[Reading author's thoughts is adviced before reading this chapter.]
Readers can skip the broken scripture part and read tl;dr to skip it. <3
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The clock showed 8:30 A.M. Sunlight streamed into the room. I woke up, feeling the weight of yesterday's fatigue. Beside me, Cherry was still deep in sleep, her chest rising and falling slowly. She looked peaceful.
Sigh, what am I going to do with her now? I thought to myself. But I already had a plan for the day. We were going to meet Mrs. Samuel. I needed to learn more about the Void and about my own strange powers.
I got out of bed carefully, trying not to wake Cherry. I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Then I took a shower. After my bath, it would be Cherry's turn. I went to the kitchen and started preparing food for both of us. I had bought extra ingredients recently, so I could cook for two from now on.
I made a simple breakfast. I prepared crunchy toast, a fresh salad, some baked beans, a few samosas, and some pasta. It was a random mix, but when you're hungry after a long day, anything tastes good.
Soon, I heard the bedroom door open. Cherry came out, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Oh,hi. Good morning," she said, her voice still thick with sleep. "Good morning,"I replied.
She went to the bathroom to wash up. When she came out, she sat at the table. She put her hands together, closed her eyes, and said a quiet prayer. I wondered what god she believed in. Meh, knowing that won't change anything anyway, I thought. I sat down too, and we started eating. We didn't talk much. The only sounds in the room were the clinking of utensils, the sound of us chewing, and the crunch of the toast.
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After breakfast, we got ready to leave. We walked to the bus stop and boarded the bus heading to the next city where Mrs. Samuel lived. Cherry sat beside me. She opened a bag of chips she had bought from a shop recently and started munching on them.
Seriously, how much is she going to eat? I wondered. But then I remembered. Oh well, she does most of the fighting between us, so it's good for her to have full energy.
The bus ride was uneventful. When it reached our stop, we got off. Now we were walking to Mrs. Samuel's house. As usual, I looked at the alleyways as we passed. I didn't notice a single homeless person. I'm happy this place hasn't been struck with misfortune yet, I thought.
Soon, we arrived. It was a quiet and beautiful house, located within a large, beautiful garden. This was my second time coming here. Now, I could look at this lavish house without worrying about a customer complaining that I was late for a job. There were a few trees grown in the garden, each with different varieties of fruit hanging from their branches. Just looking at them made me want to pluck one of each to eat.
I rang the doorbell. Cherry stood beside me. The door opened after a few minutes. There stood the unusual lady again, the one with the muscular build: Atlanta. She had her bow on her back, just like before. She stepped aside, giving us space to enter. She was so tall. My eyes were drawn to her muscular abs and her well-trained breasts.
"Ouch!" I yelped and looked behind me. Cherry had pinched my side. That hurt! Why are you doing this to me? She pushed me forward into the house as Atlanta closed the door behind us.
"Welcome, guys!" a familiar voice called out. It was Mrs. Samuel. She was lying on her sofa, still using her laptop. Her dressing sense was as usual—her top was loose, and her cleavage was showing.
"Ouch!" Cherry pinched me again! Why?! Why me? I rubbed the spot she had pinched. It hurt so much. I had to remember she was a Magus; her strength was far above that of an average human. Even a playful pinch from her was painful.
Oh yeah, I remembered. We came here for a reason. Just as I was about to speak, Mrs. Samuel spoke first.
"So, how was the incident yesterday? Hehe," she asked with a smile on her face.
I was taken aback. Yesterday's incident was one of the worst things I had ever experienced, and she was asking about it with such a light expression? Is she even human?
"Why are you asking like it was some kind of game for you?" Cherry spoke out, unable to handle the casual tone. I understood how she felt. We had suffered a lot. I guessed it must have been a terrible first experience for her too, despite her being a Magus.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Mrs. Samuel clarified, her expression softening. "I just wanted to know if you suffered any major injury or not. I do know some healing magic, after all."
Oh, wow, I thought. So she is a Magus as well. It was a surprise, but also something I had already thought was possible, especially since she had those ominous books about the Void in her house.
"We didn't suffer much, thanks to the other heroes who saved us," I said, speaking up since Cherry probably didn't know all the details. "One was a sniper, and I guess the other was Atlanta. Am I right?" Till now, I had only seen Atlanta carrying a bow. There could be other archers, but I didn't know anyone else who came to mind.
"Oh, that's good to hear," Mrs. Samuel said. "I assume you've come to thank Atlanta, but I guess you're here for far more than that, right?" She stood up from her sofa. Her breasts jiggled as she stood up suddenly.
"How much do you know about this? And who is this Atlanta person?" Cherry spoke up, trying to learn the identity of the person in front of her. "I don't know much, but I'm pretty sure I've read this name somewhere in a history book."
Wait, did she say a person from the past!? I was shocked. How!? How can such a thing exist!? This was as strange as the power I had recently found out I had.
Mrs. Samuel put a finger on her mouth. "Shh, I'll tell you soon. Come." She flicked her fingers.
