CHAPTER 81: AN ORDINARY ROCK

If he had to be honest, it should have been obvious from the very start. From the fact that his very arrival in this world had caused a major shift in the orbits of fate—something unseen in more than a millennium, paired with the fact that this ancient evil known as the Nameless Mist which had suddenly emerged from nowhere mere days before his visit to this world… Could all of that really be just a coincidence?

He doubted it.

Fate was most definitely involved with this. Or maybe it was Mr Unknown pulling the strings… No, maybe both? Who really knows…

During his journey across the Runic Constellations, Soren wondered if things could have been different if he had enacted a different will before astral projecting… Maybe if he had chosen to scout out the Beyond with a simpler goal in mind, he would have been able to return back to his body if things had gone wrong like they did now… But now that these revelations had finally made themselves known, he doubted that prospect.

If fate had truly driven him here, nothing he could do could stop that outcome. Soren wasn’t a fool. He knew that if not even their mysterious mistress known for her divinations and prophecies was able to twist the hand of fate, then what chance did he have? None—zero. Well, at least not yet…

He shook his head with a wry smile. At least I know what its goal is…

Soren was sure of it—that he somehow had a strange connection of fate tying him to the Nameless Mist. And that connection was forcing them to meet in this way… But it also made him question whether the Nameless Mist itself also had a connection to the ruination of this world… It was definitely a plausible theory, but he currently had no time to entertain it.

Staring at the distant struggle between the tendrils of darkness and the skeletal horse of lesser darkness, his lips twisted into a frown.

Soren was sure of one thing at the moment and it had to do with these strange memory trees. If going by their names counted for anything, it was obvious to him that they contain some sort of counter to the darkness above. After all, the Nameless Mist could be considered the embodiment of forgetfulness and erasure from the world itself, while the trees seem to hold the symbology of memories and preservation… These two forces clearly oppose each other.

And then there was his own Soul Weapon as well—it too was some sort of counter. Ever since his traumatizing encounter with that Memory Void Spirit, Soren had wondered why his abilities worked so well against that strange entity.

Yes, he did lose in the end and was saved last minute by his own corrupted memories of the rift destroying the creature, but the results spoke for themselves… If Soren had figured out the creature’s secret much earlier, he would have been able to easily stop it from ever harming him. This was all no doubt thanks to his [Eyes of the Fairy] ability which had chronicled its existence.

For the longest time, he had wondered why this ability worked so well against that thing, and now he finally had a concrete answer. Just like how the Memory Void Spirit had consumed his thoughts, emotions and memories, he too had consumed a part of its existence in return, thanks to his ability to acquire unseen information with [Eyes of the Fairy].

In a way, while the memory trees surrounding him had the effect of preservation in the face of erasure and forgetfulness, Soren had the ability to remember what was lost regardless of when or how he lost it.

This is so damn tiring… He sighed with bated breath. Even though Soren knew that he could counter the effects of the Nameless Mist with his abilities, that didn’t mean that his situation wasn’t still hopeless. The tendrils clearly operated at a much greater speed than he did—their ability to siphon Astral Anima and erase his existence was much faster than what he could hope to achieve with [Eyes of the Fairy].

And then there was the ultimatum he was currently facing. Soren knew that the skeletal horse only had a few more moments of struggle before succumbing to the tendrils—time was running out.

He had to decide quickly—should he venture out of the perimeter of light shining down from the memory tree above his head and risk getting detected again by the tendrils, or stay under this tree and hope to not be noticed?

He gritted teeth.

“Ah, fuck it! I’ll just stay here!”

Even though Soren made it sound like it was a rash decision, there was a bit of logic behind it. And it all had to do with his newly discovered ‘ability.’

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Invisibility.

If he could turn invisible right now, would he be able to hide unnoticed under this tree?

He had to try. There was no better solution to think of. If he runs out into the darkness now, who knows what other horrors that sickening cloud of darkness was hiding from him?

Well, actually… He did have one other solution, but he was unwilling to give it a try… At least not yet.

Soren shook his head and began channeling his anima. From what he remembered last time, there was a strange sensation that enveloped him when he was hiding from a group of spirits trying to find him. It was during that sensation that his body became partially invisible. Although his previous attempts at trying to replicate it had failed, he had nothing else left but to try again and hope for the best… After all, was it not imminent death that drove him to unlocking it in the first place? This situation should count the same way, no?

