Killed Me? Now I Have Your Power

Chapter 419: Chapter 419: Different Perceptions

Chapter 419 – Different Perceptions

Fate was such a funny thing.

It would always force one into a certain path no matter how unlikely that path was. And it had that uncanny ability to achieve it in a seamless manner.

It was, too, a phenomenon Kaden had begun to feel since his time in the Ruined Death dungeon with Asael.

He had wondered about fate back then, but now...

Now Kaden barely had the luxury to ponder about it with him being pulled, as if a string had been attached to him, into events he never expected.

Those same events were occurring in the pale landscape of Frosted Bridge.

Kaden and Rea had been going through the Eight Small Mountains in random orders during morning until midday.

Now they knew why this was the case.

The beasts inside the mountains were easy to kill.

They were specialized in only one sense and were extremely frightening in their use of this Power of Sense. Kaden had been awed by their application, for it was novel to him.

Yet it was those same powers that made the Eight Mountains a difficult hurdle to get through.

If one happened to lose the sense of view and met the eyeless beasts of the third mountain — fluffy creatures with eyes all over their white pink fur — then you were completely dead; and that in the most horrific way possible.

And that was how the mountains were organized.

Each mountain stripped away one of your senses when you were about to enter the next mountain. It was an absolute rule.

And you lost the same sense you would need in order to survive the next mountain.

That meant the first mountain was easy, but the remaining was pure hell unleashed on earth. That is, if one followed the correct order.

By going randomly, Kaden and Rea, even with them losing their senses, managed to kill the beasts relatively easily.

Though, Kaden was able to hold onto wisps of his senses thanks to his transcendence and Unique Will. But Rea lost everything.

It was a funny sight to see Rea so helpless. Kaden had enjoyed the process a lot, for it was the first time he had heard Rea huffing, chirping, cursing with no restraint.

Still, compared to the curses Kaden usually heard from Inara, they were quite polite ones.

There was another problem concerning the Eight Mountains aside from the Eight Mountains. And it was being outside, in clear view for all to see, after midday.

It was at those times that the mist would come out, and every single bloody fucking time Kaden would feel the creeps.

He felt like someone, no, many, were watching him whenever it came out. And something within him would always tremble at it. Not in a fearful way, but in a kind that said, ’Bloody Hell, I recognize this feeling!’

It was faint, but Kaden could sense it perfectly. Curious, one day he had poked the mist with his perception, and a moan-like sound flooded Kaden’s senses.

Immediately he had retracted his perception, feeling an ever bigger distaste and bizarreness concerning the mist.

Since that day Kaden had avoided using his perception and took shelter within a makeshift tent made personally by Rea.

She was the cook too.

That was another thing to talk about.

Rea’s cooking was absolute shit. Kaden never believed he could have stomach problems until he ate Rea’s food.

He felt like vomiting everything out. Yet he didn’t.

Rea was looking at him with piercing eyes, daring him to not eat what, Kaden quote:

"You forced me to cook and I have really worked hard to cook all of this. So you will eat all of it."

How could he say no looking at those red hollow eyes of Rea? Kaden had accepted his fate and ate it.

Then again, he didn’t wake up within Death’s Timeless Space after that. For a moment, he entertained the idea of wondering what he would have gotten as power.

It was a stupid thought, but Kaden let himself drift into those sometimes.

However, since that day, Rea seemed to be a little bit more open, with Kaden willing to impart his culinary knowledge to her.

She was delighted to finally learn how to cook. They didn’t teach those things at the Church.

Though, no matter how happy she was, Kaden only received from her a curt smile that went away fast.

Now the two fiancé had finally went through all the eight mountains, gaining nothing except traumas about abominations of weird-looking monsters.

Rea, specifically, had her face crunched into searing irritation.

She had been completely devoid of all senses until they finally exited the last mountain. And only now did the God-Touched know how important they were.

"That was...strange." Rea muttered, standing beside Kaden at the very hilltop covered in white weeds, "I knew senses were important. But I never knew it was this important."

She was wearing the same dresses, her hair swaying like white ashes, making crackling sounds at the touch of wind through them.

"I agree." Kaden nodded, hands resting on his chest, "Even though I still retained my senses, they were severely weakened. And it felt like I have been cut away from an important part of reality."

Rea’s eyes immediately widened, snapping her head towards Kaden, then nodded repeatedly,

"Exactly!" She yelled, voice unusually bright, "I felt the same! Like I have lost a slice of reality. One I was used to interacting with and took for granted."

Her voice lowered next, taking a reflective tone, her brow knitted together,

"With my sight gone, I no longer saw images and colors. I saw nothing, only darkness. It was agony to not see my beautiful rings."

Kaden’s lips twitched at the mention of rings. But Rea continued without care,

"After that, it was my ears. There, I stopped hearing the sound of wind, your voice and even my own voice..."

Rea shuddered here. It was a traumatic experience. Speaking and not even knowing you were speaking. It made her feel completely helpless, for she didn’t know if she was saying things correctly, using the correct tone and all of those things she never realized she was unconsciously paying attention to...

For a moment during that mountain, Rea thought she would go mad. Fortunately, she had been traumatized since young by a certain goddess; she was used to it.

Rea gathered herself, finishing her words, looking at the strange sight in front of her.

"...each sense lost was more than just losing an innate ability we were born with..."

"It’s losing the ability to interact with a very specific part of the world around us." Kaden continued her words, and then he smiled, "That suddenly made me wonder...people who are blind or even deaf or even unable to feel anything by touch or taste..."

He turned his head, and looked deep into her eyes,

"...are they living the same reality as us? And what about those with more senses? Do they see better the world around for having more ways to interpret it?"

"Or even those with unique senses? Are they interacting with a part of the world we are completely unaware of?"

Kaden didn’t know why he was thinking all of these, but the experience with the eight mountains scratched a very important itch of his brain.

He seemed to be on the verge of going further in his own understanding of perception. But it was not enough.

It was never enough.

’Maybe if I had lost all my senses I could have grasped it better?’ He wondered, hands clenching softly into fists, but it was too late.

Rea wanted to advance and reach the dungeon rapidly.

"They are all valid questions. But it’s surprising..."

She gave him a sidelong glance,

"You are not so dumb after all." Rea said, "You are indeed nothing like a Warborn."

Kaden shrugged, "That’s an outdated talk. Everyone knows this by now."

Rea rolled her eyes at his arrogant tone. She looked back in front of her, staring down at the Frosted Bridge curtained by the mist.

The two made an ugly face.

"This bloody mist again..." Kaden cursed.

"Are you ready?" Rea asked wearily. Even she hated this mist despite not having the level of perception of Kaden.

"Yes," Kaden replied, passing a hand through his hair, "let’s get this over."

—End of Chapter 419—