Asceticism Journey (6) — Dreams

A/N:

So I lied. This isn't the finale finale of the subarc, but more like the finale of his journey. He'll be heading home next chapter.

Happy reading :D

3rd Person POV

[2 weeks later]

"Huuk!"

Asher gasped for air as he awoke with a jolt.

The first thing Asher saw was dull light pressing down on his eyes. Once he focused his blurry gaze three, four times, he finally saw the gloomy world before him.

He found that he was soaked with cold sweat

"What…?"

He wiped away the sweat on his forehead, but he couldn't stop his body's trembling.

He forced his body up and fell to the ground, stumbling as he did so and barely managed to lean against the tree's trunk.

"…Ah, ha, haaaa."

He closed his eyes.

A dream.

He'd had a dream, a dream that was a bit, no, a lot different than the dreams he usually had.

In the dream, he had been injured and was desperately running through a misty forest, crashing through hedges and pushing past trees. His steps weren't graceful like they were now but were heavy and unpracticed.

Perhaps, everything was just a silly dream.

But, why…?

The final scene stuck to his head. Sitting upon a lonely throne… him quietly closing his eyes.

Regret, remorse, loneliness, and so, so much pain. Even as the dream ended, these emotions powerfully raged within him, ringing in his heart.

After much struggle, Asher opened his eyes again and looked around him.

The forest was awfully grey today. The overcast sky was in stark contrast to yesterday's weather, giving the whole scene a dreary feel.

For some reason, however, it felt… familiar.

The reason was quite obvious.

He was right where the dream began, where his dream-self had started running.

He turned over in a certain direction. If his feeling was correct… southwest. In a trance-like state, he began walking in the direction, following in the footsteps of him from the dream.

"…"

Endlessly, he slowly walked. He wasn't in his right mind.

Perhaps it was the dream?

He couldn't think straight.

*

After what seemed like hours, he snapped out of it and looked around at his new surroundings.

"What in the…?"

If his dream was accurate, what should've been a hill… was a wasteland. Like someone had been firing magic everywhere… no.

It wasn't even that; it looked more like the land had been decayed.

Endlessly decayed like the land was sick and dying.

Having been surrounded by the lush forest growing up, teeming with life, the boy couldn't help but grow a little sick at the scene.

Still, he advanced, driven by a mysterious emotion.

He hunted around the hill, seemingly made by massive boulders stacked on top of each other, though the back half of it had been blown out. Finding the small crack, he descended the cave, just as he had done in the dream.

Finding it easier to drop down, he landed on the ground gracefully.

"?"

The place looked like a battlefield… of one person. Like just a single person had been casting magi—

"AH!"

With a yelp, Asher clutched his head. Something, something foreign, was entering his brain.

—Pop!

And with the sound of an artery popping, he was suddenly in a different place.

The cave… was different.

Rather than half of the roof, only a small hole had been made, and there were mysterious glowing plants.

"Lady Sylvia!"

"…?"

Asher turned at the sudden voice.

"I advise you to stop your stubbornness and hand it over. You've already caused us quite the trouble after hiding yourself! If you submit, the Lord may even heal your wound."

Lord—?

When the dust cloud finally began to clear, Asher almost passed out.

"A-a dragon—!"

He barely managed to spit out the words.

From her snout to the end of her tail, the beast was clad in a pearl white coat of shimmering scales. Beneath its iridescent lavender eyes were glowing golden runes that marked her neck and ran down to spread around her body and tail like a sacred engraving. They branched out harmoniously and with purpose like carefully placed vines. The dragon's wings were pure white adorned with white-bladed feathers so fine and sharp that they could put swords forged by master smiths to shame.

"But dragons are…!"

Alea told him. Virion told him. Aya told him. Sophus told him. Everyone had told him dragons were legends, a thing that did not exist anymore, so what was…?

At that moment, the world changed. Everything's colors but the dragon's inverted, and all the world came to a screeching halt.

The boy flicked his eyes up and finally noticed the entity.

"That guy…"

It was dressed in sleek black armor and a blood-red cape that matched its eyes. The figure's pale grey skin matched the clouded sky in the background. The horns were different, though, as this entity had two horns that curled down and under its ears, lining its chin.

…He was eerily similar to Sarunam, the grey being, and had too mentioned a "Lord."

"NOO!"

Suddenly, the shrieking of a child entered Asher's ears.

Alarmed, the boy flipped my head to the source.

"I don't care about all of that! I'll say it as much as you want if you come with me! Grandma! Grandma! You can't! Not like this!"

"Ah, uh…"

Speechless, Asher did his best to comprehend what he was seeing, but all he could say was one word.

"Grey??"

Why was he here!?

Asher tried to move but found himself incapable of doing so like he was fixed in this one spot to watch the scene before him unfold.

"I-I-… please, I'm begging you, just come with me. I-I don't know what you did, but everything is frozen right now; we can escape! Please, Grandmother, don't go. Not like this!"

It was a surprisingly emotional scene.

The boy with auburn hair held on to the dragon's claw, seemingly trying to pull her away with him.

Then, causing a sudden and inexplicable rush of emotions, I saw the dragon's face bloom into a smile, a smile that made me almost mistake her for a human.

"Thank you… my child."

