Freedom Jumper-Chapter 79: A Changed Man

Within the cramped and now messy room of Niko's humble home, he stares into the cracked table with a sunken face.

"Maybe... Elijah is right. I can do anything I want, and this is by no means worse than my previous life." Niko had many thoughts running through his head, one of them being how his only fear is death. Elijah having experienced something similar to him was heartwarming, and the idea of himself escaping this kingdom gives him hope.

...

"Dammit! I can't believe this is happening!" Elijah was walking down the stairs while shaking his hands in different directions. He was talking to himself out loud as a way to make sense of what had just happened. And as Elijah walked through the cramped streets of the inner south, the streets only slightly littered with trash, he felt as if the air within the kingdom had changed. Everything... felt different.

This long walk with an isolated mind gave him time to think about everything he has learned so far, and also comparing that with what Amaris has told him. While Elijah's trusted and future benefactor mentioned the gods, he said nothing about gods certainly existing previously. Also, the use of magic taking a toll on your lifespan was also not mentioned, although, this could simply be because of Gion's use of magic. Elijah had realized he had become too trustworthy of the people within this kingdom. This included Amaris and Abel.

While it has been quite some time since his last meeting with Abel, Elijah feels as though it would be a good time for a quick stop in The Void. Elijah's only worry is his memory, but just maybe... some of it has returned.

...

White tightly knit cotton wraps were being tied around Elijah limbs by Alexia. Their conversations were quiet mainly due to Elijah's responses as he was scared for the future of Alexia.

"...I guess I can't stop you then, just please be careful. The whole city seems to be on edge. Hopefully this tournament will make everyone feel better."

"I hope so too." Elijah's simple black garments had what seemed like bandages wrapped around his limbs. A small metal brick was attached to many parts of his body, including a slightly loose fitting metal rune wrapped around his neck. Very quickly, the half circle and light ray rune grew a white glow, and within a matter of seconds, Elijah's body slowly removed itself from the confines of light.

The air was cool, but his emotions dulled the discomfort and feeling of chapped lips. Elijah knew his body was invisible due to every part of his body being completely out of view. Novius was a true genius that Elijah had yet to see the extent of.

Elijah opened his spatial storage once reaching the web of metal supports directly underneath The Underworld. The upside down concave beams made of metal spoke true to the stability of Centerpool. The complex and symmetrical array was undeniably stable.

'Here it goes...'

The splash of Elijah's body before it slowly fell into the darkest part of the whirlpool sent him into a different dimension. Instantly, his body was shocked by the cold temperatures and felt a zap within his brain. And when he came out from the other side, into The Void, he was surprised by how long he was able to last.

Minutes passed by, and the depths of the darkness able to be seen in front of the eyes of Elijah continued to lessen, until literally nothing was seen. His body began vibrating, and then...

Read lat𝙚st chapters at fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓ Only.

POP!

Elijah saw everything. The amalgamation of colors being warped to an unfathomable degree, the terrain of the kingdom warping at an instant rate, and the finale of his soul being lifted out his body in a familiar cave directly after it fell from mid-air. The short chain of events caused Elijah to pause, for what he just saw felt as if he had gained omnipotence.

Abel, the man draped in a long black cloak stepped out from the shadows. The small amount of glowing flowers and plants near the entrance of the cave was shining on Elijah. "Are you awake? Or are you unconscious as usual..." Abel casually walked up to Elijah's body, and began going through his pockets as if he was searching for something, or simply wanting to know more about the weird metal slabs attached to different parts of his body.

'Well... I better make this quick.'

Knowing another astral projection was bound to happen after going through the void again, Elijah flew straight through the material world and stopped just before passing the mana barrier. The thoughts that went through Elijah's mind were that this occurrence felt different, although he couldn't put his finger on the difference itself. His mana core had zero notable changes, and there were no memories of the conversation he had with the god that reincarnated him into this world. A hint of feeling stronger, more confident, and intelligent hit him, but this was figuratively—not literally.

