From Player To Npc

Shingi froze in place after hearing what she said.

"This can't be. You can't be her." [Shingi]

It didn't make sense. How could she be his mother? She was supposed to be an Arcane Blade, meaning partially a Warrior, partially Mage, but she seemed to have a fully Mage Class from what he could see. Could Mikhail have found a way to change her class?

But even so, she didn't seem to recognize either him or An, who looked the same as Annoue. She seemed like the type to care too much about her children, so she should recognize them even after that long. Also, her voice was the same as the one in his dreams and the recording he had heard from Aneta's gift. But he did not know how she was supposed to look, as nobody gave him a description of her.

"I am uncertain about it myself. I have part of my memory from back then, but there is a lot that is missing. But there is something that I am certain about; Mikhail isn't the real bad guy." [Nivlek]

"What do you mean? You know what he has done, don't you? He seeks power that doesn't belong to him or any human." [Shingi]

"But he isn't human. At least not for a long time. But still, his purpose is to prevent the real enemy from getting here." [Nivlek]

Shingi tried to read every movement of her, to understand if she was lying or hiding anything, but it seemed like she told the truth.

"What is he then? And who is the real enemy?" [Shingi]

"I can't tell you. They can't know anything." [Nivlek]

"They? Who are they? I thought you said you were going to speak. So speak." [Shingi]

"I can't tell you much because you are being watched. All I can tell you is Mikhail isn't the person you think he is and his reason isn't an evil one, either. He took things to the extreme, but he has no option about it." [Nivlek]

Shingi could feel a headache building up, just for him trying to think of all the plausible scenarios of what she told him to make sense.

"Do you know what happened to Annoue?" [Shingi]

He paid attention to see her reaction to that name, and he actually saw some sadness in her eyes for a split second.

"I am uncertain what happened. She seemed like they put her to training, but the reports of Netsu, her teacher, stopped a couple of weeks ago. But Mikail doesn't want to harm her. You need to understand it." [Nivlek]

"You said you were a Blessed One. And that you don't remember everything about your time then. What do you remember?" [Shingi]

They talked about her memories, which weren't as much as Shingi hoped.

She remembered a bit about meeting Garry and Harbin and learning about their eyes and a bit about her pregnancy, but not of giving birth or of the kids. As for her Class, she really had changed to a full mage one, one Shingi never heard of, The Dark Spirit Master. It seemed to be because of her special mana, a combination of Air, Dark, and Spirit Element, but she hasn't given it a name yet since she was the first to have it.

She seemed to have similar abilities with a Necromancer. Still, her undead was more powerful, and their bodies actually adjusted to its soul, making it easier for the main Spirit she selected to act as the 'soul' to use its foul power, at least to an extend. In addition, her undeads' bodies got formed of shadows instead of flesh.

Shingi wondered why she had summoned none of them back on the previous floor, and the reason seemed to be that the undead of the floor would attack them even if she ordered them not to. The undead would eat them, which would increase their power, but temporarily as it would also weaken Nivlek. That's why she didn't do it unless she had no other choice.

As for how she met Mikhail, this was actually the first clear memory she had, as everything before that was kinda blurry or unfinished. He found her, wounded and ready to die, and actually healed her to full health. She didn't remember how she got to this state, but she knew she was supposed to fight a great evil, but she didn't remember what it was.

Shingi tried to find a way to give him more pieces of information about that unknown enemy, but she seemed to be careful with what she said.

He also tried to ask her why she didn't go back to the realm that the Blessed One was supposed to be from, aka the real world, but it seemed like she had lost the ability to do so. The System also considered her an NPC, as it changed all her abilities to fit its rules. As for her ability to respawn, she wasn't certain if she had it or not, but she wasn't willing to try.

He tried to ask what she knew about Annoue, but she had just met her a few times before sending her to this floor, but Annoue never saw her. She didn't talk a lot about Annoue, but Shingi could tell that Nivlek cared about Annoue, even if she tried to hide it. He wasn't certain if she tried to hide it from him or herself.

He tested using his eye's power to persuade her to speak, but they didn't work. He wondered why then he avoided looking at him. Could she actually remember or subconsciously recognize who he is?

"So, what do you want to do now? You want to go back to be a pawn in the plans of Mikhail?" [Shingi]

"I am no pawn. And even if I was, his plan will help us all more than you think. He is doing it for the good of all the Realms." [Nivlek]

"He and the Dark Guild are messing with powers over their head. They both help release the Tower's monsters, and you tell me he is doing for the greater good? Do you know how many people are going to die if those monsters get out?" [Shingi]

This seemed to have faced Nivlek, as she didn't seem to have thought about it that way. She had all the pieces of information, but she never put them together.

"I…. I don't know what to believe. Mikhail isn't evil… I can swear on that. His plans and methods may look unorthodox, but he really means well." [Nivlek]

Shingi didn't know what to say. She clearly wouldn't change her mind about Mikhail, no matter what he said. To tell the truth, he even doubted himself a bit.

'Could there be an actual bigger threat? But what could it be for him to gather that much power?' [Shingi]

The more he thought about it, the crazier it seemed to be, but also somewhat logical at the same time. He didn't have enough information but had many potential scenarios of what could be the truth.

He didn't know what to do with her now. He couldn't kill her, as she could somehow be his and Annoue's mother. Still, keeping her around wouldn't be safe, as maybe Mikhail could have other ways to monitor her and monitor them too if they were around her.

"What will you do if we let you go? Will you just return to your duties?" [Shingi]

"I can't. Mikhail should know by now that I have failed, and he doesn't like when people fail him. Also, I can't go back even if I wanted. I don't know how to go down." [Nivlek]

Shingi didn't know what to do. If he kept her around, it would be as having a spy among them, either if she planned on spying on them or not. But he couldn't just let her be herself, even if she was strong enough to protect herself.

"*sigh* You will stay with us. But if you try anything or find out you are talking with him you are going to be by yourself." [Shingi]

She nodded to show that she agreed, and Shingi notice signs of happiness in her eyes for a split second. After that, she kept not showing signs of different emotions when he mentioned something, but it would be gone as soon as it appeared.

'What did he do to her?' [Shingi]

As for why he decided to let her join them because he was certain that Mikhail was aware of their movement and could monitor them already. Now and then, he had that strange feeling of being watched, but he never detected anyone around. So maybe Mikhail could use some kind of SCRY himself too.

"There is something else I can tell you, or to be more precise, to show you." [Nivlek]

Shingi studied her a bit before untying her. The effects of his Spirit Blade were getting weaker as they weren't permanent, so it wouldn't be long since she would get herself free unless he kept using his Spirit Blade on her. But if he kept using it, it could cause him to get Spirit Madness and possibly build up her resistance.

After he untied her, she put her hand in a pocket of hers and pulled out a piece of leather. It seemed to be part of some armor, and on it, there was a symbol sewed on it, with a golden threat.

The symbol was two swords placed to make an X and a helmet in front of the swords. There was one word above the swords and one down, and the entire name was 'Enerias World.' This was the logo of the company that created the game they were currently in.

It was a new studio that worked with the Company behind the capsule, and they actually had made many improvements to the design of the capsule, even if they weren't the first ones to make a game at it.

"Where did you find that?" [Shingi]

"Mikhail gave it to me. He said that it belonged to the enemy." [Nivlek]

'What is going on here?' [Shingi]