Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest Chapter 2076: Uncle Asura Joins

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"I see. Well, maybe we could stick together?" Elayne asked, her voice calm yet carrying a quiet hope as she glanced around at the group. "Or do you plan to go on solo?"

"What?!" Mark and Blank reacted in almost perfect unison, both turning to glare at Elayne with clear disbelief written across their faces.

"Why would you say that?" Sailor asked, crossing her arms with an exaggerated huff. "We’ve already got enough men around here. This sausage party can’t get any bigger, Elayne! How about inviting some ladies instead?"

"Huh?" Elayne blinked, momentarily confused by the sudden teasing. "Come on, Sailor, you don’t need to be so rude! It’s fine. He’s just joking around."

"Hah, well, I wouldn’t really like to reject an invitation from someone who even managed to tame the Bone Blade..." the man said with a respectful nod. "Sure, why not? Though we first need to figure out what the hell we should do next. How long does this damned line go on for? It feels like it’s endless!"

"It’s going to take its time," Chalk replied with a resigned shrug. "With the Blue Flame Soul Tournament coming soon, everyone is clamoring to get there in time. The entire place is packed because of it."

As everyone continued chatting to kill time, the hours slowly passed. Elayne felt a mild wave of sleepiness begin to settle over her. She looked down at the bracelet resting in her hands, watching the purple crystals glimmer faintly under the dim light of the waiting area.

From what she could recall, the bracelet had been built from the cores of the ancient Abyssal Myconids. Each of them had willingly given a piece of their own hearts to create it. Those cores ranked among the greatest treasures of their entire tribe, yet they had handed them over to her so easily, trusting her so completely and without any demand for repayment.

She no longer even looked like a Myconid, and yet they had still chosen to place their faith in her. That simple act of trust made Elayne feel a quiet ache of guilt and gratitude mixed together.

But could it be true? Was she still somehow a Myconid deep down, forever connected to them? The memory of their acceptance felt strangely warm. They had welcomed her into their midst despite every difference that existed between them. For a brief moment that warmth made her smile, giving her the rare feeling of truly belonging somewhere.

She lifted her gaze and looked into the distance. The long line had become noticeably shorter as the hours continued to pass. Banter still rose and fell between the others. Sailor, Blank, and Uncle Asura (the name everyone had started calling him because he stubbornly refused to share his real one) kept discussing various topics, sometimes growing a little heated in their arguments.

Mark and Elayne, meanwhile, remained mostly silent and simply decided to wait. Patience was something both of them possessed in abundance. After all, Elayne had spent ten long years trapped inside a dark pit, slowly figuring out how to create spirit energy from nothing once again. To people who had endured that kind of trial, almost anything felt possible as long as one held onto patience.

Still, Mark seemed to notice the quiet worry lingering in her eyes.

"Are you worried?" he asked gently.

"Hm," she nodded. "I know I should be more relaxed. We beat a Death Apostle and everything, but... the people in here, what’s going on with Ignis’ sister... I had no idea any of this was happening. It kind of makes me sad. So much misfortune keeps unfolding everywhere, and if I hadn’t accidentally come across this place, I would have completely missed all of it."

"I guess you might have," Mark nodded in understanding. "But we didn’t miss it, right? I believe we should just keep moving forward. Try not to worry so much about things that haven’t happened yet, or about things that never came to pass."

"Yeah," Elayne nodded again, managing a faint smile. "You’re not wrong, Mark. It’s just... I wonder. I lost my BNLO Avatar. I am no longer Planta anymore... I am simply myself, just Elayne. And... it makes me wonder if I’m still truly worthy to be called Hephaestus’ Descendant."

Mark looked into her eyes, realizing this particular doubt had been weighing on her for a long time. "Although BNLO and the status we gained as players always felt like a game, it never really was just a game, right? Remember how we slowly became able to bring some of that power from the game into reality over time? Well, I believe the same principle still applies. Even though we’re all dead now, we’re slowly regaining and reclaiming that power. Me included. I’ve already begun forging my own body again into totems and similar forms, and there’s much more still waiting. The Totem Spirits I thought were lost forever have started to reappear. It’s the same for you, and probably for even more things, right?"

"Hm..." Elayne nodded slowly. "But I still cannot reclaim things from the game the way we used to, like skills or classes..."

"I know," Mark said, gently caressing her hair. "But I also know that the abilities we built together during all that time... they remain inside us. The classes themselves... I’m certain their power is still there somewhere within us. The Avatars couldn’t have simply disappeared completely."

"..." Elayne nodded again, a spark of hope returning to her expression. "Remember what I told you about meeting my daughter for a short while? From what I learned during that meeting, she and the other girls... their bodies and avatars had already merged. I believe that if we ever return to the world of the living, even if only for a moment, the system itself might bring the avatars back to us and fuse them with our current bodies!"

The thought settled between them like a quiet promise, giving both of them something solid to hold onto while the line continued its slow advance toward whatever awaited them next.

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