CHAPTER 11: CENTRAL ASHVALIS (2)

I didn’t think a room like this could exist in such a cruel world... It makes me wonder if Elyndra is even fancier since it’s up in the damn sky.

"Thank you for helping me through this all ghost." I say with appreciation in my voice.

She’s been pretty good at noticing when I’m stuck in my head so that makes things a lot easier for me.

"You don’t have to thank me, I just think it’s best for us to get some rest. It’s also my job to look out for you too." Ghost replies with a slight smile on her face.

Looking at her like this, she really is pretty for a cyborg. Are all the cyborgs pretty like her or are they a mix of different parts with completely different looks?

I never really got to look into it much back then since everything happened so fast.

"There’s only one bed but I don’t mind keeping an eye on things." Ghost says as she walks over to the window.

I probably should rest since I’m still recovering from my encounter with those whisperspawns. I didn’t think they’d do that much to me within such a short period of time.

"Okay... I’ll get some rest then." I say hesitantly at first before sitting my stuff down.

That warmth from when she held my hand is gone... I kind of miss it but I shouldn’t get use to it. It’s not something I’ll always get to experience so I need to focus on the real objective at hand.

Figuring out my purpose in this godforsaken world after everything that’s happened to me since the collapse. There’s so many things that should’ve killed me but yet I’m still here breathing.

If I can survive inside of a dungeon... I’ll have some sort of answer to my question.

Become something greater.

Nah, what could I even become? There was never anything within me that I could awaken so it’s useless. At least I’ll know where my strength lies after I finish exploring a dungeon for the first time.

A Junker exploring a dungeon?

I scratch my head as I lay down on the bed, realizing that I’m just a junker at the end of the day. I can just barely see ghost out of the corner of my eye.

She’s staring out the window just like she did at the shop, what goes through her mind?

I’ve often questioned that.

The consciousness of a cyborg must be quite interesting since they share a lot of the same functions as us. She has a heart, a brain, fluids pumping throughout her body, and probably a few other things.

Smack. I felt a slight sting from my hand after smacking my face to keep my head out of the gutter.

I shouldn’t think about her in some perverted way since that’s not why I fixed her in the first place. She’s able to do a lot of things with the kind of power she has.

Her reflexes alone make a crazy difference in battles against any sort of enemy that we face together. I’m sure her memory core could’ve helped with refreshing her military training.

They programmed a lot of those things into them and reinforced them with physical training. Sadly I don’t have anything to help with that issue.

Useless.

That’s what most people called me after I was found inside of my house, covered in blood. My sister... Torn to shreds in front of my very eyes while I was powerless to do anything about it.

"Talentless."

"He can’t even use magic."

"Why is he even here?"

I wish that something could’ve awakened in me but that wasn’t the case, God didn’t grant want to grant me such a blessing. Surely something greater awaits me...

I closed my eyes and let everything go dark around me as I listened to the slight hum that ghost was doing by the window. When did she start doing that?

Within a matter of a few hours I began to feel that warmth once again as I woke up, turning to my side to see ghost right next to me. Her head was gently laying on my shoulder as I laid there myself.

I probably had some sort of nightmare again since they tend to happen quite often. I don’t know what brought them back since they died down for a good while.

I ran my freehand through my hair as I looked up at the ceiling. "What a time to be alive huh." I say quietly.

"M... morning." Ghost speaks softly with a bit of embarrassment in her voice.

"I’m not upset or anything, you definitely surprised me though." I say while looking over at her.

I don’t think she was worried about upsetting me or anything, maybe more like embarrassed? That’d be a better guess then what I thought at first.

"I just got a little tired so I joined you for a bit... Besides you seemed to be shaking so I wanted to help." Ghost responds with a bit of red in her cheeks.

I’m glad that she’s a lot more human than I originally thought since it could make a big difference in the future. Not a lot of people would be happy to see a cyborg like her breathing in the first place.

A lot of people blame them for failing to help during the collapse and have even gone out of their way to kill them.

"I appreciate you looking out for me Ghost, thank you." I say with kindness.

I’m finding myself thanking her more and more all of a sudden... I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. She’s definitely helped me get through a lot.

I could feel my heartbeat racing once again as I sit up in the bed.

This feeling is a lot different from anything I’ve experienced over the years so I don’t really know what to make of it.