MTLNOVEL Chapter 95: Waking up
Ethan's POV
Silent frustration simmered inside me as I prepared to seek guidance from the Eterna Nexus but before I could voice my query, a response appeared abruptly as if the Nexus had anticipated my thoughts already.
[Shutting down due to low energy.]
The message left me perplexed but before I could process its meaning, a sudden wave of exhaustion swept over me.
My form wavered as if all my energy were being siphoned away. Alarmed, I yanked my feeler out of the basin and broke the connection in the process.
The instant the energy out flow stopped, my jellyfish-like body deflated and collapsed like a balloon punctured with a needle.
My vision darkened, and I felt myself sinking into an abyss. The last thing I registered before losing consciousness was the vast and consuming silence of my soul space.
When my eyelids fluttered open, I was immediately greeted by a storm of darkness swirling around me. Horror gripped me as I realized I was falling. I was plummeting endlessly into a void with no light or support visible in any direction.
As for my magic power and soul energy, I could invoke neither of them and I experienced a long-forgotten sensation.
The oppressive silence was absolute but it was broken by a sudden high-pitched screeching sound that pierced through the darkness.
It was of a different frequency and my mind buzzed on hearing it. I vaguely discerned winged silhouettes darting toward me at impossible speeds like jets slicing through the night.
The shadows closed in but their forms were indistinct yet menacing in a way.
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I felt their oppressive presence crowding around me as their high-pitched shrieks resonated like a blade scraping against the glass. My instincts screamed at me to run but there was nowhere for me to go.
I wasn't even able to keep my balance and just as panic threatened to consume me, a jolt of adrenaline surged through me and I woke up with a start.
I gasped for air and my chest heaved as sweat streamed down my forehead and my whole body, leaving me sticky and uncomfortable.
My wet hair clung to my forehead and obstructed my vision. By habit, I ran my fingers through it and pushed it back from my forehead with both hands.
The sticky sensation became unbearable, and I peeled off the thin black shirt clinging to my torso. The cool air kissed my bare skin and it brought an instant relief to my soul as I let out a deep and contented sigh.
As I breathed in the damp, refreshing air, I finally noticed my surroundings. At first, everything seemed hazy and unbearably bright which was a stark contrast to the dark and bizarre environments I had recently escaped from.
After a few moments of adjustment, I realized I was back in the underground room where I'd first spotted the wolf head.
I was sitting upright on the king-sized bed that had initially caught my attention upon entering this space.
Wait… that wolf head! The memory snapped into focus and I glanced up from my vantage point on the bed. To my confusion, there was no trace of the ominous wolf head that had loomed there before.
I frowned in puzzlement but concluded that Master Nyx must have either removed or destroyed it.
I was uncertain about how long I had been unconscious. I rose from the bed and a feeling of residual soreness filled my limbs.
It seems that the duration in which I had remained unconscious and inactive had been long otherwise I wouldn't have felt such discomfort considering my strong body.
I slowly walked to the short door beside the almirah as I assumed that it led to a restroom.
The room I entered was expansive from the first glance. It was constructed of smooth black rock and had a large pool at its center.
There were bloodstones embedded in the walls that emitted a dim red glow lending the space an ambiance akin to a nightclub.
But unlike the bustling noise of nightclubs, this place was serene and utterly silent except for the gentle sound of water flowing into the pool from the bat-shaped spouts carved into the uneven walls around the pool.
The room's irregular structure resembled a natural cave to me but unlike a cave it was not primitive but was both functional and elegant and the subtle adjustments heightened its allure.
Without further delay, I stripped naked and stepped into the dark pool that shimmering with a bloody hue. As I submerged myself in the pool whose waters were surprisingly hot, its vapors enveloped me and shrouded my figure in an obscuring mist.
A contented sigh escaped me as the hot water eased every trace of fatigue, stress, and tension that had accumulated in my body over the battles in the past few days in both the astral and the real world.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I allowed myself to relax completely and silently soaked in the serene warmth.
Velcy's POV
It had been almost a week since I arrived at Scarlet Hollow Castle. At first, I had been deeply nervous when the blonde lady with those big breasts escorted me to my room.
Due to the things I had faced in my life, I was not able to believe so easily that such good treatment was provided to me out of generosity and a creeping wariness always existed within my mind.
The dark and oppressive environment had felt suffocating at first as it reminded me of the dark dungeon where I was imprisoned for so many years. But over time, I slowly adjusted.
The eerie quietness had become a companion and I found comfort in the rhythmic stillness of the castle's underground halls.
My room was located even deeper within the castle's underground well than the one where the dragon lady's disciple named Ethan slept.
Before leaving, the busty lady had strictly warned me not to get out of the bed and my room as a whole after the night settled in.