Chapter 8: Bestowal

     Hearing such news, the old man was shocked by it. Seeing that the old man was agitated, Soru stood up and walked towards him.

     Silas noticed him and immediately walked hurriedly to inform him. They met up, and the old man spoke in front of him.

     "Y-Your friend, Reika. She's in trouble... "

     Soru looked around and noticed that Reika was nowhere to be seen.

     "Where is she?" 

     "She's in the forest now..." Sylva told Soru while pointing in the direction where the edge of the forest can be seen.

     Soru heard the villagers gossiping around, while others tried to ask Sylva about the situation.

     "ḛ̵͒o̴͍̽o̶̹̊ ̷̤̈́ḍ̶̎i̸̝̒f̵̹̍a̵̩͌v̸̛͎é̵̱ǵ̶̦l̸̳̊h̷͈̀y̶̮̓ī̸͎"

     "ḍ̶̎i̸̝̒f̵̹̍a̵̩͌v̸̛͎é̵̱l̸̳̊h̷͈̀y̶̮̓ī̸͎"

     "ḍ̶̎i̸̝̒f̵̹̍a̵̩͌v̸̛͎é̵̱ǵ̶̦l̸̳̊h̷͈̀y̶̮̓ī̸͎ḍ̶̎i̸̝̒f̵̹̍é̵̱ǵ̶̦l̸̳̊h̷͈̀y̶̮̓!"

     Though he couldn't understand what the others were saying, he didn't have time to listen to their gossip. He simply turned around and walked towards the entrance. Silas noticed Soru and stopped him from going further.

     "I know what you're thinking... Let me come along with you. Guard!"

     The guard, who was sitting beside the tree, immediately stood up upon hearing the old man. Silas walks towards him and leaves Soru behind. His gaze wandered afar, where the edge of the deep, dark forest could be seen.

     While anyone was busy gossiping and doing their tasks, Soru vanished from where he was standing without them knowing. When Silas came back in order to meet up with him, he noticed that Soru was gone. The confused old man looked around, searching for his traces. He saw Sylva, who was talking to some villagers, and asked her for his whereabouts.

     "Where's Soru?" Silas asked Sylva.

     Sylva, who was confused by Soru's sudden disappearance, tried to look around the area. After a while, she shook her head.

     "He... He was just there a moment ago! I couldn't see him anymore..."

     Silas sighed.

     "Maybe he went out on his own first..."

     Silas ordered the guard to follow him to the forest.

     "Sylva, come along with us!"

     Sylva nods her head and follows both of them in silence.

     ...

     Near the edge of the forest, Soru stepped in to search for Reika. In the distance, he saw several men standing beside the dragon's carcasses. Soru casually walked to meet them.

     One of the men noticed Soru and ran towards him. The man remembered that the guest in front of him was acquainted with the young woman who tagged along with Sylva.

     "#̴̙̒͛̕%̸̧̧̞̂̀͘-"

     The village man was about to tell him about Reika's whereabouts, but he quickly realized that guest's language is different to them. In order to communicate with him without using his mouth, he pointed his finger towards the depths of the forest.

     Soru understood what the man was conveying and walked towards the depths of the forest. The men watched as they saw Soru slowly being consumed by the darkness.

     Entering the forest from the entrance, Soru followed a narrow path that is now covered in small grasses, trying to find Reika's whereabouts. Although the place seemed dark, with a little light from the moon passing through, he looked for her eagerly.

     Suddenly, he heard a scream somewhere deep in the forest.

     "AGGGGHHHHHH!!"

     Soru deduced the origin of the scream and ran in the direction where he assumed that the scream originated. In that direction, he saw a light, indicating a wide space ahead. He followed the path that led to the open area.

     In a minute, he got out of the woods. There, a wide area welcomed him. A huge, tall mountain can be seen from the distance, still covered by trees. Thanks to the bright moon that lit up the night, he saw Reika lying on the ground.

     Reika was holding her chest tightly, screaming at the top of her lungs due to the agonizing pain she felt. 

     This pain... I felt that I was being pierced by a thousand blades...!

     As the pain were getting stronger, Reika couldn't bear it anymore and immediately passed out and collapsed.

     ...

     Moments had passed when Reika regained her consciousness. She desperately opened her eyes in order to see the situation around her.

