Xiao Lin felt like he had a very, very long dream. In that dream, his consciousness was fuzzy. His senses and his awareness were unable to sense anything happening in the outside world, as if he had been trapped in a muddled world. He was surrounded by darkness, not even able to see his own fingers, and he was falling at a terrifying speed. He did not know where he was falling to, but he could do nothing but wait and see quietly.
His consciousness grew fuzzier the longer he waited, to the point where he was beginning to forget himself. He felt the temperature surrounding him constantly falling until he was beginning to freeze.
It was only until a flame shaped like a red lotus appeared when Xiao Lin felt a shock jolt through his body, causing him to draw nearer, raising his hand to touch the flames. It was just a tiny spark that could disappear into the darkness at any time.
Xiao Lin grabbed onto the spark, but it did not burn him at all. A warmth spread throughout his body from his palm as he slowly recovered his sense of self within the cold.
Who am I?
I am Xiao Lin!
Where did I come from?
I’m from Dawn Academy!
His consciousness constantly asked questions, and he constantly answered them. He felt his mind get clearer every time a question was asked.
He was still surrounded by the immense cold and Xiao Lin carefully protected the spark in his palm. He had a feeling that, if the flame were to be extinguished, he would be trapped within the freezing darkness forever.
Just as he was regaining his sense of self, a violent wind blew around him as the formless darkness got thicker. A cloud of darkness rushed toward Xiao Lin, as if trying to extinguish the fire.
“Be swallowed by the infinite darkness!” came a cold and sinister voice.
Xiao Lin immediately shielded the flame with his body, but could not withstand the assault from the darkness and the wind. The flame started to dance around, looking weaker and weaker, like it could disappear at any moment.
“Die and surrender this body to me!” The voice in the darkness sounded even more violent.
Xiao Lin was like a raft in an ocean of waves, ready to be completely submerged. Xiao Lin still did not know where he was, but he had regained enough consciousness to have an idea of what was happening.
He shouted back, “No! Never!”
“Die!”
“F*ck off! Surrendering my body to you?! Never!”
Xiao Lin yelled a slew of curses. It was hard to find counterparts to curse words in Normese, but that world seemed to automatically translate their words.
There seemed to be a crack in the darkness as the voice shouted in despair, “How! How is there still no way! How could the meager soul of an evil demon be so strong!”
The voice did not seem to have given up, but a white light suddenly shot out from the darkness. The darkness seemed to shatter like glass into countless pieces as more and more light poured in.
“Him! It’s his power! How is this possible! Absolutely impossible!” The voice sounded weaker and weaker, until it could not be heard anymore.
The darkness had been completely overtaken by the light, and Xiao Lin suddenly felt a warmth that he had never felt before. He shut his eyes and felt a sense of serenity. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed countless black, tadpole-like objects floating around him. Upon closer inspection, it was all Ancient Normese words.
Xiao Lin suddenly felt like he could recognize all those words and a voice in his consciousness told him to read them aloud. He opened his mouth and read everything, speeding up as he went.
After an indeterminate amount of time, he finished reading, and the words spun around, gathering in the middle as they slowly morphed into a human silhouette. It nodded to Xiao Lin, smiling as it said, “Well then. It’s all yours now.”
“Who are you?” Xiao Lin asked hurriedly.
Before he could get a response, a power raised him up and the surrounding light shattered until it disappeared.
In a haze, Xiao Lin quickly widened his eyes as he was surprised to finally regain his feeling, touching the crystal floor. In front of his eyes was an alert woman holding a battle scythe.
“Who are you?” the woman asked.
“Lilith? Don’t you recognize me?” Xiao Lin was confused.
“Who are you?” Lilith repeated as the scythe got nearer to Xiao Lin.
“No no no, I’m Xiao Lin!”
Lilith tilted her head, staring at Xiao Lin with her bright eyes for a moment before letting out a breath of air, storing her battle scythe. “Looks like it is you. Where’s the old man?”
“Who?” Xiao Lin might have finally woken up again, but he still did not quite grasp the situation.
Lilith was taken aback, but still summarized the situation for him. Xiao Lin was more and more shocked as he listened on, but he finally realized the voice in the darkness that wanted him to die was Asabanor. He had chased them to this place.
“Is he still in me?” Xiao Lin asked, uneasy.
“That’s not possible. The possession spell from necromancy is quite limited. Now that you’ve woken up, his consciousness can no longer enter your body.”
At that point, Lilith furrowed her eyebrows, “However, based on what you said earlier, that old man did not completely disappear; he left by himself. This means he could still be nearby. It’s a pity I don’t have any spells that can destroy souls. I’ll need to attend a few more courses when I head back.”
Xiao Lin suddenly remembered the silhouette that pierced the darkness, and its words: “It’s all yours now.”
He did not tell Lilith, since he was extremely confused himself. Who was that man? What was he given?
He was still deep in thought when Lilith quickly walked toward the door, saying with some doubt on her face, “We need to leave this place quickly! The world has turned a little strange.”
Xiao Lin was shocked when he walked out. That peaceful world had somehow been covered by dark clouds and the entire world had turned eerily dark. The lush greens around them had all wilted. Whatever it was, it did not look very promising.
“How do we leave?” Xiao Lin asked.
Lilith looked over. “That old man said the words in the castle were key to leaving this place, so you need to ask yourself that question. I can’t read Ancient Normese.”