“Hey! Wait up!”

Novus kept refreshing the coin count in his inventory, but the zeros weren’t changing. Of course, he didn’t have much to begin with but spending it all hurt more than any physical training could.

“I swear they only bring in those vases to raise prices. Then, they fill it with those divine-awful flowers and expect more coppers. Then, everyone looks at me funny when I try and leave the room. Like I'm some sort of—”

“HEY!”

The beautiful woman had reclaimed her partially ripped cloak as she put a hand on Novus’ shoulder to stop him.

“Don’t touch me!”

Novus knocked the hand off his shoulder as he stomped away.

“Well—where are you going?”

“Away from you.”

However, the woman was intent on sticking around Novus.

“You could at least thank me for helping pay the rest of the inn fees. Hey! Stop walking away!”

Suddenly, Novus turned on a dime and stood face to face with the cloaked woman.

“Fine! Who are you? Why are you following me? Why—hey!?”

Pulling him into a nearby alleyway with astonishing strength, the cloaked woman introduced herself.

“My name is Adrianne Volant, but you may call me Adrianne. I apologize for the terrible first impression. But I needed help and not just anyone’s help. Only yours, it seems.”

Novus looked unconvinced as Adrianne spoke aloud.

“Polaris! Please relay my status window to Novus.”

A mechanical voice rang out that was both familiar and different from what Novus had quickly grown used to hearing.

“Attempting to display the status window of the player, Adrianne, to the player, Novus. Does the player, Novus, accept?”

Reluctantly, Novus accepted, and a status window appeared.

 

 

If Percival were here, he would have unnecessarily commented something like:

“What a freak! What are those stats!?"

Upon seeing her status window, Novus quickly made a few connections that began to sprout more questions. He had to suppress his questioning urges as he swiped away the status window.

Novus hated unanswered questions and had enough of them from his own experiences.

“I don’t care if it helped you or not. I’d rather not go through that again. I’m sure you feel the same way.”

Novus attempted to walk away and dodged the hand that trailed after him. However, Adrianne agilely stepped before him and stared with a decisive light in her eyes.

“What I feel is the best I’ve ever felt since coming here. Listen, my memory isn’t clear on many things, like how I got here or even what happened with you. The earliest thing I remember is standing in a church, feeling like I needed water desperately. I remember the voices telling me to….”

Adrianne’s words faltered like she couldn’t believe what she was narrating.

“…destroy things. So, I fled from town and into the wilderness.”

Adrianne’s gaze faltered as she revealed disgust and confusion on her face.

“My memory got fuzzy in the wilderness, but I remember the blood. I killed anything that got near me. Thankfully, no people found me, or else….”

Adrianne paused and realized Novus hadn’t tried to flee yet. It gave her strength as she continued her story.

“It took all my willpower to remain semi-conscious, and the destructive feeling only grew. It ached my body, and it felt like I was boiling alive. There were things that I ate, and in my daze, I activated some sort of system. At least, that's what it calls itself. It had points that helped me cope. It seems most of that was endurance points, but I’m sure there were some intelligence points too because my mind would clear before fogging back up again when that skill levelled up.”

Adrianne looked up at Novus.

“I knew something had to change. And that’s when I felt it. Like a blip of energy that radiated life. That’s when I sensed you.”

Adrianne’s stare uncomforted Novus, but the tone of a story almost finished made him stay.

“I followed you back to town, and that’s when the skill flared up again. Like it sensed a threat. I finally made it close, and the rest is something you already know.”

Adrianne did a slight bow that reminded Novus of the northern tribe members’ customary bows.

“Thank you.”

Novus’ furrowed brows gradually relaxed as the woman before him stood back up and gauged Novus’ reaction.

I can understand why she did it, but why me? What about my Player’s Body reacted so violently against her Oblivion Aura?

Novus blew out air from his nose as he crossed his arms. Then, adopting a ‘believe none of what you hear, half of what you see’ approach, Novus did what he did best: asked questions.

“No memories before the church?”

Adrianne’s voice rose in eagerness before dwindling like she needed to check her memory once over.

“I remember some basic information. Like my name and some of the ways to play this game.”

Adrianne said the word ’game,’ but she didn’t seem confident in using the word, like she wasn’t sure that that was the right word to use.

Meanwhile, Novus’ brows scrunched in thought.

