The Roamer

Chapter 45: pointing fingers

“Still, even if we can’t work together in the future, can we at least work together to escape?”

Rodrill was satisfied with Aeolus’ response to his previous offer, but he still wanted to at least cooperate on working together.

“Sure, but I don’t have any ideas. Considering that you’ve been here for so long, do you know anything we can use to escape?”

Aeolus was willing to, at the very least, escape together. However, he didn’t have a solution to this situation, so he was kinda… stuck.

“Well for one, we don't abuse other people. They don’t feed us down here, and the only way I’ve been living for so long is because I’ve been eating my soul. Basically, there’s nobody down here except for you, me, and other people hanging and starving to death.”

Rodrill was thinking of things to abuse to get out of this situation. However, the thing he just said piqued Aeolus’ interest.

“You and everyone else have been feeding off of your own souls?”

Aeolus didn’t even know such a thing was possible, but it clearly was if he were to believe Rodrill and his words.

“Yes, and I’m slowly weakening more and more. However, I don’t know whether or not any other people are feeding off of their own souls, so yeah…” Rodrill explained, trying to feed into Aeolus’ curiosity as much as possible.

If he could satisfy Aeolus a lot in this predicament, maybe there was a chance of working with Aeolus in the future, even if it was only a little.

Rodrill was blindly holding onto that hope, because he knew it was a possibility.

“Well, anything that we can actually use to escape?” Aeolus asked once more, and Rodrill began thinking again.

“Now that I think about it, once a month, the same person as always will walk through here, and seems to check on us.”

Rodrill remembered something that seemed to happen on a monthly basis that could help them.

However, Aeolus didn’t trust it just yet.

“You’ve been in here for so long that I can’t trust you to identify time, so it could be much, much longer then just a month.”

Aeolus knew how something like this could rot a person's mind. Over the time of staying in the slave prison, after a certain point, he knew that he had lost track of time.

“Besides, even if it is a month, when was the last time it happened according to your sense of time?” Aeolus asked Rodrill, trying to get a confirmation.

“I think it was about a few days ago?”

Rodrill replied in an uncertain tone, trying to remember the right time. However, that reply was enough for Aeolus to know that this was not a viable idea.

“We need to think up something else besides that, as it will simply take too much time. Absolutely anything else?” Aeolus asked, trying to not resort to the last thing he had in mind, relying on affinities.

Even if he didn’t have the affinity in one of his layers, it could still be used, but a much weaker version. He was thinking of using the affinity of time, as he had realized something.

These chains that were holding him seemed to drain everything that was within the layers of his soul and the actual layers of cultivation out, but the affinities that weren’t infused into any sort of layer seemed to be usable.

He could feel it too, he still had some sort of energy flowing around him, but it was extremely weak, it was the energy of all the experiences he has had with other affinities.

“I wasn’t captured long ago, so even my weak affinity of time should be enough to do something about this… wait here for me, Rodrill. Though you won’t remember me once I follow up with this.”

Aeolus was determined, and began using as much as the affinity of time he could use. However, even though it wasn’t infused into any one of his layers, it seemed that using it past a certain limit would cause extreme pain to him, so he had to stop at around five hours.

“Still, that’s more than enough time. That goes to before Akill even beat me in the battle, maybe further.”

However, Aeolus acknowledged it as enough time, and began to use it.

Though, he couldn’t quite use it.

However, while trying to use it and failing multiple times, Aeolus realized something extremely terrible.

‘The center layer of my soul is resonating with the affinity of time I’m trying to use… I have to do a soul attack and mix it with the affinity of time to delve into the past…’ Aeolus realized, and began sulking.

He had only used a soul attack once, but the effects were devastating. He had been limited to the third layer, and only through rebirthing his layers and continuously killing others and absorbing their souls had he broken past his limit to such an extent.

Now, what would happen if he were to use another soul attack?

“I might not even be able to fight anymore if it limits my cultivation anymore…” Aeolus acknowledged the laws of cultivation, which didn’t allow a person to use extreme power without a drawback. Whoever constructed the foundations of cultivation, probably one of the gods, took into mind every single thing that cultivators could abuse.

