**

Previously on Elysium Mist:

After the unexpected mishap turned disaster,

Noah managed to make it through by the skin of his teeth.

That so only with the help of Vanadis.

Thereafter, he woke up to find himself in front of an unknown noble.

who somehow knew about the involvement of higher powers in his rescue.

**

"How do yo-"

"Know? While to others it may be shocking, I have some knowledge of your situation. I was expecting a few more out of your group. Enough talent can get one blessed by Deities or higher beings. You seem to be the first one in this batch. Though I should say, I am quite surprised with you being offered a Covenant so early."

"What Covenant?"

"You didn't get a message for accepting a contract?"

"I... did."

He could recall the conversation a few days back. It felt like it happened a long time back. Though, he hadn't gotten a prompt. Well, he didn't have the System back then.

But what did it mean, for real? He could feel there was more than he was letting on. Noah urged with his eyes to elaborate. The noble spoke as if able to read his mind.

"Some system placed by Akasha to foster potential Talents. It acts as a protection for them until they can grow strong enough."

"And about whatever the heck happened to me?"

"Oh, no worries. It was just some first-time symptoms. You will adapt in time. The problem was the thing that was attacking your soul. It's good you managed to fend it off with some outside help. Just so you know, I also helped. Still, you are quite lucky to be alive."

A sharp pain surged in his mind making him stagger a bit. Leaning on the bed, he remarked.

"You say so. But the head-splitting makes me think I should have just died."

"That's why it is in your best interest to drink that tea. It will alleviate your symptoms and improve your condition. It is more effective when hot than cold."

Thinking over his words, he focused on the tea. Taking a sniff to test its smell, he was pleasantly surprised by the familiar fragrance.

"This smells like..."

"Meryol. Some zest was added for flavor. People complained it was too bitter."

Again, his sentence was completed by the noble.

Whatever. He was in no mood nor condition to pry into it. Instead, the content of his statements was what caught his attention.

Intrigued by the new information, he took a sip. Noah relished in the refreshing aftertaste and continued to indulge in the tea.

Mhmm...

A suspicion emerged in his mind the more he drank. He could swear he tasted something else in the tea. Something he didn't have a good experience with. He couldn't quite put a word to it. The frustrating thing was that it was just on the tip of his tongue.

'Urghh'

Unable to stop his curiosity, he turned to the only person who could possibly solve it.

"What's more is in this tea?"

"Morwo Herb"

He spewed out the tea he was about to gulp down his throat in a spray. Most of which was directed at the noble. Noah's heart sank thinking over the disaster he was about to face.

However, in a surprising turn of events,

Before it could drench him, the liquid slowed down to a stop in front of him.

"Young men these days. why such a drastic reaction?"

"How-? No, you are not going to distract me by that magic show. Do you know what happened the last time I put that in my mouth? I nearly died. Twice! I am not going to risk my life for just a bit of recovery."

"I can understand where you are coming from but you need to realize this. I am putting it kindly when I say that you are wholly ignorant of the matters of the mystical kind."

With a small gesture of his hand, the scattered droplets joined together in a glob of tea. Followed by another wave. Then, a small stream grew out of the glob and trickled in the air to finally water the plant. Eventually, all the tea was used up watering the plant.

"I am not going to argue over the credibility of that statement but you could at least tell me this beforehand. I would have prepared myself."

The mage continued completely ignoring the statement, his speech uninterrupted.

"Since you are so lively, it seemed you won't need to be held back any longer."

Noah's eyebrows quirked up at the strange wording. It seems he was hinting at something.

"Where is everyone?"

"They had left long ago. It's only you, me, and a few knights still training in this field."

Remnants of his nightmare returned back to haunt him. He tried to banish them for the moment. Now is not the time for that.

"What about my friends?"

He seemed confused for a moment before a look of realization appeared on his face.

"Oh, you mean those two. They were being quite stubborn but eventually left for their apprenticeship after looking over you for half an hour or so." He paused for a moment and resumed.

