Chapter 986 Facing Fears

Taking a few breaths, Shiro sat on the edge of her bed.

"Take your time, no need to rush." Nan Tian smiled as Shiro nodded her head.

Stepping out of her bed for the first time, Shiro could already feel her heart pounding as she looked towards the door.

Tightening her grip on Nan Tian's sleeve, she took a step forward.

One step, two steps, three steps.

With each step, her heart seemed to pound louder as there was a ringing sound in her ears.

Her mind seemed to become foggy as her surroundings twisted.

Biting her lips, Shiro squeezed her eyes shut before taking another step forward.

Seeing Shiro struggle with walking towards the door, Nan Tian didn't say anything and only watched silently while urging her on in his heart.

Opening her eyes again, Shiro froze up in a panic as the shadows seemed to form the image of the watchman behind the door.

Her breathing halted as her muscles tensed up.

Despite wanting to take another step forward, she found her body refusing to budge.

Gritting her teeth, Shiro sighed in defeat as she took a step back.

Finally being able to breathe again, Shiro tightened her grip on Nan Tian's sleeve.

"Don't think about it too much. This is just the first attempt." Nan Tian reassured with a smile as Shiro nodded her head and made her way back on the bed.

Sitting down with one hand hugging both her knees and the other gripped on Nan Tian's sleeve, Shiro sat in silence. She opened her mouth a few times but didn't say anything.

Letting her think for a moment, Nan Tian continued to work.

"Sorry." Shiro apologised as Nan Tian glanced over.

"Why are you apologising?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… I didn't manage to get past the door." Shiro replied softly as she peeked up at him to see his expression.

Seeing him smiled softly, Shiro watched as he set down the tablet.

"There's nothing that you should be apologising about. It's not like stopping here means that you've failed or that you've given up. You have plenty of time to try your best, I won't be disappointed no matter what you choose to do." Nan Tian chuckled.

"So even if I give up, you won't be disappointed?" Shiro asked.

"Yes, because I know you won't give up. You just need time, that's my faith in you as a person. You are someone who… challenges the impossible. You gather gods to your side and make them your allies while others dread your presence. This is nothing but a short stop for you to rest."

"You make me sound better than I already am." Shiro muttered, glancing down at the ripples on the bed sheet.

"That's only because you think you're not that good. Overcoming this lies in your mindset. Even if it takes years, I'll be here every step of the way. Of course, only if you permit me." Nan Tian chuckled.

"Mn you're asking for consent now." Shiro laughed softly, distracting herself from the fact that she succ.u.mbed to her fears.

"Well if I didn't I'd just annoy you know?" Nan Tian chuckled.

"That's true. I should have had my dad keep a close eye on you so you didn't get kidnapped." Shiro nodded while resting her head on her arm.

"Well if you did things would be very different now wouldn't they?"

"True." Nodding her head, Shiro laid down properly on the bed as she glanced up at Nan Tian.

"Has Nyx and the other gods contracted you yet? I haven't heard anything from them." Shiro asked.

She was able to see her system again and it was quite a shock to see all of the notifications with most of them being damage dealt to her body.

The messages from the gods seemed to have cut off after she was injured after the fight with the watchman so she wasn't sure about what they thought.

"I haven't heard anything from them either. There's the possibility that it's just the system acting up since we did try to go against it. I'd say we give it a while to see how it reacts." Nan Tian smiled as Shiro nodded her head.

Looking up at the ceiling, she glanced at the damage reports.

Her soul was mostly repaired hence why she was able to see and touch but it was still damaged due to the system backlash.

Her body was incapable of using mana or divine energy right now and there seemed to be a Title or rather, debuff placed on her body.

[Tainted Shell]

After barely escaping the fate of becoming Fallen, your body and soul is now more prone to corruptive powers.

Chances of resisting Fallen Transformation: -10%

It was a permanent debuff/Title that hindered her but she wasn't surprised.

In that moment of losing Isilia, she desperately wanted power to avoid that fate and this desire had almost pulled her over the edge. Had it not been for Gaia in the final moments, she would just be a husk of herself.

Aside from Tainted Shell, there were two more things that caught her eye.

One of which is the skill she received from using Extraction on Jasmine which robbed her of her senses.

[Soul Siphon]

You lock your gaze on your opponent's soul and destroy it from within. The stronger your opponent, the harder it is to keep your eye on their soul.

Should you take your eyes off before the process is finished, it'll slowly heal back the damage. Those with resistances can contest against this skill to delay the effects.

Cost: 20% of mana initial cost. 1% per second after the initial cost.

Duration: N/A

Cooldown: 1 day per soul

The second thing that caught her eye was the title she received on the day she fired the weapon.

[Realm Breaker]

Your attack has penetrated the barrier between realms. Whenever you attack, you can imbue your attack with a small amount of divine energy in order to redirect the energy of the barrier collapsing onto their body.

Unless they have resistances against dimensional energies, they cannot block this damage.

Aside from this, her stats have also increased since she was level 760 but she couldn't help but find her stat page a little laughable. Despite the huge numbers and a myriad of skills, she still lost without being able to do much.

Suddenly, Nan Tian flickered her forehead.

"Ow. What was that for?" Shiro furrowed her brows and rubbed her forehead while glancing up at Nan Tian who chuckled.

"You have the same expression whenever you think about yourself in a self depreciative manner." Nan Tian replied as Shiro lightly rubbed her forehead.

"And how would you know that?"

"Well I've seen it quite often now." Nan Tian shrugged.

He had seen the same expression time and time again and each time he saw it, he felt his heart being pierced since Shiro would always continue to spiral down once it started. Now that she had finally started to look forward, he couldn't let her spiral down again.

He decided to take a gamble and thankfully it paid off since it didn't annoy her further and that she was actually comfortable with speaking casually now.

As if finally seeing a hint of the end of the tunnel, Nan Tian felt happier than ever in his heart. He just had to continue at this pace and sooner or later, she'll be able to recover and he'll be able to see Shiro at her best again.

"Hmph, bullying a patient. What if I become depressed?" Shiro pouted while pulling the cover over her head.

"If you become depressed because of my flick I suppose I'll have to take responsibility to help you then." Nan Tian smiled.

"And how would you even do that?"

"Hmm… good question. How would I do that?" Nan Tian joked as it was good to help Shiro think about other things for now.

"And you ask the patient? You have no talent for being a therapist or doctor." Shiro replied.

Under the cover, there was a small smile on her face as her gaze softened. Closing them, she decided to rest now. She'll try again after she wakes up.

"Well I'm not exactly a doctor type to begin with."

Hearing no response for a while, Nan Tian realised that she must have slept and pulled down the cover a little so that she could sleep comfortably.

Brushing the hair off her face, he wished that she had a pleasant dream instead of a nightmare before resuming his work on the tablet.