Chapitre 25: Chapter 25
In the Novel
Whenever Seisha appeared, the story seemed to twist in unpredictable ways. Her presence was a contradiction—she was a main character, yet it was as if she moved on a separate trajectory, one that only occasionally crossed the paths of the others. There was an unsettling precision in her actions, a sense that every step, every word, and every fleeting glance was calculated for some end known only to her. It was this unpredictable nature that made her both fascinating and terrifying.
Seisha was different from the rest, not just because of her methods but because of her unwavering commitment to her own mysterious goals. Her cold, calculating demeanor made it clear she had no room for hesitation. Compassion? Sympathy? Those were things she didn't know. If it meant advancing her plans, she would discard an ally without a second thought, even if that ally was the very person fighting by her side moments ago.
Others viewed her with a mix of fear and awe, aware that she was a force beyond their understanding, a storm that moved in directions they could never predict. They tried to guess her motivations, to find some pattern in her behavior, but the more they tried, the less they understood. Seisha was always three steps ahead, always orchestrating events from the shadows.
She never approached anyone without a reason. Her plans required precision, and every interaction was another piece in the intricate puzzle she was assembling. So when she suddenly stood beside me, her eyes cold and her voice as calm as ever, asking for my help, I should have known better.
I should have recognized the danger lurking behind that request; I should have seen the trap closing in around me. But I didn't. And now, I regret it deeply. Because to Seisha, people were nothing more than tools—useful until they weren't, discarded when they no longer served her purpose.
'I don't know what you're after, Seisha, or what you've planned for me,' I thought, realizing she has plans for me. 'But whatever it is, it won't work. I'm not as naive as the others—I know you have a plan, a reason to keep me close, to use me like another one of your pawns.'
'The only thing I absolutely hate is being manipulated by someone and moving to their wishes. So it won't work on me.'
"Ohh, first I need to make you guys back to normal."
Snap!
With a snap of her finger, the overflowing emotions in me suddenly calmed, my racing heart slowing to a steady beat. But the aftermath still lingered in me; the emotions clung to me like a shadow that refused to let go.
As I tried to get up, I felt a firm grip holding me down.
"Can you let go of my hand?" I asked coldly to show her that I'm not affected by the skill; there is no lingering effect in me.
"uh" Realizing she was still holding my hand, she quickly let go of my hand and apologized, "Sorry."
'I don't know if she is acting or not.'
"It's okay." I said. Turning around, I glared at Joseline, intentionally releasing my bloodlust.
"Calm down, boy." Her voice was indifferent, as if this were not new to her.
She pointed her pen at me, drawing the dot in the air with a simple flick. Instantly, unnatural calmness washed over me, dismissing all the rage. Ignoring it, I pressed further.
"Calm down, you say?" I spat back, my voice shaking with barely suppressed rage.
"Do you have any idea how much pain I've suppressed? Every time those memories resurface, they tear me apart. Do you know what it's like to choke on the agony of memories you desperately want to erase but can't? If you had just explained it to me... even a little, I wouldn't have agreed to this. But when I begged, you didn't stop."
I released my bloodlust again, stronger this time, letting it flood the space between us. But with another swift dot from her pen, the calmness returned, stifling my anger like a suffocating blanket.
She faltered for a moment, her eyes flickering toward the citizens who watched with a mix of disappointment and disdain. And now she seemed at a loss for words.
"Okay, okay," she sighed, rubbing her temple. "So as a compensation, how about I increase the reward?"
"You think compensation will erase the pain I felt?" I snarled, letting my voice drip with indignation, though inwardly, I was almost laughing. This was going even better than I had hoped.
'My plan worked flawlessly'
"So you don't want compensation?" She asked, arching an eyebrow.
"… I will take it." I muttered reluctantly, feigning hesitation.
Before the tension could settle, a small, chirping voice broke through the crowd: "Madam Joseline, can I get your autograph, please?"
'Lucy!'
"Lucy… You want an autograph with my new painting, right?" Joseline asked, her voice a knowing tone.
Lucy looked in my direction for a moment, giving me a cold glare. "Yes, but not the painting of him." She pointed her fingers in my direction.
"Mmm, okay, I will send a copy when I release my new painting." Joseline replied smoothly, waving it off as if she were accustomed to this kind of reaction.
'Always a fanatic for Joseline's paintings,' I thought, recalling the details from the novel. Lucy had a habit of collecting every renowned artwork, and among them, Joseline Brett was her favorite.
"I will be going now." Joseline approached us, "Let's go and end our business." Taking out a miniature car from her watch's spatial system, she placed it on the road, and instantly it became big.
"Get inside." After getting inside, she drove the car to Sophronia Mall.
"What do you need? For your information, the compensation will be an F rank item."
"You're stingy for an S+ rank hunter." I Muttered, half serious, half joking.
She smiled. "That's how you live in this world; now tell me what you need."
"An E rank weapon and a skill."
"Let's go." Without another word, she led the way to the skill shop. As we approached, she motioned for me to go in alone. Skills were secrets, after all.
Inside, I searched through the options, sifting through countless skills.
"Not good, not good... still not good." After searching for a few minutes, I found an interesting skill.
"Aura manifestation. By injecting mana into a weapon, it turns mana into an aura, strengthening its durability and increasing attack power and speed. That's a good skill, and it can also apply to the body."
Aura is mostly used by orks, centaurs, and giants. While mana grants us the ability to create different elements through it, aura grants us more power; it increases strength, speed, durability, and natural healing far more than mana.
