My senses return to me and eyes open.

  Fucking hell this damn light.

  Shadowing myself with my arm, the light suddenly goes away before I can even adjust to it.

  “What the-”

  My brain fogs and I let gravity take my arm back.

  “Lyanna?”

  I’m ying down again, aren’t I…

  Fu-

  “You up?”

  God I’m pathetic.

  “Yeah”

  My rough voice returns to normal and Lyanna appears pissed.

  “Also, I won’t carry you in the next time you faint on me again. I am done with that.”

  Ah that expins it.

  “Ehe he, trust me-” The infirmary fshes before my eyes again and pull back my words.

  “Sorry about that”

  I almost forgot about that day. I grin to myself remembering that dumbass Hikaru and Lyanna gawks at me like I did something to offend her.

  “What are you ughing at?”

  Oh god she looks redder now.

  Cute.

  “Nothing.”

  “That’s not nothing!”

  Screw it.

  “Jeez calm down, I was just imagining you dragging my lifeless body and throwing me like a trash bag into this thing”

  Actually imagining my body being thrown like a blob of jelly breaks my guise a bit and my brain for some god forsaken reason focuses on that religiously and I ugh at this bullshit that isn’t even funny.

  “Y-You! Why- How-HUH!”

  Oh my fucking god why is this making me ugh so much!?

  “I swear to god, I Will Leave You Outside In the Cold Next Time!”

  “BWAHAHAHA!!!”

  Lyanna’s face puckers up and yells,

  “Stop Laughing Damn It!!”

  “Ay Ay, don’t use that word. Use it when your older for god’s sake”

  I ain’t gonna be caught teaching her the wrong things when we get out of here.

  “But-”

  “Nah uh, no buts here. I can use those words cause I’m-”

  I freeze for a second and think of an answer.

  “mature enough to”

  Yeah, that’ll work for now.

  Lyanna stares at me for a few seconds.

  “…”

  “…”

  Why she looking at me like tha-

  “What Kind Of Dumb Shit Is That!!??”

  Lyanna herself shrieks in ughter, and I almost defensively get up holding my arms up.

  “AY AY AY, I JUST TOLD YOU NOT TO!”

  Lyanna squirms in the carriage seat as she ughs like a demon at me.

  “HA HA HA HAHAHAHA”

  To hell with this, I’m out.

  I smack open the door and get my ass out before the little hellion makes my blood boil.

  Lyanna peeking through the door,

  “HA HAAAAA”

  Fucking kids.

  I hold out my middle finger and get up to my controls.

  “I swear I’m about to kill this bish”

  Chuckling to myself in the front again I start the engine back up. Even though Lyanna’s poking faces through the window right behind me, I choose to ignore it, just like any normal and sane person would.

  ……………….

  3 hours ter, I let Lyanna get to the front and we chatted for a bit. Even though we were complete strangers before, I’m now more comfortable talking with her. Right now, I feel the same with her as I felt with my other friends. I don’t even know how it came to this, but I don’t hate it either.

  I check in with my vessel on the ceiling and one question I have is, how the fuck did we suddenly cover a week and a half’s worth of distance?

  Disoriented, I stop the cart.

  My head flops on the seat again and I switch to soul walker. Lyanna worriedly shakes my body to wake me up, but I’ll have to come back to that ter.

  I make my way a few feet above our cart and to my amazement, we had somehow moved almost 7 kilometers. I’m guessing this happened after we passed through the trial. Wait, a minute, WE COVERED 7 KILOMETERS?! KILOMETERS!!???

  This is Amazing! Holy Shit!

  I switch back with my body to tell Lyanna the good news and I’m greeted to my body getting shaken up like a soda can by Lyanna who probably though I passed out again. I bolt up in excitement and Lyanna jumps up in horror.

  “I Have Good News!”

  Lyanna’s chest heaves and I can just see her rage build up.

  Quick loading her arm, she punches me in the stomach and, Fuck That Hurts!

  “What Was That FO-”

  “OH MY GOD, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!”

  And there comes the waterworks.

  “Ok Ok calm down, I’ll expin”

  “PLEASE DO!”

  //////////////////////////////////////////

  I expined everything about Soul Walker, and she eventually calmed the fuck down.

  “Please just tell me next time you do something like that…”

  “Ehe he, my bad. Anyways, about that good news. We’re closer to getting out by a long while! After the trial, we somehow skipped a week and a half worth of distance. ”

  Lyanna doesn’t show much of an impression, but I can tell by her face she’s relieved.

  “Really? WAIT WHAT. NO WAY!”

  “Yes way.”

