How many seconds, hours, days, or perhaps years has it been since he was here

Where even was "here"

Was he dead? Or was this, nothingness, the same one he came to when he slept

How many times has he even asked himself these questions now

Time was a relative concept, it was a number, one based on the perception of objects of constant unchanging routine, the rotation of the sun, the moon, and the earth for example were one such concept

But here, where there was nothing but himself he found the concept of time nonexistent

In this absence of everything he was the only exception, he was the only thing he knew existed, his sense of self was the only sense

He hated this feeling, being alone, he had spent the last two years of his past life watching the world change around him while he remained silent, forgotten and empty

The discomfort grew in his dissatisfied self, becoming very apparent, to the point it became heavy and frustrating

That's when he felt a warm touch, a change brought outside his means, pulling him out this emptiness and once again into the darkness that he recognized as "something", along with the invasion of his many senses

Spending a few seconds to feel out his situation he recognized that his eyes were shut tight, thus he slowly opened them, chasing away the darkness

What greeted him were the warm rays of the sun, causing his unadjusted eyes to squint, until someone loomed over him, shading him from the irritating light

Deep jade eyes met soft purple, both seemed relieved to once again reunite, both finally gaining their own sense of freedom

His body felt too stiff to suddenly get up so he kept laying on her lap, allowing her to brush his head softly, this was a new interaction he wasn't used to but enjoyed more than he thought he would, perhaps they should do it more often

A few minutes passed by and his muscles regained their flexibility, thanks to the effort of his blood flow control that rejuvenated the body

Pushing against the ground he got up with Ellis's help, after making sure he could stand on his own she let go of him, allowing him to stretch his bones

From his neck to his toes, every joint was cracked in order, giving him a satisfying feeling that amended his soreness, only his butt remained painful

Seeing him rub his bottom Ellis recalled the few time she rested on his lap during the climb, a blush sneakily creeping its way to her now awkward face

He didn't see it though as he was surveying the area they were in instead

Seeing the tangled trees and blue leaves he instantly recognised where they were, but then he spotted the scattered bone arrows on the ground

"Giba?"

"?"

Ellis didn't understand him and thought that he may have damaged his head, but before she could worriedly check his head he turned to her puzzledly and asked

"You were attacked by a Giba pack?"

It took her a second to realize that Giba was the name of the beasts she faced, not a random sound because of a brain concussion

"Uhh, I didn't see them clearly but if they are small blue-eyed beasts that shoot bone arrows then yes"

Nodding his head he walked to one of the bones and picked them up, explaining what they were as he checked the bone arrow out

"Giba are ball-like furry creatures that have small frontal hands and just as small black paws for feet, they are a common companion for archers in this region"

From the description the beast sounded like a cute plushy, this piqued Ellis's curiosity

"Why archers?"

"It's because of their practicality, since when they eat their prey whole they turn everything but bones into nutrients, as for the leftover bones they grind them in a special part inside their body to turn them into arrows which they then shoot at their enemies, but they could also just spit it out for the archers to use, that makes it easier to get ammunition while on the road"

"....."

"This is still wet and warm, did they just leave?"

He asked the silent Ellis who responded with an affirmative grunt, her mind still blaming those beasts for looking cute but being gory

"That means this area is safe, we can move on without having to hide for quite some distance"

His words spurred Ellis's thoughts into action, recalling the event that just occurred

"Master! I don't think it's safe anymore, a strong beast probably passed by just now and scared the..Giba"

"Don't worry Ellis you're not that scary"

"?"

Looking back at her puzzled face he gave her a bored look

"What was the last thing you remember before they ran away"

"I- I only remembering preparing to fight with my all since they got angry and then they just suddenly ran away"

"And what did you do to prepare yourself?"

"Release my au....my aura?"

"Indeed, it was your aura that scared them, for someone with over a hundred points into intelligence you're quite slow"

Throwing the bone away he took out a handkerchief and wiped his hands clean

"Didn't you also ward off the Kha'si, that would be the black flying insects, the same way you did the Giba"

He said as a matter of fact but was proven wrong when she shook her head

"Then how did you?"

"Master, those insects didn't notice me as I was hanging onto the cliff at the time they jumped off it"

Her explanation further plunged him into doubt rather than clearing anything up

"How many hours did it take you to reach the cliff and how many did you spend climbing it?"

