Knowledge

Of course, while the young man was glad that this was not the case, he was actually confused as to why he was still alive after going all out against the scarlet monster, even to the point where he had had accepted his death if he could take the monster with him as well.

His last memories were how, after crushing the monster's neck, he had received an unknown but deadly wound and then been thrown against the wall, where he felt the cold begin to fill his body.

And finally, after preventing the monster from escaping the house, everything went dark for him, quickly and without warning.

But somehow, here he was, awake and clearly alive, while his opponent, for some reason, was now nothing more than a carcass of what he had been before.

"I wouldn't mind a warning this time..." Saying that, the young man stood up, feeling how his muscles were sore, no longer knowing if it was from overuse or if he was just hurt.

Although he had expected a warning from the system about what happened, as was now customary, nothing came to him, his arm remaining the same.

Tap

"?"

As he took the first step, trying to remember something about why he felt he was forgetting something important, however, he stepped on something slimy that made him look down.

It was blood scattered on the floor, something that honestly could be seen everywhere on the second floor, but what caught his attention was that this blood was red.

So red in fact that it didn't look like it belonged to a human or one of the monsters of the mirror world.

But the most striking thing about it was that the blood seemed to be forming words on the floor, moving away to get a better view, what read was a short and direct message.

"If you don't bring me with you, you'll die, painfully."

"..."

Next to the words, there was the bone, indicating that perhaps this was what the words referred to that he should take with him if he didn't want to die.

He didn't know if it was a threat or a recommendation, but either way, the young man picked up the bone.

Rather than heeding the words, he had already planned to do this due to the fact that at the moment, he had no weapons, with both his hammer and knife having been shattered by the scarlet monster.

Another reason was due to the fact that it would not be an exaggeration to say that this unusual weapon had saved his life, resisting the full strength of the scarlet monster.

Pushing through the bodies of the other dwarf monsters, Noah made his way towards the kitchen to retrieve his backpack from one of the lower cabinets.

Luckily, despite everything that happened, this time it looked like he had been able to keep it mostly intact.

Opening the last bottle of apple juice he had, the young man was quick to finish the whole thing, along with a pack of crackers that barely lasted a minute in his hands.

Although he had to get to the bottom of whatever had happened to him, he couldn't do much mental work if his stomach was empty and his throat was dry.

Besides, there were other things to do at the moment, things that had to do directly with his goal of wanting to investigate the mirror world further.

Putting away the cookie wrapper, Noah then pulled out all the empty bottles he had, heading towards the base of the stairs, the place where most of the monster bodies were.

"I'd better fill up my bottles before I go."

Even though he didn't have his knife, thanks to the large number of wounds on the corpses of these monsters, getting blood wasn't that difficult.

After a few minutes, and after switching sources a couple of times, Noah's three bottles were full, all being stuffed into the backpack before he put it on his back.

With that finished, Noah began to check the entire floor, checking both the state of the web and the number of monsters, the bloody words written on the floor, and also the scarlet monster carcass.

As a result, he came to a conclusion.

First, it seemed that the web had lost all its power as he could not sense even a hint of the energy from before, perhaps having been affected by continued use or by having its power source removed.

Second, it was clear that something had happened to the scarlet monster while he had been out of it, whatever this was being unknown to him so far, as the system didn't want to tell him anything.

He really wanted to find out what it was about him, but unfortunately, it didn't look like he was going to find the answer by simply looking around.

"Hm, I guess there's nothing left for me to do here..." Saying that, the young man had a dissatisfied expression on his face.

Reluctantly, he climbed up the attic, heading towards the gate before jumping right in.

Although he also struggled, it wasn't as much as the first time, now managing to get through the gate on his second attempt.

---

Plof!

Having finished a good amount of food in the kitchen, Noah collapsed on his bed, the last rays of sunlight streaming through the window, indicating that it was nearing dusk.

It had been several hours since he had returned from the mirror world, and after a not-so-convincing explanation, his mother stopped questioning him about where he had gone out so early.

As for what Noah did after returning, he just took a bath and went to sleep, only just waking up a few moments ago.

He hadn't noticed it in the mirror world, but the tiredness his body felt was immense, forcing him to fall asleep as soon as he sat up in bed.

In fact, if it weren't for the sudden hunger he felt, it was doubtful whether he would have woken up at this hour, but since he was, he wasn't about to fall asleep again.

Still in his bed, staring up at the ceiling, the young man began to think about how it was a curious coincidence that just when he had decided to go ahead with investigating the mirror world and the system, something so serious had happened.

He had faced a lot of monsters, he had killed, and he had died... or at least he had come infinitely close to dying, something he really didn't think he would have to experience at 17.

It was as if his resolve had been tested, causing him to experience something that most likely wouldn't be the last time it would happen.

"..."