"I would advise staying away from long periods of exertion. What is your chosen Profession?"

"Blacksmith"

"Hm, it is better you take a leave today. Allow your body to recuperate pro-"

"NO!"

The noble gave him a judgemental look for his sudden outburst.

"I mean, I can handle it. My instructor did tell me he was going to teach me a lot today."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah... I... am."

"Then, Off you may go."

"You aren't going to stop me?"

"You are a young man but an adult nonetheless. I am sure you can take responsibility for yourself."

"Hmm"

"Even if you do mess yourself up, it won't be anything severe. Your soul is already recovered enough. Give it a few days and you would be back to normal."

"Ok, I should go now. Plus, I am famished."

Swiftly getting out of the sheets, Noah made a beeline out of the place.

Halfway out of the tent, the noble called out.

"Wait"

He turned around to see something thrown at him. In haste, he tried catching it only to find it heading towards him and nestling in his hand on its own.

Looking over, he found a round-shaped object, slightly colorful in appearance.

"Here, you can have this. A Food pill. Fruit flavored. My favorite." Noah looked over to the noble for the reason behind this. It felt awfully convenient for him to have one with him.

"I don't have the time to attend meals during my experiments." He said confidently, unabashed by his fruity-filled lifestyle.

"Yeahh...We haven't introduced ourselves yet. You may know it already but I am Noah."

A slight smile formed on his face in apparent amusement.

He ultimately decided to entertain Noah.

Bowing over slightly in elegance, he introduced himself.

"Hezor, Senior Mage, Accomplished Spell Caster from the House of Shaddarock. Master Alchemist-cum-Artificer. Granted the Viscount peerage through distinguishing in the Battle of Rozzkwot. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"That's a mouthful. Are you some kind of big-shot?"

"This is my town."

"Should I bow?"

"Please spare me from that. This isn't the Capital. You can interact with me normally. Just don't act rude in public. Else, my secretary gonna give me an earful about maintaining appearances later on."

"Sure, Bye, Hezor. I will come by sometime-The Town Hall, right. I will pay a visit in near future."

He nodded and Noah went on his way.

Staring at the entrance, Hezor mumbled under his breath.

"The revisit. It may come sooner than you think..."

Giving small gestures, he packed up the tree in his storage bag and teleported over to the Town Hall. He didn't want the hassle to fly over there. The knights could take over from here. He was heading back to his studies. The mysteries of arcane were waiting for him.

...

'Sigh'

What a harrowing experience. No, What a day.

Noah's figure slacked visibly as soon as he made sufficient distance from the field.

Despite the conversation seeming calm and civil, the tension was felt by him the entire time. He hadn't shown any untoward animosity towards him, at least. Though, he was still suspicious if he was plugged in the matrix nightmare or not. There was only one way to find out.

Opening his Status Page,

Many things were waiting for him. He checked the first by focusing on it, which caused it to expand into a system window.

He focused on the culprits for his predicament. The Reverse Entropy one was more important to him. Concentrating on it, he was surprised to find it spluttering before starting to vanish.

Weird.

Turning to the other one, he was relieved to find it working normally.

[Meditation – A mental discipline through which one delves beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of awareness. Harmonize mind, body and spirit.]

[Recovery speed is boosted while in meditation.]

Interesting choice of words. 'Harmonizing', is it. Quite vague.

At the core of meditation is the goal to focus and eventually quiet your mind. As one progresses, they will find that they can meditate anywhere and at any time, accessing an inner state no matter what's going on around them.

At least that's what he remembered from an article on the net.

Some even go as far as to say they are able to exert fine control over their body to the extent it would seem like superpowers. Extreme focus after cutting off the outside world.

A somewhat unfamiliar concept for the average mind.

Regardless, he was able to confirm the Akasha system was there. If he was still not awake and that monster was able to create all of that he experienced until now, he had no chance to begin with.

Along the way, Noah popped the pill in his mouth.

