Beyond the Endless Void

It was already the fourth night, and the storm had still not subsided, making things even harder for the people living within its perimeter. Meanwhile, Erus remained on edge, watching for any sign that Cana might finally wake up. She was sleeping peacefully, not giving him any trouble at all. But he would occasionally pace back and forth inside the room, checking everything around him for anything that might actually help her. He clasped both hands over his head and unconsciously bit his lips until he tasted iron.

"This is frustrating!" he cursed under his breath, afraid Cana might hear him and misunderstand his frustration.

Erus sat at the edge of the bed and gazed at Cana for who knew how long. If he had a brush and a canvas, he could have painted her portrait by now. As he had been doing since the day Cana said she would rest, Erus absentmindedly massaged her hand until he eventually fell asleep sitting on the bed, his head leaning against the headboard—hoping to feel her hand grip his.

"Cana, can you hear me? Don't you think your way of resting is going a little overboard?" he asked in a low voice. "If you still don't wake up, I'm going to use my shield's healing ability on you."

Just after he mentioned healing Cana, the small white monkey materialized on the other side of the bed. It looked at him with such a serious expression that he was briefly stunned, but the sight also stirred a little hope in him.

"I was just bluffing. But I'll certainly do it if your master still doesn't wake up by tomorrow," he told the white monkey, even though he couldn't communicate with what he assumed was a familiar.

The white monkey let out a harsh sigh.

"Wait—does this mean Cana is mentally conscious?" he asked excitedly. After all, how else could a familiar appear without its master's command?

The Judgement spirit ignored him and crawled over Cana's body. It stretched its arms before curling up on her chest. Erus's brows knitted together. His hand moved on its own, attempting to pick up the white monkey, but passed right through it.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing—sleeping on top of her? The bed is large enough, and you can sleep on the floor."

But the monkey didn't listen. It even turned its head away from him.

Erus scoffed at the audacity of the little creature. He could do nothing but clench his fist and sigh.

"Just this once," he said, shooting daggers at the poor spirit with his eyes.

To his surprise, Cana moved her hand. Though it was only a tiny movement, he immediately grew alert and waited for more.

"Cana?" he tried calling her.

But still, there was no response.

Without thinking, he moved on his own and lay down sideways beside her, still holding Cana's hand. He stared at her face, waiting for something to happen.

"Little Rabbit, I'll sleep beside you tonight. You can kick me if you want when you wake up," he told her, hoping she would at least scold him for something.

"You told me not to overthink, but I just can't help it. I've been doing it ever since you started resting."

And Erus was sure it had nothing to do with the master-slave bond they shared through the mark. But what else could he do other than trust her words that she was just resting for a while and that it wasn't anything worse?

He had no idea what time he had drifted off to sleep. But he woke up in the middle of the night clutching his chest, feeling a heavy weight on it. When he opened his eyes, he realized the whole place was pitch-black. He reached for Cana but couldn't feel the mattress or the bed beneath him. Confusion washed over him as he realized he was no longer in his house.

"What's happening?" he asked, still struggling to breathe.

Then he remembered his shield. He summoned it, and the pain in his chest instantly eased.

The golden shield's light allowed him to see, but it was of little use. Everything around him was nothing but pitch-black darkness. Erus stood up, becoming more alert to his surroundings. He chose not to limit his senses as he began walking and examining the place, but even that didn't help. He was walking through what seemed to be an endless void.

Who could have pulled him here? Was this another scheme by the king, who had been wanting him dead?

He continued walking until he spotted a faint light in the distance. Curious, he approached it and discovered that it wasn't an ordinary light. Glowing golden streaks moved in circles around someone, forming a boundary around her.

"Cana?" he exclaimed upon recognizing the woman sitting cross-legged within those golden lines, both palms suspended on either side of her. Her eyes were closed.

Cana didn't respond, adding to his confusion. He was now struggling to make sense of what he was seeing. Why was Cana here, and where exactly was this place?

He fixed his gaze on Cana. She didn't seem to be in a bad state, though he couldn't see her clearly because of the golden streaks. He tried walking around her, hoping to get a better look and figure out what this familiar-looking phenomenon was.

Erus reached out and touched one of the golden streaks. The moment his fingers made contact, the surroundings suddenly lit up. Stars appeared all around him, revealing the full extent of the place. He couldn't believe his eyes. This place certainly didn't belong to the mortal realm.

"Fuck!" he cursed, nearly having the biggest jumpscare of his life.

Beneath his feet was the same endless void. He wasn't standing on anything, and neither was Cana. They were both floating in the middle of nothing. How the hell was this possible?

As he tried to make sense of everything, moving images began appearing all around him. Most showed places familiar to Erus, especially the capital of Sparrow. He gasped as he witnessed different events unfolding in different locations.

His feet carried him closer to the images.

