Chapter 31 - 31 Gate

It was like chewing on mint gum and feeling your airways clear up, only much more intense and bordering on painful. By the time it was ten minutes to midnight, the once refreshing feeling of absorbing energy from plants had turned unbearable. Rhys felt like he was inhaling a cold fire every time the green auras flowed into him.

His face was scrunched up in pain as he lay on the forest floor. His palms were flat against the ground and he was absorbing whatever plants his body was touching. He knew he was close to levelling up and that was fuelling his perseverance, but this kind of strain on his body was far worse than he thought it would be.

Sweat dribbled down the side of his face and his body ached in resistance at the influx of foreign energy.

Over the course of six hours he learnt that by concentrating he could absorb energy through any part of his body, any patch of his exposed skin, not just his hands. As soon as he realised he could use the skill all over his body, he took off his shoes, pants and shirt so that he could maximise on surface area. So there he was laying flat on his back in his boxers on the forest floor.

Rhys groaned as he felt this terrible fullness. Despite not eating dinner he felt extraordinarily bloated, a feeling he definitely wasn't used to after all those days scrimping on food back in district 20.

"How much." Rhys wheezed out the words. "..more time do I have?"

['Less than five minutes.'] The teacher replied promptly.

Rhys had less than five minutes left to level up his energy absorption skill or he would be put through the 'haunting' again. As much as he liked the rewards he got from the last haunting, he would prefer not to see Barrow and his gang again. In other words Rhys was determined to level up the skill.

He was almost there, he could feel it. The cold fire inside of him that was threatening to tear him apart was pushing his boundaries and slowly nudging the skill to the next level. If he could hold out for a few more minutes then he would definitely level up this skill.

Rhys shakily pulled himself onto his hands and knees. He had absorbed all the plants within his range leaving the earth around him to look like an ugly dead patch in an other wise lush forest. He desperately crawled forward, absorbing the plants and roots that made contact with his bare skin as he dragged himself across the dirt.

The energy inside him was overflowing and it was overpowering his other senses. He was so numb that he didn't notice the thorns and twigs scraping against his flesh, and his vision was so blurry that he was having trouble crawling straight.

He felt his body sway, the cold ground grew closer to his face. He landed with a thud in the dirt. He deliriously reached forward to what looked like a fresh patch of foliage and began to absorb it. He cried out as even more energy was forced into his already overwhelmed body.

"Almost. There." He gritted through the pain and tried to picture his skill advancing. If he levelled up this skill he might be able to absorb large plants, maybe even entire trees, perhaps animals as well. Of course there was also the possibility that he would be able to absorb the energy of other humans.

['You have five seconds left']

Rhys was at his breaking point, but he could not let all his work be in vain. He could do it.

['5']

['4']

Blood dribbled down his nose as a massive migraine swamped his head, but he pushed on.

['3']

['2']

His muscles spasmed causing his limbs to buckle and shake in resistance to the energy, like his body was about to shatter.

['1']

['0']

[Quest failed]

[Penalty Applied]

Rhys wheezed as the awful message appeared in his vision. Honestly, he had never tried this hard to achieve something before so he was gutted that he wasn't able to accomplish his goal.

Absolutely exhausted, he let his body rest for a moment. He closed his eyes for a second and relaxed all his muscles. The pain of the overflowing energy inside of him suddenly disappeared. His body felt normal again, albeit colder.

Rhys opened his eyes again and slowly got to his feet. He was standing in the same forest however it looked vastly different. A second ago it had been a clear well lit night because of the bright moon and stars, but now a misty veil was winding around the trees, stopping Rhys from seeing too far into the forest.

It was the same atmospherical shift he had experienced last time this penalty was applied. The system had already taken him to the spiritual plane, there was no doubt about it.

Rhys crouched down low and focused on the surrounding trees. He was preparing himself for Barrow and his men to ambush him from behind the fog. That bastard had beaten him badly last time, and was probably drooling at the mouth to get his hands on Rhys again.

In the distance behind him, mouldy twigs crunched under someone's feet. Rhys spun around and focused on the direction he heard the noise come from. Someone was heading towards him, probably Barrow.

"Hello?" The voice of a young man echoed out from inside the fog. "Is anyone there?"

