—–

After spending half an hour checking the entire house with my group, we decided to finally have a proper meal and then go to rest. With the ingredients given in the freezer and the kitchen, I cooked a stew, some curry with rice, some grilled meat skewers, and lastly some roasted chicken. Yeah, we had a huge feast, and it was all homey food that I remember my mom used to make.

When everything was served, we immediately started eating, trying to just forget about the world and everything else other than the food in front of us and the company we brought to one another. I still missed my own world, but the friends I made in this one, even when I finally depart, will never be forgotten.

Ying Shen’s gentle yet timid nature and the thoughtful way he does things.

Wai Tian’s strong heart yet humble personality, someone who always strives to be better than before.

Zero One, a girl that’s still learning about the world and many things, but that already has her mechanical heart in the right place.

I’m rather happy to have met them, and even more happy to have invited them into this journey, into training at my side.

They remind me of Inferna as well, little Isaac, and the rest of the demons from my second class change trial.

I wonder if they’re doing alright…

I miss them too.

“This food is rather simple, but it has so many spices I have never tasted before,” said Wai Tian. “This roasted chicken, and this stew, and the curry… And these fried potatoes, they’re all so very delicious and filling!”

“I can’t have enough of these mashed potatoes; they’re so creamy! I never thought you could turn potatoes into this!” said Ying Shen.

“Indeed, it’s all very good… I am so happy Mother gave me the ability to eat,” Zero One sighed with a smile of happiness, resembling a little hamster with both her cheeks full of food. “I can see that it is an important part of all living beings to share a meal together, especially of people! If I hadn’t had the ability to experience this joy at your side, it would have been much harder to connect with you all…”

“Haha, I wouldn’t go as far, but yeah, the food is delicious,” I nodded. “Enjoy! Then take a rest; all of you deserve to rest well after everything we did.”

After enjoying the meals I prepared, we were left full; even Fang Shuan had partaken into the meals this time; even though he had said he could barely feel flavors, he still said it was rather delicious, though his favorite was the Soul Wine, obviously.

Once we were finally done, we moved to our respective rooms to just sleep, and I meant it; I had let everyone pick their own room while I kept mine. Once I bid everyone a good night, I jumped into my old bed and let the soft blankets embrace me.

I almost forgot closing the door, which I only did by extending a hand made out of my Aura and closing it, then I closed my eyes and just slept.

Yeah, I didn’t want to do a single thing other than sleep.

Good night!

.

.

.

Listen While Reading: Deep in the Sea & Isolation

As I slept, I felt like my mind and my soul drifted somewhere else, a sea of endless essence, of ethereal liquid. When I slowly opened my eyes, I found that I couldn’t move properly; there were several parts of myself missing.

“Wha…?”

I looked at the sky, completely white, spotless, with no clouds at all; it was illuminated, yet the sun wasn’t there either.

And… I was floating in a calm sea with no waves or movements. I looked at my body, broken, having fallen apart.

There wasn’t blood though, not even flesh; my body was made of… a strange crystal, rainbow-colored glass.

Tiny pieces of me were drifting away by the sea, as I felt like my every being was falling apart.

I noticed that a part of myself was turning pitch black, while the other was white and gold.

This clash of colors was making my body slowly destroy itself…

“Hahh… Am I going to die? What’s going on- Huh?”

When I thought that this dream couldn’t get any weirder, I saw something weird. From the sea itself, tiny creatures appeared.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author’s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

They resembled… me?

They were as tiny as insects, perhaps no bigger than a few centimeters.

They started climbing my body using ropes and such; each one of them brought with themselves a fragment I had lost.

And they started to gently reassemble me.

This time, with every fragment having been washed by the sea, they contained a special essence, a glue that kept things together.

The black and white and gold energies that were clashing within me slowly became less as every part they encompassed died, falling into pieces, only to be reassembled back to my crystalline, glass-made body.

“This is freaky… but somewhat relaxing…”

I sighed as I suddenly felt half my head break away.

Woah, that felt painful; it felt like… A piece of my own self washed away.

The little fairies of the sea quickly grabbed my head, turning it into countless tiny pieces and then placing them back.

Once they were done, my other half also fell apart, and they repeated the process.

I don’t know how long it took, and it seemed like they were not even tired of doing this menial work all this time.

Over time, I was reconstructed completely.

The darkness and the white light coming from my body had disappeared, but their essence remained, fusing with the new me.

With my new self.

No, wait, something was missing.

“Hey, where’s my left arm at?”

As I looked at a missing left arm, the little fairies looked at one another and shrugged.

“Hah, well, so I’m missing a left arm now… Wait, what does this even mean? This dream is so weird. Let me find the other fragments at least.”

The fairies moved away as I started swimming through the sea, moving underwater, and suddenly seeing it.

My arm was slowly falling down, the pressure of the sea beginning to crush it.

“Wait!”

I kept swimming down, yet the arm only fell farther and farther into the dark depths.

I could hold my breath definitely somehow, easily reaching the bottom and looking for my arm.

