48.

Even though my body is telling me to rest, I pushed myself to stay awake. I am now a banished monk of the temple so I currently don't have a place to stay so I stood up forcing myself to forget the exhaustion that keep crawling in my body.

"Now that its over, its time for me to go." I said to everyone around me. They turned their attention towards me and the Elders have mixed emotion about this especially Elder Deluci since he was the one who picked me up and banished me at the same time.

"Why don't you come to the monastery and rest before you leave on your journey? Same goes for you two." Elder Hagu said to me before he turned his eyes to Lee Sin and his friend. I could feel Sona's gaze boring a hole through me so I raised my two hands and gave up.

"Fine." I said and Elder Hagu smiled. Lee Sin felt mixed emotions about this since this was the first time that he's returning to the monastery where he once lived. His friend doesn't really mind it and accepted.

We all returned to the monastery and I returned to my ex-room. I sat down on the bed exhausted. Those juggernaut mark I are so hard to deal with especially with the difference in technology.

I was about to fall over when I heard soft knocks in my door. I pushed my tiredness and opened the door and saw Sona standing outside my room. I already expected this so I tried my best to stay awake for as long as I can.

I opened the door for Sona since I know that she has a lot of questions to ask.

I could already from the look of Sona that she's asking me 'Why?'. I just stared at her for a few seconds before I sighed.

"Listen, I have my reasons." I said to her. She replied by pointing at her then to me then a handshake gesture.

"I know that we're friends but I didn't want to involve you in my reasons." I said to her with a tired look. I've already seen a lot of my friends die in the past run and to be honest, I didn't want them to be involved anymore and just let them live their life. That's why I accepted the deal that Lucifer proposed. To go back in time and resolve my regrets on the way.

If she joined me in my journey and she died in front of me, I don't know what to feel anymore. I'm just tired of seeing them fall down to their demise. Even if she's not real and just a part of an alternate world that the skill created, its still sickening to see those who are close to you die in so many ways that it will make your heart go numb.

Seeing my tired face, Sona just pushed my face into her chest and rubbed the back of my head. I didn't break down to tears because I'm already used to it but my heart still felt like shattering.

We stayed like that for a few minutes before she let go of me. She looked at me asking if I'm alright now and I smiled at her approach of supporting me.

If I'm going to be honest, if I can do it alone, I would do it alone. I wouldn't involve Adjest or anyone I know to complete my side of the deal. But it would be unfair for Lucifer if I didn't complete my side of the deal after using a treasure to send me back in time. That's just who I am I guess, call me hypocrite and I would completely agree since it is hypocritical of me to form a faction and bring them with me to topple the Gods after saying that I'm tired of seeing them die.

"Thank you. I feel better now." I smiled at her for giving me the support I need.

Sona smiled sweetly after her comfort worked on me.

"When... are you... leaving?" Sona asked me after she gathered her courage.

I could see that Sona is trying to change herself and I remembered that Lucifer said that my fate is strange and affects those around me. Is this what he's talking about? Who knows?

"As soon as I can. I'm going to join the resistance and help them push back the invaders of Ionia." I said seriously and Sona nodded her head in understanding.

Sona pointed at the bed and gestured sleeping. Indicating that I should go to sleep. I was about to lead her out of my room but she shook her head and just pointed at the bed.

I didn't want to argue anymore since I'm pretty tired and really exhausted after using body control to spit those bullets out and closing the wounds.

I lied down in my bed and Sona started ruffling my hair while humming. Her humming soon brought me to sleep in just a minute since the sleepiness kicked in once I lied down the bed.

*

I woke up to see that the sun was already high up in the sky. I raised my tired body and realized how badly battered I am. There's no wounds but my arms and legs were screaming and I have already trained my body really hard so I was not expecting this kind of damage.

Those juggernauts really put a number to me. It put me into so much pressure and it made me feel like there's still a long way for me to go.

I sat down and saw that Sona already left but there's a tray of food in a small table which made me chuckle like an idiot.

'Seriously, she would be a good wife.' I thought to myself. Not only is she understanding, she could give you the emotional support when you need it the most.

I stretched my body and started warming my body up by exercising for 30 minutes. After warming my body up, I ate the meal that Sona left for me before I left the room.

