Slowly the light came back to me. The fogginess and blur in my eyes started to disappear as I finally woke up. The first thing I saw was the top of the cave. I was lying down on the ground again.
I felt an extra weight on my body. I noticed then. It was Livia. She was hugging me, her breasts were trapping my arm, and she was sleeping as she pressed her face into my shoulder. 'This girl...' Suddenly I realized the pain in my back was no longer there, neither was my leg pain.
I tried to sit up without waking up Livia, then I froze when I saw the woman who had knocked me out earlier. She was close to the entrance with her arms crossed and her eyes closed, emanating a soft light as her blonde hair showed a mix of white strands. I noticed my things by her side, not only the tools but also the books outside the tablecloth. Then I realized why I didn't feel the sand when I was lying down; the tablecloth was being used as an improvised bed.
'Oh shit,' I cursed as I saw the blonde open her eyes and look at me. She then made a gesture with her fingers for me to come closer. I felt uneasy as I finally freed myself from Livia's grip. My Instinct was silent.
As I stood up and walked to the blonde, she kept an inexpressive face, but her arms weren't crossed anymore as she put her hands in her pockets and leaned against the wall. "You are awake," she said.
"You're glowing," I answered as I kept my gaze shifting between her and my belongings.
She looked at the hammer and hatchet and picked them up with some interest. "What exactly were you doing when we were transported here?" she asked.
My Instinct remained silent as I interrupted her. "You healed me?" I asked cautiously.
She put the things back and said with an inexpressive tone, "You dodge my question. But yeah, I healed you." She looked at my face, then my body. She was analyzing me. "Livia told me your name is Eleonora, is that right?" I could notice a strange, almost imperceptible movement in her eyebrows and lips when she said the last sentence.
'Great, she's already sweet-talking Livia,' I thought as I couldn't comprehend the blonde's gestures. "Yeah, something like that. Just call me Leo," I said. When I said my name, I noticed how her gaze stopped moving and looked directly into my eyes. The glow in her hair increased just a bit before returning to a soft constant glow. She didn't say anything for a couple of moments, then nodded.
"You guys have good instincts. You didn't listen to what the Moderator had to say and took good distance before the volcano erupted," she said as she tapped the wall with her fingers. "Perhaps it was Livia's idea?" she said with a tone as if it was the obvious answer.
'WHAT? No way, the audacity!' I thought as I looked at the blonde as if she was a stupid brat trying to look cool. I noticed how her eyes opened slightly as she looked at my face.
"W-what's the problem? It was not her idea?" she said with a mix of confusion and embarrassment.
I shook my head, then looked at Livia still sleeping. 'Did she lie to her or something?' Then I looked at the woman in front of me. "No, of course not. And you didn't tell me your name," I said as I couldn't believe this chick had knocked me out.
"Milaine," she said. She put her hand on her head and began scratching the back of her head. "Weird... maybe later..." she mumbled before clapping her hands together.
"Well, in any case, you at least need to know what the Moderator said. It's a miracle you survived," she said, faking a smile, if that could be called a smile.
"Huh? Did you hear her? I thought I saw you running too," I said as I noticed a pinch in my guts from my Instinct.
She returned to the inexpressive face and looked at me. "I listened first, then I ran. Is there a problem?" she said, without threatening me, but implying that I should shut up.
'Okay, she's very fast or a liar. And neither are good options if she's an enemy,' I thought as I nodded and moved my body a bit to be closer to Livia's direction and my things.
At the same moment, I heard a yawn from Livia's direction. I looked at her, she moved her hands looking for something, as if her pillow had disappeared. I smiled a little but returned my gaze to Milaine.
"Eh? Leo?" Livia asked from behind me.
"Yeah, I'm here," I said without looking away from Milaine.
Milaine looked in Livia's direction while still leaning on the wall and put her hands in her pockets. "You are awake, Livia," she said with her usual inexpressive face.
My Instinct lowered its pinch a bit as I noticed Livia walking to my side, still half asleep. "Hi..." she said with a sleepy tone.
As I looked at Livia breathing with a calm pace, I realized something. "The air is clean," I mumbled.
"You noticed," Milaine answered my mumble, then spoke again. "The Moderator said that the only place in this world free from the sulfur is the caves. Now do you know why you got lucky?" she said, looking at us.
