When Aish came back to his senses, he found himself floating in the darkness. The peaceful feeling and surroundings had calmed his nerves, but even after all this time passed, his heart was still beating faster every time Kali's figure appeared in his head. He could feel goosebumps on his skin with just the thought of it.
'Fuck, just because this world setting was overall a little peaceful, I forgot how ridiculously dangerous anything can be here.'
'I thought if I avoided everything from the plot, I'd be fine, but just one look from her was enough to scare me to death.'
'These gods and their battles would end me if I'm caught up in them.' Aish thought as he looked around, wiping his sweat and trying to calm his breathing and shaking hands.
'Fuck their rivalry and competition; why was she even there?'
'Did Nyx blabber something?'
'No, it couldn't be her; it should be them.'
'I should have just ignored everything and fucking left.'
'Damn my luck and their powers.'
Questions about everything started coming back. Aish could think clearly now so he could guess how Kali came to know about him so early.
'It's probably because of those 3 sisters that Gauri had them on her back and called.'
'But even then, why was she so angry? It is not like I did anything wrong. I mean, my prayers are old, but they are cliched words.'
'Or does she know everything about my past now? Is that why she was angry?
'Even then, why was she in her battle form?'
As Aish remembered the last moment before he lost consciousness, the hand that was coming towards his neck with a fucking bloodied machete in it, Aish's body shuddered as his hands touched his neck. It took a moment for him to calm down, and only one thought was left in his brain:
'I should ignore everything that has anything to do with the plot now.'
'Fuck their treasures and techniques; if stealing them puts me in these guys' crosshairs, then I better stay at home.'
'Floren's got everything; I don't need to worry; even if I don't drag heaven's stuff, I should still be able to survive.'
'And where the fuck was Nyx? Can't she see I was nearly dying there? Damn her, I should let her die like in the plot.'
'Damn, my brain is gone, now.'
[Well, it was just an illusion.] Aish heard a voice.
"Then the fuck was my system doing."
It was only after Aish said that that he realized that the voice did not belong to Nashi like he thought. But someone else.
"Who are you?" Aish asked as he turned around, but beside the darkness he could not see anything.
'Another illusion: fuck is that system doing?' Aish thought and cursed the world system.
***As it was the system's job to protect the user, so Gods could not interfere or meddle with the weak one's mind and turn them into their followers to increase their faith power.
'Don't even tell me I don't have a system since I'm not from Arcadia.'
As that thought came, his mind started thinking about all the possible bad situations that could happen, and he would not even have any protection.
'I should have known when I did not feel any pain during the merging process; it was because that shit did not even merge. The world system connects with a soul, and since mine was not from this world. '
"No, I can't give up like this; let's try calling it."
*Status *
.
.
.
Aish called the system and waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. He closed his eyes and lay down in the darkness. The world system should have responded, but it did not, and not having it would mean his mind was without any protection against the gods.
'Nyx might hold on for a little while, but who knows what she'll do after she learns about it?'
'Forget someone as overpowered as Nyx; any one of them gods could just come and use me like a puppet, and I would have no chance to fight back.'
Aish wanted to give up; it was a smooth journey till now, so he forgot about all the complications Arcadia has. And without the protection of the world system, there was no way he could survive in it.
*** The world system was not just used for showing your stats or mastery of skills; those were just extra additions. Its main job was to protect any awakener's mind from directly being influenced by any god and help their weak bodies to adapt for godly blessings. No one's body could handle the power and laws those Gods have learned, so the world system acted as a dam to stop the flood. Without it, if anyone received a power too great, their bodies would turn into particles and merge into the world.
The world system increased the mental protection so no god could control their avatar and take over them. This is what happened in the second phase of emergence.
_
Aish was feeling lost; the awakening that he wasted so much time preparing for had failed; the hopes and plans that he had were all crushed, all because he overlooked the simplest thing that was so obvious: he did not belong here.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he even forgot about the voice that he heard a little while ago. The only thing that was playing in his head were the lines about the ending planned for himself and Amelia.
He held no special love for his own new life; he had started caring a little about Artemis, Myra, and Agnus, but the thought of failing Ria again was what haunted him the most.
"I miss you, Ria." Aish said aloud as he remembered the last time he heard her voice, the one where she was not blaming him but was caring for him. It was when he was dying back on earth. Though she may have been an illusion or a ghost, even then he had started missing that too.
It was then that he heard a voice, the voice that he so longed to hear in Arcadia.
[DING] [TING] [TIDING]
[FINALLY, FOUND YOU.]
[DID YOU MISS ME???]