Chapter 53 - - Choice

Acrypha looked around her warily as she stood in front of Talon. The latter was barely able to lift his eyes up to look at her. His face was now completely white and the sweat kept rolling down his face.

"I really shouldn't… Stay… Here…" He said between his heavy breaths.

"Just be quiet. There are monsters around you." Acrypha replied. "Even if I let you move right now, you will fall a few steps later."

'I can't carry him back either or my soul will be heavily damaged.' She frowned at the tough situation she found herself in.

Acrypha's ability to change any possible outcome in this world was heavily restricted. She can't kill any monster or alter something that the Core Dimension considers inevitable. The bigger the change, the heavier the punishment is.

'If I carry him back now with how important the Core Dimension deems Talon… I will be killed.'

So, her only choice was to stand there and wait for someone to come and bring him back. It was not an optimal choice but she had no other idea she could think of.

"How long… will I remain like this?" Talon asked as he finally gave up on trying to stand up and instead rested his head on the wall.

"A few hours at the least, a few days at most," Acrypha replied.

"Hahaha, brilliant…" He murmured with a dry laugh. Then, he closed his eyes and went silent as if he lost consciousness.

The two remained like that for a few minutes before Talon opened his eyes again and said.

"Hey, Acrypha."

"Hm?"

"Can… I… ask a… question?"

"Is this the time for questions? You need to conserve your energy." She said as she sat down next to him.

"It's… important," Talon replied.

"Ask away then." Acrypha looked at him with a curious gaze.

The young man ran his hand weakly through his hair before he finally spoke after settling his mind down.

"Will… I lose myself… if I become… strong in the… future?"

"Lose yourself?" Acrypha didn't quite understand what he meant.

"I mean…. change completely… from how I am now… become someone… different… someone worse…?"

The woman's expression changed a little when she heard those words. Her eyes closed for a second before she finally turned around.

"The short answer for that is yes, you will change completely from how you are now." She said.

Talon's face darkened visibly as he tilted his head down, feeling like he heard the worst news possible. So his suspicion was right on point.

However, at that moment, Acrypha continued. "Your body will change a lot. It will be honed into a perfect vessel capable of wielding the power you will get. That's the biggest change you will face. As for whether you will lose who you are now or not. The short answer for that is: it depends on you." She replied as she turned to stare at Talon.

"'Nearly all beings can stand adversity, but if you want to test one's character, give them power.'" She added. "The power you will get could change you for the worse just as much as it could change you for the best. I have no idea what the future will hold for you. But, that doesn't mean that it will be a bad future." She said.

Talon stared weakly at her as he held his breath. He would be lying if he said that her words didn't resonate with him. It was indeed true that Talon was scared of what his future would look like.

He didn't want to change from who he was now. Becoming a ruthless monster that destroys anything and everything in his way. That was not what he wanted.

'But my skills are saying otherwise.' He thought to himself.

With each monster he killed, his powers were getting more and more destructive than before. Now, he even possessed a skill capable of ensuing chaos wherever it was used.

"How will… I know if… I'm still on the… same path?" He asked after a while.

"And why do you think I'm still here? Of course to stop you from doing dumb things. When I deem that you're straying away, I will put you back on the right path." Acrypha said with a calm smile.

Talon blinked in surprise before smiling a little as he exhaled a small breath. "Isn't… that… a little bit too… cocky…"

"You're just imagining stuff," Acrypha replied.

"Sure…" He closed his eyes as he murmured. "Thank you… Acrypha… You put my heart at ease…"

Hearing those words, Acrypha could only smile as she nodded her head quietly. For some reason, she felt really nice hearing those words from Talon.

Perhaps it was because she was starting to understand this enigmatic human she stumbled across. If she had been told before that she would find a low-level human from a random dimension to be someone she would grow fond of, she would probably have laughed it off.

Yet, here she was, sitting next to him, protecting his weakened body as they waited for someone to come to the rescue. It was definitely a fall from grace for Acrypha who had been raised with a diamond spoon in her mouth, or that was what most people would think.

However, for one reason or another, Acrypha didn't see this as a fall from grace. If anything, Acrypha found this life more thrilling than most things she did in her life. Seeing Talon slowly grow up, get stronger, and achieve things that break the common sense she knew. It was very refreshing.

"It's really iro-" She murmured as she looked up, only to freeze in place.

A few dozen meters away from them, a Dimension Walker had clearly noticed Talon's presence and started walking toward him. Slowly, it started making its way toward him as if it wasn't certain he was there or not.

"Oh no…" Acrypha's face darkened as she stood up.

"What…?" Talon's eyes opened as he looked ahead of him. When he noticed the Dimension Walker approaching him, he froze for a second.

"Don't make a noise." Acrypha hushed him as she stood right in front of him.

The Dimension Walker was still approaching Talon, growing more and more certain that he was there the more it walked toward him.

'No, no. Move over there.' She thought to herself as she tried to think of an idea to push the monster away.

She had no way of fighting it unless she wanted to be punished. So, all she could do was stand there, her expression as sour as ever.

Tense seconds passed as the monster grew even closer. At this point, it was certain that Talon was there and so it started hurrying its steps.

"No, no, no, no… Move over there!" Acrypha yelled as she looked at Talon and then at the monster. Even though she knew that it was pointless to do that since the monster couldn't hear her.

Meanwhile, Talon was completely silent the whole time. His expression wasn't as terrified as Acrypha expected. If anything, he seemed way calmer than she was as if the matter didn't concern him.

"Hey, Talon, can you move? Even if for a few meters." Acrypha asked in a borderline desperate tone. Even though she knew that it was a far-fetched request since Talon was barely keeping himself conscious that entire time.

Talon: "..."

Without responding, the young man dragged his heavy arm to the spear next to him as he tried to lift it. However, he could barely lift his arm. Clenching his teeth, he tried to force himself to stand up.

But, the effect of his burst of growth was simply too much to handle at that moment. He had no way of doing anything.

At that time, the Dimension Walker was merely a dozen meters away from Talon and growing closer.

Acrypha kept staring at the monster, her heart started to race faster than before and her breathing was erratic. As calm as she had always been even in dire situations, this was simply a disaster. She had absolutely no control over what was happening.

If she killed the Dimension Walker, the chance that she might sustain a deadly soul attack was very high and if she didn't kill it, Talon would die for sure. Either choice was brutal.

'Come on, Acrypha. Think! Think! What can I do? There must be something I can do.' She looked around her hurriedly.

"Acrypha…" Talon murmured her name.

"Don't worry, you will be fine." She spoke in a not-so-convincing tone.

However, there was nothing to do. The monster was now merely a few meters away from her. Seeing that, Acrypha froze in her place. She had a few seconds at most to do anything that could salvage the situation.

"Goddamit!"

Looking down, she clenched her fists.

"It's… Ok… I will be… fine."

"How the hell are you this calm?! I really can't do anything here!" She snapped back at Talon with a despaired look.

However, Talon shook his head calmly. "I will… be fine…" He repeated.

"Again with that…" Acrypha's eyes widened again as she found herself unable to even reply. Talon looked rather peaceful at that moment. For a split second, his image overlapped with a memory inside her head.

It was a fleeting moment and yet it made Acrypha's face change again. No one knew what was going through her head at that moment.

"Ah, screw it!" A few seconds later, Acrypha turned around to stare at the monster as she snapped her finger. When she did that, the Dimension Walker halted as if it was alerted by the sudden appearance of something.

Acrypha had shown herself to the Dimension Walker.

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )

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