Arthur sat on the ice sheet, sailing through the river into the complete unknown. He didn’t know where he was going or if it even had an end. His wet body was slowly freezing even when he wasn’t in contact with water.
It was a very uncomfortable feeling, but his body was strong enough to bear this inhumane cold. It could radiate heat with immense efficiency, making sure every single part of his body was sustained and safe. It also didn’t require food as a source of energy to do that. He had mana, the best source of energy in the world.
To sustain his vitals, mana was steadily being consumed to keep him alive and well. So, except for some discomfort, Arthur was completely fine.
However, the same can’t be said for his situation as a whole. The river wasn’t ending, nor was it stopping. It was forcefully guiding him to the unknown, and he couldn’t do anything about it.
He could look left and right, he could see the shores that seemed so close yet so distant. He could swim there if it was normal waters. It would take several minutes or perhaps dozens of minutes, but he could make it.
However, the lurking abyss monsters swimming right beneath his feet stood between him and that salvation. It was frustrating and unnerving. Arthur wasn’t someone who felt afraid of something that easily, but this situation proved to be one of his nightmares.
He felt it in his heart, he wasn’t alone there. The darkness engulfed him from above and below. He couldn’t see far enough to feel safe nor sense sharp enough to be ready for any horrid fate that might befall him.
It was suffocating to be that open to danger. Sailing through the enemy’s environment, knowing very well that any mistake could lead him to the abyss beneath again. It was only the sheet of ice he created that kept him from touching that abyss with his own hands.
His eyes couldn’t stop wondering to the river beneath. The same weird illusion it tried to cast on him a while ago came back a little stronger than before.
But, luckily, Arthur was ready this time and quickly shook his head as he looked up. Since he was aware of its ability, he could resist it with mere mental strength.
‘How long has it been since I have been sailing on this ice sheet? It feels like hours…’ Arthur thought to himself. However, when Arthur opened his menu and checked the time, it was surprisingly only an hour or so. Time was ticking in a very slow manner for him.
‘Taking into consideration the speed of the water current… I have travelled way past the settlement. But, I have seen no port yet.’ Arthur frowned deeply. ‘Don’t tell me I was submerged in another illusion.’
Just thinking about that gave Arthur the chills. He couldn’t know if he was completely mistaken or if the monster was playing with him again. The possibilities were endless, with no indication of what was right and what was wrong.
All Arthur could do was wait and see. What was an hour turned into two hours, and then three hours. Arthur travelled endlessly, feeling like a millennium had passed on him. He was unable to perceive time anymore, even when he had a real clock in his status menu that told him the time.
He felt as if the entire world had warped into this constant, slow state of unnerving stability. He couldn’t understand how or why he was there, he was starting to even lose track of his own thoughts, only to fight that urge and stay focused.
It was growing harder and harder with every passing moment. But, with sheer resilience, Arthur kept himself focused on the path ahead as if it was the sole thing in existence.
That was his way of staying alive and awake, against the constant mental attacks of the river and the world around him.
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‘I simply need to look at the end… Look for the end, and only the end. I can’t look down or up.’ He repeated in his head like a mantra. He didn’t even blink or move as he kept his body ready and his mind focused on the simple goal he had created. It was a very straightforward solution, but still a good one.
But, what Arthur didn’t expect was for that same solution to suddenly have a different outcome than he expected.
[Ding!]
[You have acquired a new skill!]
“Huh?” As if he had been hit in the face, Arthur snapped out of his calm state and looked at the notifications he had received out of nowhere. “A new skill? Why did I get a new skill?”
This was a very rare sight and one that the boy didn’t expect to see, not here at least. For skills to trigger in such a manner was very rare and required certain situations and certain states the player has to be under. It was akin to a list of conditions that the game checks before it triggers a skill.
‘Was I subconsciously activating something? Hmm, well, I won’t complain. This trip has been a mental torture, and a reward like this is well worth it if the skill is decent.’ Arthur smiled slightly as he pulled his hand to finally open the skill and see what he got.
However, at that moment, and out of nowhere, Arthur’s peaceful and quiet environment was disturbed by loud noises. The boy looked up quickly, alerted by the sounds. His eyes led him to the path ahead as there was a major shift in it.
The horizon wasn’t the same endless path anymore, instead, the river seemed to reach an end, and the sound he was hearing was all that water descending. In other words…
“Waterfall!” He exclaimed as he quickly pushed the notifications aside. “No! No! No! Why did it have to be a goddamn waterfall and why so suddenly?!” Arthur looked around, desperately searching for a way to stop himself.
However, how could he find something he had been trying to find for hours right now? If he could’ve stopped his inevitable path, he would’ve done so long ago. The current was simply too strong to resist.
All Arthur could do was watch as the sheet of ice moved toward the abyss ahead. He couldn’t see where the waterfall drops or if it even drops somewhere as the darkness engulfed the waterfall completely.
“Sigh…” Feeling completely helpless, Arthur sat down and stared ahead with a blank expression. It was clear that he could not do anything now. So, instead, he took that moment to calm down before he slowly opened his message menu.
A weird feeling told him that he had to do that now. Tapping on Isla’s icon, he looked at the keyboard with a sad expression filled with frustration.
Then, he took a deep breath and tapped in a message as quickly as he could and then sent it. A second later, the ice sheet tipped over the edge of the waterfall,l and all Arthur could see was darkness.
“I will be back… Wait for me.”
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets, and PS. Let’s keep it up!