Chapter 745: Truth Seeker (1)
Elysia was cornered early in the interrogation, but she managed to convince Alisha and turn things around as time pa.s.sed. It only took her about two hours to satisfy most of Alisha"s curiosities.
"Hm, I"m glad you"re cooperating well, Elysia." Alisha put her hand to her chin. She needed some time to reorganize her thoughts.
"So, do you want to kill me because I"ve told you everything you want to know?" Elysia replied with a tender smile.
"Why should I kill you? It would only leave a bitter taste in my mouth if I killed the weak like you." Alisha turned around and folded her arms.
She then muttered in her mind over some considerations. "It has been so long since I last spoke this much. This girl is obedient and honest. Why do I need to get rid of her? Not to mention, she"s like my twin... She also knows a lot about me more than I do. Maybe, she could be the key to everything. Her arrival to this Boundless Realm was because of a purpose, and I was one of them. Hm, yes, I can use her."
After a few moments of silence, Alisha looked back at Elysia and stretched out her hand. "I have judged you, and you have not let me down. You have the honor of being my slave. Be grateful to your destiny."
"That"s a misleading metaphor to say you want an accompany. Let"s be friends, Alisha." Elysia was pretty amused, but she didn"t show it. Somehow, she got Sylvia"s vibe from Alisha.
"Friend, what is that? The p.r.o.noun for "slave" in your place of origin? Above all, never take that name out of your mouth carelessly. Do you understand? In this Boundless Realm, I am Ai." Alisha pressed her finger against Elysia"s forehead. She made that clear, and she didn"t want any disobedience.
"Let"s take a baby step at a time. It seems you"ve lost many memories regarding many things, including your ident.i.ty. I can see a lot of carvings on the walls, and you also seem to have some notes and diaries. Why did you do it?" Elysia answered with a subtle nod and heaved a sigh.
"I will tell you this. The only way to survive here is to be at the top of the food chain. However, some things will affect you, and corrosion is inevitable. My memory is like that too. Because of that, I wrote many things so I don"t forget who I am. It"s only a matter of time for me to become a mindless monster like them if I lose." Alisha sighed and looked up.
"Would you like to cooperate with me? We might be able to conquer this Void Realm together. I may help you too." Elysia proposed her idea. That was her goal from the previous conversation. Alisha already knew some things from her, but not the other way around. She demanded reciprocity, but with a smooth method.
"Cooperation, heh? You are so weak and helpless. What can you do? You might be a cannon fooder or a meat shield, but I don"t need that. You are my property now." Alisha snorted mockingly.
"I may be weak, but it won"t last long. How about you train me in some things? I learn new things in no time. Also, I don"t know much about this realm. Would you like to be my instructor, Lisha?" Elysia requested with a look full of expectations.
"Ugh, what"s with that gaze. You look like a little animal and are easy to exploit. You can die a few seconds after entering the outer region. I wonder how you survived and followed me all the way here. Luck is probably your highest value in existence." Alisha took a few steps back.
Somehow, her heart felt a bit strange. She was resentful when she saw Elysia because she seemed to see her weak self. However, she might be able to lump the harsh reality into this girl with a cruel experience in this realm. She desperately wanted to get rid of Elysia"s cheerful and naive expression.
"I"m Ai and don"t ever talk when we"re outside the safe zone. I want to get out for a while." Alisha decided to go away for a while to reorganize her thoughts and rethink Elysia"s existence.
She also felt a bit overwhelmed when she was in front of Elysia. It was a mental and emotional problem that often bothered her, and she didn"t like it.
"Before that, can you please release me from your shackles? I"m no longer a prisoner or subject of interrogation, am I? I"ll be well behaved, Ai." Elysia asked right before Alisha left.
*Clang!*
Alisha snapped her fingers, and the ropes binding Elysia were cut off without a sound. She glanced back briefly and walked out of the room. "You are my property. Don"t venture outside or wander around this place carelessly. Also, don"t you dare to touch anything, or you will die not knowing why and how."
"Alright. Thanks for the warning." Elysia only obeyed because she could comprehend that as Alisha"s concern.
Alisha just snorted and put her hood of shadow back on. She turned into a flash of shadow and disappeared somewhere.
