Chapter 52
I open my eyes very briefly but close them again . It doesn't feel like I slept well at all . Marin rolls around in bed . Maybe I'm not the only one . Remembering last night, I scooch closer to her and then wrap an arm around her . She's faced the other way . "Marin…"
I grab one of her breasts . She squeals but something's not right . It's much larger . Maybe the grip's wrong . I touch and squeeze multiple times at different places but it still feels off . She smells different too . Wait a minute…this isn't Marin…
I open my eyes and take my arm off her . What the…
I sit up and look around . I'm not in my room anymore . A completely different room . Where the hell am I? Then I remember that there was a mystery girl next to me . She sits up too and asks, "Honey, what's wrong?"
Her red long hair, large breasts, and slender figure catch my attention immediately . She looks at me and smiles . My heart pounds rapidly and I gulp . My lower half is excited too . I have an almost uncontrollable urge to jump on her but I hold back . I can't be thinking of such thoughts when I have Marin . Where is she? And where am I? How'd I get here? I was asleep in my room with Marin and… The dots connect . I'm still asleep and this is a dream . I cock an eyebrow . This woman with red hair must be what I think Marin would look like in the future . "Marin?"
"Yes, honey?" she answers . That settles it .
I smile . Marin's never called me honey before, but it has a nice ring to it . I don't hold myself back anymore and push her down onto the bed . I climb over her and squeeze both of her breasts . A surge of adrenaline courses through my body . This feeling's nothing like anything I've experienced before . Not even for her . It feels unbearable . Even the inside of my mouth is producing a lot of saliva . As if I haven't eaten in days and a bowl of delicious soup is in front of me . But instead of the soup, an older Marin is in front of me . I can't hold back anymore . I'll skip the usual steps and go right into the action .
It helps that she's nude too . As if inviting me in, she spreads her legs . I position my body over her, about to put it in, but I notice something . A mole on her neck that wasn't there before . I try to hold back the beast inside me . What if this isn't Marin? It's my brain tricking me . Even if this is a dream and none of it is real, I don't want to be disloyal to her . I focus my attention on her facial features . The ones that I know really well . She has…purple eyes…
It can't be her because Marin has brown eyes . Even though I know it's not her, my body still wants her . It feels like there's something inside me in the center of my body . I don't know what it is but it gives me a weird sensation . I try to loosen the grip on her breasts, but I can't . It's like my hands are glued to them . Marin, Marin, Marin, Marin, Marin…
I repeat her name in my head . I can't be disloyal to her . I fight back the nearly uncontrollable urge to jump on the woman in front of me . I let go of her melons and lay down in the space next to her . I still need to ask who this woman really is . I don't ever remember seeing someone like this before . "Who—"
She climbs over on top of me . "Honey, if you don't want to be on top… I will . "
"Ho-hold on a second… I don't know who you are, but I don't want this . "
"You don't want me?" She asks and then grabs my thing . "When you're this hard . You want me . "
Her words tempt me . I grit my teeth . Every part of my body wants to, but when I think about Marin, I don't want to go through with it . At the same time, I can't muster the strength to push her off me . She moves around while on top of me while still holding onto my member . "Honey, you'll feel better soon . Just relax . "
She's about to sit down on me . I have to get her off me . Something inside me clicks the moment she drops her body . I exclaim, "No!"
I push her off me with all my strength . She falls off the bed . She gets up immediately, frowning . "Ow…"
"I don't know who you are, but you're not Marin . Even if this is some crazy dream, I won't do that to her . " She looks at me expressionlessly for several seconds before bursting out in laughter . "What's so funny?"
"So, Marin's your girlfriend? Not some girl you have a crush on?"
My girlfriend? I never thought of her that way but in a way, she is . Though we keep it a secret . "Yeah . "
She smiles . "I see . So that's how you were able to resist . It must've been hard, right? To resist me . "
I gulp . Part of me still wants her, but I'm able to keep composure . It's no doubt that if I didn't have Marin, I wouldn't have been able to resist . She continues, "And here I thought you wanted to live out a fantasy . "
"Fantasy? This is a nightmare . I've never had such a weird dream before . " The reason why I'm having this dream must be last night . I was more passionate than ever with Marin . I told her my secret and she told me one of hers . Felt like we became closer with less to hide with each other .
She bursts out laughing again . "Dream? You're a funny one . I won't play house with you anymore, so stop playing stupid . "
I have no idea what she's talking about . This is getting weird for a dream . Usually, my dreams are more…violent . I've had about enough of this dream . I lay down on the bed and close my eyes . Wake up, wake up, wake up…
"You're taking this joke too far . It's no longer funny," she says . I open my eyes, finding myself still asleep . There's no point in talking to her . She's a part of my mind, after all . I must've met her before and forgot . It could be that I'm trying to remember who she is by having this dream .