The dragon pushed the crying boy into an iridescent mass of light, causing the boy to disappear.

"…"

Asher watched this emotional farewell, yet… he didn't feel much like he normally would have.

Instead, he was currently sorting through his own feelings. It was like this morning, where emotions flooded into his heart.

He couldn't make any sense of it, nor could he discern its origin, but he could feel sadness yet a bizarre flow of confidence as well.

"…Why did you not use the portal?"

Suddenly, the world returned to its original shades, the white becoming grey once again.

The dragon, Sylvia, raised its head to look at the figure.

"Because…"

Despite what was supposedly her disadvantageous position, the dragon had a relaxed expression, like she was just taking a stroll.

"…I have no need of it. Just like you don't have any need of your lackeys hiding away like cowards."

The black being didn't respond, its only reaction being a small crease in his brow.

"What do you mean by that?"

Then, the dragon smiled and spread out its wings displaying its splendorous majesty belonging to a divine being such as it.

"I mean, there's nothing for you to kill."

"!"

At that, the existence clad in black's expression twisted, showing the most emotion it had since it arrived.

"You—!"

The being couldn't finish its question as a rush of pure mana spread out from the white dragon.

"Argh!"

Caught off guard, the black creature stumbled back while the boy tried to shut his eyes but soon realized that he wasn't in pain or anything, despite looking at the incredibly bright light. However, that didn't mean he could see the dragon.

All Asher saw was white, like a white screen had been placed in front of his eyes.

Then, from within the endless light, he heard a voice.

"Go tell your Lord this."

It was the dragon's voice.

"Though he may think that he has won, know that the light has yet to even shine, still less blacken.

For even as my champion falls, he shall rise.

Not rise from the ashes once again but ascend as he descends.

For as the brightest light and the darkest night battles for the fair maiden, laced in power never before seen, the hero will march on in his crusade.

His crusade to a future seen only by he.

The paradise yet to be reached.

And an eternal solitude to be lived."

And like that the light faded and the dragon was gone, as if she were… a ghost.

"…"

The black being who had fallen onto the ground stared, stunned.

But soon, the muscles on his forehead began to twitch.

His face slowly distorted into something that was hardly recognizable.

"…uuuaaAAGHHHHH!!!"

And like an enraged beast, he roared in frightful wrath.

Magic began to fly everywhere, objects flying into the ground, driven by an unseen force as black mana raged about.

Then, a boulder fell onto where the boy was, blackening his vision instantly.

**

Asher POV

"!"

My eyes snapped open.

Gasping for breath, I realized I was on the floor. I flipped myself over to stare at the ceiling, my chest rapidly rising and sinking.

"Another… dream?"

But it was so… real…

With trembling hands, I covered my face.

It was cryptic as hell, and I couldn't make heads or tails out of it. But every part of Instinct, every cell in my body, was practically screaming at me.

Screaming that this was important.

With hands that had yet to stop shaking, I ripped out a blank sheet of paper from one of the books.

I looked around for something to write with, but I couldn't find ink or anything of the like.

"…?"

Then, a red splotch appeared on the sheet of paper.

Curious, I touched my forehead.

"…Blood."

It appears my skin cracked when I fell, but I didn't care about my injury.

Dipping my finger in the blood, I began to write the words that I heard in the dream on the yellowed paper.

At the end of it all, it looked like a madman's work.

"But…"

It was almost like a prophecy.

"…Haaaa."

Then, I let out a repressed sigh and the tension released.

Looking up at the sky, I saw that it was reaching midday.

"…Erghhh."

It was frustrating.

Though I accomplished a lot, there were also a ton of mysteries that I had yet to find answers to, and it gave me anxiety and frustration. Like who was the grey man? Who was this "Lord?" Why did I wake up fully healed? What was that vision? What was that dragon? Why was Arthur here? Why—

—CHAK!

I slapped my face.

I… couldn't do this. I needed to hold myself together. Everything, everything, would answer itself in due time. I just needed to have faith.

"…"

Calming down, I rubbed my cheeks.

"…Ow."

I slapped myself way harder than I expected.

Sighing, I got up.

"Time to go, I guess."

Today was the last day of my Asceticism Journey, after all.

I stared at the mysterious cave.

"…"

I probably didn't need to include it in my report.

Nodding, I started to walk back to Zestier.

Back home.

**

3rd Person POV

Behind in the cave, standing right by where Asher had collapsed, was a mysterious existence.

The mysterious being from back in the grey man's cave, to be exact.

Dressed in white robes and adorned in golden jewelry, her golden eyes gazed at the mouth of the cave where Asher's quickly disappearing figure was.

Her lonesome figure with flowing hair was as beautiful as when she was still alive.

Seeing him make his way back to his home, the existence couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Still, she smiled all the same.

"Be safe, my child…"

She wiped away a tear.

"…For I'll be with you…"

Her ghostly form began to disappear into purple particles of light as she closed her eyes.

With a content face, she spoke.

"…Wherever you go."

A/N:

And so we introduce a new character!

Not that she'll have anything to do with the story for another few arcs but whatever.

Anyways, next few chapters are honestly a bit iffy, but I'll try to get through the rest of the time skip to this Arc's finale so we can finally get to the academy arc. (That's when the real fun begins)

Thanks for reading!

Rua