Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 67 Empath

"I should not be thinking about other Tomes for now. I should focus more on increasing my Abyss Energy." Alex frowned as he knew that increasing the plethora of his spells is the best thing that he can do now.

Alex knew that because of his superior Monster Body, his absorption of the Abyss Energy has also reached a high level.

In fact, Alex had the inkling that he can reach Grade 3 Abyss Energy 2 days from now.

"Hmph, I know that look in your face." Asteria grumbled as she looked at Alex. "You want to train right?"

"Of course I will." Alex replied confidently as he started to seat cross-legged. "I have to get stronger to make this mission easier."

At the instant that Alex sat down, threads of dark-colored energy started to gather towards him, which entered his body

This energy made Asteria feel a little queasy, as if she was not comfortable looking at it.

"Yes, that's the stuff." Alex exclaimed as he felt himself being reinvigorated by the energy that he was absorbing.

"Hmph, so boring!" Asteria grumbled as she saw Alex not focused on her anymore.

Asteria hated being bored, and seeing her Traveler in training just makes it worse.

"I have no choice then but to play with my hooman." Asteria mumbled as she floated towards Alina,who was fully engrossed in talking to the golden girl.

Asteria frowned upon seeing this, as she felt that this blonde woman was stealing something from her.

"Wait, why am I worried anyway? I am the cutest blonde out there!" Asteria said hastily. "That golden girl ain't like me!"

If Alex could hear Asteria talking right now, he will surely notice that Asteria sounded like she was reassuring herself.

This would not be a bad teasing material.

****************

20 minutes earlier.

"I won't listen to them." Teresa declared as she gritted her teeth. "This is just a ploy, and I would not believe it!"

"Oh really?" This time, Alina gave Teresa another smile, but this smile was more… predatory. "Then what can you say about their clothes?"

"Hmph, they obviously wore it from other human children." Teresa said, sounding confident and smug this time. "That is a simple trick that anyone can use."

"No! These clothes are mine!" No. 4 shouted as she practically ran towards Teresa.

"!!!" Teresa tried to back away from No. 4, but her bindings were so well-placed that she was unable to move.

Teresa could only silently freak out as she looked at No. 4's insect body staring at her angrily.

"Get out of here, Monster!" Teresa said as she realized that No.4 would not move away from her. "Get away from me!"

"..."

"..."

"… Hik, do I really look that bad?" No. 4 trembled for a second, before she started to bawl in front of Teresa.

"Wait, what are you-"

"Waa!!! I do not want to be like this! I just want to eat some cookies from Mommy! Waa!!!" Black tears poured out from the face of No. 4, which flowed profusely towards the ground.

"...…."

'"Hik, I am so scared… I only have dew friends left, and all the humans hate me now…" No. 4 continued on crying, and Teresa could only watch with a dumbfounded expression as the little insect girl cried in front of her.

"No, this is just trickery…" Teresa mumbled, but this time, even she sounded unsure of what she was saying.

Alina seems to have noticed Teresa's hesitation, as she pounced over her like a predator.

"You seem to feel how distressed No. 4 is right now." Alina said as she looked at Teresa's conflicted expression. "Surely at this point, you realize that No. 4 is not faking it."

"No, she is just lying…"

"You know that she is not lying." Alina said these words with an edge in her tone. "No, more specifically, you can feel her sincerity, right?"

"!!!" Teresa's body suddenly tightened as if she was prodded with an electric rod. Her eyes widened as she looked at Alina with fear and suspicion.

"I do not know what you are talking about." Teresa said as she closed her eyes. "I can't hear you, I can't hear you, I can't hear you…"

Alina ignored Teresa's mumblings as she slowly said,

"According to my concubine, you seem to be a little sensitive to the spectrum of emotions around you. Of course, I am not sure how my concubine thought of that, but I know that I should always believe him."

Teresa started to shake her head at this point, as she tried to not listen to what Alina was saying.

"And then I remembered your reaction when my concubine blasted you with a fear. You directly pissed yourself and you even fainted on the spot. Tell me, is that normal?"

"Of course it is!" Teresa shot back, this time sounding more and more desperate. "He just blasted me with fear! There is no way that I cannot faint from that!"

"Except for the fact that the fear blasted to you was of miniscule amounts." Alina interjected as her sharp eyes pierced Teresa. "According to my concubine, that blast of fear was only geared to stun you. But instead of just stunning you, that blast of fear made you a little… incontinent."

"…"

"How could a Knight like you react that badly against that small dose of fear?" Alina said as she leaned her head above Teresa. "It could be that you are a coward, but you are not, since you are confident on traversing this forest."

"That only leaves one answer, and I think this is the right answer." Alina breathed out as she whispered something in Teresa's ear.

"You can sense emotions, right?"

"No! I cannot do that!" Teresa shouted out as she tried to bite Alina.

Teresa's face was contorted with disgust and anger, and she was doing her best to channel them.

"Sensing emotions and manipulating them are something that only Elderitch Monsters can do!" Teresa shrilly shouted as she tried to break her bonds again. "I am nothing like them!"

"Oh really?" Alina seemed to be not shocked at Teresa's denial, as if she had already expected it. "Then can you say to me right now that the little insect girl in front of you is just acting?"

