17 Chapter 17 - Io
{17} - Evans Smith: Io
[Haze consumed. 1 Mentor Exp gained]
It's deep into the night. Evans sat atop a ruined building, a pile of ash just behind him. Trails of smoke rose from the ash. It's quickly swept away by the winds.
He rolled a glowing cube on his palm. It's another one of the cubes left behind by the Lost. But it didn't break. It remained on his hand, glowing but inert. He rolled it again. Nothing happened.
He dropped them into his pockets.
He was grateful, really. Though they'd given him Mentor Exp, the things he learnt from them made him beyond uncomfortable.
He initially let his System block the surge of odd feelings he received from absorbing the Haze. But the more Haze he consumed, the less mentor Exp they gave. The one he'd just consumed was the last he could take. The remaining several dozen remained in his pockets.
He decided to stop the System's blocking some time ago. The experience had not been pleasant. But not worthless.
What he learnt was…discomforting.
The shattered memories he received from them felt random at first. But as he looked deeper, he noticed that it was random. The splurge of memories came from different revenants, stitched together into something nearly incomprehensible.
It was why the amount of Mentor Exp he received lessened over time. The more memories he stitched together, the less he learnt from them, until he received nothing. The only way he could get more-
Was for more Revenants to fall and join the Lost's hivemind.
…
He took a deep breath. The air was cold. And uncomfortable. It was unlike the warm summer air of Tokyo, or the perfectly cool temperatures of his School. But he liked it.
There wasn't anything he could do about it. And he was the only one who could extract these memories in the first place. It wasn't like anyone in this world had what she had.
[-Guidance for the Lost Lv 3 (7%)-]
[Increases Students' Skill Growth Rate by 309%. Increases the amount of Mentor Exp gained after every Lecture by 315%. Allows accumulation of Mentor Exp from non-Students. Allows the User to listen to guide Damaged and Lost Souls. Unlocks the -Impossible- Difficulty.]
This was what his -Mentoring- had evolved to after he used the [Random Skill Card (Rare)]. He'd gotten some unnamed Skill that merged with it.
The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it was. The Skill he got was 'random', but -Guidance for the Lost-? Really? Just as he was about to go into the world of Code Vein?
Well, he didn't mind.
Still, that meant his options had shrunk. He could either head to more dangerous locations to gain more Mentor Exp, or remain in the Ruined City and search for the Main Character.
The decision was easy. He didn't dare disrupt this world's timeline. Not yet.
…He'd continue searching for them tomorrow. He wasn't all that tired, but he might as well sleep for the night.
...........................…..
The Lost howled as it burnt away, leaving behind a small cube of Haze. It didn't react to him as he dropped it into his pocket.
A lick of fire danced around his arm. He waved it away.
He huffed. His chest felt a little tight, and his head felt somewhat warm, but he was fine overall.
He'd decided to use his -Gift: Fire Cloak- for today. Mostly to see how he'd fare with small but prolonged use. After nearly an hour of constant use, he barely felt anything. He didn't feel the crushing headache he'd felt after he used that bastardized 'Prominence Burn'.
But he still couldn't tell how much 'Magic' he had left. He was mostly using his feelings to guess.
It was still early in the morning though. He'd have to see how he'd fare once night had fallen.
As for now, he walked across the ruined streets once more. He'd bring down any Lost with flame-ladened fists, and he'd scour buildings he deemed interesting. His efforts were a little excessive, but the Main Character could be anywhere at the moment. He didn't want to miss them.
Eventually, he came across a junction, filled in overturned cars and damaged buses. Spikes of black and pulsing yellow cover the roads and vehicles. They hummed with the same corruption carried by the Lost. A small patch of white flowers grew next to a rotting corpse. Its face permanently contorted in terror.
He looked away.
And then he blinked.
White flowers—didn't that imply that a Mistle was near? He swallowed his disgust and pushed the corpse aside. The spot covered by the corpse's back was overgrown by white vines. And it seemed that it was leading him somewhere.
A grin lit his lips. He had a lead.
He began following it. The white vines grew thinner the farther he went, but the distinct white glow was hard to miss. The trail went on for what felt like miles. It seemed to twist on itself at times, passing through streets he'd already explored before. But he didn't let it throw him off.
Then, eventually, he reached the destination.
Except what he found wasn't a Mistle. Far from it.
He found a tree made from white roots, coiling upwards towards the sky. Specks of glowing white permeated from it, falling down to the white sprouts spreading across the ruined street. From where he was standing, it almost looked like the roots were forming a hand, reaching vainly towards the sky.
