Vampire's Slice of Life

"WHAT!?"

The shocked yells came from Sebastian and Tsuki as Ariel mentioned the catch.

Lith on the other hand was unfazed. This was not the first time he was in a precarious position such as this.

Ariel looked at everyone and calmly continued, "That's a hypothesis and not something I am one hundred percent sure of. For the time being, let's assume the worst and think that this is true."

Sebastian, Tsuki relaxed and showed their slightly panicked and worried look as Ariel continued on.

She was dropping one bombshell after another with her words and if possible, these guys really wanted her to not speak anymore.

Lith, having heard her bit, rubbed his chin and said, "So… Our fates are tied and we are back to doing that unity thing?"

By unity thing, Lith was referring to the trial where they were all forced to work as a group. Nothing seemed to have changed from then and now, making the whole situation quite laughable.

Ariel could only just nod in response to Lith's comment and then went quiet.

The group fell silent and as they were all thinking deeply about Ariel's words.

After a while, Lith, turning to look at Iki, asked, "Why didn't you run away?"

Everyone's ears perked up as the silence broke and they turned to look at Iki.

Lith's question was something they all had in their minds as well and wanted to know about.

Iki, focusing his serious gaze on Lith, didn't say anything and just stared at him for a while.

The serious eyes Lith was looking at spoke a lot more than what words could.

The eyes conveyed that what other option did Iki have? And leave? Leave where? Where was he supposed to even go?

There were so many thoughts on this matter that Iki was at a loss of words to even phrase and speak about them.

Lith could understand this guy and could see where he was coming from. However…

Showing an indifferent look on his otherwise jolly face, Lith said, "You had the option to run, yet you didn't. The whole universe was your playground, but still you didn't. Why?"

Many things were still unanswered and Iki's mental stability had to be checked.

If it turned out that this emo guy was a crackhead, then Lith was doomed.

Nobody liked people who actively courted death, offended old powerful geezers, thought themselves to be highly entitled and so on.

In what category Iki lay, Lith didn't know. What he did know was that Iki didn't like his life and wanted an end to it soon.

This dude was really tired and it was clearly showing. Even if Lith wanted to ignore it, he couldn't. That's how obvious things were.

Iki, being asked such a question in such a straightforward manner, first didn't answer, but then… noticing how everyone was looking intently and seeked answers, gazed at the distance and said,

"The boundless universe does not fancy me. A mere hut is enough. I tried seeking solace, but found myself journeying through hellish turmoil. I met countless beings and all stated…"

Iki's words were filled with deep meaning and complete seriousness. His hoarse and deep voice made everyone realize that this definitely was Iki's first time speaking in a long while.

How Iki was managing being a loner and antisocial, only he knew.

With his profound experience and immaculate words, Iki stated to all five that he had many people who commented, 'It's all about the journey and not the end goal'.

Meaning that hustling day and night to have your dream come true was actually better than having your dream finally come true.

It was a bullshit thing whoever had said it and Iki was strongly against this.

He tried finding solace so much, but what met him were nothing but hardships from one point of time till another.

With how difficult and challenging these hardships were to conquer, how could this be enjoyable to anybody, let alone Iki, who had even overcome them.

Never once did Iki find happiness within the journey and had always dreamt of actually having his dream come true.

Another really important thing that Iki talked about was how life would get after one's dream is fulfilled and one achieved their reward.

Life would never change despite the dream being fulfilled as there would be some other bigger thing that would come up.

Thus, the cycle of going through the journeys would always repeat and at one point, it would get so hectic that one would get trapped in it with no way out.

With that, the dream would never come true and neither would actual happiness or solace to the man seeking solace.

Being one such man and having suffered through it, Iki was tired of things and just wanted to rest.

He believed that his rest lay in his death and that, maybe, maybe after his death, he would actually end up finding eternal solace and bliss.

Maybe after death, there would be no more seeking solace, no more offending anybody, no more struggling, and no more fighting for survival.

Hopefully after death, true salvation and peace will be achieved, thought Iki and said it out loud to everybody.

His comments were deep and went on to show just how much he was suffering.

Except Lith, the other four could only sigh and shake their heads. They understood him completely and found things really relatable.

Meanwhile Lith on the other hand, rubbing his chin to appear like a wise man, said, "You just said that you've been in constant hardships and never found a day you were at peace. I'm starting to think that the problem…"

Lith turned completely serious.

"…It's actually you, yourself."

Iki shifted his gaze to look at Lith, wondering whether he was trying to humour him or something at such a critical point.

Lith, being completely serious, continued, "You know, I'm starting to think that the problem is not actually your fate, but with how you are. You are your biggest enemy and bring forth consistent hardships."

Iki frowned when hearing that while the rest listened intently, Ariel included.

Lith walked around the battlefield and picking a half broken sword from ground, explained, "You see, we are all sentient beings and there's a reason why we're sentient and stand truly apart from mindless beasts or monsters."

"The reason for our high intelligence and consciousness is simply due to one thing: adaptability."

Lith dragged the broken sword on the ground with some firm pressure and continued, "Adaptability is our greatest tool and how our life shapes into is totally dependent on it."

Lith stopped in his tracks and pulled the broken sword out of the ground, surprising everybody.

The half broken sword, with just some dragging on the ground, had actually turned into a proper short sword.

After showing it to everybody, Lith put the sword back on the ground and continued to drag it.

While walking, he resumed his explanation and said, "So what I'm trying to convey here is…"