Chapter 44

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Episode 10 - First Year Representative [1]

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"See you later, human."

"We hope we meet again."

"Ah, yes, goodbye."

I turned around and crossed the door to the real world without hesitation.

Before leaving, I put the blindfold back over my eyes and finally stepped out.

The power of dreams that I used to see again and prevent the Eyes of the End from activating disappears once I return to the real world.

When I finally crossed the door, I came back to my senses and looked around.

I was already back in the room where I had been before.

’I feel like I’ve lost something, but anyway...’

When I completed the trial, if it can even be called a trial, the Specters of Dream showed me where the Lock of Ascension was.

’It really was well hidden.’

Leaving the room where I had been earlier, I walked through the corridors of the Black Castle.

I moved from rooms to halls, from halls to libraries, and so on.

Finally, I reached my destination. In front of me, there was an enormous painting.

I had no idea what image the painting held, but I could more or less guess what it looked like.

’It’s probably the two princesses who ruled here.’

With a sigh, I took the painting by both ends and finally tilted it slightly.

Then, the sound of gears echoed from the other side of the wall.

Suddenly, the wall in front of me opened into a door.

On the other side, there was a staircase leading down to some place within the Black Castle.

’I feel like I’ll have very good luck if I go down here.’

It was instinctive, so I went down without hesitation, and as I took a few steps, I suddenly felt as if someone was watching me.

"....."

Using the Twenty-Four Steps of Space, I stepped back and returned to the corridor.

I quickly extended my senses along both ends of the corridor.

"No one... how strange."

I muttered in disbelief. I knew that a pair of eyes had been watching me for some time.

’I ignored it because it was very far from me, but just now it was only a few meters away, so I hurried over, but...’

There was no one in the corridor.

"Maybe it’s some kind of monster."

I stood still for a few seconds before going back down the stairs.

’Well, even if someone is following me, whether it’s a monster or a human.’

What awaits them is death.

They may have escaped from me just now, but if they still hadn’t attacked, it was because they weren’t strong enough.

With those thoughts, I went down the stairs. At the end, there was a door, and without hesitation, I destroyed it.

And the first thing I found on the other side was, quite literally, a gold mine.

***

"Phew... that was close."

Lumina murmured as her body materialized.

She had used one of her traits to barely escape Adel’s senses.

It was a trait related to her Lunar attribute.

It allowed her to disappear from the world briefly; it only worked if there was natural illumination, and its effects increased during a full moon.

"Seeing that its effect was stronger, it seems there’s a full moon outside."

No matter where she used her trait, if there was a full moon, she could use it more effectively.

Even though she had used all her mana just to disappear for a few seconds.

With a sigh, Lumina went down the stairs, then instantly noticed a strong golden glow.

Her eyes could not help but widen slightly.

"Gold... this is a royal treasury."

A place where all the money of an entire city is stored.

In particular, the amount of gold that border or military cities keep is easily greater than the gold the imperial family possesses.

Lumina did not enter the treasury; Adel was inside and could easily find her.

She quickly took a potion to recover most of her mana and finally managed to calm down.

Then she briefly looked inside.

There was a path surrounded by mountains of gold, and at the end, there was a display case.

Inside the display case, there was something resembling a Runic Stone.

"What is that?"

Lumina wondered, then noticed that Adel broke the display case and then took the rock.

The rock had strange engravings, but Lumina was able to recognize them.

’That is from the language of the Abyss. What exactly is that rock?’

She did not know what it was, but it seemed that Adel had come for that rock.

The next moment, the rock in Adel’s hand disappeared.

Then Adel extended his hand toward all the gold that was there, and it suddenly vanished.

Jewels, objects made of gold, and the tons of gold that formed a mountain.

Everything disappeared in an instant.

Then Adel murmured.

"Heh, I’m rich."

"..."

Lumina’s expression could not help but falter at Adel’s murmur.

Then, without wasting time, Lumina returned to the corridor and ran out, as Adel was coming back.

’Well, I can confirm that Adel’s strange change was due to the World of Dreams, although I don’t know exactly what Adel did or heard.’

Her main objective had been accomplished, but it also made her think about more things.