Yet when I finally reached the bottom and saw a sparkle in my arm, it was only a tiny piece, a fragment.

I grabbed it, placing it on the wound, showing the rainbow crystal interior; it stuck there, but it was not even enough for a whole arm.

“Crunch, crunch, crunch…”

“Huh?”

I walked through the bottom of the sea, following a strange sound—something, someone was eating.

I moved towards the east, finally finding something behind a huge, spotless gray rock.

There was a thing, something eating something.

“Hm? Excuse me…? Have you seen an arm, by any chance?”

RUMBLE!

The entire spotless gray stone moved at the same time as I asked, and something faced me—a huge black slug-like thing.

The thing was like a giant sea snail; the stone was its shell.

It had several little tentacles on its head and two very long, crimson eyes.

Its mouth tentacles were digesting, biting through something.

My arm!

“Hey, give it back! That’s mine!”

“Munch, crunch, munch…”

He only started at me without saying a word.

“Hey, I said, GIVE IT BACK!”

I ran towards him, trying to do anything, but I was powerless; he only started.

And once he finished eating my arm, I stared in disbelief.

“I can’t believe it; you really ate it entirely! What’s wrong with you? That was mine…”

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself… It is in my nature, little gem.”

“Your nature…? Who are you? Wait, what’s going on? Where am I? Is this a dream or not?”

“Would you call this a dream, or perhaps an interpretation?”

“Inter… pretation? Of what?”

“Of you, little gem.”

“Eh?”

He slowly moved towards me, his tentacles touching my face.

By merely being touched, a crack appeared through my face.

Crack!

“I’ve gifted you with my power… But every power comes with a price… I wish I could give it all to you… but my nature cannot let me do it… I’m sorry…”

“Huh? Your… power? Ah!”

Suddenly, I noticed the missing arm had been replaced by something else.

A gooey, black arm, made of black slime.

“That’s all I can do for you… I’m very sorry…”

“I-It’s fine, well… If you gave it back, then—”

“But maybe I’ll end up eating more… And I just feel this urge… I can’t stop myself…”

“You can’t? But you’re smart; you could try to restrain yourself from eating me…”

“I-I can’t… I’ve changed… So much… so much has changed! I-I… The only thing I remember is you, the sparkle of my precious gem…”

“I-I don’t get it…”

I just couldn’t understand what they meant or what they were trying to convey.

What was even this dream?

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

The slug started crying in front of me, tears made of rainbow crystals that faded into dust through the sea.

It had just eaten my arm, but… I felt sorry for him.

“You have to kill me…”

“Eh? What?!”

“When we finally met again… you have to kill me… or else… or else I… I don’t want to harm you anymore…”

“Wait, why would I take your life? You’re just a slug!”

“Is… that how you see me?”

As his red eyes gazed into my soul, something happened.

Suddenly space twisted, the seas dissipated, and everything turned pitch black.

An endless abyss engulfed me whole.

It had no beginning or end.

And within its center there was something.

Three eyes, or well, two.

One of them was missing, only leaving a huge hole.

“I could never forget you… I could never leave you… My gem… the only thing that mattered to me…”

Countless black tentacles rushed towards me.

“I don’t want to do this… but I can’t help it… My body, my instincts, This… HUNGER!”

“Wait… No! Stop!”

The tentacles were about to rip me apart, yet they suddenly stopped.

He pulled them back, his two eyes crying.

“See? I’m a monster… I am… who… Who am I?”

That voice, it’s familiar.

“You’re… Are you really…?”

“Anna… I miss you…”

The darkness engulfed me whole.

FLASH!

“Aaah!”

When I opened my eyes, I was gasping for air. I found myself in my room; everything was fine.

I checked my arm; it was fine; there was nothing missing.

And nothing new either.

It was just a weird dream.

Just a dream…

“But what did this all even mean?” I wondered, sighing. “Huh?”

FLUOSH!

When I sensed my internal Ki, I felt something different; the Dark Curse Ki and the Hope Ki merged seamlessly and without issue, becoming something different, a rainbow-colored essence.

When I summoned it into my hands, it constantly shifted, showing the small silhouettes of people, extending their arms and legs, their heads, or even their eyes.

“Is this related to my Myriad Self Arts?”

So that dream didn’t just do nothing; it helped me comprehend this technique even further.

I can now control its own type of special Ki!

Yet it is still not registering as a martial art…

Do I need to learn it better to give it a form and shape?

To make it something much more professional, perhaps.

Yeah…

Let’s just use all the rewards I got from the trial too, while we are at it.

Anything to put my mind busy and to forget what the hell was that dream, which I still remember so clearly.

Because whenever I think about that slug, I just feel such a dreadful sensation through my entire being.

Yet at the same time, so much sorrow… and a familiarity that only a family member could give to me.

Just what was that thing? With whom did I just talk?

The sole thought of one of the possibilities… only makes me shiver with dread.

…

“It’s too soon to kill you…” I sighed, looking through the window. “Please, have more patience.”

I caressed the black gauntlet’s black gem as it gave a slight red gleam.

—–

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep