Some people talk too much in real life. I wish they could just get to the point of the conversation without giving five thousand examples first. I'm not much better though...

Anyways, here is chapter 17. This chapter is VERY confusing. I almost got lost while writing the thing. However it is necessary to be here. I apologize in advance!

That said. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 17: Recovery

I slowly open my eyes. My head hurt so badly.

Light floods into my eyes.

I lift up my left arm and cover my eyes.

After my eyes slowly adjusted I realized that I wasn’t in my room. I was in a room with white walls and a couple sick beds with curtains… the school infirmary? We had one of these things?

I smile. I collapsed from mental exhaustion. Looks like it is possible. There is a limit on what I can do with the power of heaven and earth. I also used internal energy without sparing it.

I still managed to win though.

I don’t have to teach her now. Not like it would have been that hard to teach her anyways.

I slowly get out of the bed. I was still in my clothes from the battle, but my prosthetic was removed. I look around for it. It is on the table beside my bed. I get up and stretch.

It doesn’t feel like I was out for long. I should really find the nurse.

“Oh, you’re awake already. I just went to get my lunch, I was hoping you’d sleep a bit more so that I could eat.” A woman in casual clothing wearing a white lab coat type thing walks into the room holding a container of food. Something feels odd...

I smile, “Nah. It takes more than that to keep me down.”

The nurse sighs, “You were unconscious for about two hours. Kelly is still unconscious in that bed if you want to stay with her.” The woman… who was probably the nurse pointed to a bed that had a curtain around it still.

I slowly walk towards the bed. I slide the curtain and I receive a not so gentle push from behind. I glance behind me as I fall forwards. The nurse was behind me with a large smile on her face, she closes the curtain and walks away.

I land on Kelly’s bed. I am suddenly dragged fully onto the bed and pinned by my arms. Kelly was sitting on top of me and is pinning me down on the bed.

The nurse talks from the entrance to the room, “Enjoy your time!” I hear the door close and lock.

I don’t really like this situation!

Kelly smiles, “Now. Will you teach me the technique? You clearly cheated! I couldn’t even hit you!”

I make a complicated expression, “If you hold me down like this, even if I wanted to I couldn’t teach you the technique.”

She frowns, “Then promise you will teach me or I will make it so that your wife will never want you!”

I give her an angry look, “How would you do that?”

She smiles, “The girls and I have discussed and we would be okay with being in your harem.”

I frown, “I do not want a harem nor will I ever want a har-“

Kelly leans down and forcibly kisses me. My eyes are wide open as she presses her mouth on mine.

I try to push her off but it doesn’t work at all. I am still not able to move properly from waking up. Something feels off…

She finally lifts her face up. Her face is bright red, “Now do you understand how I feel?”

I nod slowly without responding. I’m sorry my wife! I am being forced into this! I will deny this until the day I die!

A sound like glass shattering fills my ears as the image fades in front of me. It is replaced by a blinding whiteness.

The surroundings fade until everything is black. What is going on?

I open my eyes again and see that I am in my room.

What was that!? What!?

I quickly stand up and look around the room. I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.

I am questioning its authenticity after what happened…

I felt head pains. My body also felt tired and sluggish like it should after passing out. So it wasn’t a dream.

I rub my eyes heavily. I don’t know what’s going on.

I need to know what is causing this! Is it illusions? Is it hallucinations? Am I still in bed sleeping away?

I DON’T UNDERSTAND!

I grab my head and crouch down on the ground. I need to understand what is happening!

Okay. I will calmly go through this.

I was fighting Kelly and then passed out from mental exhaustion from using the power of heaven and earth too frivolously.

If that is the case… what is with this illusion like scenarios? Above all else. What was with the content of them?

I calmly stand up. I need to figure out if I am still in the illusion or if I am in the real world.

I slowly walk to the window and open the blinds. There is a moon in the sky, causing it to be slightly blue.

Okay. Illusion again…

But how do I get out of this one? I was thrown out when I said I would deny having a harem. I have rational thought in these illusions which is nice.

I sit down on my bed carefully. So. First things first.

I know I am in an illusion. That is all I know. The method to escape from these illusions is not a method I know. I don’t know how long I have been unconscious for in the real world so I need to be careful when I do get out. I don’t know the reason for these illusions either.

I make a complicated expression. I’m in a rough situation aren’t I?

I stand up again and walk to the door of my room. I try to turn the handle but it is stuck in place. So I am trapped in this room.

