I observe the huge Mountain of Heaven in front of me. It was so huge that even before it started rising it was already beyond the clouds. All this time while travelling with Zuriel, she never told me that the giant wall in the distance which I had thought to be some sort of a giant rock or something was in fact the base of the mountain.
It was truly flabbergasting… I totally wasn't ready for this… it isn't just a mountain, at this point, but a f*king faceless behemoth.
In front of me was a large gate that led to the entrance of the foot of the mountain, where the poorest of the poorest live. I could see some people sitting on the side of the roads dilly dallying while some were working hard carrying some stones on their back. Though looking at their faces, everyone had the same terrorized expression; it was as if the whole town was carrying on waiting for their deaths.
I, along with Zuriel and Dion, entered the town through the unguarded gate and made our way towards the top as we began running at our usual speed. While this place was really suffering, there is little to nothing I could do about it. Even if I may try, in the end it will only make things complicated for me.
I sighed as I kept running along with Zuriel and Dion towards the top.
While making our way to the top, we came across various hoodlums and monsters, which thrived in the various corners of the mountain. According to Zuriel, this place was filled with people eating monsters that prey on the weak. Flying monsters would sometimes pick up a few men and women towards their nest as food. That's how the thing works on this mountain: survival of the fittest.
When asked why can't they just leave this mountain and move to a safer location, she answered that on the outside it'll be even worse than this. Also, the people will leave the town to go to the higher parts of the mountain as soon as they gain some money or power. This will increase their safety by a margin.
After travelling for another few hours, the sun was now on the other side of the mountain and night fell earlier than usual. Luckily, we just reached another town whose condition was significantly better than the first one. In total, we have actually come across 15 or 16 towns in the past 4 to 5 hours. They weren't really much different from the first one, just that people were a bit more hopeful than those below them. I could only feel bitter as I turned a blind eye to them and hoped that my mission in this world had nothing to do with one of those places.
Entering the town, I saw barely built roads that connected various rundown houses. There was a pub and a small cabin to stay the night. I and Zuriel decided that we could find a place within the town to stay the night. However, before we could do anything, an incident broke out in front of us.
…
-POW!!
A young muscular guy forcefully snatched fruits from a small kid before kicking him in the gut.
"Marlees, you don't belong here! Go back to the lower town! A weak and poor guy like you doesn't deserve to be here," one of the hoodlums spoke out loud garnering the attention of everyone around. Though immediately after that, everyone just sighed before moving on to their own work.
'Looks like it is a normal occurrence here,' I thought as I looked at the exchange between the kid and the hoodlums. The young muscular guy, along with his friends, was standing in front of the kid, Marlees.
Marlees had blue hair with black eyes and strange tattoos on his arms. He was wearing ragged clothing, not much better than what everyone else was wearing. Though Marlees didn't look like he had given up on the fruits or perhaps on surviving.
"Yeah, you have managed to survive here only because of your dead father whose money you stole," the other hoodlum spoke, and I sighed before moving towards the hoodlums before…
-Knock
-Knock
-Knock
-Knock
I hit the head of the hoodlums, knocking them unconscious as I simply took the fruits and threw it to Marlees. I then observed the eyes of Marless, glaring at me and I sighed before moving away from there, not getting any further involved in this situation.
My soft spot for children was abnormal… Even previously in my past life, I had saved countless children out of a situation that had nothing to do with me. I always wondered if there was a curse on me regarding that, though I never bothered to do anything about it since it kept me humane till the very end of my life.
I then turned to look at Zuriel, looking at me with a slightly unsatisfied look while Dion's eyes were glittering. I chuckled at them before moving towards them though something unexpected happened.
Someone else appeared in front of me and I couldn't help but take a second look at the person who blocked my path. A young mature lady in her early 20s perhaps came in front of me, smiling with a joyful face. She observed me carefully, and I did too… all the more because it was as clear as day that she did not belong to this shabby town but to a higher place.
Her stunning black one piece dress made her look as if she was just going to attend a party, and her black hair that complimented her stark white body made me question if I was really awake or just dreaming.
The red lipstick on her made her face even more lewd- I mean beautiful…. Even more beautiful. I kept observing her, wondering who she was, but before I could do anything, someone else chimed in.
"Hello beautiful, lady? It doesn't look like you ar-" spoke the man who approached the beautiful lady and the next second he was on the ground…
-Thud
I saw the whole process clearly… she is a spirit user! That wasn't mana… that was spirit magic, extremely precise and powerful at that one… now doesn't this make things even more interesting than before?
"Lady Nyx, what are you doing here?!!!" A bewildered voice came from behind the lady in black and I saw Zuriel with a surprised expression. Her expression was really something, it was as if she saw a ghost.
"I was moving back to Asul for the war. Fancy meeting you here Zuriel, looks like you have grown up enough to take care of yourself. You now have a man and a kid… fufu.. I am so jealous of you," Nyx spoke making a slightly embarrassed look, and I gave a mischievous smile and chimed in as,
"You can join us tonight if you want?" and that made Zuriel give me a piercing look before she shouted irritatedly,"It's nothing like that! And you should stop adding more to it!!"
Nyx then looks at me and I just make a glum expression before apologetically saying,"looks like it is going to be just us."
Nyx observed my face for a few seconds before she chuckled a little before speaking,"haha… you are a 100 years too young to be trying on me," and then looking at Zuriel who had a slightly defeated look on her face.
"Zuriel, let's go up. We need as much time as we can," she spoke as she took both Dion's and Zuriel's hands, then turned into a shadow that ran at a vibrant speed towards the top, while I just stood there.
It looked like Zuriel wanted to explain something, but Nyx did not give her any chance to. I sighed as I thought,'I hate being tested…' before I spoke,
"You are here, right? Hygeia."
And then after a few moments of silence, she appeared in front of me… Hygeia… or more like a child version of the Hygiea I knew. She looked like a 8 years old kid, with green hair and green eyes over her bright white skin. I sensed her presence when I was almost at the mountain's foot. While the other spirit's magic concentration was decreasing, her's wasn't. In fact, it only increased bit by bit every time we moved.
"Who are you?" was the question she asked first and rather than answering her I spoke," In the name of Spirit God, I will answer all your questions if you help me to catch up to them," and there was a slight questioning and puzzled look on her face.
But then she nodded as she observed me before I spoke,"Spirit Magic: Summon Combination: Hygeia," before she let me use some of her powers… no, it was more than just some… or maybe it wasn't?
More like, the amount of spirit magic that I received right now was way more than what I had received on Planet Vermillion, ever.
I could only smile at that as I looked forward before muttering,"Deep Charm of the Spirits: Disillusioned" and the people around me stopped looking at me as they fell unconscious before losing their memories of this incident completely.
While I started running… running in the direction in which Nyx took them.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel