Inside the training room.
The space was wide and silent, with reinforced walls designed to withstand large fluctuations in mana.
Faint inscriptions glowed softly across the surfaces, absorbing stray energy as the air remained dense with invisible power.
Elowyn stood across from Cael.
A small distance separated them, yet the atmosphere felt much closer than it should have been.
After calming herself, Elowyn agreed to show the mana circulation process to Cael without asking any questions.
She avoided looking at him for too long, as if still recalling what happened earlier, but she didn’t say anything.
Cael looked at Elowyn in anticipation.
His gaze was sharp and unwavering, completely focused on her.
This wasn’t just curiosity; it was a necessity.
Cael had already seen Luke using mana to enhance himself before, watching how mana wrapped around his body and reinforced every movent, amplifying his strength beyond normal limits.
But Cael’s Copy skill didn’t activate back then.
At first, he thought it was because of the distance.
Then timing. Then complexity.
But after thinking it through again and again, Cael ca to a conclusion.
The only reason it didn’t activate was that he didn’t have mana circulation.
Or to be more precise, Cael didn’t have that ability yet.
And now, Cael wanted to copy the very essence of mana absorption and circulation.
Under Cael’s watchful eyes, Elowyn slowly closed her eyes as her breathing steadied and the mana in the air began to respond.
At first, it was subtle, almost invisible, but soon faint streams of energy drifted toward her like threads being pulled by an unseen force.
They moved slowly and deliberately, as if she were intentionally slowing the process down to allow him to see and understand.
The mana touched her skin and then sank into her body smoothly and naturally, as if it had always belonged there.
Cael’s eyes narrowed slightly as he observed every detail without missing anything.
’Activate Copy.’
He thought to himself.
But nothing happened.
Cael’s expression remained calm, but inside, a brief thought surfaced.
’Will it not work?’
Even so, Cael didn’t give up.
If one way didn’t work, then he would find another.
Instead of relying on the system, he focused entirely on observing the process.
He watched the flow of mana in the air, the way it gathered, the way it moved, and the way it entered Elowyn’s body.
Others at the [Silver] rank couldn’t even sense mana, and even Cael himself had only gained this perception after creating the SS-Rank skill Mana Sovereignty.
Without it, he wouldn’t even be standing here trying this.
His breathing slowed, and his focus sharpened as the world around him began to fade.
The faint hum of the training room, the distant sounds beyond the walls, and even his own heartbeat gradually grew quieter, as if sothing was pulling him deeper inward.
As Cael continued watching Elowyn, his hearing dulled, and sounds stretched unnaturally, like echoes underwater.
At the sa ti, his vision began to blur as edges softened and colors dimd.
’What’s happening...’
Cael frowned slightly as he tried to steady himself, but the world around him felt unstable.
When he shifted his footing, the ground seed to tilt beneath him, and the room spun just enough to disrupt his balance.
His chest tightened, and his breathing beca uneven.
’No... focus...’
But his body wasn’t responding the way he wanted.
The more he tried to focus, the more everything slipped away.
-THUD
Cael dropped to one knee as his hand pressed against the floor to steady himself, while his breath ca faster and sharper, as if sothing inside him was being forced open.
The mana in the air no longer felt distant.
It felt too close, pressing against him and trying to seep into him without permission.
Within the strange silence that followed, soft footsteps echoed slowly and clearly despite the distortion in his senses.
-STEP -STEP
Cael lifted his head slightly, his blurred vision struggling to focus as a figure stood before him.
The figure was familiar, yet unfamiliar.
A girl.
Her white hair seed to glow faintly, and her crimson eyes held no emotion as she looked at him with quiet indifference, as if she had always been there, waiting.
"Aren’t you..."
Cael tried to speak, but his voice felt distant and heavy, as if it didn’t belong to him.
His vision darkened further as the edges of the world collapsed inward, and his eyelids grew heavy.
Just before everything faded, sothing appeared from the corner of his eye.
...
[Seg--]
[Resona--]
[Path of Mona--]
[Initializati---]
...
A broken interface glitching into existence.
Then the darkness swallowed everything.
...
Cael didn’t know how much ti had passed in that darkness.
But slowly, very slowly, he began to hear sounds again.
Laughter. Painful groans.
The darkness also started to fade, and Cael instinctively closed his eyes at the sudden brightness.
’What the hell is happening?’
It was a bizarre experience for Cael.
When he adjusted to the light and opened his eyes again, he was utterly shocked.
Buildings made of wood.
People carrying swords and spears in their hands.
Horses dragging carts along uneven roads.
People glanced at him strangely as they walked away, maintaining so distance.
Cael was baffled by the absurd situation.
This is...
’dieval era?’
’Why are they walking away from ? Am I that strange? No, wait...’
’How the hell did I end up here?’
’Don’t tell I got transported to this era?’
Just then, a rock flew toward him from his left side.
Cael was caught off guard as the rock hit him.
At least, that’s what he thought.
But to his surprise, the rock passed right through him, as if he were nothing more than a phantom.
Realization dawned on him as he looked toward where the rock had co from.
There, he saw three boys and two girls bullying a single girl.
’I see... the people weren’t looking at , they were looking at those brats.’
’Is this resonance?’
’I already experienced this phenonon before... back then, I saw the Monarch.’
’Am I going to see her again?’
Cael looked around but didn’t find anyone who resembled the Monarch.
Then his eyes paused on the girl who was being bullied.
She had gray hair and golden eyes.
Even though she was being bullied, her expression remained cold and indifferent.
’N-no way...’
’This kid... is the Monarch?’
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