'Well, that explains the cave, but the old man could have been more specific,' I thought as I relaxed my body a bit more.
"Um, thank you. For healing Leo," Livia said as she finally fully woke up.
"Right, thanks. How did you heal me exactly?" I asked.
Milaine looked at us, then sat on the sand. "You better sit. This will take time," she said as she closed her eyes.
When we sat down, Milaine explained to us what the Moderator had said. The first part was mostly what my future self had already told me: Earth is destroyed, humanity is lost, only 1% of the population was "saved," and we are the entertainment of the gods.
But she added some interesting facts. There were three types of worlds we could have arrived at: first, the pacific worlds; planets similar to Earth with minor differences like the color of the water or the taste of the food. Almost 5% of the remnants arrived there. Second, the fantasy worlds; the classic isekai world you could expect to read in a webnovel. Almost 94% of the remnants arrived there. And finally, the third category; the hellish worlds. Some were dying worlds about to explode, some were incarnations of what different cultures and religions determined hell was. Only 1% of remnants arrived here.
"And we are the 1% of the 1% of the 1% who arrived at the worst of all hellish worlds," Milaine said with an inexpressive face.
Livia had been crying from the moment she heard that Earth was destroyed, and she was clinging to my arm more and more as the explanation of our bad luck continued. 'Well... at least there's some Earth left... the remnants, I guess,' I thought in silence as I looked at the books of the witches. Then I looked at my hands holding my thighs as the face of a crying Emilie came to my mind. 'Fuck. I'm a dick.'
"We need to survive here for a year. This is something like the tutorial of a game," she said. She then moved her palm in front of us and made it glow. At the same time, the rest of her blonde hair became platinum, and she emanated a significantly brighter light from her body. "This is part of my Gift. You should be able to check if you have some in your Status window."
"Status window? Wha—" When I asked, a translucent window appeared in front of me.
Status Window
Name: Leo / Eleonora
True Name: Witch of Adversity
Gifts: None
Innate Abilities: [Instinct]
Flaws: [Adversity]
Spells (Unique): [Sigil] [Legemens]
Class: Novice Witch
Stored Essentia: 0
UNDETERMINED: ---
[You have two new notifications]
"The Goddess who enjoys battles would like to give you a Gift. Do you accept it? Y/N"
"The Goddess who does not believe in friendships is interested in you"
I frowned a bit when I looked at the window. 'Witch of Adversity? What the hell is that supposed to mean?' I stared at the "True Name" line, feeling a chill run down my spine. Something about that line made me feel dizzy for a moment. 'And what's this "Adversity" flaw? Is that why everything keeps going wrong?'
I moved my head to look at Livia. She was also looking in front of her, but I didn't see her window. 'It appears to be personal—Wait, why can't I hear her thoughts?'
My eyes drifted back to my status. '[Instinct]—that makes sense, I've had that my whole life. But these spells... Sigil and Legemens... those are what the old man taught me.' I sharpened my gaze. 'And "Novice Witch"? Am I actually becoming some kind of witch? Is that what the transformation was for?' Before I could think of anything else, Milaine continued.
"Gifts are the powers granted by the gods, and Innate Abilities are what you had your whole life. The flaws are the counterpart of both, for any Gift you get or new iInnate Ability you develop you gain a new flaw related to that." Milaine said. She closed her eyes for a moment before looking toward Livia. "Check if you have messages or notifications from some god."
Livia, who was cleaning her tears, said with a hoarse voice, "I have one. It says: 'The goddess who follows the rules would like to give you a Gift...'" I felt a chill—my Instinct sent a shockwave through my entire body.
Milaine nodded and looked at me. "What about you, Eleonora?" she said with her poker face.
"Yeah, I have one who offers a gift and one who looks interested," I said, already knowing that I would not accept any gift.
I could notice a slight lift of eyebrows from Milaine's face, it was almost a second before she returned to her inexpressive face.
"Should we just accept the gift?" Livia asked, her voice returning to its normal tone.
"No," I said.
"Yes," Milaine said.
We both spoke at the same time. Then we both stood up. The follow-up was silence. Milaine looked at me with confusion and a bit of anger. In response, I closed my hands and clenched my fists as I took an extra step toward my things, putting me in front of Livia at the same time.
I couldn't feel Livia's thoughts anymore, but I could feel how she grabbed my arm. "G-guys?" she said with a hint of fear in her voice.
