'Eren… Erni… is that you? Is that you? Is that really you?'
Reen was dreaming. But this dream was special. She was in her usual Elena form while Eren was in his black-haired form. They were both looking at each other while being surrounded by pitch black darkness hidden in the veil of white smoke that kept moving from nowhere to nowhere.
Smoke had also seemed to divide them, preventing them from closing the distance between them. As soon as Eren and Reen moved toward each other the smoke would cover their vision only for them to find themselves away from each other once again.
'Reen? Is this a dream? I never had nightmares after Eliza's soul sense residue vanished on me. This is strange.'
Eren thought to himself. But somehow the Reen in his dreams could understand his thoughts. She seemed to be angry at Eren's statement.
'What do you mean, you selfish master? Am I part of your nightmares?'
Eren raised his eyebrows when he heard Reen's speech. She had indeed opened her mouth to speak. But the conversation happened telepathically.
'Of course. You gave me nightmares.'
Eren replied seriously, which made Reen upset. She had seen his condition when he was still in Purgatory. She couldn't deny that her existence had a major role to play in it.
But before he could get any more downcast, Eren chuckled before replying.
'You gave me nightmares, Reen. but not in the way you are thinking. I have already said. I don't regret forming a bond with you. No matter what happened.
But separation from you was bound to affect me somehow. The nightmares were only a part of the symptoms.'
Eren said while looking around him. He was trying to figure out what this place was while having a talk with the first existence he had truly confided in after his new lease on life. His true confidante. An inseparable partner.
Reen's conflicting expression eased before breaking into a smile when she heard Eren's words. She must have asked this question many times by now. But each time he would tease her before opening up to her. She liked the routine they shared even after such a long time of separation.
Eren opened his eyes wide when he understood what this place was. He also understood why he could access this place.
'This… this is the soul space Alephee had talked about. My soul sense! Its awakening has allowed me to pull your consciousness here. I see. So access to this space is required to cast soul spells.'
Eren then remembered the last activity he did before coming to this space. He was taking a nap in his Orc tribe before starting his journey to the Oni dungeon. The tribe was in the process of moving to a new home.
Reen didn't understand what Eren was saying. But now that she had realized that this was real Eren and not some dream, she wanted to ask him something.
'Eren… how are you? Are Eliza's tasks bothering you?'
Eren was pulled from his chain of thoughts when he heard Reen's statement. He knew that he wasn't in complete control of his mind while he was in this space. It was making him forget things. He needed to concentrate hard to remember things.
'Hm? Don't worry about me, you silly slime. I'm fine. I'm more worried about you. Tell me all that the old hag is doing to you.'
Reen was pleased when she heard about Eren's well-being. The connection she shared with him was very faint and often distorted. Therefore, they both couldn't keep tabs on each other. But now that they were together in this isolated space, she could understand and feel him just like she used to.
'I… I'm fine as well, Eren. Sage Eliza is very patient with me. For her research, she takes a portion of my body, just enough so that it won't hurt me and can regenerate quickly. But recently, her experiments have been getting a bit serious.'
Reen said before clenching her fist and speaking authoritatively for a change.
'Erni, you have to find a way to get us both out of this mess. And fast. I… I haven't seen anything yet. I want to be with you.
We should just get the hell out of Edinburgh when we meet. I know you'd do everything right. I just want you to do it faster. Ugh. I… I'm so frustrated these days.
I have already seen everything that is allowed for me to see here. I'm so bored of having the same type of mana beasts served raw to me as a meal just because I'm slime.
I mean don't mind that most of the time. But I'd like a proper dish once in a while, you know. And then there's…'
Eren's smile grew wider when he saw Reen finally being honest about her feelings of frustration. He didn't disturb her though, allowing her to vent to her heart's content. He spoke only when she was finished.
"Haha. Don't worry, Reen. When the time comes, we won't stop after leaving Edinburgh.
That old hag can't eavesdrop here. So this should be an ideal place for us to stay in contact. However, I'm not sure we can have a chat like this anytime soon until I get firm control over my soul space. So listen to what I have to say here regarding my plan."
Eren spoke up with a serious expression. Reen nodded at him and listened to his plans and what he was up to with keen interest. She was also made aware of her role in his plans.
Eren and Reen talked for hours on end like that. Having finished their serious discussion, they resumed their casual conversation. They both knew this connection was special. Eren's awakened soul sense and the unique bond they shared had enabled them to blur the spatial boundaries for them to have this talk.
When the smoke started getting denser and the visibility started getting a lot hazier than it already was, Eren and Reen knew their time was up. Reen had a tinge of wetness in her eyes as she saw Eren waving at her.
