Before Jessica could touch the handle, there was a breeze. No, this wasn’t a breeze, something is materializing before her. Not waiting for her to respond, the breeze turns into a transparent screen with fog-like tendencies. Her eyes widened, this fog was not just randomly appearing but coming from the sword. She couldn’t help but speak absentmindedly, not even she knew if what she was saying was a statement or a question, “Is it really alive?”
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Bewilderment, that is the only thing he could feel. He had never had this feeling before, he felt like he should know this feeling, but somehow it was foreign to him. Instinctively, he materializes a mana body outside his container. He was instantly surprised by what he saw. The little lost lamb actually made it, frozen in a reaching position.
So that feeling he had was from her. This feeling is like the one you would get when someone is behind you. Uncomfortable warning type of feel. Since coming to this place, he has never been in proximity to another person outside his mana body. When he watched the first few visitors, he got no feeling from them.
Tilting his head, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was because she was near his actual body? Or is she different? In fact, he did see her look his way when he was moving in the middle section of the laboratory. It was only for a moment, so he disregarded it, but it almost felt like she was looking at him. He didn’t think anything of it as she turned and started to inspect the other halls, shortly after looking his way.
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What is that?! The transparent fog turned into a person. Frozen in place, even with her original feeling, she would have never guessed from instincts and experience would actually lead her to the correct conclusion. Hypothesis and reality are extraordinarily different things. Is this what the first people felt like when they felt their way in the dark to later become the first graded beings? She couldn’t say it was a good feeling, however, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t feeling some type of thrill or excitement.
Maybe it was because before this, every fiber of her being warned her not to disturb this being. She felt a bit petrified after backing away slightly. Not only did this thing come out of the sword, it is still changing. At first all that could be felt was a breeze, then it became a silhouette, finally it is starting to become a person.
The once rolling, nearly transparent fog is slowly condensed into features. It was really difficult to make it out like a painting that only had very general outlines. Slowly as the transparent fog started to condense the outlines became bolder and some of the features of the face and body started to get some lines that could just barely be made out. Slowly, what once stood slightly taller than her shrank as if it was condensing. In this situation she felt like she had become overly sensitive to the point she could swear the shock could be felt, if she hadn’t guessed wrong her pupils had contracted, the being in front, how does she say it? It’s a child?
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Normally, when he leaves the room, it becomes hard to keep his mana body compressed. What this means is once he left this room, he can’t honestly say it is a representation of himself. While he doesn't need to be in the shape of a humanoid being, meaning he can travel like a fleeting cloud blown in the wind. It just feels uncomfortable, so he stopped trying to make the complete mana body and simply left it in the humanoid shape. Appearance wise, it was much like a bland silhouette made of condensed mana. When he moved, his body would lose much of his condensed features, let alone if he was using his mana outside this room to restructure the runes.
Yet, when he is in this room, he is close enough to the main body that his mana body can compress into an actual figure with some definite features. When he first got here he started off as a child, using the main body's surface he could see a distorted reflection of his mana body. The strange thing was that while he was not able to completely remember what he looked like as a kid in his original world, his features are completely different. When the sword was at its most powerful he could see from the polished like exterior of the blade the features matched that of a young adult, probably around the age of 16 to 18 depending on their development, if you wanted to compare.
He had a more conclusive image of his past as an adult, and knew that the features of the two were different. But he looked much better now than before. Back then he was all skin and bones, now as ironic as it was he had meat on his bones and didn’t look sickly and malnourished.
He can’t stop the faint smile from reaching his face, since she made it here, all she has to do is drop some blood on his body and he will become bonded to her. From what that bastard left in his notes, that is the only way to remove his body from the pedestal.
After a while, he can’t help the twitch at the end of my lips. She hasn’t moved since he woke up from his sleep. He couldn’t help but feel like that bastard played another trick on him. He sensed no traps in this room, only it wouldn’t surprise him if there was something here. Furthermore, he is a sickening piece of shit like that. While his hopes are at their highest, when he is about to get a wielder and leave this place, it was easy to imagine with that twisted personality. The second the two made contact, there would be a loud bang, following a trap that triggers and kills the possible wielder. He couldn’t help but ponder, don’t tell me that bastard did something like that?
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Seeing the stupid looking fellow in front of him, he can’t help but mutter out loud, “She doesn’t look dead, is she just dumb?”
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Taking a step back as he took a step forward. At first there was a small smile, then his lips started to twitch to later turn into a frown. While he looks like an innocent child from the features she could see, the fact he came out of the finished product is terrifying. Even if it was alive, why is it a child? If it was an adult, she didn’t think she would be this scared. For some reason, seeing a child in this dark place filled with despair, hopelessness, loneliness, and even a large dose of madness mixed into the mix, all of which are coming from the walls. It is just outright creepy.