Suddenly, a wave of pressure fell on us. Some kind of Kinetic power!? Before we noticed anything else, our surroundings changed completely. We were no longer in the house. We were now in a place where there was no color. It was all white, and it was endless wherever you looked. There were statues, potteries, architectures, and scriptures placed everywhere.
Mrs. Samuel didn't object to us looking around, so we started to explore what these items were. Most of them were ancient artifacts. We walked through the white space until we found a giant scripture at the far end.
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The scripture was broken and had been reassembled, but it was put together in such a way that not even a single segment made sense at first glance. It read:
Once upon a time,
1. If he had chosen another way, perhaps exploring the void in exchange? He went to the place where Abyss was the most ruthless. (♥️)
2. The king decided to attack the void army with all his might. After all he was not a coward to run away.(💀)
3. The king attacked the void with all his might. Burning through his life force, he was able to make a crack in the void. (👻)
4. The king was wise as he sent partial troops there and put the rest at defense. All the army died and his kingdom was ravaged and he was killed [The End]
5. The king enters the crack which lead to unknown. To find a completely new world which even he had not known, did he travel between world? If so, did he abandon his world? [The End]
6. The king sends all his force in hope of defeating the void. He only learnt the truth that they were too weak for the all devouring void. [The End]
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Hark! This sacred script is for those devout eyes which gaze upon our mortal stage from th' otherworldly sphere. Let us make merry and with revelry caper in this, our brief and pageant play.
>>>>>
Once upon a time all the life forms, whether they be humans, gods, animals, demons, monsters or anything, lived in harmony in their respective worlds with perfect balance. One world didn't bother with another's matters. But once the devious void spread, it took many worlds in its chaos, destroying past, present and future.
You are the king of a kingdom in an unknown world. Your world is getting destroyed by an unknown force whom even you have no knowledge of.
🛡️ Make a choice: A) Protect your people with your life. (This leads to the 2nd line of the original text)
B) Explore the void. (This leads to the 1st line of the original text)
💀 Make a choice: A) Attack with full force. (This leads to the 6th line of the original text)
B) Send partial forces and leave some behind for defense. (This leads to the 4th line of the original text)
♥️ Make a choice: A) Go away since the void might kill you. (This leads to the 2nd line of the original text)
B) Attack the void with your strongest attack. (This leads to the 3rd line of the original text)
👻 Make a choice: A) Go away since you don't know what the crack might lead to. (This leads to the 2nd line of the original text)
B) Enter the crack. (This leads to the 5th line of the original text)
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Tl;dr (Too long; didn't read) Summary: The king made a crack in the void with all his might, entered it, and found himself in a completely new world.
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I had just finished trying to understand this scripture. I looked at Cherry, who had also deciphered it and was amazed by this fact.
We both looked at Atlanta, who stood near Mrs. Samuel. Was she just like this king? Someone who had traveled from the past and come to the present?
This thought was both a boon and a horror. It was good to have powerful allies, but it was terrifying to think about what else might creep from the Void into our world.
"Hehe, now that you know more about the void, let's become allies!" Mrs. Samuel said with a grin. She flicked her fingers again, and instantly, we were back in her living room. Sniff. I took a deep breath. I missed this familiar air. I let out a sigh of relief.
So now we were allies with the person in front of us.
"So why is she still with you?" Cherry asked the question directly without any pause, while looking at Atlanta.
"Oh, come on," Mrs. Samuel replied. "She lost everyone and everything in her timeline. Give her a break, will you? She is staying here because there is nowhere for her to return to. She is also helping us with stopping the Void from corrupting this world as well."
Oh, I see, I thought. After losing her world to the Void, she must be trying to preserve her sanity by protecting this world. How kind, and how sad.
"Is that the only way to bring 'past heroes' here?" I asked. I didn't know how strong these "past heroes" were, but it wouldn't hurt to get as much support as we could.
"No, no. This is the fun part," Mrs. Samuel said, her eyes sparkling. "There are two ways for an ancient hero to enter this world. One is by forcing themselves through, like the king in the story did. The other is by summoning them with an ancient chant from their own world."
Wait, really? I was surprised. Is it that easy to summon such strong heroes to our world?
"Though," she continued, "it depends on the hero whether they want to come to our world or not. This is why we have to try our best to convince them to come here. I've tried several ancient chants, but none have responded back."
Oh, I thought, my hope deflating. It really is hard. What was I thinking, that saving the world would be easy? Tch, I'm still naive.
"Don't worry, though," Mrs. Samuel said cheerfully. "Since I couldn't succeed, I'll teach you both how to summon an ancient hero of your own! Though, it depends on your skills whether you'll succeed or not."
R-really? We would be able to summon such strong heroes!? The possibility was exciting.
"It is 4:56 P.M. now, though," Mrs. Samuel said, looking at a clock. "You should come back tomorrow, as it is about to be night soon!"
We took that much time in that white space!? It had only felt like a few minutes in there. She really had some crazy magic.
We nodded in agreement and said our goodbyes. We left her house. As we walked, Cherry had a smile plastered on her face, and she was holding my hand the whole way. A new sense of hope and purpose filled the air.