Thinking about it, remembering facing the monsters, putting his life at risk, an anger began to form inside Noah.

"I was too careless!" He said, his expression being one of bitterness and dissent, "This isn't a game, it's my damn life...if I don't take care of it, who else will."

After experiencing his death, Noah's determination was not diminished, but instead, became even stronger, recognizing that he had not taken what he was facing seriously enough.

"If I want to change... our situation, I can't afford such carelessness again." Saying that, the young man then rose from his bed, "I need more power, I need... more knowledge."

With his mind working quickly, the young man was quick to identify that the problem he had before, the reason for his death, had simply been the fact that he had been too weak.

Something that should not have been the case, for in his arsenal, he had a tool that could not be considered anything other than miraculous, the system.

Not only that, but he also had something inside him that he had been unaware of before, called [Chaos] whose effects were something that saved Noah.

These two cards of his had something in common, and that was that Noah lacked an enormous amount of information about these.

A lack of information that had made his life depend on luck and improvisation.

Something that could have been avoided if he had taken the time to inspect the system and its workings more thoroughly, something he was determined to do today.

Sitting down at his desk, the young man, still motivated by his renewed resolve, picked up his pencil and with his notebook open, began to write down all his findings from his latest trip to the mirror world.

With that, a couple of hours passed before Noah was satisfied with the way he was describing both the symbols and the monsters, as well as the bone.

As a result, his notebook had been updated.

Starting with the monster section, it had two new additions.

Crookedteeth - Two types of this monster are known so far, Pale and Reddish, sharing similarities such as body shape and the special features of generating eyes where desired.

They have short legs but disproportionately long arms that they have to drag, no head or neck, only a torso with a hole that acts as their mouth, which is full of crooked and rotten teeth.

Pale ones are about 1.20 meters tall and have a weak physique. When alerted, they generate eyes all over their body. They can be alone or accompanied by more than a dozen of their kind.

The Reddish ones measure approximately 1.50 meters and have a superior physique and intelligence than the Pale ones, exceeding especially in agility, being able to determine the right moment to attack or retreat. They can go alone or accompanied by more than a dozen of their own.

Fot both, surprise attacks and very close combat are recommended.

Although the description was long, Noah felt it was sized appropriately, so he left it as it was.

The second addition was none other than the being that had made Noah experience despair and death, having a drawing with so much detail that even the young man himself was surprised at his improved drawing ability.

Faceless Wrath - Measuring two meters in height, his figure greatly resembles a human, with no extra limbs or disproportionate size, the only thing that gives him away being the scarlet color of his skin and his obvious lack of a face, only possessing a mouth.

His abilities are the highest seen so far, being stronger than a Putridbrute, faster than a Boneclaw and smarter than a reddish Crookedteeth, as well as being proficient in hand-to-hand combat.

Its skin is so tough that not even metal seems to be able to pierce it, also possessing a stamina that allows it to remain standing even with one of its limbs shattered.

Flight is recommended.

The drawing that accompanied this description was a vivid image of the Faceless Wrath, provoking a sense of unease as well as satisfaction in Noah.

Uneasiness because of what this monster meant to him, and satisfaction thanks to the fact that he had managed to portray well enough what this entity provoked in him.

The next section was symbols, but before the young man could begin reviewing the new additions, he heard something in his head.

'Noah...!'

"!"

Rising quickly from his chair, Noah turned quickly in the direction of the mirror, the voice in his head having alerted him.

His gaze quickly inspected the metal relic, looking to see if anything had pierced it, but its surface remained solid and calm.

Instead, what happened was that the voice again spoke, this time coming from behind him.

Swoosh!

With a wind coming through his window, Noah could see the white bone under his bed rolling towards him.

'Fear not, I'm already here.'

"What-"

Before he could finish understanding what was happening, the young man could feel a message come to him from the system.

__________________________

[Warning: The entity "????" has communicated with the "Host". Caution is advised]

__________________________

'Come!'

Then, feeling a pain in his head, the voice spoke again, this time more than a word being a command that almost made Noah give in without thinking.

However, thanks to having already experienced this with the [Ritual: Horrendous Web], Noah was able to resist the effects of that voice.

Gritting his teeth and shaking his head, the young man forcibly got rid of the strong pressure he felt in his head and instead focused his gaze on his arm, where he felt another message had appeared.

__________________________

[Notice: The entity "????" is forcing the "Host to enter its [Mind Space: Unknown]].

[Notice: The "Host" has successfully resisted the intentions of the "????"]].

__________________________

Thud!

Thereupon, feeling his head hurt like never before, Noah fell to his knees on the ground, although he was still conscious and with his gaze focused on the object in front of him.

He already had his suspicions, but the system helped him confirm them, that indeed the entity that had helped him before was not a monster from the mirror world, but the mysterious object he had found in the middle of his living room, the white bone.