The capital of Sparrow was still being battered by the bizarre storm, and he could clearly see its full extent. He witnessed the suffering of the common people while chaos continued inside the palace. King Leomar looked utterly disappointed, while the Elders were visibly frightened. The storm hadn't spared them a single night of torment.

Then he saw the guilds. His attention settled on the Castle of Lions, which was still active despite the late hour. Kyla and Akiro were in the guildmaster's office, discussing their grandfather, who was one of the Elders trapped inside the palace.

Erus furrowed his brows when he spotted a familiar manor belonging to one of the guild Elders. Its devastated state seemed suspicious. Several people dressed in black were also scouting the place.

"What happened there?" Erus asked.

His mind was almost convinced that he was witnessing actual events through these images. Then he spotted another image showing his mother, Uruja, sleeping in her house.

"She's no longer on the island?"

Beside the image of his mother was another showing his newly built manor. He had to blink twice when he saw himself and Cana sleeping in the dimly lit room, in the same position he remembered before drifting off.

Erus swallowed, his heart beating faster as his eyes roamed over the moving images. He couldn't fathom what was happening. If he was asleep, was he merely dreaming?

But something about it didn't feel right.

After contemplating for a long while, an idea suddenly struck him. Erus sat beside Cana. He didn't fully understand why the thought had occurred to him, but perhaps his instincts were right. Besides, the whole place didn't feel hostile toward him.

He glanced at Cana once more, then at the moving images before positioning himself to meditate. To his amazement, glowing golden streaks appeared around him, surrounding him just as they did Cana. He felt strangely comfortable with their presence.

It made him realize something, but he didn't dwell on it. He had to prove it for himself.

The hours passed as Erus savored the quietness of the place. He gradually went deeper into his cultivation. Before he realized it, the night had given way to morning.

His body clock eventually woke him. He was still lying beside Cana, just as he had been when he fell asleep. He checked on her before sitting up on the bed, but there was still no change.

Then he remembered his cultivation from the night before. Strangely, he could feel that something had changed within him. Erus tried opening and closing his fists. He felt as though he could take down an entire building with a single punch and turn it into dust.

"That's definitely not a dream," he murmured to himself.

Erus smiled to himself before letting out a sigh.

"Unbelievable. I guess I need to prepare a lot and cover the whole dining table when you wake up."

He stood up, straightened his clothes, and left the room. His stomach was already growling this early in the morning, and he needed something to eat to settle it. As he descended the stairs, he sensed another presence inside the residence, someone other than the people he had hired.

Ketch approached him as soon as he spotted him.

"Good morning, My Lord. Mr. Gareth has arrived with his things," Ketch informed him.

Erus paused for a moment before glancing toward the living room, where he could sense the presence. He remembered asking Gareth to come that day, but he hadn't expected him to arrive so early.

"Let him have breakfast first. I'll see him afterward," he told Ketch.

Ketch bowed before returning to the living room, while Erus headed for the kitchen.

An hour passed, and Gareth decided to stroll outside while waiting for Solari. He checked with the workers to make sure his layout design for the entire manor was being followed properly. Otherwise, he might as well start preparing for his own funeral.

"Sir Gareth, is something wrong? We followed the formula you gave us when making the concrete," one of the dwarves said as he knocked on the surface of the wall.

"Nothing. You're doing well," Gareth assured the workers, who happily accepted it as a compliment.

"Lord Solari is very generous to us. It would be a shame if we couldn't build everything exactly as he wanted," another worker said with a proud smile.

Gareth smiled too. "Certainly—"

Suddenly, he stopped. Someone was watching him.

Gareth turned toward the main door, but Solari wasn't there.

Then who else could have that same predatory presence?

He shook his head, thinking it was just his imagination—the result of being too cautious about disappointing his clients.

But just as he was about to head back inside, his eyes unconsciously drifted toward the window on the second floor, where the master's bedroom was located.

He froze.

His lips parted slightly, but no words came out. He blinked several times, making sure he wasn't imagining what he was seeing.

The woman on the upper floor was looking directly at him, completely unfazed.

Then she placed her index finger against her lips and smiled.

"Sir Gareth, are you okay?" another worker asked, snapping him out of it and drawing his attention away from the second floor.

Still a little disoriented, Gareth nodded. "Yeah, yeah. It's amazing how fast you can work," he said, leaving the workers confused.

They were dwarves. Strength and the ability to work faster than other races came naturally to them. Gareth carried the same blood, too.

Gareth glanced at the second-floor window again, but all he caught was the white curtain swaying gently.

His brows furrowed.

Inside, Ketch was already waiting for Gareth. He guided him to the basement, where Solari was waiting.

"Install one here. Then we'll place the others according to the layout you showed me," Erus instructed Gareth as soon as he entered the basement.

