After leaving the gym, Himiko and I made our way to the roof of Hunter's Rest. It was off-limits for patients, but the two of us were S-rank hunters. Sneaking up to the roof was child's play for us, even injured as we were.
Night had fallen by the ti we arrived. We just saw the stars out, since it was the night of the new moon. While there was so light pollution, Hunter's Rest was isolated enough that this wasn't much of an issue. Countless stars danced across the sky, creating a beautiful tapestry.
A cool wind blew through, bringing with it the scent of autumn. At so point, without my noticing, the seasons had changed. Sumr ended and autumn began. For so reason, this filled with lancholy.
For a brief mont, I wondered how my loved ones on Lumina were doing. I hoped they were well. While I heard so news about them from Aurora, it wasn't the sa as being there with them.
Himiko and I found a spot with a good view before we sat down. After we settled in, I pulled two Healing Potions out of my inventory ring. I reached over to hand one to Himiko. To my amusent, Himiko had a similar idea, but with beer instead of Healing Potions.
The two of us looked at one another for a mont, before we both burst out into laughter.
"Trade ya," Himiko said, her voice laced with mirth.
I nodded and swapped out my Healing Potion for one of her beers. The two of us drank the Healing Potions, easing our wounds, before we started sipping our beers. Neither one of us said anything for the next several monts. We simply basked in each other's company.
"You're leaving soon, aren't you?" Himiko asked, breaking the silence.
I nodded.
"Yes," I said. "I found a way to see the silver thread."
A beat of silence passed.
"Fuck." Himiko took a pull of her beer. "I hate this. Why can't things go back to the way they used to be? Before you left and ca back as a stranger. Sure, things were dangerous, but when are they not?"
I gave her a sideways glance.
"I know I've changed a little, but I'm still the Brandon Norwood you know. No need to call a stranger."
Himiko shook her head.
"No, you're not." She gestured towards my face with her beer. "You even have a different face now. You're not Brandon Norwood. Not anymore. You're Gabriel Sturm." She sighed. "And you prefer it that way, don't you?"
I paused for a mont, before nodding.
"Yes, I do."
Himiko let out a bitter chuckle.
"So what was it all for? Your second life, that is. The Vanguard Guild. Lucky 77. . Was it just you playing around before you went back to your real life and your real ho?"
I shook my head.
"No. My life here wasn't playing around. It was real. My relationship with you and the others is also real. I love each and every one of you. You helped heal from the wounds of my first life."
Though, deep down, scars still remained.
"But we're not enough to keep you here, are we?" Himiko asked, before taking a sip from her beer. "Even if Lumina weren't under threat by demons, you'd still go back."
I sighed. While a part of wanted to refute her words, I couldn't. They were true. If forced to choose between Lumina and Earth, I'd pick the forr each and every ti.
"Yes, I would," I said. "However, I will find a way to travel between Lumina and Earth. Our separation doesn't have to be forever."
"That doesn't change the fact that you chose Lumina over Earth. Them over us." Himiko's voice cracked when she said this next sentence. "Over ."
"Himiko-," I started to say, before she cut off.
"Don't," she said, a dangerous edge to her voice. "Don't you dare pity . If you do, I will kill you."
I chuckled. Himiko turned and glared at .
"I don't pity you," I said. "Pity implies that I look down on you, and I'd never do that."
Himiko glared at for a few more seconds, before she nodded.
"Good."
"However," I said. "I can't return your feelings. You're my friend and I love you, but that is all."
Himiko stilled.
"You really are a bastard," she whispered.
With that, she stood up and started pacing back and forth, as if she couldn't sit still any longer.
"Fuck!" she shouted, her voice carried off by the wind, before she took a deep breath. "You know what? Fine. Since you brought it up, let's have this conversation." She pointed a finger at . "I admit it. I like you. No, that's too mild. I love you, Brandon. I have for a while." She paused and took a deep breath. "I was fine with you not loving in return, back when I thought you were asexual. At least it wasn't just ." She clenched her fists, as if ready to punch again. "So when I heard that you had a lover, a fiancée no less, I was more than a little upset."
