Chapter 117: The flask

"Wait!" 

Waking up with this single thought, my hand extended all the way towards the ceiling of the basement. Fat drops of sweat poured down my face. Stuck in this strange position, it took me a long while before I finally regained control of my body.

To say that I saw death would be an understatement. From the avalanche, through the storm and dragon, all the way to the artefact going rouge and later meeting with that godlike being. While I was in the world of the mission, my entire mind was focused on completing it. In the middle of those events, I couldn't spare as much as a single thought for the overwhelming terror that filled every cell of my body.

My hand finally fell down, reuniting with the rest of myself laying on the floor of the basement. Slowly breathing the air in, I started the long process of calming myself down. Bit by bit, the constant and monotone action of sucking the air only to release it a moment later diffused the mind-boggling terror out of my system. 

"Thinking back, that was some really crazy shit…" 

Talking to myself, I closed my eyes for a moment. Using this short period of time to mentally gather the energy, I suddenly opened them back up, prompting my entire body upwards. Sitting on the floor, I finally managed to get my head to slightly move, scanning the insides of my most secure place. With my eyes swaying closer to inspect the state of my body, I noticed something strange.

There was a small, crystal bottle in my left palm!

"That's right! The notifications!"

Instantly regaining my wits, I looked around, both physically and mentally… But no system announcement appeared. No information about fulfilling the mission. No information about failing it either. Just a complete nothing, as if this mission never happened in the first place.

"If it didn't happen, then where does this bottle come from?"

I couldn't dispute the possibility of the entire encounter being nothing more but a realistic dream. As much as I believed that everything happened, if that being wanted to erase all the traces of that event, I had no doubts it would be perfectly capable of doing so. Or rather, the chances were that I was simply too weak and primitive to notice those traces in the first palace.

That is if the theory of that event being just a dream of mine was true. Yet, this theory couldn't hold against the presence of this strange flask!

Puzzled by its curious appearance, I inspected it closer, bringing the item as close to my eyes as I could without hitting my face. The secret of a strange glow that this flask emitted was held there. From the looks of it, it seemed as if some kind of extremely thick and energetically rich substance was filling the tiny insides of this otherwise sizeable bottle. It seemed as if nearly the entire volume of the thing consisted of cristal, with barely just a few drops of this strange liquid… This strange liquid that somehow was capable of emitting an aura so thick, it was visible with a naked eye.

"Could it be…" 

Given how I had no memory of ever protruding such an object on my own, I dropped all the thoughts about the truth behind what I just thought happened. Whether it was just a dream or a real situation, as long as this flask held what I could guess it did…

Ultimately, the object of my mission was to reach the top of the mountain. In theory, I didn't do it, at least not on my own. But the fact that I met with that white being remained. And just as I saw it before, it resided at the top of the mountain, right where my mission would be fulfilled. If this line of thought was correct, wouldn't that mean that, for better or worse, I actually accomplished my mission an obtained the reward for it?

If I took the influence of that Bart person to be the reason behind the lack of notifications, then it would make perfect sense. Even without the system confirmation of the events, my desired reward was still there, right in my hand.

Or was it?

As strange and puzzling as the appearance of this flask was, I couldn't be entirely sure that it was the way for Ayda to travel through the words. This was the deepest desire that made the entire mission appear in the first place, so any logic I could come up with would always point at the bottle to be the reward…

But what if it wasn't? I couldn't say for sure that this was exactly what I hoped to obtain. But then a single thought suddenly came to my mind, completely overthrowing all my hesitations.

I saw the power of that strange being with my very own eyes. Be it a dream or a real situation, there was no doubt that the flask appeared after my meeting with him. And thinking realistically, what would such a powerful existence try to plot, if it could obtain anything it would ever want with just its power alone?

Even if it was my simple nature bringing this idea to my head, I decided to go through with it before my hesitation would kill any drive for change in me. Ultimately, even if I were to push deciding what to do with this potion for later, I would still have to make the decision. With Ayda knowing the purpose of my last leave, she was bound to ask me about the results once I would return. 

That's why, before I would lose this last shred of confidence, I forced my body to stand up and approached the magic doors of my basement. With just a single thought, the destination behind them changed from the half-buried staircase to the small village encased in a protective barrier. 

Emerging from the usual door, I was met with a completely empty room. From the looks of things, Ayda left somewhere. As normal as it was for her to go on about her life while I'm away, the lack of her presence in this world still somehow managed to sadden me.

Looking mentally down at the state of my own emotions, I could tell that something was definitely wrong. While my ability to feel didn't deteriorate to the point where my witchcraft would no longer be of any use, the aftereffects of meeting that godlike being still remained.

Reminded of the terror of that event, I plummeted to the bed, instantly curling up my knees towards my chin. Wrapping my arms around my legs, I laid in the bed, once again resorting to a slowly breathe in and out to fight against the overwhelming terror.

And that was the state that Ayda saw me in once she passed through the doors. So focused on the ongoing battle in my mind, I didn't even notice her footsteps, otherwise easily discernable thanks to the cracking of the wooden floor in the building. 

"Krist? What's wrong?"

Rather than instantly approaching the bed and shaking my body to make sure I was okay, Ayda proved that she knew pretty well how to deal with someone in a state like I was in right now. Her voice was completely calm, accompanying her gentle steps as she slowly approached the bed.

Sitting down on the edge of the mattress, she just placed her warm hand atop my head, slowly but steadily rustling my hair. Noticing how she was in no hurry to get the answers out of me, I for once decided to indulge. Using the fleeting touch of her nimble fingers as the physical support for my mental challenge, I continued to do my best to fight off the terror that held my soul in a tight grasp.

"Are you okay now?"

After a long time during which my head somehow found its way on top of Ayda's lap, this partner of mine spoke up. Given how her timing coincided with the moment when I finally managed to wrestle control over my soul from the leftover terror, I could guess that she constantly kept watch on my emotions during the entire process.

Thinking about it now, there was a chance that this strange calming thrill that occasionally travelled up and down my spine was of her doing. 

"More or less. Sorry about that. I can't really say I'm happy with showing you this pathetic side of me…" 

Now that the terror was mostly gone, the rest of my human emotion finally could return to take back their place within my mind. And along with them, embarrassment came.

"Don't worry about it. I can tell that something huge has happened."

Seeing how energy returned to my eyes, Ayda rustled my hair while putting a wide smile on her face. Noticing the affection brimming in her eyes, I could only watch how my hand moved by itself, presenting that strange bottle right into her hands.

"What is this?"

Taking the flask from my hands, Ayda at first attempted to see through its essence to at least be able to guess the purpose of this crystal-contained liquid. With her mind not bringing up any possible solutions to the question puzzling her, her gentle eyes moved down, making her stare right at me with curiosity written all over her face.

It seemed that even though she didn't know what this flask was, she could tell how much I wanted her to be excited about it. And if she knew it, this knowledge alone would make it easy for her to anticipate my answer by a whole lot.

"While I'm not perfectly sure about it… It seems that this flask is the key we needed to let you come to my world with me."