"Who're you again? I'm having trouble remembering . "
"Eprillon," she answers firmly with narrowed eyebrows . That doesn't ring any bells . "Wait…how old are you?"
"Sixteen," I reply quickly . Even though I didn't mean to answer her .
"Oh… I suppose you're too young to know…"
This is getting a little creepy . I'm not sure where I met this woman . I've only ever known Emdos since I was young . Was she someone we passed by in the streets when we went out? Or is she someone that was around before my first memory? Or did I forget? "What're you talking about?"
"Your parents didn't tell you anything?"
"I've never met my parents . " A chill goes down my spine . I answered again, but I swear I didn't mean to . I have a feeling this is going to turn to a true nightmare very soon . But that's a good thing because I can wake up . I'm still scared, though . Maybe because it feels too real this time . The door's on the other side of the room . I sit up .
"I see…" she mutters . It appears that she's in deep thought . This is my chance to ditch her . I hop off the bed and dash toward the door . I open it . The other side of the door is made out of a silver metal . Ahead is a long passage with the width of the door . The entirety of it is made out of the same metal . At the end is another metal door . I dash toward it . "Where do you think you're going?"
"Away from you!" I shout . It seems like I can't refuse to answer her questions . A familiar purple haze suddenly appears in front of me that covers the entire passage . Void magic?!
It's too late to stop . I go through . I flail my arms reflexively, soon falling on a bed face up . The woman is next to me, smiling . But I don't see the portal above me . I sit up to confirm my suspicions . It's a one-sided portal that faced the ceiling . Last night is when Marin helped me figure this out . My mind's really messing with me . Is this a test? I'll fight Void magic with Void magic .
I prepare instructions to create an exit one-sided portal to the hallway . But something's weird . There's a part inside my torso area where I can't move any of my Mana . I ignore it and continue . Both of her portals disappear .
"Why would you want to get away from me?" she asks . "Let's talk . "
"Because you creep me out . It feels like I'm your puppet and this will turn into one of my usual nightmares soon . "
"Wow, you really don't know anything . A word of advice, you should stop whatever you're planning or you really will be my puppet . "
I ignore her and hop off the bed . I activate my magic and then run into the portal in front of me . I appear right in front of the metal door I saw before . I reach for the doorknob . Suddenly, my vision changes . I'm lying face up on the bed again . What the hell just happened?
I look at the woman, who is still smiling . She couldn't have possibly used the portals on me again . I had it blocked, but she might've had something already set up . But, I didn't see anything before it happened . I sit up . There's nothing above the bed either like before . I don't know why I'm surprised . This is a dream . She can do whatever she wants, apparently .
"How do you know about Void magic if your parents didn't tell you anything?" she asks .
"I learned how to use the portals through a Magic Scroll inside a book Emdos gave me . It originally came from my parents," I answer while looking around the room . If I can't leave through the normal way, I'll make my own exit .
"Who's Emdos?"
"He's the one who raised me . " I hop off the bed again . I turn toward the wooden wall next to the bed where there is no furniture blocking the way .
"Did the book have any information about anything else?"
"I don't know . The only thing I read was a letter my father wrote saying something about me being the last hope . I don't know what he means by that and I didn't get to read any more of the book . I lost it . " I answer and bond my Fire Affinity to my Mana . I'll emit Fire magic from my palms and burn an exit out of here .
"The only type of Void magic you know of are the portals?"
"Yeah," I answer and then pause my plans to burn a hole in the wall . Wait a minute . "There're other types of Void magic?"
"I'm the one asking the questions here . Give me what I want, and I'll tell you everything you don't know . My service to a junior . "
"What do you want?" She points to my member . There's no need to play along with her . I've always known that there were other forms of Void magic that I didn't know about . I shake my head . "That's not gonna happen . "
"It's going to happen whether you like it or not . Especially if you keep on doing what you're doing . "
I ignore her and point my palms toward the wooden wall and then activate my magic, releasing a stream of hot flames into the wall . It burns the wood into ash immediately . I move my palms around to create a large enough opening to go through . But something's strange . I stop my magic . A silver metal is behind the wood . The same colored metal as the door and the passage .
"No matter what you do, it's pointless . "
Pointless? We'll see about that . I'll wake myself up forcefully . I write instructions to release my strongest fireball to come out of my palm . The same as usual but with my Mana instead so it won't take long . I need to distract her in the meantime, so she can't stop me . I ask, "Why's there metal behind the wooden wall?"
"The metal separates from the inside to the outside . "
"But why have the wood at all?"
"Do you sleep in a room made out of metal?"
"No, stone . "
"Stone… So you live in a castle?"
"Yeah . "
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"Does it feel like home?"
