7. The Caretaker’s Cosmos

I found myself at a cliff’s edge with the endless ocean fluttering beyond the horizon. The sun had long set, and fireflies were the only thing illuminating the surroundings. The silhouette of two figures stood in the dark, debating in a language similar to mine, but I still couldn’t understand their discussion. One had his back turned against the other, refusing to listen. The other was swinging her arms around, expressing fear and desperation. It wasn’t until I was up close before realizing this was a vision of the past.

It was safe to assume the man with his back turned was me, as the other figure was feminine. For some reason, I began speculating if she played an influential role in my previous life. Did she cause that unknown trauma preventing me from moving near my mother’s corpse without vomiting?

Closing up on them, I realized that I looked different and more human than in my first dream but still had similar facial features.

This vision must’ve been long in the past, explaining why their language sounded different. Also, seeing as I didn’t emit the same godlike aura, it was probably before my ascension. Back when I was still human.

Despite the language barrier, I still picked out some phrases from our tense conversation. The woman was crying out words about an everlasting war, ascension, and the dangers of something I couldn’t understand. And as for the past me, not a single sound left my mouth. I must’ve ignored her warnings seeing as I had ascended in the future. What piqued my interest, however, was the war she mentioned. Was it still relevant till the present time? Or was I even reincarnated into the same world?

When I reached my arm out for my past self, the world went black, and an immense headache struck me back to reality.

“Ugh, for how long was I unconscious? My head hur—!” Recalling how I got knocked out made me snap my eyes open, ignoring the discomfort.

Blood was streaming down my face, and my legs shook, but I couldn’t be more eager to fight. How do I fight it, though? It can withstand even a surprise attack to the neck and return with an even more decisive blow. I don’t have any tricks up my sleeve other than calling for help, but there is no way I was going to call for help. I don’t know when I’ve become so arrogant as I prioritize my pride over my safety, but there was no help in pondering now.

Scanning my surroundings for potential weapons, I thought of a plan that, if executed perfectly, could work. First, of course, I had to lure the monster out, as the core of my strategy was within the room. The first part wasn’t difficult as it would always follow me sluggishly; however, moving past it would be troublesome.

As it followed me to the widest section of the room, I immediately enhanced my legs with mana and dashed back, keeping a distance from the enemy. It responded to my sudden sprint with a tongue flail that I blocked with my right arm. When its tongue wrapped around my arm, I held on to a sturdy branch that stuck out of the wall so that it wouldn’t pull me toward it.

To my horror, it pulled itself toward me attempting to perform a headbutt. I could barely duck in time as it hit its head with a loud smash, leaving a small crack on the wall. If the attack had hit me, it would have demolished my skull.

Fortunately, the monster had gotten a concussion, seeing how it lost all balance. I took this chance to slice its tongue that wrapped around my now injured arm. Then I limped in the acid puppy’s direction as fast as possible without tripping over.

Glancing at the acid puppy, I knew my next move would be a huge gamble, but there was no time for pondering. The creature had already regained all senses and was just as battle-ready as before.

I hesitantly placed my palm on the acid puppy’s tongue, absorbing as much acid as possible into my mana. The skin on my hands began to dissolve, but I endured the excruciating pain knowing my wound would heal. Tears rolled down my eyes, and my lip bled from the would I bit with my fragile teeth. At this moment, I was truly a horrid sight.

- [Notice] -

Arcane Skill [Mana Manipulation] Levelled Up!

[Mana Manipulation] - Lvl. 1 -> Lvl. 2

I released my hand when it felt on the brink of liquifying. Although not as powerful, I could now convert pure mana into acid.

Despite my reckless actions so far, I couldn’t afford to let my emotions take over. I had to be patient and wait for my wounds to recover, and since the monster approached in such a strange and sluggish manner, it was possible. In the meantime, I conjured the essence of wood using my left hand that hid behind my back. I had depleted half of my mana and had about four impactful spells left to cast. That is assuming acid was as expensive as water in mana consumption which is likely false.

