Ch: 119.6 (Patreon)

I was back in the real world, but my soul still trembled. I'd been expelled out of my soul hundreds of times before, in all manners of the sense, but never like this. Being forcefully ejected was never easy, but at most, it only takes me a few seconds to recover from the sensation, no matter how bad the initial sensation is, but not this time.

The corners of my vision were still spinning long after the fact, and I was sweating profusely. Ebeon might have used too much power in her haste to get me out of my soul.

The low light of the chamber only exasperated my vertigo, and without meaning to, I’m forced to take a few staggering steps away from the statue in front of me. So much for jumping right into preparing for the winged serpent; I could barely stand straight.

A single bead of sweat drips into my left eye while I retreat, cutting my vision in half. While cleaning my face with my dirty sleeve, Tabitha seamlessly slips behind me and places a steading hand on my shoulder, keeping me from falling over. I didn’t have time to get Sense Mana back up after being kicked out of my soul, so I twitched at the sudden contact but quickly relaxed, knowing Tabitha had my back. Literally.

A certain kind of warmth emanated from her hand, and even though I couldn't see her face due to her position, I could sense she was giving me a reassuring half-smirk.

“Thanks,” I mumble after catching my breath, but it sounds loud in the large open chamber.

“You say that a lot, you know,” Tabitha replies in her flat, teasing tone.

I can’t help but chuckle at her remark. Between Tabitha’s steading hand and her bland humor, I start to feel my soul settle down. I can’t overstate how thankful I am that Tabitha is here to support me. Her being here to hold me up filled me with the kind of strength I desperately needed.

“Was I out for long?” I ask, skipping past Tabitha’s remarks about my habit of always apologizing.

When I don’t get an immediate response, I turn to look Tabitha in the eye, only to see her staring at me, confused.

“What? Was it that long?” I ask again.

Tabitha slowly shakes her head before responding. “The opposite. You touched the statue, stared into space for a second, and immediately stumbled backward as if you were hit. It was also subtle, but I felt a pressure similar to when you use your soul skills. It was emanating from that bracelet on your wrist. What happened?” She not-so-subtly pushes me for an explanation.

“Really; it was only a second?” I didn't need to fake how surprised I was. I wasn't in my soul long, but even factoring in the difference in time between my soul and the real world, my conversation with Zelous and his sisters lasted a lot longer than that.

Tabitha gives me a confirming nod but doesn't say anything else. She only recently learned time flowed differently in a person's soul and was patiently waiting for me to explain myself, or more likely, observing me. The two of us were closer than ever, but she knew me well enough that I still had secrets I wanted to keep to myself. Tabitha wouldn't call me on any of them, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t still interested.

It wasn’t like I wanted to keep anything from her, but how was I supposed to tell Tabitha I just talked to two of the six gods everybody worshiped and a seventh erased from history? Tabitha didn’t come off as the religious sort, but if there were anyone who could hide how they felt about religion, it would be Tabitha. Plus, one only has to look back in history to know people who claim to speak to deities rarely end up well.

And yet again, I find myself unsure of what I should do.

“Tabitha…. I,” I didn’t try to mask the hesitation in my voice.

“Stop," Tabitha declared, holding up her hand and cutting me off. "If you can't say, I understand. All I need to know is if you're okay.”

Her words were like a punch to the gut. She trusted me to such a degree, and I was second-guessing myself. Taking a deep breath, I look Tabitha square in the eyes. “I can’t tell you everything, but I don’t want to lie to you either,” I tell her.

Tabitha shrugs at me, “What else is new?”

“Ouch, but fair,” I ruefully snort before making up my mind. I won’t mention any of the gods, but she deserves to know what I learned.

“To start with, I’m fine,” I begin with to set her mind at ease before I delve into deeper topics. “Turns out there was a sliver of a soul in the statue,” I inform Tabitha, and understandably, she’s taken back by the information.

“Is it still in there,” She glances at said statue out of the corner of her eye as if it were a dangerous beast.

“That’s- actually, an excellent question.” Turning to look at the statue, I use Sense Soul to the best of my abilities. I didn’t pick up anything from it when we first entered the chamber, but now that I know what I’m looking for, it should be easier to tell if Zelous’ shard is still trapped inside. I highly doubt it, but you could never be too sure.

Unsurprisingly, I can't sense anything, but that’s a good thing. There was no chance Ebeon or Ilia would leave Zelous behind in any form, so I was positive we were in the clear.