"No . "
"Exactly . That's why this room is made out of wood," she says and then walks over to me . She lightly strokes my cheek once with her hand . "To make you feel comfortable when I brought you here . "
I push her hand away and take a step back . I don't want to be tempted by her again . "Well, it didn't make you comfortable enough . Why don't I show you around the base? This room is a very small chunk of it all . "
"Base?"
"That's right . That metal behind the wood you see there encases the base," she says and then starts to put on her clothes . She's turned away from me . This is my chance . I point my right palm toward my face . I close my eyes . "What are you doing, you fool!"
I activate my magic . A hot feeling envelops my face, but nothing beyond a minor burning feeling . I open my eyes . There are no flames coming out of my palm . What happened? That magic should have ended me instantly… The woman stomps her way toward me with a frown . I bond my Mana with Fire Affinity and try to release it as a stream out of my palm . Nothing comes out . She grabs my chin and turns my head her way .
"Doesn't look serious . I'll have a medic heal you later . Are you trying to kill yourself?"
"Yeah, so I can wake up . "
"I don't know many times I have to tell you . This is reality," the woman says and then sighs . "Come with me . I'll tell you everything later . Then you'll see that this is not a dream . "
"Whatever," I say . No matter what she says, this is just a dream . I'll see what my mind has in store for me . I follow her through the narrow passage . She opens the door at the end . It's bright . I go through and find myself outside . I shield my eyes from the blinding bright light . "I thought you said we were inside a base?"
"We are . What you see is not what you think . Look closely . "
I look around . Looks like an ordinary village to me . A large one at that . Children, women, men out and about . Grass and dirt on the ground, trees around the village . There's a blue sky, clouds, and light, but something's off . The clouds aren't moving . And there's no sun . I turn around to the door we went through . The other side of the door is made of wood instead of metal . The wall around the door have the mountains and scenery painted on them . I touch them and confirm that it's fake .
"What's this?" I ask . Why do they have a fake outside inside a building? Even if it's a dream, it's very mysterious . They must be using Light Crystals and Glims or P-Glims with Mana Crystals to create the light among other things .
"It's a simulation of village life . Some prefer to live in this environment . "
"But…why? Why not live outside with a real sun?"
"Safety reasons . "
"Safety from what? Monsters?"
"No… It's more of a precaution," she answers . Two men are walking toward us .
"Commander," they say with a salute .
"Is this him?" one of them asks .
"Yes," the woman answers .
They point their gaze at me . One of them says, "Okay, come with us . "
"That's not necessary," the woman says . "I'll take it from here . "
The two men exchange a brief glance . One of them asks, "Are you fulfilling your duty?"
The woman frowns . "Yes . I have been for over a decade . Why would I stop now? All the things I've done for this community . "
"Please, excuse him, commander . He's still young," the other man says .
"What? I have to make sure she's not getting cold feet . She was completely emotionless when I was with her . It was like I fucked a doll . It was awful . "
The woman slaps him . "Get out of my sight . "
"Heh . Even if you're the commander now, I wanted to remind you of what your only purpose is . "
"What's wrong with you?" the other man asks and smacks the man's head with his hand . "Go on ahead of me, I'll meet you there . "
The man walks away . The remaining man continues, "One other thing, Arlene . It's about your oldest daughter . "
Arlene sighs . "We've talked about this . We're only going to use her as a last resort . "
"Our supplies are running low . She also consented given that she chooses her mate . "
"I don't care if she's consented . She's too young to make that decision . "
"It's strange that you're playing the role of a mother now . Is it because she's about how old you were when you made that decision?" the man asks, but Arlene doesn't answer . "Do you regret it?"
"No, of course not . We would've been doomed to make the same mistakes as our predecessors . "
"Your daughter just wants to commit to the same cause . I know you'll make the right choice," the man says and then walks away in the same direction as the other man went .
"Who were they?" I ask .
"The older one was my second mate . The younger was my last mate," she says and continues walking .
I follow her and ask, "Mate…? Is that what you want from me?"
"That's right . Aren't you a smart one?"
"Yeah . Why does it have to be me? If your goal is mating, won't anyone do? You already have a daughter…"
"I've had several daughters…and sons… But only a few of them are alive now . "
"What happened to the others?"
"It's best you don't know . Look, you have something they don't . Void magic . And your Affinity is very high . It was a part of my plan to bring you here and mate with you . As well as to store your seeds for the future . "
"Store my seeds…?" I can't believe what I'm hearing . It doesn't sound sanitary .
"Yes, and you know how it goes right? How Mana capacity and magic talent is largely dependent on the parents . "
Does it work like that? Did I learn that at the Academy and forgot about it? I'm not sure if I was paying attention for that . "Um, sure?"
Arlene stops walking and turns around . "Sure? This isn't common knowledge for you?"
"No," I answer quickly .
