CHAPTER 14: GUIDE THROUGH THE BOUNDLESS

’Didn’t he just say that I was meant to be here? And now he says that he doesn’t know anything?’

The Guide looked at her and shook his head; he could see what Anna was thinking.

"Hold your horses! I never said I know your destiny. What I meant was that you are here because you were meant to be," he spoke like he was talking to a child still in its adolescence.

"What do you mean?" Anna asked with a slight frown.

"Do you think the spirit realm is like the garden of your house, which you can enter whenever you want?"

"Then.. What is it?" Anna asked with interest gleaming in her eyes.

"The Spirit realm is where the primordial laws take a physical form and give birth to multiple laws of this universe. In your terms, the spirit realm is like a machine created for the progress of the universe."

’universe?’ Anna thought.

"Then... who are you?"

"As I said before, I am nothing more than a humble guide."

"I find that hard to believe."

"It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not."

"I guess so..." Anna turned back towards the strange scene before her, which she couldn’t make head or tail of.

"Let’s move."

*Snap*

Once again, The Guide snapped his fingers, and the scene before them changed.

The scene, which had been a random gibberish till now, turned into a serene ocean, its water glimmered when the sunlight softly touched it, and fish of various shapes, sizes, and colours could be seen within the ocean.

However, looking at the ocean made Anna feel like she was right there with the fish while also being far away from them at the same time. This dissonance in distance made her head dizzy, causing her to fall to her knees.

Seeing that, the Guide raised an eyebrow.

’She seems to have an innate understanding of space; however, it’s not that great.’

"W-what’s going on?"

"This is the -Lake of indefinite Space-"

"L-lake?" Anna asked as she once again looked at the ocean in front of her and rubbed her eyes, thinking that maybe she was seeing it right. However, even after that, nothing changed, and she asked again.

"B-but isn’t that an ocean?"

"It is, however, we can’t be sure of it because space is stretched and compressed at the -Lake of indefinite Space- thus we refer to it as a lake," The Guide answered her questions.

"Still, you shouldn’t look at it for that long as an unawakened"

"Unawakened?" Anna asked as she tilted her head.

"Hmm? You don’t know about the awakeneds?" The Guide asked with a small frown; his voice was laced with confusion.

"What are awakeneds?" Anna questioned.

"Beings blessed with the essence of creation are awakened."

"Auh.. You mean people with superpowers?"

"Hmm... You can say that"

"Hah! How does that make sense?"

"Does all of this make sense to you?" The Guide said as he pointed at the unnatural scene nearby him.

"..." Anna turned silent, and she didn’t know what to say anymore.

Shaking her head, she looked towards the ocean, wanting to etch the scene in front of her in her mind.

Suddenly her eyes fell on the end of the ocean which had.. Nothing.. Yes, nothing.

The flowing water just disappeared when it reached that place; it was a place of void, no light, no stars, nothing. Only darkness.

"What’s that?" Anna questioned as she pointed towards that place.

The Guide moved his head toward the location Anna pointed at and spoke.

"That’s the -Boundary of Space- it is the place at which the water starts to disappear."

"Why does that happen?"

"Because of -VOID-"

"VOID?"

"Yes, only -VOID- exists after the -Boundary of Space-. Whatever leaves the boundary of space becomes void, as in they return to #@!$"

"Huh?!" Anna blurted out in surprise as she wasn’t able to hear or understand the last word said by The Guide.

"Hmm.. you are still too weak to know about it," The Guide said while nodding his head.

"Can you tell me more about those awakeneds?"

"There’s no point in doing that."

"Why is that?"

"I don’t know what path you follow. You have already obtained a soul body even before becoming an awakened, so my knowledge can’t help you... not yet, at least"

"I see..."

"What’s a so-"

"It’s as the name implies, the soul body is the physical manifestation of one’s soul ...which shouldn’t be possible unless one is already awakened..." The Guide said his last words, however, were merely a whisper.

"So now what?"

"There’s still one more location for us to visit."

"Let’s go then?"

"No, we can’t."

"Hmm? Why?"

"You are too weak... if you went there like this, even I won’t be able to keep you safe."

"I-is that dangerous?"

"It is.. For now, you should get rest and review everything you saw till now in your head."

*Snap*

Once again, The Guide snapped his finger, and the scene before them changed; however, this time, only Anna was there.

She looked around and found out that she had returned to the place where she first opened her eyes. She walked towards a boulder and took a seat on it.

Now that she thought about it, even after everything she did today, she didn’t feel hungry or tired.

"Strange.. Too strange.. This whole place is too strange..."

"Hah! I don’t even know how long it has been since I entered this place... I hope my elder brother is fine..."

"Tomorrow, I will visit the last place with The Guide and then ask him for a way to leave this place."

Anna continued to think about the bizarre and otherworldly places she saw today; however, her eyelids felt heavy as she entered the dreamland.

The Guide was with her from the beginning. She simply couldn’t see him, as it was impossible to sleep in the spirit realm; it was not surprising that The Guide had to do something with Anna’s sleep.

"I wonder... Why did Lord Veylor send you here?" The Guide pondered. Soon however.

"Well, it’s not like I can question my glorious Lord," he shook his head as his eyes glowed in reverence and left Anna alone.

The nearby beasts, upon seeing Anna, began to walk toward her and snuggle up beside her, and one by one closed their eyes.

Footnote:

The Guide used an area-based skill to make Anna sleep, which had the same effect on whoever stepped within that area