It also helped that I no longer felt a pull from the statue. The stone figure of Zelous still drew the eye, but I no longer felt the need to interact with it. For all intensive proposes, it was just another piece of art. “I think it’s gone now,” I tell her while double and triple scanning the statue just to be extra sure.

“Good," as usual, Tabitha barely outwardly reacts to what I tell her, but her slight shift in posture doesn't escape me. Most probably would have missed it, her shoulders dropping a hair and her hand subtly moving away from her sword's handle, indicating she was more at ease, believing the fragment to be gone. She still sent a few questioning glances at the ominous statue, but other than that, she had enough faith in me to take me at my word.

Confident that we were alone, I continued. “The soul told me about why the city was destroyed and asked me to avenge him,” I distill my conversation with Zelous down to the bare essentials. “Statue guy over there made a lot of enemies. They worked together to destroy the city."

It was a gross simplification of what happened, but what could you do?

Tabitha only raised a single eyebrow in response to my explanation. “Sounds about right,” she lazily adds as if I was telling her the sky was blue. I guess when you take out the waring deity part, the story loses a lot of its oomph.

"The same thing happens all the time,” she informs me with a straight face, which I'll admit was a little unnerving.

“It does?” I can’t help but grimace. I didn't want to hear that when I was expected to leave my family soon. If destroying cities was that commonplace, then what about a small village like Spotted Creek? The village has made a lot of progress lately, but was it really enough?

“Eh,” Tabitha makes a so-so gesture with her good hand. “It’s been quite peaceful lately, but there’s always a chance something can happen. Technically, this is peacetime, but I don't need to remind you about the dragon plaguing us. Sometimes bad things happen, whether it’s a rival nation or a strong magic beast.”

“I wouldn’t call the last few months peaceful,” I deadpan. “Didn’t Pacore just sac a few cities?” I can’t help but point out.

Tabitha scoffs and rolls her eyes. “We took those cities, with minimal casualties, might I add. We didn’t destroy any of them. But enough of that," Tabitha shifts the conversation. “What was that part about you avenging someone?”

“Of course, you would focus on that,” I ruefully smile while I shake my head. “You don't have to worry about that; I already have to help you and Pacore slay a dragon. I think I'll worry about that before I join another crusade,” I try to deflect with a bit of humor.

Sadly, Tabitha knows me all too well by now and doesn’t fall for my wordplay. “And after?” She questions.

The two of us stare at one another for a tense minute. “I’m not sure,” I sigh and honestly reply after failing to come up with a suitable answer. “I’m not sure how I feel about everything,” I tell her, hanging my head in thought. Zelous made it sound like the other gods only care about people because we empower them, and from my experience, that wasn’t strictly untrue. Ilia definitely didn't care about humans other than as a source of entertainment, but I didn't get the same feeling from Ebeon despite how much her presence unnerved me.

I knew I shouldn’t trust any of them, but if I was honest with myself, my instincts told me Ebeon wasn’t lying to me, if only due to my experience with my soul skills. Zelous admitted to making my tier 6 skills, and while on the surface, Experience Transfer wasn’t as malicious as Soul Devourer, it wasn’t hard to see how both would make an individual crave power. It might be in a roundabout way, but Experience Transferred craved to be used just as much as my other skill did; it just wasn't as high a level. Yet.

“Mm,” Tabitha nods understandingly before looking up at the mural plastered to the room’s ceiling. “I suppose that is your right, but might I give you some advice as your senior?" Tabitha focuses back on me with a heavy air about her. "Revenge should only be carried out for the living.”

She continues with a solemn expression. “Honor the dead, but don’t sacrifice your life for them. At least, that’s what Master always says. If you ever truly need to take revenge, ensure it's for those still alive.”

“And if it's only for yourself?” I can’t keep the question from spilling from my lips.

For a brief second, Tabitha drops her guard, and the tiniest bit of killing intent leaks out. It isn’t enough to make my legs go weak, but I won’t deny that I wanted to step away from her. “Then that is your choice, but don't delude yourself into thinking it's for the dead. If you’re seeking revenge, let it be because you want to and nothing else. That way, if you die, you don’t taint the memory of those who you are trying to avenge.”

Tabitha’s killing intent promptly vanishes as if it were never there, as she takes a moment to collect herself before continuing. "I don't know why the soul inside the statue asked you to avenge him, and I don't care. Anyone who asks you to fight for a long-dead kingdom isn't someone you should respect. Do you understand?”

“I do,” I reply after swallowing a lump in my throat. So, the killing intent wasn’t directed towards me; Tabitha was just mad on my behalf.

