Hope?

Controlling his desires, Ivan sent Zilla back to her room since he wasn't that confident in being able to control himself if she remained by his side.

Moments later, he tapped his feet on the ground, where a ring of dim light glowed before a interactive holographic window popped up in front of him, with many options to choose from.

====

[About Aerith] (Basic)

[Differences between worlds]

[Academic rules]

[Calendar]

[Noise cancelation]

[Lock]

[Room services]

[Room settings]

[Bookings]

[Schedules]

====

Gazing at the available options, Ivan felt he had to learn about everything before his journey in another world actually began;

So, he clicked on the options one after the other, solidifying the knowledge about the [Worlds Of Aerith] and understanding its "common sense."

As he learned what he could, the most interesting thing he found was the daily cycle, timings, and dates of the [Worlds Of Aerith].

36 hours per day.

18 months per year.

And, only for 4 hours and 30 minutes does a day last in each and every world of Aerith, the rest of the day is considered a [Dark Day] since the sun is covered by another planet.

The "seasons" here are said to be too violent and harsh due to the daily day and night cycles of these Worlds. And due to chilliness at the nights and the harsh climatic changes, these Worlds are said to experience rainy season most of the time, hence as time passed, the constant rain was named [Eternal Rainfall].

Though it stops raining at times, there isn't a day where rain hadn't poured since the worlds immigrated into Aerith's atmospheric space.

And this [Dark Day] phenomenon had caused another major side effect, it was the [Black Lands], the other side of the world where no sunlight ever shines, and also the [Unexplored Lands] where catastrophic level threats are rumored to have inhabited;

Since those areas were said to have been left unexplored, nothing more nor nothing less was there to learn about except for what he had already read.

After checking and remembering all of the rules of the academy, and even scrolling through the rest of the options, Ivan took out his [Catholic-RC] to check the new changes.

:::::::| [Silent Mode]

Stats:

::|

[Strength]: 0.00017 [Allocate]

[Agility]: 0.00017 [Allocate]

[Dexterity]: 0.00017 [Allocate]

[Stamina]: 0.00017 [+0.25] [Allocate]

[Tenacity]: 0.00017 [+0.25] [Allocate]

[Intelligence]: 0.00017 [+0.25] [Allocate]

[Will Power]: 0.00017 [Allocate]

[Adaptation]: 0.00017 [Allocate]

::|

[Stat points] or [SP] – 0

::|

[HP – 0/0.00017] [Allocate]

[MP – 0/0.00017] [Allocate]

[Fate – ---]

[Experience points – 1001.28] [+10.0128]

[Ri] – 0

[Gold – 0]

[Silver – 0]

[Bronze – 0]

[Steel coins – 0]

:::::::|

"?"

'They have increased by five since the last time I saw them….' Ivan thought as if eyes glanced past the [Silent Mode] at the top.

'Let's check what's going on with my skills….]

:::::::|

Skills:

::|

==

[Exclusive skill] [3/1]

• [Introspection] [Allocate]

• [Game Of Cards] [♤♡◇♧] [Allocate]

• [Mask Of Deception] [Allocate]

[Passive skills] [4/4]

• [Unification] [Allocate]

• [Records] [Allocate]

• [Indomitable] [Allocate]

• [Understanding] [Allocate]

[Active skills] [0/6]

:::::::|

'Right, where is Fur-ball?' Ivan wondered inwardly.

[Nya~]

His [Magic Power] fluctuated on top of his head from where a dense puff of pitch-black smoke gathered, inside which a pair of big round parakeet green eyes similar to that of Ivan's opened and slumped on his hair, lazily.

"Fur-ball?" Ivan muttered questioningly.

[Nya….] The thing inside the smoke meowed before the smoke dispersed into nothingness as a cute and small, palm-sized pitch-black furred cat materialized on his head.

"This lazy bum…. What are you?" Ivan muttered with a sigh and a small smile.

PURRR~

A green glow busted out of its body and seeped into Ivan's mind, which sucked in the information as if devouring them, surprising the lazy spirit on his head.

'Form a contract to decide the spirit's nature?'

"I shall conclude that contract now." Ivan muttered and his consciousness dazed before his body slumped back on the bed.