     What she saw before her eyes was a vast emptiness. She's not in the forest anymore, as the entire area was filled with darkness. There was no source of light in all directions, and no objects or people could be seen.

     Where... am I?

     Reika tried to stand up, but her chest began to pulsate in pain. She grabbed her chest with her hands to alleviate the pain, but she noticed that her hands were glowing, including her entire body.

     Why is my body glowing on its own? W-What's happening...?

     Reika also noticed that she hadn't had any clothes on and was butt-naked.

     (Where did my clothes go..?)

     Confused by her body's strange behavior, she observed it carefully once more. While looking at her entire body thoroughly, she noticed that multiple cracks appeared on her body. It appeared on her arms, legs, and even hands.

     Your'e a little more resilient than I thought, huh...

     Reika immediately turned around after hearing the familiar voice. Echoing to her ears, she found out that the voice came from a glowing orb, which was floating gracefully behind her. The orb pulsated after she saw it.

     Encountering me while being this weak, your luck must be terrible. With a soul of yours, it's a miracle that your soul managed to withstand just a little bit. Perhaps your will to live was strong?

     Reika, who was confused, asked the orb's intention.

     What... What are you going to do to me?

     The orb flew closer to her face.

     I will take over your soul body, along with your physical body... Blame yourself for believing the words of an unknown individual, let alone a suspicious one!

     After she heard the strange orb, Reika stood up and walked away slowly.

     No... I refuse!

     Suddenly, several purple chains emerged from nowhere. It rushed towards Reika and instantly bound both of her hands and legs, preventing her from escaping.

     Mortal, you have no chance to escape. In this subconscious space of yours, your fate was set in stone—that is, to be my vessel!

     Reika resisted and tried to escape by tugging on the chains. But all of her efforts were in vain.

     Reika noticed that the orb began to glow brighter in front of her. At the top of it, another strange glow began to materialize slowly.

     Fufufu~ With this ability and your soul being weakened, I can safely transfer my memories to you in no time...

    Even though the chances were slim, Reika was desperate to escape from her predicament. She kept tugging on the chains in order to free herself.

    (Dying in a place like this... I refuse to do so!)

    The orb noticed Reika's futile resistance and tightened the grip of the chains on her arms and legs. Reika groaned in pain due to the tightening of the chains.

     AGHHH!!

     The orb flew next to her and whispered on her ears.

      Don't worry; I'll take care of your body. You may rest in peace for eternity... 

     With nothing left to do, Reika closed her eyes. She waited for the worst outcome that was bound to happen, still hoping that a miracle would happen, although it seemed impossible.

     ...

     The entire space, which is filled with sound, became silent. Reika kept her eyes shut, waiting for the strange orb to utter any words, but she didn't hear anything.

     (Huh...? What's happening?)

     Reika tried to move around and noticed that the chains that bound her were still there. And strangely enough, she could still move her body at will.

     (I thought it managed to take control over my body...)

     Confused, Reika slowly opened her eyes and still found herself in the exact same place as before. She tried to look around, but the strange orb that tried to seize her body was nowhere to be found.

     Where did that strange orb went to?

     While looking for the strange orb's whereabouts, she noticed something floating not too far from her chest. It is a small, pulsating orb.

     (Is this... The strange orb from before..?)

     Are you alright?

     Reika tried to ask the identity of the orb close to her chest, but the orb didn't respond to her.

     ...

     Reika waited for the orb to respond or act, but there were no signs of activity or movements from the orb.

     (Hm... That's strange...)

     Suddenly, the orb began to pulsate. Then, the orb began to randomly shift its shape: from a sphere to a tetrahedron, then a cube, and finally a tesseract. The orb changed its shape multiple times at regular intervals.

     Reika noticed that the chains began to loosen up. Slowly, she freed herself from the chain's restrictions. Still, her focus was fixed on the strange object in front of her.

     What the hell is this thing...

     Driven by her curiosity, Reika tried to touch the object with both of her hands. 

     I've never seen anything like this before...

     All of a sudden, the strange object rushed onto Reika's chest.

     What...!

     Upon entering her body, Reika noticed that her head pulsated, and the pain began to spike, as if her head was about to explode.

     GUHHH!

     Suddenly, massive amounts of information entered her mind. Reika noticed that these several pieces of information forcibly entered her brain, as if an outside force were jacking up her mind with new information.

     What... What is this...? AGHHH!

