After running for a while, Urvashi's running was becoming sluggish, and his breathing was heavy. He was currently still on a street; no matter how much he ran, he just couldn't get out of this zone where time was stopped.
At this point, he had already been running a long, long time, even before entering and leaving... that house.
Speaking of that house... he tried not to think about it too much, but he just couldn't stop his thoughts from wandering to that poor young man.
Looking at other houses, he thought of all the people inside and whether he would sacrifice them as well.
He bit his lip but also quickly went for a two-story house to his right. The house was made of bricks with quite a few windows, and strangely, he felt as if something was pulling him there.
Besides that, he understood one thing and one thing only at this moment, and that was if push came to shove, he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice all of the people from here to save himself.
Yes, he would still feel guilt afterward, but that wouldn't stop him or impact his decision-making.
And now knowing that these people could be 'revived' by placing a mark on them, a technique he learned from watching Sharron's abilities...
If he was a Pathwalker and could inject spirituality into people, he would probably be able to fully awaken them and wake them up from their state of slumber.
Once again, a question crossed his mind: who was it that brought him here?
If he went through all the trouble of getting out only to be sent back here again, he wasn't sure he could escape.
There most likely wouldn't be a second time of that figure helping him kill the crow and allowing him to escape; there probably wouldn't even be the crow.
Considering that the crow was keeping the monsters in here, such as that pink one, in check, this place is probably even more dangerous without it.
Reaching the door, he stopped in his tracks and looked around; he couldn't allow himself to get stuck with a monster again.
As of right now, his spirituality was only at about 50%, so it was questionable if he even could repeat that mark.
That mark used up 60% last time, and even if he managed to use up only 50%, he would still probably die from the lack of spirituality.
But if he didn't eat up and rest in the house for a bit, he wasn't sure for how much longer he could continue.
And that feeling of something pulling him — calling him — was only getting stronger.
Could it be something related to Termian? It most likely was, and that would almost certainly be terrible for him.
Considering Termian planned to use his body to revive himself, he must have left some traps for his vessel.
Perhaps this whole place was that too — a trap meant to turn Urvashi into Termian.
But maybe it could be a boon; it might be something that could assist him to escape from this place. And considering he couldn't keep up running for much longer or fight another one of those monsters again, it was an easy decision.
Grabbing the handle and turning it, Urvashi's face was suddenly hit with surprise.
How come he could turn the handle if time was stopped? Something was definitely up with this house.
Standing at the open door, he looked into the hallway and saw just an ordinary house entrance; there really wasn't anything out of place.
After thinking for a few seconds, he stepped inside the house, and he didn't feel anything weird happen.
He certainly expected to, but that might be waiting deeper inside the house. No matter; he still continued walking, and after seeing nothing in the hallway, he went to the living room.
The living room was much the same as the hallway; it looked ordinary without anything that hinted at powers being in sight. It had a sofa and a fire cabin and was basically empty besides that.
The entire first floor was like that — and most of the second floor too. Standing in front of the final door he hadn't checked yet, he was holding a bag in one hand and a banana in the other. Taking another bite, he swallowed it whole and entered.
The room looked like any ordinary bedroom besides the fact that there seemed to be a person standing in front of him looking at him.
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He had a wide face with a wide chin; his white hair was messy and he only had one brown eye — or so it seemed; where his other eye should have been was covered by bandages. He was cleanly shaven and had no facial hair whatsoever. He was also wearing some kind of black cloth inscribed with some barely visible patterns; it looked to be made of cotton.
He looked like Urvashi a little too much; his expression was full of surprise.
Urvashi — the black-haired one — was taken aback. It was himself!
The white-haired version spoke first.
"Wh-? How?"
His face suddenly changed as understanding dawned on him.
"Ahh... I get it now."
"What do you mean?" The black-haired Urvashi replied.
The white-haired Urvashi chuckled before replying.
"Being on the other side of this conversation is... amusing, to say the least. I had not expected my new ability to be capable of this — but oh well."
"You're not making any sense."
"Am I not? I guess I am not." He paused thoughtfully before continuing: "What I'm trying to say is..." He hesitated for a moment before speaking again: "What I'm trying to say is I already went through this conversation once — just from your perspective." His expression changed abruptly.
Hearing this reply made Urvashi frown as he tried attacking his 'future self' with a right cross. Before he even completed the strike fully, his self-proclaimed future self stepped out of its path.
"See? I knew you would do that."
"Sure — or you just got lucky."
"Okay — let's stop this before you get hurt."
"Before I get hurt?"
"Yes — you really have no chance whatsoever at beating me. I'm just here to talk — mostly to give advice."
After thinking for a few moments, the black-haired Urvashi replied.
"Sure — but how can I be sure you're not one of Termian's tricks?"
"You can't — not really," said white-haired Urvashi with a shrug. "I can tell you things about ourselves for as long as you want — but my guess is that Termian also knows."
"So you're saying I shouldn't trust you?"
"That's not what I'm saying at all."
"Okay then — convince me."
"Didn't you hear what I said about Termian knowing about us?"
"I did hear — but who's to say one of Termian's tricks wouldn't say exactly that?"
After thinking for a moment longer, white-haired Urvashi looked at him seriously.
"You should have sacrificed that young man just about now — am I right?"
"Yes... but it was h—"
"Him or me... huh? Do you truly believe that? Do you really think you couldn't have found another way to escape? You went with the easiest — most cowardly approach... And how you pretended not to see him? Ouch... how cold-hearted you are... my younger self."
Urvashi's expression twisted as guilt washed over him; unable to meet his future self's gaze any longer, he looked away.
"You still didn't prove yourself," said black-haired Urvashi quietly.
"Yes... That untrusting attitude of ours really can be annoying," replied white-haired Urvashi with an exasperated sigh before adding: "Sharron usually berates me for it too... But I can't help it — not when you're like this. Well then... back to your question." He smirked slightly before continuing: "Our first day of school... Mother kissed us on our right cheek before teaching us about making friends... Am I right?"
'First day of school?' thought black-haired Urvashi skeptically before nodding faintly: 'Yeah... Something like that did happen... But I can't remember clearly.'
"Okay," said black-haired Urvashi reluctantly after another pause: "You might have proven yourself... Tell me what advice you claim to have."
"I don't have much time left," said white-haired Urvashi urgently: "I'm not here physically; it's an ability we developed later on... Look! I'm already fading!" He gestured toward his hand which had begun turning transparent.
"Don't ask any questions," added white-haired Urvashi quickly: "First things first — I'll begin with how you can escape this place..."