The Ascension Age

Of course, no one took notice of him because every single person was looking at the sky. Though, once the light disappeared, the people passing by saw his body there.

"Ah!"

Immediately, a girl that was by his side screamed as everyone's attention was grabbed. Soon, a big crowd gathered around him, watching as some people helped Aire up on the ground. Because the Ascension Age School was about to start a new year, many students and even teachers passed through the entrance. Obviously, it caught their attention.

"Hey! Are you okay? Wake up! Someone, help me bring him to the clinic. The dormitories' clinic is the closest, so let's go there." A few people then helped bring Aire away.

However, little did they know that Aire wasn't unconscious. Instead, huge changes were happening to his body. Because of that, he couldn't move at all. All he could do was think about what just happened.

'What was that? Someone talked to me, and then my body went limp after that. I can't even open my eyes at the moment. What did that thing mean by Master? Was it because of what happened in the sky?'

Out of nowhere, the same feminine voice echoed in his mind once again as it said, 'That's right, Master. That was me. I couldn't help but feel excited to finally find you, so I was a little too eager. Sorry about that.'

Aire was taken aback by that. After all, he couldn't talk at the moment. That being said, didn't this 'girl' or whatever just read his mind?

'That's correct, Master. We're linked by soul, so I can see what you're thinking.'

Aire began to have a bad feeling about this as he thought, 'Errr... Usually, someone would ask you what happened, who you are, and things like that.'

Aire wasn't one of them, though. 'However, don't worry. I simply have no interest whatsoever. Go ahead and find someone else. I promise I won't say a single word about this.'

Are you kidding me? There's no way in hell I want anything to do with it. He already had his own hidden problems to deal with. Why should he get even more?

However, the voice quickly answered, 'That's not possible, Master. There's only a single chance to merge with a compatible living being, and you are that being. We're now a two-in-one force!'

Aire's bad premonition had become a reality.

'Like hell we are! Get away from my body right now! I told you, I don't have a smidgen of interest in what you are or what you want. Besides, there should be plenty of people stronger, more intelligent, and especially richer than me. I'm just a nobody who wants to live a peaceful life, so just go ahead and disappear!'

Unfortunately for him, the voice had terrible news as it said, 'Master! That's not possible. At the very least, not at this puny level of yours.'

It then continued, 'If I separate from you right now, not only will I die, but I will also bring you down with me. After all, the same way I need your soul to exist, it also applies vice versa.'

The voice then got excited as it added, 'But you shouldn't feel too sad. I'm here to make you shine like a star. Together, we will succeed in this Ascension Age! We're going to become the light that illuminates the path for everyone. Isn't that great?!'

Aire felt like crying already.

'Great...your ass! Who the hell wants to shine like a star? I don't want to shine. No, even better, please bring all the light away. The greater the shadow I can make, the better! Now, I don't know how you'll do it, but I want you to disappear right now and not involve me in it.'

The voice sighed before saying, 'Master, I told you already. We're a two-in-one force now. I can separate myself from you, but I can guarantee that both of us are going to die straight away.'

Aire was helpless.

'Why should I believe you?'

'Because I wouldn't lie to my Master!'

Aire then concentrated as he continued to think.

'Alright, just ignore the voice. As long as you pretend it doesn't exist, it will go away at some point. Yes, that's the best course of action.'

As mentioned before, the thing that entered Aire's soul could hear his thoughts, so it immediately... started to cry.

*sniff, sniff*

Aire was taken aback by that thing's reaction. What bullshit was that? Unfortunately for Aire, he was indeed connected through soul with whatever it was. That being said, he could feel its emotions, making him feel like crying as well.

He tried to ignore it at first. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. Eventually, he couldn't take it anymore.

'Ahhhh! Alright, alright! I won't ignore you, okay?'

The girl's voice finally seemed to calm down a little as it asked, 'Re-really?'

Aire confirmed, 'Yes, so just stop it. Your emotions are overflowing inside me. If you don't stop, I will end up crying as well.'

