Truth/Resolve

Rai gets spooked and turns around in a defensive stance. He sees a breathtakingly beautiful woman in front of his eyes. She had Dark Red eyes with vertical slits and Blue hair. Her figure was something straight out of a fairy tale. The only thing that could register in his mind was perfect. That's the feeling that she gave out. Quickly getting out of his stupor, he looks at her vigilantly. Whoever she was, he didn't even notice her until she got so close to him. And who knows how long she was observing him for.

"Who are you?" – Rai

"Ahh. You hurt my feelings. Do you really not recognize me Rai?"

This voice. It doesn't make sense. Why is she here now? Rai had been trying to get in contact with her all this while. And this is the second time something like this is happening. Coupled with this strange city. There's something going on that she's hiding. This only serves to make Rai even more vigilant.

"Alice. What's going on here? What is this city and who are you really?" – Rai

"Like I've told you before Rai. I am someone with the sole purpose of helping you and being useful to you." – Alice answers back with a smile.

"Don't play with your words Alice, You may not be lying but you're not telling me the whole truth either. There is something seriously weird with this situation. And I want answers. If you're not going to give it me, I'll climb over and find out for myself." – Rai

"Sigh. Why didn't you just give up after not finding anything for the first few days?" – Alice mutters under her breath.

"Rai. There is not much I can tell you because I have restrictions on how much I'm allowed to share. First of all, yes this is your mindscape. It's more apt to call it your inner world." – Alice

"Inner World. The size of it sure does match. But it still doesn't explain why I am feeling this attraction. The need to find out what is inside there, it's abnormal. Almost like it is a piece of me and only by getting it will I be whole." – Rai

"You're not wrong but not entirely correct either. This city is part of your whole being and what is inside is your inheritance. I think that would be the right word in this case." – Alice

"An inheritance? And why is something like this in my mind? Unless the inheritance is memories or something like that." – Rai

"Yes. That is what it is." – Alice

"Then all the more reason why I should get it." – Rai

"You are not ready. The reason I stopped you is because, you will undoubtedly die the moment you make it into those walls. There are certain conditions that you need to fulfill before you can enter." – Alice

"What conditions? Why do you know all this when it's in my head and who are you? Stop dodging these questions and answer me Alice. Or can I even call you that anymore?" Rai yells at her.

"Rai, I cannot give you a clear answer to all your questions. It is better for you to not know about this right now. I know you are skeptical about my answers and you probably think its complete bullshit. But this is the truth. You are too weak to know about it and even if you do know, it'll only cause you to despair over this as your current self is completely incapable of comprehending these things neither are you capable of doing anything as you are right now. That is the truth. So, please just listen to me." – Alice pleads

"You're not really telling me anything Alice. I don't know if I can trust a word you saw anymore. You may have my best interests in mind but how can I trust you when I know that you were hiding things from me all this time. Give me something Alice. Please." – Rai

"Ughh. Damn it. Fine. I'll give you answers, but not now. You need to fulfill certain requirements. I'll tell you what those are though. This is the most I can do for now." – Alice finally relents

[DING]

[Quest Generated] [EX Rank]

[Four Divine Symbol Beasts]

[Receive the inheritance of all 4 Divine Symbol Beasts]

[The Vermillion Bird (Zhuque) (0/1)]

[The White Tiger (Baihu) (0/1)]

[The Black Tortoise (Xuanwu) (0/1)]

[The Azure Dragon (Qinglong) (0/1)]

[Rewards – Hidden]

[Accept/Deny]

"So, you're saying that you can only give me answers if I can complete this?" – Rai

"It is only then that my restrictions will be loosened enough to be able to tell you anything more." – Alice

"But, if I can get this, I should be able to enter inside myself right? Are you fucking with me Alice?" – Rai

"Yes. You can enter inside, but you won't get the answers you want. This will allow you in but that's about it. I have already overstepped my boundaries and I really cannot say any more than this. I am sorry." – Alice

Rai is felling conflicted, he trusted her with his life, they've been together for almost 7 years. She was always there to listen to him when he needs her. Now he finds out that she was hiding a lot of things from him. He feels betrayed but he does not seem to be capable of hating her for this either. Deep down he knows that she meant no harm but there is this feeling of discontent with her as well. He may not have noticed but he was growing dependent on her at least he was becoming dependent on her presence within him. While Rai was in his inner conflict. Alice continued speaking.

"I will also have to go away for a while Rai. I won't be able to speak with you until you for a while. I don't know how long this will take. I have overstepped my bounds and I can feel the backlash coming. Originally you were supposed to find out on your own. But, you coming to this place was out of my expectations. You can still access the system for all your needs but it just won't be me. Take care of yourself Rai." – Alice

Alice disappeared from his sight the moment she said her piece. Rai just stood there motionless trying to get his head around what just happened. He was just feeling conflicted about how to treat Alice from now on but all of a sudden she's gone and he has no idea for how long she'll be gone. Now he has this sudden feeling of loss. He tried to contact her again and again but it was futile. He felt lost. All this time, he had taken her presence for granted. He didn't really think there would come a time like this. He had heard about this saying 'that you don't really know how much you miss someone until they're gone'. Now he really gets it. He gets it but at the same he hoped he didn't want to find out. He hated this feeling. It's always the same thing. He's too weak to do anything. All this time he had been growing stronger and maybe it had gotten to his head that if he just keeps going like this, he'll easily become strong.

But today proved everything wrong. There seems to be something going on that is centered around him but he has no idea what it is and how he's connected and the only certainty that he knows is that he's too weak.

Rai swears to himself that he's going to change this. This annoying situation. This feeling of powerlessness. He has to get so strong that no one can even think about saying the words 'You're too weak' to him ever again. If he can't find the so called inheritances, he'll just smash the walls to oblivion and get inside. He couldn't' go on with his weak ass resolve that he had going. Just get strong enough to survive. That was all he had in his mind before. It's almost laughable when he thinks about it right now. He will not live a life of mediocrity.

With this newfound resolve, Rai exits the mindscape and finds himself back in front of the waterfall.