LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 6: Chapter 6- Aeons
"Shouldn't it be me?" Keith thought, trying to wrap his head around her surprisingly straightforward answer. It was tough, especially with her body language throwing him off—it really felt like she was saying something completely different.
Right from the start, when she first struck up a conversation with him, Keith had picked up on the effort she was putting into her act. It was obvious she was pushing herself to behave in a way that just didn't feel like her at all.
It seemed like she was trying to show off some kind of strength, doing her best to fill any gaps that others could use against her.
That determination was impressive and really talked about her character, but at the same time, it hinted at some deeper vulnerabilities—like she was trying to cover up an inferiority complex.
"You make a valid point, but…" Thalrexia's voice drifted off, her hesitation hanging in the air as her eyes darted over to the woman lying unconscious on the ground, then to the man with blood pooling around him.
Suddenly, it hit her: in the end, this goblin was the one responsible for everything that had happened.
She grasped that without him stepping in, she'd have been in the same dire situation.
Her death would've been a done deal, especially considering the vision she'd caught through her ability—if it wasn't for this goblin, she wouldn't be alive right now.
Her ability had picked up on the danger, but then, things took a turn—a moment when her vision, for the first time, felt a bit off.
Ironically, it was that same goblin who changed what was supposed to happen.
Since arriving, she'd somehow dodged death so far, but she knew that situation wouldn't last. The shadow of her own mortality was ever-present.
In that instant, she noticed something strange—a hint of a glitch in her visions. It seemed like the source of the problem was in the cage holding the goblin. Before she knew it, he had acted and sparked a tiny glimmer of hope, which made her feel bold enough to share her vision with him.
"Good, where are we?" Keith said, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as he saw her finally realize that her tough-girl act didn't matter as much as the urgency of their situation.
He brushed past her and headed towards the table, looking for anything that might help them figure out what was going on.
With all the different beings with several types of body fetaures around him, he was pretty sure they were at least non-human, and honestly, he felt like he was in a world that was totally unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
Right after observing such humanoid figures, he realized he was stuck in some unknown vault or chamber, totally clueless about how he ended up there.
He could still remember his last moments in his previous life, like it was just a few moments ago.
He had no real interest in sticking around in his past life, so this new life could easily have been the same and let him embrace death once again.
But what really kept him from giving in to death was his endless curiosity.
If someone asked him about his biggest weakness, he wouldn't hesitate to say it was his unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
He had accepted that he was dead because, honestly, nothing from his old life ever caught his attention.
Back then, it was all about boredom, but now he was in a completely foreign body, and the mystery of this new world was just too intriguing to ignore.
"Um… I'm afraid I don't have any clue about this," Thalrexia said, glancing back at him as she saw him moving around the tables, searching for something that mattered.
"It's fine, Is there a map here?" Keith thought that being kidnapped and thrown into a slave cell was probably the most reasonable explanation for their situation, especially after what Thalrexia had just shared.
He figured she must be a victim too, considering how clueless she was about their exact location.
This made it clear she hadn't been sold into slavery but had been grabbed and locked away in this hidden place.
"Why do you even need a map?" Thalrexia asked, watching him with a curious look as he casually touched the bodies of various creatures—beastkin, elves, and even a few homo-goblins—while it was pretty clear that the one speaking to her was a goblin too yet so strange.
After all, aren't goblins considered newborns and not this mature?
"I want to learn about this world," Keith said, feeling no reason to hold back. He noticed that she seemed on edge, trying to keep it together while the fear, pain, and tremors in her eyes when she glanced at the dead bodies hanging in the air betrayed her.
"Pardon me? Oh, indeed. It's quite reasonable that, as a goblin, you would not have knowledge of these details," Thalrexia responded, initially shocked and overwhelmed by the realization that they were trapped with no way out.
She was tired from using her ability and couldn't think straight, not fully grasping that he was still a goblin, just naturally in his early stages.
So, wasn't it normal for him to be unaware of this world?
"...Guess my age," Keith said, unfazed. He processed her words, recalling what he'd seen in the Eros Flux window about his race.
It clicked that he was a goblin, and based on her comments, it seemed like this race was in some early phase, which probably gave him a valid pretext for not being aware of the outside world.
This prompted him to confirm his own age from her generalized viewpoint to exactly know about himself and the race he was born into.
"Pardon me, but isn't it generally frowned upon to attempt to guess someone's age?" Thalrexia replied, taken aback by his request, knowing it was seriously forbidden back home.
She became even more certain that this goblin was really just a newborn.
"…I'm not guessing yours; you can guess mine. I'm a goblin, not black…?" Keith clarified, trying to navigate the conversation.
He figured that her race likely had some rule against revealing their own ages, but then he stopped himself, realizing he had no idea what race she actually was—was she a Black human?
So, he decided to take a step closer and, without asking, grabbed her hand.
"…"
"Would you mind letting me know what you're doing?" Thalrexia said, tilting her head in confusion as she looked at her hand and then at him.
For the first time, she was seeing a goblin up close, since they mostly stuck to their own devastated land at the edge of the world.
━────────⊹⊱♡⊰⊹────────━
Name: Thalrexia
Race: Dark-Elf
Dominion: Vision of Aeons
⟩ Dominion allows the holder to see the upcoming future up to 10 minutes.
⟩ Dominion could let the vision be shared with targets (Cooldown: 1 Week).
Artifact: Aeons Eyes (Dormant)
Eros Connection is needed to establish extraction opportunity.
━────────⊹⊱♡⊰⊹────────━
"Nothing, I'm just checking if you are an illusion or if I'm hallucinating about how gorgeous you are." Keith replied straightforwardly, keeping his gaze on the newly arrived window, as he encountered yet another new term known as Eros Connection.
Though he had no details about it, the most he knew at present was that he could extract the artifact from her once he established the connection with her—but what connection?
Additionally, he noticed that unlike these two who have their dominion dormant, she had her artifact dormant.
"Have you heard about Eros points?" Keith asked, observing how Thalrexia seemed nonchalant and impassive while feeling confused by his words, showing that she wasn't having any reaction to his physical touch.
He inquired if she was aware of Eros points while noting her apparent dense mind—not even understanding his flirtatious words.
She did not even appear flustered or show any reaction.
"Eros points?" Thalrexia initially seemed confused but somehow familiar with this term, though she couldn't precisely recall where she had heard the word, causing her to think it through.
"Forget it," Keith said, perceiving that she seemed unaware of the topic. He told her to ignore what he said and turned once again to look for clues about this place.
The atmosphere within the room was filled with the stench of blood and rotten flesh, and an acidic yet metallic smell permeated the air.
He hoped to find something useful, not wanting to leave this place and venture outside without any preparation, considering the possibility that there were more people with unknown abilities like those two outside.
"Ok," Thalrexia nodded in affirmation with a blank face, keeping her eyes fixed on him.