Chapter 62: An Accident

Solomon cannot explain why, but when he rests, he dreams of Rena.

It is the first time in a while, making everything he sees all the more jarring.

He relives their last night together. When they lie in bed, talking and catching up.

Her lips are moving, but he cannot hear her. She seems content.

Peace looks good on her. It makes her glow.

She closes her eye after giving him a small kiss.

As she rests her head on the pillow, her body turns ghastly. Translucent.

She is fading fast. Solomon can feel his mouth moving, but he can’t hear his own voice.

He has no clue if he’s saying the right thing or not.

He hopes that, at the very least, he is apologizing for his greed, apologizing for being unable to save her.

There is so much he wants to say, but he is running out of time. He can already see the otherside of the room through her.

Rena finally opens her eye again.

She laughs as she covers his mouth with her hand.

The sensation of her fingers on his lips is so realistic it almost brings a tear to his eye.

But Rena wags a finger at him before it can come to that. He remembers the kind of woman she is. The type who would never want anyone, least of all him, to weep over her.

She places his hand over his chest… and pushes him out of the bed.

Solomon hits the floor hard. He is slow to process what has just happened.

He gets to his knees and sees his last image of Rena.

She is resting, her eye shut and her lips quirked in a barely noticeable smile.

Finally she vanishes, and the room is empty once again.

–

Solomon sits up abruptly, his arms outstretched.

He grabs Rena and pulls her in before she can disappear permanently.

Only… it is not Rena he grabs. Just someone who wears their hair like her.

Jiaoying is aptly stunned by Solomon not only appearing to come back from the dead, but also the bold way he has grabbed her body.

Frustration starts to show on her face, but it is quickly replaced by mild discomfort.

For a moment, Solomon could have sworn that he saw her eyes begin to glow.

“…Get your hands off me, kid…”

Solomon feels a breeze in a place where no man should feel.

He is aptly mortified. He lets go of Jiaoying even more quickly than he grabs her.

In the blink of an eye, she is on the other side of the cave.

That is also the first time Solomon notices that Yari is here too. And judging by the way that she is hunched over, holding her mouth, she finds immense humor in his embarrassment.

He wasn’t aware that these two were close, but it is just his luck that they would be…

If there was ever a time that Solomon wished for his immortality to be removed, there is no greater need for it than right now.

Suddenly, Jiaoying’s breathing becomes ragged. Her hands start to tremble.

She reaches inside her pocket and pulls out a small container.

As soon as she opens it, Solomon notices a familiar scent that he can’t immediately place.

Jiaoying takes what appears to be some green herbs out of the container and drops them into her mouth.

She chews for a bit, then swallows.

Only then do her intense, shaky breaths become less ragged and her eyes open once again.

They are no longer glowing. Their usual golden softness is all that is present.

She locks eyes with Solomon. He immediately lowers his head.

“Forgive me.” Is all he can manage to say.

Jiaoying seems as though she wants to say something for a moment, but she pauses.

She stares at Solomon’s bowed head for a long time as if she remembers something unpleasant.

A deep sigh escapes her lips. Her face seems to have aged ten years at once.

“…Forget it, kid… Just cover that thing up, would you?”

“…” Solomon presses his head into the cavern floor so hard that it almost seems he’s trying to bury himself.

Jiaoying stalks towards the cave exit and waves Yari goodbye. “I’m heading back.”

Yari bites her lip. “Alright.”

“Stop laughing, you bitch.”

“I’m not laughing!”

Yari watches her friend vanish into the night before she turns back to Solomon.

“…”

His head is still firmly planted in it’s same position. He hasn’t moved in several minutes.

“…Please kill me.”

Yari finally cannot hold in her laugh, and it spills out as a melodic, but chaotic sound.

“Oh, the irony of a deathless one begging for death. You are most amusing, Solomon A’kenai! It is a good thing to know that despite everything, you still possess a knight’s chivalry.”

“I’m glad you find this funny, witch.” Solomon slowly sits up, and his hands immediately go to cover his manhood.

That is, until he remembers that things are different now.

With a thought, he summons only the leg armor of his Yaksha. The act finally makes Yari stop laughing.

“…Is this some new trick, or..?”

“Don’t play naive.” Solomon looks up. “How did you know what the armor’s name would be?”

“I guessed.” Yari shrugged.

“…Fucking what?”

“Aponia. It is a very ancient word that means freedom from physical pain and discomfort. When I saw your memory of the armor giving you the clue, I made an educated guess.”

“…Why didn’t you just tell me that instead of giving mesome cryptic note?!”

“Well, imagine if I said it aloud, and I was wrong. That would have been embarrassing.” Yari blinked innocently.

Solomon knew that elves had a more heightened sense of shame than other races. He just didn’t know that it was this bad.

Yari sat beside him and gave his leg armor a small poke.

“So… am I correct in assuming that transformation of yours was a product of the armor? Or is it… something else?”

Solomon looked down at his hands. “I can only assume so…What else would it be?”

He does not notice, but there is a flicker of something complicated in Yari’s eyes. Her next words are very careful and measured.

“You could have become a contractor since I saw you last. Like myself.”

Solomon glances at her out of the corner of his eye.

Contractors were excruciatingly rare. Almost at the same level as armament holders.

They are mages who are fortunate enough to come into contact with a species of rare entities called Greater Beings.

Greater Beings give their contractors permission to call upon their power for different purposes in return for fulfilling specific conditions.

Unlike armament holders, contractors don’t always hold onto their power forever. Some Greater Beings are said to have terrible temperaments and do not like being beckoned. Others are extremely docile and stick around purely to see new things.

If synergy between the contractor and the contracted is high enough, they are said to be able to temporarily unite into one, powerful form.

Greater Beings can remain in contract for as many as ten years, or until their contractor perishes. It all depends on the nature of the beast.

The only real constant about Greater Beings is that they only enter agreements with mages. Never knights.

“Need I remind you of their nature?” Solomon raised a brow.

“Need I remind you of what you are and the potential resources you could gain access to? Do not act as if obtaining a Greater Being is outside the realm of possibility for you, Little Lord.” Yari snorts.

A vein bulges in Solomon’s head. “Are you mocking me?”

Yari blinks innocently. “Oh, most certainly not. How could one such as I deign to mock a High Lord of the Athanatoi Houses?”

“…This is why no one likes elves. I just want you to know that.”

“Elves are the envy of the realms, boy. It’s humans no one can stand.”

Solomon rolls his eyes.

As he gets to his feet, he places a hand on the wall to support himself and reaches out with his mind.

’Brother, where are you?’

Raizel is slow to answer, and when he does, there is an unusual amount of joy in his voice.

’Ah, greetings, brother! Nila and I are in the library skimming through swordsmanship manuals.’

“…” Solomon almost couldn’t believe that while he was lockedin a desperate fight, his brother was on a date.

He simply shook his head and told himself that his brother deserved a little innocent normalcy.

’Need something?’

’Uh, just a question… Does the armor give one the ability to shapeshift?’

’Oh, sure. The Zoha were known as the people of four-faces. In addition to their regular appearance, they had the ability to take different forms that reflected the three dominant aspects of their personalities. The armor has a very small degree of flexibility as well. At my peak, I was able to make wings.’

Raizel is silent for a moment, and Solomon can hear the wheels turning in his undead brain.

’…Why did you ask me that?’

’…’

’…I’m on my way to you.’

Solomon feels the connection sever and he attempts to stumble out of the cave.

As the cool night air washes over his bare chest, he turns his head to the sky and inhales deeply.

It is a slightly foreign feeling to him now. And yet, it is welcome.

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