Endless Evolution As A Skeleton In A Game-Like World

Chapter 93: [93] New Bonds [Golden Ticket Bonus Chapter]

Thalia was left speechless after Ark’s outburst. She sat still in silence for a few seconds, before Ark asked her once again.

"What decision will you make, Thalia."

She stared at him, at the intensity in those fiery eyes, before nodding slowly and placing her hands on the orb.

"Please help me..."

Ark smiled internally.

"How low do you want it to be?" He asked. Although synchronization rates could be dangerous when left too high, it wasn’t all bad.

Synchronization rate was like a drug that allowed players to adapt better to Eden, without running mad from the stress and turmoil associated with it.

That was why non-human Players rarely suffered from diseases like PTSD.

For someone like Thalia who may have been naturally timid, her synchronization rate could very well be an asset.

Still, Ark would also understand if she wanted it all gone...

"Fifty percent." Thalia replied after a little thought. "I don’t like what I became, but I don’t think I can last long in Eden the way I was before."

Ark nodded, just before he activated the artifact. Normally, the eye of eternity was always closed, and no matter what skill he used, it remained that way...

But the moment Ark tried to reverse Thalia’s synchronization rate, it suddenly opened.

The iris was a myriad of colours, flecks of gold, shades of black, sparkles of violet, and even dots of green. All of them swirling in incomprehensible patterns around a pitch black pupil.

The eye stared right at Thalia, and then everything froze, the world turning grey.

Ark glanced around, noticing that Olivia had stopped moving, her nervous face frozen in time.

Thalia was the same, she was looking at Ark, her hands frozen still on the surface of the artifact.

He tried to move, only to realise that he was stuck as well.

’What happened? Is this some sort of time prison?’

Since the artifact gave him immunity to time altering spells, Ark was sure that it was not due to outside influence.

It must have been the work of the artifact...

Ting!

A clandestine sound rang through the air, there was a sound of a ticking clock, and suddenly, a strange white energy began to seep out of Thalia’s body.

The colour white was often linked to purity, but Ark immediately felt repulsed the moment he sensed it.

There was nothing pure about that light. It was strange, twisted in a way he could not understand. The energy almost seemed... alive.

’Is this the cause of synchronization rates?’

He stared at the energy as it slipped out of her body and floated right towards the artifact, only for the eye to swallow every single bit of it.

"..."

A few seconds passed in deathly silence, and the eye of eternity turned around, glancing at him.

?!

It narrowed its eyelids, watching, probing him with the stare of an interrogator.

Ark felt a sickly feeling deep inside him, it was as though his entire existence searched through that gaze alone.

For a second, Ark thought the eye would speak...

Normally, thinking that would have been absurd, but it was a god’s eye, and this was Eden. He had grown to expect impossibilities.

But thankfully, the stare did not last long, and it did not speak. The eye of eternity slowly closed its eyelids, colours returning to the world in an instant, as though nothing had ever happened.

’Did it work? It doesn’t look like a single second has passed since I used the artifact.’ Ark mused.

"Thalia, how do you feel..."

His voice trailed off when Thalia tucked her face in her elbow, doing her best to reduce the sound of her whimpers.

Right now, a good part of her human conscience must have returned all at once, emotions that she had locked away were likely flooding her mind.

It was only natural that she would react that way.

<•••>

After giving Thalia a few minutes to compose herself, it was finally time to leave the gloomy cave behind.

Ark stared at the glowing cave and made a mental note to come back in the future.

This much mana crystals would be worth a fortune, but although he would have loved to start mining it at that very moment, he was completely exhausted.

There were also special tools used to mine them, which he didn’t have at the moment.

He was about to leave when he saw Olivia and Thalia having a private conversation at the side.

There was unease in Olivia’s eyes as she listened to Thalia without saying a single word throughout.

Thalia on the other hand seemed nervous. Her gaze was lowered, a drop of sweat was sliding down her cheek, and she was constantly fumbling over her words. It was a far cry from egotistic the woman they had met a half an hour ago.

Ark could tell that Olivia did not trust her, and neither did she like Thalia very much.

While his relationship with her had been superficial, Olivia had become her friend during their time together, only to discover that her friend had been a serial killer hiding under the guise of an innocent girl.

To Olivia, even her face had been a lie...

It was only natural for her to be disgusted by Thalia.

Everyone was different... Ark was able to see things in another way because of his past experienc and how his mind worked.

Maybe it was also due to his race in part, considering he was not as emotional as when he was human.

But Olivia was different. Most regular people would not even be in the same space with Thalia after what they had seen today—

"There is no justification for what I did." Thalia apologized. "I’m sorry for lying to you, I’m sorry for deceiving you all this time."

"..."

A tense silence spread between the two of them.

Olivia gave her a long stare, her green eyes filled with quiet judgement.

"I’m sorry about what happened to you, Thalia." She said, surprising Ark.

Had he been wrong?

"It’s nothing... really. I don’t think I need any pity after killing every one of them." Thalia averted her gaze while stroking her elbow.

"Don’t say that."

Surprised, Thalia looked up only to see Olivia sigh deeply.

"Two wrongs don’t make a right, but a second wrong does not cancel out the first one either..." Olivia said in a firm tone.

"Does that mean you will forgive me, for deceiving you? I-if possible, I will want us to remain friends—"

"No." Olivia interrupted her. "I can’t continue being friends with you Thalia."

Thalia’s shoulders slumped, she felt an ache in her heart, but she nodded and forced out a smile. Even she would not want to be friends with herself.

"I can’t continue a friendship based on lies." Olivia folded her hands across her chest as she glared at Thalia.

"...but I can start a new one."

Thalia’s eyes widened with shock. "Are you saying..."

"Yeah, yeah." Olivia waved her hands dismissively in the air. "But you better be honest with me this time, or else! I’ll drop a boulder on you!"

Thalia laughed while wiping off a tear from her eye. "Didn’t you say it was scientifically impossible to do that?"

Olivia smiled smugly. "I could probably pull it off."

"Alright, alright." Ark stepped in between the two girls and placed his arms over their shoulders. One of the arms was tied into place by steel webs...

He laughed before speaking. "I think we’ve dragged things on for long enough..."

"Let’s get out of here."

This was not Thalia’s first time in the cave. She knew almost every part of it like the back of her hand, so with her help, they were able to leave without any trouble.

But back in the cave, where Esau and Sazan’s bodies lay unattended, a dark, shadowy figure stepped out of the darkness and surveyed the space.

"Hmm..."

She seemed to memorize the scene into her mind, then walked toward the other end of the cave, her body slipping right through the stone wall.

"It’s only a matter of time. I’ll have my chance soon enough..."

Then as she vanished, a whisper spread through the area.

"Glory, to Fable."

[End Of Volume 1]

[House of Monsters]

..

A/N

After 125,000+ words, we can finally put a wrap to the first volume of the story. My goodness! I really enjoyed writing this volume, and you guys made it far more enjoyable with your support.

This was the first time I have ever hit 100 GTs milestone, thank you all for that.

I hope the coming volumes will far outdo this one, but until then, thank you from your humble author, Coco :)

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