Chapter 326 Volume V - Chapter 44: Like a Natural Disaster
The things Lucia had told me felt like things I should have dwelled on more. It made me feel like I should think more, like I should be faster.
But as she had said, we were here to have some fun, not to talk about the future and make plans. So, I put that on the back burner. When Lucia, Sue, and I finally entered the store, I shopped with them for a while.
But... I also soon realized something.
There was something I had heard several times since the day I arrived at the Academy. I mean, I could actually count it on my fingers... it wasn't something I thought about much. But today, I learned again how true this thing I had heard was.
Women... For some reason that I don't really understand, they spend hours shopping. Literally hours.
When I think of a shopping process for myself, I would find what I wanted, then I would buy it and leave the store. Usually, it would take a few minutes. But Lucia and Sue... they were constantly seeing, turning, and looking for at least a few minutes. And it didn't help in any way that the store was truly gigantic.
As I handed the shopping bag full of clothes to the cashier, the man first looked at the pile of things that was literally forming a mountain, then turned to me and to Lucia and Sue, who were standing right behind me. When our eyes met, I don't know why, but he gave me a look of pity.
I couldn't say anything. At least I wasn't paying for everything in that... mountain. Most of it was out of Lucia's pocket, except for what I bought myself.
Finally, the payments were made. Our purchases went into our dimensional inventories and we managed to step out of the store. The wind on my face, the pale glow of the sun never felt so... refreshing. Yet, when I lowered my eyes and looked at my watch, a bitter smile reappeared on my face.
Two hours... we've been in this store for two whole hours. This definitely shouldn't have gone on this long. We've been here longer than we should have...
I took my eyes off my watch and turned my gaze to the two girls walking next to me. They had a more relaxed smile on their faces than mine, they were chatting among themselves about something.
At least they looked like they had fun... I don't know what to console myself with.
"Let's go somewhere for dinner. Then we'll go back to the academy, any other suggestions?"
Neither I nor Sue objected to Lucia's suggestion. So we started moving through the streets of the city again. We were looking for a good place to eat on the holographic map in front of us.
"I remember that place over there makes good pizzas. But if we want to eat something juicy, the restaurant half a kilometer away is pretty good."
Sue knew the city like the back of her hand. She was often the one who made recommendations about places to visit. When we were looking for a place to eat, she didn't hold back on what she knew.
We chose the restaurant half a kilometer away. We would have to walk a bit, but the three of us, especially me, were tired. We wanted to eat something good and filling.
Lucia and Sue started chatting amongst themselves again. I turned my eyes to the sun, which would soon be setting. It was already painting its part of the sky orange. It was right next to a skyscraper, and soon it would pass behind it and disappear.
I don't know why, I thought of the disk in the dimensional inventory on my bracelet. After almost two months of transferring mana non-stop, I had finally been able to use it. But... I still couldn't use it. It wasn't that I couldn't use it, actually. It was that I wasn't using it. I was trying to find the right time, but I couldn't.
What the disk was going to do required preparation and some time. Preparation was not something I could easily do right now, and time was something I didn't have much of. On top of that, with so many eyes and suspicions on me... it was hard to know if I could use this disk this summer.
I paused for a moment, took my eyes off the sun, and turned them to the crowd moving down the street. Usually, most people were walking past us, heads bowed and focused on the holographic screens. But most of the other people didn't usually stop to stare at our group for at least a few seconds. Lucia's charm and my elven appearance drew a lot of attention to us.
Still, that wasn't what I was focused on.
I know there are a few eyes and suspicions on me, yes... There must be someone following me right now, watching me all the time. But I wonder, if I can't find these people no matter how hard I try... how powerful they are? Or am I worrying for nothing and no one is really after me?
No, it's so unlikely that the very thought is absurd.
With these thoughts in mind, I glanced again at the duo walking beside me.
What will happen to the people I consider my friends if those who are watching me decide not to risk their suspicions about me? Will they also be on the list of suspects because they have a friendship with me, or will they be ignored...? Lucia is a noble, so maybe nothing will happen to her, but Sue is different.
I took a deep breath and then shook my head from side to side.
I shouldn't think, it's too early for such things. I have other things to focus on for now, I can't burden myself with such worries.
So, we stopped in front of a traffic light, it was green for cars, we had to wait to cross and we did.
I don't know why, but during this time, I looked up at the sky again. I used to like to look up when I was bored, when I was waiting for something short, or when I didn't know what to do. It felt good to see the clouds, the sky, and the buildings reaching up to them.
But when I looked up, it was not the clouds or the sun that caught my attention. On the contrary... the first thing I noticed was a figure who looked like a man standing on the building on the opposite side of the road. He was just standing there, as if... staring at me.
I frowned for a moment. I narrowed my eyes, focused on the figure.
The mana around him... it was the strangest moving mana I had ever seen.
Mana was involuntarily drawn to someone if they were strong or if their charm stat was high. The difference between the two was usually obvious. The mana around a powerful person would be heavy, it would even feel like it was being pulled toward that person by force. But the pull caused by the charm was gentler. It was as if the mana had a consciousness and was trying to get close to this person.
But what was in front of me was different. It was as if... mana was naturally around this figure. It wasn't pulling toward him, it wasn't trying to get close to him. It was simply... just with him. It was as if he himself was a natural source of mana. But this was not the only strangeness of the mana around him.
Pure mana was without attributes. Colorless and formless. But the mana around this person seemed to... acquire color. It seemed to become darker, even infinite. And yet it was not like something artificial or unnatural.
On the contrary, it was like nature itself.
"Do you see that person over there?"
At my words, Lucia and Sue first stopped their conversation and turned to me. Then they looked in the direction I was looking. They must have seen the figure too, because they paused for a moment. Lucia's eyebrows furrowed in irritation.
"It's... what is-"
But she could not finish. The dark figure standing on the roof of the building opposite us disappeared at that very moment. Immediately afterward, I felt a vibration in the ring on my finger and my eyes widened.
I quickly spread my mana around me, not wanting to risk anything, but... it was too late when suddenly there was a ripple inside this sphere I had centered myself in.
The silhouette of a young man in a black mask appeared in front of me... literally from nothing. The people around us paused, looking at me and the person in front of me. They too realized that something strange was happening.
But... I didn't care about any of that. I... couldn't.
Because the moment this person appeared in front of me, I literally froze. From a distance, I had thought that the mana around him was just strange. But now, with only a meter between us... what I felt was very, very different.
It was as if there was an unstoppable force in front of me. An earthquake, a tsunami, the eruption of a volcano... I felt like I was facing a disaster of nature itself. It didn't help that my ring, which had only been trembling slightly before, was now intensifying as if it was trying to break my finger.
"W- who are you? What... do you... want...?"
I didn't get any answer to my question for a few seconds, but then he tilted his head slightly to the side, his dark eyes visible despite his mask, and his tone of voice... he said only one thing.
"Blood."
And then... the natural, dark, and infinite mana around him suddenly enveloped the whole street.
New n𝙤vel chapters are published on fre(e)webnov(l).com