Chapter 9: Chapter 9 : A Welcomed Surprise (Part 1)

“Okay, then I’ll be off.”

Ralf squeezed his pointer finger and middle finger together before placing them on his forehead. Shutting his eyes, he concentrated on the desire to exit. The Mental Space responded to his request and…

Swish!

“See ya.” Leaving these words, he vanished.

‘And…he’s gone.’ Rei lingered on the now empty space for a few seconds before glancing at his surroundings. ‘First things first, let's get to know this place a little better.’

***

Travelling through the void was as weird as ever. The darkness slowly abated. As it did, Ralf’s consciousness became no different than a liquid being poured into a mould. Quickly, he felt himself taking shape. Fully formed, his senses began reconnecting to his mind.

‘I’m back.’

The bombardment of sensory information confirmed this fact. He had returned. Ralf didn’t rush to move and instead took a moment to relish in the sensations reaching him.

Eyes shut, Ralf saw not black but red. The open window to his right allowed free passage to the invading sunlight. Rays struck his face, warming his cheeks. At the same time, a cool breeze entered. Moving through the room, it gently caressed Ralf’s still form, causing his hair follicles to rustle across his forehead. A scent of wood reached his nose. It was a nostalgic smell, one that immediately made Ralf giddy. The presence of the soft pillow beneath his head and equally soft blanket over him only furthered this feeling.

‘Hmm…’

As these sensations rolled in, Ralf’s couldn’t help notice the stark difference in what he was feeling now compared to when he was occupying Rei’s body.

‘...isn’t this too crisp?'

Rei was a ‘top tier’ human in all regards. His senses were as sharp as his mind. But compared to the sensations reaching him presently, those senses of Rei's were no sharper than butter knives.

The richness of the information allowed his mind’s eye to reconstruct his surroundings to an astounding degree.

His eyelids twitched a bit before opening. When the momentary blur cleared, Ralf was treated to an ordinary ceiling. However, through his current vision, it was made to look like the most marvellous sight.

‘Whoa! What’s this, these colours? This is amazing.’

Ralf’s eyeballs moved vigorously in his sockets as his gaze rushed around the room. The images reaching him were extremely crisp and vibrant with colours Rei’s eyes hadn’t had access to. Everything was such a treat to look at that he lost himself in just taking in these sights.

‘It’s like I have 4…16K vision. How did this come to be?’ Asking the question, Ralf got up.

‘Hm, is that…’

Ralf shut his eyes and focused. Concentrating on his hearing, his other senses took a backseat. The distant sound, previously faint, became louder and louder.

‘Mom.’

The sound of her breathing, the *toks* of falling wood chips as she carved, and the mumbles leaving her lips; all pointed to Hana’s continued existence.

‘She’s okay. Thank goodness.”

A wave of relief filled Ralf’s heart. His greatest fear was that something had befallen his beloved mother. He didn’t know what he’d do if he’d woken to such a cruel reality. Thankfully, this wasn’t the case, for his sake…and everyone else’s.

Having removed the boulder from his heart, Ralf moved to his next concern.

Eyes still shut, Ralf focused inward. Cutting off a stand from his consciousness, he then threw it deep into his mind.

‘Ah, I can peek inside.’

In his mind’s eye, the image of the two couches was displayed. Not finding Rei present, he shifted the 'lens’ about. Pulling back for a long-distance shot, he found Rei far in the distance, conjuring items while in stride.

Desiring to communicate with his other self, a clicking sound rang his head before…

[[Rei!]]

[[Huh, Ralf?! Where are you? Are you on the outside, what’s the situation?]]

Ralf cupped his chin and pondered his answer before saying, [[Its good, but very strange. Try coming over and seeing for yourself.]]

[[Okay.]]

*Swish*

A moment later, Rei joined Ralf in the outside world. The ease by which he could accomplish the task was down to Ralf. Through the Mental Link connecting them, Rei could sense Ralf’s existence clearly. Rei merely followed the mental path leading to him.

[[Whoa!]]

Arriving, Rei was beset with the same wonder and amazement Ralf had felt. Yes, past tense. The dominant emotion in Ralf’s heart at the moment was surprise.

