Chapter 12: The Oracle of Goltan - Part 12
I didn't hesitate long and decided on 'Soul Robbery'.
A chill enveloped my body, followed by a sharp, brief pain in my chest. I fell to my knees.
Still on my knees, I surveyed the surroundings. Except for insects swarming the corpses and the ground, there was no life left in this clearing. The village was destroyed, and the Sykrolans were eradicated.
[Soul Robbery available]
[Search for target?]
[Yes/No]
"Yes," I said decisively. Nothing happened. I stood up and pressed [Yes]. Still, nothing happened at first.
Then, suddenly, three markers appeared. I went to one of the markers, reached out my hand towards the corpse, and said, "Soul Robbery!"
[You have successfully absorbed a soul.]
[Passive skill acquired: Wall Jump.]
[Wall Jump: No matter how high a wall is, you can effortlessly jump over it. It must be a wall.]
Nice. I felt no change in my body, and only the text in this system window indicated that I could now perform the Wall Jump.
I then went to the next two markers and received two more skills:
[Passive skill acquired: Follower of Bogandural]
[Follower of Bogandural: As a follower of Bogandural, you can see through his illusion. Skill activated soon.]
[Active skill acquired: Call of the Dead]
[Call of the Dead: Upon activation, a dead person relives their last minutes before death. This reliving affects reality.]
"What does that mean?" I asked the system.
[For example, if a dead person was holding a weapon shortly before their death and fired it, they will do so again during their reliving. This can result in the projectile hitting a person who previously did not have the possibility of being hit by it.]
"Thanks," I exclaimed briefly and then set out to finally leave this clearing. To do so, I went into the forest opposite the spot where I met Bogandural.
It was eerily quiet in this oversized forest. In contrast, many animals stared at me from the treetops, branches, bushes, and shrubs, turning their heads synchronously with my movements.
I felt really uncomfortable.
[Skill activated]
And suddenly, the entire surroundings changed.
Desert. Everything transformed before my eyes into sand. Whether it was alive or not, everything became a part of the Goltan desert.
Although I felt comfortable here, at one point I started to feel thirsty, and unfortunately, I wasn't smart enough to bring water in a canteen - and even if I did, I probably would have lost it.
Feeling a bit grumpy due to my drying throat, I asked the system a question: "By the way, which skill was activated?" Okay, that was two questions. "And where exactly are we?"
[Follower of Bogandural]
[Current location being checked]
[Calculating...]
[Current location: Goltan Desert]
"Thanks for nothing!" I snorted and kicked up sand with my feet as I kicked at the air.
[Nothing. I'm not responsible for nothing. You are!]
The system seemed to have a serious glitch.
"Uh-huh. So, I created the 'nothing'?"
[Correct. Incorrect.]
"What is it then?" I didn't sound as friendly as I had tried to. Probably because I was yelling and spitting out of my wound as I said the word "then."
[Incorrect. Correct.]
Now I stared more closely at the system window. It didn't just disappear. Instead, it trembled in the air and occasionally flashed misty and alternated between a green, passing a purple, and ending in a blue tone.
[Correct. Incorrect]
"Are you okay?"
[Incorrect. Correct.]
The system window slowly turned red and sparks sprayed out of the sides. One of the sparks hit a small part of my shoulder.
"Ouch!" I exclaimed, holding my wounded spot.
[Correct. Incorrect.]
From the distance of the desert, I saw a figure approaching. However, due to the sun's blinding rays, I couldn't immediately recognize who or what it was. But in retrospect, I should have known.
Then I heard his voice and was sure: "Hihi." It was Bogandural.
[Incorrect. Correct.]
"Stay away from here if you want to live!" I bluffed and hoped Bogandural would do just that, although it was a foolish hope. Bogandural came closer, and so fast that he suddenly stood in his dreadful form in front of me and sniffed at me.
He spoke with clicking sounds: "Hihi. You destroyed my illusion. Why did you destroy my illusion? DID I SAY YOU COULD DO THAT?"
[Correct. Incorrect.]
Bogandural roared as if he were mourning, only to then laugh again, and it alternated as he spoke or said nothing and simply contorted his body.
"Hihi. You... must..." he interrupted himself and vomited out a Sykrolan cadaver. "...GET OUT OF HERE!"
Luckily, he had told me that, I had already planned a picnic - of course not. I wondered where that suddenly came from, because just moments ago I was "the next one", and he clearly wanted to eat me - so where did that come from?
[Wrong. Right.]
"Will you let me go?" I asked, noticing how my whole body was shaking with tension.
An extraordinary shine was in Bogandural's eyes as he answered me:
"Hihi. NO!" Then he started laughing hysterically and wanted to bite into me.
[ERROR]
But at that same moment, the system window transformed into a kind of suction and pulled me in. And all I saw of Bogandural was his ugly smile paired with his bewildered eyes.
Inside the system window, or should I rather call it a portal, a whirlpool of glowing colors whirled me back and forth.
"What's happening right now?" I asked the question out loud, but to myself, as I didn't expect an answer from the system.
[Restart.]
The words didn't appear in the usual way as a window in front of me, but mirrored and floating in the swirling air, as if I was looking at it from the backside, whenever the vortex allowed me to face that direction, which happened from time to time.
But then something terrible caught my attention. Because when I could still see the "outside," I saw Bogandural feasting. It was obviously my body he was feeding on. But if my body was there, then what was I?
[Welcome. Soul.]
"What's happening to me?" I asked many questions at the time. But since I left the city of Goltan, so much new things had happened.
[I saved your soul from Bogandural's claws.]
[You will now be taken to a random time and your soul will be hidden there.]
Suddenly, the vortex stopped spinning me around and when I looked "outside," there was a city full of people like me. But it wasn't Goltan. It was a city on an island in the middle of a huge sea.
There, I saw a young mother giving birth to a child. Unfortunately, the child was stillborn. Then an idea came to me.
"Can I...?"
[Yes.]
And so, my soul wandered into the lifeless shell of a newborn.
And "my" mother gave me the following name: Bjarne.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Viktor_Dietrich
Viktor_Dietrich Okay... Plot Armor strikes hard in this chapter. But meh...
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