Chapter 304 Volume V - Chapter 22: Difference in Status Window
When I saw how serious the Rector was when speaking about the red spear, and how even Prince Lucas focused on me, especially when the topic came to this point, I couldn't help but wonder myself.
Is there something about this spear...? I mean, it's a really high-end weapon, but it's not the best spear in the whole world. It shouldn't have been such a big deal...
Should I tell the truth? I don't have the luxury of lying from the very beginning, though...
"It's just a spear I picked up while I was on leave from the academy. I found it in a cave in the Neutral. I wasn't planning on using it until I got to a certain level of strength, but I had to use it because I had to give my all in the mini-town."
Melany waited a few seconds as if waiting for something before opening her mouth again.
"In the Neutral, in a cave... you say. And do you know who this spear belongs to? Also, what kind of cave was the cave where you found it?"
Oh, no... she's trying to dig deeper, pulling me to a place where I can't deflect the truth.
How should I answer this? Lithoa has been telling me since the first day I met him that my connection with him must not be revealed in any way, but if there are more difficult questions like this, it will be a problem...
"It must have belonged to someone called Lithoa, after all, his name is written on the spear. But I know almost nothing about its past, and the cave... it looked like a house that had been used a long time ago."
Melany's eyes narrowed. This time, she didn't even wait a second before speaking again.
"And do you know the current state of the Lithoa you mentioned?"
It's... there's no way I can lie about it...
"He's alive, I think. I'm not sure... he might not exactly be 'alive'."
Prince Lucas clicked his tongue. Melany's color paled as if she had just received the worst news of her life. Professor Calvin was the most unresponsive of them all.
"This is a problem. A really big problem."
Prince Lucas fixed his eyes on the floor. He fell into brooding thoughts. Melany was no better... but she kept talking to me.
"He is one of the most dangerous people in the entire history of Lunerra, Adrian. At least... he once was. And the spear you used is a weapon linked to this person. I'm sorry about that, but we need to keep the spear."
The moment I heard that my spear was going to be taken away from me, I frowned, my expression souring.
"That spear is a blood-bonded weapon... and I've already bound it to myself. Even if you want to use it yourself, you can't. You know that, right?"
Melany sighed deeply. Her expression was even more distorted as if she had been confronted with a frustrating situation, but compared to a few seconds ago, she looked more... calm.
"It's not that we don't want you to use the spear, Adrian. We are already aware of what you said. The problem is that if anyone else sees you using this spear, rather than us, they won't be as polite as we are. You understand what I'm saying, right?"
She leaned back slightly in her seat, straightening up. The serious expression on her face dissipated a little.
"We're not trying to incriminate you in any way. We have our suspicions, of course, but what we are trying to do is to dispel those suspicions. Our primary goal is to try to help you, so if you think we're going to put you in jail, get that idea out of your head."
My eyebrows furrowed again. Even though what she had said was meant to reassure me, it had the opposite effect.
Okay, I might be strong. Yes, my potential might be really high, but... Not high enough to make them want to help me so much.
There's something going on here that I don't quite understand...
"Oh, I think I gave you more doubts in trying to clear your doubts... So let's clear those doubts first. The reason we're trying to help you rather than treat you like a criminal is related to the third reason for you being here. We've solved the other two reasons cursorily, if not completely. So let's move on to that now..."
After speaking as if she had read my mind, she finally took her eyes off me and turned them to her left.
Professor Calvin, who had been standing where he was until now, listening to everything, straightened up with a sigh when he realized that Rector Melany had turned to him. For the first time since he entered this room, he made real eye contact with me.
For a moment, I felt as if time had slowed down. I don't know why, but looking into his dark eyes... I felt strange goosebumps all over me. But... then I noticed a glint in those jet-black eyes. It was a pale blue glow. It spread through the darkness of his eyes like paint poured into a glass of water.
But most importantly... this strange blue glow felt comforting and familiar in a way I couldn't understand.