I didn't respond, nor did I think Himiko wanted one from . Not yet at least.
"Just… Why? Why her and not ? At least tell that much."
I took a mont before answering.
"I'm not sure myself." I looked up at the stars. "Rather, I don't know if I can explain it in words. When I first saw Anna, I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She wasn't. In fact, from an objective point of view, Anna isn't beautiful. Striking, to be sure, but not beautiful. However, it made little difference to . I think I fell a little in love with her right then and there."
I felt a smile spread across my face.
"My feelings deepened during our subsequent interactions, though I tried to deny it. Anna… Well, Anna isn't an upright person. In fact, she can be monstrous in her own way." I thought back to when Anna flayed a succubus alive. "That's why I tried to stay away from her. I was afraid, both of her and of my own feelings. However, in the end, my heart betrayed ."
I stopped talking and shook my head.
"Sorry," I said. "This conversation was supposed to be about you, but I ended up rambling about my fiancée."
I looked at Himiko, who stared at with a strange expression on her face.
"No, I asked you a question and you answered it," she said. "At least in part." She paused. "So, you fell in love with Anna after eting her? I thought your engagent was a political thing."
I made a so-so gesture.
"Yes and no," I said. "It's a little complicated."
I gave Himiko a brief rundown of how Anna and I ended up together. From our first eting, Anna's aggressive pursuit, discovering each other's true identities, and so on.
"As you see, it all worked out in the end," I said. "The adventurer I fell in love with was the fiancée my mother arranged for ."
When I looked at Himiko, her strange expression beca more pronounced.
"So," she said, drawing the word out. "You fell in love with a pushy and manipulative stalker."
I reared up.
"Anna isn't-," I started to say, before trailing off.
To be fair, Anna was pushy. And manipulative at tis. And she did stalk that one ti in Icefall City. Wait, no. She stalked twice. Maybe thrice. I couldn't rember.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Oh god," I said, staring at the ground. "You're right."
Himiko let out an exasperated chuckle.
"You know," she said. "Now I don't feel so bad. It turns out that your taste in won is… interesting, to say the least. I think I dodged a bullet here."
I clutched my chest and acted affronted.
"You wound ," I said, trying and failing to keep a straight face. This earned a laugh from Himiko. "But you're right. Anna is not a normal person. Nor do I wish her to be."
And that wasn't even the worst of it. In addition to being pushy and manipulative (at tis), Anna was also a perverted degenerate. However, I wasn't going to go into detail about that. There were so things you kept from others, including friends.
"You feeling better?" I asked as Himiko sat down next to again.
"A bit, yeah," she said. "Though I'm still sad that you're leaving. When are you heading out?"
I mulled it over for a bit.
"In a few days at the earliest. I want to get my affairs in order first. I can't very well leave without saying goodbye."
Himiko sniffed.
"Good. If you had left without saying anything, I would've punched you in the dick."
I sucked in a breath.
"What?" Himiko asked. "You think I'm joking?"
I shook my head.
"No. It's just… Ouch."
Himiko snorted. After that, the two of us fell silent. We stayed like that for a while, sipping our beers while staring up at the night sky. When bedti rolled around, we gathered our stuff before heading down.
True to my word, over the next few days, I spent most of my ti with my loved ones here on Earth, my teammates in particular. We didn't do anything big or special. Instead, we enjoyed several little monts together. Eating barbecue with Logan, reading with Francis, sparring with Himiko, ditating with Alysha, and so on.
As for my remaining ti, I spent half of it with Teacher and Guildmaster Walker working out a way to travel from Earth and Lumina, and vice versa. We had the silver thread that connected my two bodies as a starting point. However, even with that, I knew it would take a while to find a thod. Still, with Teacher's help, our chances of success went up by a significant margin.
During all this, I decided to leave Hunter's Rest and move back into Vanguard Tower. I wanted to leave my body where my loved ones could watch over it. Guildmaster Walker and Teacher agreed, since this would also make it easier for them to discover a way to travel to Lumina.
