Free Web NovelChapter 44: The Bridge Between Life And Death
The pair moved deeper into the forest as per their plans, Xenia accompanying the young master and watching as he cut down every single one of his foes like it was nothing.
At this point in their journey, she was no longer amazed by the amazing, and unrealistic things that Jacob could do.
She was more concerned with how long he could keep it up, but it seemed the more he fought, the more invigorated he became.
One one occasion she thought to herself that he might be the strongest individual in the whole continent.
They had travelled for hours until the came to a clearing and decided to rest for a while.
There was a huge round shaped rock in the middle of the clearing, it stood at least fourteen feet tall, with a width of at least seventeen feet. It was greenish-brown and had a bit of moss on the sides.
They had been traveling so long, Jacob didn’t care to even look twice at the giant rock, he quickly moved towards it and sat on the floor, leaning his back on said rock.
"Ah! Finally I can get some shut eye." He exclaimed out loud, Xenia watched him, unloading her weapons and sitting beside him.
"There’s something about this place..." she blurted, closing her eyes for a moment. "It just—it gives me a peaceful sensation."
"You’re right about that." freewebnoveℓ.com
Before long they were asleep.
_ _ _
Jacob found himself floating again in endless space, his body a translucent silvery form.
’I’m back here?’ He mused, floating endlessly through a sea of bright lights and endlessness.
’What even is this place?’ He wondered, looking around to see if he could find anything that could provide him with the answer.
"It’s called The Bridge." A familiar voice responded to him, forcing him to spin around curiously as he floated in a spot.
"The Bridge?" He asked, eyes darting to every corner of the open space.
"Calm down boy! Stop looking around so much, I am everywhere and nowhere." The voice responded, it was the Regulator.
"And yes. It is called The Bridge, this is the place that separates the world of the living and the world of the dead."
"Thats interesting." Jacob responded.
"Well... I understand you have some questions for me." The Regulator told him.
Previously, the entity had appeared to Jacob in different forms, either as a puff of black smoke or a bright white light.
In this moment, its voice seemed to sound from all corners of this empty space, Jacob was unable to pinpoint the location of the entity he was speaking with.
’So this is what Omnipresence is like?’ The boy mused inwardly.
"Yes, I have two questions."
"Ask away." The Regulator commanded.
"First—I was asked by my system to switch my growth path to Experience points. I did that, but I haven’t received any of that lately. It’s like the system doesn’t acknowledge Experience points at all."
"Is that so?" The Regulator replied.
"Did you give me a broken system?!" Jacob inquired now, slightly raising his voice.
"Insolence! boy. Well. It is broken... in a way—besides that, the problem is the artifact you received on your birthday."
"What about the artifact?" Jacob asked again.
"The artifact was a cursed tool, holding it in your hand at such an early stage caused your system to... dwindle a little." The Regulator explained calmly, "So I’ll ensure it’s recalibrated and it’ll be good as new. What is your second question?" freewēbnoveℓ.com
Jacob sighed in relief, "I’ve been receiving these random quests, and I’m unable to view the rewards sometimes."
"Are you stupid, son?" The Regulator asked him in a calm tone, causing Jacob’s eyes to widen in shock at the question.
"If you’re receiving quests it’s because it’s part of your path, the reward you can’t see is obviously a surprise."
"Okay. Okay. Was just making sure."
"You are in the Ten Thousand Beast Forest from what I see. I would say to be careful, but you know what will happen if you aren’t—Good luck, Jacob." With that, the environment blurred and there was only darkness.
_ _ _
Jacob and Xenia were woken up by a rumbling noise beneath them, the stone that they lay on was suddenly vibrating violently, it seemed as though an earthquake was on the verge or erupting.
They quickly stood to their feet, stepping back from the huge vibrating rock, both of them at alert and with their weapons drawn and ready to go.
They both looked at each other when the rock started to slowly rise off the ground.
A pair of feet instantly protruded from the bottom of the rock, four legs with very thick, green hides. The rock began to rotate slowly. Xenia held her sword in front of her, the ballade humming lightly as she tightly gripped the leather handle, Jacob just stood, watching the movements that were occurring before him.
After a complete 180 degree turn, a large tortoise head was visible. It was a regular tortoise head but very large in size and had a full head of grey hair, suggesting it’s old age. The creature blinked its eyes slowly as it bellowed.
"Who dares wake the great Shin—!" It’s voice carried enough weight to shake the ground they stood upon, it’s jet black eyes locked onto Jacob.
"Hooo! You are an interesting one." The Great big tortoise said, taking a single step backwards.
Xenia had lowered her guard now, seeing that the great big tortoise bore no ill intent.
Jacob stared directly into the eyes of the tortoise and hung his sword on his shoulder, "What makes you say that?" He questioned the huge creature.
The great big tortoise sighed, "In all my years of living here, I have met humans of all shapes and sizes—but I will tell you, I have never met anyone quite like you." The great big tortoise responded.
’What is he talking about.’ Jacob wondered.
Xenia stood in confusion as well, she had heard stories of the Sage Shinzo, the Great Tortoise of the Ten Thousand Beast Forest, but witnessing his sheer size and aura was a new experience for her.