"Give me your hand, and at the same time keep your ears to me."
I found myself involuntarily raising my hand as I stared at the strange, comforting blue sparkle in his eyes, my whole body relaxing as if I were lying on the most comfortable bed in the world, even though I was just standing where I was.
It didn't take me long to realize that what was happening was making my head feel fuzzy. But strangely, I couldn't pull my hand back.
Professor Calvin looked directly into my eyes as he took my outstretched hand. All the darkness in his eyes was replaced by a bright blue, and he spoke in such a soothing voice that my already clouded thoughts became even more clouded.
"Does this feeling, this comfort, and peace you are feeling right now, is it familiar to you?"
I swallowed, unable to do anything but nod my head in agreement.
"Look into my eyes, don't even blink. And focus at the same time. Can you feel something flowing from my hand into yours?"
I followed his words to the letter. I didn't look away from his eyes, which shone with a deep blue glow, not even for a split second. However... the hand I held out to him began to tremble involuntarily.
It wasn't out of fear or anything like that. On the contrary... it was a strange sensation as if warm water was being poured over it, slowly spreading along my arm, all over my body.
When I nodded my head up and down again, Professor Calvin narrowed his eyes slightly this time.
"Feel this flow, Adrian. What you are experiencing now is usually different for most people, so I cannot give you a specific example, but allow yourself to feel what you can perceive and what feels familiar. Focus on the blue in my eyes, match that blue with what you are feeling."
Feel it, he was telling me, but... there was nothing I could do better than feel it right now. How could I not 'feel' this strange thing that enveloped my whole body in a layer, that made me feel like I was taking a shower with perfectly warm water?
Feeling its flow... and pairing that flow with the comforting and familiar sensation in my body...
As I involuntarily swallowed again, I found myself repeating these words over and over in my mind without even realizing or understanding what I was doing.
The color of the world became strange for a moment. It became more... bluish. But it didn't stop there. I found myself in a meaningless emptiness as I began to feel as if something was reaching out toward my body, desiring something from it.
What is it desiring? What does it want from me...?
Even though I had only run my questions through my mind, Professor Calvin answered them as if he had been in my mind all along.
"It wants emotions, Adrian. Good, positive emotions. Don't be afraid, you have nothing to be afraid of. Just do as I say, offer your feelings to this comforting sensation."
I offer my feelings... positive, good ones...
I don't know how I did it or on what basis I thought I could do it... I don't understand anything anyway. But I still tried to do what he said.
When this relaxing sensation enveloped my whole body and reached out to my emotions with all the positive memories passing through my mind... that's when the whole world changed again.
Until now, it had only turned slightly blue, but this time a pale blue glow filled my entire field of vision.
"Good, now ask this feeling to move gently up your arm. Don't try to control it, don't even try to guide it. Just desire it, want it, and project it onto what you feel."
The soothing blue, warm like a shower and somehow paler than Professor Calvin's, responded to my desire as I reached for it. As I imagined it moving toward my arm, or rather, as I wanted it to go... it accepted my request in a strange way as if it had a consciousness of its own.
For a moment, a slight smile appeared on Professor Calvin's calm face. He stopped holding my hand and leaned back in his chair. He seemed strangely... satisfied as the blue glow in his eyes gave way to its original darkness.
It was at this moment that I reflexively looked down at my right arm, saw the faint blue glow that surrounded it, and then... realized that the slight pain I had been experiencing because my body hadn't actually healed completely had entirely disappeared from my arm.
Not only that... this strange, blue-colored... thing was even touching the bracelet-like thing itself, which was limiting my mana, and not only that, it seemed to deactivate it.
My eyes widened slightly. As I began to feel the flow of mana through my body again, a notification suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
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Immediately after that, another system window opened in front of me, independent of myself. It was not a notification, but my status window. Moreover... it contained a new tab that I had never seen before.
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