply smiled at her and thanked her. Finally, she left under the urging of the boy.
Having slept for a good amount with water and food, she finally felt whole again. Squeezing the crystal, she followed the boy’s directions as she moved much slower through the halls. Even with her now stable mind, she still finds it difficult to keep track of where she was. She knew at one point the boy had her take a bunch of turns just to end up one pathway away from where she had been not too long ago.
Still, in the end, she said nothing. Unlike before, the boy was patient and led her around without triggering a single trap. Instead, the only traps she saw were the wires she was warned multiple times in advance, as they were incredibly difficult to find. Only once she reached a corner did she find that in the corner was an extended wall. It was mind-boggling how obvious it was. But before she was told, he had only said they were here, and she failed to see it.
Once inside, she found a smooth stone that she was told to bring. After inquiring, she was told to inject her mana into it. Very quickly she realized it was the memory slip that was found in every laboratory, only nobody had been able to crack the code. Thus, the information in it was indecipherable. On the way back, she learned the boy had one more thing to do, in which he told her they wouldn’t be using that secret passage and instead go the way she came.
Jessica was fine until she saw the pristine bones again. She had completely forgotten about them. In fact her journey with the boy was fairly nice. He would inform her of any problems in advance. She found him rather agreeable, though the more she thought about it the more she felt like he was reading her emotions and trying not to poke at her as she had a lot of questions. As if him behaving, was supposed to stop her from asking.
But once they saw the first set of distorted bones, the boy appeared before her. The atmosphere was already heavy, so she didn’t feel like inquiring, only now she felt something was wrong. The emotions in the seal were very erratic. In the end, the strange markings stopped the erratic emotions from leaking through and affecting her. But it still drew her attention.
Finally, he stopped in front of a rather remarkable set of bones. Like the rest, they were distorted. The difference was this set of bones had a finger pointing up and had died in that position. In reality, it seemed to have been set in stone. The rest of the bones, including the pristine sets, were all the same. Gravity had taken its course and besides the obvious condition they didn’t differ much. Only this set really had any abnormalities.
Unbeknownst to Jessica and even the sword spirit. Back in the room with the failed products, John was holding a picture as he spoke to the air. “He didn’t lie, one last adventure that would be unlike anything I had experienced before. Hehehe, I got to see a few things I never got to see before.” Thinking back, he couldn’t help but look back at the picture.
In the picture, he was holding were three people. The two of which looked surprisingly similar, with blue hair and blue-ish gray eyes, they were a set of brother and sister along with John. They were much younger in the picture, with bright expressions. While the woman in the picture and Jessica appeared similar, the woman in the picture was much prettier than her. And in John’s eyes she was vastly superior, as vast as the sea. But it wasn’t unpleasant to be around her as it reminded him a lot of her…
Reaching into his pocket, he took out the notebook he had telling him about this laboratory. Putting it on the ground, he went to the last page. Taking out a knife, he carefully cut into it and separated the two seemingly single pages. On the actual last page was another blank page. Cutting his finger using mana and his thumbnail, with a drop of blood, the entire page turned red before it burst into flames. But John wasn’t watching this, he went back to only looking at the picture.
Very quickly, he turned away from the picture with puffed up cheeks as he tried to suppress the cough before he let out a large amount of blood. As blood dripped from his mouth, he simply smiled as he continued to look at the picture.