Capítulo 845: Facing One’s Past Self “Yeah… I am.” Caera smiled bitterly, leaning back in her seat. She knew how perceptive her younger self was. Lying here would bea pointless hassle. “What happened?” Young Caera asked with a frown. She had already walked to the counter and began brewing a tea for the two of them. “A lot happened. But you’re handling this a lot better than I thought. Usually when Inverted World reflections see the original, they lose their minds. And I thought I would’ve needed to deal with you.” Caera glanced towards her younger self who simply shrugged. “Uwahh~ I can’t believe I’m a memory. Boohoo~ Let me sabotage my future self who clearly came here for a reason~ Uwahh~” Young Caera mocked before placing a cup of tea on the table. “Is that what you expected?” “Perhaps. Though I can’t say I’m not disappointed. I am rather curious as to whether or not my younger self would change a lot after all.” Caera chuckled. “So why did you come here? With what I know about the Inverted World, trying to find a specific time isn’t easy. So the fact that you don’t seem surprised means you managed to succeed and find this time period. What do you want from this past? And I doubt it’s nostalgia.” Seeing her younger self go straight to the point, Caera smiled and finished her tea. “It’s a little hard to believe. So you can either lend me the lab and help without knowing anything. Or you can know what happens and… well I hope you recover soon since I’d rather have your help.” She offered. “Who do you think we are?” Young Caera frowned. She would never help without knowing what happened. The events to make her future self so… exhausted, she wanted to know. “Then this’ll be a long story. You might want to get yourself a snack.” “You’re… joking… Right?” Young Caera asked with a deep frown. Her voice was strained. But seeing Caera’s expression, she didn’t need an answer. She stood up but her legs were unsteady like a newborn calf. Opening her mouth, she wanted to say something but no words came out. “I’ll help myself to your lab for a bit. Help me when you can.” Caera made a decision. Her younger self needed a moment to digest what she had just told her. How Ayr fell, how their friends died. How Nyer betrayed them all and what he plans to do. Furrowing her brows, Young Caera sighed and nodded her head. “If anyone asks, just say it’s an experiment.” Without turning around, she stepped towards the lab. Nostalgia and muscle memory kicked in as memories flooded her mind. The way the equipment was placed, her secret snack compartments untouched. Research notes pinned on the walls and folded in drawers. And the detail in the notes… Full of ambition, naivety and optimism. Compared to the notes she makes now, it’s like day and night. Her gaze softened, her fingers ran along the row of labelled vials. Then she noticed an old habit. She would draw mini animals next to her notes that only she knew the meaning of. After all these years, she had gotten rid of this habit. But seeing it again… “Cute, I wonder if I can still draw them…” She chuckled. She knew where everything was and allowed muscle memory to take over. Opening draws for gloves, tools and certain ingredients that she needs. She walked over to the small cabinet and opened it. Reaching in, she pulled out a large white lab coat. A little smaller than what she had hoped but it’s to be expected. Aside from the e coat, there was also a notebook hung on the back of the cabinet door. Flipping through the pages, she saw questions and theories that her younger self had written down. Questions that she’ll find the answers to in the next few months. Caera was tempted by the idea of adding the answers. But despite this being a memory, she didn’t want to rob her younger self of the joy she felt when finding out the answer. “Do you need me to ask the others to get anything from the market?” Young Caera asked as Caera glanced back in surprise. “Are you sure you don’t need more time?” “Do you think you have the luxury of me taking my time? The world is on fire and you can’t rest, can you? Thus by extension, I can’t rest either.” Young Caera folded her arms while leaning against the wall. “Fair point. Although… I don’t really care if the world is on fire. This is the biggest difference between me and you. You still care about the world since it’s still around. I don’t care because my home is nothing but ash.” Caera swung the lab coat around and wore it with familiarity. “All I care about is putting the b*stard who took everything from me into the grave. Even if I have to sell my soul.” Caera glanced back as her shadow began to writhe. Young Caera’s brows twitched. Despite being the same person, it was rather uncanny to see this level of