Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!
The sound of an alarm going off resounded in the room.
"Shit! What the hell!" Ethan woke up from his bed and the first thing that came out was his daily morning curses.
"Why does my head hurt so badly? I'm pretty sure I didn't drink last night, didn't I?" He said to no one in particular as he raised his hand to rub his aching head.
"Uh~ where is the darn alarm? Turn off!" He yelled as a little as he opened his weary eyes, so he could turn off the alarm and go back to getting some shut-eye. However, when he opened his eyes, he was alarmed.
"Who turned off the lights?" He said, as he could see nothing but darkness. This was very weird. When he awakened, even though he was one of the weakest, his senses were now enhanced to a remarkable degree.
It was no exaggeration to say that he should, at least, be able to make out the faint outline of things in the dark. However, today was… becoming unusual.
The room was pitch black, so dark that he could barely see a thing. At this point, Ethan wondered if he was hallucinating right now.
Currently, he heard something in the darkness.
Click! Followed by the clicking sound which sounded like a door opening, Ethan suddenly felt nostalgic and a peculiar sense of familiarity. It felt surreal.
Creak! The sound of the door slightly creaking put Ethan on high alert. Was someone actually crazy enough to barge into his house? Or was he being schemed against?
Let me think, I can't see a thing, so maybe…. Darkness special ability! But that can't be, all those with such powers are at least King Tier Newborns and above. Don't tell me I provoked someone else again!"
Ethan started lamenting as he found his situation too peculiar to explain it. Of course, the initial reaction that came to mind was that someone either wanted to kill him, or abduct him, and they were using the power of darkness as cover.
Either a big shot, or an assassin with a rare darkness affinity.
But who the hell would place a bounty on Ethan's head? Well, he had a couple who he could name off the top of his head, and the answer to the above question was simply four words.
Numerous people! However, at this moment.
"Young Master! Are you OK?"
"Huh!" For a second, Ethan felt his mind go blank. Then, numerous memories poured into his mind as he quickly remembered where he heard that voice from. That old, sweet, very helpful voice that he had missed so dearly in his life many years ago.
"Lily!" Ethan called out, subconsciously, as his eyes started to moisten. However, he quickly snapped out of his daze as he suddenly became alert.
"No! It's not possible! Lily died years ago. I'm probably stuck in some kind of trance or illusion, mind control, or whatever it is".
"Young Master, I heard you yelling from outside the door. Moreover, why are you crying and shaking your head while mumbling to yourself?"
Before Ethan knew it, a soft pair of hands had touched his face and he could feel that the person was using a handkerchief to wipe his tears.
"It's OK, young master. It's not your fault that you are in this condition, but you can't give up hope".
"Lily! Is that really you?" Ethan asked. For a moment, he had been struck with the realization that something was definitely up.
The feeling of her hands, they way she wiped his tears, even the sound of her voice and hand movements. It was so very familiar.
"Of course it's me, young master. I'm your maid, after all, who else usually comes to help you with your needs?"
"But, but how are you here? Why are you here? And why is it so dark in this place?" Ethan asked again with anxiousness in his voice.
"I don't understand, young master, I always come to your room to help you up every morning".
"Every morning?!" Ethan was dumbstruck and suddenly felt dizzy. What the hell was she talking about?
"But why can't I see anything? Furthermore, where are we?" He asked again while thinking inwardly. "Did I really drink so badly that my senses are screwing with me?"
"Um~ young master, you don't know?" The female voice said again, but this time, he could hear a hint of puzzlement in her voice.
"Um~ you are in your room. Remember? You decided to come home since you were sick of staying in the school dormitory so we came back to the family villa. Its currently raining outside and.... Well... You should know why you can't see, right?"
Ethan suddenly felt confused. What did she mean by dormitory like he was some kind of high school boarding student? Sensing the unease in here voice, his puzzlement only grew.
"Lily, why can't I see? Tell me now!" He said as his tone turned firm with a hint of dominance. Lily, who was in the room, suddenly felt her unease grow more.
"You..... You…. You are blind, young master. Furthermore, you have been blind for six years".
"What!!"
Ethan cried out loud. He felt like he had just heard the most incredulous thing he had ever heard in his life. He was blind, and not just blind, he was blind again.
But he clearly remembered that he had gotten the dungeon treasure that cured his sight years ago. Why would he be blind again? Furthermore, another anomaly had appeared, which was the fact that Lily was alive again.
In his previous life, Lily was raped and killed by a newly ascended Adept realm Martial artist. This was one of Ethan's deep regrets, as he couldn't protect the female aside from his mother who had cared for him for years.
The fact that she was alive, and he was hearing her voice gave him numerous mixed emotions.
Happiness, sadness, anger, gloom and most of all, a high amount of puzzlement.
Ethan sat up and suddenly realized that his bed was off. It wasn't large, fluffy, and comfortable like he was used to. Although this bed also felt soft, it wasn't the one, he used. However, as much as it felt strange, it also felt inexplicably familiar, like he had been laying on this bed for years now.
And this was right.
First lily was alive, then, he found out he was blind and now the familiar bed. But the last thing he remembered, was.
Ethan sat there in silence as he started to recollect his memories. After a while, his facial expression changed, then changed again, and again…. Meanwhile, Lily watched as his expressions changed one after the other confused.
However, his facial expression soon stopped on pure, unbridled rage. He looked so angry that his veins almost popped, and a thick gloom of bloodthirsty aura suddenly filled the apartment.
Lily's face paled as she stared at Ethan in shock and fear. She had never seen Ethan this angry before, and he had never given her this kind of feeling. It felt like, like she was in the presence of some sort of bloodthirsty beast that was ready to rip her in two.
Ethan, who was emitting such a vicious aura, was actually completely unaware that he had lost control and let some of his aura unintentionally leak out of his body. The only thing that could be seen if one looked into his mind right now was the picture of Annabelle krill, covered in blood.
That memory had pushed him to an extreme state which took him a while to come out from.
After calming down, he suddenly noticed that something wasn't right. In fact, he had noticed this all along, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.
When he tried to remember what had happened after he saw Annabelle in such a state, his brain suddenly shuddered like it had suffered from the piercing of a sharp sting. The more he tried to remember, the more pain he felt.
Seeing his pained expression, her original fear of Ethan faded away without a second thought as she hurriedly approached him.
"Young master, are you OK. What's hurting you?" She asked with a clear voice laced with anxiousness and worry.
Ethan stopped endeavoring to reminisce about that event and soon, his pained expression softened as he lay his head back on the bed to rest.
"I… I think am fine lily. But I want to ask you a question, and I need you to be completely honest with me".
He said as he turned his face to look in her direction. He couldn't tell whether he was looking at her or not as his vision was still dark, but he looked in that direction anyway.
However, he didn't know that he was just a few inches or so away from her face. Hearing his words, Lily suddenly felt her heart beat fast for no reason. She looked at his face that was so close to hers and held her breath without even knowing why.
Although his eyes were greyed out and looked dead and lifeless, it didn't affect the rest of his facial features in any way. The curved eyebrows, square jaw, flawless skin, medium-sized and slightly pointed nose as well as the luscious pink lips.
All of it just left her with one word in her heart.
Since he didn't here her voice, he took it as an affirmative and asked with slight nervousness.
"What year is it?"