"Good," Tabitha's heavy expression fades and is replaced by a slight grin.

After the solemn atmosphere entirely disappears, I return Tabitha’s smile with my own and can't help but poke fun at my mentor a bit. "You learned all that from Pacore? He doesn't seem the type," I smirk playfully. It wasn't the best way to convey that I cared, but I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t.

Tabitha, honest to goodness, chuckles at my remark, which catches me off-guard. “I suppose it doesn’t,” she plays along, her smile growing wider. “In fairness, he only does so jokingly, but all of us students take his lessons to heart, even if he pretends that he doesn’t care. He frequently jokes that as his disciples, it's our duty to congratulate the person or beast who finally kills him.”

“That…. doesn’t sound very funny," I grimace, making Tabitha laugh harder.

“We all agree, but that’s just who our Master is,” Tabitha remarks as if that explains everything. “Personally, I think Master only says such things so that none of us do anything stupid should he perish."

“That, oddly, makes a lot of sense," I nod along, seeing the logic behind such a move. Anyone who could kill Pacore would have to be a figurative and literal monster. It made sense that he wouldn't want his apprentices throwing their lives away for someone who was actively looking for a place to die. But then, a thought comes to mind, “That wouldn’t stop you, would it?” I give Tabitha a knowing look.

Tabitha’s smile morphs into a familiar grin. She was now sporting the same battle-hungry smirk she always does when sparring. "No, it wouldn’t,” she confidently answers. “It doesn’t matter if I can't win; if somebody manages to kill Master, I'll do whatever I can to avenge him. That way, even if I die, he’ll have someone to keep him company in the afterlife." Tabitha's cackles send shivers down my spine, but I respect her fanaticism. Mostly because I know she would do the same for me. And I her.

“Alright, enough of all this heavy talk," Tabitha suddenly waves her hand before playfully nudging me. "You learned some history, big deal. Did your new friend give you any useful information that can help us get out of here?” She changes the subject, and she’s right to.

Schooling my expression, I glance down at my wrist and the bracelet. “Possibly. Not the information part,” I clarify. "But the soul did say this bracelet was powerful. I just don't know how yet. You said you sensed something from it when I touched the statue?”

"Sure did," Tabitha confirms her previous statement. "It even made my Danger Sense go off for a split second. It felt like when you used your soul skills to save me, so I didn’t think much of it at the time. Then again, I suppose it might have been the soul in the statue I was sensing.”

“I don’t think so. Maybe something changed with the bracelet," I offer my opinion before focusing Sense Mana on the piece of jewelry fused to my right arm, and when I do, my whole world changes.

“What?!” I can’t help but exclaim as my skill easily bypasses whatever enchantment it is that makes people ignore it, and what I see almost has me falling on my ass.

“Whoa there,” Tabitha was thankfully still close enough to steady me before I could tip over. "What is it?" A slight hint of concern can be heard in her voice as I desperately try to get a hold of my breathing.

“I’ve…. I’ve never seen anything like it,” I shakily answer, still staring at the bracelet on my arm.

“Explain,” Tabitha calmly demands, gently grabbing my chin and forcing me to take my eyes off the piece of jewelry. Though, at this point, I'm unsure if it is jewelry.

It takes me a few minutes to get a hold of my thoughts, but once I do, it’s like a floodgate opens, and I can’t help but babble about what I saw. “It’s huge! It’s like a galaxy of runes,” I try my best to explain without hyperventilating. "I don't know how, but there are thousands of runes crammed into this thing." I hold the bracelet up to Tabitha’s face.

It was the single most complicated enchantment I'd ever seen by far. It made Pacore’s armor look like a simple sharpening enchantment by comparison. The more I scan the material with Sense Mana, the more I uncover. It was almost like the material took up thousands of times more space than it did, yet somehow, it fit around my wrist and weighed nothing.

The bracelet changed size when I put it on, so does that mean all its mass is in its own pocket space? How large can it get; how small? A million questions I had no answers to threatened to consume me.

“Aaliyah,” Tabitha snapped her fingers in front of my face, pulling me back to reality. “You started to space out again.”

“Sory,” I hastily apologize on reflex. “But you don’t understand, this might be the single most incredible object I’ve ever seen, and I still don’t even know what it does!” I can’t keep my voice from becoming heated.

My mind was already conjuring ideas on leveraging this new boon. I gained a level of Enchanting just from deciphering the door to this chamber, and that was nothing compared to the bracelet on my wrist. Could I gain five levels if I figured out what it did? Ten? More? It was impossible to tell.