"I can't even begin to imagine how primitive the place you ended up is," Arlene says and shakes her head . "With your high Void Affinity combined with my own almost guarantees strong pure-blooded children . "
"So does that mean your children now are weak and can't use Void magic?"
"Well, they can't use Void magic because they were never taught… I have no reason to teach it to them because it serves no purpose in their daily lives . I'll create a training regimen eventually, but it's not important right now . It was a poor choice of words . By strong, I mean that they have high Affinity for Void magic . If I didn't create children with your seeds, children several generations down the line might not have any Void magic talent at all . That would pose a danger to our plan . "
"Plan?"
She ignores me and continues walking . I follow . "So I'll be able to use your seeds to create strong children for the rest of my life . "
"What's the point? You said you don't use Void magic in your daily lives . Why do you need to create strong children?"
"They don't use Void magic, but I do . After I pass away, there needs to be a successor to my work . "
"I see…" I say, though none of this makes any sense to me . I feel like it's pointless figuring it out since this is all in my head, but I don't know how Void magic plays into any of this . "What work do you do?"
"Isn't this place mysterious?" she asks while looking around .
I look around and see nothing too out of the ordinary, other than people living indoors as if it was outside . The village is bigger than I originally thought . Nothing too strange or out of place . I'm not too familiar with village life . There's no sense of adventure . Wait a minute…are these grass and trees fake too? Or those crops over there . With this fake sunlight, they wouldn't be able to grow . But it's a dream . Anything goes . I answer, "Not really . I've had stranger things happen in my dreams . "
"What's so hard to believe? That there's light but there's no sun?"
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"No, it's obviously a combination of a Glim, a Light Crystal, and a Mana Crystal doing the work," I reply . Arlene stops walking and turns around again . "It doesn't explain how these plants are able to grow . "
"You know about Glims?" Arlene asks in a tone more serious than before .
"Yeah . "
"What do you know about them?"
"They give Mana instructions when it passes through the Glim and higher quality Mana produces a stronger effect . It's made out of this crystal material . Oh, and you need Intermediate Runic magic to make them . "
The woman squints her eyes slightly, focusing on the ground . "That's all?"
"Yeah . "
"I see…" Arlene still stands there looking at the ground . She mutters, "That's mysterious…"
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing," Arlene says and then continues forward . "There's nothing mysterious on what you're seeing . If you know about Glims, then you know about Runic magic . It's converting the magical object of light into a physical object . It's more complicated than that, but know that the end result is a replication of sunlight . "
I get the vague idea . So this place isn't as mysterious as I first thought . Of course, something like this is possible . I've never thought about these things . What's my mind trying to show me?
"We're almost at one of the exits," Arlene informs . We enter a dense forest . The village isn't visible from here .
"To the outside?"
"No, to this village . You'll be able to see it soon . "
"Where're you taking me exactly?"
"A couple places . The research branch to start off . I'll show you proof that this isn't a dream . "
"Whatever . What were you saying earlier? The reason why you don't live outside's because of a precaution? For what?"
Arlene chuckles . "You wouldn't believe me if I told you . "
"You're right . I don't believe any of this . "
"That's why I'm going to convince you that this isn't a dream before saying anything else . The exit is up ahead . "
I'll prove to myself that this is a dream before that . I'll find some inconsistency somewhere .
There's a clearing up ahead . The exit is shaped into a large arc . It's big enough for a wagon to go through comfortably . The passage is made out of that silver metal I saw earlier . Light comes out of the ceiling here too . I ask, "Is this sunlight too?"
"No, that's regular light . The village and the basking area are the only two places with simulated sunlight . Our supply upkeep isn't high enough to maintain simulated sunlight everywhere in the base . "
We're almost at the end of the passage . I thought there would be a door or something, but there isn't . Arlene stands in front of the wall at the end . Is this where the nightmare starts? I gulp .
"We're here," Arlene informs . A purple portal appears in front of us . It must be Arlene's Void magic, but where does it lead? There's no way for Mana to move past this solid metal wall . I follow Arlene through the portal . We arrive in two similar looking hallways . Straight ahead and to the left . There are pairs of metal doors on opposing sides evenly spaced across the two paths . This place reminds me of the living quarters at the Academy . "This is where our researchers live . "
I stop walking and turn around . The purple portal is gone and what remains is a similar dead end . I want to try the same thing she did and see what happens . Arlene asks, "What are you doing?"
I turn back around . "Just trying to see if I can copy what you just did . "
"No, don't waste your Mana . "
"What, why?"
"It's nothing big," she says after a delay . She continues walking forward into the path ahead . "Just saving you the trouble of trying when it won't work . "
I follow her . "Then how'd you do it?"
"That's a secret . "
Of course it is . She won't tell me because she doesn't know how . She's a part of my mind . I don't know, so she doesn't either . Another strange thing is that there's hardly anyone here . Other than who I saw in the village . And she mentioned something about supplies . Those men from earlier said something about that too . What does that exactly mean?