"Wa!!!" Even at this point, No. 4 was still crying, and it was only Alina that was behind her, patting her head to calm her down.

"This..." Teresa tried to say something, but in the end she was unable to refute No. 4.

"S**t!" Teresa dipped her head down, as she realized that Alina was able to expose her easily.

"I hate this…" Teresa muttered as she tried to not look at Alina.

Alina nodded her head upon seeing Teresa's reaction, as if she was approving of what she was seeing.

"See, so you really can sense emotions." Alina said with a triumphant smile on her face. "I thought you were just really sensitive. Turns out Alex's guess was right."

"...."

"So, do you believe that this girl is a human before?" Alina decided to strike while the iron is still hot. "You could feel that her sadness and longing for her parents were all legitimate. Surely, that is enough for you to believe her."

"…" Alina watched as Teresa's head swiveled towards the other little monsters, as if she was also scanning their feelings.

This scanning lasted for a full minute before Teresa let out a frustrated sigh.

"I hate to say this, but I can feel that these little monsters… seem to be genuinely sad for their fate." Teresa said as she glared at Alina.

"However that does not mean that I will still believe you. Who knows, you could be the one who made them like that." Teresa added as she gave Alina a suspicious look. "You know, that is actually highly likely too."

"Hey, how could you say that to Big Sis!" No. 4 suddenly shouted as she glared at Teresa. Her face was still filled with tears, but it was quite obvious from the buzzing insects on her body that she was quite mad.

"Big Sis is the one who saved us from being eaten earlier, and she had always been so kind to us!" No. 4 shouted as she brandished her tiny fists towards Teresa. "Don't you think of slandering Big Sis!"

"Ah erm, um…" Teresa was rendered speechless this time, as she was overwhelmed by the indignation and anger pouring out of No. 4.

However, it was not only No. 4 that was angry. The other little monsters were extremely angry too, and from the looks of it, all of them were all eager to pounce at Teresa.

"!!!!!!!!!!!" Teresa started to tremble as she felt that all these little monsters were all fiercely loyal towards Alina, and that they seem to be unhesitant on hurting Teresa.

That is not certainly not a good emotion to feel.

********************

"Ok… I believe you..." Teresa mumbled as she knew that she should make a compromise for now.

Deep inside her heart, Teresa did not fully believe anything that Alina said, even though Teresa can really feel the emotions of the little monsters.

In her mind, Teresa was sure that everything was just a trick, something that was made in order to turn her against the Human Faction.

But no matter how much Teresa distrusted Alina, Teresa knew that she cannot just say that she does not believe Alina, as it seemed like Alina will not take Teresa's disbelief that well.

In that case, Teresa will just have to pretend that she believed Alina in order to live longer

Teresa will just have to find a way to escape later.

"Oh really…" This was Alina's reply as she seemed to be trying to hide a sly smile as she stood up with No. 4.

From the way that Alina reacted right now, it was as if Teresa's words sounded amusing to her.

"You are not lying to me, right?" Alina slowly said, which made Teresa's hair stand up. "You are telling the truth, right?"

"I am telling the truth." Teresa replied as she did her best to wear a poker face. "I am a Knight, and it is not in my virtue to lie.""

"Well, I will believe that, for now." Alina replied, this time with a genuine smile on her face.

"Gulp." Teresa was not sure why, but she felt some twinges of fear as she saw Alina's current look.

"Ok, since you said that you are telling the truth, then I think that it is time to me to show you the truth too." Alina suddenly said as she set No. 4 on the ground.

"What are you trying to do?" Teresa said with a hint of vigilance in her voice.

Even though Alina looked like she will not mean Teresa any harm, Teresa still could not help but feel wary of her.

"Oh, I will just show you something special." Alina grinned as her body began to change.

And when Teresa said change, she meant it quite literally.

Teresa had to squint her eyes as she saw the tall elegant beauty transforming into something else.

A few seconds passed by, and Teresa saw what Alina meant by special.

"No! This can't be true!" Teresa shouted as she shook her head. "This is just an illusion, right?

"Hehehe, that is up for you to see. You can sense my emotions, right?" Alina said as she tilted her head. "My human form should be quite obvious to you now."

"!!!!!!"

Right now, what Teresa could see was a real Human in front of her.

With her advanced senses, Teresa could feel and ascertain that the woman in front of her was a real Human.

But that should be impossible, since this woman in front of Teresa was a Vampire a few seconds ago!

"There are no Monsters that can turn into Humans! That is just impossible!" Teresa shouted as she felt her head getting light. "There is no way that this is true! This is just a…"

Whatever Teresa wanted to say after that was unknown, as her mind once again succumbed to the sweet hug on unconsciousness.

"You broke her again, hooman." Asteria commented as she watched Teresa fainting in front of her. "She really is unlucky…"

"Well, we still have more time to talk to her later, so let's just let her rest." Alina replied with a playful tone in her voice. "After all, she's staying with us for a little longer. It can't hurt to make her feel comfortable."

"If this is your definition of comfortable, then I fear what will happen to this golden girl once you want her out."

"You just have to watch to see that."

"…Noted."