Chapter 10
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: I'm Not a Slave
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"The gap is too narrow!"
"Damn it! A place where we can't use mana!"
"The light over there has disappeared!"
"He must be inside!"
Leaving those voices behind, I passed through the rippling rock.
A rock fully ten paces thick.
Impossible to move or break with human strength.
I turned and looked beyond the rock.
About twenty Red Dragon Knights floundering about, their figures visible fuzzily through the stone.
They can't come in.
"Seems like it."
Huh, why are you speaking in my head?
Firefighter...
Luke's voice was grave.
But I had to correct him.
"Luke Seid, I'm not a firefighter. I'm the firefighter."
Ah... must be a translation glitch?
You must have doubted and doubted again.
"Yeah."
That is why I chose you.
"Tough words."
You will come to know in time.
Even tougher.
Luke's consciousness turned inward, his presence fading.
It felt just like when I'd died and been trapped in limbo.
I walked toward the distant light. It only felt right.
A dome-shaped stone cavern, like a bunker.
A single beam of light poured down from the center of the dome's ceiling.
Beneath it sat a rectangular altar, waist-high.
My Star, you firefighter...
Fine, call me whatever you like.
I am the offering.
What?
I stopped dead in my tracks.
I needed time to think.
My divinity is fading. Firefighter, do not stop.
Damn it, no time to think.
I resumed walking toward the altar.
So damn far.
The armor was heavy.
With full control of the body now mine, I had to bear its full weight. My neck ached, shoulders and knees throbbed.
And this was a body packed with muscle.
Drip, drip, drip...
As I drew nearer to the altar, I heard the sound of running water.
With the aid of the single beam from above, I enhanced my vision.
Between the altar and me flowed a stream about two paces wide.
Thirsty as I was, Luke's words about no time left kept me focused.
"Hup!"
I summoned my strength and leaped across with ease.
Weakened or not, this was superhuman power.
Thud!
The armor's weight nearly sent me tumbling backward.
To run like the wind in armor this heavy... just how much of a monster was Luke?
Only possible with mana and divine power, maybe?
"I'm here."
Dust blanketed the rough-hewn altar.
The dust sparkled in the light.
Curious about the source, I looked up.
A hole pierced the ceiling.
Not quite vertical, but slanted close to it.
Not a waterslide or anything. What the hell is that?
Its length was impossible to gauge.
Even atop a mountain peak, it had to be long.
The ceiling hole was big enough for a person, but the far end looked fist-sized.
Starlight, huh.
A star illuminated the altar from the passage's end.
And it was watching me.
I didn't know what Luke's trial entailed, but I got that he meant himself as the offering.
Are you trying to ride that star somewhere, like I rode in?
Yes. My trial for the next realm.
Telepathy was more convenient anyway.
Every time I opened my mouth, the speech pattern felt off.
You wouldn't be going to my body, right? I'm already dead and gone. Probably lying in the morgue by now.
My destination is set. A trial ground made by the gods, governed by the gods.
Hmm.
Feels like heading off for a promotion exam.
What do I need to do?
Luke fell silent.
I couldn't sense his emotions or read his thoughts.
Hey. If things go your way, I'll be left alone in a world I know nothing about. What if I go around causing total chaos?
That too is the will of the gods.
Says it so easily.
The religious folk I knew would casually blame "God's will" for others' hardships. But if it went against their interests, they'd rage like demons.
This guy was the opposite. And over his one and only body, no less. Luke seemed a priest truly detached from desire.
I am Hellite's Star, the Holy Knight Luke Seid.
Luke, viewing the star through my eyes, declared it so.
Not to me.
Star, I accept the trial you govern.
That must have been his last divine power.
Luke used it to notify the star.
The faint white glow circling my body slowly faded.
But that wasn't the end.
Sacred gear won through hardship, return to whence you came and await the next bond.
The helm vanished, and the armor dissolved into light.
My God.
I hadn't realized the armor was a summoned item via his abilities.
More shocking than the weight lifting from my body.
Possessing another's body, summoning weapons, summoning armor. What other surprises lay ahead?
Ability bound to the soul, I command you...
That was when it started.
Luke began releasing his abilities one by one.
Too bad. Don't suppose you'd leave any for me?
I wanted to beg, but there was nothing I could do.
They're soul-bound, so he's releasing them.
I simply watched as Luke gazed at the star, his abilities turning to light and departing toward it.
Some were yellow, some brownish, some colorless.
Even after all those abilities left, the weight of Luke's soul remained.
The ones he released so far must've been the random ones grabbed before gaining the Insight Ability. That's why he didn't rely on them—they had no real heft.
With Luke's brain, I was getting smarter bit by bit...
But it didn't make me happy.
On the contrary, I grew anxious.
If you go, I'll be left alone.
Was he ignoring my thoughts, or could he not hear them?
After a brief pause to gather himself, Luke issued another command.
Silence, become the storm.
The ability of Silence.
I'd never seen it used while it lingered in Luke's body.
But.