The simulated sunlight is created through Glims and Light Crystals . If she said that there aren't enough supplies to maintain the entire base, that must mean that there aren't enough Light Crystals . The only way to obtain Affinity Crystals is to extract them from monsters who have them . Normally that task is left to Adventurers…but I don't think that exists here . This has to be an inconsistency to get me out of this dream . Though, she'll probably say something like it's a secret or something that doesn't prove or disprove anything .
With nothing to lose, I ask, "How do you get enough Light Crystals and Mana Crystals for all this light? Are there people hunting monsters outside the base?"
"Well…we have ways," she says .
There it is . The vague answer I expected . When I think about Drymo, there must be over a thousand people using Affinity Crystals every day . We didn't replace the Affinity Crystals in the living quarters very often, but I find it hard to believe that Adventurers would be the ones to bring all the Affinity Crystals to a city . Not all Adventurers do it either . Our group didn't . I never really thought about these things . Maybe I've been taking too many things for granted .
"Is there someone living in every single one of these rooms?" I ask .
"No, we mainly built these ahead of time so we don't have to expand in the future . We only have a few hundred people right now . "
We pass an adjacent corridor but continue forward . At the end is a lone door . Arlene informs, "We're here . "
I have no clue what she's planning to show me . It would have to be something I've never seen or could even imagine existing . She takes out a keychain with several keys on it and then unlocks the door with one of them . I follow her inside .
It looks like an ordinary bedroom except the room is made out of metal . I'm not sure if all this was a trick or if there's something here . I ask, "What's this place?"
"My room . "
"I'm not gonna do it with you if that's why you brought me here . "
"Don't worry . That's not why," she says and walks over to a drawer . She unlocks it with another key . "It's because of this . "
She takes something out . She's holding a familiar object . It's a Gun made in the same metal as the walls . It's shaped differently, though . Looks smaller too .
"There's no way you've seen anything like this . It's called a—"
"Gun," I answer . I sigh with disappointment .
Arlene widens her eyes and asks, "You know what this is?"
"Yeah . I learned about it earlier today . It's one of the Artificial Magic Weapon models . Those things that can hold Glims, Affinity Crystals, and Mana Crystals to allow anyone to use magic . "
"Interesting," she says with a smile . "If you know about it, can you dismantle it?"
"Of course," I answer . She tosses me the Gun . I catch it . Heavier than I expected for something of that size . By dismantling she must mean remove the parts inside . I look for the mechanism that opens up the compartment . It doesn't seem to be anywhere . There are some tiny buttons but they don't do anything . Now that I have a closer look at the Gun, it seems too small to house any Affinity Crystals inside .
"What's wrong?"
"I can't find the switch that opens the compartment . "
"That's because it's not what you think it is," Arlene says and then takes the Gun from me . She does something with the Gun and clicking resounds . I knit my eyebrows as pieces of the metal drop to the floor . It's not a Gun . The top of it is visible and there are clearly no crystals of any kind inside . There are these small yellow and orange colored pebbles . "This is a type of gun called a pistol . It has nothing to do with magic . "
She kneels down and picks up the parts of the gun . She puts them back together .
Nothing to do with magic? How does it work? I think it's supposed to shoot those pointy yellow pebbles out, but I can't imagine it would be very fast . It's not real . None of this . But how did my mind come up with any of this if that's true? Is this really not a dream?
"This metal you've seen all over the base is called steel . You've probably never seen that either, have you?"
"No . "
"It's a strong, cost-efficient metal . About as hard as Titanium, but a bit heavier . You won't believe this is real until you see it in action . Close that door and stand back . " Arlene stands up . I do as she says and close the door . She points to a spot on the wall near me . "Stand there . "
I move over to the spot indicated . A pair of portals appears in front of her . "Watch closely . You probably won't be able to track it with your eyes immediately . Guns shoot these small pointed pieces of metal called bullets at a high speed . "
She extends her arm out with the gun in hand . Part of it sticks a little past the first portal . A loud bang resounds . A vibration goes through my entire body . What just happened?
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Something clanks on the floor less than a second later . It's a bullet . It's slowing down rapidly as it passes through the portals while hitting the floor . The two portals disappear . The bullet bounces off the wall and it rolls by my feet . I focus my eyes on the gun in Arlene's hands . That's a gun…
I was able to see the bullet for a moment before it hit the ground . Is this really not a dream? It makes more sense if it wasn't because this isn't like any dream I've ever had in my life . None of this makes any sense .
"Well, still think this is a dream?"
