Murphy and Alma appeared in the room they had left and found celia waiting for them somewhat impatiently.
"Go to your room now" said Murphy in a strict tone to his daughter.
Celia noticed that Zen wasn't with them and understanding what had happened she left quietly as she knew her father wasn't in the mood to bicker with her or deal with her questions.
As soon as celia let the room Alma looked at Murphy confused. She knew he had a big conscience especially when dealing with Freya's ward but she couldn't help but think he was a bit too intense right now.
"What's the matter?" She finally decided to ask
" That boy he....."
Seeing her brother slightly distress she was even more confused and urged him on
"Just say it"
"... Alma, you were called a prodigy back then due to your immense learning speed and your early awakening,right?"
Alma didn't say anything and simply nodded not exactly sure where this was going.
"How long did it take you to use aether force after awakening?"
"About a month,why do you ask?"
Murphy didn't reply and simply asked another question
"And how long did our talented friend Freya say she took?"
"A week and a half "
Alma suddenly froze up as she realized something. She slowly looked towards the bed that Zen had attacked and although he hadn't destroyed it it definitely couldn't be used anymore.
A terrified Alma slowly managed to squeeze out
"Three days..... he awakened three days ago... that's..... not possible, he learned it in three days "
Murphy let out a sigh and decided to correct her
"Actually he was asleep all that time and he was able to do it the moment he woke up so in actuality he learned it in under a minute"
"What! he had no training and no teacher yet he learned it in such a short amount of time".
Murphy shook his head in disappointment as he couldn't help but think that he could have made a close relationship with such a young talent yet now they were as good as strangers.
However Murphy, Alma Zen himself and even celia who was eavesdropping on the conversation didn't know that this was only half right.
Celia couldn't help thinking for a while before a smirk appeared on her face.
"Hmmm, I'm getting pretty interested in this human kid....I should have just knocked him out and kidnapped him " said celia nonchalantly before heading to her room and thinking
"At least i know where you're going. We'll meet again Zen. That academy would be even crazier than I thought if even you can't get in ".
Out in the city Zen had decided to find somewhere to lay low for a while before he dealt with the screen in front of him that brought back unpleasant memories for him and would probably do the same for a few people Zen knew.
After walking for a few minutes Zen found a large story building which looked like an apartment building . Making his way to the top Zen could feel nothing but curiosity and confusion inside him increasing the longer he saw that screen. He knew he had to get to an empty space if it was like "that one".
Zen finally made it to the top and took a seat somewhere on the ground.
He finally focused on the screen and Saw this
[Name: Zen???]
[Species: (Base - human) (bloodline - ?????)]
[Class: soul sage???]
[Profession: Assassin???]
[True name/soul name:???]
[HP 100/100]
[Sp 10/10]
[AE 100/100]
[ Strength: 11]
[Agility: 13]
[Endurance: 12]
[Intelligence: 12]
[Vitality: 10](bloodline effect)
[Charm: 50](bloodline effect)
[ Wisdom(class specific stat): 10]
[Souls 1/3]
There were a few other things to see but Zen stopped at this point. From what he could see this wasn't "that" system. It seemed more like the systems that Freya used to read to him about in those old fantasy books from before the cataclysm and also in games, the protagonists in those fantasies all had one and they were a few she wouldn't stop talking about
"Yeah , what was that guy's name again? Sun li moon? No it was sun ki loo,I think it's something like that . And what was that other one. I can faintly remember the name Buinn but I'm not sure in which book. Oh yeah and that kid mopy cane"
however if it was like those systems wasn't he supposed to choose his class and profession? Although he didn't mind, he was actually a bit familiar with the title of assassin so he understood why that would be chosen for him but he was just confused, why were they already filled out and what was with all the question marks . As soon as he had that thought the screen in front of him changed and showed what looked like an envelope.
A bit surprised that the system could appearantly read his mind he tapped on the envelope in his mind not sure what would happen.
The envelope icon suddenly disappeared and a message appeared
[ Greetings host of the system. You're probably wondering what's going on right about now but no need for alarm, I'm here to clear things up. First of all you did choose your class and professional on your own. Although I can't go into detail i can say that you weren't just laying around looking pretty for three days straight. I was actually quite surprised at how quick you were to choose your profession , you didn't even read the description and i spent a lot of time on that so that was quite rude of you. I can't quite explain it but you chose to sacrifice the memories of that time for extra rewards and guess what?