He smacked his lips. What the hell. This is dangerous.

It was too sweet.

This is some diabetes-inducing shit.

Thankfully, the sweetness became bearable after some time.

A fruity smell tingled his nose. He wasn't finicky about the taste but this was good. It should substitute well for candy. He could also feel himself getting full as time passed by.

He increased his pace towards the smithery.

The surroundings felt blurred to him as he dashed through the streets.

Soon, he reached his destination. Not stopping to gaze at the crowd, he entered the forge. Looking over, he found Gul working alone.

Unfortunately, the observation wasn't one-sided. Nearing him, Gul said.

"You are late."

"Something came up."

He grunted. "Bring the ore cache."

Noah went on to but was stopped before he could even so take a step.

"Stop. What's wrong with your body?"

"Nothing..." He turned to see an impassive face. The ruse was up. "is what I would like to say."

"Is that so." A nefarious look appeared on his face giving him a bad feeling.

"And here I thought, we had some semblance of trust. Why not you be the errand boy today. Now, we are going for a complete overhaul of the training. Bring in the batches."

"Why all this?"

"I may like putting people in strenuous situations but it is no fun when I have already got a flimsy start. I need to beat the instructions in your body's muscle memory through repeated practice."

His statement may look completely justified but the wicked smile hanging there was saying the opposite.

He may just die from this.

Scrap that, he was going through hell. And that was saying something considering he had the opportunity to glimpse at the literal hells. Gul wasn't embellishing it in any other way.

The hours went by with him running back and forth around the forge transporting ore, finished blades and metal items.

The sweaty atmosphere of the forge made it ten times worse. He didn't have the leisure to complain about it.

Why was he here, just to suffer. Not really, he was given some respite in the form of teaching the foundations. He made him go through the motions of basic hammering again, continuing to proper molding and shaping.

"Not like that."

"You need to be firm and decisive. These flimsy strikes won't make anything, however long you keep at it."

Wiping grime off his face using the cloth on his neck, Gul informed him.

"We're done for today."

"But there's still some time left."

"Your body's not capable of handling anymore right now. Come back fresh tomorrow."

"What are you saying. I can stil- OH FUCKKK!" Gul reached out and squeezed his arm which sent a jolt of pain throughout his body. It felt as if dozens of needles were stabbing him.

Yeah, he was not in good shape.

Stumbling out of the forge, he traced his steps back to the Inn.

After staying in this place for over a few days, the initial shock was starting to wear off. The exuberant city was showing its dirty sides. He could spot homeless stranded on the street occasionally. Mud-riddled children running off pick-pocketing. desperation is something that's heavily prayed upon in society.

On closer scrutiny, he could even see different features like small claws, reptilian eyes, furry ears. Hawking and bartering went around the marketplace. It felt grounded, in a sense.

Reaching the Inn, he was staring at its entrance. He could only think about his friends. Whatever happened made him hesitant to go through the door. He knew they weren't the ones saying all that but still, he wanted to postpone the encounter as much as he can.

But his body looks to have other intentions. The food pill wasn't enough. He needed to have dinner. Pangs of hunger wrecked his already tired body. Not seeing any other way, he headed towards the diner.

Seating himself down on the bar top, he slid his palm over the counter feeling out the wood. While basking in his surroundings, he caught a glimpse of the crystal lamps. Those are bad news. Better stay away from them.

Being alone gave him time to introspect.

Or so he thought.

"what's with the down face?"

A familiar voice caught his attention

He swiveled his head to see the receptionist from yesterday. Her name...

"Uh-um-"

"Angie" She reminded him smilingly, looking not at all annoyed by him failing to recall her name.

"Right. Angie, anything you want from me?" His memory seems to be failing him pretty often.

"No, it's just you looked worn out. So, I thought I could give a helping hand. What got you so worried?"

"Oh, it's just-"

"...." He was stuck. Noah wasn't comfortable with sharing something so private with someone he met just yesterday, no matter how nice they may be to him.

