Chapter 252
252 I Miss Her
(Tom’s PoV)
How many days has it been for me to pass my days like this?
Training, sleeping, eating, training, sleeping, eating and repeat...
I missed having her in my arms to sleep. I missed her smile when she was satisfied with the food. I missed her so much...
However, I knew that I needed to harden my heart. I needed to train to be able to protect her, to be able to stand beside her and shield her from any harm. I needed to be strong!
I had been training like a mad man ever since I left her side. With Siji as my mentor, actually he didn’t do much. He would just casually toss me into a dimension where I needed to fight back in order to survive. Most of the time, he would do it, but sometimes, after I finally fought my way back in the dimension he threw me in, he would let me meditate and give me some pointer. I honestly thought that I gained more strength with him as my mentor. However, his method was just too cruel!
Where did he know about those dimension? Even if I wanted to hide in the astral dimension, I couldn’t tear any door for me to escape. He would either put me in a human world or in astral dimension. The similarity between those places I was thrown in was I needed to fight and to use my brain to survive.
I didn’t know how much time had passed since the last time I saw her, since the flow of time in the astral dimension was sometimes different with human world, but it felt like we had been separated for ages. The longing in my heart was suffocating, but my journey had not ended yet.
I need to get stronger!
.....
But, where am I?
I looked around me and noticed that Siji had thrown me into a wilderness again. It was somewhere on Earth, but it was in another dimension. I could still sense the existence of the thin barrier that separated between human’s dimension and astral dimension.
Well, since I was sent here, it meant that there must be something that I needed to learn from this place.
I was curious but at the same time had an ominous feeling. What was it?
Since I couldn’t shake off the nagging feeling inside, I had no other choice but to walk forward.
Anyway, these trees were abnormally huge. How old were they to be this old? It was truly fascinating to witness it with my own eyes for the first time. Which part of the Earth was this place?
Since the trees were gigantic, the canopy was surely enormous as well. It was thick and covered the whole sky until there was no gap to be seen. I had no idea it was at noon or at night since the forest was too dark. If I had not been trained by that monster of Advisor, I was sure I couldn’t see anything in this darkness.
Thank you, Siji!
But, how far should I walk?
This kind of forest should have their own ‘residents’, right? The damp and cold air was supposed to be their most crowded places, but this place was as quiet as graveyard. I couldn’t sense any of them at all.
I walked deeper into the forest, not knowing where to go at all. Maybe I should walk for another ten minutes, that’s what I thought. However, more than twelve hours had passed and I had not seen anything related to my training.
I sat down under one of the tree and controlled my breath. It was easy to feel suffocated in this damp forest. Not to mention, I had come out from the astral dimension around three hours ago, which meant any protection I got from the barrier disappeared.
Usually Siji made a restriction that I couldn’t cross over, but somehow I could do it. Therefore, I picked my chance to change my surroundings, to enjoy a whole new environment instead of staying in the dull situation in the astral dimension. Since he didn’t restrict it, it meant whatever it was waiting for me could be from either sides.
But, wandering around aimless like this was really... boring. If only I could meet or see ghosts around, this journey wouldn’t feel so bad. It was just a pity that, other than these majestic looking trees, I didn’t meet anything. Not even ants or bugs -only trees and bushes.
What kind of weird situation I was in?
After pondering about it for a while, I decided to return to the astral dimension. Since I couldn’t find anything in the human dimension, I might as well check the other side. Maybe there would be something different there that my eyes couldn’t see here.
As soon as my feet crossed over the thin lines, I was greeted with a whole different situation. I was stunned, like... what the hell? It wasn’t that long since I decided to walk in the human dimension and this other side had changed greatly?
It was a stark contrast to the super quiet situation from the human dimension. This astral dimension was so noisy and full that I almost thought that I had entered a bustling city. The majestic looking trees had some odd looking decoration on them and there was a huge stage under them. The stage was tall with couples of stairs made of solid wood. The decorations on the stage were even merrier than the ones around me. There was even a huge chair on it -nah, I thought it was a chair but it was actually a huge bed with drapes on it.
I was curious. What was going on exactly? Did I miss the party?
Turned out I was right on time. Before I asked around, a loud announcement was heard.
“The King has arrived! Long live the King!”
“Long live the King!”
“Long live the King!”
“Long live the King!”
“Long live the King!”
The thunderous voice reverberated in the forest, creating a rather lively and joyful occasion in the air. It was the exact image of how the people welcomed their honorable and generous King; there was no resentment in their voice nor contempt. They treasured and joyfully accepted their King and be happy with their status as the King’s people.
Seeing their joyful expression, I was intrigued to find out who the King was. This festive mood was probably the reason why the forest was awfully quiet, but for them to be able to affect even the human dimension, I bet they weren’t ordinary souls or ghosts at all.
A soft and long whistling was heard despite the vigorous chants of Long live the King. As seconds passed, it even was able to make those people quiet and finally obediently knelt on the ground.
Of course, I followed suit. There was no way I would stand still and expose myself like a sore thumb.
I peeked to my left and right and saw the admiration and reverence in those souls eyes as they were staring up ahead towards the stage. They didn’t bow down, like any other people that knelt before their King. It picked my curiosity, of course, but since it worked in my favor, I stayed quiet and observed the surroundings first.
The silky drapes on the stage swayed with the wind and out of nowhere, the girls came out and obediently stood near the edge of the stage. Their clothes were so revealing and always to the point of it was transparent. It reminded me of the belly dancers from Egypt but with more plain style. Their clothes were all white and they all wore veil on their faces, covering half their faces under their closed eyes. Their hair was tied up in a high pony tail and from the color of it, I could see some westerners.
What kind of creature was collecting women from all over the world?
As the women stopped moving, I vaguely caught a big shadow behind them before a thin smoke appeared and a man stepped out of it. He stood on the highest stairs with a smile on his intimidating face, but it couldn’t lessen the aura he had on him that could make anyone think that he was absolutely a bad guy.
“Rise, my people!” His raspy and heavy voice travelled from the stage to the people.
Accidental or not, I thought our eyes met. And I was 100% sure that he knew me.