Chapter 354: Overprotective? Me?
Chapter 354: Overprotective? Me?
Plain of consciousness.
'So, I'm here again? ... no matter how many times I come here, I never get used to it...'
Rio's plain of consciousness is a vast and empty place; there's nothing in it.
The plain of consciousness is something that every awakener has, and they can access it either willingly or when they are completely unconscious.
Rio fell unconscious after becoming exhausted from using too much mana.
The plain of consciousness is basically the reflection of your mentality and insides; it is a representation of the deepest parts of your soul.
Everyone's state of consciousness is very different and unique to themselves, as everyone's own life is vastly different from others.
A plain of consciousness also shows the state of mind a person has; if someone is happy, their plain of consciousness is filled with vitality and liveliness, and if the person is in pain, it's filled with their painful memories.
But Rio has always been an anomaly, ever since he first came to this world.
His plain of consciousness is 'Empty'. It's like a giant void of nothingness; there's basically nothing in it-a perfect depiction of his emotionlessness.
But even in this vast, empty void, there is still a small source of fire that wards off the cold. Rio waved his hand, and a small bonfire appeared.
'I am glad this small ray of hope is still alive in me... I am thankful to you, Lia; if not for you, even this small flickering fire in my heart would have already gone...'
Rio just sat down beside that small bonfire and started to pass time while feeling the warmth.
The rest of the empty void is cold, lonely, and filled with nothingness-a dead, empty plain with no ray of hope.
This small bonfire, which gives off warmth, care, and a feeling of acceptance, represents Rio's unwavering love for Lia.
This is the last emotion that has been keeping his world bright for a long time now.
'No matter how many times I look at this, it's still just as bright as it always was... Thankfully, it's not wavering...'
Rio's love for Lia never wavered; that can be easily seen by how this flickering flame is still extremely bright and is burning with amazing vitality.
You can clearly see that it isn't decreasing at all despite the coldness in the void trying to make it flicker again and again.
Looking at the bonfire's warm flame, Rio smiled happily.
"As long as you are here to keep me company, I don't think I need anything else here-"
Before Rio could complete his sentence, someone's voice interrupted him.
"You seem to be having a lot of fun..."
Rio raised his eyes and discovered an exact copy of himself sitting on the opposite side of him.
The other party had a strangely wide grin on his face.
"Well, don't be surprised; I just woke up recently and hadn't had the chance to talk to you..."
Rio looked at the other party, sighed, and said,
"Ah, so you were there all along? I thought you perished... But you surely are late to the party..."
The other party's smile broadened as Rio acknowledged his presence, nodding his head before speaking.
"Well, your soul is strong; you took over my body, and now that our souls are merged, only the one with the stronger consciousness can rule... Truthfully speaking, I don't think there is anyone in the world with a stronger consciousness than you..."
"If not for the 'Imperfect Sword Heart', I would have never had the chance to even awaken; you were firmly suppressing me..."
"But I don't blame you; I couldn't have achieved all that with my body even if I wanted to... Not to mention the fact that you got 'us' such a beautiful girlfriend; you even made 'us' so strong..."
"I am in your debt, 'Wandering Soul'..."
The one who had appeared was the consciousness of the original Rio, and now it was referring to Rio as the 'Wandering Soul' who took over his body.
Rio's face remained as expressionless as always; he shook his head and said,
"No, I am actually more indebted to you; instead, with this body, I have been able to live such a wonderful life filled with so many adventures..."
Upon hearing his words, the original Rio also nodded his head and responded in a confident tone.
"Well, if you are really indebted to me, then give me some chances to come out too, dude; it's so boring in here..."
"Your plain of consciousness is too d*mn strong; I can't manifest my own plain of consciousness due to its insane strength..."
"Also... if you let me go out once, I will go and have some fun... By the way, unlike you, I still have my own emotions; if you let me out, I can express 'our' emotions more perfectly-"
Black line appeared all over Rio's face as he glared at the original Rio's consciousness. "You want to die, or something? I won't allow you to flirt with Lia..."