     Out of nowhere, a word popped out in front of her eyes.

     "Contract"

     Reika immediately noticed it and fell silent for a brief moment.

     Con... tract? 

     Reika tried to close her eyes, hoping that the word might vanish if she shut her eyelids tight. Strangely enough, the word was still in her vision.

     Hwuh!?

     Freaked out by the situation, she jolted out and immediately opened her eyes. The word was still there, floating in her vision like a stain that wouldn't come off no matter what you did.

     What does this supposed to mean...

     Suddenly, several words popped out of her vision. She freaked out once more, trying to get rid of them by rubbing her eyes.

     What are these words? Ghk! Get out of my sight!

     While trying to get rid of them, she noticed that the words were trying to convey something. In order to understand those words, she tried to calm her mind and breathe slowly.

     Now that she had calmed down, she began to read the contents that the words in her vision were trying to convey.

     Sub... Abilities..?

     Reika read the next line after that word.

     "Chains of Imprisonment"

     Summons several chains that could bind physical and spiritual objects. Once attached, the target had a low chance of escaping.

      "Subjective Control" 

     Active: The user seizes control over the target by dominating them. The target must submit the entirety of its being to the user by its own volition, and the contract was set. Once done, the user could freely control the fate of the contracted subject.

     Passive: Grants the user the ability to see through the metaphysical world. Anything beyond the physical realm could be seen.

     "Subjective Link" 

     The user could tap into the abilities of those contracted subjects and use them. Although some of the abilities might have restrictions or requirements, it might be impossible to use them at all times. 

     Chains of Imprisonment... Subjective Control... and Subjective Link..?

     Reika was baffled and began to wonder what those words really meant.

     Okay, okay... Let's assess the current situation...

     Reika stood up and began to walk back and forth in this seemingly endless space.

     When that strange object entered my... glowing body through my chest, it was followed by an extreme pain, coursing through my body like crazy. It was brief, yet somehow I managed to get over it.

     And just right after that, these words immediately popped up in my vision...

     Suddenly, Reika realized something. She stopped, and her eyes brightened.

     Is this that strange orb was talking about? The greater power of some sort?

     Suddenly, the words in her vision vanished in an instant. Reika was surprised after noticing it.

     Huh...? Where did it go?

     With the sudden disappearance of the words, her mood began to change.

     Now that those words are gone, how could I examine them further...?

     Feeling helpless, Reika walks around in circles inside the empty space. Now that the words are gone, she has nothing left to do but wait.

     Now that I'm stuck here, What else should I do? There's nothing in here but only me!

     She looked around, hoping to see some exit points in order to escape.

     Doors, cracks, holes, windows... Where is it?

     While looking for a way to get out, she realized something.

     Wait...! That power that I obtained before...

     Reika slowly raised her hand and opened it.

     (Maybe I can use it to get out of here!)

     Reika immediately waved her hand in the air, aiming it in the opposite direction.

     " Chains of Imprisonment!!"

     Echoes filled the entire space when she shouted at the top of her lungs. She breathed deeply, filled with hope that the ability bestowed on her would help her escape from that damned place.

     ...

     (Huh...?)

     Reika took a peek in her palm. 

     The chains... Why won't it come out?

     Reika tried the other techniques that she remembered before.

     " Subjective Control!!"

     Still, she didn't see any signs of movement or reaction around her.

     Subjective Link!! Chains of Imprisonment!!

     Reika trembled an retracted her hand slowly.

     Is everything just a bluff..? Why won't anything come out at all!?

     Reika covered her face out of embarrassment and dismay.

     Guh... I was scammed by that shitty orb! Not only did it ditch me here in this empty space, but it also gave me false hope!

     Reika slowly uncovered her face and realized something.

     Now that I've noticed it... Whenever I uttered those techniques, I felt like somehow I could do them involuntarily. As if I already understood the mechanics behind it...

     Being baffled at how strange it was that she could vividly remember utilizing those techniques, she noticed a slight touch on her cheeks.

     Guh... Wait! I am busy pondering here...

     Slowly, the sensation became stronger as time went by. Reika got annoyed and stood up.

     Hey! What are you doing? Knock it off-

     Reika quickly realized that she wasn't in the strange space anymore. She was sitting on the ground in the middle of nowhere. Trees surrounded her, and both of the moons illuminated the area.

     I finally came out...?

     "You're awake."