New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Chapter 956  David's Scolding

As Alex's mind snapped back toward his body, it quickly flashed through the skies, giving a very brief but detailed view of a castle which sat on the edge of a cliff near the ocean.

As his vision kept pulling him away, he saw the landmass shrink, until it looked like an island, just off the coast of Europe, and Alex memorized its position.

'Don't fuck with my plans, Merlin. I have enough enemies as it is,' Alex thought, as clouds flew past him, and he accelerated away.

Soon enough, he was back inside his body, taking a deep breath in, as his body had been in a semi-catatonic state, still sitting cross-legged on the cargo hold floor.

The first thing he noticed was Killian's unconscious body before him, basking in a golden white glow, with Cory hovering over him, sweating bullets.

His eyes blinked a few times, as the light was slightly blinding him.

"What happened to him?" Alex asked, making Cory jump in surprise.

"Holy shit, bro! Don't scare me like that," Cory said, his spell blinking a bit before it stabilized again.

But it was David who responded to Alex's question.

"It was you that happened to him. Whatever you did to the spell, it transferred some of the pain to his body from within. He lost a lot of blood, and we need a transfusion once we hit the ground in China."

David sounded pissed, and Alex frowned at his tone.

"The modifications I did shouldn't have done that…" he mumbled, falling into thought.

Alex heard footsteps getting near him, and as he lifted his head, he was unable to react in time before David's fist cocked him in the jaw.

Alex's face was pushed back, as mana infused the strike, and David took the opportunity to push him to his back and climb over him, grabbing him by the collar.

The anger on his face surprised Alex, given David had never appreciated Killian that much, at least to his knowledge.

"How would you even know?!" David shouted in his face, holding his collar in his grasp.

"Excuse me?" Alex asked, confused.

"How would you even know what your modifications did, you fucking moron? You didn't know the spell until I showed you, and suddenly you're an expert in soul rituals? You're full of shit!"

Alex's face became stony.

"David, get off me. I wouldn't have modified the ritual if I didn't know what I was doing," he said coldly.

"No! You took a risk with someone's life, and that is unacceptable! We are not gods! When we start playing around with other's lives, that is when we become no better than them!" David shouted at him, his face red with anger.

"Guys, please don't fight," Cory asked, feeling the tension rising.

He was getting nervous.

With how Alex's mana had affected the plane earlier, he didn't dare imagine what a fight between these two would cause. It was safe to assume they wouldn't make it to China, that much was certain.

Alex sighed, trying his best to calm down.

"I didn't take a risk, David. I can't explain why I knew what I knew, but the moment the runes started making sense, my knowledge of them expanded exponentially, until the spell looked unrefined to me, to the point I couldn't stand it.

"I modified it to make it safer. I doubt the damage to Killian's body is because of my modifications, and the chances are, the soul snare caused the damage before it completely broke. Now get off of me. Please."

David glared at him, unsure if he was telling the truth or just bullshitting his way out of a scolding.

But Cory was right. Fighting was not an option right now.

Standing up and off of Alex, David leered at him again.

"If he dies, this is on you," he spat.

Alex sat up, nodding at him.

Of course, he would take responsibility. Even if he was sure this wasn't his fault.

But now was not the time.

"Do you know how long we have until we land in China?" Alex asked Cory.

"Maybe an hour?" Cory replied, seemingly uncertain.

Time had felt like it was crawling forward since he was forced to keep a healing spell active constantly for Killian.

Alex frowned.

"How is that even possible? We just left London…"

David scoffed from the far end of the cargo hold.

"We've been in the air for almost four hours, you dumbass. I'm surprised you can even feel your legs after being seated like that for so long."

Alex looked at him in confusion.

Looking at his legs, he noticed that they indeed felt numb. He could barely tell they were there at all.

"How? I was only gone for a few minutes," Alex said, frowning deeper.

"No, you weren't. You were sitting there for this entire time, your face stuck in a shit-eating grin, like you were having fun pissing someone off. But it has been almost four hours."

Alex scratched his chin, wondering what had caused him to time-lapse like that.

"Maybe the time inside Merlin's mind is slowed down?" he mumbled to himself.

David's sharp hearing heard the words, and his face dropped.

"I'm sorry. Did you say Merlin's mind?" he asked, his face changing from anger to stupefaction.

"Hm?" Alex hummed, turning his head toward him.

"Yeah, I said Merlin. That's where I was. But it's strange. To me, it seemed like minutes, at most," he added.

David took a moment before replying to Alex.

"Merlin has been dead for almost a thousand years, Alex. Are you sure you didn't get your mind muddled by Killian's father?"

Alex could see the perplexed expression on David's face.

"Yeah, about that…" he replied, scratching the back of his head.

David's heart skipped a beat as he imagined the implications of what he thought Alex was about to say.

"It seems Merlin isn't exactly dead. At least not in the complete sense of the word. I'm not sure why he kept himself alive all this time, but he is absolutely still of this world."