Rhys frowned at the sound of the voice. That wasn't the voice of a middle aged man like Barrow or anyone on his crew. The guy shouting sounded much younger, someone closer to Rhys's age.

"Hello! Can someone please help me. I'm lost!" The guy was getting closer with each step. Rhys could just make out his approaching figure in the fog.

'Who is this guy?' Rhys squinted trying to see through the fog.

"Where am I?" A brawny teenager dressed in a grey MCP uniform stepped through the fog into the clearing.

Rhys's lips parted and his mouth was suddenly parched. For a moment everything stopped and he only felt regret tugging at his conscience. He stared at the teenager a few meters in front of him, the Team 3 flag was still pasted to his neck.

"Hey!" The guy brightened up when he saw Rhys crouched down on the ground. He happily jogged the distance between them.

"Hey man, I'm totally lost. It's my first week here at college and I don't know the campus that well." His big brown eyes looked so relieved to have found someone.

"Don't ask me how I ended up in the forest cause I don't have a clue." He chuckled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck a little embarrassed.

Rhys slowly stood up, never taking his eyes off the guy. It was the same crooked smile and same happy-go-lucky personality he had met in the evaluation tournament. This was the guy Rhys killed in the second match, the guy whose neck he accidentally slit open with his physical disruption. Yet another person he had killed came back to haunt him.

Rhys's heart sank looking at this guy who evidently had no idea that he was dead.

"Dude... why are you in the middle of the forest without your clothes on?" The guy raised an accusatory eyebrow at Rhys in his boxers.

"Um." Rhys looked down at himself before turning back to the guy. He panicked at the sudden question and found himself blurting out a few words. "It's a preference."

Rhys cringed at his inability to come up with a better explanation as the guy took a few weary steps away from Rhys.

"I mean... whatever." Rhys gave up when he saw the grossed out look on the guy's face.

[Penalty Haunting lasts 30 minutes]

[Help the soul pass on]

'Pass on where? Pass on to what? How am I supposed to do that?' He panicked at the system's vague instructions.

['Human souls perceive the Gates as paths of light. Guide him to the light so that he can pass through the gate.']

Rhys was dumbfounded by what he was hearing. Gates? Walking towards the light? This was really uncharted territory for him.

'But what is beyond the gate? Where am I leading him to exactly?'

['You are leading him to the only place he now belongs. It's the gate all bodiless souls must go through. That is all you need to know.'] The teacher was firm in letting Rhys know that he would not be answering any more questions.

"Hey, my name's s Rhys." He tried to sound calm and non-freakish so that the guy would get the wrong idea about him being in the middle of the forest without his clothes on. "

Do you recognise me at all?" Rhys decided that the first step would be getting this guy to realise that he was dead.

"Um." The big guy squinted at Rhys for a second before a goofy smile lit up his face. "Oh yeah! You're the guy from team 12. I was fighting a match against your team. Wait, what happened? How did the match end? I can't remember."

The smiled dropped from his face and he frowned creating deep creases on his forehead. The atmosphere around him suddenly went cold and Rhys could only stare at him and wait for the guy to talk.

"That teammate of yours, the guy with anger issues, I remember him blasting me with fire."

The scared expression on the guy's face worried Rhys a bit. But then again Sampson had that affect on most people.

"He was burning me alive. I remember the pain and wanting to die. And then..." He reached up to his throat and grazed the flag around his neck with his fingertips.

"Then it all went dark. The next thing I knew I was walking around in this forest." Rhys was wracked with guilt as the guy's eyes swelled up.

"Come on man, you've left me hanging for long enough. Tell me what happened with the match. Did my team win?" His voice cracked up as he spoke. Even if he was choosing not to put logic together and realise that he had died, Rhys could see that his heart had already come to the right conclusion. The tears swelling up in his eyes and his shaky voice were a sign that in a way he knew what had happened to him.

"What's your name?" Rhys offered him a sad smile.

"I'm Jack Punce, from the 19th district. You?" He wiped his soggy eyes with the back of his hand and stared forward at Rhys determined not to cry.

"I'm Rhys Anson, from the 20th. And I'm sorry..." This time Rhys's voice broke off before he could finish his sentence. A painful combination of guilt and regret was logged in his throat. This would have been much easier for him if Jack was not such a likeable guy.

