"WHAT THE FUCK!!!"
Ray was thoroughly shocked because what he saw was something he could not comprehend, let alone him, even every beast in the world had fallen silent, too stunned to even scream.
Earlier, their screams were because they sensed something unnatural approaching, but now they were simply too dumbfounded to even react properly, as if their instincts themselves had frozen under an overwhelming presence.
Because literally they could see the Twin Suns of the world slowly becoming smaller and smaller, as if they were being pulled away by an unseen force, until the suns vanished completely before darkness descended onto the world. Hell, there was not even a moon present to light up the night, making the darkness feel suffocating and absolute.
As soon as the darkness descended, screams of beasts once again filled the world. While most beasts could see in the dark due to their natural instincts and evolutionary adaptations, they were still frightened to witness the two suns in the sky vanish so suddenly and without explanation.
The mere prospect of someone destroying those Suns or even swallowing them whole filled them with deep primal terror, a fear that resonated through their blood and instincts.
Almost, no one understood what happened. Almost...
{The world was moved...}
Aetheris’s words were heard in Ray’s mind like a whisper, yet they carried an unusual heaviness, as if even he was unsure of what he was sensing.
"What?"
Ray was still shocked, and the word escaped his mouth instinctively in a loud voice, his throat feeling dry as his mind tried to process the impossible sight he had just witnessed.
{I do not know much, but I can feel through the fluctuations in space that the whole world is moving towards some unknown destination. Most likely, the portal leading back to your world has already vanished due to the world getting displaced from its original spatial coordinates, making its previous connections unstable or completely severed.}
Ray stood there with his mouth agape, his thoughts momentarily blank before survival instincts took over. Without wasting another second, he started running towards a certain direction with hurried and uneven breaths. He ran for around five minutes before reaching a large tree that towered over the surrounding forest like an ancient sentinel.
He quickly looked around, scanning his surroundings carefully to ensure no beast had followed him or noticed his movements. After confirming that the area was clear, he climbed the tree with high agility, his injured and exhausted body still forcing itself to move under desperation. Within a few minutes, he reached the upper part of the tree. There was a hidden hollow in the tree, covertly concealed by thick leaves and overlapping branches. If someone did not know what to look for or where to search, they would surely miss it.
Clearing away the bushes carefully, he entered the hollow space, his heartbeat unconsciously accelerating with anticipation and anxiety, but there was nothing inside. The dimensional crack was not present there. It had definitely vanished without leaving behind even the faintest trace of spatial distortion.
"What do I do now? I do not think I would be able to return back like this..."
Ray’s mood became somewhat disarrayed, firstly from the overwhelming fear of the unknown beings who had moved an entire world and their possible intentions, and secondly from the realization that he might have permanently lost the only path that could take him back.
{That is the mentality of the weak, boy. So what if you are away from home? You must never give up no matter what the situation is. Instead, you should try to find solutions even if everything is on the verge of destruction. And it is not like you have a family waiting back there. It would be better for you to focus on increasing your own strength, if nothing else, because strength is the only thing that can give you choices in situations like this.}
Hearing those words, Ray felt a subtle but undeniable sting in his chest, not because he was offended, but because he knew there was truth hidden within Aetheris’s harsh tone. He indeed realized that he had to work on his mentality, as his thoughts often drifted towards despair whenever circumstances turned unfavorable. Though it would take time, he knew he needed to change and become mentally stronger if he wished to survive in worlds like these.
{Yeah, firstly...}
**
While Ray was having his own fair share of trials and tribulations, Ash was having his own shares of trials and tribulations as well, each walking a path filled with struggles shaped by their own circumstances and burdens.
If someone were to ask you whether equality truly exists, what would you say?
It does not really matter what you think, because equality is nothing but an illusion that comforts the mind. No being, no person is ever truly equal, and it does not matter whether the world you live in is a normal one or a magical one governed by supernatural laws and powers.
And thus, while some people will face trials in their lives that they can barely handle even with extreme difficulty, there will always be another person whose trials would appear like nightmares to others, yet that same person might find the struggles of the first individual relatively simple and manageable. Difficulty has never been universal, because strength, knowledge, mindset, and fate never distribute themselves evenly.
