I ate little by little of the food I had brought and checked Ashel’s condition.
By now she knew very well what was going on in her vision.
It would be painful and painful, but in the end, in order to grow, I would have no choice but to face it and overcome it.
***
A night of storms and thunderstorms.
There was a woman running down the mountain road through the heavy rain.
Ashel grabbed her younger brother’s hand and swung her sword. He cut down the monsters that came from all directions.
The destination to reach in that desperate escape has always been the same.
Asher stopped her feet only when she reached the edge of the cliff and looked down at the river, which had sprung up in the heavy rain, with a heavy breath, and then looked back.
A monster with a spear was slowly walking towards it.
“································· kind kind- of of !
how many times is this
Ashel screamed and tried to run towards him. But it was just futile.
Tuuk.
As usual, his body didn’t listen, only the bitter smile of his younger brother who pushed him down the cliff was one last light.
with a splash!
As she sank to the bottom of the water, she didn’t even have the strength to struggle any longer.
She felt no doubt in this situation that was repeated several times, dozens of times, hundreds of times. Like a fleeting dream, like a terrible nightmare.
I found myself standing at the scene of the massacre again, feeling only my heart slowly collapsing in terrible agony.
“······ Run away, Ashel! Don’t look back!”
The father cried as he held his dead mother in his arms.
Ashel once again ran away with her brother.
Once again, he ran away leaving the clan being slaughtered at the hands of the assailants, and was again pushed to the edge of the cliff.
Once again, he falls alone down the cliff. Again, the cool spear blade pierced his brother’s chest.
again, again, again.
“············”.
At some point Ashhel realized that this was all an illusion.
He recalled the memories of reality that he had just found some ruins with the 7th lords…
Is this the ordeal?
If so, what is the ordeal for?
The past cannot be undone. Nothing changes in reality anyway, and even in this fantasy, he couldn’t change anything.
“eww······.”
It was so tragic that Ashel burst into tears.
I could see Changseong walking towards me with heartless eyes.
The younger brother holding her hand looked back at her, who was sobbing in embarrassment.
“Sister, why are you doing this? This is not the time to be like this. Come on…”
Yes, in the end, nothing will change.
Even if we go back to reality, the only thing we can do is take revenge. Neither the dead family nor the dead clan will come back alive.
Maybe I’m really the only one left in the world.
‘Whatever it was, your choice was not wrong.’
It was only after she was driven to the point where her heart finally collapsed, that Ashel was finally able to admit everything. I could definitely do everything.
I was overwhelmed with sadness that I couldn’t resist, but I was no longer confused.
turuk.
Ashel grabbed her brother’s hand, trying to push her away.
He grabbed her arm and hugged her tightly.
“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry…”
“············”.
“So… stop now.”
The struggle of the younger brother who was trying to get out of his arms in embarrassment stopped.
Ashel held her for a while longer and then slowly pulled away.
The younger brother was smiling.
But a little less sadly than before, and a little less bitter.
slurp.
My brother’s body was scattered like a mirage and disappeared.
Ashel wiped the tears and rainwater from her face and looked ahead. There, there was a spearhead standing there.
The surrounding landscape has changed. From the cliff to the endless darkness of nothing.
He gave strength to the hand holding the sword. Ashel ran towards him.
The sum of five times came and went, and the very next moment, Ashel’s neck flew to the spear.
Darkness rolls in and time goes backwards.
Ashel, who died in an instant, stood facing Changseong again in a healthy state.
She jumped in again, and this time she couldn’t even hold a triple and her heart was pierced.
“Hey heuk…!”
strong.
It was incomparable to anything he had fought before at Earth Hill’s banquet.
She too had grown significantly from that day’s duel, but the gap was still far away.
This is the power of creation, and it will be the true gap between him and himself.
But this place is only an illusion, it’s only in one’s own memory, what the hell is it based on? unconscious? Imagination?
A small question arose, but whatever it was, it was good.
Ashel stared at the changseong in front of her with unfeeling eyes, then rushed in again.
Dozens of duels and hundreds of sums came and went.
Ashel also died and resurrected again and again.
Even if he died anyway, there was no reason to risk his life in this fantasy that was not the end.
She gradually got used to it. He calmed his fighting spirit and emotions to a minimum and began to contemplate calmly.
While he was fighting, he watched the battle between the two as if he were seeing it through the eyes of a third person.
He ripped open each movement and engraved it in his mind. If necessary, he jumped back and reproduced the action.
In the endless repetition, I finally understood and accepted one by one. broke the wall
grasp!
3056th death.
Ashel’s body was torn in half and then regenerated.
Surprisingly, there was also a faint blood stain on Changseong’s arm. It was a wound that her sword had rubbed against.
‘Not enough, yet….’
We don’t know how close we have to get to him or how far we have to reach for this ordeal to end.
But Ashel hoped that the end was not yet near.
Even in this fantasy, I hope I can continue to wield the sword until I get over it.