His smile assured her that he was still as strong and determined as before. As such, she left everything to him and trusted him before disappearing from the soul space. Eren's smiling expressions turned into that of wrath post-Reen's disappearance when he realized how he was forced to stay away from Reen.
As the white fog surrounded his body, he clenched his fist. The next thing he knew, he was sleeping in his spacious bed in the later afternoon. His treasures had already started working in the tribe and allowed him to sleep some more.
Eren looked outside the window and stared at the clear blue sky. He inhaled the air of the wild and drew energy from its freshness.
'Hm. That was a good talk. But meeting her in person would be much better.
Chop chop. Time to move.'
Eren said to himself and got up. He jumped from the first floor's window and headed to a natural waterfall he could use to freshen up. The tribe was busy packing their gear and using space artifacts for ease of travel. It was as if the entire town was being dissolved into various artifacts.
Eren met four of his treasures while he was passing by and invited them to have a bath with him. He needed a thorough cleansing and massaging after all.
***
"My liege, our preparations are done. We will start our journey when the next day's sun breaks. What will you do?"
Baran addressed Eren while the latter was feeding Argo in his eagle form. Unlike Baran and the tribe, who had to wait for the next day's sun to rise, a lone wolf like Eren was okay with traveling in the evening. Especially when he had Argo.
Baran was in a better mood than before because of Eren's generosity. He didn't claim Kilaba's treasures for himself. Instead, he allowed the Orcinus and the Orc Leaders to find themselves a match within his tribe.
Might make right. Since Baran was stronger than Orc Leaders and second only to Eren in the tribe, he welcomed five Orcinas to be his treasures. One of them was Resha, who was the last Orcinas Kilaba had been with before his eventual abduction and killing.
Resha now handled the tribe's affairs along with Baran as the most trusted treasure he could count on. The old orc found a new flame to feel the warmth again. He felt like his luck was not so shitty anymore.
"Hm? I am preparing to get a monster army for us of course. Take care of the tribe, old man. You know who to look out for and who to target in Monster Canyon, right?"
Baran nodded before answering.
"Slaughter the vultures that come to take whatever and whoever that belongs to our chieftain."
Eren smiled at Baran and looked at Resha before nodding at her. If Baran was his general, she would have to be one of Baran's lieutenants. This Orcina was very capable as well.
Eren climbed on Argo's back and looked around. A once-thriving tribe town looked desolate now that various things that made it live were no longer there. Only Baran, Resha, and a few other Orc Leaders had come to see him off as the rest were assigned different tasks.
"*Cough* Old man, don't overdo it, alright? I'll be leaving.
See you when I see you."
Argo was told to take a flight by Eren. The demon beast had a mind of his own. He morphed his head into that of a lion and roared at his audience before flapping his wings.
Baran looked with keen interest at Eren as he flew away. Only when Eren and Argo were no more than an unrecognizable dot in the sky did he turn around. The Orc Lord with new vigor at the Orc Leaders who were waiting for his command. Their skin was tingling because of Argo's uncalled-for intimidation.
"We have got ourselves a troublesome chieftain.
Get to work, my people.
This is just a prelude to chaos!"
AN: VEH's third volume ends with this chapter release. I enjoyed writing this volume more than the second one. Especially the last 20 or so chapters.
I'll upload reference arts in the auxiliary chapter soon. Or stay connected through Insta or Discord for the same. The next release for VEH would be a few hours late.
Meanwhile, you can check out my recently released book Infinite Mana In The Oasis (Infio). You can either use the search box to locate the book by its name or visit my profile and go to Original Works.
Some of you may already know this. So ignore the text that comes after this.
Infio is part of the same multiverse and features a futuristic Earth that is exposed to mana. It also shares its connection with Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil. But right now, it's too early to comment on it.
So I'd like it if we treated the new book as a fresh entry. The advantage of reading VEH to this point would be that consuming the concepts in Infio would be easier. For the most part, you'd breeze through the read.
Eren from the new book is different from VEH's Eren. The former is developing the cold-bloodedness that is required for his new reality while keeping his humanity in check. Whereas VEH's Eren is only recently gaining a semblance of emotions as he keeps on getting stronger.
They also share some similarities but their way of handling things is going to be a bit different. The major reason for the differing personalities of the two Erens is their natural alignment. Neutral evil vs anti-hero who has some self-imposed boundaries.
As such I'm not sure how many readers of VEH would like the new book or the new Eren in it. I suggest we read the first 50 chapters to get a proper feel.
See you in the next volume or the comment section of my new project. ;)
