Chapter 313: The Last Reward

Although he sort of expected it, Aiden still couldn't help but frown and shake his head in denial when the spirit spoke the words that caused yet another wave of conflict to spread its chaos in his heart and mind.

Conflict, as although he refrained from calling the spirit by what he truly was, he could still feel the truth of it. The spirit was his father, his family in its truest sense. Whilst he had left him, even going so far as to somehow sending him to another world and for some reason, to live another life, it was probably not an easy decision he and his wife, Aiden's mother had made.

Then there was his Mother. What the Guardian Spirit said, confused him greatly, and he still couldn't process it completely. Was he referring to Enya? How could that actually be true? She was an entirely different entity, not originating from this world. She was someone that she was given by that all-powerful true god, the one she referred to as Ioris.

However, she didn't truly deny it either. In fact, she was silent ever since this strange trial began. So silent that he could hardly even feel her presence, at least until a moment ago. He couldn't feel her up until the point that the sword, Ryingtarth submerged into his Soul Space.

He knew it was pointless to even try to ask her for answers, as most likely she would just say the same excuse, that due to some 'limitations' placed on her, she couldn't.

So, the Guardian Spirit's response was strange, he couldn't comprehend it at all. If not Enya, then who was she referring to. The only guidance he received so far was the deathly threats of the System, a heartless, emotionless tool created by that all-powerful existence.

Returning his attention, he looked at the Guardian Spirit with a deep frown on his face, as he once again shook his head.

"No. I can't do that."

How could he? Even if the system gave an obvious incentive to do so, how could he possibly absorb his father's remnant soul shard? Even if it was just a copy or a retained piece for the service of tending to this shrine, how could he possibly cope with such a thought?

Already expecting such a response, the spirit wasn't surprised, instead, he turned to the side, and pointed to the Golden Egg-shaped object laying atop the altar.

"Don't be afraid. My purpose was always to be joining with you. Absorb the egg, the container of my soul. Besides…"

The spirit smirked, shocking Aiden for the umpteenth time today.

"Besides, you have already absorbed one of my leftover shards, silly boy. So, why would you hesitate to take the second? You need the power within it. Trust me."

The scene of finding the similar-looking object back at the riverbed in the forest, close to where he came to be re-emerged in his mind. That was a shard? But…

"If… If that is true… Why didn't you show up then? Why couldn't I see you? Why did you stay hidden from me?!" He exclaimed, getting more and more emotional once again as revelation dawned on him. He already did the unthinkable. Albeit he was not aware of it, but that didn't change this simple fact.

"I couldn't at that time. That was a very small, tiny fragment of the whole, my original self didn't intend to leave that there at the time. In fact, that shard shouldn't have been there at all… Unfortunately, I have no way of finding out the reason."

"If so, then how do you even know that it was your shard?" Aiden asked with a skeptical look. It was just a small branch, but he wanted to believe that he hadn't the unthinkable.

The spirit chuckled at his question, which revealed he was still very naive, unlearned about the wisdom of the world.

"Oh, Aiden. Isn't it obvious? Through your memories of course. We were connected, or did you forget that already?"

Reigning in his laughter, the Guardian Spirit returned to his serious look and continued on.

"What you fear about makes no sense, son. You cannot kill what is already dead. I have died long, long ago. What you see are just copies of my soul that my real self has left behind to test and guide you. These 'eggs', as you refer to them in your mind…" He reassured, turning to look at the golden egg. 

"Are the last remainders of my essence. The heritage you need. This is the only way for you to receive them. You need to absorb them all from all the remaining four shrines. Now go, don't waste more time!"

Aiden gritted his teeth upon listening to the Spirit's words. Albeit he was right, it was still not something he was willing to do. He couldn't shake the thought of him killing his own father, even if that wasn't the case.

Seeing the conflict in the boy, the Spirit decided to continue and spoke again. This time, in a much colder tone.

With a flick of his hand, transparent images of three women appeared above the egg. They were his current family, the three most important people in his life in this world. The transparent faces of Lily, Granny, and Number 3 appeared from thin air, calmly floating in the air.

"Do you want to lose those 3?! Do you not care about protecting them? What man are you, my son?!"

His berating words caused a shiver to run through Aiden's spine. He clenched his fists, the frown on his face contorted, revealing the instantly growing anger of him.

"What do you mean? What are you insinuating?" He snarled the words. Luckily due to the fact, his reserves were still pretty low despite the restorative air around them, neither his aura nor the usually reflective glow in his eyes did not appear.

"If you remain like you are now, their demise is inevitable. Haven't you seen what happened to our whole race in the past? What do you think will happen once your existence is finally revealed to those rats sitting in their thrones above? Their combined might once scorched the world, what do you think will happen now?" Each and every word carried an explosive power, a great weight behind them, putting more and more pressure on Aiden's already troubled heart.

He couldn't respond. What the spirit said was quite clearly true. It was obvious. In fact, just recently, he failed to protect his sister, as she was taken away while he laid unconsciously after just one show of strength.

He was weak. This was the painful truth. An undeniable fact. He might be stronger than most of the humans in the city and those around the vicinity, but he was far from being truly powerful. Just thinking back to the dark, thin shadowy figure he spoke to before. He couldn't even gauge his strength.

"Go. Take it. Accept your heritage. Let me join together with you. I promise you, I will stay by your side, and not fade away." The spirit urged the boy once more.

Finally, with gritted teeth and tightly clenched fists, Aiden stepped forward, slowly approaching the stone altar.

Once there, with an even deeper frown, and a conflicted expression, he slowly reached towards the egg. Placing his hand over it, he gulped and was about to activate it, when suddenly the voice he wanted to hear for a while now, suddenly spoke to him.

"[Wait! Don't absorb it now, it will knock you out, remember! Take the orb into your System inventory, and only take it once you upgraded the System! Otherwise, the strain would be too much for you! This is not the same amount of energy that it was with the first one!] Enya's concerned voice rang in his mind, startling him momentarily.

However, he did not hesitate for long, his hands touched the surface of the Golden Egg. With a thought he transferred it into his Inventory, surprising the Guardian Spirit as well. He could feel that the Shard was still active, meaning that the boy simply transferred it to some sub-space instead of doing what he was meant to.

He wanted to ask what he was doing, but before he could, his presence abruptly vanished. With the power source being gone, he himself was transferred to a new domain. 

---

Eternal darkness surrounded him when he came to be, an empty world, a sub-space. Around him, he found multiple seemingly random items, with the Golden Egg, the Shard of his Soul being next to him. He had no idea where or what this place was, but he could feel that he had no way of breaking out. 

He could somewhat feel a power around him, that was unlike any other. It was unfathomable, it surrounded the entire space, this seemingly endless void. 

There was only one thing that he was sure about.

This power, this entity was sentient.