Bab 29: Stage 1: An Empty Castle

One thing Alex loved was certainty, the ability to entrust yourself with things knowing you will get it done perfectly was an amazing feeling.

She was in control of her performance at least, leaving things to others always causes disappointment and complication.

Alex inhaled and released a confident breath, now assured that under no circumstance would she forget even a word of this vital information. She already knew that she needed to work much harder to get what she wanted and had somewhat formulated a rough plan for her next actions.

The next thing was to spend 10000 more shards on information about the [ soul ]. She hoped she would be able to utilise this information to improve her strength, perhaps even gain some soul cultivation insight.

She rolled her eyes at her thoughts and then clicked on the [ soul ] option.

[ Would you like to purchase the •Soul• package? ]

[ Spirit shards after buying: 21830 ]

•YES• •NO•

Right after her confirmation, Alex felt a sudden influx of pain straight to her head. The sheer amount caused her to clutch her head in an expression of pure agony. She could feel the distinct expansions and contractions of every nerve connection within her head. She felt as though her electrical impulses had been exchanged for molten lava.

The room expanded, shrunk and multiplied all at once from her view, images became blurry, but the worst of all, she couldn't feel anything externally. Not the bed beneath her, not the impact of her palm against her skull, nothing.

Crimson tears streamed down her face, her nose became a fountain of blood while her lips didn't leak blood. Not a single sound had left her lips. Her upper teeth bit the skin beneath her lower lip as seconds passed, seconds that felt like aeons of torture.

She lost consciousness in seconds: her body was unable to bear the gruelling anguish.

This caused her to miss the newly surfaced screen that shone brilliantly, different from all the others.

°°°

Pain.

More often than not, I found myself in some form of pain.

Emotional pain was the most frequent when I was younger, but as I got older, I left emotional pain behind. I learnt to shut it out, to kill it far before it could blossom.

When I got older, physical pain became the most prevalent, physical pain in various forms. It was called 'training' at the time. She detested training, but she was too weak, too powerless. She had no say in the matter.

Then I grew some more. At 16, I had learnt far more than 'they' anticipated. With my own hands, I decimated the pain. I even formed an empire, an empire to safeguard against all forms of pain, yet I lost all that.

Now I'm here again, losing to mere pain. One day I'll end it.

Truly, I will.

°°°

Alex groggily opened her eyes, her upper body rested on the bed while her lower body dangled off the edge.

Weirdly, though her clothes contained dry bloodstains and likewise the bed, her face bore no scars of the perilous ordeal.

She vividly recalled the pain she had just experienced. More than anything, she lamented at her inability to endure.

Her attention soon shifted to the eye-catching screen that begged for attention.

It shone so brightly that Alex was surprised she had not noticed it sooner. As she read the words imprinted on its surface, her hatred for the deity, Stemma, saw an exponential increase.

[ Hi!! It is I, Stemma! ]

[ Perchance you are flabbergasted, baselessly assuming you've been scammed. ' Oh I knew I couldn't trust her!' or something along those lines, then I'm here to tell you that is not the case. Extremely gracious as I am, I helped you cradle that enormous amount of information you asked for. I'm aware that I am outrageously benevolent. ]

Alex's already dark expression got increasingly darker. She wished she could talk sense into this insane entity.

'Cradle? She dared to say cradle.'

More words appeared as the old ones faded into minute luminescent particles.

[ I know you slept right after your purchase, but trust me if I didn't aid you you would have most certainly died. You can show your absolute appreciation now. ]

'Hmm? Was there an error somewhere?' She decided to temporarily brush off her grievances and continue reading.

[ A feeble mortal like you wants to delve into the arduous journey of comprehending the soul? Hilarious. Even the most prestigious families know next to nothing about the soul so be grateful, okay kid? Anyways, concerning the information you ordered, you'll get pieces of the information either by discovering something related to it or by increasing your strength. ]

[ As you increase your strength, you'll access the locked information. This information consists of everything and anything concerning the soul that I know. This was an Easter egg of mine that no one was meant to. There's only one in stock as well. Additionally, I have restricted myself from knowing who buys it. Do with this information what you will. ]

[ Well done, I'm impressed… Mortal.]

Of course, Alex understood she had taken a momentous step towards eventual strength today. She was only slightly dejected by her inability to build her mystical prowess.

The first thing on her current agenda was to ensure she accumulated enough spirit shards. Therefore, the obvious step would be to raid the castle.

She waved away the blinding screen and all the others that remained after she fell unconscious.

When she saw the map, she realized there was something wrong with it. It was zoomed in onto the castle's throne room as she had left it, however, the castle lord was not there. There wasn't a single zombie in the room.

Panicking was not her thing, so Alex decided to check the outside before coming to hasty conclusions.

Sadly, she was met with the same glaring emptiness as the throne room. She scanned the entire castle- only to find it was completely deserted.