Chapter 139: Cognitive Realm

Ronin did not pick up the blade from the dead body. Once a sword holds too much of point force, it turns out to be a scrap. The blade was nothing much, but it's still usable, but Ronin picked up another sword from one of the dead slaves. It could be made in two or three battles.

Other than that, he had his dagger, which had a self-repairing feature in it which it repaired by itself, not that he could damage it in any way. 

"Let's go," he said to the other two. "They will only stay dead for five minutes." He did not argue with Shin to get into a fight without his permission, as they needed to use their time appropriately, so they moved fast. 

Shin like before, checked every one of the chambers to find Ileana or anyone he recognised, though that turned out to be a lost cause. Though he did free a few, he did not find anyone he recognised, and soon their team of three turned into a team of a dozen as the boys and girls started to follow them.

Ronin grumbled a little, but did not bark them away. As long as they don't slow them down, it won't be a problem. Moreover, the people will be a big asset after all, they were not at a safe spot yet, and anything could lead to fighting at any moment.

Shin found no one he recognised until he opened a door to a large cabin where he found two men bound with thick chains with their mouths stuffed with clothes while a youth tended his wound.

"Leroy," Shin called. 

Leroy lifted up his weary head and looked at Shin, and found the people behind him. His body was full of wounds with his left palm missing. Really what he had been through. Shin felt like he had been lucky all this time, just looking at his state. 

"Ah, Shin," Leroy said with a weary smile. "I thought, I would find someone here."

"What happened to you, man?" Shin got inside and held out his hand to bring out a recovery potion. 

"Thanks, I owe you one," Leroy said and gulped down the content with a single breath. "I see you have freed some force already, so are you planning to go silently or with a bang?"

Shin raised an eyebrow. "I am fine with anything, but I have to find Ileana first, or anyone else." He gritted his teeth in frustration. 

Leroy thought for a second and stood up, looking at the two captive. "It would really be problematic," he said. "You see, both of them are madmen and something more. I have killed them twice, yet they always found their way around it." 

"Yeah, we know," Shin said, "We found it the hard way as well. There is really something off about this place."

"Not just something," Feldan joined, recognising the grandson of the dean. "I think everything is wrong in this place."

"I don't think we can find any easy way to kill them for good," Leroy added, "Chaining them up works too, but with the ship sinking we don't have much time. You have dozens of folks already, no need to stop, tell make a team and free as many participants as you can. We need to secure some boats to get away before they sink." 

Shin nodded and got to work. He found Ronin sitting in one corner with an exhausted face. This man does not have mana, yet he contributed most in the battle, so it was not wrong to see him like this. Still, Shin always felt odd looking at him.

. . . 

Inari's body convulsed as her eyes shot open as she found herself in a cold sweat, huffing and puffing. 

"Told you to not sleep if you can," a voice said in a meditative posture. "Still, it's not that dangerous, other than the fatigue it builds in your mind."

Inari collected her thoughts, breathing in and out. She recalled what had happened. Just a moment ago she was reliving the moment underwater, betrayed, and losing all hope of life , drowning with a broken body. Yes, all that happened, but not for the second time. 

"It was a nightmare?" she muttered, face still pale. Without any delay, she uncovered the mask to take in the fresh air. It was a nice change, ignoring the heaviness, the murky feeling in the air.

"Of course it was, and there will be more," Elior said again. "I don't know how intelligent you are, but the name Nightmare sea is a big giveaway." 

"So we have to stay awake all the time?" she couldn't help but ask, taking no offence at the comment. 

"The day is alright, I think," Elior continued, "But for the night, we have to be extra careful. I could have helped you with the nightmare just now, but thought otherwise. Since we will be staying here for a while and you have no other way safe on your own, I reckoned, it would be a good exercise for a couple of times."

"You knew this would happen?"

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"Now, I am really considering if you are stupid or not," Elior gawked at her, bringing out the weirdly shaped mushroom. "You should have taken the mushroom and meditated." 

"Not again with the mushroom," Inari begged.

The boat drifted nice and slow as a swift frigid wind blew, a little on the colder side. There was no sign of the ship, nor could she see the island in the dark. Even seeing two metres across from her was a challenge. 

"Where do you suppose the ship is now?" she could not help but ask. Since this weird mysterious youth from the lower world knew about a lot of stuff she was oblivious about, perhaps he could answer that as well.

"As the name suggests, the sea is weird. I don't think it's entirely a physical place," Elior started. "I don't understand it entirely. Wait, I don't really understand it all. I had a friend who might have to understood it better. The cognitive realm is kind of her thing, but she already passed this trial, so I can only wait when we were in the next trial." 

"What are you talking about?" Inari asked. "I found this is a trial, but what else is there? You can't die in a trial and it's my first time here, so it's more like an illusionary realm?" 

"Yes and not," Elior said with a frown. "I am not very good at this kind of explanation. Well, since you are a Devarian, you should have some understanding of the Cognitive realm, right?" 

"I know some parts," Inari acknowledged. "Like it was a thought realm, made out of people's thoughts, dreams, and magic. Rules are different there, so was time and space. But this place doesn't give me that sense, though." 

"That's because you are too weak."

"And you are not?" 

"I have some understanding of it." Elior sucked in a breath. He really is not good at this. "As I mentioned, this place is not purely a cognitive realm. The deities have cultivated it to be a training place, so the rules of space are almost the same, as for time, it should be slow here. But that does not end there. You are talking about the boat a moment ago, right?" 

"Yes," Inari said, raising an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"You see, this realm is likely layered with the similar construct for thousands of times," Elior said. "We are currently in one layer while the ship is in another. When you left the ship you abandoned that layer and got into this layer." 

"Interesting," Inari said, "Is there a way back to the other layer?" 

"I don't know."

Inari gave him a flat look. 

"What?" 

"I kind of thought, you know all things," she said, "So not all omniscient after all."

"Even those deities are not all omniscient, so you can cut some slack there," Elior snorted. 

"So, all the participants are in different layers of the realm?" Inari started returning to the topic. "Each going through their different trial and you mentioned about not dying or something like that?"

"Yes, participants could not die as long as they will it," Elior said. "The first part is about the survival and courage to stand against the odds even though it's overwhelming." 

"Wait a second," Inari shouted out. "You are wrong. When I was doing, I was nothing like that. I don't remember it clearly, but the notification said something like, I will get to safety and it would mean giving up the trial."

"That only meant you gave up on your will to live then," Elior said, and his eyes became serious looking at her. 

Inari flinched from the stare. She looked away, biting her lips. "I had no strength left. What do you expect of me?" Inari said. 

"You really thought you will die, didn't you?" 

Inari stopped in her fidgeting and picked at his serious eyes and nodded slowly.

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