114 A Visit Home
When they finished eating, they had headed upstairs to some rooms that had accommodations for sleeping.
Mune had taken the room next to Nova and left him with his own room.
『Good night, then. Wake me up before we go tomorrow.』[Mune]
『Thank you, good night.』[Nova]
Nova closed the screen door and immediately let out a sigh of relief.
「Man… What was that food?! I felt like I was dying, even if it tasted really good!」[Nova]
「It was food that had a high amount of mana in it. Could be monster meat, could be artificially created mana food. Either way, once it enters your body, the process of it breaking down will release mana everywhere in your body. It's quite beneficial for your growth.」[Reischneid]
Nova's mind went blank at the thought of him getting stronger through eating.
「...I can get stronger through eating? Why doesn't everyone do that?!」[Nova]
There was a pause of silence before Nova heard Reischneid sigh.
「Because, Nova. Artificially creating mana infused foods requires a high degree of proficiency and mana. It's a lot more trouble than it's worth. On the other hand, monsters disintegrate into smoke and ash half the time, right?」[Reischneid]
「Oh! Right! How do you eat monster meat if it's ashes?」[Nova]
「You either eat it while it is still alive, suspended in a state of half-death, or you find a monster that doesn't disintegrate when killed.」[Reischneid]
「...That sounds really difficult, or gross..」[Nova]
「Well, it definitely is. Just assume that food that makes you directly powerful is a rare commodity. You'd be paying a LOT of Cryst for it.」[Reischneid]
「...And I just ate that for free?」[Nova]
「...And you just ate that for free.」[Reischneid]
「...I'm going to go to sleep now...」[Nova]
Nova slipped himself on top of the futon on the ground and let himself slip off into sleep in the hopes that he may forget about yet another debt.
….
Nova woke up the next day with Mune ready to go.
『Yo. Good morning.』[Mune]
『Good morning. Are you sure you want to go with me? Wouldn't you rather spend time with your grandma?』[Nova]
『It's fine. I stay here during the summer breaks and drop by occasionally. I'll probably just have you teleport me here more often.』[Mune]
Nova couldn't help but awkwardly laugh once he heard that last part.
『Haha… right...』[Nova]
He raised his hand up and concentrated on the space in front of them.
『Area.』[Nova]
He opened up a portal to the front of his apartment.
『Is it okay to just open up portals everywhere, I wonder?』[Nova]
Mune shrugged.
『Sure. Just don't do it in public places and you'll be fine.』[Mune]
Mune went ahead into the portal first, with Nova following immediately after.
They emerged from the portal and came out under a tree behind the wall of the street, completely concealing their appearance.
『Okay! I'm gonna go check with the landlady first. Did you want to wait on the second floor for me?』[Nova]
『Sure. I'll see you in a bit then.』[Mune]
Nova went to a room on the ground floor and knocked on the door.
After a moment, the door swung open, revealing a middle aged woman with curly brown hair and a wrinkled face.
『Good morning, Mrs Heather. I just arrived back home.』[Nova]
『Ah! Lil' Nova! Your father just came by no less than a week ago!』[Mrs. Heather]
Nova got excited.
『Oh, really?! Did he say anything?』[Nova]
『Nope. He just took care of an unruly man and left quietly after. How dashing, your father is!』[Mrs. Heather]
Her eyes resembled a young girl in love, causing Nova to awkwardly laugh it off.
『...Right. Alright then, I'm gonna clean up my apartment and head off again. Thanks for taking care of everything, Mrs. Heather!』[Nova]
Nova began to walk off before Heather snapped out of her delusions.
『Oh! It's Drasil week! Aren't you going to stay for a bit?!』[Mrs. Heather]
『Umm… maybe! I'll think about it!』[Nova]
Nova took his key out and swung it around, meeting up with Mune on the second floor.
『You finish up?』[Mune]
『Yeah! Let's go in.』[Nova]
He walked over to his door and placed the key into the keyhole before a spark suddenly exploded forth in front of him and Mune.
『Woah! What was that?!』[Nova]
Mune raised an eyebrow at Nova's concern.
『...Static?』[Mune]
Nova had an embarrassed look on his face.
『Oh...』[Nova]
He twisted the door open, taking a look inside.
For a moment he saw the shadow of a woman sitting on the couch in front of him before he blinked and they disappeared.
『?!...Hello...』
He heard a voice suddenly whisper into his ear before he was suddenly hit by a massive headache.
『Gngh…!』[Nova]
『Hey, you alright?!』[Mune]
He propped Nova up by the arm.
The headache subsided as quick as it came, leaving Nova confused and bewildered.
『...Yeah. I don't know what that was.』[Nova]
Reischneid began to shout in Nova's mind.
「NOVA! THIS IS DANGEROUS! EXIT THE APARTMENT!」[Reischneid]
Nova suddenly froze up in fear before he saw Mune suddenly get tossed out of the apartment.
「WHAT?!」[Nova]
He stood in silent horror as he saw ashy dust manifest in front of him.
「...Shit. Nova, for the love of god...」[Reischneid
He shouted as loud as he could.
「GET OUT OF THERE!」[Reischneid]
Nova stood rigidly out of fear of the entity in front of him.
「H..u..h? R...R..R..?」[Nova]
His instincts screamed for him to run as fast as he could, but the fear that was ingrained in his mind prevented him from running.
Mune started to slam on the door, shaking Nova back into reality.
『Nova! What the hell is going on?!』[Mune]
『A..A..Area!』[Nova]
Suddenly, the amalgamation of dust and ash rushed forward toward Nova.
