Chapter 18 - Doubt is your friend.

Ellie lay in a field of golden wheat, the wind gently flicking the spikes, tilting them from one side to the other. Her lungs rose with every deep breath of fresh air.

She was deep in sleep when, suddenly, a loud, husky voice called out to her.

"Brat, what are you doing lying there? Go home. It's already noon. Both suns are at their highest, you want skin cancer or something. Go home already."

Ellie woke up, startled by the sound, wiping the drool running down her chin.

"I'm awake. I'm awake. Uncle Kuskyn"

"I already told you the work is too much for a brat like you, stubborn girl, " the middle-aged man said begrudgingly.

He tucked the umbrella under his arm to free his hand, then pulled a few coins from the wide, loose sleeve of his robe.

"Here is your payment for today. Don't overextend yourself. Your mom can't afford to see you sick."

"Thank you. Uncle. You are so kind."

"Oh, and I have something I need your mom to look at for me."

He grabbed a handheld device from the other sleeves. It had a rectangular shape and was made out of metal. There was one big antenna poking out of the top. And on the right side, just below the antenna, were buttons as well as a knob. In the front, there was a thin white stripe with an indicator on it, numbers running along the top and the bottom of the stripe.

"Cool. What is it, uncle?"

"It's a radio. I bought it during a business trip to the big city so that I could listen to the news faster than waiting for the newspaper to arrive here from the capital. It was working fine last night but then stopped working this morning. Tell your mother to fix it as soon as possible. I will pay extra. I need to hear about the king's opinion on the invention made by the Moldrivore Academy called golem."

"Golems? What is a golem? I want to know more. Please tell me more about golem, Uncle." Ellie asked, her voice filled with curiosity.

"Seezh, stop, stop. The heat is killing me." The uncle turned and walked away from Ellie. "Go home, kid. When you bring it over to my house, I'll let you listen to the news with me. Save your questions until then."

"Thank you, uncle!" Ellie yelled out before running in the direction of her home.

The golden expanse of fields gradually gave way to the sound of rushing water. The faint roar of a mighty river grew louder until it came into view—a vast riverbank sprawling with activity. Vessels of all shapes and sizes dotted the water.

She ran along the riverbank, waving to the people on the boats as they docked. The people waved back at her.

Soon, she arrived at her home. a small cottage with a cute little garden surrounding it. The small gate was opened so she passed right in. Standing in the shade of the house, she wiped her sweat, her finger gripping the collar of her shirt, fanning herself to cool off.

"It is unbearably hot today."

The door groaned as she opened it.

"Mom. I am home. I am hungry. Is there anything to eat?"

She stepped inside and looked around.

"Mom? Uncle Kuskyn said he needed you to fix his radio."

Ellie walked inside the dining room.

"Mom? Where are you?"

I am in the kitchen preparing food, dear. Why don't you try tinkering with the radio while you wait for the food?"

"I don't think that is a great idea. What if I broke it?"

"You have me, remember? Unless you grab a hammer and smash it to bits then you can mess it up however you want."

"Okay! I am going to mess it up real bad then!"

Ellie pulled out a chair and sat on it. Oddly, there were already tools laid out in front of her on the dining table.

She rolled her sleeves up, her hands were covered in soot and dried blood from who-knows-when.

"Let's prise it open to see the inside first." she grabbed a knife, the kind meant for skinning and not tech work before prying the casing open.

The inside of the radio was not filled with runes, or tiny mana stones as she expected--there wasn't even a circuit board to begin with. Instead, a thick smell slapped her in the face causing her to recoil back.

"AAAAAAA!"

Ellie shouted, throwing the radio away. It slid across the table but couldn't fall off the edge as if the table elongated itself.

The throw caused the chair to tip back. Ellie flung her arms up out of reflex, shifting her weight just in time to keep it from toppling. Her heart pounded—the feeling of nearly falling hadn't left her yet.

"Phew..."

She gazed down, where the chair legs and floor should've been, there was only an endless abyss. Her legs kicked at nothing, dangling in the air. On the table, despite Ellie throwing the radio away with all her strength, the smell of the foul meat was still right under her nose as if someone had put it back there while she wasn't looking. It was pulsing, sending a throbbing sound that vibrated throughout the room.

"What happens, dear?" Alea's voice rang out from the kitchen.

"Mom! Mom! You need to see this. The radio... The radio... It is filled with meat."

The sound of sizzling continued.

"Mom? Hurry!"

"That's not good. How can I repair the radio if it is filled with meat? Why don't you try fixing it?"

"Fix it? How can I fix it? There is nothing to be fixed. It's just meat and blood." Ellie retorted.

"You already know how. Just do what you do best." Alea paused for a moment before she spoke again, there was a subtle shift in her voice. "Eat it."

"Eat it?" Ellie was agape, looking at the meat with wide startled eyes. "Are you sure, Mom?"

"I am sure."

She poked it with her finger, the squishiness sent jolts running through her spine.

"If you say so, Mom."

Ellie started moving her fingers inside the radio, nails scraping against the soft, wet meat, peeling it off the casket walls in small, pink clumps. Grease and blood clung under her fingernails.