That means the solution is in this room.

What are these illusions based off of? Regrets? Fears?

I definitely am not okay with getting a harem. Not to the point that I would fear it though.

Regrets? I regret not being able to stay with my wife longer.

I regret not being able to do things for her. I regret not being hard working. I regret making her do all the hard work. I regret not being the best person I could be…

I have a lot of regrets.

This could be troublesome if these illusions are based off of my regrets.

I pace around the room slowly. This illusion. The only thing that is different so far is that the sky is blue. This is odd. I don’t know what I need to do to escape this illusion nor is there an event that would help me solve this.

I sit back down onto my bed. Can I use the power of heaven and earth within these illusions?

A solid block condenses in front of me. That means the answer is yes.

How about spatial energy? I move my arm through an area and it feels weightless. Yep. I can use spatial energy too.

It doesn’t seem to have any mental strain attached when I’m in this illusion. Okay. So that is how I can test if I am back in the real world.

First I need to get back though.

What am I missing here?

I look around the room. I don’t see anything off.

My laptop!

I open the drawer underneath my bed and pull out my laptop. I try to boot it up.

The screen instantly turns white. Text starts to appear on the screen,

‘If you leave now, you will never leave, for you are already back.

If you stay here, you will never return, for you are already gone.’

I tilt my head as I stare at the screen. What is this supposed to mean? How do I escape?

If I leave, I am already back? But if I stay I am already gone? I get a riddle!?

Okay. In theory, all I have to do is wait it out and I will be able to leave… but how could it be that simple?

I set my laptop down after making sure that there was nothing else on the screen.

If I try to leave. I won’t be able to.

But if I try to stay, I will be able to leave. How can I stay here? Aren’t I already here?

The door is glued shut, and forcing it would result in possible injury, and I don’t know what the consequences of being injured in these illusions are. Nor do I really want to know.

I smile as I lay down on my bed. I can’t forcefully leave. Everything is locked and forced shut. I am in my room.

It’s night…

Something clicks in my head. Stay? What happens if I just try to sleep in my bed?

I roll into sleeping position and close my eyes.

After a minute or so a sound similar to glass shattering is heard. That was nice and simple.

I open my eyes with a wide grin on my face. The blinding whiteness is everywhere and is already fading to black.

I open my eyes once again. Dammit!

Around me was the throne room from the other world. I can instantly tell this is an illusion because it is physically impossible for this room to exist in the other world.

I walk over to the throne. I look at my arms. They are both normal. I am in my old body. Yep, definitely an illusion.

I sit down in the throne. I let out a small laugh and smile. I remember doing this a few times.

Suddenly the doors to the room open and guards rush in. Two of them are dragging a woman who has her head down, so I can’t see her face. Her body was covered in bruises and cuts. Her clothes were dirty with blood. Her hair was also wet with blood.

I frown upon seeing her appearance. I don’t have a good feeling about this.

One of the guards rushes forwards and kneels in front of me, “Emperor! Permission to speak!”

I wave my hand, “Granted! Now rise!”

The guard stands up, “Thank you sir!” He points to the woman, “This woman was found sneaking around the castle. She tried to fight the guards so we had to subdue her which caused these injuries. She said she wanted to have an audience with you so we brought her here to speak with you.”

I frown, “Very well! Let her speak then!’

I stay in the throne and wait for the woman to speak. Nothing.

I lightly laugh and smile, “I don’t intend to harm you for your actions. I believe my guards to be in the wrong.”

“But si-“

“Enough! You did not have to wound her to the extent that she won’t even talk!” I stand up and walk towards the woman.

As I approach her she starts to slowly mutter some words, “Must…. Escape.”

I frown as I crouch down to where the woman was, “Can you please repeat that?”

She raises her bloody face, “You must escape. They are coming! They are almost here!”

I frown as I calmly speak to her, “Who are they?”

She starts to laugh, insanity not being a question anymore, “They are coming! They will destroy everything! Nothing is safe from them!” She frees her right hand from the guard and she tears out her own throat. Blood flies in front of her.

I had moved away as soon as she freed her arm.

Okay then. This is an interesting situation. How do I leave this illusion?

The guards leave the room without saying anything else. They seem like they are on rails.

I sigh. Now what do I do? ‘They’ are coming. Who are ‘They’?

The body of the woman is still in the throne room with me. The guards left her here with me.

The room is empty other than the decorations and this body.