"About sixteen before they showed up"

His brows furrowed at this

"Then they should have already crossed the forest by that time and arrived at our lands"

His mind suddenly felt uneasy, he hadn't done anything outside the inclosed earth yet the events that should have happened have already changed, wouldn't that mean he would need major adjustments on his plans, if so then what were those years spent gathering information and walking at the edge of death for

Before he was too far gone in his thoughts Ellis brought an issue to his notice

"Well, there were swarms of them to the west and east, only the road I had taken didn't have them until then"

"The road you took? Which one was that?"

She thought for a while but couldn't come up with any reasonable landmark, after all it was an empty plain with rocks randomly dotting it

Suddenly she recalled something that might be a clue

"I saw a giant rock passing by, it had pillars for legs and arm, the other arm was like a branch made of rocks, I don't know if there were more like it anywhere else but it was the only thing that I saw other than..."

Halfway through her explanation she saw his eyes widen and his mouth shrink, a look of shock on his usually calm face

"Are you surprised that a rock moves as well?"

"No I'm just surprised we're alive"

Sighing he didn't further explain to her and went to pick up Anput instead

"Why is there black mist coming out of her?"

A hazy repulsing black mist seeped out of Anput's pores, it felt sticky since the wind could hardly blow it away and it gave one goosebump just looking at it

"It started when I woke up and you feinted, it has been getting worse ever since"

Again his brows knit in thought, he was awake for a minute and yet there were so many problems already, so many things went wrong because of his miscalculation

'I will take everything into consideration from now on'

He promised himself, from now on as long as it was within his range of knowledge he will try not to miss out on any details, just as he did before, he was taking things too easy since he knew what would happen and that kept on coming back to bite him, no more would he underestimate the world like the fools he detested

'Two things could cause Anput to have this change, one of them would be her soul being misplaced during the time I pushed her soul into her body since this black mist carries a hint of decay, the second option is her insight caused a new skill related to this mist which is in the midst of forming itself'

If it was the latter then it was all good and dandy, but if it was the former...

'I will keep an eye on her, if she showed any violent fluctuations then I will interfere, otherwise, I will only watch'

Not wanting to ruin a great chance he decided to take it slow for now, her soul wasn't going anywhere, hopefully

Picking up the still slumbering fellow he came to the pond and gently laid her at the edge, enough for her body to submerge but her head stayed out while he took off his clothes and placed them by the side

Seeing her master intending to take a bath Ellis also took off her cloths and put them next to his, then followed him into the water

"Hm? Your feet"

Maybe it was the stinging smell that made him turn back but he had noticed her poisoned state

"My aura couldn't block all of the poison out so some of the corrosion got in"

He stayed silent and didn't comment any further, rinsing himself with the water while looking ahead instead

"Master, I had wanted to know, how were you planning on crossing the poisoned plains?"

His movement stopped and he gave a sigh

"The Kha'si are barely capable of lifting a humans weight on their body up to a few meters above the ground, we would have used them to get to the cliff and from there climb up"

"They would listen to us?"

"Your aura would be enough of a deterrence for them to do so"

"Is my aura specialized in pressuring beasts then"

She couldn't help but think so after knowing two packs of beasts were already afraid of her

"I have no idea what you specialize in, I don't think you have gotten a specific aspect yet either, but to most of the end of the barrel beasts and low-class civilizations an aura is synonym to strength as most who possess it are far stronger than what these small fries could hope to come close to, that's why while there are weak aura holders none of the beasts are willing to engage to find out, they don't want to be wiped out just to satisfy the curiosity"

He let her process the information for a second before continuing

"I recognise that this could have been avoided by informing you of the plan, this was a mistake on my part and I shall try to avoid it in the future, rest assured the poison isn't fatal, taking it out will be a hassle since it was accumulated and fused into your blood but I may have a way to dissolve it, we will try it once we reach our first safe haven"

"Thank you Master"

Having not to worry about it causing lasting damage put her at ease, his presence really made a big difference, it made her feel safe and relaxed, along with the cold water sucking away the fatigue she gradually let go of her suppressed tension, slowly falling into her own world of dreams