“Get a hold of yourself,” I barely register Tabitha’s words before she flicks my forehead with all her Strength.

“Ow!” I yelp, bringing my hands up to my forehead, and rub the area until the pain fades. The power behind that simple flick was no joke; it effortlessly overcame my meager 100 Endurance.

“You let your guard down,” Tabitha chastises me, placing her hands on her armored hips. “Get a hold of yourself. Close your eyes and take a breath,” she instructs me.

“You can’t just,” I start to complain, but stop when Tabitha raises her fingers as if she will flick me again.

“What was that? I couldn't hear you?" Tabitha's eyes narrow dangerously, and I instinctively shrink in on myself. “That’s what I thought,” she nods approvingly. "Now close your eyes; I won't tell you again."

Without a second thought, I follow her instructions.

“You always become distracted at the worst possible times or focus on the wrong things,” I hear Tabitha comment under her breath, but again, I can easily hear her in the empty chamber.

“I don’t,” I start to crack open my eyes in protest but am stopped by a chop to the top of my head. Thankfully, Tabitha chose to hold back a bit this time, but that didn't mean the blow didn't hurt.

“I didn’t say you could open your eyes yet,” Tabitha’s commanding tone gives me pause, which I think was what she was going for. In a slightly softer tone, she admonishes me. "I get it; getting your hands on a new piece of gear is fun and all, but you can’t forget about everything else. You can take your time examining the runes later, but for now, you know what you need to do. Nothing is more dangerous than using a magic item and not knowing what it does.”

“You’re right,” I pause and take a deep breath. Once I have my head on straight, I slowly open my eyes, half expecting another hit from Tabitha. Instead, my mentor stands before me with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of the greenish bracelet on my wrist, and I immediately want to jump back into examining it but resist the temptation. Instead, I bow slightly towards Tabitha as a sign of respect. Having such a complex enchantment literally within arm's reach was maddening, but Tabitha reminded me what was truly important.

“Watch over me while I work?” I ask with a cocky smile after I finally find my voice.

Tabitha rolls her eyes but does not attempt to hide her smirk. "Do I ever not," she snarkily fires back.

I don't answer her; instead, the two of us walk outside the chamber together so that I can sit on the floor without being covered in bone dust. Once outside, I plop myself down and cross my legs, trying to get comfortable. But before I closed my eyes and tried to figure out what my bracelet did, I asked Tabitha one last question. “Before I get carried away, how long do we have?"

“I won’t let you get carried away, but if you must know," Tabitha pauses, and I could practically see her running through our remaining supplies in her head. Finally, she looked like she had an answer, and I instinctively braced for bad news.

“Two days, maybe three,” Tabitha tells me with a solemn yet firm voice. “And that’s pushing it. We'll need our strength if we intend to take on a lesser dragon, and we’ll only grow weaker the longer we stay down here.” It didn't matter to her that the odds were stacked against us because, after seventy-two hours, we were leaving this place with our heads held high and our weapons drawn. We will kill the wannabe dragon stopping us or die trying. To Tabitha, it was as simple as that.

“Then I guess I better hurry, huh?” I try to project an air of confidence, but I wouldn’t be human if a part of me didn’t shudder at the possibility of dying. And yet, I wouldn't be me if I let those thoughts restrict me.

I wasn't alone; Tabitha was right here with me. We were in this shitstorm together. I had to do my best, if only for her sake.

That said, I'm weaker than Tabitha; I know that. If I'm going to help her and contribute to the upcoming battle, I need to give everything 110%; nothing less would do.

A dead god said the bracelet on my wrist was valuable enough to start wars over; I don't think he was lying. Whatever it does, I needed to figure it out yesterday. So, I push aside all thoughts of losing. I don’t even consider the possibility of us dying.

I've had my back against the wall before and came out stronger for it; now was no different.

It’s time I make this bracelet my bitch, and whatever it does, I’ll use it to help Tabitha slay a dragon. Hopefully, the first of many.

It’s time I got to work.

*********

3,700 words.

Surprise, I'm back to writing. But while Aalyiah wouldn't be herself if she weren't being snarky, I wouldn't be myself if I didn't second-guess my writing.

I rewrote this chapter multiple times before finally sticking with what I had. Please tell me what you think.

As for the story going forward, I will wait until March before I start posting publicly again. I don't know how many chapters I'll get out before then, as I'm still trying to get back into the groove of writing every day.

Thanks for reading, and as always, stay safe.