  I expected that, I think.

  Lyanna squeaks like a duck and tightens around my body.

  “Ok, calm down”

  My voice softens as I feel the same relief. At least we won’t have to rot here any much longer. I pat her on the head and let out a sigh.

  “And next there’s the dome.”

  We’re close to that area in the center now, and I’m not sure what to expect from it. I figured out that I can create vessels and other creations anywhere as long as I have clear sight of the field.

  I tried to see in through the dome by getting a vessel near a wall there with the vessel on top, but every time I switch to the vessel I created, I lose access. I got a peek one time and the only thing I saw was arrow flying towards it.

  There’s something, or someone there. I don’t know any other way to do surveilnce on the area, but I guess we’ll just have to check it now.

  As I worry about my next move, I hear Lyanna’s stomach growling at us.

  “Uh…”

  Lyanna looks at me covering her stomach.

  “Ehe he”

  I smirk a bit and reply,

  “Hungry are we now?”

  Lyanna nods and I think now’s best to have some Dinne-, Breakfas-, Lun-, Man I don’t fucking know.

  I get off the cart first after stopping the engine and bow my head as I extend my hand to the delicate princess she is.

  “Madam?”

  I say in a cheesy but formal tone, and I think Lyanna got my jest. A smile yers on Lyanna and accepts my invitation gracefully.

  “My oh My Sir Aarius, what’s with this sudden change good sir?”

  Looks like she got more than that.

  “Why can’t I, mistress”

  I’m in too deep now.

  Lyanna’s face blows up like a balloon as she tries to hide her mouth. Her face becomes bright red, and she lets the air in her mouth exit slowly. Clearing her throat, Lyanna flicks her hair and says,

  “Let’s dine shall we”

  I take her arm and create a table and chairs as I can’t stop smiling at the situation.

  Escorting Lyanna to her seat, I myself sit down. Lyanna’s smile persists as I get comfortable by letting my neck take a break on the table. Resting her head on her lifted hands, she inquires,

  “So, what shall we dine one today?”

  I tilt my head and rest my chin on the table.

  “What do you want?”

  Lyanna folds back on the chair and thinks for a second.

  “How about one of those big chickens’ people have for thanksgiving?”

  Uhm, big chicken?

  “You mean a turkey? Yeah, I could probably make one. I haven't exactly eaten one in a long while, so I don’t exactly remember how it tastes like. I’ll try though”

  I might be able to make one that visually looks the same but I’m not sure about the taste part. I focus my senses and imagine what I want with presets from food I’ve made before. Yes, I made presets. It’s my imagination, who the fuck cares what I do.

  Blocks appear and a visually pleasing looking dish with a turkey in the center piece forms. This should be it. I go to take a sample, but I retract my arm before I get to the turkey.

  Crossing my legs, I hand Lyanna a metal fork and a pte.

  “How about you give it a try?”

  Pursing her lips,

  “Gdy”

  She takes a leg and I start getting nervous because, I’m not sure about the taste at all. My eyes fixate on her fork as she takes a bite and after a few seconds of chewing, I see a chuckle.

  “Aarius?”

  A drop of sweat nding on my shoe as I hesitantly reply while keeping my composure,

  “Yes?’

  “This tastes like chicken”

  She smiles to herself as the ends of her lips perk up and, wait she said wh-.

  “What…”

  DAMN IT. I SHOULD’VE GUESSED. OH MY FUCKING GOD HOW CAN I EVEN MIX THAT UP. IT’S FUCKING TURKEY, NOT CHICKEN DUMBASS.

  Lyanna stares at me as my mouth gasps open and once again, breaks down into annoying ass ughter.

  “I GET IT, NOW S.T.F.U”

  Letting all of that energy out, Lyanna comes back up to her seat and calms down.

  “Anyways, Uhm, I’m really fine as long as we just have something to eat Ar”

  Sighing like there was no yesterday, I get myself a pte and we get into this ‘Chicken’. God, please help me.

  ///////////////////////////////////////

  Nearly 5 minutes ter we finished up. I merged the table with all the other stuff into a tiny pebble sized ball. Got on the cart and continued our journey.

  The engine rumbling quieter after the modifications I did, I start to finally consider my options.

  Since we don’t have that much distance left to the dome, I think it’s about time we get ready. Following the path I set out and keeping track through my left eye, I turn to Lyanna.

  “So Lyanna”

  She turns to me.

  “Yep?”

  Ever since I gave her that spinning knife thing… Switchbde, she’s gotten pretty proficient with it. Colour me surprized, but she’s at a decent level now.