"Sigh, I at least got some clues about this realm. She said this is the Boundless Realm, but it"s like a void to me. Void Realm, void monsters... Wait, do they have anything to do with the Ruvoid Race? This place is the Illusory Realm, right?" Elysia picked up the red lantern from the ground and peeked out of the room.
It was as if she was in an abandoned and somewhat haunted mine. Several terrifying auras could be felt from several spots.
Elysia got gooseb.u.mps a little and decided to go around a bit to uncover a few things while waiting for Alisha to return. However, she suddenly remembered something. "Uh, how long have I been here? Did I make Sister Elena and the others worry? I hope the time in the Illusory Realm is different from the time in the real world. Something like an hour in the real world equals ten hours here."
Elysia was guessing. Suppose she considered Alisha"s current age from the status screen. In that case, she could draw a wild conclusion. "It was about three months since I last met Alisha"s spirit. Her age is the same as mine, that"s sixteen. She has spent three hundred years here, huh..."
"Hm, these crystals have the effect of selecting magic energy, huh... But, they have a black aura. Is that okay? Never mind, they are still a great resource if they can recover my EP in no time." Elysia returned to the room where she was previously held. She took some crystals for inspection.
She had some considerations, but she took all the surrounding dark crystals and used them to recover her EP as much as possible, regardless of the risk.
Thirty minutes pa.s.sed in meditation. Elysia opened her eyes again to realize that the crystals in the room had been used up a bit extravagantly.
"I would never know the time here if it weren"t for this cube clock. Luckily, I have one in my s.p.a.ce Storage." Elysia stood up and did a little stretching.
"Okay, now what do I need to do. Wait, where"s my Celestia?" Elysia rechecked her s.p.a.ce Storage, but she couldn"t find her treasured odachi anywhere. She just remembered that Alisha probably confiscated it from her when she lost in the previous battle.
"Celestia seems to be still in Alisha"s hands. She also has something like the s.p.a.ce Bag, right? Anyway, let"s go around this place." Elysia activated her sacred vision and went down the pa.s.sage.
"Grr..." The four-winged black dragon growled at the approaching girl.
Elysia stopped in her tracks when she had just entered a large room at the intersection of the pa.s.sage. A large creature was waiting for her there. "This big boy is cooler than I imagined when seen up close. Did Alisha order her to be on guard around here, so I don"t wander around like this? But he now looks like a dragon rather than a winged lizard."
"Good dragon, I"m just wandering around here with Ai"s permission. I don"t have any ill will, just want to look at the carvings in this place." Elysia raised both her hands while moving to the side. She turned around and looked at the carvings on the cave walls like an expert.
What Alisha carved in this room seemed over a hundred years old. So, this place had been used as Alisha"s hideout for quite a long time.
"..." The black dragon didn"t know how to respond. He received a task to make sure his master"s clone didn"t get out of this place, but his overbearing pressure was entirely ignored by that girl.
"Memory loss, and corrosion. Then, corruption, mutation, and transformation. This realm holds many terrifying mysteries, huh…" Elysia muttered while looking at the carvings on the other walls.
"Alisha carved this before finding something to replace the paper, it seems. Hmm?" Elysia froze for a moment when she saw a faint carving in the lower corner of the wall. She stroked it and read it in her mind.
"I don"t know who I am anymore and what I"m here for. What do I need to achieve besides survival? Looking for the truth behind my existence? Does the truth really exist?" Elysia rethought the meaning of that sentence. No wonder Alisha was so excited to dig deeper into the truth through her.
"She"s just looking for a reason to keep holding on. Something like a truth seeker. She is desperate to convince herself that she exists for a reason. If our destiny is tied, can I bring her out of this realm of eternal darkness?" Elysia heaved a subtle sigh.
*Swoosh*
A shadowy figure emerged right behind Elysia. Alisha took off her hood and looked at the girl who was lost in thought. "What are you doing here? Here, eat this, or you will die soon."
"Whoa!" Elysia gasped in surprise. She immediately turned around and leaned her back against the wall. Alisha"s usual cold expression made her a bit confused by the statement just now. "Oh, it"s you, Ai. May I know what you mean by I will die?"