Path of the Unmentioned: The Missing Piece-Chapter 264: Field Trip [4]

Vruumm....

The mana bus engine made a low, resonant hum as it took off. Kyle sank back in his seat, clearly enjoying the comfort.

After ten minutes or so, Kyle looked outside the window, and a slight surprise crossed over his face.

The world outside was a blur of green. It hadn't been a few minutes, and they seemed like they had already passed the spires of Valthreas city. But the most disorienting part was the complete lack of sensation; there was no lurch of acceleration, no rumble on the wheel on the cobblestone.

It felt less like traveling and more like the world itself was being rewound outside his window.

Even after spending months in this world, the blend of magic and technology never fails to amuse him.

"It never gets old, does it?"

Eleanora's voice broke the silence around them.

He looked at her and saw that she was watching him with a knowing smile on her face and her bright crimson eyes holding a glint of amusement.

"I also had the same reaction when I first travelled in these buses. From the outside, it looks like you're moving at impossible speeds, but inside… It's like you're sitting in your own living room while the world rushes by on a screen."

Kyle stared at her for a long moment and a familiar nagging thought stretched the back of his mind.

'Why does it sometimes feel like she knows I'm not from this world….that I'm seeing all of this for the first time? As if she already expects me to be surprised by things I shouldn't react to at all.'

Even if Kyle had memories of the original Kyle now. He couldn't help but be surprised if he saw something new. Knowing about something is different, and experiencing it with one's own eyes is different.

He can successfully conceal his expression from others, but for some reason, Eleanora always catches even his slight change in mood and expression. It's as if she had some hidden ability to read minds.

'....Now that I think about it, isn't Seraphina also like that? She also sometimes expects me to be surprised by things I shouldn't react to.'

He finally broke eye contact with her and shook his head.

'I must be overthinking. I should really stop this... It's becoming a habit.'

His thoughts now drifted back to their destination.

'HQP-19, I wonder what my [Unpredictable] luck stat is cooking this time.'

Just the thought of it sent a dull throbbing of anxiety through his temple.

"Let's not jinx it."

He muttered in a low voice as if trying to push the negativity away.

"You said something?" Eleanora asked.

"Oh, nothing important."

After that, they fell into an idle, meandering conversation about nothing in particular.

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Kyle opened his eyes and suddenly found himself standing alone in the dense dark forest that seemed to swallow the very light.

The air was thick and heavy with the smell of rotting leaves and damp earth. Cold mist coiled around his ankles like spectral serpents. Giant trees loomed overhead, blocking the sunrays.

'Where am I?'

He silently screamed in his mind, having no idea where he was. Wasn't he in the Mana bus a few minutes ago?

How did he even get here?

Panic began to prickle at the edges of his consciousness. His heart began to hammer against his chest.

Then....

Suddenly, he froze.

There was a presence directly behind him.

A sinister presence.

Every hair of his body stood on end. A primal icy fear seized him, locking his joints and freezing the air in his lungs.

He tried to move, tried to look back at the thing behind him, but every muscle in his body was locked in place. Every nerve in his body screamed a single silent warning of imminent, inescapable death.

His breath hitched in his throat, and his heart started to hammer in his ribs violently.

A cold sweat instantly drenched his back, and a fine uncontrollable tremor started deep in his bones.

A sound began to form in the air. Thousands of wailing voices came from everywhere at once, each cry and wail overlapping with each other.

.

F̶̹͕̱̆̿̈́̍̀̈́̿̾̕O̵̡̡̫̘̦̿̂͛͛̒͌̽̈́Ṵ̴͇͖̫̘̟̿͋̈́̒̌͘͝N̵̛̙̝̜̞̦̜̾͐̿́̍̆͝D̸̛̘͍̄̈͑̆͋͌͘ … Y̶̡͖̼͒̐̈́̾̓͝O̷̢̡̳̩̮̐́̇̌̍̈́̿̂͝U̴̪̲̎͌̓̇̎̀̚͠

.

Amidst those wails, a two word sentence was heard directly in his skull.

Suddenly.... A searing white pain exploded behind his eyes, his ears buzzed with high frequency that felt akin to needles directly stabbing into his eardrums.

He felt a grotesque, squirming sensation under his skin. His veins came alive, transforming into tiny, frantic tentacles trying to burrow their way out.