At the cliff's edge, Luke had imparted the knowledge to me through his consciousness.
The Silence ability prevents spellcasting.
It turns mages and shamans into ants before a cat.
Luke didn't send Silence back like the others.
Sent it to the region nicknamed 'Storm.'
That rang true.
Planning to reclaim it after the trial?
Luke's intentions eluded me.
Besides that, Luke scattered his major abilities far and wide, expending all his strength.
And with that, he lightened.
Spirit of the earth, slumber in Starpaltz.
The Earth ability used in our escape was returned to its origin.
Starpaltz.
The mountain range called Hardship.
Where adventurers gained divinity.
Those who gained it became Holy Knights or lived easier lives augmented by divine power.
Luke's soul shrank.
Just like I'd become a mere point in death.
Hey. Come on. Nothing to say to me?
Luke didn't answer.
Hummm...
My heart resonated.
The last ability in Luke's body, the sealed mana, began to disperse.
The mana became blue spikes, piercing my joints like icy blades, shredding muscles before escaping through my pores.
That energy turned into a blue whirlwind swirling around me.
My shabby clothes couldn't withstand the mana vortex and crumbled to dust.
And that panicked me.
Whoa! This ain't right! You expect me to wait here buck naked?
I hated being bossed around, but this was different!
Tell me something!
You must want something from me!
Luke remained silent to the end.
This was maddening.
Spilling his life story, then ditching the body and vanishing without a word. So irresponsible.
Temper won in battle, remain in this flesh and aid the foreign firefighter.
Temper's not the issue right now!
At least leave me some underwear!
I didn't even know where to look anymore.
Luke had fully departed me.
His soul turned to aquamarine and left the body toward the star.
Hey!
"Hey, you!"
Damn it. The speech pattern grated in urgency.
The aquamarine trembled.
Follow his justice.
About to starve and freeze to death, and he's spouting justice crap!
"Hey! Luke!"
You bastard!
"Urk!"
As I tried to hurl curses, I clutched the altar.
Not from despair or a sense of betrayal.
Right after Luke left, agony engulfed me, as if my whole body burned.
Every cell dived into lava, scorching hot.
When the fever passed, it burned again, like frostbite from freezing solid.
"It doesn't hurt! Arrrghhh!"
I didn't want to fall.
I gripped the altar and endured.
"I am Luke Seid! No! The firefighter!"
Bellowing at the top of my lungs.
"Do you know! Why! The firefighter! Doesn't! Fall!"
The living me never took leave, no matter how hard or painful.
If I had even a shred of strength to sit, I wouldn't lie down.
Why did I do that?
Pain clouded my thinking.
"Why! Do I! Arrrghhh!"
Spine ripping, neck vertebrae twisting in torment.
Molten iron invading throat, ears, pores—every orifice in hellish invasion.
How to even describe it.
"I won't die!"
Fuck!
"This ain't good—kgh!"
Even curses wouldn't come out right, and absurdly, laughter burst forth.
In this damned pain.
I gritted my teeth and chuckled through gasps.
Laughter and pain heaved my shoulders.
Crack... crunch...
Bit too hard—one right canine shattered.
"The pain! From the star! Is familiar!"
Bluff.
"This much! Is nothing!"
Empty lie.
Thus, naked, clutching the altar, I twisted my waist repeatedly.
Knees buckled, but hands never touched floor, nor did I collapse.
"The firefighter! Doesn't die! Doesn't rest! Doesn't fall! Arrrghhh!"
This must be the pain of full-body transplant without anesthesia.
I knew.
I was being born into a new body, enduring birth pangs.
Crack...
Several fingers gripping the altar broke, unable to withstand.
The fracture pain was almost refreshing.
Bam! Boom!
I smashed the altar with fists.
Hands could shatter; I just didn't want to pass out.
"Heh heh heh heh..."
Mad laughter escaped.
No, a madman losing it—fitting.
At least I'm no slave.
Laughter from sheer relief.
Not a slave. Ah ha ha ha sob...
Not chained, whipped, sold like a slave.
Not caged prisoner hauled in a cart.
Not rebel head on the block.
No mana or divine power, but tough, durable body, waking safe.
Good thing there was OJT.
At least I vaguely knew the world.
If I'd opened my eyes post-death here?
I'd have pondered if Earth, scratching heavy balls primitively.
Hunted for 119.
While waiting, schemed to meet women.
"Arrrghhh! I won't die!"
Bloody froth rose in my throat from screaming rage.
No matter the agony, I wouldn't bow my head.
Head rigid, eyes bulging, I glared at the star.
How much time has passed?
Good times fly; pain's drags eternal.
I hated knowing that.
"It doesn't hurt!"
Looking where the star was, I could track time's flow.
Finally, the sky brightened.
And I was still screaming.
"Arrrghhh!"
At long night's end, like stretching after dawn, a languid voice called.
Do you wish to escape the pain?!
A child's voice, fresh off the breast, scoffed.
I shall lead you!
The source lay in my heart.