It took him a few days to get used to his new reality. He was not dead but it was far from paradise. He was severely injured from the fall. The broken ribs weren't too bad but that couldn't be said for his left leg and left arm. The leg would heal but he would probably end up with a bad limp. It was still bent at an odd angle and he didn't know what to do about it. His arm was a lost cause. He couldn't move it at all and he couldn't feel anything either.
His current home was a lonely island in the middle of the lake. There was nowhere else to go. All the underground rivers flowed into the lake. Even if there was one that flowed out, he wouldn't dare take it in his current state. There was also no way to climb out of here. The sheer walls encompassed the circular chasm from top to bottom. It was an impossible challenge to scale the walls even if he was fully fit.
There was also the issue of his wounded soul, caused by forcibly dispelling the soul bond with Yaoyao while under a mind-controlling illusion. If he was back in the republic, he could find a soul healer or buy some precious medicament for his wound. In his current state, there was no way to fix it. Even if he was able to get out here, there was little chance he would fare any better in the jungle above. Day by day, as the months passed, the surviving prisoners and their summons would grow stronger and stronger. They would eventually be able to fight and capture adept rank Ensouled. And as for people like Aaron White, they were several steps ahead of everyone else, they were far ahead of him already.
On the bright side, aside from these very serious problems, Zachary's life wasn't too bad. He had water, food, and shelter. Water was easy since he was surrounded by it. The lake was fed by underground rivers so the water was clean and refreshing. Food was also all around him. Fish and other aquatic Ensouled were plentiful. The island was big enough that there were plenty of trees and dead branches for firewood. As for shelter, he chose to camp out beneath a fallen statue head that was leaning at an angle. This created a sizable overhang that blocked the frequent rain storms.
He also had companionship so he didn't feel lonely. Onkie was always a joy to have around. She liked to swim around the lake when she was bored, paddling along with her short legs. She was a surprisingly good swimmer. Blue was still excitable as always. It liked to soar across the open air of the chasm, going from the trees on the island to the ones growing out of the vertical walls, searching for tiny bugs to snack on. Boba was boring, even when he tried to play with it. The little snake didn't do much except sleep and eat, which sounded about right for a snake.
As for his aquatic summons, Whiskers didn't do much except laze around in the water but it was a reliable fighter when he needed it. Sugo was useless. It was weak beyond measure, more like an aquatic plant than a slug. The most surprising was Dream. Originally, he had kept the little rainbow fish because it was pretty. He could have never expected that its special ability was being the most irresistible bait. As long as it swam a lap around the lake, it would attract all kinds of Ensouled without fail, from weird-looking fish with armored heads to salamanders with dark-purple scales that glowed at night. Everything wanted to take a bite out of Dream.
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Due to this stroke of luck, he quickly developed a tag-team strategy to catch prey. Dream was the bait and would lure creatures toward the island. Whiskers would wait in the shallows with its mouth wide open. Dream would swim towards Whiskers and then change direction at the last moment. That was the signal for Whiskers to attack, lunging forward and chomping on the unfortunate creature until it was dead.
In this way, the days slowly turned into months. Across the Old World, the convention was forty days for each month. There were eight months to a year, and five weeks in a month, with eight days in each week. On the cheek of the giant stone face, Zachary would leave the marking of a compass for each week, eight points for the cardinal directions, one for each day. He would carve five compasses in a row before moving on to the next row, the next month.
After the first month, Zachary’s rib injuries had mostly healed. His leg was still messed up and he couldn’t put any weight on it. During this time, he raised Whiskers’ soul cultivation steadily until it reached the Seven Paths Novice Rank. With this increase in cultivation, the beast had also grown in size from one meter to almost two meters. Nothing in the lake could contend with it.
Another month later, Zachary’s leg had improved only slightly. He could walk around slightly before the pain overwhelmed him. Still, it was better than crawling around. As for his summons, he had given up on trying to improve Whiskers. His mangled sky path meant that his limit was the Seven Paths Novice Rank, he could not go any further. Instead, he raised both Onkie and Blue to the Six Paths Novice Rank.
Onkie grew slightly bigger but not as much as Whiskers. However, its strength and toughness were unmatched and even Whiskers couldn’t beat it in the water. Blue, on the other hand, did not grow larger or get any stronger. It was still the same as before, frightened of shadows, with a rain ability that resulted in not much than a drizzle. If it wasn’t so cute, he might have plucked its feathers and roasted it over the fire.
During the third month, Zachary focused on Dream and Sugo, raising them both to the Six Paths Novice Rank. Like Rain, there was no change in Dream. Its rainbow-colored scales sparked as always and it was still the reliable bait that supplied their meals and anima crystals. Sugo, the slug, grew slightly but the biggest change was its seaweed which became longer and much more abundant. Now, it was difficult to tell the creature apart from a clump of actual seaweed.
Aside from his summons keeping him company, there was also something else. He didn’t know what it was but he had felt it before. He had felt it at the monolith, allowing him to find the hidden doorway. He had felt it again when he came to this underground lake, stimulating his will to live.
There was loneliness, there was melancholy. There was also boredom and a wish for excitement. Amidst these strange emotions, it gave off a strong desire to persist, a vigorous soul with an unquenchable thirst for life and the will to weather through the eras and eons even if it was stuck in perpetual limbo.
Since then, the thing would come and go as it pleased; once a week or perhaps a few times a month. He was only aware of it due to his special soul sense yet he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of it. Whenever he sent out Whiskers to investigate, it would quickly run away. It also paid no attention to Dream and felt no need to approach the island.
With no other way, Zachary could only greet this mysterious creature with his own thoughts and emotions, conveyed through his soul across the distance. Still, its presence gave him comfort. He was still alive and he would live on.