If the town of Fulova were to be described in a single word, strange would probably be most suitable.
It was a very foggy day when we walked through the gates into the town.
The townspeople walked and talked like normal and the buildings were as sturdy as usual, but still something felt off.
Maybe it was the strange smell that was omnipresent across the town. It wasn't just a combination of all the usual smelly things, like what I'd joked about the other day with Raya. No, it was something more subtle and yet more pungent than that. But Raya said she didn't smell anything unusual, so I let it go for the moment.
But I couldn't shake the idea that something strange was happening in the town.
Even the name of this town is weird. It feels like there is some sort of joke waiting to be said, but I can't seem to find the right punchline. Fulova lotta shit? Fulova cock?
No, it just doesn't sound right. It doesn't roll off the tongue like it should.
But whatever strange thing was going on in the town didn't have to involve Raya and I. We would be leaving the next morning.
But as we settled at the inn we would be staying at for the night, the strange feeling I'd had got worse.
It was the kind of feeling that was hard to describe. Like the feeling you get when you think you've forgotten something important, but don't know what.
It kept me up into the deep hours of the night, getting worse and worse as time went on. But Raya, who hadn't been getting much sleep lately, seemed to be sleeping soundly. I wondered if something was wrong with me.
So, after gently kissing her forehead, I went up to the roof to get some fresh air and clear my head.
Though the fog was thicker than it had been just a few hours earlier, I could still make out the outline of a man standing on the roof.
Walking closer to him, I could also see what he was standing on.
He was balancing on the lip of roof, closer to the edge than I had ever truly been.
- - - - - - -
???: [Oh hey man, what's up?]
Hearing my footsteps, the man spoke then turned around to smile at me. He seemed strangely energetic, like his body was rushing with adrenaline.
I remember feeling a similar way myself.
Adam: [Pretty good man, what uh… what are you up to?]
???: [Oh, me? I'm was just about to jump off this roof and kill myself.]
He said that as if were the most normal thing in the world to say. As if it had nothing to do with him. As if it wouldn't change everything for forever.
Adam: [Right, sounds… fun. Wanna talk for a little bit before you leave? What's your name? I'm Adam.]
???: [Ah, sorry for being rude Adam, my name is Samuel. Are you goanna try to stop me?]
Samuel stepped a few feet away from the edge and made his way towards me.
It felt kind of awkward to just be standing like this, so I sat down on the floor cross legged.
But this action made things even more awkward because I was now looking up at this guy I'd just met. Fortunately, he followed my lead and sat down in front of me.
So… What now?
I still hadn't answered the man's question because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. The conversation we were having was the kind that would be better with some sort of preparation.
After a second of getting nowhere in my head, I just decided to voice my thoughts at that moment:
Adam: [It would be pretty hypocritical of me to try and stop you from doing... what you're about to do... But, at the very least, I think I should learn a bit more about you and remember you, should you decide to actually go through with this.]
Samuel: [Yeah... Okay, I mean... Uh, I spent a while looking for a reason to keep living but couldn't find any. It seems that no such thing exists for me anymore. My parents and family died long ago, so I have no one to live for. I have no money, no girlfriend, no friends, and I'm ugly as fuck. No one would care if I were gone.]
Adam: [Hm... Right, that's a pretty good reason to kill yourself... Yeah, I would probably do the same as you right now if I were in your position… Like, It would take a lot of effort to change your life for the better, right? So it's a lot easier to just embrace the void and end things. It's all meaningless in the end anyways.]
Samuel: [Hah, so you understand the feeling well. Then why are you here right now?]
Pax: [You could say that my attempt failed. After that, I got a chance to start over. Honestly though, I still wonder sometimes whether or not I got lucky back then or not. I guess I'll just have to keep waiting and see…]
Samuel nodded like he understood what I was saying.
Adam: [You know, If there is still a part of you that can see even the tiniest bit of hope then I'd advise that you take that chance. Because once you decide to end things, there's no going back. If you have any regrets or anything you'd like to do then I'd recommend you do that before killing yourself. I could help you pick yourself up if you wanted.]
Samuel took a few seconds to come to a conclusion and then stood up.
