The Astral soul system-Chapter 224: I’m a monster
Zen watched as the exp drained all the way down to zero.
Zephyr informed him it might take some time so he just layed on his back waiting.
"Let’s try the new skills while we wait"
"..."
Zen sat back up. That was a good idea. He might as well.
[Realm manifestation]
[Soul avatar]
He wondered which to use first.
The description of soul avatar reminded him of aether gear, and he’d studied all about that,so he should probably pick that first.
He checked the cost and was immediately suprised
"A hundred every second?"
He checked the one for realm manifestation and it was the same.
"That’s unfortunate"
Zen didn’t reply, thinking deeply. Maybe he could try it? Even if only for a second he’d know what it felt like to use it
Around 1.6 seconds, that’s all he could sustain it for. That was probably enough.
He stood up and took a deep breath.
[Soul avatar]
As soon as he activated the skill through the system, he immediately felt a difference. His eyes lit up like stars and a visible shockwave burst out from around him, sounding like a soft hum.
His eyes immediately darkened and before anyone could react, he suddenly keeled over and started coughing blood.
[Astra depleted]
[Essence unaligned]
[Received severe damage]
Syl immediately went to him, kneeling in front of him, her hands immediately going to hold him steady
"Steady, just breathe. In and out,in and out"
She sighed, exasperated.
"Sometimes i wonder if you’re trying to kill yourself,boy. I’ve lived centuries and never -"
"I saw something"
Everyone went quiet as he said that
"Saw what?"
He shook his head. He had no answer for Theia. He’d seen it clearly but his mind hadn’t been able to pick it up completely,so in his mind it was still shadowed.
"It’s eyes... they were like mine"
Another revelation with troubling implications.
The eye of the destroyer.
According to the system it was a result of Zen’s bloodline, same with his draining touch and inability to use mana or aether , and it even seemed to interfere with his astra.
That meant one of his ancestors had somehow obtained this curse and passed it on. This was the second time he’d claimed to see something with his eyes, the first had been in a dream a while back
This tyrannical power seemed to reject the existence of any outside forces in the body the three inhabited, whether it be aether,the power of the missing gods,or mana, the force of will,it simply devoured everything and the backlash always landed on the body
If it had once again appeared when he tried using his soul avatar,then maybe it’d be wiser not to do that again, at least for a while
Theia sighed.
"The pervert god is right. This isn’t just a curse, it’s... it’s literally just part of who you are. Even if we could find a way to get rid of it there’d be problems"
"... So I’m just a monster then?"
Theia sighed
"Don’t say that"
"..."
"Did you see anything else?"
Zen nodded slowly.
"When i activated it,i felt something...it reminded me of the shadows. Like they were slithering into my hands, and then it formed something"
He closed his eyes and an outline appeared, but before he could make any sense of it it shifted, becoming something else
"But i can’t hold onto it"
Syl sighed and looked down, suddenly noticing something out of the corner of her eye.
"Eh?"
She saw a trail of the water connecting Zen to the pond, lighting up a bit brighter before disappearing
"Hmm..."
Theia kept talking
"There are too many conflicting forces in your body,or rather, your destroyer aspect is fighting every foreign energy in your body. If you hadn’t become an astral then you wouldn’t even be able to use astra "
She sighed before continuing
"Another reason to find your family. If this is a bloodline issue then it’s possible they have a solution to the problem, or at least the symptoms. Until then though it looks like you’re stuck"
Zen considered trying the second one, though he didn’t since at this point it’d just be plain suicidal.
He layed back down, waiting for Zephyr to finish whatever it was he was doing and ended up waiting another hour. He was about to go to sleep when he heard a deep sigh.
"This is bad"
And all his curiosity immediately disappeared
Zephyr spoke up, sounding troubled
"I’ve gotten a few more of my memories. Mostly useless information though..."
"But?"
Theia said impatiently.
"But nothing,sprite. Leave me be"
"I don’t buy it. You’re holding out on us, you fucking perv!"
"That’s enough "
Zen said, trying to avoid another argument
Theia reluctantly disappeared into the system, looking aggrieved.
Zephyr sighed, his slightly raspy voice ringing in Zen’s ears.
"What I saw had nothing to do with you, but It was troubling. I suppose with a title and life like mine,a few unsavory memories are all but assured"
Zen didn’t reply
*Sigh*
"I’ve been an inadequate teacher -"
"You mean you haven’t taught him anything at all"
"Theia -"
"No, she’s right. Lacking my memories is no excuse for my incompetence. I haven’t even tried to understand this new world yet I dare act justified in my actions"
Zen blinked twice. What in the world had Zephyr seen?
This was.. completely different from how he usually acted .
"I’ve been going about this all wrong. If I’m going to stop my brother then i can’t just pick someone to fight for me. I’ll need to get more personally involved"
The tone with which he said that was a bit unnerving but he just kept going.