As for the rest of my ti, I spent it as a disembodied soul. When Aurora and I fused, we shared our respective mories and experiences. However, there was still so awkwardness. For example, I stumbled about when I first tried to walk in a human body. For Gabriel, it was as natural as breathing. For Aurora, it was a new and strange experience.
To avoid dealing with that while traveling to Lumina, I decided to practice first. So, I asked Alysha to remove my soul from my body while I was fused with Aurora. Good thing too. The first ti this happened, I flailed about in a panic. Aurora knew what to do, but Gabriel felt like a fish out of water. According to the latter's mories and experiences, I needed to utilize or create currents of mana.
Mana wasn't stagnate. It moved and flowed, heedless of the physical world. While the two interacted, and even intersected with one another in places, they were essentially two different layers of reality.
In order to travel as a spirit, I needed to either use naturally occurring currents of mana, or create my own. Even as a fused being, it took a little while for to figure this out. Still, I managed in the end.
And so, the ti for to leave Earth arrived. Before I left, my teammates decided to throw a farewell party. It wasn't anything extravagant or spectacular. Just lots of good food, good drink, and good company. Even Guildmaster Walker and Teacher showed up, though they didn't stay for long.
The next day, I left for Lumina. I said my goodbyes, before Alysha removed my soul from my body. Afterwards, I grabbed the spirit core and dove back into my body to search for the silver thread. This proved a little difficult, since I needed to enter my body while remaining separated from it. However, in the end, I managed.
Finding the silver thread proved easy. It was attached to the shining constellation that was my mana core. A part of was tempted to swallow my mana core as well, and bring it with back to Lumina. However, I didn't know what would happen if I tried.
What if I severed the silver thread, leaving unable to return to Lumina? I resisted the impulse. Instead, I grabbed the silver thread and started following it.
At first I didn't notice anything unusual. I followed the silver thread as it passed through buildings, the ground, people, etc. While strange and unusual, it was within expectations. I also noticed other spirits. Whenever this happened, we glanced at one another out of curiosity, but otherwise ignored each other's existence.
However, after a certain point, I ca across so kind of barrier. It didn't stop , but it slowed down. It felt like swimming through molasses. According to Aurora's mories, this was Earth's boundary. Once I made it past here, I'd enter the void between worlds.
At first, crossing the boundary proved manageable. However, the further along I went, the more difficult it beca. The resistance grew stronger and stronger. At the sa ti, I also felt a pressure bearing down on , making it even more difficult to move.
By this point, I stopped swimming and started pulling myself forward using the silver thread. Without it, I'd never be able to pass through. Even then, it took a lot of effort. The boundary's resistance grew stronger and the pressure mounted the further along I went. I felt crushed and suffocated, even though I didn't need to breathe as a spirit.
However, just as I couldn't take it anymore, I felt sothing give and I burst through. The sudden lack of resistance and pressure caught off guard. So much so that I almost let go of the silver thread. In a panic, I latched onto it with my whole body.
Once I regained my composure, I glanced back at Earth. The sight took my breath away. It was beautiful. Not just in a physical sense, but a mystical one as well. It was a vibrant world rich in mana, teeming with life and vitality. Imnse joy filled , so much so that I felt like crying.
A part of wanted to stay like that forever, just staring at the beauty and wonder. However, I knew I couldn't. So, with great reluctance, I tore my eyes away from Earth and continued following the silver thread.
The void between worlds wasn't as empty as I expected it to be. Rather, the void itself was empty. However, this allowed to view the cosmos without impedint.
It was vast and infinite, stretching on further than my eye could see. For the first ti, I realized just how small I was. I wasn't even a speck in comparison. Despite this, I felt awe and wonder rather than despair. It was a privilege to witness the sight before .
Countless realms filled the cosmos. They reminded of stars, shimring and shining like jewels. So of them were like Earth, full of light and life. Others lay in ruin, empty and lifeless. I didn't know if they had always been like that, or if sothing happened to them. However, even the empty and lifeless realms had their own kind of beauty.
