The Life I Gained From Dying

Chapter 39 - Contact

After completing the Gate of Pride, Kaden found himself in the space between spaces for the first time. A place that has reached out to him several times before, but it has never actually been entered by him.

"It's about time we've met Kaden. The pleasure is all mine." N stated as he continued to stay hidden from sight.

"I've heard this voice before." Kaden stated as he paced around in a circle. "When I failed the gate the first time, it was this voice that woke me up. And a few times in my dreams before that, you were calling out to me. Who are you."

"I'm gonna skip over that information for right now since I don't know how long I'm gonna have you here for. If you really want to know, then you could ask your friend Aaron Cooper."

"Aaron?"

"Yeah, me and him are best buds now. We actually meet here every so often." N replied enthusiastically. "And while I'm going to continue to need his assistance, it's really you that I need help from."

"What do you need my help for?" Kaden questioned.

"It's better if I don't say at this moment."

"So you expect me to help you without even knowing what I'm getting myself into?"

"Precisely." N replied as he appeared in front of Kaden, scaring him to the point of stumbling backward and nearly falling down.

Kaden examined the unnaturally tall and slender man who seemingly had no face within his hoodie.

"What are you?" Kaden asked as he caught his breath.

"I'm getting some serious deja vu here." N replied. "Like I said before, you can ask Aaron about that if you're really interested. Let me cut to the chase. You are an anomaly in this world. Even I can't give you an answer on how exactly you got here, but you did. And because of that, you have acquired abilities that I can't afford to just let go to waste."

"Abilities? Like using the four essences?"

"You can use all of the elemental essence types, which also means you can unlock all of the gates."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Kaden questioned.

"You only can open gates which you have the essence type for. For instance, the Gate of Pride is on the water continent, so you need water essence to unlock it. The Gate of Gluttony is on the fire continent, so you need fire essence to unlock that one. Therefore, a regular person in this world would never be able to unlock all seven gates. That's why I need you."

"They told me if I completed all of the gates, then I'd be able to go back to my original world. What would you get out of that?"

"Completing the gates would grant you the ability to do much more that. Actually you-"

Crack!!

A large crack suddenly appeared in the roof above Kaden and N.

"Hmm?" N said as he and Kaden gazed up towards the distraction.

The color of the room around the crack slowly began to fade from a pure white to gray.

"That's interference." N said to himself.

"What's going on?" Kaden questioned.

"Think about what I told you. It seems like our time together is coming to an end. For now, at least. I'll leave you with this, I suggest you take on the Gate of Greed as fast as possible. Soon enough, you won't be able to relax like you have been doing so freely."

"I feel like you told me so much and yet so little in a short amount of time."

"Well let me tell you one last thing." N stated as the room faded more and more into a dark gray color. "When you open your eyes again, there's gonna be someone there who you can learn from. Allow them to teach you, and at the same time, you should stand beside them."