  She can do flips and throw it while keeping the bde point forward without cutting herself. Admittedly I’m a bit jealous, but the hell am I to do.

  “What if I give you a metal switchbde?”

  Lyanna tilts her head a bit,

  “Hm”

  Thinking for a bit she replies,

  “How sharp would the knife part be?”

  “Very sharp”

  I take a left towards a long pathway and she replies,

  “Ok!”

  Is this a bad idea? There’s a chance she mi-

  “I won’t cut myself don’t worry”

  Silently smiling,

  “Ok then”

  I hope she keeps up to that promise.

  I hand her an exact match of the switchbde she has in metal. Just in case I should make a sheath too.

  Taking a few more turns, I map around 500 meters left. If it’s another trial room, there’s a likelihood this one is more dangerous guessing from its pcement. Considering it’s a big ass dome, it’s probable.

  “So Aarius, why did you suddenly give me this?”

  Ah shit I almost forgot to tell her.

  “We’re near the center of this maze and there’s a big dome here. If my instincts are leading me right, there’s a big chance… uh, you watch anime?”

  “Yeah, and-”

  “That makes it easier then. There’s probably a boss fight in there, so just in case I just so happen to, I don’t know, pass out or die before you-”

  I say in an almost sarcastic way.

  “-you’ll need to somehow keep yourself alive. Or you could just come meet me in the afterlife. Either way works If I die”

  Lyanna gives me a bnk stare,

  “What!?”

  “Yeah, so I need you to be at your best”

  A few seconds pass.

  “First of all, how do you even know the dome thing and second why do you think you’d die!!??”

  “I mean, I don’t infinite strength or something you know?”

  “EXCUSE ME, AREN’T YOU THE MAN WHO CAN LITERALLY CREATE ANYTHING IN EXISTANCE!!??”

  Visual confusion stirs in me as I look at Lyanna full well knowing I’m just teasing her.

  “Yeah, but I have my own limitations you know.”

  As Lyanna pauses in her pce, I switch back to driving. But right when I thought I was in the clear, Lyanna sps me in the back, which God Forbid stings like getting burnt by hot water.

  “What did you do that for!?”

  Very slightly, I can see tears build up under her eyes.

  “Wha- Wh- I-”

  She’s stressing again, isn’t she.

  “Hey Hey, calm down I’m just teasing you here”

  Steam blows off of her and she replies,

  “You LITTLE!”

  I look away smirking as she looks like a thermal cup that turns red with hot water. Letting a ugh escape me I focus myself and mentally prepare myself as I consider all the possible outcomes and what I could do if it really is a trial or boss room.

  Lyanna’s anger for me lingers for a bit but she eventually rexes.

  300 meters remain; I pn out a first move if it is a boss room. I could just use bdes and cut the boss into chopped pieces but what if its skin is like metal? Then I would have to imagine the boss itself as accurately as I can, and kill it from the inside out. Oh, how about if I just use Merge on it and reduce it into a singur ball. That could work too.

  Minutes pass and the distance goes to 200, 100 and finally 50.

  I stop the cart and shut off the engine as it echoes to a stop.

  “Lyanna, how about we go by foot from here.”It’s best we keep the cart safe, and going by foot gives us more mobility, just in case we get caught by surprise.

  “K!”

  Lyanna gets off with the switchbde in her hand.

  I do need a weapon though. I won’t be able to create something instinctively if something shoots at me. I need at least a second to imagine, and during that scenario, I would be dead or injured by that one second. I create a crossbow and a pack of arrows. I’m too zy to imagine a gun and I’m just too excited to get in there.

  Creating an iron sword on my right, I take hold of a crossbow on the left. Right now, my body is telling me this is a bad idea, but it’s the only way we have to get out of here.

  I haven’t felt hesitation before battle in a long while, but this time, I have no where to back up to, so if I screw up, we’re completely done for.

  I draw a strong breath and quietly exhale.

  “Let’s go”

  Lyanna nods and I load the crossbow.

  Holding Lyanna by the hand, I guide us to a wall where my line of sight is clear of any obstacles. I lean my head to get a view of the entrance, and it looks just like the one-way barrier I saw earlier.

  I signal to Lyanna and we silently move closer as I keep my equipment from making noise. With not much distance left, I pn a better method to go undercover.

  Blocks swirl and materialize over us, and I activate a stealth circle that refracts light just enough so that we appear invisible.

  My heart pounds on my chest as the anticipation builds up. I take a deep breath and release the knot in my throat as I cover Lyanna behind me.

