'Wait! Wait! What the fuck is she!?'
I screamed in my mind as I looked at her status.
It wasn't even stats—all of them were just question marks.
'Are you seriously broke now!?'
[.....]
'EDDA!!'
[....Stop panicking.]
Her monotonous voice echoed in my head, and I quickly complied with her words.
I drew in shallow breaths as I looked at her.
She slowly blinked her golden eyes, observing the place before her gaze landed on me.
The dullness in her eyes faded, replaced by an unusual sense of brightness.
As if she had found something she was looking for years.
"You."
Unlike her frightening presence and appearance, her voice was gentle, like that of a mother.
"Do you know who Mel is?"
"What?" I asked, my voice filled with confusion.
"Mel." She asked, taking a step closer. "Do you know her?"
I stepped back.
How the fuck should I answer that!?
I have no idea who she is talking about!!
Who is that Mel person!?
"Your answer?" She asked, her body nearing closer.
"I-I don't know." I replied honestly, my throat felt dry like a desert.
Her lips slowly curled up in a smile.
A loving, passionate smile.
"I see." She whispered softly, her smile turning into a grin. "You haven't met her, huh?"
I immediately made my decision.
Run.
A single thread of Star Energy connected me with a faraway space node.
The space around me wrapped as I closed my eyes shut.
"....."
But the sensation of moving through the space never came.
"Why are you using such an outdated method?"
My heartbeat dropped as her voice echoed once again.
Slowly, I opened my eyes, and the thing that was happening in front made me question reality.
"Is it because you are too young right now?"
The woman asked, playing with the thread which I created to escape.
The thread which should be only visible to me.
Her smiling face glanced toward me, and I felt the Star Energy around me tremble.
"You seem to panic a lot unlike your usual calm self." She mumbled as the space around us cracked.
'What the fuck is happening?'
I thought, too confused to understand as I lost control of the Star Energy.
The starry space twisted, stretched out, and turned upside down, dragging me away.
And before I knew it....
I was in emptiness.
Surrounded by no one.
Surrounded by nothing.
Panic crept within every fiber of my body as I tried to move.
But as if a viscous liquid was attached to my body, I couldn't move an inch.
It was as if I was floating into nothingness.
I tried saying something, but no voice came out of my mouth.
It was as if I had lost my voice or my sense of hearing.
....Or both.
'Edda.'
I thought, startled as I noticed her absence.
I couldn't feel her presence, nor could I hear her voice in my head.
'No way.'
A sudden thought crept into my mind.
A thought that I dearly wished to be false.
'Did I die?'
I wondered, but I suppressed those negative thoughts immediately.
That's not possible.
Sylvia's phoenix bloodline would have been triggered if I was close to death.
So I am anything but dead.
It took me some time to calm myself down.
The tension on my forehead slowly started to relax as I closed my eyes.
I willed the Star Energy to engulf my body.
I felt my legs twitch, waist move, hands twist as the Star Energy engulfed it.
It slowly reached my face.
"Ahh, ugh."
I tried to talk but immediately regretted it as I felt something viscous entering my mouth, choking me.
Star Energy engulfed my eyes.
And finally, I could see....
....The vast ocean in which I was floating, drowning, submerging.
I stopped breathing involuntarily even though I was fine just a second before.
But even in this situation, something weird happened.
A single spherical object glowing in a silverish hue floated in the enormous ocean.
I blinked.
The spherical object turned into thousands of different yet identical objects.
I blinked again.
The thousands of glowing objects turned into millions.
I blinked once again.
The millions turned into billions... glowing objects.
And yet, they could all float freely in the ocean.
My stomach twisted in fear as I couldn't even fathom the place where I was in.
Oddly enough, I sensed my Star Energy wasn't depleting like always.
....As if it was getting replenished as soon as I used it.
'...'
Silence lingered as I couldn't even understand what to do next.
And every time I blinked, those glowing objects were multiplying themselves.
As if my eyes were playing tricks on me.
I wasn't even sure how many of them were floating in the ocean now.
With no choice left, I jerked my body toward a floating glowing sphere.
'What...is this?'
I wondered as I looked closely at the small glowing object.
It floated to a certain distance before multiplying into hundreds and thousands.
'Hm?'
But only by looking closely did I notice something.
...The sphere was moving in a single line before it returned to its initial point as soon as it multiplied.
As if time reversed for it.
Unable to contain my curiosity.
I moved my hand closer before gently pinching it.
Immediately, the time froze.
My vision turned vacant.
I blinked, and the world around me shifted.
"Huh?"
I looked around as I found myself in a village area.
The soft melody of the chirping birds echoed in my mind as I looked around.
Relief washed over me as I found a girl in an old dress carrying an earthen pitcher.
"Hah, I am free."
I mumbled to myself as I felt my body listening to my response.
'Edda?'
I called her, but much to my surprise, she didn't reply.
With no option left, I quickly walked toward the girl.
"Excuse me, lady." I called as I reached behind her on the unpaved road.
She turned around.
And immediately, her eyes turned in horror.
The pitcher dropped from her hand, breaking into pieces, water slipping away.
"Don't take me as a slave, my lord!!" She yelled as she immediately knelt in front of me, her forehead on the ground.
"Wait, what?" I frowned as I stepped back.
"Please spare my lowly life." She started crying, choking on her words. "I don't want to be a slave."
"What are you talking about?"
Her reaction made no sense to me.
Wasn't slavery banned in the Darkonia Continent long ago?
"Wait, what place is this?" I asked as I looked at the girl, still kneeling down.
"O-Ondina K-Kingdom." The girl replied.
And I stood there, confused.
Wasn't the Ondina empire related to witches?
And.....
Wasn't it destroyed long ago?
The world twisted around me.
I blinked.
....Finding myself in the same ocean once again.
My grip loosened, and the glowing sphere in my hand returned to its usual motion.
But....
Unlike before, it took a different direction.
Moving further than the place it usually reset.
'What was that?'
I wondered as my gaze shifted away.
There were still trillions of those glowing spheres present in the ocean.
Unable to contain my curiosity, I floated a little further.
Another sphere caught my attention.
A sphere that had a slightly brighter glow.
With a little hesitation, I moved my hand before pinching the sphere in the middle of its path.
I blinked.
My vision blurred as I found myself in a different place.
And immediately, the cries from around me dampened my thoughts.
I looked around; a burning city came into view.
The flames reaching sky-high, smoke filling the place.
My heart trembled as my gaze landed on the burning bodies of people.
The sickening smell made me nauseous as I tried to breathe.
"ARHHH!!"
Someone screamed from my side like a battle cry.
My head snapped to my side as a soldier came into view, rushing toward me with his spear aimed at my ribs.
The moment he thrust his spear, I used my hand to glide it past me.
"Arghh!?"
As soon as he came closer, I grabbed his throat, making him groan.
He writhed and twisted as I lifted him up.
"I will ask this once." I said, my voice colder than I expected. "Where is this place?"
"Unhand—Urgh."
I squeezed my grip tighter as he tried to order me.
"Where is this?"
He finally complied as he choked out. "T-Telma city."
"Where is this Telma city situated?" I asked further, staring into his eyes.
"Unhand me, you pest, I AM THE GREAT GENERAL—."
A spray of blood spilled on my face as I crushed his throat.
His body fell on the ground as he let out a choked, gurgling cry.
And just as I turned to walk away, the world twisted.
I blinked, finding myself back in the ocean.
The glowing sphere in my hand returned to its original place before starting to move in a straight line.
But....
It vanished the moment it reached the place I picked it from.