Chapter 340: Hidden Quest Completed [GOLDEN TICKET BONUS]
Alex fell silent, carefully considering those words. He had expected Kriptin to become angry or attempt to persuade him, but instead, the Monarch had given him advice that seemed genuinely valuable.
Before Alex could ask another question, Kriptin spoke again. “That’s enough for now. Send him back before his soul suffers any further damage.”
One of the surrounding stars immediately moved, and Alex froze at what happened next. The star crossed an impossible distance and appeared directly before him without any noticeable delay. However, when Alex instinctively looked toward its original position, he discovered that it was still there.
Somehow, the star existed in both places simultaneously. Alex couldn’t begin to understand what he was witnessing, but he had no opportunity to examine the phenomenon further.
An enormous pressure suddenly descended upon him as the star began pushing his soul downward.
“Go back, little one. Hopefully, you’ll still be alive when we meet again.”
Alex felt as though an entire mountain had been placed on top of him before he was violently thrown downward. Although, considering that an actual star was pressing against his soul, comparing its weight to a mountain was probably a ridiculous understatement.
Strangely, he wasn’t burning, although he had no idea why. The surrounding space distorted as Alex traveled across an impossible distance, and before he could properly register what was happening, the familiar crack appeared beneath him.
A moment later, his soul was thrown straight into it.
Alex’s soul passed through the crack and appeared directly in front of his body, which was still floating in the air with its hand wrapped around the Star Plum Arasia fruit. Looking around, he realized that not even a second seemed to have passed since he was pulled into the void.
His Mana Shuriken was still functioning despite him no longer actively controlling it. Before Alex could examine the strange situation further, his soul slammed back into his body, causing him to gasp violently.
Alex blinked several times, gradually regaining control over his physical senses. However, the moment he tried moving, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion struck him, and the Mana Shuriken behind him immediately disintegrated.
His body began falling toward the ground, but Alex barely had enough concentration left to react. At the last moment, he used the Kinetic Mana and absorbed most of the energy from the fall, preventing himself from being crushed when he struck the ground.
Even so, the impact knocked the remaining air out of his lungs, leaving Alex lying on the ground and breathing heavily. He stared at the crack in the sky, watching as the opening slowly closed before disappearing completely.
’What the hell just happened?’ Alex wondered, still struggling to process everything he had experienced.
He had encountered beings that appeared to be living stars, nearly destroyed his soul by looking at something he couldn’t comprehend, and somehow returned without losing his life.
It was… a fascinating experience.
After recovering slightly, Alex activated Soul Recovery Spell, finally able to manipulate mana again. He hadn’t realized how much he missed his mana until he was separated from it, and feeling the familiar energy circulating through his body was incredibly reassuring.
However, as the spell began nourishing his soul, Alex immediately winced. The damage was considerably worse than he had expected, and even with Soul Recovery Spell operating continuously, recovering completely would probably take quite some time.
Alex closed his eyes and began reviewing everything that had happened, attempting to understand how he had ended up meeting the Monarchs.
’Kriptin deliberately placed the Rune Compendium in the Merchant’s shops. Considering what he said, he probably distributed copies through multiple Merchants.’
The arrangement was starting to make sense. Kriptin had likely been hoping that someone talented enough to become a Runesmith would obtain the Compendium and eventually follow its information to the Star Plum Arasia fruit.
’And the fruit itself seems to possess some kind of intoxicating effect. The closer I got, the more difficult it became to think properly, until I eventually grabbed it without taking any precautions.’
Alex lowered his gaze toward the fruit still resting in his hand. Now that the strange influence had disappeared, it resembled a glowing light, though the touch told him it was the shape of an apple. It looked so harmless that he found it difficult to believe it had nearly killed him.
’Goddamn fruit. Something this innocent-looking almost got me killed,’ Alex thought, feeling somewhat irritated.
He carefully examined it before continuing his analysis. Touching the fruit had apparently triggered something that pulled his soul into the void, although he still didn’t understand the mechanism involved.
Alex instinctively avoided recalling what he had seen “below” him in that place. However, after a moment, he noticed something rather unusual.
Normally, trying not to think about something only made it more difficult to forget. Yet the information he had perceived when looking “below” wasn’t appearing in his thoughts at all, almost as though it could only be recalled if he consciously attempted to access it.
’That’s strange. Does that knowledge naturally have some kind of restriction, or did one of the Monarchs do something to protect my soul?’
Alex couldn’t determine the answer, but he was grateful nonetheless. If that information had continued appearing in his mind without his permission, his already damaged soul might have been completely destroyed.
Nevertheless, he decided to examine whatever information he could safely remember without attempting to access the more dangerous portions.
’Let’s see… The Land of Origin consists of countless separate dimensions, and these dimensions are called Domains. Each Domain possesses its own laws of physics, and they’re broadly divided into two categories: Stable Domains and Chaos Domains.’
Alex didn’t know exactly what distinguished the two categories, but their names were already enough to make him suspicious. If Chaos Domains were anything like what their name suggested, then they would probably be extremely dangerous.
’As for the place where I met the Monarchs, that was called the [Void]. Apparently, it’s different from ordinary Domains, although I don’t know how. Is the Void still part of the Land of Origin, or does it exist somewhere outside it?’
He considered the question for a while before eventually abandoning it. There simply wasn’t enough information available for him to reach a useful conclusion.
At that moment, several familiar notifications suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Hidden Quest completed: Meet a Monarch before the Second Assessment.]
[Gold Reward Box gained (3).]
..
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