Chapter 223 Volume IV - Chapter 68: Yellow-Eyed Black Snake
"W- What? What did you just say...? He... is dead?"
Professor Ulka was looking at me with his usual cold expression... as if he was waiting for me to say something. As if what he was saying was something very normal.
Ah... Waiting for me to say something?
Something's wrong with this.
If Aiden's dead... Why didn't he tell me that in the first place?
I frowned, then asked, trying to keep my composure.
"Why did you lie?"
"It wasn't a lie, at least not in the hidden records."
Ulka put his hand in the pocket of his white coat.
"I'm only saying this because you're going to work with me and Aiden. Aiden was registered as dead about a month and a half ago, but the rector denied and concealed those records. There are no more than ten people who know that Aiden should have been registered dead."
"Why did the rector deny the records?"
"Probably because she, like me, has a mana contract with Aiden and, like me, she is aware that nothing has changed in that mana contract."
Ah... I get it now... That makes sense.
"Aiden... Where is he?"
"Somewhere on the Holar continent. He said he wouldn't be heard from for a while, so he probably did it on purpose."
Holar... The continent of the dwarves... It's a continent at war right now.
I didn't expect this... I thought at least he was still in Cevilian, but it's good to know he's still alive.
If it is him, he will return eventually. I'll trust him, just like he trusted me once.
"Okay, thanks."
With that, Ulka sighed again.
"Start helping me now if you want, go rest if you want, and come back later. I don't care if it's late at night."
That's what he said... but his tone and expression didn't support what he said at all.
"I'm not sleepy, professor."
"Then read the files on the table over there and give me your thoughts. I'll tell you what to do based on what you say."
I looked at the desk he showed me, then at the pile of files on it...
A big smile appeared on my face.
Do you want me to read files all night because you don't want to deal with me?
"Okay."
The professor turned around and started walking away.
I quickly poured mana into my skill, the skill that was the reason Aiden had approached me in the first place.
I looked at the files as the world in front of me quickly lit up, and then I grabbed all the information I could about them.
The professor took a few more steps. I digested each one as fast as I could as all the information in the file quickly flooded into my mind.
Finally, Professor Ulka was just leaving the room we were in when the skill was deactivated.
"Increased efficiency and quality in complex rune formations that provide dimensional inventory... A common problem that researchers are working on, but one that many are afraid to reach out to."
Ulka paused, then slowly turned to me and raised his eyebrows curiously.
"Since the field of dimensional inventory has advanced so much, people don't want to dwell on it anymore, believing that everything is too perfect."
The professor nodded in agreement, so I continued.
"Still, the rune formations that provide these inventories are too complex. The connection points could be adjusted, or a few additional runes could be added and some removed to try to find a more suitable formation. I can think of a few other methods, would you like me to explain them with examples?"
Professor Ulka grinned for the first time since I first met him. Then he turned around and started moving again toward where he had been trying to go in the first place.
"Follow me."
I grinned back and followed him, taking the first steps toward getting closer to the professor.
Realizing, of course, that he had a lot to teach me. After all, he's a professor, and once I've earned his trust, it won't be a problem to use his knowledge for myself.
I will do everything I can for Aiden.
I'll be his dog if I have to.
*******
As the first rays of morning light began to shine through my window and hit my face, my eyes slowly opened as a sound echoed in my ears simultaneously.
It was a melody, one of the classic alarm tunes.
I sat up slowly, then stared for a few seconds at my own image in the mirror opposite me.
I looked at my disheveled brown hair, my burred gray eyes and then yawned slightly.
School...
Ah, right. The weekend... I forgot to turn off the alarm.
I threw myself back on my bed, closed my eyes again, and waited for a while.
Seconds passed... Maybe even two minutes.
"Huff..."
I got straight out of bed, splashed cold water hard on my face, not caring about my lack of sleep, and went to the kitchen.
It was a day like any other, a start like any other. While I was eating my breakfast, I was looking at the messaging app, checking the last message I sent to my brother.
<<------------------------------
You: Brother, I hope you are well... Can you tell me when you can come back when you see my message?
------------------------------>>
Still unseen, eleven days after the message.
I let out a deep sigh.