***
About half a day passed, and for the first time a change appeared in Ashel.
She was still lying dead, but the level floating above her head.
【Lv. 86]
Level 1 increased.
Looking at the scene, I felt a little relieved.
Because the level was raised, it meant that she was going through the ordeal safely without breaking down in the illusion.
A little more time passed and her level went up by one more level, reaching level 87.
It was an unusual speed, but it stopped there and then didn’t climb for a long time.
And maybe an extra day or so has passed.
“···········?”
As I lay blankly, staring at the ceiling, I jumped up.
It was because Ashhel’s body, which had not yet moved, trembled weakly.
and······.
【Lv. 90]
············Leaping from 87 at once, finally breaking the wall of 80 and reaching level 90.
In the game, the same level that she overcame and reached.
– Ohh······.
The guide’s low exclamation rang out.
Slowly, Ashhel’s eyes opened.
Standing up, she looked around with calm eyes and met my eyes.
I hadn’t decided what to say, but I asked reflexively without realizing it.
“Did you overcome everything?”
She looked at me blankly for a moment, then nodded slowly.
“······Yes.”
Sadness and joy, emptiness and fulfillment, and regret and remorse.
With a smile that seemed to be a mixture of all kinds of conflicting emotions.
“It seems so.”
Ruins of Cabolissa (4)
After waking up, Ashel felt that the atmosphere itself had changed a little. More static than usual.
I didn’t know if it was because I had reached level 90, or if it was due to a major change of heart during the ordeal, but at least it didn’t seem like it was going in a bad direction, so I was a little relieved.
– The ordeal is over now that both are out of the illusion.
The guide said so and moved to one side.
It was a wall that had nothing to do with it, but as soon as it appeared to be doing something with magical power, a change appeared.
kugugu.
The wall cracked and slowly began to open from side to side.
Me and Ashel looked at the scene revealed inside.
At the end of the short passage, there was a magic circle, and a staff was embedded in it.
A space I saw once while playing a game.
A space that will be a big turning point for Ashel.
As I recalled that vague scene in my memory, I felt a little strange.
– You have passed the ordeal, and as I said, you deserve the price you deserve.
I knew what the price was, so I didn’t ask.
I glanced at Ashel for a moment and followed the guide to the staff.
Ashel followed me with a look of doubt.
– Alright then…
As the two of us stood in front of the staff, the guide energized again. Much bigger than it was just before.
Magical magic that overflowed with golden light swirled quietly and the magic circle flashed.
I was watching the scene, then suddenly I looked up into the air. The guide disappeared without a trace and was nowhere to be seen.
saah.
It was an instant when all the mana that had been raging in a huge way was absorbed by the staff.
A faint figure appeared in the quiet surroundings, soon from the staff.
A translucent spirit body that looked like a guide, but had the shape of a young woman.
The Great Wise Cabolissa.
A great wizard who ruled an era of the golden age of ancient magic.
She took turns looking at me and Ashel with a hazy glance.
– Haha… Did the passer-by just come out? How many years have passed, the magic…
The voice of lamentation resounded in my head first, and then the words continued.
– Nice to meet you, adventurers. My name is Cabolissa Orbilt, the wizard who created this ruin.
“············”.
“Why is there no answer? If you know who I am, introduce yourself as well.
I closed my mouth briefly, only blinking my eyes at him.
“It’s Ron.”
Ashel, who was looking at the great sage as if in a strange way, also answered.
“This is Ashel.”
The great sage with a slightly dissatisfied look continued the story.
– Well, that’s good. I have a lot of questions about the outdoors, but I don’t have much time. Coming all the way here and waking me up means that I have passed the ordeal I have prepared for you.
“okay.”
– The price for that is my knowledge. Until the magic that holds me now runs out, I’ll give you about ten minutes to answer any questions. Originally, it was much longer than this, but time has passed and there has been a small error in the magic formula. I can’t believe that no one has passed through the ordeal for such a long time.
She spoke again as if lamenting.
She remembers that she was a particularly long-time figure among the ancient wizards, so this remains will be the same.
– I was once the most adept at the truth of this world. If you want magical enlightenment, I will help him, and if you crave other knowledge, he will also answer to the best of my knowledge. Ask me anything.
I don’t have much time, so I asked without hesitation.
The reason I came here was to ask this in the first place.
“Do you know about the Baekwol tribe?”
Ashel was taken aback by my question.
The great sage answered.
– He’s a white wolf, of course you know. Wasn’t it a race that had the ability to purify magic and increase purity? There were also a few close friends that I personally had a relationship with.
“This woman is that white wolf.”
I continued to look at Ashel.
“In the present era, the Bai Yue tribe has almost been wiped out for some reason.”
– ·······Hmmm?
“What I want to know is whether there is at least one white wolf clan living on the continent besides this woman. Can you tell?”
The great sage looked at Ashhel with a curious look.
Ashel looked at me with a look of quite an embarrassment.