B2 Chapter 9: Voices

[ Year ??? Month ???: ??? has passed ]

“Hey, you, you’re finally awake.”

For whatever reason, that tugged on my memories; something about it sounded familiar, and that’s when it clicked. ‘Shit.’ I knew where I was, which made sense, as I spent who knows how long drifting in the all-encompassing inky void; this time, though, I was not given a body, nor did the world turn white around me.

Undeterred by my obvious displeasure, the voice continued on in a slightly different tone, this time more confused. “It’s only been what? Twenty years?!”

‘It seems like I am not supposed to be here.’ Instead of beating around the bush, I decided to cut to the chase.

“Am I dead?” I asked. The only other time I had been here was when I died, so I expected as much.

Obvious frustration seeped into the voice, “No, but yes. By all means, you should be dead, but it was the manner in which you died that makes this an issue. I mean, seriously, had you been crushed into dust, that would be easy, but shattering your mind? Yeah, no, especially when you shouldn’t be able to die that way.”

“I shouldn’t?”

“Spiritual stone stuff, creatures like you are not like humanoids, as I am sure you are aware; different rules. If your body doesn’t die, neither can your mind-”

I interrupted, “But it did?”

Sighing, it responded, “Doesn’t make much sense to me either. You’re just lucky this hasn’t happened before. The System probably won’t kill you… What’s left of you, I mean.”

Suddenly, I had a splitting migraine, sending my mind reeling in pain.

“Ah, there it is. I was wondering when that would hit. As I said, your mind has pretty much shattered.”

Moments later, I saw an incomprehensible series of runes interact with my mind, and I felt the headache fade and then vanish.

‘These are not the basic runes I am used to.’ They felt the same as my own core runes. Like perfection. It was obvious that these would help mitigate whatever damage had occurred to my mind, considering their impact, but I doubted it would last.

Thoughts cleared once again, I asked the only important question.

“Will I be headed back to Trendal?”

For a moment, the void remained silent, but eventually he received his answer. “Yes. The System is reintegrating you as we speak. The only reason I am here is that it thought I could give you some useful tips.”

‘Why doesn’t it just give me them itself?’ I wondered, but I held off on that thought, if the System was listening, which I would bet my life on, I didn’t want to offend it, if it could at least.

“What tips?”

“For one, don’t do what you did again. Solar system-sized consciousness is far beyond what you are capable of–” Its voice cut out, the void around me was beginning to distort. It was obvious that I had very little time left before returning.

Seeing this, it took on a much more dire tone, and continued speaking faster, “On a serious note, though, I cannot share much, as with your dwarf friend, I have my own restrictions. Just know this, the Invaders? Their attacks will be coming more and more frequently; you have already seen it.”

A pulse of blue appeared in the void, and the inky blackness began to peel away in some places, and I felt the connections binding me to my assistants and Salfi once again established, just a bit fainter than usual.

“There is a reason for this, and only a few beings on Trendal can either prevent or survive what’s coming. Hopefully, you can do what I couldn’t, and no matter what, do not bind yourself to—do not.”

Stuttering out of existence, its words cut off, an ominous feeling lingered in my mind.

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