Chapter 198 - A Fate Changed

"You're awake!"

"Hm?"

Dazed and amazingly confused, Rynold woke up in the same place as before. His body was still in shambles. There was still blood everywhere in sight. At a glance, there wasn't anything that changed since the last time he woke up.

But then again, it was weird just to have woken up twice from the same spot.

Pushing himself to get to work, Rynold struggled to get up. It was only with Neana's help that he was able to barely sit up, as every single move he made seemed to bring insurmountable pain. Such that the slightest bit of effort he exerted made his cuts all the more painful.

As he sat up, Rynold inadvertently coughed up a mouthful of blood. He wouldn't do anything like that on purpose, of course, but the loss of blood made him feel woozy.

On the bright side, though, he was awake now.

"You're probably wondering what happened, huh?"

Neana took the initiative to speak as she knew she had to fill Rynold in with all the details. Well, that, and the fact that Rynold was in no condition to talk, let alone move, right now.

"Basically, what happened was that I ran over here to help you, but all I came to was you standing still. It was like you wanted the guy to beat the shit out of you. Luckily, I made it in the knick of time to save you. And, I can't tell you how easy it was for me to do it. Honestly, I even feel embarrassed for you. That thing beat your ass and look at you now! All bloody and injured."

Paying no mind in Neana's rather arrogant explanation, Rynold scoffed. And, in doing so, made him cough up yet another mouthful of blood. His lungs weren't in the best conditions either, after all.

Still, he was glad that it had all turned out okay. He knew what had really happened. And, based on what he recalled, the battle wasn't as easy as Neana had made it out to be.

But, hey, a win was still a win, regardless.

With that, Rynold threw Neana a perplexed look. He decided that giving facial expressions was his only method of communication right now. To which, he gave this look to her with the context of playfully doubting Neana's statement.

"Oh, don't look at me like that," Neana chuckled and helped Rynold remain sitting up. "How are you feeling? Do you need any help with moving at all?"

Hearing that, Rynold couldn't tell if Neana was joking or not. Because, if it weren't obvious enough, Rynold genuinely was in no condition to move at all. He was essentially crippled. So much so that a light tap would've sent immense pain throughout his body.

Rynold wouldn't go out and say it, of course. But, as of right now, though, there wasn't much else to do. Right now, what Rynold needed the most was rest. Perhaps even some healing magic if possible.

But, well, something like that would be a luxury he wished he had.

All Rynold could do about his condition was rest. But, as he didn't want to be lying in wait for that to happen, Rynold felt like he needed to do something more. It was akin to a workaholic getting the cold. It was just that his mind wouldn't listen to what his body clearly needed — rest.

Since there were some pressing matters Rynold had to attend to, his mind was racing on its own.

The first thing that popped into his head from this point was the brain creature the two had recently fought. Where was it? What the hell happened to it? Those were the questions that filled Rynold's mind as the last time he saw the creature was in his weird dream.

He could tell that he wasn't hallucinating then. The pain that he felt during the process wasn't something his mind could think up. Hell, even the whole experience seemed unfathomable now that Rynold was fully awake. So, those visions, without a doubt, meant something — something significant.

As it stands, though, Rynold couldn't base it off of anything. His mind was still in shock as to what had happened. It was undeniable, sure, but that didn't mean it was something Rynold could blindly accept.

Then again, Rynold felt that those lines were something he was bound to experience. Something inevitable for him to come across.

Call him crazy, but Rynold thought it was his destiny or some stupid bullshit like that.

But, at this point, no matter how much thought he put into figuring this out, Rynold would only come up with a headache. His thoughts kept jumping back and forth, as a part of him wanted to figure this thing out while another wanted him to rest.

"You okay?"

Luckily, Neana was there to snap Rynold out of his indecisiveness. The perplexed expression on Rynold's face made Neana worry and had consequently made her speak. But, as per Rynold's injuries, he couldn't really answer either.

With that, Rynold nodded and pretended like nothing was bothering him. In an attempt to avoid Neana's gaze, Rynold closed his eyes and concentrated.

If there were anything he could do right now, it would be this.

Finding the strength to sit up on his own, Rynold emptied his mind of any unimportant thoughts. He sat there, silent, as he concentrated his Mana in an attempt to repair his more than broken body.

It might not work, Rynold admitted, but it sure was better than trying to wait for help or his own recovery to kick in. At least, this way, he could be actively trying.

Neana, watching Rynold relax and close his eyes, decided to leave him be. She knew better than to interrupt anything Rynold would do. And, it was a good thing she did so as a veil of Mana soon wrapped around him.