Rhys swallowed and forced himself to speak. The person in front of him was confused and lost, and needed an explanation. As the guy who took his life away, even if it was by accident, the least he could do was make everything clear for him.

"You're right." Rhys started. "I was in team 12 and we had a match against your team in the second round." Rhys repeated the words 'clear' and 'concise' in his head as he spoke.

"My teammate Sampson used his fire manipulation core to create a tunnel of fire around you. While you were burning, it was my job to get your team's flag from you."

Rhys gulped knowing that what came next would be the harder part to hear. "Unfortunately, just as I was about to take the flag from around your neck, your teammate dove into the fire to rescue you. Because of that, my hand slipped and I injured you quite badly. The wound was too severe for the medical staff to heal. So you died in the floor."

Jack's eyes were wide and his face was so bleak, the complete opposite of his usual composure.

"You've been dead for more than six hours now." Rhys finished firmly. He probably could have said this in a nicer way, but really what difference would nice make when telling somehow a difficult truth.

Rhys breathed out and waited for Jack to reply. That was all he could do.

"I see." Jack chuckled sadly and looked down at himself. "I think I kind of already knew..."

His eyes glanced back at Rhys curiously. "Does that mean you're dead too?"

"No, This is just part of my ability."

Jack nodded slowly, seeming to accept Rhys's explanation and quietly digesting his new reality. "I remember now, I was lying on my back on the floor before everything went dark. One of the nurses was bringing a life scanner to my neck, but I passed out before I could see the results. Yeah, I'm really dead aren't I?"

Rhys nodded slowly.

"Ah geez. My mom's gonna be a mess when she hears. And my little sister gonna be crushed." The tears freely flowed down his face as he stared off into the fog.

"I was gonna be a really famous general and send them lots of money when I graduated." He scoffed at his childish ambition now knowing that it would never come true.

"Mom took out a loan to get me a core so I could go to the military college, how are they gonna survive now that I'm gone?" His forehead creased and his lips twitched uncontrollably. The pain in his face was so devastating that Rhys had to look away.

"Don't worry man, I don't blame you or anything." He smiled reassuringly at Rhys through his tears. "It was really stupid of me to put that flag around my neck."

Despite being told that he was dead, he wasn't breaking down or having a tantrum. He thinking of his family and forgiving the person who had killed him. He was such a good guy and because of that a painful lump was forming in Rhys's throat.

"Ah geez, I'm sorry mom. It doesn't look like I'm gonna make it back home." Jack wept out loud, his anguished cries sailed through the trees and mist.

Rhys was paused at the thought of a mother to come home to. Rhys had that once, a really long time ago. He was only a toddler when she left, but somehow he still remembered her. He remembered warm hugs and soft hands that patted his back when he cried. He remembered that she had long black hair and that she often made porridge over the stove, probably because it was cheap.

Rhys's heart ached as he remembered her tear stained face as life as a single mother in District 20 became too much for her to handle. And of course there was the last memory he had of her, the most painful memory. It was the clear image of her back as she walked away and left him alone on the side of the road. A memory of abandonment.

He was just a kid then, but that pain and confusion was still clear in his mind. He couldn't imagine what Jack's mother go through when she learned her son would not be coming home. At least Rhys could hate his mother for abandoning him. He could think of her as an evil person, he could project his grief and anger onto his memories of her. But Jack's mom would have to suffer the loss of her beloved child taken away from her before his time. Jack's cries were filled with harrowing emotion that stirred something up in Rhys that he had long since pushed back in his memories.

"What am I supposed to do now? Please don't tell me I'm just supposed to wander this forest alone forever." He glanced downward sorrowfully.

"No, you're meant to go somewhere. That's why I am here actually, I'm meant to guide you there." Rhys was pulled away form his thoughts by Jack's questions.

Jack rubbed his swollen eyes and stared at Rhys ready for whatever he was going to say.

"Jack, do you see a bright light anywhere?" Rhys was a little unsure of what the system actually meant when it gave him this little mission. So he nervously tried to rephrase what the system had told him.

"You mean the light behind you?" Jack pointed to the space behind Rhys with a confused frown.

Rhys spun around but saw only the dark forest and mist. He guessed that since it was the place Jack was meant to go, he was the only one who could see it.