"I just remembered an old trick that will allow me to do just that. Do i have your cooperation?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
"Zen, this is getting creepy, maybe we shou-"
"Ok"
Theia’s eyes twitched but she just took a deep breath and kept quiet
"Very good, boy "
[Entity:Zephyr has accessed host’s interface]
[Title< umbra:king in darkness > is in effect]
"The old god’s name, this is perfect"
[Zephyr is accessing $#$$&###$#@$@]
The shadows in the cave suddenly started twitching and swaying like trees in the wind.
Slowly they reached out, creeping towards him like tree branches,or cracks in a mirror
He looked around cautiously, calling out.
"Zephyr?"
No reply. The shadows started getting closer and closer, and closer, until -
*************
Her hands stuck together under the running water, gathering some before splashing it on her face.
She repeated it a few times before looking up into the mirror, locking onto her face, those distant unfamiliar lime green orbs staring back at her. She still couldn’t shake off the feeling that she couldn’t recognize those eyes
"What’s wrong with me?"
She groaned, looking away. She couldn’t stare at the mirror too long,it made her head hurt. It just didn’t look right
Everyone else seemed so... happy for her, everything felt perfect but there was still dread in the back of her mind. Everything felt wrong, different, ever since she woke up
The way she saw, heard, even thought
Sometimes she even caught herself thinking... what if none of this is real? What if she never woke up from that stab through the heart and was still bleeding out on the floor.
It wouldn’t be the first time she’s gotten lost in her dreams
Every time her mind wandered there, she’d bring herself back, saying it was a ridiculous thought, but no matter how many times she tried she couldn’t look in the mirror and say that the person she was looking at was the same person who’d gone on that trip and nearly died by her own blade through her heart
She gently pressed her hand onto her chest, rubbing over where her heart would be.
Not even a scar
It was a miracle
No further complications or heart problems.... nothing, like it never even happened.
If anything she was healthier than ever
She looked at the reflection in the mirror again,her eyes scrutinizing the top of her forehead. She leaned in, looking closer and suddenly, like a flash, she suddenly saw what she could only describe as a monster...a monster that looked just like her. The image only lasted for a fraction of a second but she was sure she’d seen something humanoid that definitely wasn’t a human.
Skin the wrong color,eyes too bright and dark at the same time. What was that?
She looked closer at the forehead,a curiosity festering in the back of her mind. Something about it didn’t look right.
Slowly,her hand moved up to her forehead in a trance like state,thumb pressing right between and above her eyes which had both transformed, becoming pitch black with only white irises visible in them
She winced slightly. Something was...in there. She could feel it!
She just had to -
"Jade? Are you okay in there?"
*Knock knock*
"You’ve been in there for hours"
Zaria called out, clearly worried
Jade immediately snapped out of her trance,her eyes going back to normal before she could notice.
"Oh, I’m... I’m fine, just...dozed off a bit. I’ll be out soon"
"Okay"
She replied from the other side.
Jade dropped her hand, looking at it in confusion.
’What in the world am i doing? Everyone’s already worried about me and here I am bothering them even more with these stupid...’
Unable to find a word to finish that thought, she snapped.
"Aaahh!!"
Her balled fist came down on the sink, completely destroying it and sending porcelain shards flying everywhere
She immediately froze up, looking at what she’d done in confusion.
"Jade!"
She heard the door open almost immediately and Zaria ran into the bathroom like she’d been waiting by the door, immediately walking in on the situation.
Jade looked down at the mess and back up at her, looking both scared and confused. After a few seconds of unintelligible sounds, she finally managed a weak
"I’m sorry"
Zaria quickly got closer and hugged her tightly
"It’s okay,it was an accident"
"I’m a monster"
"No!"
Zaria grabbed her face, looking into her eyes
"Don’t say that"
"I just - I can’t-"
She was on the verge of tears at this point and words just wouldn’t come out no matter how much she tried
"Shhh, okay? That’s enough words out of you tonight. Let’s just get you to bed"
Zaria said, already pulling Jade out with her
"But what about-"
"It’s fine, I’ll clean it up later. It’s late, and you’re tired
Jade stopped resisting at that point and let Zaria comfort her as they left the bathroom
Sniffling, she looked at Zaria
"Thank you. You’re a good friend "
Zaria smiled, but it felt like she’d just been stabbed on the inside
’If i was a good friend I’d tell you what was going on instead of just "You’re tired".’
"I don’t know what I’d do without you. Ever since I woke up, you’ve practically been my shadow"
Zaria looked down at Jade’s feet, shifting her’s a bit closer. The irony stung but now wasn’t the time to dwell on it.
"Alright, that’s enough out of you,get in bed. Or do i need to tuck you in and read you a bed time story"
She joked
’Damnit! I’m sorry but there’s only one person who can explain exactly what’s happening to you, and unfortunately, he’s not doing much better than you right now "