It was surprisingly quiet, compared to the time when I just arrived in this world. I know that I had to rest my body but my instincts is pulling me to stop by in the training room.

I arrived at the training room to see Lee Sin and his friend meditating. As if they are in sync, the air around them is just revolving around them. Noticing my presence, Lee Sin's friend opened his eyes.

"Come and join us, friend." He said to me. I found it weird since his voice contains something that made me calm.

I sat down and joined them as I sat down but I didn't join them in meditating and just watched them. I'm used to seeing then from behind the screen and it still felt surreal to me that they are in front of me right now.

"Do you not know how to meditate, friend?" He asked me with his eyes closed.

"I know." I said with a smile.

"Then why don't you join us?" He asked me again.

"I'm now confident that when I leave this place there's someone powerful who'll defend it." Instead of answering his question, I went off the rails with my words. Hearing my words, Lee Sin lifted his head. Although he is blind now, I felt like he could still the world clearly.

"We are not powerful. I am just an arrogant monk who took the Dragon Spirit for granted and now it took my eyes." Lee Sin said to me.

"That's true. We have the same circumstances that we both have powers that we cannot control. Something like that isn't powerful." His friend said.

"Tell me your name, friend." Lee Sin's friend asked me.

"Aegis." I answered his question.

"I'm Udyr, Aegis. Nice to meet you. And this here is my friend, Lee Sin. He was once a monk of this place." Udyr said as he introduced himself and his friend.

"Well, I'm glad to have you here, Udyr. And Lee Sin, welcome back. I've heard Elder Hagu talk about you. Although I'm banished now since Elder Deluci punished me for staying and choosing to protect this Monastery." I said to the two.

"I see. You must've had it rough." Udyr said and my impression of this guy is like a gentle giant.

"Not really. My goals lies out there so I guess being banished helped me out." I said with a chuckle.

"Then... what is your goal, Aegis?" Udyr asked me.

"I want to push the invaders out from Ionia. I can't do it myself so I'm going to join the resistance and help them push the invaders out of Ionia's land." I said to them and Lee Sin perked up.

"Is that so? If I was in your place, I would take arms and defend my land but I can't help you." Udyr said to me.

"You can't help for I would not allow you to. You are a guest of the Monastery, not a weapon." Lee Sin expressed his distaste about it.

"I'm not asking for your help. You've already helped me by protecting the monastery. It seems like the Elders have taken you back in, Lee, good for you." I said with a smile.

"Anyway enough with that talk. Aegis, you were so skillful when you fight with a spear. The way you blend with the dark is also good." Udyr said and praised me. It seems like he's watching me too when we fought the juggernauts.

"I still have a lot to learn. Elder Hagu made me realize that. By the way, Elder Hagu said that you can attack without preliminary movements making it harder to predict." I said as I turned to Lee Sin.

Udyr saw Lee Sin being silent and he knew Lee Sin for a good amount of time to realize what Lee Sin is currently feeling so he nudged him.

"Come on, your junior is asking you for help. Aren't you going to help him?" Udyr asked Lee Sin who kept mum about the subject.

"Why should I? He's not even a part of the monastery anymore." Lee Sin said but Udyr just chuckled and apologized.

"Sorry, my friend is shy. This is the first time someone younger than him asked for instructions and didn't know how to deal with it." Udye said and it dawned on me.

"A tsundere, huh?" I said. Lee Sin who didn't know the word I spoke felt irked and insulted for some reason but he just kept mum.

"Come on, help your junior out." Udyr coaxed Lee Sin and I couldn't help but laugh in my mind on how they interact with each other.

"Fine. But this is the last time I'm going to help you." Lee Sin finally relented and Udyr's face has a look of 'I told you, he's going to help.'

"Stand up." Lee Sin ordered me and we all stood up. Udyr went to the sidelines to watch us.

"Attack me with your weapon." Lee Sin said and I took a staff from the weapon rack. Seeing me holding a staff, Lee Sin went to my back and smacked the back of my head.

"I said, with your weapon. Not a staff. You're a spear user right? Why are you using a staff?" Lee Sin said and I had no choice but to bring my spear out.

Seeing my spear suddenly appearing in my hand, Udyr and Lee Sin were slightly surprised but they just brushed it off. They have seen plenty of magical stuff outside Ionia and they aren't going to be shocked after seeing one here in Ionia.