When the monster was within arms reach, I canceled my spell, converting the wood into dust, and hurled it on its face. Blinded by the dust, I conjured acid with my other

hand and seared its head against the wall with my preserved stamina.

Its skin changed color and let out a pungent rotten smell when it began to melt. Almost releasing the spell from the stench, I quickly held my nose with my other hand. I let go the moment nausea kicked in, indicating low levels of mana.

It was troublesome that the acid was so mana-heavy, but that didn’t matter. My hand had fused its melted skin to the stone, and I could tear the creature apart with my remaining strength. However, as I tried gripping around its neck, my body fell backward with a thud.

“Huff, coff… Shit, I can’t breathe, and my head hurts like hell too. What’s going on?”

It didn’t take long to realize that my physical strength was utterly depleted too, and I must have also lost too much blood.

“Damn it all!” I cried while turning my enmity into the resilience I needed to roll toward the nearest wall. In a final battle cry, I funneled my remaining mana through every pore of my body into the strings scattered all over.

They immediately enlarged, forming a sphere-like outline to shield me while striking the creature with thousands of whips. Within seconds, the threads had wholly surrounded me, leaving me alone with just my imagination to picture the result.

Outside of the safeguard, the strikes continued to sound for nearly a minute before they calmed down, and eventually, the cage let me out. I imagined the creature reduced to a mere pile of flesh, but its body had vanished, leaving not even blood or smell. It had either been decimated into atoms or consumed.

As I calmed down, my savage thoughts gradually faded, and my mind became clearer. Inevitably, questions came pushing in. Why did I get so furious in the first place? Was it because it brought back my deepest fears by mimicking my mother’s voice? And why was I still traumatized by the mere thought of her? It can’t simply be a mother-son bond. After all, I used to be a literal deity. Something else must have been installed in my mind, possibly due to the Rift or my blood’s connection to it.

Probably another hundred questions arose, but at this point, I couldn’t even comprehend my reflections. I just wanted to rest.

Saria POV

“Hey Zeke, can’t you just light it up a tiny bit more?” I asked while rubbing my eyes. “We’ve literally been roaming for hours now, and my eyes are getting tired.”

He sighed and turned his face toward me. “This is the third time you have asked, and no, I need to save my mana in case we encounter something.”

“Tsk, fine,” I carped with a gloomy sigh, turning my face away in annoyance. “But what if we get ambushed because we can’t see anything?”

“I agree with our midget for once,” Kai complained. “My eyes can’t see shit.”

Zeke’s expression changed, presumably to a smirk. “I can sense the creatures here just fine. In fact, we’ve walked past two already.”

“What! When?” burst Kai, nearly hitting my face with his spit.

“About 15 minutes ago, where this tunnel split in two. There is a reason why I chose this route,” explained Zeke.

“Also, don’t bother thinking about stealthier creatures that he can’t sense because we wouldn’t even be able to detect them in broad daylight,” I chimed in, right as Kai was about to babble about his nonsense.

Kai stopped to look down on me with his overly punchable face. “Huh? Weren’t you on my side just now?”

Although I’m usually quick to lose my temper, Kai’s stupidity was too much to offend. Instead, I walked past him, not even bothering to look at him.

“Are you trying to pick a fight?” he scoffed. “Listen, after this little adventure we’re having—”

“Shush!” Zeke suddenly burst. “There is something nearby, and it’s hostile.

Kai unsheathed his longsword from his back and clanged it on the ground. “Finally, something dangerous. So, where the hell is it?”

Zeke raised his staff and pointed at seemingly nothing. “There.”

“Where?” Kai and I asked in unison.

“Inside. It’s like a worm wiggling through the dirt, except this one crawls through the stone. And it is big—no, downright colossal.” Zeke stressed. “Everyone, get ready. We’re in enemy territory, it seems.”