’How does Adel know about this place?’

Of course, there were hundreds of questions accumulated from her previous regression.

Adel never answered her questions, which left Lumina deeply curious.

Many of Adel’s actions had been strange throughout his entire life at the Academy, even after graduation.

Even so, Lumina knew that even if she asked him, Adel would not answer.

’And I also never told him that I am a regressor.’

Neither of them ever had the chance to reveal their greatest secrets.

’Now, I should look for the Mana Channel I sensed earlier.’

When Lumina entered the Black Castle, she had sensed a large amount of mana coming from all directions.

She assumed that there were some Mana Channels somewhere within the castle.

’I could reach the peak of the 4 Stars if I absorb as much mana as possible from the Mana Channels.’

With that thought, Lumina began searching throughout the entire Black Castle.

She intended to take advantage of this moment, as she did not know whether Adel would also search for the Mana Channels.

So she had to hurry to avoid being discovered.

***

As I returned to the corridor, a smile had formed on my face.

I also felt incredibly fortunate.

’I don’t know how much gold there is, but I know it far exceeds billions.’

I am literally one of the richest people in the empire.

It was only a guess, but I highly doubt that magnates and merchants have a treasury like this.

’Since this city was enormous and the amount of money that circulated here, I definitely have a lot of gold.’

Besides, it will be useful for the Auction of Chapter Two, Part One.

Which will take place in about one or two months.

I had everything prepared for Chapter Two of Holy Land.

Meanwhile, I decided to move. I didn’t know what time it was or how much time had passed.

But when I searched for the body of the Ancient Spirit, it had taken me hours.

’So I need to hurry back to the Academy, but before that...’

I used Mana Sense and began to follow the massive mana coming from somewhere.

If there were Mana Channels, then naturally I needed to take advantage of this rare opportunity to increase my stats.

Until now, I have only used elixirs to increase my stats, so with the help of the Mana Channel, they will increase even more.

Of course, since it was a Mana Channel, I couldn’t stay inside for long.

At most, it would only be a single minute.

If my greed took over and I stayed longer than allowed, my body would literally be erased from this world.

’So I have to absorb as much mana as possible within that one-minute window.’

I walked through the Castle’s corridors for a few minutes and eventually arrived at what appeared to be a massive hall.

At first glance, it looked like a set of hot spring baths.

But under my True Vision, all the water here was purely mana.

There was so much mana that it had even condensed into liquid and transformed into water.

Because Mana Channels contained nearly all the mana in the world.

Naturally, entering one would feel as if you were the world itself.

’Let’s see how it feels...’

I began unbuttoning my shirt; soon my entire upper body was exposed, and at that very moment.

"..."

"What was that?"

I heard a sound coming from the water (mana) and used my senses; however, due to the overwhelming amount of mana, almost infinite.

my senses were distorted, and not even my Mana Sense could be used properly.

But then I noticed some currents of mana forming small cascades.

So I assumed it was that, or perhaps a rock had fallen into the water.

’Forget it. If someone had submerged themselves in there, they would probably faint and die within two minutes.’

So I took off my pants and soon got into the water, starting to absorb as much mana as I could.

In the game, there is a trait called Mana Sense.

It can be used in different ways, but there was something particular about this trait.

First, not even the Five Swords managed to bring the Mana Sense trait to Master Mastery.

The highest recorded Mastery would be Perfect.

However, Adel has Mana Sense at its maximum.

Regardless of the Mastery, the higher it is, the more mana you can absorb in a Mana Channel, and the faster it will be.

Additionally, when you train with mana, the Mana stat will naturally increase more quickly.

That is why the Mastery of all traits is extremely important.

’Well, Lumina has the Mana Sense trait at Perfection, one level below Maximum.’

If she were here, she probably wouldn’t be far from reaching five Stars soon.

And as I focused on absorbing mana, I suddenly felt a strange ripple in the mana.

I opened my eyes and looked in one direction.

"..."

There, floating in the water, was a very familiar girl who was unconscious.

’Lumina... what the hell is she doing here, and also...’

Realizing the situation, I quickly got out of the water (mana) and went straight to her to pull her out.