The silver thread led to one of the realms filled with life. Deep down, I knew this was Lumina. While I had never seen it before from this perspective, I recognized it right away. So part of , deep within, knew that this realm was my ho. I traveled towards it with greater urgency.
Ti held no aning as I traveled to Lumina. It felt like an eternity had passed and, simultaneously, as if no ti had passed at all. It was a contradiction, a paradox, that shouldn't have made sense but it did.
Or maybe traveling through the void between worlds had made a little crazy.
However, as I headed towards Lumina, an uneasiness started to fill . The closer I ca, the stronger it grew. After a certain point, the uneasiness morphed into dread. I felt a pit in my taphorical stomach.
What baffled was that Aurora never experienced this when she traveled to Earth or Lumina. So why was I feeling it now? Was it because of Gabriel, or sothing else? Regardless of the reason, I knew one thing for certain: sothing was wrong. I didn't know what or how, but I knew this deep within my soul.
Despite this, I pressed forward. My desire to return ho overpowered the dread. I kept an eye out for any threats, but I saw none. Other than the myriad realms, the void was empty.
So where did this dread co from?
When I drew close enough to Lumina, I noticed sothing strange. The myriad realms varied in shape and size. Earth, for example, was a sphere. Lumina, on the other hand, was an almost flat circle.
However, that wasn't the strange part.
The strange part was that Lumina looked familiar. Not because I recognized it as my ho, but because its shape reminded of sothing, though I couldn't rember what. Not quite. It was almost there, like a word on the tip of my tongue.
Then, all of sudden, it clicked.
Lumina resembled a runic circle, one so massive that it encompassed an entire realm. This sudden realization hit so hard that I stopped and stared. At first I thought I was mistaken. However, the longer I looked, the clearer it beca. A part of wanted to deny this, but I couldn't. Not with the proof before my very eyes.
This led to consider a terrifying question.
If Lumina, my ho realm, was a runic circle, what was its purpose?
I couldn't fathom it. What would require a runic circle that encompassed an entire realm? I wasn't an expert on runic circles. Even if I was, I doubted I'd be able to figure it out.
A runic circle of this scale went beyond anything mortals could achieve. This was the realm of gods. Had the gods ford Lumina into a runic circle? Or had it been this way from the very beginning? Either way, the question remained the sa: why?
My thoughts led to another question. Was the dread I felt related to Lumina's purpose? The implications of this chilled to my core.
A sense of unreality filled , as if the ground beneath my feet had disappeared. I started to question everything I knew and believed about Lumina, everything I had previously taken for granted.
It was enough to drive a man mad.
Just as I started to lose my grip on reality, my right hand moved on its own accord and slapped across the face. This snapped out of my downward spiral and brought back to my senses. I stared at my hand.
What just happened?
The answer ca to a mont later. The part of that was Aurora intervened to stop from losing my sense of self. My blood ran cold. That had been close. If Aurora hadn't intervened, we would've both been lost.
I shook my head and continued towards Lumina. It didn't matter if my ho realm was a massive runic circle. I still intended to save it. While a part of remained curious, saving my ho from the demonic invasion took priority.
An untold amount of ti passed as I drew closer and closer to Lumina. Thankfully, the dread didn't grow any stronger beyond a certain point. Otherwise, I really would've gone insane.
However, when I reached the boundary, a strong force pulled forward. I didn't have any ti to react before it pulled through the boundary and into Lumina proper. I felt myself falling and falling, moving so fast that the surrounding scenery beca a blur.
Before I knew it, I hit sothing. No. I entered sothing. This sensation felt familiar. It happened once before, when I entered Brandon Norwood's body. Back then it felt like I was putting on sothing old and familiar. I felt a similar sensation now.
Little by little physical sensation returned to . I felt weak and tired, a familiar experience by this point. I tried to open my eyes, but couldn't.
All of a sudden, I felt a warm embrace. The scent of vanilla filled my nostrils. I drank it all in, the way a flower drinks in sunlight, and sighed. I felt myself relax.
"I'm back," I croaked out.
"Welco ho," a sweet voice whispered in my ear.
That was the last thing I heard before I fell asleep and knew only darkness.
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