hatred in herself. This level of insanity. Was this the person she’ll eventually become? Was there no other choice? Though considering the events… Giving her body a stretch, she helped with the set up. A young man could be seen tapping his fingers against the table. There was a small indentation being created with each repeated tap. Veins bulged on his forehead and neck as he was clearly supressing his rage. He rested his cheek on his fist while listening to a report. Though his mind was elsewhere. “My Lord?” The attendant asked after Caelan didn’t respond for a while. “Hm? Right sorry. Please repeat what you just said.” Caelan shook his head. “We’ve received reports that the Sun Church has completely given up the border around the east. A faction within is starting to form, one that is supporting the newly risen dawn despite the church denying these theories. “The Moon has made no movements and the Eclipse is the same as ever. Though there has been reports of Deva being spotted with wounds that were struggling to heal, clearly fleeing from danger.” Caelan rubbed his chin in amusement. Deva had taken so much care keeping herself hidden yet the moment a single hint was given, Kaden latched on like a rabid beast. Though this report could also be a diversion. Deva sacrificing something to throw Kaden off her tail. “Pay special attention to the Deva situation for now.” He ordered as the Attendant made a note. Get full chapters from 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩 “Understood. Next, we have reports from the south. There seems to be a large commotion by a Port City. The Slayer, Theron Merias, took his wife to be cured only to lose her in an ambush of sorts. Rumours are circulating on who is strong enough to kill the wife of The Slayer but no candidates have been named yet. “Deeper in the Abyss, it seems the layers are having strange mutations with the boundary around Terminus loosening. The unsealing of the Old Lords have slowed to a halt. Whoever was undoing the seals must’ve hit a snag in their operation. “Additionally, it seems like Lord Level beasts are being hunted down en masse, including Lord level Hunters. There’s been losses from the east and freelance hunters.” “Mark this one down as Nyer.” Caelan ordered as the Attendant set the report off to the side. “The situation in the north has improved to some degree but has yet to properly stabilize. Notable reports include the injury of the Apostle of Protection as well as seemingly immortal beast human hybrids. Rumours passed through word of mouth but mostly dismissed as crazy talk. The Queen and her retainers have yet to be found.” “Again, mark it down as Nyer. As for the beasts, mark that one down as Zenia. Have some people investigate the connection between the two, it’s likely that Nyer and Zenia have allied together.” Once again, the Attendant made the necessary adjustments. “Final report regarding the surface and the Abyss. Chaos is brewing in Extalia but our informants have not been able to dig out much. Several spies have died and there’s been a strange flow of energy in the land. But most clues are pointing towards the Zenia family along with the Royal family.” Caelan furrowed his brows. If that was all they could find despite the work they’ve put in then the enemy was taking extra care with their plans. ‘Nyer’s becoming more active. Is his experiments coming to an end?’ Caelan frowned. “Allocate an extra 10% of manpower to Extalia. Reduce the priority of the east for now.” Scribbling everything down, the Attendant closed her report. “Final report. The Void has shown significant changes. The realm seem to be losing vitality as several Void Beasts are struggling to survive. We’ve searched the places you’ve mentioned but the situation is the same. Nothing notable, only an overall change.” Caelan paused before tapping his finger again. If the Void was losing vitality then Feris wasn’t doing too well. Either she recovers… or a new Realm Ruler will need to be found before the bridge collapses. Once that happens, the moment anyone was to try and access the Void, they would be in for a rude awakening. But trying to help Feris recover was… Caelan leaned back and sighed. “Note that one down as high priority as well. Keep an eye out for new information but don’t make any major movements in the Void.” Caelan ordered. With all the reports done, the Attendant was about to leave when Caelan called out to her. “Let Valentine know that he’ll need to pick up a bit of work. I’ll be busy for a little while.” “Understood my Lord. What reason should I give him?” She asked. “I’m going to kill someone.” Caelan ‘smiled’. The Attendant raised an eyebrow before nodding. There was only one reason for Caelan to act .