Ash and Ray could be taken as a clear example of these words. While what Ray was facing could have been somewhat of a walkthrough for Ash due to his resourcefulness regarding the Runes and the many unusual circumstances that shaped his growth, the situation was never that simple when perspectives were reversed.
But currently, what Ash was facing could not be handled easily by Ray, who was still a normal teen struggling to survive in a world far beyond his current understanding and capabilities.
**
In the Soul Space.
Another year passed, with nothing particularly significant happening. Ash continued his usual routine of waking up, using his skill and then falling unconscious once again.
Time and time again, he repeated the same process. After a certain point, it no longer felt like a action he was doing consciously. It became a deeply engraved instinct within his soul.
He entered an unusual state where he had no awareness of his surroundings, yet his body, or rather his soul body, continued performing the same sequence of actions endlessly, driven by lingering instinct and unyielding determination.
But time never stops for anyone. Those who move alongside time and work with its flow eventually witness the results of their persistence, while those who fall behind can only watch their opportunities slip away and remain trapped in regret that grows heavier with every passing moment.
And like that, 5 years passed. Ash continued doing the same thing repeatedly, without pause, without hesitation, and without realizing how much time had already slipped away.
10 years passed, yet Ash did not stop. He remained trapped in that unusual state where his consciousness and actions existed separately. His mind had long drifted into silence, but his soul continued moving forward as if it refused to acknowledge the concept of rest.
Another 5 years passed, making a total of 30 years since Ash had entered the Soul Space.
He continued repeating the same actions, without clarity of thought and without awareness of the passing decades.
There was still no clear signs of him awakening from his strange state.
And before it could even be properly noticed, another 20 years passed. Now, a total of 50 years had passed since Ash began comprehending Runes, and after such an immense stretch of time, there was finally some movement within the Soul Space.
Inside the Soul Vault, resting peacefully on a large and comfortable cushion that radiated faint warmth, a unicorn slept quietly.
Over the years, his size had gradually increased until he now resembled a regular horse. His breathing was slow and steady, rising and falling in a calm rhythm that carried no signs of disturbance.
When Ash had first brought him here, he had been far smaller, his fragile condition back then made it difficult to imagine when would he recover exactly.
However, the passing years inside the Soul Space, along with the dense and pure soul energy that continuously permeated this place, had nourished Eric’s body and soul slowly and steadily.
Ash himself was still unable to sense or utilize that energy consciously, but it naturally flowed into Eric, providing the strength required for gradual healing and growth that would have been nearly impossible anywhere else.
And after more than 50 years, Eric finally showed signs of waking up.
The reason he had taken so long was because his soul had been severely damaged during the incident with Orien.
To protect itself from complete collapse, his body had entered a deep hibernation state, preserving every fragment of energy it possessed while patiently waiting for his soul to recover at a stable pace.
If this recovery had taken place anywhere other than Ash’s Soul Space, the time required for healing would have stretched far longer.
Of course, that outcome would only change if the location possessed recovery capabilities even greater than this place, which was extremely rare.
Thus, as Eric slowly opened his eyes, confusion first filled them as he struggled to understand where he was and why his surroundings felt both unfamiliar and strangely comforting at the same time.
His pupils moved slowly, scanning the room he was in, as fragmented thoughts attempted to reconnect inside his mind.
But soon, that confusion faded.
In its place, an unbearable coldness surfaced within his eyes as painfully vivid memories began returning to him one after another.
Each memory rose like a blade carving through his consciousness, forcing him to relive emotions he had been unable to process while trapped in hibernation.
Anger, sadness, grief, the overwhelming helplessness, all of it surged back with brutal clarity.
And he roared towards the sky in anger.
His rage filled roar shook the very air around him, even though there was nothing inside the Soul Space that could physically be disturbed by sound or vibration.
The roar carried pain, fury, and grief that had remained suppressed for decades, finally erupting without restraint as his newly awakened soul struggled to release everything that had been buried within it.
The sheer intensity of his voice reached deep into the silent expanse of the Soul Space, and that echo finally caused Ash to snap out of his prolonged trance, as the roar shattered the subconscious silence that had imprisoned him for half a century.
***