59 A Journey Down The Stream (1)

Even as the surroundings suddenly changed, Zel merely looked in front of him. His hands were still raised in a position that looked as if he was embracing someone, not moving in the slightest. Her words still lingering in his mind as he replayed them over and over again.

'I love you, Tiger. Please, when you feel lonely, remember that I'll always be by your side.' Emilia's eyes that looked at him with not a single tinge of anger made him mute. How could a man leave the love of his life behind, if there was but a slight chance at reunion?

"Emilia would have liked to take a few pictures, if she were here." He wasn't even a few minutes into this unfamiliar path when he thought about Emilia.

He knew that it would have been a hard pill for her to swallow, being told that a whole chunk of your life would be erased. That the actions you've made, the thoughts you've kept and the relationships you've built would crumble apart. Zel couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret at his action, at his decision to do this. But he had no choice, he was given no other choice.

"I love you too, so, so much." Tears streamed down Zel's cheeks as he closed his eyes. Her smell still lingered, making him feel as if she was still here. But there was no touch, no heat from her body that he was used to basking in. He was now away from her, and it was all his fault. It was his choice.

"Ahhh!" But just as Zel was drowning in his own sorrows, a searing pain came from all over his body. He hurriedly opened his eyes and saw the horrific scene happening before him.

"Damn it! I forgot! Fuc-" He cried out for a second before he couldn't anymore. The reason for that was his body, the flesh and blood that he had used all his life was turning into dust. His mouth had already been crumbled apart, and though there was no wind where he was, flew away. There were only rays of light that passed by on his sides while he knelt on a white floor. It was as if he was in a tunnel with only two paths to go, to go forward or to go back.

'Is this it? Is this the time stream?' Zel placed his hands on the ground as he breathed forcefully. What was strange was that though he saw, no, he felt his body break apart a little while ago, he was still a moving, humanoid entity. The naked, robust man covered in violet flames watched on as remarkable streaks of dazzling light passed by on all his sides. As if the picturesque surroundings had started moving so fast and yet he was standing still.

Though what made him feel despair was that along with the loss of his body came the loss of all things other than the mana crystal in his hand. The storage ring he had on was lost in the process, making the materials he had prepared to bring back become lost forever. Even the pictures he had of his past life were gone, pictures of her.

Everything that he had were now gone, save for his life, even though he had no more body. But it was a good thing that his mind was as clear as day, with the memories of a hundred lifetimes being accessible to him. If only they were easier to comb through, sealing them to make ends meet was troublesome. If he makes one wrong move, he'd lose himself in an endless pool of memories.

Although it was a shame to lose all his possessions, it was only because of his current form that he could travel in this tunnel of lights, this 'Time Stream', as the Seventh iteration called it. Only in this form, when only mana was tangible to him, could he survive the process of travelling through time. A place where only the things that the universe deems everlasting, just as the soul is everlasting, could exist.

Seventh told him that the process of travelling through the time stream was one of no return, with one trip always leading to just one destination. As he had set his mind to travelling back to 2006, his mana will not stop depleting until he reaches it. At the end of the stream should be an opening that he'd be able go through, one that he would have opened when he started this journey. All he had to do was keep his soul stable using the mana in the crystal in his hands, he just needed to reach the other side.

'I'll make it right, I promise.' Zel thought he was speaking out loud, and yet he didn't have a mouth anymore to produce a single sound. His eyes were burning with conviction as he steeled his heart. He had to face what was in front of him, only after he's done with this that he could have the time to plan out his next moves.

'What is this?' But just as he was feeling remorse, angry at the losses he just undertook, a simple, black book fell from behind Zel. It seems as if it came from his back, only showing itself when he lost his body. 

'This is... Emilia's book?'

Zel remembered how this book was an item that Emilia had gotten from the system. He didn't know if it was a reward from a quest or if she bought it from the store, but he knew that it was an object that made her more powerful. If it was here, then it meant that she gave it to him before he left.

'When did she-' But when Zel picked up the book, it touched the mana crystal in his hand.

The energy that was supposed to take him back to the past were being sucked out by the book at an alarming rate. The transfer of mana made the simple, black book show lines of light that formed shapes and symbols that Zel had no recollection of. But Zel didn't care about that at all, instead, he was trying to pry the mana crystal away from the book. Though his efforts were for naught as it seems to be stuck, and even the threads he created won't make it budge.

But the problem came with the fact that the only way for him to resupply his mana reserves was with this crystal. The moment he runs out of mana, his soul will be washed away with time energy and he'd lose himself. He won't die, but the person 'Zel' will be replaced with a fresh slate.

'Damn it! Stop!' Feeling scared for his life, Zel did his best to stop the book's absorption. He could already tell that his mana was being spent at a steady rate, making him anxious as to whether he'd even get to his destination before running out of it. Since he couldn't break off the connection between the two, then he'll just absorb the mana directly. He placed his hand on the mana crystal and closed his eyes.

'Breathe in, breathe out.' Zel used his senses to see the path between the mana nodes in his body.

Mana nodes are what allows Zel to store mana inside his body, the larger they are, the greater the capacity of mana he could handle. But while larger is better, there was another factor that was associated with mana nodes. It was the quality of their interconnecting membrane.

From the lowest rank mana node quality, Red, to the highest known rank mana node quality, Violet, the compression of mana that can be done increases drastically. The denser the mana, the greater the efficiency and power it provides. Be it when using mana directly or when using it to power 'talents' which is the culmination of the soul's authority. Talents are determined at the time of the creation of the soul and quenched through hardships experienced while living. The greater the hardship, the greater the strength.

Right now, Zel had shed his mortal body, freeing his soul from the constraints it was bound to. While Zel's body was only at the rank of Indigo when he left his original time, his soul was at a much higher rank, even higher than the Violet he though was the limit.

From the center of his palm, Zel absorbed the mana inside the crystal and passed it through his body until it reached the mana node in his heart. He first filled up the mana node until it felt like it would burst, the dark color of the compressed mana it had made caused Zel to metaphorically sweat at how dense it had gotten.

'This, this is way too strong.' But while Zel felt that his heart's mana node was full, there were still five more nodes in his body. His four limbs each had one, while the last one was placed in the center of his mind.

He began pumping the rest of the energy through all five nodes equally, releasing the compressed mana to them while his heart continued to compress more. In the span of half a minute, he was already reaching a feeling of saturation. His heart was once again becoming full, while the other five were already jam packed with mana.

"Screech!" But as he was bathing in the power he now possessed, a shrill cry came from above. A dissonance sounded out right above Zel as a claw cut right through the lights surrounding him. As the tip of the claw reached a few centimeters just above Zel's head, he quickly dodged to the right just in time.

"Bang." A crack appeared where the claw hit, causing a shockwave to pass through the white floor and almost making Zel stumble. But he wasn't about to stick around and ran along the lights, following their direction. He didn't know what creature owned the claw, and he didn't care.

'Fuck off!' Zel had no voice, but he still tried to shout anyway.

avataravatar
Next chapter