Come on! Come on! He gritted his teeth and tried ordering his anima to move in the same way he would his Soul Realm. As much as he hated to admit it, it was much harder than anything else he had tried before. Because his Soul Realm was currently solidified as his own spirit body, what he was actually trying to accomplish was moving the anima inside it—something that only those in the third circle could do without a spellfocus.

Soren however, wasn’t even a first circle magus. He was still nothing more than an apprentice.

Curses! How the hell did I do it last time?

He decided to check in on the skeletal horse one last time out of curiosity. Safe to say, he did not like what he was seeing. The mighty spirit was slowly disintegrating into dust, adding to the neverending pile beneath their feet.

Soren was running out of time.

Hurry!

He closed his eyes and tried to focus again. Beads of sweat rolled down his cheeks as time slowed down to a crawl. There were nothing more than a few seconds left before the tendrils decided to find their next target, and he was the closest target around…

In that moment, countless memories flashed through his mind in regards to his affinity: Mesmerism. Scenes of illusory lightning flashing through the skies, and waves rocking beneath his feet. Scenes of countless memories manifesting as enemies looking to attack him. Scenes of him roaming the Veil of Perception without understanding where he was at any time or what he was even searching for.

Finally, a scene of where his Shade of Self was hidden—in his arms all along, disguised his trusty yet distrusty Soul Weapon.

It had never actually turned invisible. It was simply hiding in plain sight.

Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. By this moment, he was sure that the tendrils had already started searching for their next prey. The tendrils must have at least remembered him, because he was hearing them getting closer and closer.

Not wasting any more time, Soren commanded his Anima to move faster through the Channel of Willpower, disregarding how much resistance it was showing as his thoughts flashed with what he wanted to see most.

A plain old rock made of hardened white sand.

Yes, he was no longer aiming to be fully invisible. Instead, he was going to hide himself in plain sight.

Almost instantly, he felt the change happen. Although his body still looked the same to him, he was sure that outside his own vision, he was now nothing more than a rock. A plain old rock.

An ordinary rock that anyone could pass by and not even bat an eye.

Don’t mind me… I am just a rock, everyone! Carry on with what you are doing to every other spirit here… No, not others! I am not even a spirit! I am just a rock! A rock! Got it?!

As if hearing his stupidly pretentious thoughts, the tendrils slowly maneuvered under the light of the memory tree, hovering above him with keen curiosity. He held his breath as his eyes shook with fear.

He didn’t dare to move. Why would a rock move anyways? Rocks are stationary after all.

Come on! Leave already! There’s nothing here! I am nothing more than a rock! You won’t find any sustenance by trying to eat me! Go somewhere else!

He wanted to so badly curse out loud but all he could do was bite onto his lips and wait.

And wait even more.

And more, and more, and more.

The tendrils continued scouting the tree stubbornly. It was as if they knew he was hiding somewhere here but weren’t sure where. No, it was more like they were stunned—in the same way a person would if they left a plate of food on the kitchen counter only for it to disappear the moment they turned away.

Blind rage mixed with panic in his stomach, but he couldn’t do anything at all. It was now up to his luck to save him.

Soren was too fearful to even breathe. He was watching from down below, waiting for the damned things to find someone else to feed on. Worse yet, he knew that his anima was slowly running out. It wasn’t at a rate where he was in immediate danger of being discovered, but it was still worrying.

If only I had more Channels of Willpower! Damn it…

But there was no point in regretting things now. All he could do was continue waiting. And waiting even more…

He was sure by now that an entire hour had passed… No, it might have been two or three hours? He wasn’t sure. There was no one to count the time, anyway.

Eventually though, much to his relief, the tendrils moved away. Maybe they simply thought that it was a waste of time, or they found something even more delicious than him—he wasn’t willing to know or ask.

Still, Soren knew that the danger was not over yet. The darkness encompassing the world was still there, drowning everything in its shadows. And he also didn’t trust that the tendrils had fully left yet—they might have pretended to leave to lure him out.

Hah! How can all of you be so stupid? Why would a rock be lured out of anywhere… Sheesh. A rock stays where it is forever, unless moved by someone else!

He glanced down with only his eyes at his Soul Weapon and smiled. Don’t you think so as well?