Chapter 06: To Celestia

The man before me quietly watched me as I retreated to the back of the room away from him.

Even though I could absorb the mana stone without focusing too much or losing track of my surroundings, and even though I could not sense any hostility from the man, I didn't want to take any chances. And since heading back would have taken a lot of time, I had no choice but to be a little vulnerable so that I could absorb the mana in the stone.

I immediately activated my mana and using the secret mana breathing technique of my clan, no I am not going to tell you about that, I started absorbing the mana.

I could feel the man stare at me uninterested and unimpressed. He just wore a listless and tired expression. Completely ignoring me he reread the letter in the envelop and wore the bracelet that was in the envelope.

Yeah, it was super annoying to see his expression.

I decided to focus on absorbing the mana stone before the timer ran out. Luckily, I managed to fully absorb the stone with 5 seconds remaining on the timer.

[Success!]

[You have successfully absorbed the contents of the shadow stone.]

[Calculating…]

[Amount absorbed: 65%]

[Congratulations, your mana has risen by: 5 points]

[Additional Rewards: 3 points]

[Available points: 28 points]

Even with all the efforts, all I got was 3 points. Well, points are hard to earn and are useful so I don't mind, but I would never be able to afford the unknown.

Regardless, he would be cheaper to get once he gets to Celestia.

Now all I have to is wait for him to ask me to show him the way to Celestia. After reading the contents of the letter I was sure that he would be heading there anyways.

"Sigh," the man's sigh echoed through the empty hall.

"Is everything alright," I asked?

"Are you done?"

"Yes. Yes, sir. Thank you for the generous gift."

"It wasn't a gift." Here it comes. I knew in that moment that he would be asking me to lead the way back. Regardless of whether I can choose him or not, I would still be rewarded for showing him the way back. Afterall, the system of Celestia is fair. "It is advance payment for my quest."

"What is it," I said, pretending to act innocent?

"Drop the act." He looked annoyed. "Wipe that grin off your face and lead me to the place where this Harvest Festival is taking place"

"Ofcourse, sir."

I couldn't contain my excitement to earn more points this easily.

"We just need to head to the portal I came from," I said.

The man stood up and followed me. His tattered rags waved and flowed without any wind. We headed out the door, I entered and I tried my best to retrace my steps. I had to walk very slowly, because there was no shadow leading the way and I wanted to make sure that I did not stray from my path.

We made our way through the dark empty world. I could not see his face well because of his beard and long unkempt hair, but his eyes looked sad and sorry when he looked at the dead world around us.

I am very confident in my memory, which is why, albeit slow, I managed to lead the way back to the portal. The portal had already started closing when we arrived near it. It was running out of mana that was holding it open. We luckily got to it in time.

I hurriedly stepped through the gate in a panic, afraid of the portal closing with me on the empty side. I also did not want to experience any cliché last moment struggle or fight to return home, so I was hurrying as much as possible.

The man on the other hand, took a moment to look back on the dead Aether. He knew full well that the moment he stepped through the gate, the dead world would disintegrate since it no longer held any purpose. There was no longer any energy to hold the world together.

Realizing that, my heart ached a little. I could only empathize with him, not knowing the full extent of his pain. I couldn't even apologize because of how insulting the patronizing would feel. I waited for him in silence.

He finally stepped through and as soon as he crossed the gate, the portal collapsed in on itself.

The space we were in was like a small dark path what served as a barrier between world. Just a few steps away was another gate which opened up in Celestia.

Without looking back, the man stepped forward to the portal leading to Celestia. When he tried to enter the portal, a barrier prevented him from entering the gate.

A system screen appeared before him, since it had not synced with him yet, it was public, so I could see the messages the system showed to him. I didn't get anything from it though. All I saw was errors.

[Error!] The system message read.

[Error! Error! Error!]

[Analyzing…]

[Error!]

[User ##########. Permission Denied!]

[Error!]

The man signed and looked at me, "Voice of the world?"

I nodded.

The man turned back to the portal, "What do you want?"

[Error!]

[Analyzing error]

[Successful!]

[Error Type: Causality Error!]

[Searching for solutions…]

[Result: Balance required.]

[Do you wish to enter?
YES/NO
Note: Entering would place limitations on you and reset all your stats and skills. Confirmation requested to proceed.]

Yup. I knew it. There is no way that someone with the strength of a guardian would be allowed to enter willy nilly.

After all, the system is fair. It would make sure to maintain the balance of the world.

I waited behind him, because I was curious about what would happen to him. Little did I know, at that moment, that I had to pay a price for my curiosity.