NOVEL WEB Chapter-68 Escalate
[Astylind Name: Earth Elemental]
[Astylind Level: Level-0]
[Astylind Grade: Grade-D]
[Anima Affinity: Earth]
[Gender: Male]
[Description: Natives of all planets, planes, and realms that produce Earth-Anima. They exist where Earth-Anima exists. Adored by Earth-Anima, they’re highly efficient in spellcasting.]
[Grade-Exalt Requirement: Astylind Core (Earth), Anima Crystal (Earth), Crelith.]
[Remark 1: A good addition to any team, they can fill the position of either a defending vanguard or a spellcaster.]
[Remark 2: Too boring. They’re already good, with or without a Severynth. You can't get any credit for their excellence.]
[Remark 3: Fascinating biology, a living being with no signs of life. I would’ve liked to study them more. Alas….my time’s run out.]
Pa….
Ewan closed the <Identify> screen and faced Nana.
“You’re quite well-off,” he said, watching her nervously handle a piece of stone that sold for over five-thousand Novas.
“Mum and dad left me everything in the hub. This pendant had my blood, it sensed me when I connected and transferred the shop to me,” she said, caressing her wine-red pendant when she put the ‘stone’ down on the table.
“They knew…” Ewan murmured.
Nana looked down for a moment then took a deep breath and raised her head with a grin. “I’m super rich now, that’s why I said I can protect you, so be a good boy and let me protect you, don’t grumble so much.”
“Piss off.” Ewan scoffed. “I’ll be content if you didn’t get me killed at every step.” His instincts tingled but the next tick of the second smothered it, and the mist in his mind seethed.
“What did I do, you’ve been asking for death left and right, and you always use me as bait.” She fought back. “What if I died? Who’ll take the responsibility? Who’ll protect you then?”
“But you didn’t die. And you were never at risk anyway, I was always careful, and I was the one who always fought,” he said. “You just cried and cried, how old are you anyway.”
“W-When did I cry? T-That was one time only, and why do you care, you don’t even give a damn whether I drink or not!”
“You lay around all night on your balcony, drunk dead. You don’t even bother to take care of yourself, what do you want me to do!”
Their volumes intensified; the conversation now turned into a yelling contest. His inhibitions and his reticence had stumbled, and perhaps Nana's too, they were losing control…yet the mist snuffed this thought as it budded. And his impulses stepped up.
“So, you were watching me all this time but never came to help!!” she bayed.
“I wasn’t watching, I was observing! And unsolicited help can worsen the situation. What if I made it worse, what if something happened to you because I helped, what then?” The mist billowed.
“You just think, think, and overthink. How much do you question yourself? Why can't you just act? What if I needed your help?”
“How would I know that if you never said anything? I can't read minds!!” he yelled. The room had blurred, the dim white light from the lamp softened into a flickering blip in the background. Only Nana remained in his vision, and her words rolled in his soul. “And I helped when you came to me in the end, didn’t I!”
“Yeah, and you said I owe you for that. Who says that to his fiancé? Can't you just be honest for once?” She almost screamed. “And then you barged into my room at night. From the balcony!! Do you know how scared I was? I thought they finally came for me! What were you doing? Couldn’t you just knock like a normal person? Do you think you’re some spy that everyone’s after?”
“M-My relatives try to put me down like that; I need to be careful.”
“Do you think I’m like your relatives?” She cried out. “Do you think I’ll do what they ask and hurt you? Huh!!” She screeched.
“People change, you cut me out for years, how could I know you were still the same!!”
“I cut you out? You cut me out, you were even going to leave like this if I didn’t happen to be outside your house!!”
“I already told you I was leaving! And you never said you wanted to leave with me, what do you expect me to do? Wait around forever without you mentioning it?”
“You could’ve asked me yourself!! But you didn’t, you were always like this. You never came to me even when mum and dad died, you just watched from afar.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “I was scared. I needed you…” And she sniffed and sobbed.
Ewan watched her bawl, sharp guilt clawing his heart. He had his reasons for it, his age and his pain validated them. But he was a man, he wasn’t allowed those reasons and that pain, especially when someone he cared for was suffering—he had to relent. And now those factors turned into regrets, and it hurt. Why didn’t he comfort her that day, why wasn’t he there for her when she needed him the most…
He moved in and hugged her, but she pushed him away, crying harder. He moved in again and she pushed him again. And again, he embraced her harder this time, his fingers running through her hair. “I’m sorry,” he said softly.
“I hate you,” she said and wailed on his shoulder, clutching his t-shirt, her tears and snot drenching him.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. The mist in his mind surged. This was his weakest moment, and it latched onto his emotions and bloomed….
…
…
…
The gentle refreshing night breeze respited him from his chaotic emotions. Under the moonlight, perched on the peak of the building, not fighting his instinct also soothed him. Yet, his mind still felt fuzzy, as a layer of mist engulfed him.
The escalation in their conversation leading to that outburst took him off guard, he couldn’t maintain his usual rationality. Impulses were never his friends, and today cemented the fact further. After Nana stopped crying, he came out to take a breather, to flatten his swelled sentiments and regain his calm, but it was harder than he thought—her words kept echoing in his ears. He did well in the ways of mind, but the ways of emotions tended to trip him…
He rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath, the pungent stench of the wolf-urine hitting his nose. The past was past, there was nothing he could do anymore, he just had to move on. As long as they were alive, everything would be okay, his optimistic side chimed in. Regrets, guilt, they would all come and go—he would be the one to outlive them all. The only thing he had to make sure of was that Nana outlived them with him. At least she didn’t hate him, her words might’ve said it, but her actions opposed it out loud…
