Chapter 47 Changes [2]

'Where am I?'

Even after repeatedly opening and closing my eyes all I could see was an endless void. Being in this endless darkness should've scared me, but strangely enough, I was feeling comfortable. For some reason, the darkness felt familiar.

Turning my head, I tried to get a look at the surroundings, only to realize something else.

'I can't control my body!'

Trying to put more force in my legs and arms, I attempted to stop walking. Nonetheless, all the attempts were in vain as my body kept walking.

Realizing that I wasn't seeing any progress, I decided to wait for something to happen.

'Are Leon and Lilith okay?'

If I had to be honest, I wasn't very worried about Lilith. I was sure that Leon would have used the <Heal> in the grimoire I threw beside Lilith before fainting.

I was more worried about Leon. This should have been the third time Leon ever used his stigma. The problem here was that his stigma was too powerful for his body to handle.

Every time he uses it, his body will start breaking. In that state even taking a step will send jolts of immense pain throughout his body.

'It will be a mess when I wake up.'

The spell I used was also a problem. At that time, I had no other choice but to use the strongest attack I had to stop the horde.

But that attack would have left energy imprints of ether. An investigation should already be underway to find the person responsible for that attack.

'Where the hell was the student council, anyway?'

I was feeling frustrated. All the problems wouldn't have happened if they came as they were supposed to.

"What is that?"

Squinting my eyes, I tried to get a better look at the endless darkness in front of me. It was similar to a black veil.

"I can control my body!"

Realizing that I could talk, I tried to move and found that I have regained control of my body.

I looked below and only saw darkness. It was weird how I was able to walk here. Looking up, I found four 'objects' shining in the void. But they were too far for me to make their shape out.

"Where now?"

Scratching my head, I decided to walk toward the veil. That was the only thing I could see in this darkness.

…..

"How …much …more?"

How long has it been? A minute? An hour? A day? Or …a year?

For how much longer do I need to walk?

At first, I had leisurely walked in the direction of the veil. But no matter how long I walked, it didn't feel like the distance was reducing.

Wanting to get out of here quickly, I started running. To my surprise, I didn't feel exhausted, no matter how much I ran. But that surprise didn't last long. Even after running for what felt like hours, I couldn't feel that the distance between me and the veil had reduced.

It didn't look like I was progressing.

(Don't stop)

"Huh?"

I was about to stop walking when I heard something. Snapping my head I tried to find the source of the voice but to no avail.

(You can only leave if you truly want to.)

The voice wasn't coming from anywhere but was directly entering my head. For some reason, it felt familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time.

"Who are you?"

I kept waiting, but the voice never answered back. Squinting my brows I asked another question.

"Where am I?"

(Inside your soul.)

To my surprise, the voice answered. But it only increased the number of questions.

Why was I here? How was I here? If this was my soul, then what was I currently? For how long had I been walking? Why was there a voice inside my soul? What were those shining stars? What was that veil?

Weirdly, I never doubted the voice. Somehow, I could tell that it wasn't lying.

"What do you mean that I can only get out if I want? I've been wanting to leave this place since the beginning."

I had too many questions. But my priority was to get out of here. I wanted to feel time again. Maybe I was getting my priorities mixed up but seeing the same thing, for who knows how long, was beginning to take a toll on my mind.

The voice, with a hint of mockery, told me the answer.

(Are you dumb? I meant what I said. You can't get out because you don't want to.)

"What do you mean by that? I obviously want to get out."

Without wanting to, I shouted back. The tone of ridicule in the voice was too much for my frustrated self to ignore. However, its next words caused me to freeze.

(Isn't that because you are afraid to see the consequences of your own actions? Even though you acted high and mighty now you are afraid to know how many cadets you've killed?)

'I only did what I had to survive.'

I wanted to retort, but I wasn't able to. Words weren't coming to my mouth.

I killed all the minions at the end without any hesitation but how many of them were my classmates?

How many people did I kill so that I could survuve?

Was I feeling guilty? Why? Because I killed someone? Because I easily used others for my sake?

…Or because I was still the same as I used to be?

The only thing I could do was helplessly close my eyes, refusing to know more.

But the voice still entered my head. Fortunately for me, it didn't pursue the topic further.

(Will you stop acting like that? You need to get out fast, or you'll be forever trapped here.)

"…How do I do that?"

The voice, sighing, began guiding me.

(This is your soul. If you will it, you can do anything here.)