Samuel: [Thanks Adam, I appreciate the offer but there would be no point to that. I would just be inconveniencing another kind person and making myself a burden. But no matter what you do, there is no saving me in the end. I'm too weak and, like you said, there is no point in trying when everything is equally meaningless.]
Samuel stood up and walked over back to the edge as I calmly watched him.
He turned around and smiled at me.
Samuel: [I hope that I don't see you again for a long while.]
Then he fell backwards into the fog's embrace.
After a second or two, I heard a thud in the distance.
But in my heart I felt a profound sadness. I could have saved the man if I'd tried. Maybe Samuel could have turned things around for himself.
But, logically, why do I feel this way? The tragedy happened long ago, when the world decided that Samuel was undesirable and took everything that he had from him.
Is death something so sad? Is it something worth fearing and crying over every time it happens?
I walked over to the edge of the building and looked down at where Samuel fell.
I saw his corpse, but it was too foggy to make out the finer details.
Turning around, I spoke to the now empty rooftop.
Adam: [So what was the point in showing me this?]
From the thick fog, a man stepped out with his geta.
He had a short but scraggly beard, a topknot, and carried a sword over his shoulder. His loosely worn kimono added to his vibe of a "homeless samurai."
???: [The report said that you were emotionally and mentally weak, so I thought that this setup might work. Heh, who'd think that you'd do barely anything to stop that man from killing himself. Is it because you realized that this is a dream?]
Adam: [No, I only realized that this was a dream after it was over, when I felt my emotions getting pulled unnaturally. If you wanted to harm my "weak psyche," you should've shown me something bad happening to Raya. Something like this can't affect me.]
It was in that moment that I happened to look down.
For some reason there was a small hole piercing through the middle of my chest. From it, some blood was steadily leaking out.
???: [Heh, I guess it did work. Just a little bit though,] he said, smiling a cruel smile.
I healed the hole in my chest while remaining wary against this strange man.
Adam: [Who are you? And was that a real man who just died there? ]
The strange man's geta clomped as he casually walked to across the rooftop while answering my questions.
???: [Of course he was a real man. Someone at your level would instantly realize it if he were completely fake. Apologies for my earlier rudeness, my name is Lucius Drogo. Welcome to my dream world. If you're wondering, when you die in this dream, you'll die in real life too.]
Adam: [I see, so you've finally caught up with us?] I said, feeling the fog that was growing thicker by the second. [So it was a trap for us all along. But why target me first?]
Lucius: [You don't give yourself enough credit. Any wound we deal to Raya would instantly be healed by you, right? It's only natural then that we would take out the healer first.]
Adam: [I'm flattered. And thank you for answering my questions. Your friends in the real world appreciate the time you're buying for them.]
Lucius: [I have no idea what you're talking about,] he said, exaggeratedly shrugging his shoulders as he did so.
Adam: [You think I can't control my body if my mind is over here? Raya is currently fighting some fodder over there. From the looks of things, it doesn't seem like your friends are putting up too much of a fight.]
This entire conversation was just for me to buy enough time to establish a link with my real world body.
With blood Manipulation, I could puppet my body around and help out Raya even if my mind was elsewhere.
Though I couldn't see or hear anything, because Raya was still holding my hand in the real world, I could still heal her. I could also tell that she'd unsheathed Ryuzu's Fang.
Ryuzu's Fang could grant its user the ability to sense their surroundings through electromagnetic waves. Raya managed to transfer a portion of this power to me, allowing me to vaguely sense where the enemies were in the real world.
I later learned that this only worked because I'd digested a portion of Raya's soul before this.
In any case, the disadvantage that Lucius had put us in wasn't as bad as he'd wanted it to be. The enemies around Raya were all individually weak, so I no longer needed to worry about her side of things.
The main problem lied in how I could escape this dream world.
Lucius: [Interesting! It's a shame, but in that case I'll have to kill you now.]
The fog stirred as Lucius grew several times in size. And suddenly we were in an endless open field of waist-high grass.
Hooded figures wielding katana's stood up all around me.
I smiled nervously as I surveyed my surroundings.
Adam: [I'll hurry back to you, Raya. So don't wait for me.]