Chapter 20 - Is This An Interrogation??

<p>My eyes fly open as I shoot up in bed. I immediately regret the action, and blame the recurring nightmare for the shooting pain that immediately appears in my body. Alyphia hadn't been there this time, so I had been stuck wandering until I stumbled upon Christy's desk on accident. The scene had then replayed itself from there. The dark void even seemed to have grown malicious this time around.<br/><br/> Shaking the shitty dream from my brain, I survey myself and my surroundings. I was in one poor excuse for a house; puncture holes littered one wall, peeking outside. The roof had red splatters stained across it; I had become acquainted with the substance by now, enough to easily tell that it wasn't paint. The door only had one hinge on it, and a large hole where the handle should be.<br/><br/> Still, it was better than the cold floor of the shrine.<br/><br/> Looking down, I saw my shirt and the remaining Arm guard were missing, replaced by several off-white bandages. I was slightly concerned about their cleanliness, but didn't dare try to take them off once I saw my Health regen above 30. "Would my Life Statscreen tell me if I got a disease…?" I wondered quietly, slowly pulling myself into a sitting position with a wince.<br/><br/> "Awha?" A squeaky, groggy voice said from beside me. They had probably awoken from my muttering. 'Fuck, I really need to break that habit. Stupid tutorial.'<br/><br/> Turning to look at the voice, a small young boy with dark blue hair that hung limply around his face was just awakening in the chair next to my bed. I waited patiently as he stirred, blinking his eyes lazily until they lock on me sitting in bed. It took him another second to fully process the scene before he jumped down from the seat, running out the broken door. It scrapes horridly on the ground before hanging limply open as the boy darted out. It was barely holding onto its one hinge, not wanting to accept the fact that it was still a door.<br/><br/> I would have gotten up to follow him, but my body was incredibly sore. No matter what my Health and Stamina said, my body was in no condition to move at the moment.<br/><br/> A couple minutes later, his small, red-orange eyes peek around the door as his medium length hair fell sideways.<br/><br/> "Come on. Move, Raeki."<br/><br/> "Hmph."<br/><br/> The small boy disappears, and the door skids a few more inches open as a barely larger hand than his wraps around the side of the hole in order to do so.<br/><br/> A girl with almost the same features as the boy pulls on the door until it opened all the way, stepping inside. Instead of a dark blue to her hair, it was more azure, and her crimson-colored eyes inspected me neutrally. The clothes she wore were slightly baggy, hiding her body, but something in her stance made me activate Analyze instinctively.<br/><br/>[Name: Eniyala Ignios]<br/>[Age: 19]<br/>[Lv: 12]<br/>[Health: 40/40]<br/>[Mana: 126/126]<br/>[Stamina: 40/40]<br/><br/>STR: 4 MAG: 23<br/>AGI: 11 DEX: 12<br/>VIT: 6 INT: 15<br/><br/>ACC: 11<br/>DEF: 5<br/>POW: 19<br/><br/>[Skills: Spellbind (Ultra Rare), Magic Eye (Rare), Analyze (Rare), Magic Heart (Uncommon), Sprint (Common)]<br/><br/>[Spells: F-<br/><br/> "My dad always told me I was pretty, but do you have to stare?"<br/><br/> I was interrupted in my snooping by the very person I was snooping on. Her eyes glow dangerously red. Or, at least I thought they did. She was inspecting me up and down as well, her eyebrow raising slightly.<br/><br/> "Ah, it must be Analyze."<br/><br/> The eyebrow rose further as she looked at me. "Assuming from the Mana in your eye, I assumed you had done the same, Reincarnate."<br/><br/> "You know I'm reincarnated?"<br/><br/> "Your Unfound Skill kind of gives it away, genius. You should really get a skill to hide that."<br/><br/> I frowned. What did she mean 'get?' From what I had deduced so far, I could either 'learn' or 'create' a Skill. When I asked her which one she meant, she stared at me for a moment, and then began laughing, keeling over due to the intensity. <br/><br/> "Haah… Wow, how are you this green? Reincarnates are super rare, no, more like ultra rare, but they're usually prodigies. In fact, you might actually be more rare than your average Reincarnate, considering you're only Level 5 at your age."<br/><br/> "Only?"<br/><br/> I had nearly died several times over, even dying in an alternate timeline thing… I think… to just find out that was low?<br/><br/> "Uh… well, you see… I just woke up here a few days ago."<br/><br/> The young woman scoffs. "Yeah, right. Don't get a big head just 'cause I called you rare. It wasn't a good thing."<br/><br/> I shook my head firmly. "I know nothing about this world, besides the Strong-Armed Boar, those damn insects, f—" I cut myself off from swearing again, seeing the little boy peeking his head around the corner — " fff-Fanged Trolls, and now something about Saints." Upon the last word, I brought up my right arm, which was one of the few things that didn't have a bandage on it, and faced the sigil towards her.