'What the?'
Nolamine was in disbelief.
'What the hell is happening?'
He thought. He was still in the parking lot and in so much pain that he could barely stay conscious. He watched as a monster tried to eat someone he barely knew and that he had just beaten up.
He thought he was going to be killed right in front of him, but he could not believe his eyes.
When it first tried to take a bite out of him, its jaws went through him. He thought he had seen wrong but it tried again and just like how a ghost would go through a person without affecting him, it could not bite into him.
It was furious. It bit and clawed at him but nothing happened. What was surprising was that as it went into a frenzy, trying to bite him, it would hit and claw at the car next to it as well and could damage it. Nolamine was so surprised by what was happening that he did not notice it.
It was then that his adrenaline stopped and he could feel the full dose of the pain he was in. He winced as a flash of purple lighting lit up the parking lot. A memory came flashing into his mind.
He was a kid, around four or five years old, and looking in a mirror. Next to him was someone as old as him, a boy that looked to be African.
The memory lasted for a split second and when he looked at the monster again, it was done trying to kill the boy and was now focused on him. The lighting had taken it out of its frenzied state.
Another memory came flashing by. This time he was holding a woman's hand and in front of them was a shaman, wearing traditional Korean attire.
'Auntie?'
He thought as the monster came dashing towards him.
'Fuck, is my life flashing before my eyes now that I'm about to die? It's confusing though. I do not remember any of those events or people.'
He thought as the monster opened up its mouth and was about to tear him limb from limb. It turned into smoke right at the last second with him seeing an afterimage of something silver where it had been.
It materialized a distance away from him as it looked at something he too was now looking at.
"Looks like I made it in time."
The voice of a lady sounded out. They were looking at a female, dressed in a ninja outfit that looked to be armor of some kind. Her face was covered with a mask and was carrying a sword.
The same sword that had made the afterimage as Nolamine was about to be devoured. It had intricate lines throughout its blade that looked to have letters he did not know written on them. It was beautiful and looked steady.
The monster backed up a bit.
"A Canabris. So, you are the beast I smelled. You had the balls to spawn on my watch?"
She said as she took out a green stone and sheath her sword.
'Beast?'
Nolamine thought.
Using both her hands, she crushed it and sprinkled it all over Nolamine. As soon as the green dust touched his skin, the pain started to go away and his wounds started to heal. Inhaling it calmed his mind.
"It seems like you gave it your best trying to defeat it. Rest now and leave it to me."
She said as she walked towards it and unsheathed her sword again. It was studying her and it looked at the sword with concern.
She disappeared from where she was standing and in a split second, the beast had disappeared into smoke too.
She appeared where it had been with her sword where it had been standing. She put her hand where the black smoke was and the beast materialized with her hand on its throat as it struggled.
It was clear that she was incredibly strong. She was holding it up in the air using only her left hand. She threw it to the other side of the parking lot and it crashed into a car.
She instantly disappeared from where she was and the next time she appeared, the beast's head was rolling on the floor, dismembered from its body and the car had been sliced horizontally together with the wall next to it.
Nolamine was in awe. To substantiate what his eyes were seeing right in front of him, he vomited.
He could not help it, it was a dark yellowish substance that had been accumulating in his body. He felt embarrassed about doing such a thing after seeing someone's awesomeness and it was a good thing Son-join was not there or he would not hear the end of it.
The beast turned into smoke and left a small stone behind. It was brownish in color and the size of his thump. She took it and went to him.
"Feeling better?"
She asked and Nolamine nodded. He felt he would vomit in front of his savior if he talked at that moment.
She let out a little laugh as she saw him trying not to embarrass himself.
"That's good. No one from this world who is not initiated fights a Canabris and lives to tell the story, in fact you are the first one I know to have survived an encounter with it."
She said as she stood at a distance, not wanting to be near his vomit.
'Ha... I would have died if it was not for you, but if you give me the credit, I shall take it and bask in it. Maybe I will become a legend.'
He thought and he would not dare share his thoughts with her. Being friends with Son-join for so long had affected his character.
"Go stand in the rain for a bit while I check on your friend here, and drink this before you go."
She threw a potion at him that was red in color. Nolamine caught it as he stood up. His strength was coming back to him but he was feeling dizzy.
"Do not worry, it is something to restore your blood."
The woman said. Since she had saved his life, Nolamine just popped it open and drank it. He instantly felt lighter and the dizziness stopped.
He went into the rain to wash away the black substance he had vomited as the woman looked to see what was wrong with the boy.
"What happened to him? A Canabris could not have done this."
She asked after Nolamine reentered the lot. He told her what happened and he could tell she was impressed as his story went on.
"Damn kid, surviving a Canabris and now this, you must be special or something."
She said as she went to stand in front of him. To Nolamine's surprise, she took a long breath as she inhaled like she was taking in his smell.
"Awe, you seem to have been to the veil, even if just for a brief moment. It must be because 'SHE' woke up."
Nolamines world was being shaken upside down and now the person who saved him was making no sense.
'Since nothing that happened just now makes sense, to understand it, I should take what makes no sense as reality if I want to have answers of what just happened to me from her.'
He thought. Watching and reading countless anime and novels made him instantly come to that conclusion. Not wanting to be the kind of person in those books who would question what's right in front of him, not want answers or accept it, and appear as stupid beyond belief.
'If I am not dreaming, then this is fucked up.'
He thought as the woman let out her hand for a handshake. Nolamine shook it as he scratched the back of his head.
"Since I have some more questions for you as you seem to clearly have the potential of becoming one of our world, let me introduce myself. My name is Pulchra, a warrior from the Assassin Guild."
There it was again. She had said something inconceivable that Nolamine's mind went blank.
'From her world?'
He thought as his mind came back to earth. He wanted answers, but he did not know where to start as he had so many questions running through his head at that point in time.