I know he said I wouldn't be able to reach him for a few months before he left, but... The things I've seen since I got the Clairvoyance skill always make something inside me feel uncomfortable.
Especially what I saw about two weeks ago.
A shadow weeping blood, almost disappearing under the scorching sun, then trying to climb a deadly mountain filled with thousands of obstacles, but just as it reaches the top, the stone it thought was the strongest breaks and it falls down the mountain...
It was a dream, and yet I know it was no simple dream.
I don't know what my skill is trying to tell me. I've never heard of any prophecies showing the future directly, they're always... symbolic.
This one must be too, but I have no idea what it means, and that's exactly why it makes me feel uneasy.
I wonder if there are things I need to learn for this... seer thing. Like lessons at school, for example.
~beep!
At the sound of the notification, I stared at the wall for a moment, then checked the notification with a deep sigh.
A smile appeared on my face.
<<------------------------------
Paul: Good morning ^^
------------------------------>>
I put the fork down on my plate, enlarged the screen to be holographic, and responded in the same way.
<<------------------------------
You: Good morning.
Paul: Come on... you are so cold.
------------------------------>>
My smile widened, I leaned back in my chair and pulled my left leg toward me.
<<------------------------------
You: You want me to send you a heart emoji or something?
Paul: It would at least make me feel like we've been dating for a month and a half.
------------------------------>>
For a moment my fingers didn't go to the keyboard.
A month and a half... Has it been that long? I didn't even realize how fast time was moving...
In this way, our conversation went on and on. When my food was already cold, Paul suddenly strayed from the topic.
<<------------------------------
Paul: By the way, I'm sorry. I told you we would meet, but something important came up.
------------------------------>>
The smile on my face suddenly fell.
<<------------------------------
You: Is there a problem?
Paul: It's about my sister, it's not a big deal, but I have to go to her.
You: I see...
------------------------------>>
I was excited when he said he wanted to take me somewhere. It was in vain...
There's nothing to do.
<<------------------------------
Paul: Next time, sorry. I love you. I have to go.
------------------------------>>
After answering in the same way, Paul went offline and I turned off the holographic screen.
I looked at the unfinished food on the table in front of me, I had lost my appetite. It was already cold.
With a deep sigh, I cleaned up the table and went back to bed.
I didn't think I'd ever get this close to Paul, to think that my mood had dropped just because I couldn't be with him.
I didn't trust myself to make this relationship work. At least having someone to lean on when my brother wasn't here was enough for me. That's what I thought, and now every day Paul is more and more a part of my life.
I smiled slightly, thinking it would be good to sleep, even if only for a little while.
I could never say no to a little extra sleep, and it felt good to relax at the weekend.
But... what I thought didn't happen. Instead...
~hisssss...
My closed eyes suddenly opened.
I looked around, around every corner, but I couldn't understand where the sound was coming from.
~hisssss...
"W- what's going on?"
I stood up on the bed, grabbed my pillow.
I looked in every corner of the room, but I still couldn't see anything.
When I realized that I was starting to shake, I gripped the pillow even tighter.
Finally, I felt something liquid fall just above my head.
My whole body stiffened, and I slowly raised my eyes upward.
A pair of eyes. A pair of yellow eyes that seemed to glow in the midst of endless darkness, even though the room was brightly lit... And the jet-black scales that seemed to be the cause of this darkness...
"Hi- Hi! AAAAH!"
I screamed from the top of my lungs. I threw the pillow at the snake, I felt that I had hit it, so I jumped off the bed, throwing the pillow to the far corner of the room.
When I looked back again to try to figure out where the snake was, what I saw this time was its red mouth covering almost all my vision, its fangs dripping with a greenish liquid.
My eyes snapped open. As I jumped out of bed, I accidentally fell to the floor and hit my head, but I didn't care.
I crawled quickly across the floor into the kitchen, and as I did so, I closed the door and found myself alone in the room.
My lungs felt like they were going to burst, my chest hurt. My eyes were flickering, almost teary.
It was a dream, no... It was a nightmare.
When this reality hit me in the face, I stood still for a moment, and then tears came to my eyes, I pulled my knees to me and buried my head in them.
I wanted my brother, Paul, anyone.
Then I realized I had accidentally broken my watch.
I was alone...
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