Percival keeps mentioning something about this being a game as well. Do the natives have a different word for Angrea? Or is it a shared delusion by the system? Solace did mention keeping their trust. Is this how they do it?

“Your skill, Spirit Eyes, is it mana-based?”

“Um, yeah, it does mention something about mana in the description.”

“That means you’ve condensed a mana drop or a core.”

“A mana drop? Core? Sorry, I don’t think I even know what that is.”

Novus scrutinized Adrianne’s minor movements. It was a trick he had learned in his past life. Little hints about the person’s unconscious thoughts would show in their body’s movements. You just had to know how to read the signs.

She’s either surprised or confused. Likely the latter. But to condense mana unconsciously is unheard of unless you’re from a genuinely gifted race like the dragons or giants. Suspicious. Maybe it has something to do with her Oblivion Physique? It could relate to the Oblivion Goddess.

“You called out to something before I saw your status window. A terrible entity that only sometimes answers questions.”

Meanwhile, Adrianne looked shocked.

“Yeah. That’s right. How did you know?”

“Solace, introduce yourself to Adrianne.”

Novus wasn’t sure how Solace introduced themselves, but from the strange look on Adrianne’s face, Novus felt confident that the message got across.

Do all the players have a part of the system?

Suddenly, Solace cut into Novus’ thinking.

《 The appearance of an error has been detected. Termination and recreation of the responsible system node activated. 》

Suddenly, another message appeared.

A static sound filled Novus’ ears before it blinked away the next moment.

Ding!

Why does that only fill me with more concern?

“Novus?”

Adrianne’s curious eyes drew closer as she snapped her fingers before Novus’ face. Novus placed his hand on her fingers, trying not to show the twitching eyebrow his face was making.

“What do you expect me to do for you?”

Adrianne’s face perked like this was the question she had been waiting for. Then, confidently, she stated her plan.

“I’m going to help you, of course. Help you to help me, to be exact!”

I don’t think she’s helped anything. She’s just brought more questions.

However, Adrianne soon justified herself.

“I can tell that you’re weak.”

"Thanks, I knew that one already."

“Just listen. My power shackles me when I’m not strong enough to break free from it. If I can strengthen myself without it also doing so, then I bet I could control it enough to prevent it from taking over me.”

Adrianne continued speaking while her irises began to glow. Eventually, they took on a galactic lustre that charmed Novus' thoughts.

Spirit Eyes. One of the fabled divine blessings.

Soon, Novus felt the uncomfortable situation of having the skill Identify used on him, and Adrianne's Spirit Eyes only amplified it. But then, as she continued, it was Adrianne’s turn to scrunch her brows.

“Your power, I can’t tell its name, seems to be more passive than mine. But I can tell it’s shackling you. It seems to be hovering around your soul space and blocking any outside perception.”

Is that why I can’t sense my soul, even now?

“Ah. Oh.”

Adrianne’s soft exclamation raised Novus’ curiosity.

“What? What is it? What do you see?”

However, Adrianne’s brows only grew tighter together as she focused. It wasn’t until her eyes started to feel burned that she looked away and rubbed them back to normal.

“Something is inside you, but I can’t see what it is. It's guarded too heavily for my skills to see through it.”

If she levelled up her skills, would she be able to see it?

Adrianne looked back to Novus as she continued.

“Anyway, it’s simple. We can eliminate the shackles that bind us faster if we work together. If my power goes out of control, we use your power to counteract it and vice versa. What do you think?”

Novus’ brows furrowed. It wasn’t a light choice for him.

If she can help, then it might make resourcing faster. Especially if my power suddenly flares out like hers. It honestly kind of scares me that it hasn't already.

Adrianne’s ocean-blue eyes shone like jewels as she saw Novus thinking. She had snapped her fingers before because it was like Novus went to another world when he started to think to himself.

No, Novus, this is already enough. You don’t need more baggage holding you back. You’ve got a second chance to right it all now. Don’t waste it.

Adrianne noticed Novus had masterful control over his body. When he thought deeply, he hardly moved a muscle!

Moreover, that odd clash of powers might not last. How many times will Player’s Body triumph before I’m the one suffering from her power? Perhaps, the next time, I won’t be around anymore. Scorched into nothing by her Oblivion Physique’s flames.

Adrianne’s body tensed as she saw Novus’ posture relax and his brows unfurrow. She awaited the sweet words of acceptance to flow when she suddenly froze like a statue.

“No.”