A Bloodspring. Integral to the survival of Remnants.
And it was as he approached, walking around an overturned car that he saw her.
A woman dressed white rags. A black cloak was worn around her, a cowled hood placed over white hair. Bandages were strewn haphazardly around her arms and legs. She was laying by the Bloodspring, her back resting on its roots. The white flowers grew around her legs. The glowing specks floated around her. Circling her.
She looked ethereal there. Like a statue frozen in time. Like it was waiting to be awakened.
He took a step forward. Then another. Then another.
Then, suddenly, she woke up. Her eyes opened, and yellow eyes stared at him. They were too bright to belong to a human. Too unnatural.
He stared at her. She stared at him.
Then she spoke. And his entire world came falling apart.
"I greet you, the Sun Scorned by Light."
"...what." It took him all his efforts to keep his jaws from falling. She kept staring at him, confused but patient.
Once his bewilderment left, his thoughts came pouring in. It wasn't hard to parse what she meant. She called him a 'Sun Scorned by Light'. The System called him the [Scorned One], and the Blood Code he had in him was named Helios—the Greek personification of the Sun.
But that wasn't important.
Because she had mentioned him directly. Called him by titles no one else should've known. Called him like she knew of him.
Io, an Attendant meant to aid the Main Character through their journey, knew him directly.
Quite a few 'Shit's and a lot of 'aaaaaaaAA's ran through his mind at that very moment. Because that meant his worst fear had come true.
The [Divergence] that had set this world to destruction was the missing Protagonist.
He sucked in a breath to calm himself. "Were you waiting for me?"
She looked down for a moment. A flash of disappointment flashed through her eyes. "I don't know." She whispered. Her lips pursed for a moment, before her eyes flashed with determination. "But I know I needed to meet you, the Sun Scorned by Light."
He blinked, and coughed. "Just call me Evans."
She nodded. "If that's what you wish, Sir Evans."
He stared. "Just call me Evans."
She tilted her head. "But I have, Sir Evans."
…
It happened again. Izumi called him Smith-sensei, Jin Woo called him Hyung, and now Io refused to drop the 'Sir'. When would he find someone that'd just call him by his name!?
He sighed. "Anyway," He frowned. "You sound unsure. Is something wrong?"
She closed her eyes. "I don't remember much."
He nodded. This happened in the game as well. She'd lost most of her memories before the game's beginning. It was never explored why or how. All she knew was that she was to aid the Protagonist on his journey.
In this doomed world, it seemed the role of the Protagonist had shifted to him instead.
"That's fine." He gave her a pat on the head. She blinked at him, confused. He winked in return. "I'll help bring your memories back."
For a fleeting moment, he could've sworn a smile came onto her face. "Thank you, Sir Evans." She bowed. "And I vow to aid you in your journey."
[The fate of the world hangs in the balance, but the Attendant Io has found the Scorned One and has vowed to join him. Will you accept Io as your Teaching Assistant?]
He blinked. Teaching Assistant? He'd honestly expected Io to become a Student of his. Although she did vow to aid him in his journey. He'd usually be the one to try and convince someone to become his Student.
[Correct. It is Io who offered her assistance instead of seeking your guidance.]
Nailed it. But whatever the case,
He smiled. "Then I'll look forward to it."
[Io has become Evans Smith's Teaching Assistant.]
"This is…" Io muttered as she stared at the floating panel that'd suddenly appeared before her.
"It's a System I have." He explained. "Normally, I can make someone my Student, and they'll receive a System that helps them grow stronger. Although you've become my Assistant instead." He smiled. "My-, our purpose is to help this world reach its destined [Ending] instead of falling to the apocalypse."
She hummed. "I see." She nodded. "So this will help me grow stronger." She stared at it for a few moments. Her stare progressively became more blank the more she read. Until she turned to him and asked, "But what do these words mean?"
He blinked. And then realized that she didn't have any memories, nor would she understand what games are if she did.
He smiled. "I'll explain. But later." He jabbed his thumb back. She turned to the opened streets behind him, and her eyes grew cold as she saw the small group of Losts that'd been following him for several minutes. "We have some company."
She flicked her arm to the side, and an ornate halberd appeared in her hand in a flash of yellow. "Shall I exterminate them?"
He turned around and slammed his fists together. A coil of fire sprung around him. "Let's do it together."
"Let's."
And together they leapt forward.