"I think only you can see it Jack, but if it light that's where you're meant to go. That's the place where you belong now." Rhys really hoped that wherever that gate lead to would bring Jack peace. Jack was a good guy, and Rhys honestly hoped that he was going somewhere better.

"The place I belong..." Jack sighed. "If there's no way I can go home. I'd rather go into the light than stay in this forest. You have any idea of where I'm actually going though?"

"No, I don't. I'm sorry. I just know that it's the place where all bodiless souls go." Rhys replied not knowing how to reassure Jack.

Jack nodded at Rhys and quietly walked past him. Even with tear tracks staining his face, Jack looked brave as he walked by and Rhys was thankful that he had the opportunity to meet him again. This felt like closure to the guilt that had been eating away inside of him.

Jack reached out into the space in front of him and Rhys's eyes went wide as a great white light surged at the end of Jack's fingertips. That was probably the light that Jack had been able to see but Rhys could not.

"Hey, I know that it's a lot to ask but, could you, maybe..."

"Yes." Rhys cut him off before he could finish speaking.

I'll look out for them when I graduate." Rhys didn't have to wait to the end of Jack's sentence to know what he was going to ask. Of course his last thoughts on this plane would be for the mother and little sister he was leaving behind.

Jack smiled brightly at Rhys. "The payback for the loan will only be due in five years. If you could help them with that I would be so grateful. Your from the 20th so I mean neither of us are well off, but by then I think anything you could give would be great. It doesn't even have to be money, maybe just lend them a hand. I mean I don't know if I'm gonna be me anymore, and there's probably no way I can repay you or anything like that. But I just... Thank you."

"Don't worry about. I'll look out for them." Rhys did kill him after all, so he wouldn't mind giving Jack's family a little money.

"Goodbye Rhys. This is kinda sad, cause I think we could have been great friends if I had lived longer. Thanks man."

With that, Jack stepped forward and was swallowed up by the great light. The white light shone magnificently for a few seconds, but it collapsed in a moment leaving no trace of its existence behind.

The cold dark forest was silent again and Rhys stood there feeling like a weight had been lifted off him. Jack's forgiveness was worth much more than he thought it would be. And it was because of the system that this Wright had been lifted off of him.

"Thanks."

['... Whatever.']

Rhys watched as what he could describe as a veil was lifted from the forest. The white mist disappeared and the unnaturally cold feeling of the plane vanished, returning the forest to its original state. The sound of life flooded his ears as the crickets chirped again and the little animals animals homed in the forest scuttled about. He realised how full of life the forest was after seeing the spiritual plane.

[Penalty Completed]

Rhys sighed contently knowing that he had a promise to keep, but more importantly a burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

[The user has successfully helped a soul pass on]

[+20 Exp]

[+1 Spirituality]

Rhys grinned as he hastily put his clothes back on. Although he received a lot more Exp and stat level-ups after the last haunting penalty, he knew this time had been much easier than the last penalty wherein he had to fight Barrow and his gang for four hours. So getting fewer rewards was only natural.

[Congratulations! 4th experience of the main quest completed]

[Main quest: Familiarisation with death]

[4/10 death experiences completed]

[New Unique experience:

• Guided soul to Gate ]

Rhys blinked in surprise at the display. He got his fourth death experience and he didn't even have to kill anyone for it... sort of. On top of that he was almost halfway to through his main quest. Even though he didn't manage to level up his energy Absorption skill, he still made progress on something.

[Rewards: Calculating Rewards..]

Rhys clenched his fists anticipating what the rewards would be. He was hoping for more stat points but a chunk of EXP big enough to knock him into the 5th level would also be awesome.

[Rewards:

Book of the Dead unlocked]

Rhys gawked at the sole reward because he had not idea what it was. 'Book of the dead... what's that?'

['It's time for you to learn some theory and a bit of history.'] The system chuckled from inside his head.

[The user has met the hidden requirements to unlock the low level 'Book of the Dead' by seeing a friend through a Gate.]

Rhys's eyes darted over the System's message and once again he was thankful to have said goodbye to Jack. Maybe by reading this book he would understand a bit more about where Jack went.

Rhys frowned as he realised that although the system said he had a book, he didn't actually have a physical book. Perhaps the book was something he would have to read on the System's display.

['No, you're going to have an actual book that you will have to look after yourself until you unlock a specific skill.'] The teacher chimed in.