He hadn’t given the thought to open his eyes, yet they opened. Not just that, the bobbing of his head was certainly not his doing. Which meant that…

[[Where I got guest privileges, it seems you’ve received admin.]]

[[Huh, oh, yeah. I’ll stop. Sorry.]]

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Ralf shook his head. [[It is what it is. Let's test it out.]] He brought his right hand out. [[On the count of three, move the hand left, I’ll go right.]]

[[Okay.]]

[[3 2 1 go.]]

The arm in question vibrated in place. Observing this outcome for several seconds, Ralf relented, causing the arm to shift leftwards.

[[It seems we have equal rights,]] Rei commented as he relinquished control.

Ralf’s lips curled up. [[Yeah. Well, that’s how it should be.]] The outcome opened up some troubling possibilities, but Ralf didn’t entertain any of them. His trust in Rei was absolute. Not an iota of worry clouded his mind at the result.

[[Still, too many cooks you know. We can’t control the body at the same time. Let's take shifts.]]

[[Okay, you go first.]]

Saying so, Rei took a backseat. Getting comfortable, he brought up the elephant in the room.

[[Out of coma, I expected your body to be brittle, but it's the opposite. It's overflowing with energy and your senses…what’s with this? I thought you were a normal human. ]]

[[This is strange for me as well, my senses were never this sharp. The only thing I can think of is that this is the product of some potion.]]

[[Potion.]] Repeating the term, Rei’s mind drifted to their conversation earlier.

Potions were a major part of life in Inis. It was a huge industry, being used by people at every stratum of society. Stamina potions, strength potions, regeneration potions, inheritance potions, potions that acted as painkillers, potions that slowed the effects of ageing, potions that enhanced one’s senses, potions that sped up one’s metabolism rate; the variety of potions was nigh endless.

One thing in common with all of them was the astounding effects they induced. They were no different than magic, and in fact, given their production method, it wasn't far fetched to call them magic potions.

While the exact percentage isn't known, what is known is that a large chunk of potions was - and still is - created by Micheal Ascania's Unique creation power. He introduced potions into the world some two centuries ago, and since then humanity couldn't get enough of them.

In summary, potions were miraculous items.

[[Yeah, I’m sure of that. The fire in my veins is probably a stamina potion working its magic.]]

Ralf stood up. Immediately, he was struck by a sense of oddness. He was slow to understand this feeling, but Rei wasn’t.

[[Ralf, that mirror in the back, move to it, will you.]]

Ralf followed his other self’s suggestion. Two seconds later, he was before a full-length mirror. Staring at the reflection, he and Rei’s minds recoiled at what this meant.

[[You’re definitely not twenty-three. Seventeen or eighteen, one of the two, but not twenty-three.]]

The silver that dominated his appearance wasn’t present. His hair was a pale blonde and his eyes were a misty light blue.

[[Yeah. That means…]]

[[A dimensional time difference, around two times in my universe’s favour.]]

[[Seems like it.]]

Ralf's response betrayed a light joy. Whether he was seventeen or twenty-three didn’t matter to him, however, knowing that his mother’s wait was shorter than his own, improved his mood.

Spirit lifted, he bounced over to a corner. He set his sights on the two handles, and then with speed, drew out the two wooden swords. His hands were filled with nostalgia. The long swords he held as a child were now short swords in his hands.

He moved to an open spot and…

Swoosh!

‘Whoa!’

At his first swing, Ralf’s heart skipped with surprise and joy. ‘This body is insane.’

From the rush of wind his slash produced, Ralf was certain that without his enhanced vision, the movement would appear as a blur.

Excited, Ralf continued his sword dance. The wooden swords carved dozens of lines in the air. The air in its path was shoved aside aggressively. The toys and trinkets on the shelves were made to dance at the whirlwind Ralf’s vigorous slashes had created, with some losing their footing and careening down.

All the while, Ralf was lost in the feeling of power. ‘Amazing.’

[[Rei, want to have a go?]]

Doing his slashes, Ralf waited for an answer. A second passed, and then another. [[Rei?]]

Ralf waited again, but instead of a response, the sound of snapping echoed in his ears. Knowing what it meant, panic and fear surged in his heart.

‘Rei!’

Ralf cried out, but Rei wouldn’t hear it; by then, his consciousness had already been sent ‘elsewhere’.

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