21 Rumors (3)

As we arrived at that rumored place, I looked around, trying to sense a heightened density of Ether in the atmosphere.

"It's true."

Acedia stared at an empty alley near the store.

"It seems like that."

I nodded as I also sensed something off from that place.

Although a portal was nowhere to be seen, a distortion in the atmosphere was visible in that spot, which was evidence of the existence of a connecting portal.

I turned my head to Acedia, opening my mouth to tell her how we should proceed, but she was already gone, starting to do it by herself.

There were two ways to forcibly open the portal:

First was manipulating the natural mana in that area to push the mana away, lowering the density in the area and forcefully creating the requirements for the portal to open.

And the other option was to send out a small Ether wave. If I used the Ether in my body, I could send out a small wave of Ether that forced the portal to react, opening itself.

Although the second option was way more efficient, it also brought more casualties with it. If I miscalculated my Ether output, there was the possibility of me artificially creating portals, so the fact that Acedia knew how to force open portals, came in quite handy.

"This portal won't stay open for too long. Maybe a few minutes at most."

She raised her arms and casted two mana circles on her palms, controlling the mana in the surrounding atmosphere.

Pulling apart her arms, the mana in the atmosphere immediately followed and spread apart, lowering the density of the surrounding atmosphere.

Slowly, a black portal appeared and gradually began to rise in size.

Instead of the mana, Ether took over the surrounding atmosphere, emitting a stern pressure that would make it hard for any normal person to breathe, let alone move or stand.

"It's open. Get in quickly."

Her arms trembled as she kept the portal open, the world trying to correct itself, defending against the forceful awakening of the portal.

The large portal's gravitational force heightened, sucking everything around it in, transporting it to the depths.

And then, we, too, got sucked into the large portal as the surrounding sound around us gradually died away.

***

***

When I opened my eyes, I didn't find myself in the familiar white sand of the first layer of the Depths but the interior of a long, dark hallway.

I turned my head to the side, spotting the unconscious Acedia next to me.

'This situation seems very familiar.'

However, contrary to the first time something like this happened, Acedia began to wake up shortly after me, all by herself.

Waking up, she immediately jumped up, getting into a combat stance, her body tensing. Her expression was fierce, almost intimidating even, and the Acedia that I previously talked to vanished.

'Now I know why Raum asked her.'

The surrounding mana around her body jumped around aggressively, ready to form a spell at any time, and the expression on her face seemed like that of a battle-hardened veteran.

Even though I didn't exactly know who Acedia was, I knew that this wasn't her first time encountering such a thing.

However, when she looked around and spotted me, she gradually seemed to relax as she formed a smile, her previous expression vanishing into the air.

"There you areeee."

Acedia beamed with excitement as she saw me, jumping to me with outstretched arms, embracing me in a tight hug.

Perplexed by her action, I couldn't react as my mind was still processing what she was trying to do.

"What are you doing?"

I lowered my eyes, glancing at the top of Acedia's head.

"Fulfilling my to-do list."

She didn't respond as she tightened the hug, almost cracking a few ribs of mine.

I tried to free myself, which wasn't as easy as I thought it would be, as the tiny frame of that woman surprisingly had more strength than it looked.

As I didn't have a way to free myself without hurting her, I just endured it as Acedia enjoyed the hug with a blissful expression on her face.

She then released me after a while, turning around and summoning a window made out of mana in front of her face.

Although I couldn't read what was written on that window, I had a feeling that it wasn't a good thing as she creepily giggled while ticking off some boxes.

"Alright...I can already check off two things on my list"

Her voice was quiet, almost as if she was whispering to herself.

"What list?"

She turned her head around, almost mechanically, as she flashed me a broad smile.

She then spun around, grabbing me by my shoulders. Her smile was still in place.

I froze as I looked into her eyes, recognizing an empty look of insanity in her eyes.

I almost forgot.

As the Depths were a place that transcended logic itself, the brain couldn't intake all of that information, turning the person insane in the process.

However, that process was usually a slow one, and one could recover by spending time in the Overworld for a long time.

Gulp.

I swallowed my saliva as I looked into her empty eyes.

That is, of course, only when the person, in general, was sane.

A barely sane person or someone with an insane obsession about something gets corrupted by the effects of the Depths much quicker than the average person.

"Don't ask such boring questions, Voidwalkerrrr~."

She grabbed me by my shirt, pulling me down to her eye level as she came closer with her face, her eyes directly staring into mine.

"We're alone here."

Her smile broadened, turning into a large, almost inhuman-looking grin.

"Now you can't leave me again."