Mage of the Abyss: Siola Mithra

Chapter 43 - Glimpse of the Past

I have always wanted to thread this path of my life as perfectly as possible, but the moment I strayed a bit from it I found myself staring mindlessly into space. Whenever I woke up, flowers every single day, but after the change, nothing but nightmares and thorny roads appears. I feel that that path is blocked, telling me that I can no longer go back to how things used to be.

Exacting my "Revenge" on my own family. I truly have no courage to do so when each and every one of them reacted differently than what I had expected. The fact that it happened again even in this lifetime to someone who is not even my family. Just a mere code, an A.I.

Wheezing as I sit here on the parapet, I look up at the blue moon, and it made me think, 'This place... Why does it feel like home?'

This serenity. Although it's different, it reminds me of many things back home. This place is just like the blue scenery in the garden back in Mithra's house. Replica resembling my mother, Avarice and Malice also reminds me of my friends. Kurira and Rakuri. And Ludwig...

He felt familiar but also different. That attentiveness of his reminds me of my grandfather. One who cherishes me above all others with the purest kind of love. I want to see him smile again.

*Step *Step *Step

Ludwig approaches and he brought with him, a bright green-colored potion. Laying the bottle beside me as he says, "Those who have been granted a blessing by an ancestral being will not last long on the surface. There is nothing for you in this realm, but you are welcome to stay."

I took the green bottle and examine it while [Lucid Eyes] is still in effect.

! {Appraisal}

~ {Slither Phased Bloom (Custom) / Tier 9 / Increase Decay Resistance. Lasts 31 days}

"Decay Resistance? I have never heard of such things before, and I never had the need for this back then. So, why do I have to drink it now?"

"You were once an ordinary Traveler are you not? You were protected by the Divine System, hence why you could roam around freely on the surface while being able to receive as many blessings as you want. But the current you however, do not have that kind of protection."

"How do you know?"

His dot of an eye flare, "I can see it, and you will be able to as well. Eventually."

Uncapping the lid.

*Gulp *Gulp *Gulp

It doesn't taste like anything at first, but then its flavor kicks in. Bitter.

"Bleghh, what's in this?"

"You will have to request the recipe from Goolag."

"Who?"

"She is our... Alchemist. You will meet her soon enough," approaching closer as he looks up at the blue moon, "You mentioned that you have killed me once. What was I like in the future?"

It occurs to me how odd this game came to be after I enable Realism Mode. How the NPC can respond to everything that I do and speak? Although I know that the maker of the game has created the most advanced AI, and without Realism Mode enabled, the NPCs are still able to wow anyone who interacts with them. But this is on a whole other level.

"You were a mage. You don't do much in the way of fighting and always rely on your dragon despite the fact you never made any advances."

"Hunh," humming in cracking of his skull, "Does not sound like me at all."

"Yeah?"

"Despite my appearance, I'm adept in the way of combat. How far is it in the future? A hundred? Two hundred years?"