Chapter 108: 108 Different, And The Same

"A story?"

Kairos walked back over to Ling.

"Will it be a long one?"

Ling shook his head.

"Not too long."

Kairos sighed and sat down in a cross-legged position.

"Alright, then tell me about this story."

Ling tapped the ground a few times before speaking up.

"For almost everything, my parents would always tell me what to do. And I would just follow what they said. Sometimes I wonder why I just followed it all just like that."

Kairos blinked a few times.

"Well, they are your parents."

His eyes narrowed.

"Though, there are definitely times I wished I didn't listen to mine."

Ling looked up at him.

"...Did you know you were the first person to thank me?"

Kairos raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I doubt that's the case, you probably just forgot the other times you were thanked when you were younger."

Ling let out a soft laugh.

"No, I'm sure."

Kairos leaned back slightly and placed his hands on the grass behind him.

"Huh. What kind of life do you have that makes you so certain?"

Ling found his mouth drying up.

"Everyday, I would do whatever anyone else said. I think I spent more time doing things other people wanted than sleeping."

His eyelids drooped slightly.

"Or even what I wanted to do."

Kairos raised an eyebrow.

"So is that why you helped me out? Just because that's what you were used to?"

Ling took a deep breath.

"The first time, yes. But... the second time was different."

Kairos rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger.

"Because I said thank you?"

Ling smiled slightly.

"That's part of it. But it's mostly because I just wanted to. You did save my own life."

He closed his eyes.

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have even tried to think for myself. Then, I would probably die without ever finding out why I feel... so tired."

Kairos spoke after a few seconds.

"That sounds like a bit of an exaggeration."

Ling simply chuckled, and moved on.

"Did you know I saw my parents get killed by monsters right in front of me?"

Kairos let out a soft sigh.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

Ling shook his head.

"Don't be."

He opened up his palm and stared at it.

"I didn't feel anything when I saw their bodies get torn up."

Then he slowly balled his hand up into a fist.

"Nothing at all."

Kairos was a little baffled, not knowing what to say. He thought of himself as a rather cynical person, but he was very confident he would feel many different emotions seeing his parents get torn up in front of him.

On the other hand, Ling was just a child that had hardly grown up.

Ling let himself tilt back, letting himself land in the grass.

"I didn't really understand why that's how it was at the time. Even when my grandpa had saved me, it was still like that."

Kairos shrugged his shoulders a little helplessly.

"Well it's a bit unfair to be ungrateful, as your grandfather really didn't have to sacrifice anything to help you. Yet, he decided to."

Ling pressed his lips together.

"Maybe..."

He shook his head.

"Regardless, I'm not going back. It wasn't a long time that I've been on my own, but it feels like this was the first time I made a decision on my own."

Ling looked up to Kairos.

"It was the first time I've been forced to make a decision on the spot so that I didn't die."

The corner of his lip turned upwards.

"It was the first time... I felt appreciated for what I did."

Kairos blinked a few times.

"...Just so you know, me saying thank you is basically just creating sound waves in your direction. It's really not that big of a deal."

Ling laughed.

"Even then, you also gave me a gift."

His eyes narrowed into slits.

"I never really understood what a birthday meant before."

He paused.

"Because I've never got to celebrate one."

​ Kairos looked at him a bit strangely.

"Your parents... never celebrated?"

Ling shook his head.

"...You know, the day you gave me that green orb was actually my birthday."

Kairos chuckled.

"Wow, what a coincidence. Happy late birthday then, I guess."

Ling took a deep breath.

"Thanks."

Kairos brushed back his hair.

"I don't really understand what you have gone through with your parents but... I guess I've had a bit of a problem on my end too."

He shut his eyes as he began to recall his memories.

"It was never like my parents were bad people. They took care of me properly, fulfilling all of the obligations like a parent would."

Kairos sighed.

"But that was all they really did. I could tell... they never cared all that much about me. They more so cared about each other."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Not that caring about each other was an unreasonable thing... but it kinda felt like they forgot about me most of the time."

Ling scratched the side of his head.

"It never felt like mine forgot about me.

He pressed his lips together.

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"But it did feel like they only remembered me as a robot."

Ling clenched his fist.

"No matter what I did, they would either just be silent, or complain that I didn't do a good enough job. It never mattered how hard I tried."

Kairos chuckled.

"When my father found me, he couldn't even bring himself to ask if I was ok. Instead, he began worrying about my mother."

The smile on his face slowly disappeared.

"And when my mother did finally meet with me... she took away my father, without sparing me another glance."

He shook his head.

"Though, I guess that's an unfair way to judge them since the apocalypse had affected them in different ways."

Kairos' eyelids fell slightly.

"Though... it wasn't like it was any different before either. Even when we celebrated my own birthday, they spent most of the time talking with each other, almost like I didn't even exist."

His head tilted to the head slightly.

