Chapter 189: Unmoving Echoes
"Let’s begin."
Ash spoke calmly as he sat cross-legged on the soft, vibrant grass, which was a perfect imitation of life created by the World Tree herself.
Behind him, the World Tree stood silently, her presence both peaceful and ancient, as she gently placed her hand on the crown of his head.
"Remember, you have to start gently. I can form a link with you to some extent as long as I maintain physical contact, but it will only allow us to communicate directly. That is the only help I can offer. So, are you truly ready?"
There was a strange intent hidden within her last question. It felt as if she was silently urging him to think twice about his decision, quietly offering him another option.
It was as if she was asking whether he really wanted to do this himself, or if he would rather leave it to her instead.
No, no, I can only rely on myself. I have no idea what kind of hidden intentions others may have. And the soul is my weakest point right now. I cannot allow anyone to gain control over it. Fate is already trying to kill me...Maybe...? no, definitely...
Even Ash was not entirely sure about anything anymore. From everything he had experienced so far, one thing was clear—his journey had never been ordinary.
If someone were to look at all the events he had been through, they might just see a long series of near-death situations. Yet every time, not only had he survived, but he had also come out of it with some form of gain.
To an outsider, it might seem as if Ash had incredible luck on his side.
But was that really the case?
What if the one living in this body right now, the body known as Ash Burn, was not the Ash from Earth... but the original owner of this body? Dark Ash?
’This’ body had already died once during the awakening process, or maybe twice if one look at encounter with Solareth.
And if it wasn’t for the automatic trigger of Protective Override, no one—absolutely no one—would have been able to survive being reborn in this body—not even Ash.
And what were the actual odds of someone who had that exact rare trait appearing at the exact moment that body became vacant? Maybe one percent, or even less. The chances of transmigrating in the first place were already lower than that. Ash considered it generous to even assume a one percent chance.
And what about everything that followed? Even though he knew the contents of the novel, unexpected variables always seemed to find their way into everything he tried to do.
From the re-awakening, to the dungeon where he obtained the Rune of Balance, and then to the attack on the academy, he had somehow made it through all of it. But was it because of strength alone? No.
He had to burn his potential just to defeat Miraak, and even then, it had pushed him to the edge.
His remaining potential now might not even qualify as true A-rank.
Although the World Tree had checked his potential and said it was still A-rank, Ash understood his body better than anyone else.
He could feel it deep inside—it was no longer the same. Something had definitely dropped.
That A-rank reading felt fake.
He did not know how the potential-detecting devices worked, but he was sure that the result they gave was not accurate.
Everything he had survived so far was due either to the power of the Runes, skills created due to his trait, or sometimes his quick thinking and cautious approach.
Without those things, Ash would have been nothing more than an extra in someone else’s story.
But what were the chances of a completely normal human being thrown into this world?
Forget one percent. The possibility was almost zero. Something like 0.0000000000000001%.
Of course, that is if you ignore the possibility that everything had been manipulated from the start.
If that possibility was true, then every step Ash had taken, everything he had experienced, and even what he was about to do now, might have been part of someone else’s plan all along.
Let’s not think so negatively, I don’t even know what is true or what is false anymore...
After all, it was all just Ash’s speculation.
Diving into his Soul Sea, Ash appeared in front of his ’Soul Tree’ once again.
It looked the same as always, with its black trunk standing tall and proud, and vibrant, multicolored leaves spreading across its branches in a chaotic yet mesmerizing pattern.
The hues danced between various shades, as if carrying his emotions in their glow. The tree itself was massive, towering beyond what should be possible, and around it, runes floated silently, spinning like a protective ring, casting a gentle shimmer.
It was nothing short of extraordinary, like something that belonged to a realm beyond logic.
As he stood there admiring the surreal beauty of his soul tree, Ash suddenly felt something strange, a faint tug at the edge of his soul.
Of course, such a thing should not have been possible—until he remembered the words of the World Tree.
Thinking that it might be the partial link she had mentioned earlier, Ash allowed his runes to step aside, loosening their guard just slightly, and did not resist the subtle intrusion.
[Can you hear me?]
Just then, the voice of the World Tree echoed in his mind, calm and steady.
"Yeah, I can. Loud and clear."
[Good. I was a little confused at first since the link wasn’t forming properly. But now I understand. You possess an unbelievably strong mental foundation. No wonder you’re still completely sane and haven’t lost your sense of self, even after you have memories of another person.]
Uh... although she’s misunderstanding the reason behind it... I’m definitely not going to correct her. It’s better this way.
"Yeah."
[Look at you, acting all humble now. Alright, let’s set the small talk aside and get started. Just do exactly what I told you.]