With Rynold's mastery of Mana, it was easy to do something like that. Rynold could easily create a Mana Defense without putting much effort into it.

But then again, defense was one thing, and healing was another.

Weaving his Mana with careful control, Rynold concentrated on the next few moments. His mind was as clear as the blue sky as he proceeded with his attempts at recovery.

'What are you doing?'

Just like that, his concentration immediately broke. The veil of Mana surrounding him shattered in an instant. The surprise also managed to make him flinch, sending pain throughout his body.

"What's wrong?" Neana asked as she saw Rynold had suddenly moved. She felt as though something might have happened, especially considering the pained expression Rynold had.

Rynold shook his head as light as he could. Then, he immediately closed his eyes once more, entering his meditative state.

'Who the hell was that? There's no way I'm hallucinating this. If I were, I sure chose a messed up way of expressing it.'

He knew it was real. Whoever said that, it was unmistakable that somebody was trying to talk to him. But, why the hell would it happen now of all times?

"I mistook you for one who wasn't so easily spooked."

Expecting the voice to speak up again, Rynold was ready this time around. Although, it certainly didn't prepare him for the conversation he was about to have. He wasn't so surprised as before and, now that he was much more prepared, Rynold could actually recognize who had called out to him.

"Lumie?"

"It's been quite some time, Rynold," the Emissary of Order answered, "I'm impressed by what you've accomplished in the short time since we've seen each other. Although, I do wish my visit were under better circumstances."

"Does it have anything to do with the fact that I can't see you?" Rynold asked the Emissary of Order as the two were having a telepathic conversation.

"I wish it were that simple," Lumie answered with a somewhat defeated voice.

Rynold didn't know what the Emissary of Order was trying to say. And, even then, it wasn't that simple for him to guess either. Being someone of that status and power, Rynold could only tell that things were bad. As to how bad, however, Rynold had no clue.

"Okay," Rynold then spoke up, "Is it something that awful? If there were something that would worry an Emissary of Order, I don't think I can ignore it."

With a firm understanding of an Emissary of Order's role, Rynold knew that this wasn't good. A being such as Lumie wouldn't go out of her way to tell Rynold that something was wrong. That is unless something presented a danger to the natural order of the world.

If that were the case, Rynold would have completely understood. At the very least, he would give an effort in trying to fix things. That said, Rynold could only play by ear what the Emissary of Order would say next.

"To answer your first question, you can't see me right now for the very simple reason that you are awake. It is much harder to intercept someone's thoughts when one is conscious. Hence, you can only hear my voice."

"Okay, okay." Rynold acknowledged the explanation as a response, "So, I assume the reason you came here is something worse, huh?"

"I'm afraid so."

Lumie answered with a somewhat defeated tone to her voice. Then, she proceeded to explain things in a manner that made Rynold surprised. But, it was something he would soon accept nonetheless.

"The real reason I came to you is simple. You succeeded in tapping into your true power, albeit in a somewhat unorthodox way. Your sudden appearance in our realm had certainly caught a lot of us off-guard. But I figured you'd eventually get there anyway. It's just.., a bit too soon."

Rynold wanted to halt the conversation there as there was a lot of information to process. But, regardless, the Emissary of Order continued.

"Anyway, I cam here to warn you not to do something like that again. This first time, my superiors decided that they let it slide. It's imperative that you don't do attempt to alter fate again, especially without good reason. Otherwise, you'd be branded as a threat and be destroyed."

"I'm sorry, but can we just back up a bit?"

Not knowing what to say in all this, Rynold spoke out to give himself some time to think. It would take too long for him to get answers to every question he had. So, he started off with the most important one.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

That was what Rynold thought right now. That, if he knew earlier on, he wouldn't have gone and changed fate on a whim. Even if there were a much more prominent threat, Rynold would've found a solution that wouldn't have involved his power to change fate.

"I saw no reason to," Lumie answered in a somewhat apologetic tone, "There was no point in me detailing it all out when you weren't aware of your ability. Telling you would only prove to be a risk and a dependency towards it. If worse had come to worst, there would be no guarantee that your ability to change fate would save you."

Having heard that, Rynold acknowledged what Lumie had done for him. Hell, he was even grateful for it. But that didn't mean that he didn't want to know about all of this. Information was more important to him than any power that he would have. Rynold needed it more than anything else.

"Okay," Rynold acknowledged but didn't give him the thanks the Emissary of Order deserved. "That more than answers my questions. But, can you at least tell me what I'm dealing with here? I don't want to end up dead before knowing which way is up."

Like it or not, Rynold needed to know about this whole "power to change fate" thing. He was clueless about it. And, ironically, he was the one who had that power.