"You are not surviving without a gift," Milaine said.
"Nothing is free in this world. I bet it's not that simple, right?" I answered with a hint of my own anger.
'I know the truth, once we take a gift, our souls are no longer ours. No way we are turning into slaves voluntarily,' I thought as I took another step toward my things.
"It's worth the price," Milaine said as she also took a step toward us.
"Oh? Why don't you enlighten us, chick?" I took another step. She took another step. We both stopped and kept our gazes fixed on each other. Milaine's body was glowing with intensity, the darkness of the cave was no longer there.
"STOP!" Livia yelled as she placed herself between us. "We cannot fight against each other. We need to stay together." Livia looked at Milaine. "Please." Then she looked at me. "Leo, please," she said with a pleading, desperate voice.
I was about to move Livia when I noticed Milaine's face froze for a moment as she kept looking at me, then at Livia. 'What's with this girl?' I thought as I couldn't understand the shift. Also, my Instinct finally started to calm.
"Right, sorry," Milaine said as she reduced the light and her hair returned to golden with a mix of platinum. "But I'm serious about the gift. I highly recommend that you guys take it." She said as she rubbed her forehead with her hands, then covered her eyes. She kept her hands locked over her eyes for a few seconds.
"Okay, that's it, I need to sleep. You take watch now. Don't go outside unless you both want to die. We will discuss what we'll do after I wake up," she said as she just moved to the tablecloth where we had been sleeping and lay down there.
"Freak," I mumbled as I sat next to the entrance close to my things.
"Leo!" Livia landed a soft punch on my arm. "Don't be bad... she saved you..." she whispered as she sat beside me.
"Sorry, I'm stressed," I said with a lower voice.
Livia placed her head on my shoulder but didn't say anything. 'Okay, now I really want to know what she's thinking,' I thought as I looked at the palm of my right hand where the Egyptian eye-looking symbol of Legemens was.
"Do you have tattoos?" she said with a lower voice as I hid my right hand. "Leo is a bad girl after all..." she said with a cheerful and playful tone.
I felt my face flush a little. "Yeah, something like that, I guess." We both stayed there until I felt Livia's breathing change. She was sleeping.
I relaxed my shoulders as I looked at her. 'I admit it, she's pretty and she's my type.' As I noticed my thoughts, I looked at my hand again. 'Why's it not working?' Then I noticed the books by my side.
There were the two books for which my future self had sacrificed his life so that I could find them. Both books had engravings and embroidery that resembled the Legemens symbol somewhat. The patterns were different for each book, but the main difference between the two was primarily the color of the binding. One was green and the other was purple.
'Purple, huh? I remember the color of the Sigil was purple, maybe that's a hint.' Without giving it more thought, I grabbed the purple one and placed it on my lap. I couldn't see it well, my breasts were covering my vision. 'For God's sake,' I blushed as I opened the book, lifting it.
I noticed some kind of index with abstract illustrations. I couldn't read it. The letters, or more like symbols, were moving, changing order in sentences and lines. 'Okay, now I get why he told me I would not be able to read it.' I looked at the book and closed it, then I put my right hand over it.
"Legemens," I whispered.
Nothing happened. I tried again. Nothing happened. I opened the book and put my hand on the index and tried again. Nothing happened. 'Okay, it's not working,' I thought as I began to grow impatient. Then I remembered: the Sigil.
"This is The Sigil. It's how witches access magic. Put your hand in the cold fire and say [Legemens]."
'Right, I should try that, but I don't have anything to make a pile to burn.' Then I saw the book and gulped. I did have something to burn, in fact.
I moved my body just a bit in order not to disturb Livia's sleep and placed the book in front of me. 'First with my index finger, starting from the left side to the right, closing the top then the bottom making a square. Now I draw the "x" with the inverted i's. And finally, I press it with my finger.'
"[Sigil]," I whispered. Then a large flame burst forth from the violet book, dangerously large. I quickly put my hand in the fire.
"[Legemens]." As I said the words, I noticed how the world around me started to reshape itself as if melting. The cave began to deform, and suddenly I found myself in a completely different place. I was sitting in nothing, and no matter where I looked, it was nothing—just void.
"Oh my. It's been a while since I had visitors." A female voice spoke in the darkness. Before I could say anything, the darkness swallowed me whole.