Wait... how am I even hearing her voice like this? I forgot that the time here is faster. One day here equals one minute outside, right? Then how is this conversation even possible if the time flow is so drastically different?
Ash frowned slightly. He was confused. The thought circled his mind restlessly.
Could it be that her technique was powerful enough to bypass the distortion of time? Or maybe there were special conditions that made it work even within this kind of space? He wanted to ask, but doing so might risk revealing more than he intended.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, he finally asked, "Is the technique you’re using... somehow special?"
[Oh my, I didn’t expect you to be this perceptive. Yes, it is quite unique. It’s a telepathy technique I created myself. It allows me to contact any of my children, regardless of how far they are, even if they are separated by time or space.]
[That said, I don’t use this technique on just anyone. Usually, I only reserve it for the Elven King or Queen. It consumes a large amount of my time to bind this connection to my children. But in your case, it’s just a partial link. As soon as I remove my hand, it will be broken.]
Satisfied with her answer, Ash finally felt the last of his doubt fade away. He closed his eyes slowly and muttered under his breath, "Alright... I’m starting."
She said to send my mental energy or basically my will, like a string, as if I was fishing into the deep, dark soul lake below me...
He followed the method exactly as she had described. Ash formed a thin thread of his mental energy, carefully shaped it into a small hook, and allowed it to sink deep into the dark waters of the soul lake beneath him.
He had to basically fish out memories from deep sea and then destroy them.
It was a task that required deep concentration, the kind that would drain even the sharpest minds. But Ash’s focus had long surpassed normal standards. He didn’t even need to activate his Omni Thought for something like this.
Following her instructions step by step, Ash carefully tried to hook one of the memories.
The memories were not scattered or hidden deep within the sea, but rather, they floated like illusions inside circular mirrors, their edges faintly blurred, as if wrapped in mist. These memory fragments were densely packed together, nested so closely that not even a sliver of space could be found between them.
Although they were clearly visible, there was still a considerable distance between the sea’s surface and where the memories floated.
The upper layer of the Soul Sea was entirely dark, covered in thick blackness, and the only reason Ash could even see the memories was because of the mental string he extended—which now acted not only as his will, but also as his eyes.
When the hook at the end of that string made contact with the first memory, it felt completely rigid.
Instead of reacting like a liquid, it felt as though he had tried to pierce solid ground, it was like trying to drag a stone buried deep inside an immovable layer of hardened earth.
He then moved his attention to another memory, hoping for a different result, but once again, nothing happened. The memory didn’t budge at all. It was completely still, as if frozen in time.
What is happening...
Ash was confused. Again and again, he cast his thread, trying to grab hold of even a single memory, but every memory was as hard as a rock.
Not finding the answer himself, he called out to the World Tree, since she hadn’t mentioned anything about this kind of issue in her instructions.
After a few moments, her voice came, but there was something off about it.
She was eerily silent at first, before she replied.
[When did you say you received these foreign memories, the ones that were not originally yours?]
Ash paused and tried to recall.
When Dark Ash had transferred his memories to him, his mind had immediately shut down under the sheer pressure.
He had lost consciousness right away because his brain simply couldn’t handle the load. He only woke up a month later.
Taking into account the time he had spent on the Dragon Continent after that, along with the month he had spent with Serena learning Life Magic...
"Around two and a half months... maybe a little more," Ash replied thoughtfully.
[Then there shouldn’t be any problem. I don’t know why you are experiencing something like this. The symptoms you are describing only appear in people who have let the memories of another entity rot inside them for an extremely long period—usually for about a decade or more.]
[And even in such cases, most of the memories naturally break down and fade due to passage of time. Only a very small portion of them ever becomes like a rock, hardened and impossible to move.]
Ash didn’t respond right away.
Instead, he willed the runes around him to cut the connection to the World Tree and then remained silent for a while.
Slowly, he brought one of his hands to his face and covered half of it, his fingers pressing into his skin as a strange, bitter laugh escaped his mouth.
"Haha... Hahah... Hahahah... Ahahaha... AHAHAHA..."
His laughter echoed endlessly into the infinite span of the Soul Sea, spreading far and wide like a mad echo trapped in a hollow world.
"Time. Time. Time...."
"Haha... Time, huh..."
"Two and a half months... that means 109,500 minutes... which means 109,500 days in this Soul Sea... that’s almost around three hundred years..."
Three hundred years had passed inside his soul sea, in the space where time worked differently.
All those memories that he wanted to remove, were now frozen like ancient icebergs.
Ash could only laugh at the irony of the situation.
From the way it looked, Luck was clearly never on his side.
Not then. Not now.
And maybe... not ever.
***