Hitman with a Badass System

Noah hovered in the sky, looking at the rainbow island on the horizon. For some reason, he had a bad feeling in his gut.

“Noah, why are you waiting here?” Noah heard Andreas’s voice in his head.

“I have some bad feelings about this,” said Noah.

“Me too,” said Andreas.

“That weird energy. I haven’t felt something like that ever before,”

Noah was on his way to meet Alicia when Andreas sensed something. He immediately ordered Noah to follow his directions. Truth be told, Noah had never seen his teacher shocked like this. So Noah did not waste any time as he did what he was told to. To his surprise, Andreas led to the outskirts of the rainbow islands.

“We don’t have all day, Noah,” said Andreas. With a nod, Noah flew forward toward the island. To Noah’s shock, he saw Nerita and Johana on the ground, unconscious. He felt some strange energy fluctuations in the air. Judging by the look of the ground, Noha could tell a decisive battle had occurred here. Noah quickly landed beside Johana and Nerita.

“Miss Johana, Moss Nerita,” Noah called out to them. He gently shook their shoulders, but they didn’t respond. Noah placed his finger on their necks, sensing their pulses. Fortunately, they were alive.

Noah was about to retrieve healing potions from his space ring when Andreas materialized before him.

“Don’t wake them up. I sense something inside. Let’s go check first,”

“What about them? They can tell us what happened here once we wake them up,” said Noah.

“And might stop us from investigating the place. You know I am right, so come,” Andreas gestured at Noah to stand up and follow him into the cave. Having no choice, Noah followed behind Andreas. The place looked somewhat different than the last time Noah visited. He met Lailah to give her the witcher stone.

While walking into the cave, Noah noticed countless scribbles on the wall. They all looked weird and quirky, like a child’s painting. The further he walked into the cave, the more Noah felt the strange energy in the air. Andreas and Noah made their way forward in silence.

“What in the hell is that?” asked Andreas, looking at the glimmering tear in the space itself. The tear pulled both of them into it. Noah resisted the pull as Andreas moved closer to inspect it.

“A realm tear,” said Andreas.

“Something happened here,”

“No shit,” said Noah with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Noah joined Andreas in front of the realm tear. This was the first time Noah had seen one.

“Is it like a portal?” asked Noah. He was tempted to touch and look through the tear, but he controlled himself,

“No. The very fabrics of space and time itself had been torn by something. We need to know what happened here,” Andreas’s voice became extremely grave.

“Then we have to wake those two up. They can give us the answers we want,” Noah suggested.

“Yeah, but let’s look around first. I have a feeling our friend Lailah was hiding something big in here,” Andreas began to float around the cave. Noah lit all the torches hanging on the walls with a snap of his finger. He brought the light back to the cave.

They were able to see things more clearly in the light.

Noah saw candles, meditation mats, books, and a few scrolls in the cave. As he was looking around the cave, he was taken aback when he saw a cradle in the corner of the cave.

“This is getting interesting,” Andreas floated toward the cradle. Noah followed Andreas behind. The walls behind the cradle had lots of scribbles of a child.

𝐎𝗏𝐥xt.𝗇𝓔t

“Ouch,” Noah jumped as a bolt of electricity ran through his body when he touched the cradle.

“It zapped me,” Noah rubbed his palm.

But when Andreas’s ghostly hand touched the cradle, Andreas’s whole body shivered. He immediately closed his eyes, feeling a powerful, strange energy around the cradle. In his entire life, he had only experienced this feeling one time. He thought he had forgotten this feeling, but the answer was no. It was so long ago, as Andreas almost forgot.

“Teacher,” Noah called out to Andreas. He waited for Andreas to open his eyes.

“A spirit child,” mumbled Andreas.

“A spirit child was here,”

Noah was no stranger to the concept of a spirit child. Andreas made Noah read thousands of books. Thus, Noah knew quite a lot. Noah frowned. A spirit child was created when a male cultivator’s soul walked a female cultivator which was a forbidden act. It was equal to forcing oneself on someone.

“The witcher stone,” Noah mumbled.

When he gave Lailah a witcher stone, Noah didn’t know why she needed a witcher stone, atleast, he didn’t know at that time. However, recently Noah discovered a piece of Andreas’s soul and helped his mentor absorb this soul piece. As a result, Andreas regained more knowledge and memories.

Noah learned that a witcher stone was to give a physical body to a spirit child in a ritual, along with some other things. Everything else could be obtained relatively easier but not the witcher stone.

“I can’t believe it,” Noah shook his head. He simply couldn’t believe someone has soul walked Lailah. She was a Fusion stage cultivator. Noah couldn’t name a single person who was strong enough to touch Lailah, let alone soul-walk her.

