274 Visiting the Unconscious Jack (1/2)
”Hmmm…” Jack groaned as a voice echoed between the walls of his skull like they were canyon walls.
”Get up already. You know it's me,” berated the voice. ”Who else could speak with you while you remained unconscious?”
Fighting with his mind, Jack managed to open his eyes. He was startled to see such a vibrant, bright blue sky. As he sat up, Jack noticed a not-too-distant sun peeking over the clouds. It was an unusual place to be, but Jack soon remembered that he had seen it before.
”Daruun… What's up? And… I'm unconscious?”
The god walked over to Jack and patted the hero on the back. ”First, congratulations! You've accomplished the first step to gaining control over Trodar, albeit you nearly destroyed your body and mind while doing so. You just had to go and forcefully use a spell you knowingly didn't have enough mana to cast, didn't you?”
”Shut up… I lost two party members to make that happen,” Jack stated angrily.
”No, you lost one party member,” corrected Daruun. ”While you've been unconscious, your party took it upon themselves to use the life spring jewel and revive Daliea.”
”What?!” Finally standing up, Jack met Daruun's gaze. ”What exactly is going on right now? Tell me that first before I get too mad to listen.”
”Good… You're making progress.” Happy to see Jack a bit more open, Daruun threw his arm around Jack's shoulder. The god waved his hand, causing the scenery around them to shift and recreate a past event.
Jack loosened up as he saw Rydel, Eliza, and Dirk meet back up with Maynard, Maura, and Lina. He saw their conversation. He felt their pain and matched some of their tears. He struggled to keep it together when he saw Eliza and Maura lose completely to their emotions.
Next, he saw Eliza retrieve the life spring jewel from Jack's storage ring. She knelt beside Daliea's body and poured some mana into the jewel.
Everyone was startled as the jewel shattered instantly, but they were reassured when all of its energy poured into Daliea, filling her with vitality once again. After a few moments passed, her chest began to rise ad fall, proving to everyone that the goblin girl was breathing yet again.
The scene began to fade, returning to the cloudy landscape as the party gathered around the sleeping Daliea.
”Please tell me you noticed your unconscious body lying at the side?”
”Yeah… I saw it.”
”Good, then you should understand that right now you're still unconscious,” explained Daruun. ”I'm not here to answer any questions, I'm just here to check up on you.”
”To check up on me?” Jack gave Daruun a strange look. ”Since when did you care about me personally and not just my duties as your champion?”
”I call bull…”
Before Jack could curse the god, the clouds reshaped and showed a young man sitting at a makeshift computer desk in his tiny bedroom. The computer was old even for the late 2000's, but the young preteen didn't seem to mind in the slightest. All he cared about was his ability to play his favorite game, ”A Hero's Tale”.
”This… How is this…”
”Like I've always said, I have seen everything past and future, as well as everywhere,” stated the god, not surprised by Jack's stupor. ”If you remember correctly, this was the first day that--”
”This was my first day playing ”A Hero's Tale”, but how can you…” Feeling assaulted with the new information, Jack's current understanding of Daruun was broken beyond recognition. ”Aren't you just… A god from Kartonia?”
”Well… technically no.”
”What?!”
”If you want me to better answer that question, then you'll need to use your tutorial stone's last charge. I can activate it in your place if you'd like?” Daruun smiled.