And aura users can only have a single element property; some aura users have fire elements, while other aura users have different properties. So being an aura master is beneficial for hunters who seek pure combat skills, but they have to find aura-based skills if they need to learn any.
"Well, I'll look for other skills as well." After searching again for a few minutes, I found another skill.
"High Perception, as the name suggests, activating the skill increases the user's perception of how much mana the user puts into the skill. Caution: It can cause side effects by putting too much mana into the skill... Yep, the perfect skill. I need to build a similar skill to his."
The skill I'm trying to replicate is Astro Copy; it's a skill given by the system to match Ashers Weapon Master occupation.
Since I can't use spells and skills, the only way to survive in this world is by training different martial arts techniques and becoming a proficient martial artist. For that, I need a skill similar to Astro Copy, and the only way to do that is to create a similar skill because copy skills are hard to come by, and even if they do, the founder will definitely use them.
"Did you choose your skill?" Joseline asked as I returned. I nodded.
"Okay." Walking to the counter, she paid for the skill without further questions.
"What did you choose?" Seisha asked.
"…Seriously"
"Okay, now let's move to the weapon shop."
"Welcome customer." As soon as we entered another shop, an employee approached Joseline with a business smile.
"Help him pick an E rank weapon," she said while pointing at me.
He looked at me, keeping the same smile. "What do you need, young customer?"
"I need a whip sword." I replied.
"Oh, that's an unusual weapon."
"So you don't have it?" I asked, slightly disappointed.
"No, it's not that we don't have it; it's that these types of weapons will be custom-made for users to prevent unwanted self injuries."
'So that's how it is.'
"We'll make the weapon; you just have to tell us how the weapon you want should be and the exact length and width."
"Okay"
"Follow me then." I followed him and found an old woman. "Request the weapon in your preference; she is the blacksmith." Nodding my head, I approached the woman.
"Explain to me what weapon you need," the woman asked with a smile.
"An E-rank whip sword, as a sword, should be 1 meter long, and in whip form, its full length should be 20 meters. Make it adjustable so I can adjust its length.
"The width?"
"Make it small if possible, around 1 inch or 2 inches."
The woman called the employee and shared the information. After calculating the price, he informed Joseline.
"Huh, 100,700—isn't that the price range of an D rank weapon?"
"The weapon is E rank close to D rank," I explained to her, " and I asked for better performance in that weapon."
"Sigh, Fine I will pay for it." After the transaction finished, we left the mall.
"I'm afraid I have to leave you two to get back on your own," Joseline said with a slight, apologetic smile. "I trust that won't be a problem?"
"Not at all," I replied.
"Same here," Seisha agreed.
"Until next time," Joseline waved and turned away.
'Next time?'
"Wait, did you get your reward?" I asked Seisha, sensing there might be more to this deal.
"Yeah, I got my promised reward."
"Oh, is that so? Good then. Bye." I said, swinging my leg over the bike, ready to leave.
But Seisha's voice stopped me. "If you don't mind, can I come with you?"
I turned to look at her, with a questioning face. Inside my heart, I felt like there was something forming. "Why? I mean, why aren't you showing any hostility towards me?"
She tilted her head slightly, a faint smirk playing at her lips. "Why should I?"
"...Huh?" I blinked, caught off guard by her response.
"I don't care about any of that," she continued, her tone nonchalant. "The only thing that matters to me is achieving my goals. That's all."
She continued. "Even if you're an angel or devil, whoever you may be, I don't care as long as you don't stand in my way."
"So, can you give me a ride?"
I hesitated for a moment, searching her expression for any hidden motives. But all I found was calm indifference. "…Get on."
"Okay," she said simply, climbing onto the bike behind me.
My grip tightened on the handlebars. With a roar, the bike sped forward, engines humming against the quiet of the night.
***
***
***
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The shrill alarms echoed through the dimly lit room, bouncing off the walls lined with high-tech equipment. On the largest holographic screen, crimson alerts flashed urgently, warning of an anomaly.
A man sat at the console, his face bathed in the harsh red glow. His eyes darted over the readings, and his breath caught. "What the...?" he whispered, his voice shaky.
"Mana levels... are spiking... No, they're surging."
The fissures on the screen trembled, erratic pulses of energy radiating from them like ripples on water. But this was no ordinary fluctuation. The spikes were massive, unprecedented—off the charts. The readings climbed higher and higher, the jagged lines on the graph drawing peaks that stretched to the screen's edges.
He leaned closer, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "If this keeps up... the fissures will tear open," he muttered. "And if they do..."
He cut himself off, the words hanging in the air like a threat. He knew what it meant. Everyone did. The barrier between realms was thinning, like glass about to shatter.
His hand moved to the communication panel. "I need to inform th—"
Suddenly, the beeping stopped, and the alarms went silent. The mana levels on the screen fell back to normal, so abruptly that it seemed unnatural, almost calculated.
He stared at the data, a cold shiver running down his spine. 'Shit… it's calming down. It's as if hiding. If this goes like this, it will be quite difficult to detect when the crack will open...'
His heart raced. If the fissures were stable one moment and volatile the next, then whatever was on the other side wasn't just trying to break through—it was waiting.
The man swallowed, trying to keep his composure. He knew what came next. The fissures wouldn't just expand; they would rupture. And when they did, whatever lay beyond them
would be unleashed.
He took a deep breath, moving to issue a full-scale alert.
"It would be one hell of a mess if a crack opened with this level of magnitude." He muttered, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone