A Thousand-Year Old Prophecy

(Arc II) 51: Two Years Later

"...Anything ancient can stay within the Void as timeless as it can get..."

Paulit ulit na dinouble check ni Nyssa ang translation na iyon mula sa libro na nakasulat pa gamit ang ancient runes.

That paragraph lightened something inside her. An idea is definitely forming in her brain. Meaning, in no time, she would be planning an experiment.

She shut the book and looked up as Toby placed their breakfast on the table.

Fried rice... egg... a reheated meat from last night...

Just by the look at it, enough na yun para maglaway siya.

"About time! I am already starving." Then Nyssa looked towards the stairs na patungo sa ikalawang palapag nitong inuupahan nilang bahay. "7 na ah. Aren't they still going down?"

"Jin stayed up all night yesterday so he might be staying a bit longer sleeping. While Khalil and Adam went out early today."

"Utos ni Jin?"

Tumango lang si Toby sa kanya. He started making coffee for the both of them.

They needed it.

Mahaba haba ang byahe nila mamaya.

Then out of nowhere, an inspiration came to Nyssa.

Come to think of it.

Ever since she formed an alliance with the four of them, ngayon lang ulit napagsolo si Nyssa at Toby.

They were always accompanied by either Khalil or Jin. Kaya hindi rin sila masyadong makapag-usap.

But now...

"Toby..." Nyssa called out quietly.

"Hmmn?"

"May sasabihin ako sayo..."

Dahil seryoso ang tono ni Nyssa, Toby instantly stopped putting hot water on the cup and looked at her.

For a moment, they both stared on each other's eyes. Then Nyssa started.

"I am reincarnated. This isn't really my body. I am not really Anastasia Meng." She blurted those at once.

Toby kept looking at her.

In fact, muntik na siyang mailang dahil sa titig nito.

However, the guy suddenly continued making the coffee at ng makatapos siya ng isang baso, agad niya iyong nilapag sa harapan ni Nyssa.

"Gutom lang yan."

"That's the truth though." She shrugged at saka ininom yung kapeng nasa harapan niya.

It was just a test.

Obviously, it was still very impossible for these people to believe things such as rebirth.

Kahit din naman siya siguro eh.

Kundi lang siya nasa sitwasyong ito ngayon.

While Nyssa was busy with those thoughts, napailing na lang si Toby.

He really couldn't trust this lady to be normal.

Who would even come up with a reincarnation story early in the morning?

"Truth? Did I hear someone say about truth?" Suddenly, Jin appeared from the stairs na humihikab pa.

Apparently, he was still drowsy due to sleeping late last night but he already finished showering and prepping up for later.

Jin apprached them but Nyssa just pretended as if she didn't hear him at all. Instead, she started eating the breakfast prepared by Toby.

"No truths, Jin. Just early morning daydreaming..." Sabay sama pa ng tingin ni Toby sa kanya.

The guy didn't pursue the topic anymore. He sat beside Nyssa and waited for Toby to finish making their coffee.

Then the three of them ate together.

"When will the two get back?" Nyssa asked in between eating.

Khalil and Adam probably tasked to buy some items they would need.

Kakatapos lang din kasi ng isang festival na sinalihan nilang lima.

Of course, they won.

This time, they won as a group so they had quite a lot of loots for themselves.

However, some of them were unmatched for their skills kaya naman kahapon, Nyssa and Jin sold those in underground market.

Nang bumalik sila, Toby started listing down things na bibilhin nila doon sa mga perang kinalap nila.

Mainly, it was more on supplies and power gears.

"They will be back as soon as they can. In my guess, probably before lunch. You have enough time to pack."

Napasimangot bigla si Nyssa.

It was time for them to go back to Central Cloud School and she wasn't ready for it yet.

Ibig sabihin kasi nun, hell month na ang kasunod.

Kahit kasi third year na nila sa Central Cloud School, they still needed to undergo the year-end test.

Of course, the difficulty was more than their two previous years. And it already meant a lot just by saying that.

Nung ikalawang taon kasi nila, hindi niya halos alam kung paanong iraraos ang sarili.

During that time kasi, their focus was to fight one another. And though the five of them formed alliance as early as they could, pilay pa din sila dahil during that time, Adam was already on his third year.

So it was the four of them who faced the others alone.

Mas lalo pang naging mahirap last year dahil mukhang buong batchmate nila ay may galit sa kanila.

They were attacked most of the time. Halos walang peaceful moments si Nyssa.

Kung may maganda mang nangyari during that year, it pushed her to the brink. She had several breakthroughs, even more than her first year in Central Cloud.

She was also forced to use more martial arts and to consolidate her cultivation very well. Ramdam na ramdam kasi niya kapag hindi balance ang level niya and so she had to exert more effort than the rest.

Yeah, the second year was indeed a hell for her.

Kaya laking pasasalamat niya nung makatungtong sila ng third year, their alliance was one of the chosen to do an out of campus training.

They received tasks from the campus and they did their best to accomplish them.

Minsan, they had to face beasts. Minsan, cultivators...

Sometimes, they needed to acquire valuable items. But most of the time, they needed to safeguard people.

Feeling nga ni Nyssa ang bait bait na niya dahil sa mga missions nila.

But of course, feeling lang niya yun.

Because the five of them always found a way to join festivals and competitions which could gain them some things for themselves.

They were almost like freemen for a year.

Unfortunately, it would end now.

***