This, was a prime case of the one above limiting humans and other beasts when it came to soul attacks.

“However, I don’t have a choice. It’s either this or wait for a month while even more terrible things happen in Pangaea while I’m separated from the world. Even if I did wait a month, it’s not as if I’m guaranteed to escape once the check-up person comes.”

Aeolus was listing all the reasons he had to follow through with this, but he still couldn’t will himself.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking of Aeolus, but if you’re struggling so much just to come up with a choice, then don’t do it. Besides, don’t think of yourself as a normal person, you’ll escape even if you don’t do the harrowing thing you’re thinking of.”

Rodrill, trying to calm Aeolus, put effort into making the lines he just stated, which seemed to calm Aeolus down a bit.

“What do you mean by not referring to myself as a normal person?” Aeolus asked, confused by what Rodrill was saying. Wouldn’t he just be left here to hang until he died?

“You’re a huge person in Pangaea right now, one with much influence and great power. Surely you didn’t think that the king would literally just leave you and not interrogate you further, or anything of the sorts?” Rodrill explained, and Aeolus began to understand.

Indeed, all the other people in here were probably in here for things that happened on a much smaller scale compared to what he did. He’d probably be pulled out at least once to be interrogated, or something of the sorts.

“You know Rodrill, though you got the body of a stick, you have the mind of an elephant, which still isn’t that bright.” Aeolus semi-complimented Rodrill, while also insulting him a little.

Rodrill just chuckled, while Aeolus smiled. Aeolus soothed himself, and let himself just hang, awaiting the moment that Rodrill was waiting for.

--- sequence 2 ---

Aeolus still hadn’t lost his sense of time, or at least he didn’t think so, and knew that only five days had passed since he first came into this place. However, it seemed as if those five days were enough for him to be summoned.

Some man was walking through all the hanging people, directly towards Aeolus. Aeolus smiled at the man, who spit on Aeolus’ face.

“The king's assistant demands that he sees you, though I don’t know why he wants to see lowly swine.” the man said, and Aeolus got to thinking.

He was expecting Lexor to want to see him, but now that he thought about it, Lexor was just a child same as him in the end, and wouldn’t see the importance of questioning him, or at least he didn’t think so.

‘Then who is it?” Aeolus wondered, while the man slowly began lowering Aeolus. At first, Aeolus was about to make a mad dash as soon as the chains were taken off him, but they were never taken off him.

Instead, the chains were lowered with him as well, and he was still being held down, along with his cultivation, by them.

‘Crap’

Aeolus’ mood kept souring by the second, but it was still good news that he was somehow getting out of this situation. The man pulled on Aeolus’ arm, and Aeolus followed him.

After walking for a few minutes, they arrived in front of a huge gate within the castle. Aeolus was still in his chains, and the man still in front of him. There were two guards in front of the massive gate, who moved to open it.

The gate slowly opened, and light began shining in slowly. For the first time in a while, Aeolus was seeing sunlight, instead of the dark surroundings that he had been in.

The man leading him pulled on him, and Aeolus simply nodded while following. After walking for a few minutes, they seemed to arrive at some sort of garden at the back of the castle. There were flowers everywhere, bushes that seemed to resemble animals, and a waterfall.

Aeolus was shocked by the sight, as he didn’t think he could see so much nature within a city. He thought he’d only see such abundant nature outside cities and towns, like in the forests or something. Yet, here he was.

There was a man sitting on a bench, and the man leading Aeolus went behind Aeolus and kicked him into the bench.

“What the he-!” Aeolus began complaining, but realized just who he was sitting with. It was a man he knew all too well, one that had completely outpowered him before.

“So, how was your time in the hanging dungeon?” Akill asked Aeolus, with a smile on his face.

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ABOUT ME

Name: Abdul Kareem

Age: 14!!!!!!!

Occupation: Middle school

Goal: Idk, I’m just making a novel for now

Location: Why would I say that?

Relations: I’m not married (duh)

Favorite food: da asian stuf!

Birthday: June 4, 2005

Anyway, on a more serious tone, this is my first novel I’ve ever tried writing. Thanks for being with me on this first experience! If you could also somehow get others to read this novel too, I would be pretty grateful!