It feels like something out of a horror story. Wait, did it just talk? What did he just say? She can’t understand what he just said. While she didn’t hear a sound, it was more like what high grade beings do. Using mana they can transfer their thoughts to each other. Because of how much mana the technique cost it isn’t used by those under Grade D. And even at Grade D the distance they can use it isn’t very far. Mainly used by high grade beings because at the level of Grade B it is said to be able to be used from town to town with assistance from magic arrays.
While she can’t understand what he just said, it somehow sounded like an insult. It was somehow universal, there was just a certain tone regardless of the language that just felt like an insult… Obviously, without a voice there wasn’t a tone, and yet she somehow still felt that she had just been insulted by his expression alone. Mustering up the last bit of her courage mixed with a bit of anger, “Can you help me?”
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Hm, it took him a second, but it doesn’t look like she is looking at his body. No, she almost seems to be looking at his mana body. When he spoke, she actually seemed to react. There was no reply, however, she lowered her hand that was reaching out to touch the handle. She seemed scared, when he first generated his body she seemed startled, then after he finished compressing his body she looked more scared, almost like she saw a ghost.
“Wait a minute, I am a ghost…” Well, at least that is how he saw his mana body. He couldn’t help but speak subconsciously as he watched her reaction, “Can she really see me? Interesting.” He moved back and forth ever so slightly and after her pupils that were the size of pins stopped contracting, he can tell she’s actually following his movements. And had even moved back a step.
Before he could process any more of the situation she turned to look between his mana body and original body, completely turning away from his actual body, opening her mouth she spoke. After hearing her voice, his first and only thought is, it's beautiful. He spaced out. Maybe she noticed because she repeated herself.
Snapping out of his reverence of the first voice he had heard in a thousand years, to clarify when he is in his mana body he can hear, but it is different. It is like hearing something from a very low quality and heavily distorted speaker. But with his actual body here it seems he can hear normally, the difference between the two is worlds apart.
He had no idea what she was saying. But whatever it is, she said the same thing twice. He honestly had no hopes. Even when she appeared in the last crossroad before his room. As he had experienced, even when he was in the group itself, nobody even noticed him once. While he could feel something dangerous from her, he was also sure she was the weakest thing outside the slaves to enter.
He wouldn’t allow himself to feel hope again. It was only two or three times. He couldn’t patrol the halls constantly, it was a lot of work to keep his mana body going that far from his original body. Each time someone came, he would feel hope and excitement. The biggest disappointment was seeing the slaves being massacred and knowing deep inside he hoped they made it… All so he could just get out…
The fact that she survived and found the quickest route should have told him something. In actual fact, it was only known that he realized the oddity. They followed the previous groups so they made record time, however that only sped up their deaths as they didn’t have to experience the true terror of the laboratories. So how is it she found the fastest path to make it here…
The dangerous feeling he couldn’t identify, but it wasn’t as important. Since it was dangerous, it had some type of offensive means, though it was a guess. The most important part was the fact she made it here alive. There was no way around it; she had a way to sense danger or had the luck of the heavens.
There was a possibility she was that bastard’s chosen, only he refused to believe that. Instead, if she was, he would rather stay in this darkness for longer…
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The child looked surprised when she spoke. Before he was swaying back and forth, along with slight wonder on his face, she could also see a deep and heartfelt happy surprise on his face. When he spoke, his eyes lost focus, as if he was captivated. This confuses her a great deal, while she spoke softly, it wasn’t as if her voice was that nice.
She had heard a few singers sing before, and she had to say her voice is far from impressive. Though she guesses that is different but because he seemed to lose focus, she didn’t think he heard her.
“Can you help me?”
He looks confused, an idea she had before is now confirmed. Along with what he first said, it appears they can’t understand each other. Feeling downcast she can’t help but show it on her face, she took a slight back step in sadness. Unfortunately for her when he came out of the sword she had already backed away slightly, and before he took a step forward though it was only one she still backed away once more. This put her near the edge of the pedestal.
When she figured out he couldn’t understand her, while she knew they could still find a way to communicate, it was going to be hard. She was already a bit winded from the blood loss from when she nicked something in her arm, combined with the lack of sleep and mana depletion, she felt a bit weak. The disappointment caused her to wobble a bit when she took a step back, but because she wasn’t paying attention the heel of her boot wasn’t on the pedestal while the rest was awkwardly angled making her start to fall backwards.