"Haven't been long since we met. It's totally fine if you don't want to say."

"Sorry"

"No worries. Here, have some Meryol. My treat."

"Thanks"

"I shouldn't have to remind you. I am just there if you want to talk."

He nodded while continuing to sip in silence. Not able to think of what to reply at such sincerity.

He wasn't expecting a stranger looking out for him. She could have just gone on her way. The previous day was mostly handled by Florelle. He was just there. Nothing more.

Dropping off his head, he thought over his recent experiences. There was a clear dissonance between the cheerfulness of the town and the bleak and harsh outside world where every misstep is fraught with dangers letting out monsters that would put cult classics to shame.

'How was he to forget about it? Just go on with his life. Like before, hoping it would turn good someday. Or take matters into his own hands and fight back. It didn't turn out quite nicely the first time, I suppose. But this time it wasn't just about him and his sensitive ego. No, there was his life on the line.'

What's stopping anything from coming to butcher him. Well, there is Vanadis but that's not the point. He needs to prep himself up. Cuz he doesn't think this was going to be the last mishap he would do.

How to fight back, though? Some things came to his mind. Find out more about the Soul and all the magic schticks. Gotta amp up the training. Search potential measures. What makes this world tick and how he could leverage it to his advantage.

That noble looks promising but he gave him the heebie-jeebies. He would like it better to stay away from him. Maybe, Miss Florelle could help him with that. She seems capable. Trying to learn magic wouldn't help in the short term. Some protective charm or something like that would do well. New Skills would come in handy. Meditation requires more practice. He could feel there was a lot more to it.

A voice disrupted his thoughts and brought him out of his musings.

"NOAH"

His figure froze in tension as he was greeted with both Ava and Shaun looking terribly worried.

"Hey, guys..."

It felt uncomfortable to him, remembering the episode he had. That couldn't be said for long, thanks to someone.

She embraced him in a hug and then started firing off questions at him.

"You feeling okay? The noble guy just rushed us off. We weren't able to stay with you."

"Yeah... I feel fine" Noah answered blankly, feeling disconnected from how his expectations turned out.

"Really? It doesn't look that way to me." She placed her hand on his forehead to check his condition.

"We could pay Miss Florelle a visit just in case." Shaun chimed in, looked relieved after seeing him act normally.

"Nah, it's fine. Really haha.." His underdeveloped emotional receptors aren't built to handle this much compassion. He would for sure overload and embarrass himself unless...

"Now that I think about it, If you really wish to, you can cheer me up." In a bold move, he grabbed Ava's hand and closed in inclining his head towards her.

"I need some comfort here." And pointed at his cheek.

"Hey-you!" She backed off in anger and readied to give a tight smack only to stop realizing his condition.

"For real, man." Shaun shook his head seeing the scene. Now was not the time to act tough. Especially not in this way.

"Couldn't give a more expected reaction." Noah flashed a smirk at them.

"Listen mister..." Ava entered her lecturing mode as Noah stood there with a smile nodding along.

He was blessed to meet such people and able to call them his friends.

...

The wind brushed past vibrant yellow leaves, a cool breeze flowing through the valley. The evening sun reflected off the distant rivers mountains.

Forests of red, brown, and yellow spread down the slope and up again towards the faraway jungle on the other side of the valley. If one looked from a bird's eye view, they could visibly see the forest becoming thicker the farther they went from the town to the point it looked somewhat sinister with dark foliage. An unnatural silence permeated the surroundings.

The day soon ended as the townspeople went through the remainder of their daily routine.

Through the darkened sky churning with clouds, pale moonlight shone on the forest brightening the environment.

'Grrrr'

Gradual growling sounds started emerging shrouding the forest in a sinister atmosphere.

Slowly, with a predatory crawl, figures could be seen roaming. Crimson beastly eyes showed up suddenly as if materializing from thin air.

Their gaze roamed around as if assessing the environment before fading into shadows.