Chapter 320 Volume V - Chapter 38: Unmet Conditions
As I looked at the six people standing not far away from me, I felt something strange inside me, as if... the people in front of me were not simply 'humans'. I couldn't make sense of it, but for some reason, it felt like these people were out of my reach, even though they were standing right in front of me.
The children standing behind the adults, with the exception of the eldest, who looked like a high schooler, ran backward.
In the awkward silence of the hallway, I tried to focus on their appearance, but my eyes suddenly locked with those of the man with the stern look. I don't know why, but... I couldn't take my eyes off him. He had really beautiful ocean-blue eyes, but it wasn't simply because they looked 'beautiful' that I couldn't take my eyes off him.
It was like... he had truly 'magical' eyes.
I frowned for a moment. As I looked into the eyes of the man in front of me... I felt like my thoughts were slipping away, and I didn't like it.
I took a short step toward them, but they didn't do anything, they just continued to watch me. With my second step, I saw the man's eyebrows raise slightly, as if... surprised. He had a look as if he didn't expect me to be able to take a step again. But again, there was no other reaction. Even on my third and fourth steps, nothing happened.
When there were only about two meters between us... the man's magical eyes seemed to sparkle for a moment. It was only then that my eyes were forcibly separated from his. With my vision momentarily blurred and a wave of pain spreading throughout my body, I lost my balance and fell to my knees.
A metallic taste reappeared in my mouth. But this time, I didn't even have time to swallow it back. As blood oozed from between my lips, I deactivated Mana Ascension as fast as I could. The golden glow surrounding my body slowly faded, and the patterns on my skin began to fade as my shoulder-length hair receded.
I could feel the tremendous flow of mana coming from behind me again, and they began to move slightly as if my command to them was losing its effect. After only a second or two... a massive amount of mana that could have killed me on the spot would pile on me again.
However, this did not happen. Instead, the man, whose feet I could only see, slowly approached me. As I forced my head up, I saw with my blurred eyes that he raised his hand and held it behind me. His ocean-blue eyes flashed even more fiercely, and then... as if someone had built a wall behind me, the flow of mana that was about to pin me to the ground suddenly stopped.
But that didn't stop my consciousness from slipping through my hands. One last voice I could hear and the whole world went dark.
"Claire, put him on the couch."
*******
So... should I try or not?
I took a deep breath, staring blankly at the wall, trying to decide which made more sense in the midst of my thoughts.
My house was silent. I didn't have the TV on, I didn't have anything to do and Paul was... simply sleeping. He was sick, as he often was. He was always sick because his body was too weak. But... that wasn't the important thing right now.
Last night, after I was sure that he was hiding something from me, I thought of something I could do, but how right it was to do it... that's what I wasn't sure about.
Paul is hiding things from me, yes. But I'm hiding something from him too. Can I do what I think I can do if I'm so suspicious of him just because I realize there's something he doesn't want me to know?
I did what I'd been doing for hours, I opened my status window, then lowered my eyes and focused on the only skill I had besides Clairvoyance.
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Memory Travel(A-)
If at least one of certain conditions is met, the user can see, examine, and navigate through the memories of the person in focus. However, the user cannot change them.
The conditions are:
1-) If you have the person's permission, you can directly look at their memories.
2-) If the person is mentally weak, you can look directly into their memories.
3-) If you have established a certain bond of trust with the person, you can look at their memories without their permission.
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Should I use my skill or not?
I took a deep breath again, and then I thought about it once more from the beginning.
Isn't it natural for people to keep secrets from each other? Even best friends don't know things about each other, even spouses who have dedicated their lives to each other. When I look at it from this point of view... I don't want to look at all of his memories just because he is hiding something from me.
Just because we are romantically involved doesn't mean that I need to know literally everything that he is hiding from me. Because what I can learn from looking at his memories could be other people's private stuff. What he's hiding from me might not even be about me in the first place.
If that's the case... I would be so ashamed of myself that I might never look at him again. Not to mention that I would be doing something morally wrong.
But even though I think that way, there's another side to it.
Don't the things I see as a seer mean that there is a problem? Why would I have seen the snake and the shadow if what Paul was hiding from me had nothing to do with me... And doesn't the fact that they both frighten me, that they are aggressive, clearly indicate that something dangerous is going on?
I've been thinking about this so much since last night that I couldn't even sleep properly. My eyes keep closing by themselves, I'm really sleepy. But... even in this state, I still can't sleep.
Seconds started to pass, then minutes. Just staring at the wall of my room... I finally stood up.
I'll do it. Even if I find out I was wrong... it's better than not being able to sleep and thinking about it all the time. I'll look into Paul's memories. I'll find out what it is he's been hiding from me.
I nodded, finally tearing my eyes away from the white wall, and walking slowly toward the room where Paul slept. I kept as quiet as I could so as not to wake him, and then I pushed open his door, which was already open.
I gave him the room I had prepared in case I had guests staying at my house. It was a simple room with a wardrobe, a mirror, a few drawers, and a bed. Paul was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open, and a thin sheet over him, his chest rising and falling extremely slowly, indicating that he was indeed asleep.
I stepped in front of him without making a sound, I couldn't help looking at him briefly.
I swallowed, tension wrapped around my body. It was already hard for me to stay where I was because of the tiredness from lack of sleep, and now with this tension on top of it... I was afraid of making a mistake.
What will I do if I wake him up? Maybe I can make something up, but what if he wakes up while I'm using my skill? How can I explain the situation then?
After a brief moment, I paused, closed my eyes, and sighed lightly, calming myself as much as I could.
No, I shouldn't think about such things. I'd rather regret it in the future than spend every second thinking about it. I've already made up my mind.
I opened my eyes, looked at Paul's sleeping face again, and he didn't look very peaceful. His illness and the state of his body must have been taking its toll. But... for the moment, it didn't matter.
I slowly moved my hand above his head, then focused on the only active skill I had, thinking of Paul as the target as my mana moved through my body, activating my skill.
I quickly closed my eyes and a beam of light appeared in front of me. As I felt the mana passing through my arm, which I was pointing towards Paul, I felt it leaving me, slowly moving towards Paul. When my mana actually touched Paul... that's when the bright glow behind my eyelids became more intense.
I could no longer feel my feet on the ground, even my perception of heat and cold slowly disappeared as if my surroundings were changing. Throughout the process... I simply thought about one thing, what Paul was hiding from me and that I wanted to see it.
After a short time, just as I was about to open my eyes, expecting to find myself in Paul's memories... something strange happened as if time stopped. My perception of cold and heat returned to me in an instant. The dazzling radiance behind my eyelids quickly disappeared. Even my mana left Paul and returned to me.
Before I knew what had happened, I opened my eyes and found myself back in my guest room, my hand on Paul with no problem. He didn't seem to be awake. His eyes were still closed and his chest was rising and falling slowly, just like before.
The only difference... there was a notification window in front of me. And when I read what it said, my mouth dropped open and I found myself literally unable to think of anything.
"Ha...?"
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The conditions for traveling through the memories of the target have not been met!
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Silence enveloped my body and I stood where I was, unable to focus on anything but the notification in front of me.
What? Are the conditions not met...?
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