The original Rio just shrugged his shoulders and said,
"Well, to say the truth, we are the same body, same soul, but two consciousnesses; no one will find out anyway."
Rio immediately shook his head and denied it.
"No... I learned sword arts and legendary techniques... but I never learned to betray the one whom I care for the most... don't cross the boundaries."
"You are only but a remnant consciousness of the original Rio; don't make me destroy you... I warn you not to mess up..."
Upon hearing the warning, the original Rio sighed and spoke in a dejected tone.
"Man, you are such an unfunny guy... I seriously think that making Lia fall for you might have cost an insane amount of luck... How long are you going to remain stubborn?"
"You know that this bonfire is all you have left... and there's no guarantee for the future... What will you do if even this flame goes out?"
Rio simply shook his head,
"You are thinking too much; even if I die, my love will never die; that is the only thing I have going on in me afterall..."
Rio glanced at the original Rio and saw that the other party seemed more alive and lively; his eyes have that 'lively' glow that he doesn't have himself.
"You know... what if I put all of my 'emotionlessness' on you instead... I am good at stealing; how about I steal your emotions?"
The original Rio was shocked for a moment, but then he shook his head.
"You know that you can't do it... As long as that 'strange Fragment' exists in 'our' soul, both of our consciousness will remain intact; it's influencing us both greatly."
"At best, you can just suppress me, but that's all; you can't destroy me, 'Wandering Soul'..."
The atmosphere became a bit tense between the two, and they both glared at each other for a
long time.
"Okay fine! Urgh... Man, you are so hopeless; you really don't want to let me out as you fear that I might do some weird things, right?"
"To tell you the truth, all I wanted was to go and have a loooong date with Lia, you know! Who can resist someone as beautiful as her!! You can't blame me for that!"
Rio's glare intensified even more after hearing those words,n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"Tch, I will never let you out... You are a scumbag; I don't want Lia to meet someone like
you..."
The original Rio shook his head.
"Bruh, you are literally insulting us both right now; we are both the same soul now... Tch, if I had a stronger consciousness, I would have never let you out to see the day of light, you body
stealing thief!!"
"Imagine stealing someone's body and then calling them a scumbag! Such hypocrisy!! I will
raise my voice against this!!"
"Come on man! Let me out for just a few seconds at least! I beg you as the biggest beggar in
the whole of Begdom Empire!!"
Rio frowned at the guy's words and felt pity for him for a second.
"Forget it; I will let you out every once in a while when I am a few hundred kilometers away
from society and everyone else..."
The other Rio rubbed his temples and said in an aggrieved tone,
"You take me for some kind of eldritch horror or something that you would need to go out in
the wilds to unleash me... Can't you figure it out that I want to go out just to flirt with Lia!!"
Rio nodded his head and said,
"And that's exactly why I am not letting you out; because she's my girlfriend, not yours, I am not giving the right to flirt with her to anyone else! Only I am allowed to tease her... You
aren't..."
The original Rio rolled his eyes in frustration,
"Sigh, man, you are impossible... ugh... Forget it, I give up..."
"By the way, it takes a lot of toll on my consciousness to appear in yours as your consciousness is too strong, so I will likely be going back to sleep for a while again; don't bother me if there's nothing important..."
Rio just shrugged his shoulders and said,
"Well, that's better... By the way, I have blocked the outside vision for you; I don't want
others to interfere when I am spending time with Lia; this way, you can't peep on us..."
The original Rio gritted his teeth and left, shouting in frustration.
"Not like I was going to peep, you overprotective fool!!"
Author's Notes!
Yo! It's your beloved author here!
Finally, we know where the original Rio is! He finally woke up after so long! We have a new
interesting person in the picture, it seems!
Question of the day:.
Do you also think that Rio is a bit too overprotective?
(Tell me your thoughts in the comments)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones!!