['Go back to your dorm and fetch a book. It has to be on the larger side, something with a length that's a little less than your forearm. I'll tell you what's next after you get the book.']

Rhys nodded and set off running in the direction of Glowry dorm. Although his body felt like hell when he was absorbing all that energy, he felt fantastic now. He was confident that he could run a marathon right then if he wanted to, the energy inside of him was just bursting to be used up.

After a few minutes of running with his improved speed, he opened the door of the Glowry Building and darted to the big common room where he had spotted some bookshelves on his way out last night. Thankfully no one was in the common room, everyone was probably sleeping in their beds.

Rhys looked through the shelves to find a book that was both big enough and unwanted enough so no one would miss it.

Rhys quickly found a large dusty rendition of the Bible that was being used as the foundation for a small tower of unwanted books. He carefully eased the big black book out from under the pile so he would not send the other books crashing to the floor. With his little mission accomplished he jogged back out the common room and into the lobby where he slipped out the doors again.

"All done."

['Its probably best to go a little deeper into the forest, you still do not want people to see you doing this.']

Rhys happily complied and set out jogging further into the forest. He came to a stop when he knew the trees would block him from view of the people inside the dorm.

['Set the book down in that patch of moss over there.']

Rhys did so carefully and waited for the teacher's instructions.

['Place your hand flat against the cover']

Rhys touched his palm to the book and glanced at the gold lettering that read 'Holy Bible' on the cover. Most religions had up and died after the Xerserth invaded and brought humanity to its knees. The fragile world in which humans lived where they could believe in the watchful eye of a deity who loved them, was violently destroyed by the appearance of a mightier race of beings intent on colonising and destroying them. People lost faith after all that death and destruction, and even now that almost a century had gone by, that faith wasn't coming back.

[User's System is summoning the Book of the Dead]

Rhys stared wide eyed as the energy from the moss and surrounding plants was sucked into the book. It was as if the book was using the Energy absorption skill. His heart sped up as the book morphed and churned beneath his palm. The gold letters twisted and swirled on the cover. The size of the book shrank and the old yellow pages looked a little fresher and bluer. Finally the black leather book cover bubbled and popped beneath Rhys's fingers reforming the cover of the book.

['You may lift your hand now.']

Rhys moved his hand and stared at the ghostly book below him. Distorted gold letters read 'Book of the Dead' on the front cover. The cover looked very tattered because strings of leather hung over the marred edges. Rhys tentatively picked it up and felt oddly possessive of it.

He glanced down at the dead circular patch of ground the book had absorbed which was probably two meters in diameter. This thing has absorbed a lot of plants, and Rhys was practically drooling at the mouth to read the book.

['It doesn't quite function as a normal book. Some parts of it you will be able to read, and other parts you will have to absorb with energy absorption...']

The teacher suddenly paused while he was explaining, which made Rhys weary for what was coming next.

['I almost forgot how you pathetically failed to level up your energy absorption skill.'] The teacher cackled and Rhys could feel an evil plot brewing in his teacher's mind.

[Attention]

The system pinged to life and Rhys's face dropped when he saw the message.

[New Quest

- User must level up skill 'Energy Absorption' by one level.

- User must Read a chapter of the Book of the Dead

Time limit: Midnight]

[Rewards: None

Penalty: Haunting]

Basically Rhys had until the end of the day to do these two things while also attending his first full day of classes. This was a definite daunting. He wouldn't admit it to the teacher but he felt excited to get going, training like this was actually really fun, despite the pain, the feeling of accomplishment was addictive.

['I know you don't feel tired because of the energy you absorbed, but at the end of the day you are still human and relying solely on absorbed energy to keep you going is dangerous. Sleep for a few hours, attend the human classes and begin again with ghost training in the evening.']

Rhys was buzzing with energy and the thought of going to bed was upsetting, but he decided to listen to the teacher. It knew much more about his situation than Rhys did so he would try to get some sleep like it asked.

With the book tucked into his side Rhys jogged back to the dorm to take another shower and get into bed, even though he felt like he would just stare at the ceiling all night.

Despite all his energy, as soon as he set his head upon his pillow he fell asleep. His last thoughts before losing his consciousness were about Jack Punce's mother and little sister, and how he would help them.