In the last illusion, everything in my surroundings was important. I hope this is the last illusion and I can find out what is going on.

I take a deep breath and think about it. The condition to clear this one might be to figure out who ‘They’ are. Or it could be to defeat them. I have the strength of the other world in this body currently so defeating them is out.

It shouldn’t be impossible. So I just need to figure out who they are.

Clearly enemies. Their messenger suicided. So they clearly don’t think we can get along.

I frown. I need to figure out who ‘They’ are before ‘They’ get here. ‘They’ are almost here if I take what this woman says for the truth.

There is also the possibility that she was insane and ’They’ do not exist. I need more information!

I swallow my saliva as I walk slowly towards the body of the woman. She was a mess. Her whole body was covered in blood, and there was a puddle of blood beneath her.

I make a very complicated expression as I flip her over. There was a loud slopping noise as she rolled. I let out a weak laugh.

She is wearing a chain necklace with a locket on the end.

I apologize to her even though I know it is an illusion. I open the locket.

It is a picture with her and a monster. I say monster because it looks like Alveros. He is identical.

A serious look covers my face as I take a deep breath. Alveros? I wish I could forget him. He is the reason for my death and he said he was a ‘Demon’. I need to figure out what they are.

The scene instantly changes.

The field where I killed Alveros.

Where I died.

I frown. The field has the remnants of battle.

The battle where I died.

I lost my life here. I see the corpse of the Demon Alveros.

It lost its life here alongside me. I wonder if that thing has been reborn.

I laugh slightly. I see a scene of my wife holding me as I take my last breath.

I take deep breaths. Staying silent and watching. What are these illusions?

One of the possible future, one of the possible present, and one of the possible past.

Possible. These are things that could have happened and that did not. I did not ever meet that woman. If I met her would it have made any difference?

I frown. This is ridiculous. What is going on here? I have no control. I have to figure things out on my own, but there are different triggers to break the illusion.

I need to escape, not move to the next one!

I smile. I get it!

These are going through my memories! Trying to get me to fail! Altering my memories in order for me to question reality! I just need to remember what actually happened!

I laugh loudly. That day I went to kill a man! He ruined my life! I killed him then came back to all of this mess! I ended up dying in my wife’s arms after saving the city!

I smile so wide that my face was starting to hurt.

I hear a clapping from behind me as the familiar glass shattering sound occurs once more.

“Congratulations on surviving the illusion poisoning.”

I turn to see the figure of spatial energy in the bright white space. I frown, “Poison? When did I get poisoned?”

It shrugs its shoulders, “I cannot tell you. You must find that out on your own. You will now go back to the real world now. Barely thirty seconds has passed in the real world. Kelly is still unconscious and your body is being carried by your teacher towards the principal’s office.”

I frown, “What are you? A narrator?”

He starts to wave as everything is fading to black once again, “Good job!”

I slowly begin to feel my body again as I slowly open my eyes.

Mr. Grey was running through the main building with me in his arms. I take a deep breath as I feel like I am finally back. Mr. Grey notices that my eyes are open.

He nearly drops me. He looks into my eyes, “Ryu?”

I laugh weakly, “Yeah? I just had a little stumble. Nothing too serious. However, I would like to talk to the principal.”

He frowns as he keeps running, “I have something to report to him too. It is great that you are awake now… but you have more issues than what you know.”

I frown, “Okay then. I will go with you to Damion.”

He nods as we reach Damion’s office. He knocks on the door. Damion’s voice comes from inside, “Come in please.”

Damion sees my laying almost limp in Mr. Grey’s arms and frowns. I weakly wave at him, “Yo Damion.”

He frowns, “Tell me what happened.”

Mr. Grey sets me down and starts his report to Damion.

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Author's corner:

Hello everyone. Thank you for everyone who has read my book/novel/whatever it actually is, Divine Elementalist, to this point.

There was a version of this that was written before hand. This is the "New and improved" version. The old version was a complete failure with plot holes larger than a planet. The reason i post this on chapter 17 is because the old version was dropped at chapter 17. Mind you, it was volume 2. The new DE is actually longer already than both volumes of the old DE.

What i'm trying to say is, I DID SOMETHING GOOD!

That's basically it. The old version is... horrible now that I look back at it, and those of you who have found me from Wuxiaworld, know exactly what I am talking about. Most were there for the humor and that was it.

Anyways, I'm done my rant. Have a good day/night depending on where you are.

Thank you again for reading all my nonsense that is a story