Chapter 321 Volume V - Chapter 39: A Hall Full of Mana
I looked at the notification in front of me and at Paul's face, still asleep. Time seemed to literally stand still, I couldn't hear anything, but... eventually, I involuntarily stepped back and away from Paul.
I almost lost my balance and fell to the floor, but at the last moment, I managed to regain my balance and quickly threw myself out of the room.
No matter how fast I was, I still did it quietly. Even as I closed the door to the room where Paul was sleeping again, I managed not to make a sound despite my surprise. So... I found myself standing in the middle of my living room.
I didn't think about anything for a while, but... then I opened my status window again and looked at the description of the Memory Travel.
I only needed to meet one of the conditions to be able to use the skill. In other words, I only needed one condition and I was sure that there would be no problem.
The first condition required the permission of the person whose memories I was going to visit. I didn't have Paul's permission, he didn't even know I had such a skill. So this condition was eliminated outright.
The second condition required the target to be mentally weak. And Paul's mental state was not bad. So this condition was not met from the beginning either.
The third condition was the reason why I believed that I could use the skill, and why I didn't even think that there would be a situation where I couldn't use it.
This condition required a bond of trust between me and the target. That I had spent a certain amount of time with that person, that we were close.
I read through each of the conditions many times, but when I saw that the notification in front of me never changed... finally, all I could do was close it with trembling hands. I sank back into my chair as my legs gave way.
Paul... doesn't trust me? He... doesn't see me as someone close to him?
Half a year. Half a year together. After half a year of staying in constant contact every day, spending time together, laughing and having fun together, he doesn't trust me?
No... no way. I may have suspected him, yes... but I never imagined anything like this. This is something completely different, much bigger than what I feared.
Is the skill lying to me?
No, there's no way such a thing could happen. It's absurd that the system, a 'skill' that works directly with the runes, would lie. They're not even things that have a consciousness of their own.
So... Paul must not see me as someone close to him. That's the only explanation for what happened in that room. But... how can I accept that?
No, it's bullshit. After everything we've been through, everything we've done together...
Am I dreaming then? Am I not in the real world, or am I hallucinating because of my lack of sleep?
In the end, all I could do in the middle of my living room was to weakly let myself sink into the pillow of my couch. I surrendered myself to sleep on purpose.
I will sleep, and then I will wake up, and when I get the chance, I will try using my skill again, this time with a clear head.
I... I refuse to believe it. I... I just don't want to believe it.
*******
First, I saw a faint light, a white light behind my eyelids, hitting my face. Immediately afterward, I could feel a slight pain spreading through my body.
My hearing was coming back slowly, but there were no sound sources around me. So... I finally started to open my eyes and straighten up from where I realized I was lying.
The first thing I realized... was that I was in a large hall. In the middle of this hall, I was on a gray sofa, surrounded by other sofas, a table in front of me, and behind this table was a television. The rest of the hall was largely empty and plain. But the walls were full of children's paintings as if they had used the walls of the living room as a canvas. Some of them were beautiful, others... simply childish.
"Hello."
I paused for a moment at the first voice I could hear, my eyes focused on the seat in front of me rather than the design of the hall. So I could also see the man sitting in this seat.
He looked like a middle-aged man. He was wearing a black t-shirt and pants of the same color. His hair was auburn, it hadn't started to gray yet. But with the hardness in his face and the heavy expression in his gaze, he looked older than he should.
He was the man with the ocean blue eyes I had seen before I fainted. But... his appearance and other things were unimportant.
I had never once noticed this man until he called out to me. It was as if... he had appeared out of nothing.
"I am not your enemy, at least not unless you want me to be."
If he hadn't said those words, I would have already pulled my spear from my bracelet, but for some reason there was a... charm in his words that I couldn't understand. I felt that what he was saying was true, that I wanted to trust this man.
But I was also aware of how strange it was, and that made me even more confused.
Should I pull out my weapon or listen to him? I'm not sure what to do...
"First of all, how about telling me your name?"
Ah, I want to say my name... My mind automatically wants me to do what the man says. But, at least for now, it is not so strong that I cannot resist. If he asks me something I don't want to answer, I can resist the feeling.
"Adrian Caleo. But... who are you? I just followed the mana flow in the library..."
The ocean-blue eyes of the man in front of me squinted slightly. He leaned back slightly in his seat as he folded his arms in front of him.
"So you could feel the flow of mana?"
Was I not supposed to be able to feel...? Why does he look surprised?
"At first no, when I focused, yes. But you still haven't answered my question."
The man, despite my frown and skeptical attitude, looked surprised again. His eyebrows raised slightly and a curious expression appeared on his face.
"Let me put it this way, young man. You are the one who broke into my house. So it's only natural that I should be the one asking the questions, not you."
House... What house? I mean, it looks like a house, yes, but why would the entrance to this house be on the sixth floor of a library with a strange flow of mana?
"It's clear from your face what you're thinking. But I don't need to answer that. For now... just answer the questions I ask. I need to know if you are dangerous, after all."
I don't know why, as I continued to stare at his face blankly, I began to feel... under pressure, not a psychological pressure, but that strange pressure that comes with possible danger. But strangely, the ring on my finger, which should be able to sense danger, did not show any reaction.
I... what kind of place have I entered, who is this man in front of me?
"Why did you come to the library, Adrian?"
The strange sensation I had felt a few seconds ago seeped into me much more violently with this question. So much so that I answered his question before I even realized what it was.
"I... wanted to get stronger."
Oh, no... no.
What connection is there between wanting to get stronger and the library? He's only gonna get more suspicious! I have to restrain myself...
"So you came to a random library to get stronger? You realize how weird that is, right? Adrian... did you enter the library aware of our presence?"
I have to wait, I have to wait... I have to think first and then answer. I can resist this strange feeling inside me.
"No, I... I came to Wiathen to get stronger, I only went in because I realized that something was different in this library."
"And was it the strange mana you noticed on the sixth floor?"
"Yes."
"When you noticed this weirdness, you went inside, spent an hour and a half going through all the floors one by one, and then you came to the sixth floor and followed the mana...?"
"Y- Yes. But... I don't understand what is happening right now. I am not a thief and I have no intention of harming anyone. I just... want answers. Where am I? Where is this place? Who are you...?"
The man in front of me paused for a moment. His eyes had been completely focused on me until now, but after the last things I said, he stopped looking at me. He seemed to be thinking about something.
"Then... you will get the answers you want, Adrian. But before that, there is one small thing I want you to do. I'm going to decide what I'm going to do with you after that."
I don't know why, but I couldn't help swallowing slightly. These words... strangely enough, made the pressure I felt on me increase exponentially.
"Y- Yes...?"
"Just try to endure."
Just try to... endure?
What the hell does that mean?
"Endure wha-"
The ocean-blue eyes of the man in front of me suddenly began to glow, and the ring on my finger suddenly began to vibrate harder than I had ever felt before. Only a split second later, the strange pressure I had felt on me was released as if a wall that had been holding it back until now had disappeared.
It was in that second that I understood something I hadn't understood until that moment. This hall... was surrounded by an even more intense amount of mana than in that corridor. It was filled with so much mana that a normal person could lose their life just by being here. No... they would die outright.
But... until now, I couldn't even feel this mana. It was only after the eyes of the man in front of me glowed that I could feel the presence of this mana. In short... it was the man in front of me who controlled all of this mana.
I couldn't think too much about it though, because with the removal of the only wall between me and the mana in the hall, my body was literally torn apart by all this mana. The only thing I could feel, see, and hear was... literal pain.
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