  We stand right in front of the entrance to the dome, and I really start to consider whether I have any other options. Lyanna tugs on my hand even though I can’t see her, and I take the hint.

  My body tenses up again but we’ll just have to go through it seems. My body feels shaky, but I contain myself. I tighten my grip on Lyanna and strap the crossbow onto the top of my left arm and take the step forward.

  We pass through the entrance and I feel like I just passed through a wall of fabric as I sense something get in my eye.

  “A-Ar…”

  I finally gain my sight again and when I open my eyes,

  “What the hell…”

  Grass. Trees. A sky. A fucking morning sky. A vilge like town fills my vision, and I’m left in absolute shock. Gasping for air, I let myself rex and my sword drops with the regaining of sight on my left eye. The circle breaks, and both of us are left in complete surprise.

  People who look like they’ve been here for many months, or years gaze at us for a bit before going back to their usual. A strong gaze peers through all of them, I jerk my head in its direction, but I lose the trace of it. What was that.

  My mind doesn’t think too deeply into it, and I instantly wonders off as I’m left amazed at the situation.

  “Are you seeing this” Lyanna stares.

  “Oh yeah”

  Tears of joy flow down my cheeks and I feel relief.

  The arrow I saw… it all makes sense now! Oh My GAWDD-

  Dropping all the equipment I had, my body flips back and I throw Lyanna on my back as pure joy and excitement fills my veins. Lyanna reflects my emotions and we run to what looks like a street.

  For the first time, warm air whisks my skin, the air smells different, and I slow my pace to take the scenery in.

  I can’t believe there were more people here! I genuinely am so happy right, I- I’m honestly speechless!

  “LyanNAAAA”

  I squeal like a little girl and Lyanna grips tightly on my neck as she ughs in joy. The colorful nature of everything just makes me want to cry my eyes out.

  Strolling through the street with Lyanna on my back, people stare at my half-ripped clothes that I forgot about, weaponless.

  Lyanna pushes up a bit and bends her head to face me as hair covers my view. She has a smirky smile and god fuck do I know what she has in minds. We stray left to a food stall and come up to the open showcase.

  I glimpse at some currency in silver I see a man handing over to the stall owner and memorize the coin for every detail. He buys what looks like a roll of bread and moves out.

  Now’s our chance.

  “Hey there” I say with excitement.

  The man looks between me and Lyanna and notices my torn up shirt. His expression shifting a bit, he replies,

  “Morning, anything you want from here?” He says in a bleak but gentle tone.

  I scan through the shelves of bread and other snacks. Lyanna, raising herself forward again, points to what looks like a burger.

  “Can we get that one please?”

  I know I can just replicate that burger, but there’s a certain thrill in buying compared to making.

  The man seems to raise an eyebrow and replies,

  “Kid, small question but are you new here?”

  Eh? Does he think I can’t pay for this?

  “Yeah?”

  He sighs.

  “You should know meat is really rare, and this burger alone is worth 21 silver coins.”

  Oh, guess that was it.

  Hiding my hand behind me, I create a sack with 20 silver coins. I hand him the sack and take them out to count as his brows fly. Noticing there’s one missing, he breaks the silence and says,

  “ *Tsk* Looks like you’re missing one more coin. Got anymore?”

  Lyanna looks a bit confused but doesn’t react much. Just in case, I know I’m preparing myself a lot without anything happening, but it’s best to keep low suspicion right now. I reach for my pocket and act like I’m searching while I create another coin. Right as I’m about to take out the coin, he replies,

  “Never mind, you can just keep it for 20. I don’t mind a 1 silver difference”

  A bit taken back,

  “No no it’s fine, take it”

  I push the coin on the counter, and hesitantly the man pushes it onto my hands.

  “Just keep the coin kid”

  Yeah, no he definitely wants that coin.

  I counter by pushing the coin back, and Lyanna joins in dispying her clear excitement as a gentle smile.

  “Sir, just take it”

  Reluctantly but happily, the man sighs as he accepts the remaining coin and hands us a map.

  “Take this. It’s a small map of this area. There’s no specific name, but people like to call here the [Isoted]. Thought you should know”

  Interesting.

  We thank him again, and,

  “Off to the streets!”

  It’s kind of a comforting sensation knowing there are other people here and we’re not alone. I can tell Lyanna feels the same.

  Looking around,

  “Ar! Can we go in there?” Lyanna says pointing to a weapons shop.

  We don’t really need armor or weapons, but I don’t mind taking a quick stroll and getting some new design ideas.

  “Hell Yeah!”

  We make our way through the small crowd and enter the shop.