Obtained new skill
Obtained new skill
However I can't say your memories will stay sealed forever due to my limited influence over you and your own.... special circumstances some of which you yourself are not aware of. Oh and a few more things. First of all about our contract. I want you to know that your fate all this time has already been determined, those chains bind you tighter than you all may know,but you can break those chains,Obviously you can't right now, you barely have a millionth of the strength required to actually fight fate as sad as it might sound Mr edge lord.
I want to wish you good luck on this quest of fate young sage , although i shouldn't be telling you this you must remember. Find your name, find out who you truly are. Unless you do you'll never be able to escape fate . Once you have finished this message the system initiate an emergency protocol. Due to an anomaly which fused with the system your synchronicity is stuck at 91% once this is complete you'll be fully synchronized with the system]
As soon as Zen reached this part the world around him suddenly disappeared and he could suddenly see a large pitch black fireball headed towards him. The illusion only lasted for a second before it disappeared revealing that none of that was real
Zen once again looked at the message as it continued
[Remember that fireball? Yeah that was the anomaly. Anyway it'll be dealt with once the system protocol is completed however the system won't be accessible for a while so you'll have to do without it for about 12 -13 hours. This is where i leave you system host Zen hollow or should I say The void black, that is what the other fragments call you, Right?, i thought it might be rude if i called you the other name that fragments calls you, or at least the name that fragment calls you . Anyway I want you to remember, you already have the answer to this, your name, your destiny,all of it. The answer's inside you deeply engraved in your blood and your bones you know what to do, you always do. Goodbye system Host and good luck. Till we meet again].
The message ended there and as Zen finished it the screen changed back to the stat screen and at the bottom of the screen a timer for one minute appeared and began counting down.
Zen looked at it and thought that it was most likely the timer for the system's deactivation. Zen honestly didn't have any thoughts on the system becoming unavailable, it hadn't exactly helped him to the point he'd get reliant on it, he had only had it for a few minutes, he could wait 12 hours.
Zen looked at one the skill reward notifications and tapped on it revealing a new tab
[Quest reward - (skill) lv1 soul link]
[Soul link: The host locks onto the target for a minute and creates a temporary soul connection between the two. Stare into the eyes of your target for a faster effect and stronger link
[Cost: 1SP every 5 seconds]
Zen looked at the somewhat vague but also clear skill description. He couldn't help thinking about how that message had stated that the person had worked hard on these descriptions.
A bit curious Zen tapped on the skill completely unaware that someone had snuck up behind him while he had been distracted .
The timer at that point had reached Zero and the screen suddenly closed before Zen could see the effect of the skill.
Zen suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder and a voice behind him
" Uh hi there. Are you okay?"
Zen was surprised. How had this person gotten so close and he didn't notice. Even more surprising his body didn't react at all when she called out to him .
Zen turned around to see a girl with long dark hair . She was dressed similar to him with a hoodie covering her face and the only difference being she was in all white while he was in black . Zen looked on in confusion at the girl who had approached him for no reason. Infact she was also confused about what she was doing here . She usually came in here around this time of the night however this time felt different almost like something guided her to this person, and once she was close enough she couldn't help feeling he must be lonely all by himself up here so she decided to approach him. She wasn't usually so free with people, it was part of why she had no friends although she hated to admit it.
Zen on the other hand also felt something unusual about this girl. He almost felt like he knew what she was thinking and unbeknownst to him she was feeling the same thing.
"Do you mind if I sit with you?" Asked the girl
"...."
"Okay then" said the girl cheerily as she sat next to him. Zen however didn't seem to mind her at all and didn't react.
Although he didn't say anything the girl felt like Zen had given his consent. She took off her backpack which she had crammed full with snacks before she left home. She opened it up and pulled out a canned drink and stretched it out towards Zen
" Juice ?" She asked.
Zen simply glanced at her through the side of his eye before ignoring her. A few seconds later they both heard a growling noise and the girl suddenly looked at Zen before she burst into a fit of laughter.
"Hahaha , Are you sure you don't want it?" She asked with a hint of teasing and perhaps mockery but mostly playfulness.
Zen looked at his stomach a bit shocked, usually he would have complete control over his body , plus he had gone much longer than three days without food so he was a bit confused with his own body. Truth is he'd been confused about a lot of things for the past few days and he didn't really think this was much to think about.