"Attack me." Lee Sin said and I tried using the no motion attack, I let my instincts take over as it wished and attacked Lee Sin. As the spear came near Lee Sin, he held the tip of the spearhead in his fingers.

"You've already got the gist of it. You just need to slowly do it consciously. Slowly integrate your consciousness and instinct together. Trust your body and instincts, they know how much more than you do, for they are the ones doing the work. You might be able to see and learn something that even you don't know about." Lee Sin said and I was about to ask if he's going to give that advice if he hasn't seen my spearmanship yet but as if knowing what's on my mind, Lee Sin continued.

"I don't need to know about your basics when it comes to spearmanship. The fact that you're already learning how to polish your spearmanship by shaving all the unnecessary movements is enough for me to know that you've polished your basics to its limit." Lee Sin said and I nodded before giving a bow to him.

Udyr on the side joined us and praised me.

"Wow, I only saw your spear closing in on Lee Sin then he caught it by his fingers. It was fast and if it were me, I wouldn't have the time to react." Udyr said honestly.

"Its just so-so. He's still not there yet. He still has a few unnecessary movements and hesitation in his attacks. Listen to your body, they know the most efficient path of attacking." Lee Sin said and he sat back down once more to meditate.

"Was it hard for him to praise someone?" Udyr asked himself that question and sighed.

"Its alright. Thanks to him, I knew what I'm lacking." I said and followed his advice. I moved away from them and imagined the juggernaut in front of me.

I inhaled deeply as I tried to mix my consciousness with the no motion attack. The attack started and the spear was about to attack the torso but I thought it wouldn't be effective so I went for the head of the armor.

Lee Sin was watching me from the distance and when he saw my weird attack, he shook his head.

"I just told to him that he should listen to what his body says and he just ignored it." Lee Sin said and Udyr heard him. Udyr was about to tell me what he just said but Lee Sin stopped him.

"Let him be. Its better if he figured it out himself." He said and Udyr went quiet and just joined his friend in meditating.

Meanwhile I kept repeating the same thing over and over again.

'Why is my body telling me to attack the torso area where the armor is thick? Wouldn't it be easier if I just targeted the head and take it down with one attack?' I thought to myself.

'Should I really listen to what my body is telling me? Will it really be effective if I attacked the torso area?' I thought hard about it.

I decided to change my imaginary opponent to Uncle Wilhelm. I tried to do it again and my body decided to attack Wilhelm's off hand instead of the sword wielding hand.

'Why? Why did it choose to attack the off-hand?' I thought to myself once again.

I decided to just go and let it happen.

I once again imagined Wilhelm as my shadow training partner like shadow boxing. I know Wilhelm's attacks when we were sparring so I'm confident that I could recreate his moves.

I inhaled deeply and did it once more. I listened to what my body is telling me and attacked his off-hand and Wilhelm dodged to the right.

'Ah, I knew it. If this is a real battle, I'm dead.' I thought but suddenly my body gave its next command to switch my spear to my left hand and into a dagger grip, I followed it and switched it. Now the spearhead is facing the back and then with a twist of my to the left, the spear snaked its way to Wilhelm. It was a hard maneuver but with the help of my body control, I could do it easily. The spearhead was about to hit Wilhelm but he just shoved the spear aside with a push of his blade.

At this point, I had forcefully regained control of my body. I was shocked by what just happened.

"I-I actually did it?" I laughed like a child after seeing that insane maneuver.

'Is that what happens after listening to what my body is telling me.' I thought as my lips slowly arched up.

Lee Sin who was watching me silently, smiled after seeing me listen to my body for once. Even though he was blind, he could see the projection of the opponent I created. He may be blind but because of it, he was able to see so many new things and that projection was one of it.

Udyr saw his friend smiling and couldn't helo but speak out.

"Ah, you just smiled didn't you?" Udyr said but Lee Sin immediately denied.

"No, I didn't." He said with a serious face.

"You did!" Udyr protested.

"No I didn't. You must be seeing things." Lee Sin denied the accusations of Udyr.

Their comical interaaction weren't witnessed by me since I was busy laughing like a kid after what just happened to me.

==========================

This will be the only chapter since I'm going to binge watch Lucifer season 5 after I saw that season 5 part 2 just came out.

Peace out yo.