  I push open the door as Lyanna gives it a small nudge, and a bell above the door rings.

  The smell of a sweet flowery scent sprays throughout the shop as we examine the store and the weapons hanged everywhere. I’m a bit surprised at the variety of weapons here, there’s a lot of ‘unique’ weapons I’m seeing here.

  Lyanna’s mouth loses tension as we pass through the showcases and I must say, every single one looks so damn good.

  Weapons of all types rest of stands and shelves. Swords, Spears, Crossbows, Unique arrow heads, literally anything I could think of.

  One thing in common I can see is all of them have a small detail in them that are either straight-lined decals or decals that go in a ninety-degree angle.

  I brush my finger over a sword and it’s the same here, the rain-guard and the pommel of the sword go straight in their own unique design without any curves.

  I gawk at the swords and scythes here, Lyanna at the daggers and scythes too.

  The sound of someone clearing their throat hits my ears and when I look behind a man with a long scar going across his face and arm, between his eyes looks at us with a hand on his hip. His expression looks bnd but starts the conversation.

  “Hello there.”

  He stares between Lyanna, me and my ripped shirt, the rough trio.

  “First of all, how did you kids end up here?” He asks with a straight face like he’s already had this conversation before.

  “Ah. I ended up here because of a circle that didn’t work as intended and she also had a simir experience”

  His face scrunched up a bit,

  “Uh huh. Anyways, what type of weapon are you interested in?”

  Already getting into business huh, I though he was going to go full interrogation mode on us, but guess not.

  I’m good at short range but without skills, that seems hard. And in all honesty, I won’t be doing anything in close range with creation helping out. A spear would be good in that respect, but I would love a scythe.

  Considering it realistically, anything like that would be a bit top-heavy, but that’s not much of an issue. I’ll just cheat it and embed a circle into it. That’s another thing that trial helped me improve in.

  While I go through my options, Lyanna answers first.

  “How about something like this?”

  She shows him the switchbde I made her earlier.

  “Hm, should you even be owning a wea- You know what, never mind. You’ll need that in a pce like this.”

  The man looks at me.

  “Assuming you have the money for it, I think I have what you’re looking for”

  Well damn Lyanna. I didn’t even get any time to decide. But based on what happened with her here, I think I have an idea of what to do.

  The man walks over to the corner of the store and he signals us to come. Looking at what he has,

  “These are the best weapons I have that I think matches a switchbde.”

  Lyanna thinks for a bit and replies,

  “Don’t all of them look the same to the one I have though?”

  The man nods,

  “Unfortunately, these are the only ones I have that match your switchbde.”

  I’d rather just create a new one myself then. The man scratches his head a bit and after a few seconds of contemption says,

  “Or, I could get you a custom one.”

  Lyanna and I both in unison,

  “Oh?”

  Not such a bad idea actually, that might just do it for us.

  Lyanna and I look at each other and we both decide,

  “Yeah, we’ll do that.”

  The man’s lips twist down slightly,

  “But you do know that it’s going to be expensive right?”

  Lyanna rubs her finger once under my armpit and my body jerks a bit. I can’t help but smile at the solution for that.

  “Don’t worry, I can cover it” I say in an almost smirky tone.

  I can see suspicion growing in the man and that’s confirmed with him noting,

  “Really? How about you show me how much you have on you right now”

  Ah shit, Uh, I’ll just have to come up with a random number.

  I show him a sack with 74 silver coins I just created and hand it over to him as he checks. Simir to the man at the food stall, he shows the same reaction.

  A smile grows on him and lets out a few short breaths as he looks at us in approval.

  “Wonder how you got this much, but, that’s none of my concern; This will do. Meet me here the day-after-tomorrow and I’ll have it ready for you. I’ll give you my final tally for the cost then.”

  “Oh and also, I would like a scythe that’s not too top-heavy, and strong enough to st a while. Make it cool too!”

  I gesture ‘cool’ in as much of a none cringy way as I can and Lyanna joins in,

  “Same!”

  The man chuckles,

  “Don’t worry about that, I’ll have it up to standard”

  I have a sense he’s happy and Lyanna’s excitement returns at the thought of getting a weapon made for her and in all honesty I’m excited to get A Weapon TOO. WHO THE HELL WOULDN’T. It’s quite literally the same feeling of ordering something overseas and realizing it’s going to come the in two days!

  I swing side to side with Lyanna on my back and we leave the store anxious till the day comes.

  “Now, what do you wanna do Ly?”

  Lyanna giggles a bit in an almost posh way,

  “Ehehe, Everything!”

  Laughing to myself I realize what I just got myself into.