Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(Vol 4)

Vol 4/ Chapter 48: Strange Behavior

"It's all because of that bespectacled priest! He made me so hungry I couldn't eat my fill! Just now my stomach was rumbling again, so I went out and bought some food to bring back," Nicola said, holding up the packaged food in her hand.

Then, as if recalling something else, she continued, "Oh right, on my way back, I ran into Cyra. She was rushing out all excited. That rascal pretended not to recognize me and ignored me completely. But I grabbed her and asked what was going on. Guess what she said to me?"

"What did she say?" I was puzzled to hear this. I had just seen Cyra in the changing room earlier and thought she had gone back to her room to sleep after her shower. I didn't expect her to have gone out again.

"She glared at me arrogantly and scolded, 'You've got the wrong person! I don't know you, don't disturb my sleep!' Then she shook me off and rushed out of the hotel by herself."

Nicola opened the packaging and guzzled down a mouthful of soup as she complained, "If you ask me, I think something's wrong with her brain! If my hands weren't full with food, I would have given her a good beating for being so darn annoying!"

"She really said that?"

I found it very strange too. Recalling Cyra's earlier attitude towards me, things seemed even fishier now.

"Could she be sleepwalking again?" I suddenly recalled the bizarre scene I had witnessed in Makalan City one night - Cyra staring intently at the mirror with strange behavior, also wandering out by herself, and ending up collapsed on the street. Nicola was the one who had carried her back. This current situation seemed quite similar. Moreover, Nicola and I had clearly seen Cyra fast asleep before she went out earlier.

"Sleepwalking? She's been sleeping quite normally the past few nights. Why would it start again all of a sudden?" Nicola clearly hadn't considered this possibility before. My reminder made her seem rather skeptical.

"Besides, do people even know they're dreaming when sleepwalking? And didn't she seem fully conscious and articulate just now? Are you sure you didn't get something wrong?"

"If it's not sleepwalking, then what else could it be? Or could being an angel make her prone to sleep disorders like multiple personalities?" I was totally confused and started guessing wildly. There were definitely many puzzling things about this incident, but I couldn't think of any other explanation besides sleepwalking.

"I'm not very clear if that happens to angels, but I have seen a case of drastically different personalities before..." Nicola tapped her fingers on the table, seemingly deep in thought as she spoke.

"Remember that incident where I fell into the water in the Dark Continent? Although you don't remember it yourself, I witnessed everything from start to end - after you emerged from the water, your condition was clearly not normal!"

"Oh right! I have zero recollection about what happened in that state. After I regained consciousness, I only remembered having an irrelevant dream. Didn't the same thing happen to Cyra? What kind of dream did she have again?"

It suddenly dawned upon me. How could I have missed this link!

I could say I went on a rampage without inhibitions while in that unconscious state, becoming exceptionally formidable. I even leveled up after the incident! So could what's happening to Cyra now be similar to my experience back then of reaching the threshold for leveling up?

"Cyra's dream was quite nonsensical...something about turning back into a man and living it up night after night..." At this point, Nicola hesitated and changed the subject.