"I don't know . "
"Well, there is one more thing I can show you," Arlene says as she returns the gun back into the drawer . She closes it and locks it before walking over to the other side of the room . A purple portal appears in front of the wall . "Follow me, slowly, and watch your step . "
I follow her into the portal . We end up outside on a small balcony area . I widen my eyes at the sight in front of me . What appears to be a huge ravine . Below us is complete darkness other than another larger steel platform below is . It's far enough where I wouldn't want to jump down there . The ravine extends farther than I can see in both directions in a straight line . The top of this cliff is in sight, but we're fairly deep down .
A sight in the starry, bright, sky catches my attention immediately . This has to be what she wanted to show me . A full moon and a half moon at the same time . They seem larger than I remember compared to the moon I'm used to seeing .
"A beautiful sight," Arlene says . "You've probably haven't seen anything like this in your world . "
"My…world…?" I ask . Did I hear that right? That means this is…
She smiles and then says, "You wouldn't have believed me before, but yes, this is another world . I brought you here with Conjuration magic . "
What the hell? My mind goes blank . This is too much information to process . If what she says is true, so many other things would have to be true too .
"I'm sure you have a ton of questions for me, but there's still a lot of time left before you have to go home . The infirmary isn't far from here . Follow me,"
I follow her back into her room using the portal . The previous revelation aside, the fact that there isn't a door here bothers me . I remember she said that metal encases the entire base, but I thought that at least there would be a metal door that let you go outside, but she's been using Void magic everywhere .
"Hey, is the base really surrounded by steel?"
"Of course . "
"What's the point of all that when it's already underground?"
"It's complicated . I'll tell you all about it later," she answers and opens the door . I follow her out the door . She locks it before we continue .
Based on her answer, it seems that we're completely trapped in steel . But there's a problem with that . What if they run out of space? This place seems pretty big, but eventually, there will be too many people . To begin with, how did they manage to spread this steel so far and cleanly? It seems to be all in one piece rather than in layers . There's no way that they did all of this in a short timeframe .
"Was this base initially smaller?" I ask .
"Keen observation . Yes, it was . We kept it enclosed from the very beginning . We constantly expand . The passage between the village and here is still under construction . I only allow certain people to live and work in the research branch . That's why there was a wall in between . It was also because putting a wall there was faster than constructing a door . Creating the wall is simply magic, but creating a door requires manual labor . "
"Magic?"
"Earth magic, specifically . I assign those talented with Earth magic to jobs like these . Expanding the base, building, and waste control . That platform you saw below outside was connected to the waste room . All of our waste and trash are collected into Earth cubes . I transport them outside using Void magic and dump them outside . "
Runic magic must be involved too in the creation of these walls . But she said that these steel walls are made out of magic…? "I thought the special property of Earth magic only allowed you to create wood, rock, and dirt . "
Arlene laughs . "You've definitely been misinformed . Earth magic can create almost anything that comes from a planet's composition . Unless you're capable of using Earth magic, I won't bore you with the details . "
There are so many things I don't know about magic . The things that Ragnar showed me and now this . The things she said earlier bother me, though . Conjuration magic . Can it really do something like bring people from other worlds? I thought it was more like creating something . At least I thought that's what Moria taught .
There are still those issues I attributed to this being a dream that doesn't make any sense anymore too . My intense desire to do it with Arlene, my inability to not answer her questions, how she managed to bring me to her without a portal, how she moves Mana past a physical barrier, and everything else .
"Still…the world you live in now seems very interesting . It shares commonalities with Eprillon, but at the same time it doesn't," Arlene says .
"What do you mean?"
"You told me Glims were crystals that when Mana passes through them, assigns them instructions based on their Mana quality . "
"Yeah . "
"I know Glims to be simply any Mana permeable object that assigns instructions to Mana . "
"Any Mana permeable object…?"
"That's right . Mostly things like dirt, wood, rock, and water . They don't have to be crystals . "
"I see," I say . Maybe just the ones I've seen were made out crystal . Doesn't seem to be a big deal either way .
"Initially, I thought you're from Eprillon too, but I'm not sure now . "
"You keep going about Eprillon, but what's that exactly?"
"It's the name of another world . Where we came from . "
"We?"
"Everyone that lives here . "
"You traveled here…from another world? How?" I ask . I honestly don't know how that's possible . Bringing me here with Conjuration magic is one thing since that's temporary, I think . But permanently moving to another world… That's a stretch . It can't be, Void magic?
"Yes . I have an idea of how it was done…but I'm not sure . "
"What do you mean you're not sure?"
"It was my parents who did it . "
"Where're they now?"
"They passed away . "
"Oh, I'm sorry . "
"Don't worry about it . It's been sixteen years . More importantly, tell me about your world . What do you do there? How's life?"
"I work for the army now after I lost several friends in an attack by criminals . Life was good before that . I went to the Academy to learn how to use magic and be an adventurer when I was 11 . Graduated a few months ago and completed E ranked missions until that attack . "
"I see . It sounds like the place you grew up in is already very developed . Something is strange, though . You speak the same language and are familiar with objects such as Glims . I know that at least several other parties traveled to other worlds around the same time . There have been no previous accounts in our history of people employing that technique . "
"That technique…does it have something to do with Void magic?"