The passage through the mana barrier was seamless, and once within the cold and dark sky, Elijah flew even higher to avoid the potential conflict with anything that would possibly see him—then quickly returned due to his desire to speak with Abel.

Elijah's fingers began to switch the closer his soul became to the exact place it rested. With a subtle popping noise that vibrated through Elijah's body, He slowly got up and asked an ice breaking question. "Abel, why were you looking through my body?"

"Ah! You saw that?! Did you do that weird projection thing again?"

Elijah responded with a firm yes, and was even hiding some hostility from his conversation with Amaris. However, something is telling him that there are two sides to the story, and hopefully Abel's side is remembered...

"Do you have more of your memories back?"

Abel was curious as to the reason for his question, but first responded with a simple yes. However, when he heard the words "Amaris" come from the mouth of Elijah, his body tensed. Elijah could tell Abel was on the tips of his toes, with over five minutes of explaining more about the reason they chose to come to this kingdom, Elijah felt like he had even more suspicions about Amaris.

Amaris was a commoner of the Gion Kingdom, and his father pursued violence in the beast-ridden regions of the world. Through hard work, positioning, and luck, he was able to obtain an ice affinity while exploring a mana geyser—a geyser that shot all kinds of elemental attributes into the air, and was littered with small cave systems that winded down the sides of the hole—a couple dozen miles away from the Kingdom of Astraea. Abel knows of this story because his father was also there himself. While Abel does not remember the specifics, eventually this led to the discovery of something hidden in the distance of the caves they explored. A slow rising mountain surrounded what looked like even more mountains. The magical beasts were heavily concentrated in the mountainous and hilly swamp regions behind where this suspected kingdom was. However, when approaching, the entire party of newly wed mages were horrified at the feeling they got. A true premonition of not death, but decay. Everything was reported back to the kingdom, and with the blessings of select royal families including the king, a mission was made to investigate the disturbance. This is what led Abel, Amaris, Rodrick, Leon, Falmur, and Tybalt to enter this kingdom, albeit a few years later. An ice affinity was not given to Amaris, but stolen when he snuck into the magical chambers while slowly absorbing it over the course of a full week. The punishment instead of death, was uncertain death. Abel was forcefully chosen off the streets, while the others had volunteered out of pride for their kingdom. However, Abel suspects Amaris obtained more than just an ice affinity.

"This all happened a little under ten years ago?" Elijah asked a question to get an idea of the timeline while also trying to understand Amaris.

"Yes... And now that I have some sense of my past, I advise you to be cautious around Amaris if he ever comes into contact with you. He will seem like a nice person, but will always be in it for himself."

Elijah rolled his eyes and began telling him about their so-called friendship. While Abel was surprised and solemn with every action that Amaris did for his prodigy, he explained afterwards that Amaris is only after Elijah's ability. All kinds of emotions were within Elijah's heart, and he knew he was being split apart by these two individuals. The only option was to be cautious of both while putting his own life on a pedestal.

"Tell me Abel, where does my flight ability come from?"

Abel sighed while drooping his head to the floor. The knees that were crossed loosened, and the hands calmly in his lap created support for him to lean back.

"All I know... is that it came from the gods. I doubt Amaris will tell you anything about it, and I wouldn't ask him either. None of that stuff matters right now anyway. There is something stirring within this kingdom, and I hope I am not the only one that can feel it. I feel like... I am going to lose control..."

Elijah didn't respond right away as he felt nothing but the normalcy of the kingdom during a crisis. In fact, he had become used to the small amounts of direct sunlight and novel stimuli. What did intrigue him was that the power of flight he had came from a god. Does it make sense that Niko doesn't have something like me since his god openly said he was a mistake? It sounds like these powers are blessings from the gods themselves, but it also makes Elijah think back to the small bits and pieces he remembers with his god. How the god gave him part of what makes the god, "it".

The questioning began with why Abel felt the way he did, and ended with him asking Elijah to leave the cave. The feeling of comfort. An unexplainable phenomenon, and something that has only been growing ever since meeting Elijah.