All this time, there was this strange sensation crawling up the back of her head. Everything was so strange, but at the same time, she couldn't tell what was wrong, her thoughts felt slower, dulled, like a child's—accepting things without question, without logic, like dreams that made perfect sense while sleeping.

Only when you realize you are trapped in an illusion can you start to see. Only when you start to see can you begin to doubt. And doubt—doubt is your greatest companion, always there when you need it—quietly questioning, gently tugging your sleeve when something doesn't feel right, and guiding you through the foggy path. It's the one voice that doesn't ask for obedience, only awareness. And sometimes, that's all you need to break free.

Memories rewinded in her head, almost as if she was reliving the moment. After receiving money from Uncle Kuskyn, she turned and began to run toward the direction of her home. But then she stopped in her tracks, she looked back behind her, looking for a man that was no longer there.

"Was uncle always have white hair?"

Ellie resumed her journey home.

"The heat must be getting to me."

After exiting the golden field, she ran along the riverbank, waving to the people on the boats as they docked. The people waved back at her but she felt odd. They all looked so homogeneous.

Ellie was living in the far southeast of the Carighurst Mountain Range—one of three homes to the Dwarphs—along the branching river that was expanded from the main river Gatigough through the mountain range. An attempt was made by House Vaven to expand their territory by cultivating the desert beyond the mountain range into farmland.

This development resulted in many people from different places to gather here for opportunities. Yet, all these people didn't look so much different.

And after that.

'Where did the ground go?'

Then, the next.

'Why would there be meat in a radio?'

And finally, just as the meat was about to touch her tongue, she froze.

'Why do I even need to eat the meat? Why don't I just throw it out?'

She took it out of her mouth, bringing it closer to her eyes, and inspected the pink meat glistering in the light that coursed through the window. Then with an expressionless face, she flicked her finger, throwing it over her shoulder, down the endless abyss below.

"What are you doing, dear? Why aren't you eating the meat?"

"Why should I do it?" Ellie said, her hands moving quicker, finger grabbing chunks and chunks of meat, throwing it to the void below. "There is no reason to do so, if you want the meat removed then I will just take it out of the radio."

"Aren't you hurry, dear? You've been at the field all morning. Wouldn't it be nice to have something to snack on while waiting for me to prepare you lunch?" Alea voice became more desperate as more flesh was discarded by Ellie.

"No, I wouldn't do that. There is so much meat in this thing, I would be so full that I can't enjoy my mom's delicious meal." Ellie said nonchalantly. "Anyways, what are you making?"

"I am making your favorite, of course."

A wide grin appeared on Ellie's face, running across her cheeks.

"Which is?"

The voice paused for a moment, contemplating its next words carefully, yet it couldn't give Ellie an answer.

Ellie laughed.

"You don't know? Come on, try harder. You will get it, I believe in you."

But the voice remained silent.

Ellie didn't bother with the radio anymore, letting it go from her grasp, this time it fell to the voice below rather easily. Ellie scanned the table, the radio was nowhere to be seen.

"No more gimmick? Giving up already?"

"Tell me. What are you?" Ellie said, her voice full of disdain. "You dare use my mother's voice."

The voice spoke again, but this time it wasn't that of a caring mother but a low, breathless whisper that belonged to someone who had lived for far too long beyond what their body was supposed to. Dry and weak, the voice said.

"Shouldn't you have figured it out by now?"

"I know it is you," Ellie replied. "But how exactly are you communicating with me right now? I don't know much about reincarnation but wouldn't it be impossible for two of the same soul to exist?"

"Since I feel bad for what I am doing to you, I will answer some of your questions. Firstly, I am not a part of your soul, but an echo, an existence created by your past life using his memory to give a low-level wind spirit consciousness."

With each hollow breath, the voice began to tell Ellie the tale of its creator.

After her past life was corned, torn apart under the assault of starving cannibals, he was barely clinging on when the sky darkened. The multi-eye beast descended with a storm of wings, ending his tormentors' lives with sweeping precision.

He rushed for Ray but it was already too late, the cold had taken his son away. Amused by his misery, the multi-eye beast enslaved him, forcing him to carry out its will to torture others. He soon became the herald of the false goddess, the one-eye reaper that slipped into groups of exiles and brought their demise.

Only when the false goddess fell did he escape. In its desperation, the false goddess had transferred what was left of it to him, but it was too weak to fight against the hatred he had for it and failed to take over his body. Somehow, that accused beast kept him alive.

For centuries, he wandered. For eons, he studied the runic magic of the new age as well as the Aspects. And one fateful day, he finally did it. A three-concept Aspect had answered his contract.

The Aspect of Change, Reincarnation, and Nightmare. It felt tricked since it wanted an Avatar but he wasn't a human. So he struck a deal. He sacrificed what was left of the false goddess to the Aspect and was reincarnated into a descendant of the false goddess's Avatar who happened to be half-human.

But that wasn't the whole contract. Once his reincarnation reached the age of awakening, the trial would be set in the past. The reason being? The revival of his son.