Looking at her outstretched arm the same feeling he had before resurfaced and he could feel nothing but kindness from the girl's intentions. He looked at the drink in her hand and did something which surprised himself. He accepted the drink from her hand, opened it and began to drink.
" Hehe you could say thank you" said the girl feeling that this guy felt cute all of a sudden, almost like he didn't know how to accept a gift and it was bothering him . She looked at him and thought that a soda wouldn't be enough and decided to look for something else in her bag however she was having trouble, mostly because she had filled it with nothing but junk food or as she liked to call it "comfort food". After a while she just put the bag between them and gestured for Zen to help himself.
"A foodie?" Thought Zen seeing the bag
"You're Probably thinking I'm some sort of glutton or a foodie right about now"
Zen was slightly stunned at how she knew what he was thinking however he didn't know why but he just couldn't keep his guard up around her almost like he knew he was safe around her although he wasn't even sure how.
The girl simply smiled feeling a bit akward and tried starting a conversation with Zen.
" It's nice to have someone to talk to for a change. Usually i just come out here when i feel like I've had enough of my family, they never let me do anything fun "
She was about to keep going when they suddenly heard the sound of thunder. Looking up they both saw that dark clouds had suddenly filled the sky and the next second a heavy downpour suddenly began which really didn't seem to bother either of them as they just kept eating.
The girl looked up at the rain before continuing her story without a care. They both had hoodies on which managed to shield both of their faces from the other and was also somewhat effective in protecting then.
The girl suddenly began to go on and on about her tough her life was and all the while Zen noticed that she never really said anything about her life and was extremely vague. Zen suddenly realized that although she seemed somewhat silly this girl was clever and didn't reveal more information than necessary. This went on for most of the night and although neither of them knew when, they had both managed to get to sleep with Zen for some reason not being plagued by the voices in his head and managing to actually find the first good night's sleep since he found the necklace.
Early in the morning at about nine o'clock in the morning both Zen and the girl were sound asleep right next to each other and surrounded by all sorts of wrappers and empty containers. They were facing each other making it look like they were looking at each other before they fell asleep which might actually be the case.
As the sun shone on them they both stirred in their sleep and unconsciously moved their hands causing them to touch fingers for a brief second but that brief second was all it took. As their fingers touched they both suddenly jolted awake. they suddenly felt like they were being electrocuted multiple times over as a strange current flowed between them and sent both of them flying in opposite directions and causing them immense pain.
Zen groaned slightly as he quickly got up from the ground. He quickly checked to make sure his face was still covered, an action which the girl imitated . They both looked towards the other and spoke in sync beginning a strange situation
"What did you do?"
"What do you mean what did I do?"
"You did something".
They both stopped talking sick of the whole thing. They just couldn't get out of sync.
"Wait a second you talked" the girl yelled excitedly
Zen was about to say something when both of their watches suddenly vibrated and the same thought entered both their minds
" The academy*
Zen rushed to the door and the girl rushed to the edge of the ceiling. They both looked back and seeing what the other was doing they thought once again in an odd sync
"What the hell is he doing?"
"What the hell is she doing "
The girl suddenly yelled at zen
"Hey,if you're going where i am you're gonna waste too much time going that way " but Zen simply ignored her and was about to leave. The girl, annoyed, grunted and rushed to Zen and grabbed him by the hand and before he could react she jumped off the tall building that had to be over twenty stories tall.
Zen looked at the girl with an odd amount of composure you wouldn't expect from someone falling to his death
"You're going to kill us both".
The girl simply grinned and put Zen's arm around her waist then with brute strength she thrust her delicate fist straight into the building and carved a clear hole into the wall that kept extending downward as they fell and slowing them down at the same time. After a few more seconds of falling they both reached the ground and although not soft the landing wasn't enough to harm them even slightly.
"Huff huff, good thing that building was just concrete am I right?" Said the girl huffing and panting before she felt her legs go numb and she began falling. Zen quickly pulled her to lean on the building which was the same thing he was doing. They both didn't understand why they felt like they had just been electrocuted but they didn't have time.
After a few seconds Zen and the girl got up, and without speaking to each other they both started running in opposite directions with their minds once again thinking in sync
"I'm late. I overslept, i never oversleep,never! . Ugh everything's been so messed up lately. I haven't been regular ever since I got this necklace "