Chapter 30: Condition of evolution
His consciousness slowly began to return, and Finn stirred, his eyes fluttering open to see...
Estes’ face hovering above his own, staring down at him with a worried expression.
At the first sign of him waking, her expression softened. The worry lingering in her eyes gradually faded, her cheeks turning a light shade of red as she spoke.
"Welcome back to the land of the living."
She said with a small smile, gently patting him on the head.
Finn’s lips curled slightly in appreciation. There was something comforting about the fact that she was the first face he saw upon waking. More importantly, he wasn’t dead.
He glanced toward his severed arm.
It was back to normal, almost as though it had never been sliced off in the first place.
If not for the remnants of soreness and pain that shot through it whenever he tried to move it, Finn himself would have doubted that the Verdant Knight had ever taken it off.
And that brought him to his next curiosity.
Finn’s eyes scanned past Estes and toward his surroundings.
It appeared he was no longer in the labyrinth, no longer forced to breathe its suffocating murky air.
Instead, he found himself back within the forest where he had first entered.
The tear in reality was gone.
The frozen shards of fractured space that had littered the area had also vanished, leaving behind only the almost natural scenery of the quiet woodland.
Estes understood his confused expression even without a single word being spoken.
"Killing the knight opened the door to return," she explained. "All I did was pull you out, and you were restored. That is the final rule of the Labyrinth. The moment you leave, everything taken from you will slowly be restored back to its optimum state."
Finn could not say the same for his arm.
It still hurt like hell.
A moment later, Finn suddenly made a move.
He sat upright almost immediately before staring at Estes’ exposed stomach.
Then, without warning, he reached out and touched it, feeling the warmth of her smooth skin beneath his fingertips.
Estes gasped.
Her eyes widened in shock.
"Finn?"
She could only mutter his name as the rest of her words became lodged in her throat.
Finn sighed in relief, his smile widening.
"Thank God. I..." He exhaled. "The stab wound from the knight is gone."
He paused before reaching up and patting her on the head, roughening her hair slightly.
"I appreciate what you did back there. Breaking your rule to help me defeat the Horrid Knight."
Estes opened her mouth in surprise.
Then her demeanor lightened, a mischievous smile appearing on her countenance.
"You are my Incarnate after all. What did you expect me to do? Just stand there and watch?"
Finn laughed.
A genuine laugh.
At that moment, Estes froze.
She studied his expression.
His thoughts.
His heart.
The connection that bound them together.
And for the first time...
She could sense it clearly.
Finn was genuinely happy.
Her smile deepened.
Then she laughed as well.
Finn had done it.
He had survived the Labyrinth.
More than that, he had probably reached the highest capacity of his Spirit Will.
His excitement was written plainly across his face.
Up until...
He suddenly froze.
Turning toward Estes, he recalled the sword the Ancient Knight had wielded.
It was identical to the form Estes commonly transformed into.
Was it possible she had merely copied the knight’s weapon after seeing it?
Had they met before?
Or...
Were they exactly the same?
Could the sword wielded by the knight have also been Estes somehow, perhaps an unawakened version of her?
Finn was confused.
So he decided to ask.
"The knight I faced," he began, catching Estes’ attention. "His sword is identical to you. This isn’t a coincidence, right?"
Estes shook her head in response.
"Then what is it?" Finn pressed.
She simply sighed before stretching her arms into the air, looking strangely tired.
"There are limits to what I can do for you as a guardian, and this..." She paused. "This is one of them."
With that, her form dissolved into particles of light before reverting back into the ancient sword, which now lay upon the cool green grass beside Finn.
At this, he let out a groan.
Picking up the sword, he slid it into his scabbard before rising from the ground and beginning to walk away.
His mind was filled with questions.
Many of them were things he had pondered countless times before eventually dismissing due to the lack of answers.
Others had emerged from his encounter with the Horrid Knight.
All of it served as a reminder of just how little he truly knew about Estes.
Who she was.
Why she possessed a human form unlike every other guardian he had seen.
And now...
He had even more questions than before.
Who was the Faceless Knight that wielded an identical ancient sword?
And what exactly was his connection to Estes?
Finn could only imagine the answers hidden behind those mysteries.
But for now...
He glanced ahead and sighed as he continued traversing the distance between himself and the barracks.
As of now, all he could do was keep his curiosity to himself and hope that the answers would reveal themselves someday.
---
After a long trek through the forest, Finn finally arrived at the barracks.
It was a few hours past noon, judging by how the sun blazed overhead, pouring its radiant light down upon the earth without mercy.
Apparently, time spent within the Labyrinth was relative to time spent in the real world.
At least, judging from the little amount of time that had passed.
With the remainder of the day still available to him, it would be enough for him to venture into the Carnival and finally experience the event his peers had been so excited about.
Finn imagined Terrence’s and Doram’s excitement at this very moment.
’Hopefully it won’t be hyped up for nothing.’
While walking, Finn decided to check the progress of his stats.
Summoning the runes before him, he stared at the contents displayed.
[Spirit Will: 1/20]
[Evolution Status: Possible]
Finn blinked several times.
His voice escaped his mouth in utter confusion.
"Possible?"
Accessing the runes for additional information, another holographic screen materialized before him.
[You will soon undergo Evolution...]
[However, the time at which Evolution will occur remains undetermined.]
[Prepare yourself.]
Finn’s face went pale as he stared at the display floating before him.
"What the hell?"
