A Chemist's Interstellar Saga

Chapter 221: A Dream
Chapter 221: A Dream

Just as they were about to make their move, Arix, who seemed to be in a deep sleep, suddenly sighed and softly caught Vita’s wrist, stopping him from giving her the potion.

”Arix... you’re awake,” Vita stammered, clearly taken aback as he looked into her open eyes.

Arix nodded slowly, then let her gaze drift to Cupid and the others.

They quickly looked away, guilt written all over their faces.

Cupid was so startled that she darted behind Sylvana, trying to hide.

Just when everyone braced themselves for Arix to get upset, they were all taken aback by her reaction.

”Thank you,” Arix said softly, her voice filled with gratitude instead of anger. She looked at them with warmth in her eyes. She knew they were only worried about her, so how could she possibly be mad at them?

”Arix... you’re not mad at us?” Cupid asked cautiously, peeking out from behind Sylvana, her face filled with worry.

Arix shook her head, feeling a tug at her heart when she saw Cupid’s worried expression. ”No, I’m not mad at all. I know you’re all just trying to help me, so there’s no reason to be upset.”

Relieved, Cupid let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. ”That’s a relief! I’m so glad you’re not mad, Arix.”

With Arix’s reassurance, Cupid felt a surge of confidence. She took the potion from Vita and held it out to Arix. ”Then you should drink this. Your wounds are really bad.”

Arix wanted to take it—her wounds had left her utterly drained. But she knew she had to stick to her principles. With a sigh, she gently pushed the potion back. ”Cupid, you need to put that away. I can’t drink it.”

”Why not? I can tell you’re in a lot of pain. Why won’t you take the potion?” Cupid asked, her eyes wide with confusion. She even started to wonder if the infection had messed with Arix’s head.

Seeing Cupid’s concerned look, Arix couldn’t help but smile a little, though she felt a bit exasperated. Still, she explained patiently, ”Cupid, it’s not just me who can’t drink healing potions. Right now, no one in the training ground can. If I secretly take it, it would be cheating, and that wouldn’t sit well with anyone.”

Cupid tried to wrap her head around it but still seemed a bit puzzled. She turned to Sophia, hoping he could explain it better.

Sophia stayed quiet for a moment before letting out a resigned sigh. ”We get it, Arix. Just promise us, if it gets too tough, you’ll call us out, okay?”

”Mm-hmm,” Arix nodded, her expression sincere.

Sophia gave Arix a gentle pat on the head before vanishing. Vita and Sylvana lingered a moment longer, offering a few more words of concern, before reluctantly returning to the psychic world one by one.

Once they were gone, Arix glanced up at the sky, which was beginning to lighten with the approaching dawn.

Without a word of complaint, she got to her feet. A sword appeared in her hand as she steeled herself for another day of facing the wild beasts.

...

Another grueling day of battling the beast horde had ended. Arix did a quick mental tally, figuring that if she could survive just one more day, freedom was within reach.

Like clockwork, she made her way to the river, washing the blood and dirt from her wounds. Then, she selected a bear-like creature from the pile of fallen beasts, chopped off a pair of its hefty paws, and set about cleaning and roasting them over a crackling fire.

Dinner was satisfying, and as Arix finished off the last bite, a heavy yawn escaped her.

The day had left her more exhausted than usual, though she couldn’t quite pin down why. Shrugging it off, she let her eyes drift shut, surrendering to sleep.

That night, something was different—she dreamed. Arix wasn’t sure how she knew it was a dream, but the sheer impossibility of the scene clued her in.

In this dream, she found herself in what looked like a prime tourist spot, the kind that would be all over social media.

Everything around her seemed overly picturesque, almost as if someone had applied a filter to make the world more vibrant.

While the scenery was stunning, the creatures she encountered were straight out of ancient legends. Strange beings roamed the landscape: a small, headless creature with two pairs of wings, a majestic nine-tailed fox, a fiery little bird, and a bizarre bird with a human face.

At first, Arix just watched, intrigued by the odd assortment of creatures. Then it clicked—these weren’t random animals. They were mythological beings, the fiery bird was a young Phoenix. She was sure she had seen other creatures somewhere else, but she just couldn’t pinpoint when and where.

Arix scratched her head, amazed at how vivid and detailed her imagination was to conjure up such a dream.

”Arix.” A familiar voice cut through the dream, making her spin around in surprise. There stood Scion, clad in the robes of a pontifex.

”Scion?” Arix hadn’t expected to see him in her dream, and a wave of excitement surged through her as she called out his name.

With a gentle nod, Scion smiled and opened his arms, as if waiting for her to come closer.

Without hesitation, Arix felt her body move toward him, as if on autopilot. It was a dream, after all, so it seemed normal to be swept along.

But just as she was about to embrace him, a sharp pain shot through her chest.

Looking down, she saw with horror that Scion’s arm had pierced straight through her heart.

”Who... are you?” Blood trickled from her lips as she gazed up at the man who wore Scion’s face but felt utterly different.

This wasn’t Scion. The real Scion always had a cold, distant look, but this man’s eyes were something else—void of any humanity, like a god detached from the world.

The dream-Scion didn’t respond. Instead, he gently brushed a strand of hair from her face and whispered, ”Sylvana, it’s time for you to come home.”

Arix had no idea what he meant. The world spun around her, and then everything went black.

As the Arix in the dream took her final breath, the real Arix’s breathing grew shallow, teetering on the brink of death.

The military students were deep into their Lev training when a sudden, ear-splitting alarm shattered the focus of both the instructor and the instructor. Their opticomputers flashed urgently, with Arix’s name blazing in blood red across the screens.

”What the hell? How could Arix be in danger? She’s one of the best!” Spears shouted, his voice edged with shock as he stared in disbelief at the screen.

”Maybe it’s just a glitch. It’s nighttime—the beasts shouldn’t even be out,” the instructor suggested, though the tension in his voice betrayed his own unease.

”Glitch or not, we can’t take any chances. If something’s really happened to Arix, we’re in way over our heads,” Spears said, his face hardening with resolve.

”Understood,” the instructor replied, not wasting another second. They whipped their Levs around, racing toward Arix’s last known location.