"The only time I could really attract their attention is if I stirred up some trouble."

Ling blinked a few times.

"Hm... it sounds like our lives are different, but it's also kinda the same."

Kairos laughed.

"I guess."

As an awkward silence rose up, he ended up speaking to try and break it.

"Say, how did you break the wall of the dungeon?"

Ling tilted his head to the side.

"Ah, you mean the mana crystal? I ended up using the green orb to save my life, which left me with only a tiny marble. But I remembered how you made it explode before, so I tried filling it up with mana.

He scratched the side of his face.

"Then it blew up like that."

Kairos' eyelids jumped slightly.

"...I see."

The fact that he had eleven of those now felt pretty nice. He somewhat regretted not picking some of them up while he was nearly dead. He had just completely forgotten about them at the time, more focused on surviving.

Ling stood up.

"Anyways, I was actually able to find the direction where we came from. It was a little difficult, but I found it in the end."

Kairos raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, so you didn't follow me because you actually knew the direction?"

Ling scratched the side of his head.

"Actually, you were walking in the right direction."

Kairos blinked a few times.

"So... you are really leaving? Don't even want to say goodbye to everyone? Chase went through hell just to save you, don't you remember?"

Ling turned around.

"It just... feels more right this way. This was the decision I made, and I intend on sticking with it."

Kairos gave him a long look.

"So does that mean you are leaving on your own now?"

Ling didn't speak for a while.

"Well... yes. Unless you want to come with me."

Kairos sighed as he looked at Ling's slightly hopeful face.

"I'm sorry. Although there are many flaws and grievances I have with the people I'm with, I have no intention of abandoning them."

Ling opened his mouth before closing it a few times. Until eventually, he spoke.

"I get it. So... is this goodbye?"

Kairos gave a small nod.

"I guess so."

Ling didn't speak for a few moments. But eventually, he slowly opened his closed eyelid. It revealed a rather horrific sight, with a mushed up eye.

His hand slowly went towards it, prompting Kairos to furrow his brows.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Ling didn't respond. Instead, he suddenly shoved his hand through his bloodied eye. Almost immediately, Ling cried out in pain.

Kairos frowned, but didn't move to stop him.

Although it was quite the strange act, it shouldn't be life threatening now that Ling was quite a bit stronger than the average person. Not to mention, it wasn't like he could use that eye.

For the next ten or so seconds, Ling continued to move around in his eye. He couldn't help but hunch over as blood began dripping down his hand.

But then, he pulled something out. It was a small light green crystal that glowed.

Ling panted heavily as his trembling hand slowly extended outwards.

"You can have it."

Kairos was slightly speechless.

"Um... what is it?"

Ling calmed his panting slightly.

"It's where my ability to see mana comes from."

Kairos' eyes widened.

"...Should you keep it? I'm not even sure if I can use it."

Ling shrugged his shoulders.

"It hardly works anymore, so I don't care about it that much. Just think of it as my way of saying thanks for what you've done for me."

Kairos blinked a few times, and couldn't help but question his logic.

"Didn't you save my life though? And I imagine it would be quite hard to live without your mana vision after getting used to it for so long."

He thought about his own ability, being able to see into the future. It had caused him tremendous amounts of pain, but Kairos also knew that after living with it so long, suddenly having it removed would cause several unknown side effects.

But Ling didn't seem to notice all of that.

"This was the decision I made. You're much smarter than me, so you can probably find a way to use it again."

Kairos looked at him strangely before carefully taking the small glowing crystal from his hand.

"You know, I really didn't understand your actions before. And that's even more so now."

Ling laughed.

"Well... maybe I just wanted something for you to remember me by."

Kairos nodded.

"...I see. Anyways, I guess this is goodbye."

Ling gave a small smile.

"I guess..."

Kairos sighed.

"Right when we got back together too."

Ling points at him.

"But that doesn't mean it will be the last time we see each other. I promise I will live, so that we can see each other once more."

Kairos looked at his finger for a few seconds before turning around.

"Sorry, but I don't make promises, as I don't know if I can actually keep him."

He walked a few steps before stopping.

"But I'll definitely want to see what you become after more time if this is the change after three days. So I guess I'll probably try."

Then, he continued walking.

Ling let out a muted chuckle and watched Kairos leave for a few seconds. Then, he turned around and began walking in the exact opposite direction.

Kairos continued walking for quite a while, looking at the small glowing green crystal in his hand. He was a little off-put by the fact this directly came from someone's eye, but decided to just ignore that fact.

The forest was rather calm at this point in time, as not even insects seemed to be nearby. Perhaps it was the explosions from the dungeon that sent them away. It also made him wonder what happened to the dungeon after he had left it.

But Kairos quickly got rid of those thoughts, focusing once more on the green crystal. There had to be a better way to use it other than sticking it in his eye, right?

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