My brows knit. The answer was abstract, yet simple at the same time.

Following the voice's advice, I willed to move toward the veil.

But I failed.

(Keep trying)

I tried once, twice, thrice, but all my attempts failed. It took me a total of 13 tries to do as I was told.

VUPP-

For a moment, I lost all my senses. The next second, I knew I was standing in front of the veil.

"Hmm"

I had noticed it from afar, but the veil was too dark. The void, my soul, was dark because of the absence of light, but the veil felt different.

It was like the light couldn't come near the veil. Any light that touched the veil was sucked in, making the veil impossible to see.

(You can go out now)

Certainly, I could feel it. From here I can leave with a simple wish but…

"What is this?"

I had an idea what those stars were, but this veil? I had no idea what it was. But I knew one thing …this wasn't something natural.

I didn't know if I could come back here after this. I needed to take this chance to know as much as I could about this veil.

Walking forward, I lifted my hand.

(Stop it.)

The voice sounded panicked.

"Why? Because you are hiding behind this veil?"

(Stop)

I didn't stop as the voice asked me to and continued. The moment I was about to touch the veil...

"I said stop"

...Someone grabbed my wrist.

***

"I said stop."

Someone grabbed Nathan's hand, stopping him from continuing any further.

"Oh, you are outside the ve-?!!!"

The moment Nathan glimpsed at the person grabbing his wrist, words got stuck in his throat.

"This was why I didn't want to show myself."

Standing opposite of him was a youth with sharp looks, a chiseled jaw, slightly long bangs, and emerald eyes.

That face was something that Nathan had gotten used to seeing everyday.

p It was …Nathan.

The 'real' Nathan.

"Haah ...Nice to meet you too. You can call me Eth."

One look was all it took for Nathan to realize that the entity was the Nathan or Eth as he called himself.

"H-how?"

Shocked would be an understatement for what Nathan was feeling. For the past two months, he never felt any presence of Eth. Nathan even tried to call Eth and talk to him, but there was never a response.

Nathan naturally concluded that Eth was dead.

Or so it should have been.

Nathan could instinctively tell the identity of the person in front of him was the owner of the body he was using.

"Can you go back now? It's getting dangerous here."

Nathan frowned. Eth was talking too casually. It was like he didn't have anything to say to Nathan about hijacking his body.

"Don't be so confused and nervous. I'll explain everything, but not now. You need to go back or you'll never be able to leave this place."

Eth began pushing Nathan on the back. The frown on Nathan's face worsened. Eth was acting like a child.

"Haah …I can talk to you whenever I want to. Happy? Now leave. Shoo..shoo"

Although Eth was acting childishly, Nathan could feel that Eth was panicked, for if Nathan didn't leave quickly, he'll be trapped here forever.

Nodding his head, Nathan willed to leave. Immediately, he began feeling lightheaded, and his body started disappearing.

Nathan was about to disappear when he heard Eth's voice again.

"Don't get surprised by what is going to happen."

Eth was speaking in a serious tone.

"Every action has a consequence."

***

"Urghh.."

A groan escaped my lips as soon I opened my eyes.

Pale moonlight entered the room through the windows. The familiar white ceiling and pungent smell of alcohol told me where I was.

Looking around, I tried to find anything that could tell me the date.

To me, it felt like years had passed in that void. I wanted to know what date it was first and foremost.

'Heavy'

My body felt like a sack of potatoes. It wasn't moving as I intended it to. My movements were awkward and clumsy. And above all, it was friciking heavy.

Slightly lifting my head, I looked down.

I felt a headache incoming when I saw the three idiots sleeping while leaning on me.

"What are they doing here?"

No, I knew why these three idiots were here. They were probably worried about me and stayed here to look after me.

What I couldn't understand was why they were sleeping here. Can't they sleep in their own rooms? Heck, anywhere would be fine. Because these idiots were half on top of me, I couldn't even move my arms.

"Huu…"

Helplessly, I sunk back into the bed. With how weak I was feeling, I needed these guys to move away for me to be able to move.

But I wasn't very keen on waking them.

Handling even one of them was a chore. All three of them together?

No! Thank! You!

Sinking on the soft bed, I thought back to my time in the void. There were too many things I needed to know.

'Eth, are you there?'

(Yup. I'm here, though I don't think this is the time to talk.)

"…Nathan, are you awake?"

The redhead on my left, rubbing her swollen eyes, awoke.

"...Hi, fancy meeting you here."