"Yes, actually . I wouldn't recommend that you try it yourself . It will cost your life . "
I widen my eyes . "Is that how your parents…"
"Yes . I can't say for sure that's what happened to your parents since someone else could've cast the magic," Arlene says . "There's one thing I know for sure based on what you've told me . Emdos, your caretaker, definitely knows something . "
"Yeah, I know . He told me that he would tell me when the time comes . They were famous adventurers together . He said that they weren't killed out of hate . Does that mean Emdos could be from another world too?"
"That can't be true . "
"Why not?"
"That letter addressed to you by your father . By last hope, he meant that you're the only one with Void magic . That means that no one else with Void magic was brought to your world . Adventuring existed in Eprillon too, but it doesn't sound like Emdos is from there . Your father wouldn't have said you were the last hope otherwise . Emdos is lying to you . "
I frown . There's just no way . Sure, he lied about how the shower mechanism worked when I was little . He lied about making my favorite food on my first day at the Academy . He lied when…wait . I guess he has lied to me before, but I trust him . He said he would tell me everything one day .
"We're here," Arlene informs as she opens a door . I follow her inside .
"Welcome, Arlene . Fiona hasn't arrived yet," a woman says .
"Our specimen is already here," Arlene says and points to me with her hand .
A woman with wrinkly skin and brown hair walks up to me . "Oh, he's young! What happened here?"
She waves a hand over my face . A green glow emits from it briefly . The pain from my face disappears . I knit my eyebrows and touch my face . The burns are gone . Wow, I didn't think she would be able to heal that injury so fast .
"There ya go, sweetie . "
"Uh, thanks," I say .
"Ann, I need you to find Fiona, and bring her here immediately . "
"Alright . She's probably still asleep . I'll be back," Ann says and walks past me out of the room .
Asleep? That reminds me . It's obviously night outside, but in the village, it wasn't . Maybe that's why I haven't seen many other people in this place . Everyone might still be asleep . I ask, "Is it because everyone's still asleep that this place seems so empty?"
"No, most of the people in the research branch are out in the expedition . "
"Expedition?"
"An organized team I put together to explore the surface . We need to learn more about the world we've arrived in . "
"I see . How do people in the village sleep when it's always so bright?"
"It's not always that bright . It gradually becomes brighter throughout the day and then dims when night approaches . The days are simulated in a 24-hour cycle mimicking Eprillon . This planet isn't on the same cycle . Everyone has a slightly different sleep schedule based on their role in the base . Everyone's role is important to our survival . "
Hmm… It was a good thing that Arlene brought me here when I was supposed to be sleeping . Marin was with me too . I hope she doesn't worry too much if she wakes up . I'll have a wild story to tell when I get back .
Arlene was so insistent on mating with me, but now she's not trying anymore . Something's off . She referred to me as the specimen . What's this Fiona person going to do when she arrives? I cough before speaking up, "Well, what're we waiting here for?"
Arlene smiles . "For Fiona to arrive . But I suppose we could get started now . You can stay right where you are…"
She walks toward me . I gulp and take a few steps back . My back now against the wall . Is she gonna try to mate with me again…?
"What're you doing? I'm not gonna do it with you . "
"You can't resist anymore . You've fallen completely under my control . I could easily mate with you now if I wanted to," she says and strokes my chest . I gulp . For some reason, I can't move . I can't move any of the Mana inside my body either . "But I won't . There's another way . "
"Huh?" I still can't move . Arlene slowly moves her hand down between my legs . I groan as she takes hold of it and strokes it back and forth . "Whwhat're you doing?"
"Exactly what it looks like . Collecting your seeds . Close your eyes and think of Marin, if you'd like . "
I won't be able to stop myself from releasing my fluids if it comes down to this . Despite that she's doing this against my will, she could easily mate with me in this situation . Why is it that she's choosing not to? It doesn't make sense to me . If there's another way to get what she wants, why hasn't she done that with her other mates?
"How will you mate with me without doing it with me?" I ask, trying to keep my calm .
"Easy . I'll put one of your seeds inside me when the time is right . "
"Why haven't you done that with your other mates?"
The grip around my thing gets tighter . "Because of tradition . Because I'm a trophy . Every year, there's a competition for men of all ages to compete in . The winner of the competition will mate with me each year . The winner is thought to be the strongest and create a more capable child . "
"So you've been with a different man every year…? Has there been a different winner every year?"
"Yes, because the same man can't win more than once . It's to create variation in magic talent . If the same man were to mate with me every year, there would be more issues with inbreeding several generations down too . "
"Haven't you found someone…special?"
