Ch. 10: Memories [2]

A/N:

To avoid confusion, [ ... ] is memories.

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The long and thick white eyelashes squirmed as its eyelids slowly opened, revealing a set of sapphire jewels. He immediately clutched his head when a surge of headache kicked in. "Urg…"

Upon remembering something, he snapped open his eyes and lowered his sight. There, a pair of tiny hands were visible–he still possessed Adrian's body. "What the hell?"

He scanned the surroundings but there was only pitch darkness, he couldn't see anything except the things presented before him. For your information, he was seated right now. Across from him, there was a white table and an empty chair that shared the same color.

The table was full of refreshments and two cups of tea were placed–they were still warm as he could see how the steam danced on top of it. His mind drifted; the last thing he remembered was that he fell unconscious.

Here he thought that was going to die and return to his world, but it looked like that wasn't the case, huh? So, what was all this about? Was he going to meet the one who threw him into the novel?

But, he vividly remembered that the world Nathaniel Leillucis lived in–the protagonist of the book–was a Godless land; God didn't exist there. And the question was… who set him here?

Moreover, he also couldn't feel any Mana, not even a little bit–which was confusing. If he wasn't in the realm of the novel, then why was his soul still trapped inside Adrian's body?

A bright light that suddenly flashed in front of him cut his train of thought and his azure eyes glanced toward it. A giant rectangular screen popped out of nowhere. The light dimmed and a scene appeared, which reminded him of watching movies in the theater.

Soon, the screen showed the architecture of a fortress at night, then it changed to a black-robed man entering the watchtower sneakily.

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue in annoyance, to the point it irked him. To tell you the truth, he had enough of a bunch of black-robe men's things. The urge to kick them in the ass skyrocket somehow.

[ The man cut open the floor with his sword and slid something inside then moved to another watchtower to do the same thing. ]

As to who the man's identity was or what the hell he did, Adrian had no idea–whatsoever.

[ The night passed and switched into a bright sunny day. A white-haired boy was seen taking a stroll with a blonde-haired woman near a wall while holding hands. They were shadowed by some knights and maids that were ten steps away from them.

The boy looked around, his face tinged with curiosity as he saw many knights passing back and forth. He looked at his mother and once their blue eyes met, they exchanged smiles.

"Mom! Once I grow up, I will be a strong knight! So strong that I could protect you from anything!" Adrian exclaimed.

His mother chuckled, "I can't wait to see you grow up, but I just hope you remain a boy."

Adrian tilted his head with a face full of question marks, "Why is that?"

"So, I can hug you whenever I want."

Adrian laughed merrily, "Even if I grow up, you can still hug me whenever you want!"

"Is it a promise?"

"Yes!"

They stopped and Adrian stretched out both his arms, "Mom, let's hug!"

"Sure!" She squatted down and they embraced each other.

"Mom, I love you," Adrian whispered and Aerilyn couldn't help but kiss her son's cheek at his cuteness.

"I love you too, my dear."

–Boom!

A loud explosion was heard followed by Adrian's scream, "Ahh!" he instinctively tightened his hug on his mother's body.

The moment a shadow cast upon them, Aerilyn lifted her head only to see the giant debris of the watchtower ready to stamp both of them.

"Your Majesty!! Watch out!!" 

Seeing how it came nigher, wasting no more time Aerilyn shoved the boy away with all of her might.

And as if the time was slowing down, Adrian could see how his mother smiled gently at him. Adrian's eyes widened when debris continued falling and blocking his view from his mother.

–Boom!

He fell on his butt and the rumbling sound resounded. A strong gust of wind passed by him and red liquids splattered on his face–it was his mother's blood.

"Ah…" The boy's breath turned ragged and his body began to tremble uncontrollably upon seeing a hand that wasn't buried by debris; a familiar hand that he held a few minutes ago.

Screams filled the space and the peaceful fortress turned upside down.

"Your Highness!!"

"Your Highness!!"

Regardless of numerous screaming and shouting, Adrian just sat there as if stoned. His face paled and soon his body slumped down; he fell unconscious due to shock.

The scene changed to a black-robed man who hid behind a wall. He spun around and walked away leisurely with a smile intact on his lips. Thereafter, the screen went blank. ]

–Drip –Drip –Drip

He wiped his cheeks and tears wetted his palm. He didn't understand. Was he crying? Why was he crying? He wasn't sad, it was his first time seeing her, so he had no reason for being sad about losing her; even though that woman was this body's mother.

Also, he wasn't someone who would cry when watching or reading an angst genre–he was not that kind of a man. So, why did the tears keep flowing out of his eyes?

"Don't tell me…"

Was Adrian's soul still existing inside this body or had the boy and his soul merged?

Now that he thought about it, it was understandable why he had no problem understanding the language of this world, channeling his Mana or chanting the runic language to cast magic without even being taught. Was that the case?

Well, that smelled like a pain in the ass to him, because he didn't like it when he was suddenly being someone else. For example, out of the blue, he became a crybaby like this; it was doubtlessly annoying. He crossed both hands and legs as he tried to recall the information from the book.

« His mother died in front of him at the age of 12 when she tried to save him. »

He had a hunch that this place was not the afterlife like he previously thought. This place was Adrian's subconscious and it seemed the 'gift' constantly gave him 'sights' of the future.

"But something doesn't add up…"

What he meant was, that if the gift frequently gave Adrian visions of the fate as he witnessed right now, the boy should have known about the accident that would occur that day. So why did he act like he had no idea about it?

Gifts and Skill were different, he believed that the so-called gift was something that one was born with. So Why? Was it because the gift was lying dormant? Or was it something else?

He massaged his nose bridge. The more he used his brain the more the question continued to pop up; there were so many things to unravel.

"But the gift, though…"

When he fought the assassins, it continued to give him views of how this body would die, and thanks to it he was able to escape death. Even with his talent in magic alone, Adrian was already amazing.

Now that he had the aid from the gift, albeit he sucked at physical combat, it was still terrifying in his opinion! But, what if… he could improve his physical combat? Chill ran down his spine. He didn't know if the gift had limitations of giving sight or not, but…

Wouldn't that mean this boy would be… invincible?

To the point of being… unkillable?