“The strange energy, the scribbles on the wall, the witcher stone…it all makes sense,” Andreas said slowly.

“A spirit child was here. There’s no mistaking it,”

Noah couldn’t disagree with his mentor. As Andreas said, everything made sense, pointing toward the existence of a child in the cave.

“Search the place,” Andreas ordered Noah.

After learning about the spirit child, Noah doubted Nerita and Johana would be much help to him. He was sure they would hide the child’s existence.

“Light of truth,” Noah closed his eyes, casting a spell.  A bright wave of light washed over the cave. Noah slowly opened his eyes. His gaze turned his head to the side, glancing at the wall. In his view, he saw a glimmer of light inside the wall. He walked toward the glimmer as Andreas followed him behind.

When Noah reached the wall, he ran his hand through the wall.

“It’s hollow,” Noah knocked on the wall. Andreas heard a light thud sound. Noah gently rubbed his hand through the wall until he found a tiny hole. Noah’s finger didn’t fit the hole. So he picked up a quill from his space ring and stuck the quill into the hole.

Noah heard a crack as a piece of wall fell down, revealing a brick-sized hollow within the wall. Inside it, Noah found a tiny book. Under Andreas’s gaze, Noah opened the book. The first page of the book contained scribbles and various shapes. He turned the page one by one until he saw some words.

“Today, mother taught me how to read and write. She seemed so happy when I wrote my first word, mother,” Noah read the words.

“Sister Nerita said if I feel lonely, I can write whatever I want in a book and keep it safe. So here I am, writing something,” Noah read these words on the next page. He turned another page and saw something about the food. Noah felt bad for reading someone else’s journal, especially a child’s. But he hoped this journal might reveal something about the realm tear.

If this child was capable of tearing the realm itself, Noah needed to know everything about it before the child could cause more harm.

“Today, I asked mother about father. I learned from Sister Johana that every child has a father. Mother did not answer me. But when I met sister Johana later, her eyes were puffy. I think mother scolded her. But why? Why can’t mother tell me who my father is?” Noah read the words.

Afterward, Noah turned the pages one by one but didn’t find anything valuable. Instead, he saw the child’s day-to-day life, nothing interesting.

“I heard mother talking to someone about a fight in a place called Holy Church. She was worried and didn’t say a word. I know my mother is not a very talkative person, but this silence was new to me. I can see it in her eyes. She is worried sick,”

“How old is this child? His words sound mature for a child who learned to read and write recently,” Andreas wondered about the child.

“Fight in the Holy Church? Do you think he’s talking about the battle between the Dark Lord and Ghost?” asked Noah.

“I can’t say no for certain,” Andreas shook his head as Noah continued to read the child’s journal.

“Yesterday, I had this weirdest dream. Before I went to bed, I asked mother about father once again. As usual, mother didn’t say a word. She just said it’s better if I don’t know who my father is. I disagree. I want to meet him. I was thinking about father and I had a dream. I was floating in the sky. It was night, I think. Everything was dark. I called for mother, but no one heard me. Then, I saw someone. He was talking to a snake. Strange, isn’t it? Unfortunately, I couldn’t see his face. I tried to approach him, but I was unable to move my body. The snake in his hand looked right at me. For some reason, I had a feeling this snake wanted me to get away from the man. It felt so real. Now I can’t help but think whether this dream is a sign. Sister Nerita and Johana always told me I am special. If I am special, is there any chance this dream is a sign? Could he be my father?

After Noah finished reading everything the child wrote about his dream, Andreas had a deep frown on his ghostly face. Noah turned another couple of pages, hoping to find out more about the child’s dream and his father.

“Okay, I know this is going to sound weird, but I had another weird dream yesterday after I asked mother about father. The only difference this time was I saw an island. It was on fire. The man I saw in my previous dream was there with his snake. It was laughing at the burning island. Why do I have this kind of dream every time I ask about my father? Now I can’t stop believing the man in my dream, and my father has some kind of connection,”

“Is this kid having nightmares, or does his dreams really have some meaning?” Noah asked Andreas.

“There are many types of dreams. Some might give a glimpse of the future, and some might show us what we desire deep down,”

“This child wants to see its father. So it might be dreaming about him. But I have a feeling his dreams have some kind of meaning,” Noah said, turning the pages.

“I can’t believe what I saw in my dreams today. I saw the man again in my dreams. This time, there was no darkness. I saw him floating in the air without the snake. I wanted to talk to him, but when I approached him, he turned the day into night. I am not going to hide my dreams anymore. When mother returns, I will tell her about them,” Noah read the words. He turned the pages, but they were empty.

“We need to find this child,” Noah and Andreas said these words simultaneously.