A warm liquid trickled down his nostrils, then his eyes, ears.

The tentacles under his skin built unbearable pressure, and he was certain that his body was about to break apart from the inside out.

"...yle..."

"K..le"

"KYLE"

GAAASSSSPPPP!

Kyle jolted awake, forward in his seat, and took the heavy gulps of air as if he had been held underwater.

He looked at his surroundings on the mana bus. The deep red plush chairs. The metallic insides of the bus. The students around him.

'I'm... back'

Cold sweat plastered his white hair to his forehead, and his academy shirt had been soaked with sweat, sticking to his back. He trembled, his hands gripped the armrest of the seat.

'W-what was that?'

His mind raced.

'A nightmare?'

But the word felt hollow and insultingly inadequate. It had been too visceral and too detailed for it to be a nightmare.

The memory of that chilling, multi-layered voice was etched into his very soul.

It wasn't the first time he had that nightmare.

He had that before in the infirmary, after the academy doctor had told him to rest.

However, at some point after the week, it disappeared, and he also ignored it. But now it felt like the intensity had increased a hundred times.

"Are you okay?"

He blinked, finally registering the voice. He looked at crimson eyes staring at him with concern. Eleanora seems to have been calling him for some time now.

He was also gripping her arm tightly, and, realising this, he quickly let her arm go.

"....Sorry."

He clutched his head and said, "I'm... I'm okay. Just... a nightmare."

He tried to give her a reassuring masked smile.

Eleanora gazed at him for a long time, studying the pallor of his skin and the faint tremor in his hands.

She nodded slowly, deciding not to push him.

Then, suddenly, her eyes widened a little as she looked at him and pointed her delicate finger at his face.

"Kyle.... your nose"

"——?"

"You're bleeding."

Bewilderedly, he raised his hands and wiped his index finger under his nostrils. He looked at his finger stained with fresh crimson blood.

"...."

An image flashed in his mind. The image of blood streams coming from his eyes, nose, and ears; the tentacles under the skin trying to break him apart.

A shiver ran down his spine.

Wordlessly, Eleanora took out a water bottle from her storage ring and a handkerchief. She leaned forward and wiped his nose.

"No more blood is coming out, it seems."

She muttered to herself, then handed him the water bottle.

"Here, drink it."

Kyle gulped down the water; the simple act of swallowing helped calm his racing heart.

"What happened?"

Eleanora asked again with a soft tone.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hands.

"Maybe.... I just exhausted myself the last few days with training." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

He wasn't lying exactly; he did train hard, but not to the point of a spontaneous nosebleed.

And Master Seris had strictly instructed him to take a rest yesterday, specifically telling him to recover for the trip. So it was highly unlikely the nosebleed was due to overexertion.

Eleanora opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again and nodded.

"Just...take it easy. We're only a few minutes away from HQP-19."

She said, finally.

Kyle just leaned back in his seat.

'Kyle, you okay?'

Zalrielle's voice echoed inside his head, her voice filled with concern.

He chuckled slightly in his head.

'I thought you were taking your cat naps.'

'I'm serious here.'

She scolded him like a mother.

The contrast made him blink. He still wasn't used to this side of her.

When she first awakened her consciousness, he'd expected something completely different. Some bratty, temperamental sword spirit who pouted whenever he so much as looked at another weapon. Especially after how jealous she'd been back then.

But instead, she scolded him, as if she were the adult and he were the reckless child.

Well... I guess she is ancient after all.

'Don't worry, Zal. I'm okay now. But… do you have any idea what that nightmare was about? Anything at all that could explain it?"

'I... I'm sorry. I also have no idea about it. I could make some guess but its better if I don't. My memory is still not back yet, due to that, my knowledge is also limited.'

'There is no need to be sorry for. Do you know when you might recover them?'

'I'm also not sure, but I have a feeling that once you reach the Gold rank. I might gain some part of my memories back.'

'Gold rank, huh.....'

'Oh... right. Why don't you ask your Master, Seris? She did help you in controlling Spirit mana to some extent, even without knowing what that is.'

'That was also what I was thinking.'

Kyle let out a slow breath, the tension easing in his shoulders.

Those nightmares... he needs to know what they were.

A warning?

A memory?

Or something even darker, waiting beneath the surface?

For now, he pushed the lingering fear down, sealing it away until he was ready to face it again.

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