Journey In A Fantasy World
The Unexpected

CTARRS!

The sound of thunder boomed, accompanied by the resurrection of someone with such terrifying strength. I looked up at him without blinking.

The young man who had just gotten his departure button was now floating in the middle of the hall, his body shrouded in a flash of blue-colored lightning. His eyes lit up blue, highlighting Queen Hudie who had just slammed two steps due to the surprise attack from him.

Neo shot out a split second later, floating right above the still unmoved body of Queen Hudie. Then she flicked her magic wand down.

Queen Hudie crossed her arms above, endured Neo's attacks desperately, and protected the heirloom crystal from being retaken by us.

Zhu darted into the fight, Win caught up with him. They channeled their energy into Neo's body.

Boom!

But for some reason, they were slammed backwards, Neo's body rejecting their energy that should have entered his body. Like the opposite magnet.

"Zhu, what happened to him?" Rui stopped near us, she asked frantically after realizing that the one who was fighting was Neo.

"I didn't expect, the young man turned out to be strong enough as well," Yets stood beside Rui, coming to watch this two-man fight.

"I don't know what's going on, but my energy can't get into his body. This battle, only depended on the ability of his body. If he loses, we're all done here." Win stood up while looking at Zhu who slammed the hardest.

"Sister." Zhi muttered softly, he stood up while holding Bim who had just lost his soul pearl, the silent young man came back in the form of a fox.

"Zhi, are you okay?" Zhu looked surprised to see Zhi who had been lying helpless now stood up straight.

Zhi nodded, "I'm fine. That's not important now. The important thing is that we have to save that young man!" Zhi looked at Neo who was still fighting magic power with the invincible Queen.

"I know, Zhi. But it was too late, no one could help him anymore now. He made that choice, he knew the consequences himself." Zhu exhaled a disappointed breath.

"But, Brother. She's it—"

"Zhi, tell me later after the situation improves," Zhu cut off Zhi's conversation, his gaze looking very serious. Zhi instantly fell silent as soon as she saw her brother get angry.

"You, you traitor!" Neo exclaimed loudly. His voice echoed throughout the room. He pointed his left fist forward, then pushed the body with such powerful energy.

Those of us who had pulled over were even blown away by the wind that came out of that energy. Queen Hudie bounced a dozen meters away.

But let alone getting hurt, his body still stood upright. Like absolutely nothing could be hurt by such a huge energy.

"Win, should we try to break through again?" Zhu asked once more to help Neo.

But Win shook his head, "It will only put everyone in danger, Zhu. Including Neo himself."

"Jian, what if we just move forward?" Rui held my arm.

I closed his mouth with my index finger. "Don't be too hard, Rui." I whispered.

Since then, Rui and I have been planning to break into the battlefield. Waiting for the Door Guards did not notice.

"One,"

"Two,"

"Three ...."

The splash!

Me and Rui darted into the fight zone. Rui appeared behind Queen Hudie, her right hand clinging to Queen Hudie's back. It gives off a bright light.

Queen Hudie groaned, her back smouldering like lava. I focused my attack to distract him, and snatched the Heirloom Crystal when he had yet to notice it.

Above us, Neo raised his staff which was now turned into a sword. The sword was shrouded in flaming lightning. Then he took it towards Queen Hudie.

Rui and I walked away for a moment. Before finally Win and Zhu pulled our bodies back to the edge of the hall.

"There's no point in you guys fighting side by side, Jian, Rui! Neo is no longer your friend. His greatest strength had already appeared, he was already overpowered by a powerful magic ambition. It could even attack you mercilessly."

Jamba!

The atmosphere became quiet for a moment. There was the last scream of a woman who was now motionless leaning against the wall.

A long sword pierced through his body, the Heirloom Crystal falling from his grasp. Split into two.

We all looked at him in disbelief. The crystal broke, splitting in two. Then how can we go back home?

Forget about going back home. Neo fell from a height of ten meters with a fainting condition. Zhu immediately led her lying in a more shady place.

I nodded without thinking, "That crystal needs to be repaired. Neo took longer to heal his wounds. How long do we have to wait, as long as Neo gets well again, I will."

Zhu looked at Win and Yets, his face looking displeased.

"Kids, this time, Neo might not be able to survive anymore." Zhu mumbled softly.

Rui and I were silent, but the crying broke everything. What do they mean? Why can't Neo be saved again?

"Zhu, hasn't your medicine technique been the greatest? Why can't we save Neo now? Didn't you heal his wounds before?" Rui asked with a trembling voice.

"I'm sorry I kept that from you guys." Zhi looked down inside.

"What are you hiding from us?" I asked in a faint tone, "If anything happens to Neo, how are we going to explain it to Neo's parents later, Zhu? How's it?"

