Confusion would be clearly written on his face if he had one, the system followed one even after death making him wonder just what it had in store for him

Perhaps he was being informed of his death? Like the game over that came after losing, or maybe he was being welcomed to whatever place his soul would go after death

'Maybe death is not the end'

He thought ruefully, in the end he would only get the answer by checking the notification which he did without too much wait

____________

-Soul-Slave Ellis Jasper Acquired the skill "Equanimity"

____________

'....'

It took a while for him to connect the dots, once he did he couldn't help but have a sigh of relief

'So it was all the doing of this new skill'

This skill would explain why he suddenly lost all feeling of the outside, why he also lost connection with her, it was all her doing

'It's probably similar to that skill of hers....I wonder which is stronger'

In the past, or perhaps it would have been the future? Ellis had a skill which she was famed for, it was a hard gotten skill that she gained very early on during the start of this whole mess, its name was Fortitude Of Mind

That skill was self-explanatory, it looked normal from a glance, but one couldn't be more wrong if they thought so as the ability provided a major boost in this horror-filled world, the simplest example is that it allowed her to go through the threshold that most people would otherwise fail like it was a walk in the park

This new skill of hers was probably similar to that one which explains why the connection had been cut off, with this skill added into the equation he wouldn't be able to easily take hold of her body again as he did before, she could finally ward off his possession, something he was both happy for and dissatisfied with

'Still, I had hoped she would gain this skill again, it will be of help on the upcoming plans, but the fact that she wasted a threshold to gain it is a little disappointing'

His regrets didn't last much as it was better having it than having a useless other skill

Now that he knew that they probably weren't dead he tried to connect his thoughts to Ellis's soul once again

At first, he felt a major resistance which made him frown, it was a whole lot stronger than he believed it was, before he could try to break through it though it disappeared on its own allowing him to converse with her once more

'Did you get killed'

That's the first thing he asked, it was of most importance to understand whether they were dead or alive

'No Master, I retrieved my aura before that beast sensed my exact location'

'Scan the area around you with your aura, it could have destroyed everything around it just for the hell of it anyway'

She followed his orders and used her aura to sense about, she found everything like it used to be except for the absence of that mad aura

He didn't need her to tell him what she found as he sensed everything through her, only now did the heavy feeling lift off his heart, he could continue his journey it seems

'Master, how do we ...wake up'

She didn't know how to phrase it as she didn't know whether she was dead or just sleeping, what she knew was that she couldn't feel her body anymore

'Just stay calm, I'll bring you back once again'

With those words he cut their entangled thoughts, his focus now fully back on himself

The first thing he did was try to empty his mind of the many thoughts that roamed it, a technique that took him two years to master with the help of skills, unlike when one thought they had their minds empty which was a thought in and of itself, he truly cleared his mind of everything

When all thoughts were gone a sensation seeped into his mind, like water flowing into dry rivers, it gave rise to a cool yet warm feeling that invaded his 'body'

It was then that this feeling realized the nonexistent state of this 'body's as such it took it upon itself to carve one on its own, a copy of the exact vassal his soul occupied, creating a smitten image of it in this unknown space

This body breathed, its heart beat and its veins pulsed, the multitude of feelings stirred his thoughts into alertness, returning his consciousness that was lost and torn thin

Soon as he got his wits about he dallied not and instantly started the next step, this projection of a body wasn't going to last long enough to wait for him otherwise

Straining his mind he tried to surround his imaginary body with whatever he envisioned as life, green, flourishing with energy, containing the boundless possibilities that allowed many lives to flourish

Taking the shape of a vine this lifelike energy climbed his body as if it was growing on him, tangling his body and holding it in place firmly, once it reached the eyes it poured itself into them, disappearing thereafter

Jade eyes lit like lanterns in the empty expanse, highlighting his hallowed figure

It seemed as if the surroundings were jealous of him, so jealous that it started to reject his presence causing the rather stable body to suddenly disappear as if shifted away by space

"Haaaaah...."

With a sharp inhale YuJu's 'dead' body rose up from the ground, his face white with exhaustion

As much as he wanted to regain his energy before moving he had no time to waste, reaching his hand out he touched Anput's lukewarm body and injected his energy into it, forcibly drawing her pulse out while he suppressed her soul into her body using their connection

The task was very delicate and focus demanding yet he would have to rush it, he had the choice of leaving space for mistake and risking it or allowing Ellis's soul separate and wander from her body while he helped Anput, if that happens then the task of bringing her back would be near impossible with his current condition

With the clock ticking away at his chances of bringing back both of them he could only give Anpu one large push and stuff her back electing a low groan from her now unconscious but breathing body before moving on to the colder Ellis

Repeating the same thing he did to bring Anput on her he noticed the energy consumption might be out of his capability, thankfully he was met with assistance instead of resistance as Ellis tried to help have her body vessel her once more, this lowered the demand on his consumption allowing him to fix her soul back in its place without too much leeway for mistake

"Haaaah! haaah haah...."

Rising from the state of death Ellis grasped at air like a fish out of water, her white chest turned red as blood flowed into it once more, its peaks turning blood red as well

"Master.. haaah, are you.. haah. okay"

She asked while breathing heavily, her paperwhite Master didn't look too good

"Head.... north...."

He barely worded before resigning to his unconscious fate, falling back into a motionless state, this time asleep rather than dead

Rather than worried Ellis was shocked, her ever composed master who always had everything under control actually fainted, furthermore it was caused by her royal mess up

Needing to make sure he was okay she tried to stand only to fall face down on the charcoal wood, her face turning black contact with it

She had tried to break her fall with her arms but noticed they weren't responding too well and were twitching instead of following her demands, her feet seemed numbed but a little more responsive as they moved as she wanted except for their obvious weakness

After shifting about for a couple of minutes she finally regained basic control over her body, whatever caused this must be related to her soul getting out for some time, as for the exact reason she would have to wait till he woke up to ask

Returning her attention to him she noticed his still pale face and hurried to kneel next to him, her hand on his heart to check for a pulse and another over his mouth to check for breathing

Everything was normal which gave her a major relief, but from now on until god knows when she would have to lead this journey on her own, how much north she would have to go and what to do and avoid doing would be her own decision since he hadn't given her even the tiniest clue where this place even was much less any of his plans for it

'It all my fault anyway'

She knew she caused this unexpected turn of events but it wasn't any time to wallow in self-blame, she had to get a move on

After giving Anput a check as well she took a few minutes to regain more control over her body, enough to be jumping around, then she carried YuJu piggyback style ride while holding Anput in a princess carry, then cautiously and carefully made her way out of the tree and started jumping from branch o branch, her speed was nowhere comparable to YuJu and her control over her movements was already half-assed because of her current state, carrying two bodies on her didn't help much as they restricted her too, this made the distance she could cover rather shallow

Soon she felt the shaking of the trees getting bigger and bigger until it was time to hide in a hole, which she made on her own since she didn't spot any on the way

The rumbling got louder and louder until the red and dark purple figures streaked by her, her brows furrowed for but a second sensing its distasteful atmosphere but that was all there was to it, her skill provided her much greater control over her self that the previously irresistible feeling turned to mere annoyance, that also stemmed from the fact that she felt herself grow up in those short but long moments she spent alone in dark, her thoughts much more mature and realistic than they used to be

Once the beasts passed she started heading north again, trying to cover as much distance as she could between each beast wave, and judging by the view she saw when jumping high she knew she had a very long road ahead