<br/><br/> Her smirk slowly died as she realized what I was saying. "So… you just entered Puria?"<br/><br/> I nodded.<br/><br/> "You've been here for less than a week?"<br/><br/> "According to Klum's Reincarnation? 4 days and…" Pulling up the skill, my eyes did a double take. "…I was out for two days?"<br/><br/> "I'm honestly surprised you weren't out longer. What kind of freak are you? Off-topic. How did you just get here, and you're 17? That's never been heard of before."<br/><br/> "I dunno. I just did. And I heal fast. Ah… well, I used to."<br/><br/> The small boy — Raeki, if I was remembering right — popped his head out from behind the door. "If you were just born a few days ago, how did you fight so good against the evil killer man?"<br/><br/> "so WELL, Raeki. Now get back. While I don't think this scrub can do any harm, better safe than sorry."<br/><br/> "Hey! I was strong enough to beat Evil Killer Man!"<br/><br/> "That's precisely why you're useless now. If you really want to prove a point, how about you stand up?"<br/><br/> I gulp. Christy was a puppy dog compared to the woman who stood in front of me now. "Well… I—"<br/><br/> "That's what I thought. Now, talk about what I tell you to talk about. Understand?"<br/><br/> For the first time since I came to Puria, I felt truly defeated, nodding weakly. "Yes ma'am."<br/><br/> "Good boy. Now, how DID you beat that monster? For a second, I swear your arm and head got cut off, but… No, I'm at least sure you lost your arm. So how exactly is it attached to you right now?"<br/><br/> "…With the power of God and anime on my side?"<br/><br/> "The heck is anime? And which God?"<br/><br/> I shook my head with a sigh. "Ugh. I guess this world isn't cultured yet. One of these Reincarnates needs to step up!"<br/><br/> Eniyala raises her hand threateningly, which I only chuckled at until she started eyeing the bandages, determining which one would cause the most screams. <br/><br/> Straightening up as much as my body would allow, I respond like a soldier. "I don't know, ma'am. One minute the world was upside down and I was decapitated, the next Alyphia was talking to me. You saw everything from there. As for my amazing skills as well as my arsenal of… Skills, that's because—<br/><br/> "Wait, Alyphia was talking to you?!"<br/><br/> "Uh, yeah. She made me her disciple or something. I just figured it made me a follower of hers or something. As for Holy Rend, I just thought she was lending it to me. That's why I can only summon it once every three days."<br/><br/> "You're… kind of an idiot, aren't you."<br/><br/> "Au contraire, I'm actually just very nervous. They're jokes. Please don't hit me."<br/><br/> With an exasperated groan, the pretty girl threw her hands up in the air. "Just when I thought I found someone who could be useful. Picked by the Sword Saint, even."<br/><br/> "Useful? Hey, where are we anyway? This sure as hell isn't the shrine, and uh… You guys aren't the greatest housekeepers." <br/><br/> This pulled a small giggle from behind the door, finally, but it was quickly cut off by a glare from the woman standing over me with her arms now crossed. 'This is starting to feel more and more like an interrogation,' I noted, locking eyes with her crimson ones as she turned back to me. Her eyes softened a bit; I wasn't so much of an idiot that I couldn't read the pain hidden in the look. Even if the rest of her face remained oddly neutral.<br/><br/> "That guy you killed razed our village, just because we knew he wasn't the Next Sword Saint. Our mother protected us, at the cost of her life."<br/><br/> I opened my mouth, then closed it once, before opening it once again. "I—"<br/><br/> "Don't." The word carried a pressure and force to it that suggested I do as she says. So, I mutely nod before changing the subject.<br/><br/> "What about your dad? Was he… here?"<br/><br/> Eniyala shook her head. "He's an adventurer. He's been out on a quest for a little more than a month." <br/><br/> I breathe a small sigh of relief. Not only did they have living family left, but it seemed like time measurements were mostly the same here, too. Focusing back on the main topic, I turned back to the girl. "When's he supposed to be back?"<br/><br/> "Two weeks ago."<br/><br/> "…Ah, shit."<br/><br/> "Yup, you baby Reincarnate. So now, you're gonna help us find Papa."<br/><br/> "I don't have a say, do I?"<br/><br/> "Nope."<br/><br/><br/>* * *<br/><br/>The dumb author forgot to add in his new Statscreen last chapter, so here it is belatedly. Sorry y'all! Might happen again :,)<br/><br/>[Name: Klum]<br/>[Age: 17]<br/>[Lv: 5]<br/>[EXP: 259/400]<br/>[Health: 45/45]<br/>[Mana: 45/45]<br/>[Stamina: 45/45]<br/><br/>STR: 8 MAG: 5<br/>AGI: 12 DEX: 9<br/>VIT: 7 INT: 10<br/>Free Stats: 2<br/><br/>ACC: 10<br/>DEF: 7 (+1)<br/>POW: 7<br/><br/>[Skills: Klum's Reincarnation (Unfound), Sword Saint's Sigil (Unfound), Underdog (Super Rare), Critical Eye (Rare), Erratic Movements (Rare), Slash (Common)]<br/><br/>[Klum's Reincarnation (Unfound Autoskill)<br/> Cooldown remaining: 1 day, 18 hours…]</p>