Chapter 215 Identity Crisis (3)
Chapter 215 Identity Crisis (3)
It took a moment for what Avalina said to dawn upon Ashton. He stood there as if his legs had become one with the ground. His eyes were wide, wider than they had ever been, fixated on Avalina's face as if it was the only thing that existed in the universe for Ashton.
"Ashton please... say something." Avalina pleaded as soon as she realised Ashton was slipping into a state of shock.
However, there was nothing for Ashton to say. A million questions were running in his mind, but not a single one of them could be formed into words at that moment.
'Was this her idea of a joke? Does she even believe this herself? What the hell is she even saying!'
Those were the only things he could focus o at the moment. But deep down Ashton knew Avalina wasn't lying or making up a tale. His [Heartbeat Sense] would have detected her lies the moment she spoke.
But she didn't have a beating heart in the first place so Ashton's method of detecting lies wasn't going to work against her.
However, the look on her face was all Ashton needed to see to confirm that she had been telling the truth. Even then, Ashton didn't know how he should have felt at the moment.
"Should I be angry? Silent? Defensive? I don't know..."
"Ashton, listen to me. Once I complete the story, you'll understand everything. Just give me time."
"It's not like I can do anything else..."
Through the turmoil of emotions, Ashton had no idea what Avalina could even say at this point to make up for the damage she had done to him with mere words. But it wasn't like he had any other choice but to hear her out and hope for the best.
Throughout this ordeal, Astaroth was silently listening to the woman explain everything to Ashton. After all, the secret of his life was closely linked to his own and could help him understand what exactly happened after he 'died'.
"With Austin dead, the morale of humanity died as well. People no longer wanted to fight against the mutants as most of the leaders were already preparing to leave the planet for good. The 'flee' section of their brain had activated and that's when everyone decided to give up on the planet entirely."
"Could you... nevermind."
After what he had learned, Ashton was in no mood to listen to her sob story. He just wanted to get it over with so he could get going and collect his thoughts... alone. But it didn't seem like Avalina or whoever this woman was anywhere close to finishing her story.
"Some of us decided to stay back and fight. But for that, we needed hope. We needed someone to help us fight back... someone to look up to like we did to Austin. So we chose to do the one thing that was morally wrong on so many levels... We decided to recreate him since resurrection was out of the question."
As soon as she said it, everything hit Ashton like a truck full of shit just hit him. Everything made sense now. Well, not everything but a few things, even though it seemed absurd to even think something like that was possible.
"Throughout their history of living on this planet, humanity had excelled in technological advancements. Creating an immortal being wasn't a dream anymore, though doing so was a tremendously exhausting task-"
"Sure, do you want to throw something else in the mix as well? Like Gods perhaps? Who took pity on their subjects and gave you to power to resurrect the hero of humanity, the saviour who'll force the mutants to commit suicide?" Ashton scoffed loudly and got up to leave.
He had, had enough of her bullshit. Resurrection leading to a dead being was something he could understand as he himself had the ability to do so. But to make a being immortal?
Yeah, if humans had the technology to do it, then why the hell were they on the run? They should have been fighting tooth and nail against the mutants.
No, more importantly, if they had such technology, why didn't the mutants make use of it themselves after defeating them? Whatever Avalina was saying was more than he could chew.
But the same could not be said for Astaroth. After all, there was no denying that he was alive even after death... well, at least in the main sense of the word.
On top of that, for Xyrans, death was but a mere stepping stone in their lifecycle. With enough resources, they could be easily brought back to life but at a price.
That's why most of the families tend to preserve the remains of the Xyran in hope of resurrecting them in future. However, unlike humans they were a seventh tier species, that's why reviving someone just as they were before dying wasn't a complicated task for them. It was merely an expensive one.
It was for that reason Astaroth was intently listening to the woman explain how they 'recreated' the same person after his demise. Maybe that way he would find a way to disassociate with Ashton. However, Ashton did not share the same thoughts as Astaroth did.
[Listen to the lady. The information might help us later on.]
"Shut the fuck up! If you're so interested in her bullshit, then feel free to listen to her, but I'm not."
Aston had completely lost his cool. So much so, he forgot that no one but he could hear Astaroth speaking. Avalina was taken by surprise as soon as Ashton shouted at the top of his lungs and began looking around to see if there was someone other than them present there.
But they were alone in the garden. Which confused her even more and then she remember something about the myths. The myth about the admins contact a few gifted individuals and guide them to greatness.
Judging from the way Ashton was talking to the air, there were only two possibilities. One, he had an Administrator working with him, or two... he had gone mad because of the shocking news he had received.
'Was this the secret he wanted to tell me about? That he was an Irregular?'
However, she did not voice her opinions just yet. Even though just thinking about him having an admin by his side made her happy.
[I didn't want to do this, but now you have forced my hand.]
Astaroth replied and the following moment a quest window appeared in front of Ashton.
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You have triggered an Administrator Quest.
[Objective]: Find out more about the secret behind your origin from the woman.
[Task]: Sit your ass down and let the woman finish her story.
[Progress]: You're still standing.
[Reward]: 50% increase in all the stats.
[Mission Commissioned by]: Administrator
[Priority Level]: -unranked- (The host cannot ignore the mission, doing so would reduce all of their stats by 50% along with the efficiency of using your skills.)
__
[Now sit down or say bye-bye to half of your skills.]
Ashton stared at the mission prompt in anger. But it wasn't the usual anger that he was used to by now. It felt different, very different.
He was pretty sure if Asstaroth was to materialise in front of him then, he would have torn him to pieces. Hell, he wasn't sure if he wasn't going to kill someone at that very moment. Usually, Ashton would have done whatever Astaroth would have told him to, but not this time.
"Fine, do what you want." Ashton called Astaroth's bluff and rejected the mission request before walking away.
Despite what was mentioned in the quest, the punishment of stat reduction was never carried out. All of his stats and skills were still the same.
Getting Ashton strong was in Astaroth's best interests. Not only was his life tied to him, but if Astaroth was to ever completely recover, he needed Ashton to stay alive and reducing his stats was not the way to go about it.
'Don't ever try to force me into doing something I'll never agree to,' Ashton warned Astaroth and for the first time Astaroth did not retort to his comment, 'You're not Lucifer who could pull strings and remain unaffected with whatever happened to me. Whether you admit it or not, you need me more than I need you. So keep that in your fucking head before pulling a stunt like this.'
But Avalina wasn't going to let him walk away like that. Not before she finished telling her everything she knew.
"Ashton wait-"
"Shut your trap. You want me to believe you? How can I do that when your story is filled with lies." Ashton harshly pushed her hand off his shoulder.
"Lies?"
"You say that man, your biological son was fully grown by the year 3050, that means he was at least 18. Also, he died in 3056, when he was 24. Is that correct?"
"Yes but-"
"Then let's assume that you were 16 when you gave birth to him. That would make you 40 in 3056. But when I was born in 3084, you were still 40. This means either you weren't born till 3044 or you've been lying about everything my entire life. Hell, I'm not even sure if I am who I have been thinking myself to be."
"Ashton, I can explain." Avalina desperately tried to get through to him but failed again and again.
"Of course, you can. You're Immortal as well. Just like me, right?" Ashton's words were leaking with sarcasm, "You know what, it doesn't even matter. For now, I know why you never wanted me to tell about 'my story' because there is none. Goodbye."