Old friend

I was prepared for the worst

I don't know what will happen when I die again

But I expected my soul to be damaged more, I might become unable to control my feelings like Thomas, and in the worst case my soul might disappear completely

I am always worried, but inside me there is a voice saying that I will not die because the orb is protecting me, I think this is a kind of defense that my subconscious uses so that I don't go crazy

But now I started to feel afraid because I realized that I could die at any moment

I relied on the protection the orb offered me, the thought of a powerful being protecting me was reassuring.

This is a pathetic way of thinking

But do I have another choice?

What will happen to me when I wake up?

Will my face be filled with black lines, so that no one will be able to recognize my features?

My body is completely numb

I tried to move, and indeed I was able to move some of my fingers, and after a while I was able to open my eyes

When I regained my senses, I heard a raging wind, as if I was caught in the middle of a tornado

The wind was strong, and my vision was obscured by the dust

I put my hands in front of my face, and narrowed my eyes to protect them from the dust

Where the hell am I?

I expected to find myself in the middle of the battlefield

Why did the orb move me to another place?

This hand... I finally noticed the nature of my hand

It was a soft white hand

I checked my clothes, it was academic clothes, white with blue stripes

This is the academic uniform

Is this Elia's body?

I was confused because I was back in Elia's body

After some thought, I decided to move and try to find shelter from this storm. It was a bit of a risk, but I couldn't stay still in this wild storm.

I felt like I had stepped on something, causing me to trip and fall on my face

Damn, what the fuck is this

I was very upset, but I didn't waste my time examining the thing that caused me to fall

Finding refuge is my priority right now

It might just be a damn stone

I don't know how long I've been walking, I kept walking in one direction hoping to find something

But the more time I spent in this place, the more I felt there was something familiar, something fishy and scary about this place

My feet began to feel tired from walking long distances, and my hands were numb because they were placed in front of my face to protect it from dust.

When I was about to lose hope, I saw a light in front of me

It was difficult to estimate the distance between me and this light, because the stormy weather and the dust made it difficult to see

I increased my speed as I moved towards this light

When I got close enough, I could see where that light was coming from

It was a huge stone structure, like a cave inside a mountain

And on the outer walls of this stone structure, there are balls that emit a strong yellow light

I was happy when I found the entrance to this cave

I entered the cave, and noticed that there were a lot of these glowing balls inside the cave

These balls are distributed on the walls and ceiling of the cave

As I was looking at the glowing balls while walking, I tripped and fell to the ground

"Argh, seriously...".

I was upset because I stumbled for the second time

This time I insisted on finding the thing that caused me to stumble, and smashing it to pieces

I got up and looked back, but when I looked at the thing that caused me to stumble, I froze in my place and took a few steps back as I increased my caution

The thing on earth was a statue of a human body

I'm not sure if it's a statue

It was an all-black substance that had taken human form

This human statue was lying on its back with its hands at its sides

This color...where have I seen it before

I'm sure I've seen it somewhere

no, that's impossible!

As soon as I thought for a moment about this possibility, my panic and fear increased

I didn't dare to approach this human statue

Instead, I decided to go deeper into the cave

When I moved a little further I saw another black humanoid statue

But this time, this statue was standing on its feet and taking a position similar to that of someone running or trying to escape from something

I had to pass near the statue so that I could continue on my way, which made me subconsciously look at the face of this statue, this statue had no features on its face

He has no nose, eyes, or mouth

The deeper I went into the cave, the more of these statues I discovered

They all take different poses

Some of them were extending their hands in front of their faces as if they were trying to protect themselves from something

Others were in a running position as if they were running away

And there are statues lying on the ground, or statues of people leaning against the wall with their heads bowed downward as if they had resigned themselves to their fate.

Are these just statues?

I didn't have enough courage to touch these black humanoid figures

what if I turn into a statue like them?

My curiosity was overcome by my fear, so I decided to stop thinking about it and just keep walking

Luckily, these glowing balls were lighting the way, otherwise, I don't know how I'm going to get into this dreadful place.

I reached the end of the cave, and found a small circular room

The first thing I noticed was the skeleton lying on the wall opposite the entrance

This is the first time I see a skeleton here, all I can find are those black human statues

I focused on the clothes that were on this skeleton

Wait....wait a minute, these clothes look familiar

I passed the statue lying in front of the entrance, and approached the skeleton with trembling steps

These light yellow clothes....are similar to the clothes that archaeologists wore in my previous world. I remember these clothes very well, because I wore them for years during archaeological excavation missions.

When I got close to the skeleton, I could see that there was a stack of pages in his left hand

And his right hand holds a golden necklace

My face distorted when I saw this golden necklace, I've seen this necklace many times, that its shape is imprinted in my memory

I extended my hand to pick up the necklace, my hand was trembling greatly because of my hesitation, but I know very well that I have to make sure of the contents of this necklace

It was just a natural necklace with beautiful engravings, but that is not important, what matters to me is the picture inside this necklace

I opened the cover of the necklace, and I saw a picture of a little girl, about seven years old, smiling with signs of happiness on her face

I tightened my grip on the necklace while I closed my eyes, then I looked at the skeleton with difficulty

Now I'm sure of the skeleton's identity

He was my mentor and close friend

Professor Herbert