OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 221: The Question

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Emir felt as if he was in a lucid dream.

His body was tangible yet intangible.

He could not feel pain, yet he felt that he had a body.

He could not see his body, yet again... he felt it.

And all that around him was the void.

Just a black, never-ending space.

At first, Emir thought that he was experiencing what it was like to break through to the next rank.

But as time passed, he realized that the state he was in was far from normal.

He tried to get out, but there was nothing he could do, and no amount of 'willpower' could help him.

Emir was stuck.

However, instead of moping around, he took that time and made something out of it.

He had long since begun scrutinizing his past decisions and those that crossed him.

He thought about Johnson but soon dismissed him, as he came to the same conclusion he had before.

There was simply nothing he could do about him.

Next, he ran through his plans.

Since the day of the revelation, he had longed to find out the truth about what happened to his father.

Yet in the months that had passed after his deal with the Elite, he had found nothing, as if Oliver's existence was wiped from every database.

Emir had no leads to go off, and the Elite weren't of any help.

The novel didn't provide any clues either...

So, once again, he had a problem that he could not solve.

But he didn't dwell on that too much and moved on.

He was going to the academy not as a student, but as a professor.

And that would provide him with easier access to confidential archives.

He hoped that would give something-a hint at least.

However, he wasn't one to just hope.

Emir was one to work himself to the bone.

And that's what he did, going through scenarios for the many plans he cooked up.

He eventually settled on one that involved the hunter association leader himself.

Isaac Klein.

Then, with that decided, his mind went through the many things that happened in the past few months.

After Magnus's warning, they waited and waited for something to happen.

But nothing did.

And as he expected, Alex's mind was useless since his memories could not be extracted from that scrabbled brain of his.

Nathan's team tried their best, but there wasn't much they could do.

So instead of wasting their time, they kept doing what they could, solidifying their business foundations, cultivating Aether, and practicing Skills, Arts, and Abilities.

Lyra reached the Paladin rank, while Nathan, Jake, Emma, Kiera, and her gang members reached the Knight sub-rank.

Laura and Lily were too busy with work and the academy respectively so they didn't have much time to cultivate Aether.

Although Emir was disappointed by such news, his pride grew as he witnessed Prince Emporium's rise.

It wasn't solely done by his mother's hand, as Lyra helped her by using the knowledge she gained from the novel to obtain every edge over the market.

Like most academy novels, Born In Ruins didn't officially start until a month or so away from the academy.

But Lyra was smart; she used the many flashbacks throughout the novel to compile the data. She nitpicked every sentence in her memory, turned it into a single document, and produced a very simple yet detailed graph of the highs and lows of the relic market.

Laura used that graph and bought many relics at the dip and sold more at the highs.

Simple yet effective, and the results showed that.

They bought a massive house from Horizon Holdings, one of the big eight corporations.

It was past the upper district's gate and next to the academy, the most secure place on the planet.

Kiera and the gang lived with them.

So combined with Elijah and Lily, who no longer lived in the dorms, there was never a quiet day with them around.

And what once used to be a single shop in the lower district had expanded into four.

One of the new shops was in the upper district, on the same street where Emir kidnapped Aria seven months ago.

The three musketeers, Jamal, Logan, and old man Raymond now worked at that branch. They solidified their positions as leading staff for both Prince Emporium and Hunter's Den. They too became Celestials and had crossed the Aetheric Threshold becoming Ascendants. It was only Raymond who didn't need the implant as he was already a Celestial. Emir barely interacted with them as he used most of his time to either cultivate his strength Art and Abilities or Aether itself.

And when he cultivated, it usually lasted weeks or in this case, a few months.

He lost count of when this lucid dream began, but he assumed it to be a few days...

A week at most.

His thoughts churned through all that time, but now he had enough.

Emir wanted out.

'GET ME OUT!'

And the ritual of his endless screaming began once again.

His 'will.'

'THIS BREAKTHROUGH IS TAKING TOO LONG!'

'GET ME OUT GODDAMMIT!'

But similar to what happened before his internal screams were met with silence.

'GET ME OUT—'

Emir's words suddenly died out and remained stuck in his mind.

