A strange, burning sensation stirred within him—a fighting spirit he hadn't felt in a long time. Even though he didn't fully understand the situation, something about this mysterious bet ignited a fire deep inside him.
He clenched his fists, determination flaring in his chest. "I don't know what this bet is or why you sealed my memory, but if I made such a promise, I'll fulfill it. I'll get stronger, and I'll figure it out—no matter what."
For the first time since their encounter, the goddess seemed to pause, as if regarding him with more interest.
"Good," she said, her voice softening just slightly. "You had such confidence before, and it's good to see that fire hasn't dimmed. Very well, I will look forward to the day you unseal yourself and fulfill our little wager."
She raised her hand, and the air around her shimmered faintly. "I have prepared a gift for you, as compensation for keeping you here for a while."
The goddess, had been keeping an eye for him since their initial encounter. She was going to make a move and save him but she noticed something beyond her understanding, something mysterious, working to save him.
She deducted, it might be something that gave Adrian courage to bet with her previously. While talking with him, she had been keeping eye on his body over in the mortal realm.
She was giving him gift for keeping him here as well as the fact that she had been observing the mysterious entity within him, empowering him.
She, as a goddess, doing a sneaky thing, without giving compensation would really be doing something beneath her.
Before Adrian could respond, he felt a strange warmth enveloping his chest. It was brief, like a gentle touch that spread through his body, filling him with a renewed strength and clarity.
Yet, even as it surged through him, he couldn't fully comprehend what had just happened.
"Now," the goddess said, her tone shifting back to playful authority, "it's time for you to return. Your body is healing, and your presence in the mortal realm is needed. But be more careful next time, my boy. Your recklessness could cost you more than just your life."
The goddess raised her hand, and Adrian felt an invisible force pulling him away, back toward the mortal realm.
The world around him blurred, but he managed to call out, "Thank you… for this second chance at life. I still don't know who you are though?."
Her voice was soft with the hint of a smile he could not see. "Very well, my boy. I look forward to that day. But until then… tread carefully. As for this one's title, it's Nadia, the goddess of Fate."
As her voice faded, she murmured to herself, barely audible to Adrian as he drifted away, "What kind of mysterious entity has that boy tangled himself with? Even the gods can't sense it… and I only noticed it due to that bet and this incident."
She paused, thoughtful, an odd gleam in her eyes. "Looks like I won't have to intervene to protect him from the others, at least, not for now. Things have become quite interesting with the arrival of this one. It's been over a hundred thousand years since, I have felt such excitement."
With that, she lifted her hand one final time, and Adrian felt his consciousness dim, the void giving way to darkness as he closed his eyes.
As her voice faded into silence, Adrian's vision blurred, and he felt himself slipping back into darkness, an all-too-familiar sensation.
He drifted in the void again, his mind reeling from the strange encounter. Then, with a heavy pull, he felt the weight of his soul reconnecting with his body.
The transition was jarring—sudden, uncomfortable, as if his spirit was being shoved back into a physical form not quite ready for it.
He groaned, his senses numbed as he adjusted, realizing he'd have to get used to this strange feeling if it ever happened again.
The next thing he knew, his eyes fluttered open, heavy with fatigue. The familiar darkness of closed eyelids was replaced by blurred shapes slowly coming into focus.
"Big brother!" she cried, her voice shaking with emotion. Adrian barely had time to register her face before she threw herself at him, clutching him in a tearful embrace.
"Big brother, you're awake! You're okay!" she started crying loudly, her relief pouring out in waves.
Adrian blinked, still groggy, as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. Christine's embrace was almost suffocating, but the way she clung to him, her shoulders shaking, kept him still.
He could feel the warmth of her relief, the intensity of her emotions pouring out as if she'd been holding them back for a long time.
It was strange; his encounter with the goddess Nadia, had felt brief—maybe half an hour, at most. Why was Christine reacting with such a sense of desperation?
"Christine… why are you acting like I've come back to life?" he asked softly, still piecing together his senses. "It's barely been an hour since I blacked out, right?"
Christine drew back just enough to look at him, her face drenched with tears and snot.
Her expression shifted from relief to shock, almost as if she couldn't believe what he was saying.
"Big brother… what are you talking about?" she whispered, searching his eyes. "It's been fifteen days since you lost consciousness."
Adrian's mind struggled to grasp the weight of her words. "Fifteen days?"
He'd thought his encounter with the goddess was just a strange, momentary lapse.
His hand involuntarily moved to his chest, where he could still faintly feel the lingering warmth of the goddess's parting gift, like a barely present heartbeat pulsing with residual power.
The room around him came into focus, and he realized he was lying in his own bed, with blankets neatly tucked around him.
Beside the bed, he noticed a small pile of empty potion vials, the faint scent of medicinal herbs lingering in the air. Had they been desperately trying to keep him alive all this time?
Christine looked like she was struggling to hold herself together, her face a mix of relief and disbelief.
"Fifteen days…" he murmured, half to himself, feeling the weight of that lost time settle heavily on him. No wonder she'd reacted like he'd returned from the dead.
Christine seemed to realize she'd been standing there too long.
Wiping her face hurriedly, she stammered, "Oh, I—I need to tell the others! They'll want to see you. Everyone's been worried sick."
She scrambled off the bed, almost tripping in her haste, and turned to rush for the door.