Zhu ignored me, his body disappeared, then appeared in front of Queen Hudie who was already out of breath. Then with great energy, he blocked a few spots inside Queen Hudie's body.

"You can't master any more magic."

"Your soul can't hide inside an empty body."

"All your memories will disappear as your life drifts!"

Dap!

Queen Hudie shouted loudly, her voice shrill deafening. Then the body turned into thousands of small-sized black butterflies. The pearl of his soul came out after the body had faded. Zhu smashed it with the tip of his stick.

Zhu reappeared among us who were crying in despair. The look in his eyes implied regret, he rubbed the Neo magic wand filled with bloodstains. Her tears were filled with fear.

"Neo, I've got your revenge." Zhu muttered softly while tightly grasping the magic wand.

A few seconds later, from inside the stick came out a small, glowing marble-like object. Zhu was about to put it into Neo's body.

But Win stopped him, "If put in, he'll never wake up again, Zhu."

"It's worth it if we separate his soul core, will he still be able to open his eyes?" Zhu insisted on putting the marbles into Neo's body.

"Can." Win and the Yets answered in unison. Bim, who is now a fox, moves his tail.

Win sighed softly, "Although I feel sad because Bim emptied his soul bottle, but I know, he did that to protect the lives of two people. He inserted his soul core into Zhi's body, then another half of his soul came out of the human body that he had occupied for thousands of years, returning to its original form. Since it was already like this, just put Neo's soul core into Bim's Soul Bottle, Zhu. We can revive it in the body of a dead man. Just like Bim did for Zhi." Win gave a detailed explanation.

Rui and I stared at each other, still not understanding what they were saying. What is a Soul Bottle? What does it mean to bring him back to life? What does the soul core mean?

"That can't be done to him, Win. He's gonna lose all his memory of these kids and us. He will live as if he were the owner of the body. We can't let him not recognize these kids by the name Neo. It was different from Bim handing his soul over to Zhi, they were previously connected to each other. Between you and your master. If we allow Neo's soul to enter another's body, doesn't that mean giving a second chance to someone we don't know about? After all Neo is not a magical entity that can move his soul anywhere without fear of memory loss." Zhu objected to Win's idea. He refused loudly whatever happened.

Win sighed, "I know, Zhu. But that's all we can do to keep his life."

"Win, sorry I interrupted. But, why couldn't Neo be turned on in his own body? Isn't that the same thing? Rather than moving his soul to someone else's body, if it can be revived, why not just in his original body?" I raised my hand, asking the question I had been holding myself up since.

Zhu sighed, "Did Neo really tell you nothing?"

Me and Rui shook their heads together. "Why indeed?"

The atmosphere was suddenly quiet, the expressions on the faces of the Doorkeepers suddenly turned grim. Zhi even shed her tears.

"What's the matter, Zhu?" I held her hand, Zhu had to tell us whatever happened to Neo.

"You guys are really insensitive." Yets grumbling.

Me and Rui don't understand. Why did the Yets call us insensitive? Does Neo want something from us and he doesn't say it?

Zhu let out a long sigh, "Previously while studying at the academy, Neo himself came to Hudie to learn a hidden technique. Hudie gives him one of the forbidden magic with Neo's own life guarantee. Neo said back then, Hudie barely gave him the magic spell. But Neo himself was the one forcing it. He said he wanted to protect his friends from harm. She wanted her magic power to be stronger than her friends. So Hudie gave her a forbidden magic that should not be developed inside a body whose magic card was still white.

"The forbidden energy is what makes him able to change the shape of his stick into anything. The wand was created using his own soul core, while the power core of the wand was inserted into Neo's body to fill the void, which was why he could change its shape according to what Neo needed.

"Neo himself already knew what consequences he would have to face in the future if he used that forbidden magic. He said he just wanted his friends to stay safe. He dared to guarantee his body would be fine until the magic card was removed later. As long as he doesn't use that power too often, he'll be fine.

"In fact, the danger outside was heavier than he had anticipated. Neo unleashed more power than he should. His body even had to be hit by another forbidden magic. That was Rux's black magic while he was in Dixia Academy Hall back then.

"He didn't think how bad the negative impact was when the two forbidden energies collided with each other. The forbidden magic trigger on Neo's mother rose. And it ran all over her body looking for food. From then on, Neo had to be even more careful when using magic. But he ignored her, always ignoring her whenever you were in danger.

"Slowly, Neo's body was depleted from being gnawed at the energy core of the wand itself. If we put his soul into his original body, then he'll really die."

I held my breath while looking at my friend who was not breathing. Neo, why did you make that decision without telling us?

"Then, Win. Is there any way to get her body back to how it was?" Rui asked after wiping her tears.