As if time had paused, he could not think.

And just as it happened, the feeling disappeared.

Emir could now think again.

'What the fuck was that?!'

"You died."

His body recoiled slightly, and he looked back at where the voice originated.

It felt familiar, yet not so.

And what met him was a humanoid figure....

Obscured behind a fog.

'Do I know you?'

"Or so you think."

"But that doesn't matter."

Emir didn't know what to think.

This figure that kept giving him deja vu appeared out of nowhere and was now talking to a

floating head.

His floating head.

"Keep quiet, child of the sand."

The figure spoke, sounding quite irritated for some reason.

"Yes, I can, and I will. If you must know... you're currently facing a god."

'A god?'

'I met a Primordial?'

'Why?'

'Did it wipe my memories?'

"You dare speak ill of me, child? Are you not afraid?"

Emir let out a chuckle.

'That's me alright!'

'I used to cringe at my past actions, but way to go me!'

The figure tilted 'Its' head.

"I might kill you..."

'But you didn't.'

"Oh, and why is that?"

'Because you visited me for a reason beyond killing a newborn.' "Suurree.... Well, remember. You asked for it...."

'So it hurt me? In my own dream? Then it truly is a Primordial...'

"No. Wait for a moment."

"I SAID WAIT!"

'Heh, guess I'm quite good at annoying gods.'

"There we go. So as I was saying-"

"Alright, enough of that."

"I stopped it, why are you still-"

"QUIET CHILD! I SAID QUIET!"

Emir laughed hysterically at the unfolding events.

Though his mind had yet to process the implication of what was happening, he enjoyed it.

It was all for a very simple reason....

Emir was playing around with a PRIMORDIAL!

An APEX of this world.

And said Apex visited him.

Emir didn't know when exactly, but judging by the figure's reactions, he assumed that 'Its'

visit had been early on when he didn't know that his reincarnation was a fake one.

'Man, if I could only hear myself speak.'

"AS I SAID, I'm a god, I do not want something, as there is nothing that I do not have."

'I get it; I get it; just move on, god.'

'What?!'

Emir wished for it and it happened.

'Ah-Of course it did, it's my own dream, my thoughts can affect it....'

'Selectively at least.'

"You don't believe me, do you?"

'What does it matter? I've been reincarnated, so I know that the supernatural exists, that also means

that a god or gods exists too, or at least god-like beings.'

'True true...'

"You're quick, I've never seen a subject like you before...'

'... Subject? Is that what I am now? Oh, and are you working with that voice? For some reason, it gives

me bad vibes. My new family too, every time I see them, I feel like something is wrong.'

'That's because we're all about to be attacked by the monster tide, my friend.' "You'll learn of that very soon, so stop asking... You'll forget this conversation anyway."

'Why?'

"It's because I'm a god, and I wish it to be so."

'... Fair enough.'

'Fair enough indeed.'

A sigh echoed through the space as the figure stretched out 'Its' hand towards Emir's floating

head.

After cupping his head, the figure began reconstructing his body.

A single moment passed, and Emir's body was normal again—well, as normal as this

situation allowed it to be.

'Won't you just get to the point mister primordial? I've got a breakthrough to finish.'

"Now then, child... I have come here to give you knowledge of this world. As a belated gift to a

friend of mine."

'Should I know this friend?'

"....His blood runs through your veins."

'My dad?'

'No, it's our ancestor, an Apex, what happened to our dad is still a mystery.'

"You have the opportunity to ask me two questions, I will answer one now, and the next you

shall ask-"

'Interesting...'

'I asked you a question! Is. It. My.Dad?!'

'Augh! Too loud. hey brain, mute my voice again.'

"At a later date. That date will be decided by me, of course, so you must live till then. Pick

your question wisely, as you won't be able to remember it until you've become someone of

importance on your planet."

'Very interesting....'

'I didn't know anything about Aether back then so what could I have asked?'

Emir attentively watched as the figure and his past self entered a quick stare off in the fog.

And soon the monster spoke after the past him shrugged his shoulders: "Correct. However, such a situation would be too good to be true, don't you think?"

'Unmute.'

'Sorry, future me, but my first question is...'