She frowns . "None of this has anything to do with love or anything like that… Since the day we came to this world, I had no other choice . It was either to let my parents' sacrifice be all for nothing or help ensure our survival . I was willing to swallow my pride for that . I didn't plan on letting filthy Halfblood kidnappers have their way with me the entire time . I trained and planned for this day . After I collect your seeds, I won't ever have to mate with them again . "
She strokes harder and faster . I groan and pant . I can't…
I close my eyes and explode . Euphoria spreads throughout my entire body . A wooden cup is in front of my thing . I take a deep breath in and then out . "You were kidnapped?"
"That's right . I would've been with the Purebloods if not for them . It's in the past now," she says and then looks into the cup . "Not enough . "
"What're you doing?" I ask as she takes off her top .
"Desire me . " I gulp as every ounce of my being wants to climb onto her, but I don't move . My friend who went limp after being overwhelmed with pleasure stands firm again . Arlene strokes it rapidly again . "I envy you . You can freely choose your mate and experience love . You know, I find you very attractive . I was hoping to enjoy sex for once, but I can't . "
It hurts . My thing throbs with pain every time she strokes it . I'm going to lose it again soon . I close my eyes and think of Marin . I don't know how much time passes before I explode again .
"Sorry about this, I'll need to do it one more time to be safe . I'll answer all of your questions afterward . You need to be well-informed about what happened 17 years ago . "
I can't think of anything right now other than Arlene and her body . It becomes hard again . I throb with pain on every heartbeat . I wish she'd stop even though she won't . I grit my teeth and keep my eyes closed . I lose track of time again .
"Arlene, I've brought Fiona," Ann says . Footsteps resound closer to me .
"Good . I'm almost done with our specimen," Arlene says . "Come here, Fiona . "
"No, it smells over there…" a woman says . "I'll do it from over here when you're ready . "
"Fine," Arlene says and speeds up her hand .
"Ugh!" I exclaim and then pant . Pain radiates from my entire groin into my lower stomach . I feel extremely fatigued .
"Do it," Arlene says .
I open my eyes . The wooden cup that has my seeds is on the ground . Blue flames erupt out of nowhere that envelop the entire cup . Something feels weird inside me . I still can't move, though . Arlene turns toward me .
"Oh, no . Something is interfering with our connection," she says . My vision is fading despite that my eyes are open . "There's…need…know…"
My hearing is fading too . Arlene's mouth moves but I only hear some words . "Beware…Mana…"
…
I wake up and open my eyes, panting . I sit up and look around . I'm in my room . Marin's nowhere to be found . Pain radiates from my lower region . I place both of my hands around my thing . What the hell just happened? I had this dream…no it wasn't a dream…
I try to remember everything that happened . A flush resounds in the bathroom . The door opens and Marin comes out .
"Kai, you're awake? It's still too early… Go back to sleep," Marin says as she joins me in bed . "What's wrong?"
"Marin, this is gonna sound weird, but have I been sleeping here the entire time?"
"Yeah…why? You were tossing and turning . Were you having another one of those nightmares?"
I knit my eyebrows . "No, it's nothing . "
"Okay, if you say so . Is something wrong with your…thing?" Marin asks as she glances over to where I have my hands placed .
"Oh, yeah… Just really sore . "
Marin blushes and then answers, "Well, you were really passionate last night…"
I blush and stand up . "Gotta use the bathroom . "
I head into the bathroom and close the door . I look into the mirror .
I can't believe that it was all a dream . It was too realistic . There has to be a hint that I was actually there . I walked through the village area barefoot . I felt the dirt stick to my soles . I raise my legs to look at them . Completely clean . No traces of dirt whatsoever . I slide my palm across them and notice nothing unusual . I smell my arms . Nothing . My face too . I burnt it with my Fire magic, but Ann healed it with magic .
I sigh and lower my head toward the sink . I never got any real answers how any of the magic worked . Was everything just a result of everything I already knew and the possibilities that I never thought about? The last thing that Arlene said . Beware Mana .
It reminds me of the folklore at Beltan . That using too much Mana turns you into a monster . I must've somehow twisted everything that happened today into this fantasy dream .
I look back into the mirror and widen my eyes . I grab a part of my bangs with my fingers . It's burnt . In the dream, I tried to kill myself by unleashing my strongest flames into my own face . I don't know how it disappeared, but is this proof that it wasn't a dream? No wait…
I think back to earlier in the day . There was a moment I came into close contact with Fire magic . It was when someone from Ragnar's group launched me into the air . I used the Artificial Magic Weapon to help me avoid the incoming ball of fire . It must've been at that moment some of my hair was caught .
I sigh . I think a part of me just wants to believe that it was really real . Now that I think about it, it was really ridiculous . It couldn't have been real . There were too many things that just couldn't be true .
I use the bathroom before heading back to sleep .