*

"I do not feel very good losing consciousness for every single time, and why isn't [Indomitable] activating when it's supposed to be a passive skill?" Ivan muttered with a frown as he gazed at the breathtakingly beautiful scenery of grass blanketing everywhere his eyes could reach.

A pleasant and soul calming breeze brushed over him as he gazed at the soul healing view.

"Am I supposed to search for my familiar here?" Ivan muttered as he took a step forward which changed the scenery entirely.

The scenery instantly morphed into a war field which had blood rivers flowing and forming a lake beneath his feet while the irony scent of blood assaulted his nostrils, but the sight didn't affect him much as he was all too familiar with the war fields, blood, and corpses.

But,

'It didn't affect him' was something he thought to delude himself, but unbeknownst to him, his mind had almost immediately returned to the war field as soon as he stepped into the lake of blood.

'Do not stop. Keep moving.' He thought as he dragged his feet which felt as if they were stuck in a swamp as he moved forward. His body felt annoyingly heavy as he strode forward, the coiled Divine shackles around his forearms and calves uncoiled as they shot down into the swamp-like bloody lake and shackled him down.

'Keep moving…..' Ivan thought as his body was forced to lean down due to the shackles tying him down. His body felt as if they were being torn apart while his shackles began to burn him a lot more fiercely than they had always been.

[I'm tired] A voice whispered into his ears at same time a cold shiver ran down his spine.

[I want to rest]

[I want to stop]

[I don't want to keep moving forward]

[I don't have to keep moving forward]

[I have done enough to rest for a few minutes]

[It should be enough]

[I am strong enough]

[If I am strong enough, why should I move forward?]

[Even if I have to, is it wrong if I want to rest for a few minutes?]

[I don't have to keep struggling]

[I don't want to keep struggling]

[Why should I struggle this much?]

[Why should I endure such pain?]

[What did I do to have to endure such pain?]

[I don't want any of this]

[I didn't want any of this]

[I should stop]

[I want to stop]

[I will stop]

As all this whispers resounded within his consciousness, his body was being pulled down into the swamp which led to the path of no return.

The whispers were too sweet of a temptation to resist, it was especially so for somebody who struggled for far too long and far too much. Hearing these sweet temptations, Ivan's eyelids felt heavy as he felt as if it was enough, he had done enough and it was time he took some rest. His consciousness was dispersing, and if what was happening continued to happen, his consciousness would forever be trapped in the spirit world, until he himself turned into a spirit, forgetting his past.

Everything was going wrong a bit too easily…..

But,

When Ivan muttered those sweet whispers in his mind again, he felt strange as a question emerged from the very depths of his consciousness which made him frown in frustration.

"Why?" Ivan asked but he received no response. Well, he wasn't waiting for one, so he continued to bombard his questions.

"Why should I stop?"

"Haven't I already endured halfway?"

"Even if I turn back now, I'll have to endure till I reach the point where I started in the beginning."

"If I have to endure either way, why shouldn't I just push through as I walk forward?"

"Aren't I already on the middle of the path I have taken?"

"Then what does it matter if push through?"

"For the worst or for the best, I'll at least reach the end of my path."

[What if this is just the beginning?]

"I won't know until I reach the end."

[What if the path ahead is much harsher?]

"I have endured much, an increase by a notch will only make it more interesting, and"

[And?]

"Doesn't it mean I can still get much stronger if my path is harder even after I pushed through till here?"

[…..] The voice turned silent as the ancient familiar who was testing him felt a shiver run down its spine.

The ancient spirit who was testing Ivan, was a silhouetted being who sat on an extremely humongous throne made of "existences" of Gods unknown. The throne the silhouetted being with feet length silky silver hair sat on was made out of "names" and "beliefs" of Gods unknown, while its neon pink irises dyed in bluish haze glimmered in the dark, with the "+"-shaped golden pupils dilated exaggeratedly in all four directions.

Hearing Ivan's answer, the silhouetted being grinned widely, revealing its flashy shark's fangs-like teeth.

[What if those thoughts are just a delusion?]

[What if it is just a false hope?] It asked for one last time before acting on its decision.

"False hope?" Ivan muttered questioningly as a grin crept up in his devilishly charming face, which was now marred in ominousness.

"Since when have I held on to hope?"