B2 Chapter 11: Jailbreak

[ Year ??? Month ???: Continued]

Limbo didn’t change literally, but that’s when something I was beginning to doubt was going to happen- happened.

Out of nowhere, a small vacuum manifested in my presence, and moments later, I felt a mind touch upon my own. It felt oddly human.

“Hello? Anyone there?” A voice rang out through my head. “This is a nascent mind, right? I’m not talking to a mindless blob?”

Curiously, I responded, transmitting my thoughts through the small connection forming between the two of us.

“Who are you?”

Immediately, I felt a surge of elation from the bond. “Oh, thank the stars! I was beginning to believe I was all alone here. I’ve spent the last… I dunno… I’ve spent a lot of time here.”

For a moment, it paused. “I was beginning to think I was alone. It’s been me and the whales for the longest time.”

The voice continued chattering on, talking about the whales and pretty much anything that came to their mind. ‘Truthfully, if I didn’t have [Dormancy] or [Clock], I would probably be a chatterbox too; this void does seem to sap away at one’s sanity.

“It’s just, really weird, you know? Like-” I cut them off; it was apparent that they wouldn’t stop unless prompted.

“My name is Gol. What’s yours?”

A long silence, and the small presence seemed to waver in place; the next few words filled with sadness. “I don’t remember. It’s been too long. If you want, just call me Daisy. Those were my favorite flowers.”

“Daisies are your favorite?” I questioned. As far as I knew, Trendal had none of those,e and obviously Limbo had none either. “Where are you from?”

“I uh. Don’t really remember? Lots of lights though and tall shiny buildings… I was walking, then a pair of bright lights flashed, and then I was here! Daisies are the only thing I can recall, though, so naturally they are my favorite.”

Considering they were discussing their death, it felt wrong for them to sound so jolly. I guess it’s a good thing ‘Daisy’ didn’t remember much, but boy, did that send a shiver down my spine.

‘Maybe Limbo wears down the mind? Breaks down memories slowly. I’m not sure since I haven’t been here long enough to notice, but it’s possible. Maybe the system uses it as a natural way to ‘wipe’ memories? Not the most wild thing it’s done.’

I wished Daisy could tell me a bit more about themselves, but I had a nagging suspicion that they were from Earth, or at least a similar place. The shiny buildings were likely skyscrapers, and daisy flowers were not from Trendal, at least as far as I knew.

Feeling a pulse of sympathy for the trapped mind, I decided that if I could, I would bring them out of here.

‘I cannot imagine the mind-numbingness they have experienced.’

Cutting off the chatterbox from their random train of thought, I spoke suddenly, “Daisy, if you could get out of here, would you do so?”

The being froze, its presence no longer moving erratically. “I mean. Yeah? I’ve looked though, gone in every direction for I don’t even know how long; there’s literally no end.” It paused before continuing with a considerably higher amount of suspicion. “How did you get here? You are new, and nothing is here.”

For a moment, the being’s presence felt overwhelming, and that’s when I realized it; their small form was dense, and I felt a brief shiver go through my mind, now understanding the situation I was in.

It made sense, actually; even the few months I had spent in this dimension had refined my own mental ‘size.’ Daisy had been here for god knows how long. Plenty of time for their own training to occur.

Trying to placate Daisy’s suspicion, I replied quickly, “The System brought me here three months ago. I have about a month left before it retrieves me.” I left the ‘I hope’ part out. I was completely at the mercy of the System.

“The System?” Daisy said, “What’s that?”

I sighed.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Truthfully, I don’t know much. It brought me to a new world, and now an entirely different dimension. It massively boosts the power of individuals…”

“Weird,” Daisy said, returning to their previously unagitated form. “So you are saying there’s a way out?”

“For me? Yes.” I left the obvious unsaid. If the system had not brought Daisy here, it would likely not take them away either. It did pose the question of exactly how they got into Limbo to begin with, but I doubted they would be able to remember.

A faint wave of amusement came from the being. “It shouldn’t be so hard to get out; just tell me when this ‘System’ of yours tries to grab you.”

‘Eh?’ I thought, ‘Nothing else? Just a ‘don’t worry about it?’

Oblivious to my internal thoughts, Daisy quickly moved on from that line of conversation, “Since visitors are non-existent, imma stick next to you for a while. Don’t move too fast, otherwise we may lose each other.”

“Fair point.” Despite the danger this individual could pose to me, I saw no real harm in sticking around. I had a feeling Daisy just wanted someone to talk to; the whales don’t make great company, I imagine.

And so, for the last few weeks of Limbo, we stayed near each other. There wasn’t a great deal to do other than to continuously train my presence, which Daisy called a ‘Mind Projection.’

According to them, it was the extension of my will over the surrounding region, capable of providing sensory input from literally every part of the environment within its radius.

When I had asked how Daisy unlocked it, they just shrugged and said it had just happened; they had been bored long ago and discovered they could actively expand their awareness.

Just that by itself threw my thoughts of the System’s power over this dimension out of the window. I had thought my skill [Domain of Influence] was the only reason I could expand my mind, and yet, Daisy didn’t have such a skill, nor did the System.

Without thinking about it, I turned off the skill, and my projection immediately collapsed, completely cut off from my surroundings, including Daisy, who immediately released their own, expanding out rapidly in all directions in order not to lose each other.

Limbo’s space didn’t work the same as Trendal, so if I had even moved a few meters, I could have been an incomprehensible distance away from Daisy, or right next to them.

I was chewed out for that mistake, but sometimes that stuff happens; I’m only human… rock?

Besides that debacle, nothing went wrong within that span of time, and I learned to both condense my form and project it without the System’s assistance.

All of this leads to one singular question in my mind. ‘How much of our skills are the System’s power, or our own innate abilities?’

Those who could wield magic were probably the best example of the latter, capable of bending the natural mana to their whims at the expense of difficulty and time. Still, these people used skills to do such spellcasting and weaving.