The basement hadn't been included in Gareth's original layout, but he followed Solari's instructions anyway. There might be something Solari wanted to try beyond simply testing his equipment.

After the first installation in the basement, Gareth and Erus left the residence without anyone noticing. They headed into the forest to continue installing the advanced tactical defenses, which could detect approaching enemies.

Erus watched Gareth work while keeping guard over their surroundings. No one else should know where the equipment had been installed. Only the two of them were supposed to know.

Once each piece of equipment was installed in its designated spot, it activated automatically.

"Anything that comes within a hundred meters of your residence's perimeter will be detected automatically, and the system will feed you the information," Gareth explained.

True enough, one of the pieces of equipment they had installed detected a low-level beast. It immediately relayed the creature's exact location and appearance to Erus.

Although the equipment was ready-made, infusing each piece with magic was a time-consuming process. Gareth had to draw from his stored magical energy and supplement it with his own magic ability. They spent several hours moving from one installation point to another before finally completing the perimeter. By the time they finished, darkness had already begun to creep into the forest.

"Your turn, My Lord," Gareth said, expecting Erus to test each piece of equipment to see whether it could detect someone of his level.

"No need," Erus replied.

"My Lord?"

"Let's go back now."

Gareth simply nodded, though he was a little disappointed. He really wanted someone like Solari to test the equipment so he could make improvements if necessary.

"You built shrines?"

"Fuck!"

"Oh, lords!"

Erus looked behind Gareth.

"Cana?!"

He had been hoping for her to wake up, but he hadn't expected her to track him down so soon after waking.

"Why are you building too many shrines?" she asked again.

But her question went unanswered. Erus crossed the distance between them and hugged Cana tightly. She didn't protest, but Gareth's jaw dropped at the sight.

Gregory hadn't been lying at all. Gareth could tell at once who this lady was just by seeing how Solari treated her. She was also the same woman he had seen at the second-floor window of Solari's mansion.

"You aren't supposed to be here. You just woke up," Erus said after releasing her from the hug. "How do you feel now?"

"I'm totally fine. I woke up before you went into the forest."

"What?" Erus looked a little disappointed in himself. "You haven't eaten yet."

"Ketch gave me food. I ate before following you here."

Erus sighed. Behind his mask, he smiled.

"Why did you follow us?"

Cana scratched her head.

"I was curious about what you two were doing."

Erus lightly patted Cana on the head before turning toward Gareth.

"This is Gareth. Do you still remember the one Gregory mentioned?"

Cana nodded.

"I recognized him. He carries the aura of the imbued elements in your recently acquired bow," Cana said. "Did I scare you earlier?"

Gareth quickly shook his head. "Not... not really. I'm sorry if that disappointed you."

Gareth didn't want Cana to think badly of him. He still wanted to get to know her, especially to learn from her.

"Not at all. But again, what are you two plotting? Building shrines around this residence?"

Erus touched the nape of his neck.

"Not shrines. Those are advanced tactical defenses that Gareth made," Erus explained.

"Oh, amazing! And you could build that many?"

Gareth swallowed. That didn't sound like a compliment to him. His immediate thought was that he had failed to meet Solari's expectations. He glanced at Solari, wondering how he would react.

"No one was supposed to see those except me, since I hold full authority over them," Erus said.

"Re... really? I'll tell no one."

"And none of that equipment detected your presence."

"Were those faulty? Even you two didn't notice me approaching."

Erus didn't answer. Instead, he turned his attention to the equipment. Yeah, how the hell had he failed to notice Cana's approach?

"Those weren't faulty," Cana said.

Both men turned to look at her.

"What do I need to do, Lady Cana?" Gareth quickly asked.

"Whose residence are you trying to protect in the first place? Is it one of your friend's, Erus?"

Then Erus realized he hadn't shown Cana this place yet.

"Our house," he answered.

Cana's lips formed a small O, and her eyes lit up.

"The equipment you used is made of high-grade materials. They're strong enough to withstand the final touch," Cana told Gareth. "Use the essence of your shield," she then told Erus.

"H... how?" Gareth was a bit confused.

"Imbue it into the one you left inside the house. If it succeeds, it'll create a huge shield covering the entire residence, and it will also detect anyone with hostile intentions."

"You knew that too?" Erus could now tell how long she'd been awake.

"Yeah. And if you like, I can add some attributes of my shield as well. What do you think?" Cana asked Erus.

"You're too energetic for someone who just got better," Erus commented instead.

"I just rested. I wasn't sick. And I'll be taking some compensation for this, too."

Erus looked at Cana in disbelief.

Was she asking for a salary, too?

"Please..."

Erus' brain stopped at the sight of Cana's pleading eyes. At some point, it felt refreshing to see this other side of her.

"Oh, come on, Erus," Cana said.

"I didn't say no."