Ch13. More questions than answers

[Name: Miles Thorn]

[Affiliation: None]

[Level: 08]

[Class: Unacquired]

[Skills: None]

[Strength: 17]

[Agility: 12]

[Dexterity: 13]

[Perception: 24]

[Intelligence: 29]

[Inventory: Scorching Rune x01; Scythe of the ???; Ether Teapot]

[Attributes: Ender's Essence]

Miles looked at his information window, his jaw slacked as he tried to recall his previous fights. He recalled the system's message about getting the attribute, but the whole chasing the rabbit thing made him forget entirely about it.

"Where did I get this attribute from?" He scratched his chin, tapping at the attribute to open its description.

[Attribute Description: A dark guardian rose to harvest the souls of those who dared to try and take back the time lost to the White Rabbit.

One day, however, it shall emerge and fight alongside the one who succeeds in guiding the White Rabbit to its homeland once more.]

[Attribute Traits (incomplete): Synergy with – Scythe of the ??? (1/4); ???'s Fragment (2/5)]

Miles' brows furrowed as he stared at the glowing text on the system screen. The words blurred together for a moment as he tried to process the meaning behind the cryptic description.

"Ender's Essence…?" he muttered, scrolling back to reread the description. "Dark guardian… Time lost to the White Rabbit… I get that it had something to do with that wraith back in the cave but… What does any of this have to do with what I'm looking for?"

The Rabbit, perched on a mossy boulder nearby, twitched its long ears and adjusted its waistcoat with deliberate care. Its crimson eyes gleamed in the dim light of the forest.

"You're not ready." it said, as though that explained everything.

 "You keep talking cryptic nonsense, but it doesn't answer anything. I've been running, fighting, and nearly dying to keep up with you. The least you can do is give me a straight answer." Miles groaned, dragging a hand down his face.

The Rabbit tilted its head, its whiskers twitching. "Straight answers? My dear boy, my answers are straighter than the madness of this world."

"Wow, thanks," Miles answered with a deadpan expression, slumping onto a nearby tree stump, after checking if it had any crawling threats hiding in it. He turned to Cheshire's Gleam, the runes along the blade faintly pulsing. "And you? Got anything to add, Cheshire?"

The cat-sword's voice, low, sardonic, and unsettlingly smooth, resonated in his mind.

"Why ask questions you're not ready to hear the answers to, boy?"

"And why am I not ready, then?" Miles sighed, palming his face.

"You've taken on a burden far heavier than this flimsy body of yours can carry. Ender's Essence is no small thing, and your survival so far is nothing short of a cruel joke by fate." The sword purred in Miles' mind. "Or will you say that it's not against all odds that you're alive up until now?"

"He's catching on, you know. Slowly, but catching on nonetheless." The Rabbit chuckled, the sound sharp and oddly rhythmic, as he watched Miles' expression darken.

"Catch me up faster, then!" Miles snapped. "Why does it sound like I've signed up to be some kind of… I don't know, harbinger of doom?"

Miles thought deeply about what the fragments and the synergy meant in his current quest since everything until now seemed to make no sense at all.

He knew that fragments usually were parts of a whole – usually composed of weaker parts that composed a powerful completeness – while synergies usually were special effects activated, or released when certain items of a specific set were equipped.

However, there was not a single piece of information about what were the items and components necessary to complete the synergy with the [Scythe of the ???], what the fragments he already had were, their purpose, or even what other fragments he needed.

However, …

'Wait… What if I…' Before he even finished the thought, his finger tapped almost unconsciously on the part of the text that mentioned the synergy, and then the fragments but, just as he had thought, as soon as Miles tapped on to the word, another message window appeared in front of him.

[You cannot access the information]

'Argh! Shocking...' Miles sighed, cursing inwardly.

Meanwhile, Cheshire's voice darkened, answering Miles' question, its tone now devoid of the usual humor.

"[Ender's Essence] is no gift. It's a curse disguised as power. It binds you to the shadows of this world, to the remnants of stories that ended long ago. The fragments you carry, along with the Scythe and other things that you may find along the way, are pieces of a greater whole. And if you ever find all of them…" Cheshire paused as if savoring the weight of its next words. "… You'll wish you hadn't."

A chill crawled down Miles' spine. He tightened his grip on the sword, his knuckles white. "What happens if I do?"

"That's for you to find out. If you survive." Cheshire purred, as if delighted.

"Are you still going to enter the Queen's castle?" The Rabbit tapped its rear paw on the soft ground.

Miles raised an eyebrow. He had never heard of a quest that gave the option of giving up after one had already accepted it. The mere idea of such a possibility being real made his skin crawl, not to mention the countless ordeals he had faced to get where he stood now.

"That's the plan. Why?" Miles shifted his weight, glancing between the rabbit and the sword.

"Because that place holds echoes of what came before," Cheshire interjected. "Secrets that should've stayed buried. If you want to uncover them, you'll have to face horrors far worse than what you've encountered so far. Tarhut, even the wraith, they were mere appetizers compared to what lurks in the Queen's shadow."

"Perfect," Miles muttered, sarcasm masking the knot of fear tightening in his chest. "More nightmares. Just what I needed."

The Rabbit leaned in, its voice dropping to a whisper.

"But in those ruins, you'll also find pieces of the truth. Fragments of the past that might explain why this world has become what it is. And if you're very, very lucky…" It trailed off, its crimson eyes glowing brighter. "… You might even find out who you are."

"What do you mean, 'who I am'? I'm me. Just a guy trying to stay alive in this twisted game." Miles stared at the Rabbit, his heart pounding.

The Rabbit and Cheshire both fell silent, an eerie tension settling between them.

"You haven't noticed it yet, have you, boy?" Cheshire's voice purred languidly in Miles' mind.

"I don't know what you mean by that, but no news in it, so..." Miles gritted his teeth, a flicker of determination igniting in his chest. "Let's deal with it, then."

"Tick-tock, Miles. The clock's always ticking. Shall we?" The Rabbit smirked, its whiskers twitching as it turned toward the path ahead.

Without waiting for an answer, it bounded forward, leaving Miles standing alone with the weight of the sword in his hands, purring in his mind, and his decision, weighing on his heart.

Before Miles took the first step, however, he said, in a whisper.

"Cheshire... How did you know what's in my inventory?"

Miles felt the cat's unnervingly large grin grow even larger in his mind as it purred.

It sent shivers down his spine.