Aire noticed that the thing's emotion finally settled down and sighed in relief. He soon said, 'Seems like you're okay now. Well, to be honest, I really don't want to ask anything. Out of nowhere, the skies go bright, and then you appear. Doesn't matter how I see it. I've gotten involved in something big, so I'll try to turn it into as small of a deal as possible.'

He then continued as he asked, 'First of all, what's your name?'

The voice went silent for a moment before answering, 'I don't really have a name since I'm just an Ascension Age Soul Assistant.'

'Ascension Age Soul Assistant? What is- No, forget it. I don't want to know what it is. Since you don't have a name, I'll call you... errr...'

Aire had never really named anything before, so he couldn't come up with a good idea. It was then that he remembered his Stellar AI from his communicator.

'Stellar Ai... Stellar... Alright, I'm going to call you Stella. You have a girl's voice, or at least that's how it sounds in my mind, so that's okay, right?'

The voice pondered over it before responding, 'Stella, Stella... Yes! I love it! From now on, I'm Stella!'

Aire couldn't help but feel happy. Not that he wanted to, but that Stella's emotions affected his own. But he also felt like Stella was just like a child, or so it seemed.

'Ahem... alright, calm down first. Stella, I will repeat what I said before. I just want to live a peaceful life. However, I can't live with you inside my soul, right? To be honest, I don't know if I believe that souls exist. I always thought that a mind was nothing more than electrical pulses. Anyway, it doesn't change the fact that we can't keep going like this. Tell me, how do I get you out without affecting both of us?'

Stella immediately replied, 'Master, you're too weak to do that. Before you obtain better control over your soul, separating the two of us is impossible unless we ignore both our deaths.'

Aire narrowed his eyes...or he would if he could move his body at the moment. 'I don't like that. Too weak? Controlling my soul? Why does it feel like I'll have to do a lot of work to reach that point?'

Stella agreed with him. 'But of course!' Stella mentioned as if stating a fact. 'How can you increase your Stellar Level without putting in hard work? Don't worry, Master. I can definitely help you reach that level. By then, you will understand how amazing I am and won't want to separate anymore.'

Aire immediately disliked the idea.

'Out of the question! It goes against my ideal path of a quiet and calm life. Even if I have to live with you in my mind for the rest of my days, I absolutely won't do anything that goes against that objective.'

Stella couldn't help but feel sad again as she said, 'But Master... sniff, sniff... If you don't increase your level soon, your soul and body wouldn't be able to sustain my presence. Master, I don't want you to go BOOM!'

Aire felt a chill on his back when he heard that.

'BOOM?'

'BOOM!'

'What you mean by going BOOM?'

'I mean... KABOOM!'

Aire's mouth would definitely twitch if it could move at the moment.

'You must be fucking kidding me!'

Stella wasn't.

'I'm not lying, Master. I don't want you to go BOOM!'

'Can you stop saying BOOM so many times?! I feel like I'm going to explode any second now!'

'Should I say BANG instead?!'

'Great! Now someone's shooting me down! I guess it's a much better way of dying than exploding, right?'

'...Like hell it is!'

Stella immediately went silent after that.

Aire sighed before continuing, 'Alright, we're starting off on the wrong foot. First, stop calling me Master. I'm not anyone's Master, nor do I want to be one. Call me Aire. My name is Aire Ruehnar.'

'Alright, Ma- Aire!' Stella was obviously delighted to hear that when she answered.

Once again, her happiness filled his own emotions. 'Okay, okay. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, can you tell me why I can't move my body?'

Stella got all excited again as she began to explain, 'That's because Aire became my new host. Thanks to that, your body is now becoming a lot stronger to hold my existence.'

Aire didn't like that, though. He then asked, 'Does that mean my aptitude is now better than before?'

'Yes, yes! That's it! Isn't that great?'

Aire obviously disagreed as he replied, 'Can it not?'

Stella was puzzled, though.

'But Aire...you need to become great to not go BANG KABOOM.'

'Oh! So not only was I shot down to death, my body even exploded after that! Great!'