The average life span of a tortoise was 80 to 150 years, while a few documented tortoises lived to a grand 250 years.
It was not an eternity, but it might as well have been.
Even in a burrow with a limited source of oxygen and no food or water, according to Nyx's estimates, if he went into brumation (similar to hibernation in mammals) he could survive for three to five months.
'Thank god I listened to Doctor Rose during her lectures.' Nyx sighed, torn between hatred for imprisoning him and gratitude for her teachings.
The thought of brumation, of slowing his heart and conserving energy, brought a smile to his lips.
'Three to five months is too long… I only need a few days to outlast the chaos above.'
With that thought, Nyx began taking slower, shallow breaths and letting his pulse steady.
Nyx thought that falling into brumation for the first time would be difficult, but it came to him naturally.
Soon, his limbs relaxed, his heartbeat slowed, and gradually, the fear all faded. Only the sound of the rain, thunder, and the occasional roars seeped into his ears until even that disappeared as he fell into deep sleep.
***
Nyx found himself floating in an expanse of quiet, familiar darkness.
'Why… am I here again?' Nyx frowned as he looked around.
But before he could look at the entirety of his surroundings, a gentle, melodic, almost ethereal voice resounded in the darkness — a voice that came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"The Soul is a physical representation of the body."
Hearing the unfamiliar voice in a place where only he should exist, Nyx's heart skipped a beat as a cold shiver ran down his spine.
His eyes strained to search for the source of the beautiful female voice.
Nyx swallowed and nervously questioned, "Wh-who's there!?"
For a moment, Nyx did not dare to even breathe as he waited for an answer. Yet, the only sound that responded to his question was the rapid beating of his heart.
It was then, Nyx realized, slapping himself across the cheek, he scolded himself, 'Damn. Nyx… oh… Nyx. How can you be such a scaredy tortoise? This place doesn't exist. Your real body is in your personally made mansion. This is just a dream.'
But then, as if the female voice had been waiting for that exact moment, she continued, "The body may change, but the Soul will remain. Unchanging, eternal… It is the core that remembers."
Nyx blinked, frowning. For an inexplicable reason, he felt the voice, and even the darkness he had grown familiar with was not something his mind had conjured as a defensive mechanism.
Or maybe he knew all along but was avoiding it.
Sighing lightly, Nyx knew the latter statement was the truth. He was avoiding it… as for what he was avoiding, that; however, he was unsure.
But what he did know… was that this voice was far too human-like compared to the emotionless and genderless voice, who — it? — told him to Awaken and remember the date September 30.
"Who are you?" Nyx asked what was bothering him, quickly following up with another question, "Where are you?"
"Who I am is irrelevant… Moreover, it's not as if I have the answer to your question. I don't remember." She sighed.
Nyx shrugged.
'Weirdo.'
"What do you remember?" Nyx asked.
However, he was completely ignored. "As for your second question — I'm in your Soul Sea."
Nyx frowned and sighed.
'It's a start. Better than nothing.'
He continued, "What is the Soul Sea?"
"The Soul Sea is the last defense for the Soul. For some, it is nothing more than a black void housing their Soul. But for others, it can hold much more. You are one of the latter. Your Soul Sea contains many secrets. I am one of them."
"My Soul Sea… contains secrets?" Nyx asked, mostly to himself. "And you are saying… you're one of them?"
"Yes." She replied. "I am bound here, tied to your Soul Sea. Even if I wished to leave, it's impossible."
"So, you're saying there are others in here? More than just me… and you?" Hoping there would be something, Nyx looked around but found only darkness.
But then, to his astonishment, a bright pink light amidst the darkness caught his eye.
'What is that?'
He squinted, trying to get a better look. He stared at it for a while, confused. But soon, the light intensified and expanded from its initial fingernail size to the size of a small room.
Then, as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared, revealing a blurry figure — a young woman.
Her silhouette was faint but was becoming clearer by the second.
'Is she… the owner of the voice?' Nyx wondered, unable to tear his eyes away from the young lady.
At first, Nyx could only make out soft outlines — the curvature of her body and long hair.
Soon, her appearance solidified, and Nyx's eyes widened. She was of average height, maybe five feet seven inches. Then again, given his limited understanding of other humans, he wasn't sure if that was considered tall or short. But one thing was clear — compared to his captors and his own six-foot height, she was shorter.
Her skin was snow white with strange, but beautiful pink hair that flowed down.
His gaze involuntarily dropped, following her pink hair down to her thighs…
Smooth, shapely thighs that blended perfectly with her beautiful appearance. Nyx swallowed, and his throat instantly dried out.
She wore a white and pink frilly dress and no shoes, leaving her flawless feet bare.
It was only now that Nyx realized there was something he liked… women, and something he loved even more… thighs.
A part of him knew he was being inappropriate, yet another part of him was pulled deeper, unable to look away.
Nyx couldn't help it. The sight in front of him was too much.
If he started a campaign, he was sure the young lady's appearance would push the New Seven Wonders of the World aside, reigning supreme as the only one of its kind.
On the other hand, the young lady looked directly at him with an unreadable expression.
"Are you done admiring this princess?"
Nyx blinked, startled by her words. He quickly averted his gaze, trying to regain composure, while his heart raced rapidly.
… She called herself this princess?
'Is she a princess? But even princesses aren't supposed to be as beautiful as her, right?'
"Sorry." He soon stammered, feeling heat creep up his neck. "I didn't mean to… well… I just-"
But her gentle and melodic giggle interrupted him.
"There's no need to apologize. This princess' eyes have been opened today. A Semi-Aquatic Stoneback Tortoise admiring me. How peculiar. I never thought such a thing was possible."
Nyx breathed out a sigh of relief.
'She thinks I'm a tortoise! Thank god!'
He decided not to correct her. The misunderstanding allowed him to suffer less embarrassment.
"Wait…" Nyx said, trying to change the subject back to his previous question. But he still did not dare to look at her for fear of making a fool of himself. He was not mentally prepared yet. "Where are the others?"
The young lady slowly smiled with an amused gleam in her pink eyes. His attempt to change the subject was obvious…
However, she answered, "For now, there's only us. But soon, there'll be another individual, hopefully, with some class…"
Cryptic and annoying, yet beautiful… That was Nyx's assessment of the unknown female in his Soul Sea.
Fighting off the urge to throw a rebuttal at her obvious insult, Nyx asked, "What do you mean there'll be another individual soon?"
The young lady crossed her arms and put on a thoughtful expression.
Unbeknownst to her, the gesture forced her modest breasts to provocatively accentuate, much to Nyx's delight, who stole a quick peek before turning his head away.
"Normally… anyone who has yet to become a Cultivator should not possess the ability to access their Soul Sea. Yet, here you are. But then again, since even this princess is bound to your Soul Sea, you are special… an outlier to the rules."
'Does that mean she is lying about not knowing who she is? Well… considering she calls herself 'this princess' she must be lying. Whatever, as long as she doesn't pose a threat to my life, I don't care enough to interrogate her. …Though I doubt she'd answer even if I was curious.'
Moreover, he got enough information out of her. For now, that was enough. He had dealt with Doctor Rose long enough to understand the young lady's personality.
Meanwhile, the young lady cleared her throat. After receiving the tortoises' attention, she continued, "Anyway, let's return to your question. Although you can access your Soul Sea, you don't have Mana Sense to view what lies within." She paused, then pointed in a certain direction, and continued, "But this princess is different. I can see a floating transparent orb in that direction."