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This was a place of impenetrable darkness, so absolute you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
However, for Haru, who had visited this place daily for the past month, the darkness was no obstacle. He strolled through the cave with the ease of a man navigating his own backyard.
Drip!
Drip~!
The uneven ceiling was covered in countless stalactites, streaked with milky white and brownish-yellow. Water from within the mountain trickled down them, dripping onto the ground and splashing in small pools, echoing with a clear, crisp sound.
Thump!
The standing water at the bottom of the cave rippled as he stepped into it.
Wading through the water, Haru moved with an exceptional familiarity, navigating the complex cave system with ease.
Though the outside world was still in the grip of a bitter winter, the inside of the cave was surprisingly warm. As he descended, the temperature rose steadily. In just half a day, it had already reached a scorching fifty degrees Celsius.
This cave was the Aozaki family’s stronghold, located beneath the magical workshop of the old True Magic User.
For that reclusive magus to have built his workshop here and lived in peace, this place was naturally far from simple.
The cave was located directly above the Crooked Core Ley Line—the very passage to the Root.
Haru’s advance seed slow, but his pace was incredibly fast. In just a few minutes, he descended three thousand ters and arrived in a vast, empty underground cavern.
To a normal person, this would have just been a large, dark cave. But to soone with mystical senses, this was a river—a river of power known as a ley line.
A golden light flashed in his deep gray pupils, and the scene in the cavern instantly transford.
Two rivers of energy flowed from the east and west, colliding and entangling in this space before spiraling down into the earth.
"Tsk, what a hassle." Haru pursed his lips with a displeased expression. He released his perception, manipulating a local tiline and aligning it with the ley line’s pattern, probing straight down in search of the passage to the Root.
It was his own fault. When he had killed the old True Magic User, he had used so much force that not even a fragnt of the man’s soul remained.
Now, the passage to the Root was lost. He only knew it was sealed sowhere within the ley line. He was left with no choice but to find it himself, using every ans at his disposal.
The search had already taken a full month.
"The usual three hours. If I can’t find it by then, I’ll go back for lunch," Haru muttered, smacking his lips and closing his eyes.
In his view, this was rely a ti-consuming task. The Crooked Core Ley Line was only so large. At this rate, it would take him another three or four months to find the sealed location. There was no need to waste all his ti here.
The tiline swept over the ley line, extending downward along its path. Soon, it reached a depth of six thousand ters.
Hum—!
Just as the tiline swept past the six-thousand-ter mark, a similar temporal fluctuation suddenly resonated with his probe.
"Found it!" Haru’s eyes snapped open, a flash of light illuminating the dark cavern.
The next second, his figure vanished, reappearing deep underground at the ley line node where he had detected the fluctuation.
This was a small space, less than ten cubic ters. The smooth walls showed clear signs of artificial construction.
The aura of ti filled the deep, dark chamber. A great power had banished this space, which should have been here, into the tiline itself.
"The passage to the Root should be here." Feeling the temporal waves around him, Haru slowly reached out. The Law of ’Destruction,’ which he had finally deduced with his unique egg after a month of observing Aoko, activated quietly.
Crack—! Crack—! Crack—!
The sound of shattering glass echoed through the void.
The empty space was instantly filled with mud from an unknown corner of the tiline, burying him alive.
Simultaneously, a dark, twisted, black-hole-like passage returned to this land.
Haru’s lips curved into a smile. He clasped his hands behind his back and leisurely walked into the black hole.
The presence of the Counter Force quietly descended.
————
"Here again." When he opened his eyes, he was once more in the small, white room.
The unbelievably cute, black-haired and golden-haired, gothic-styled girls were standing by the small table in the center of the room, leisurely drinking tea.
"Good morning," Alaya said, setting down her teacup, her tone flat.
"Morning, Haru-chan," a muffled, girlish voice suddenly sounded. Gaia, from sowhere, had produced a sandwich and was eating it with relish.
"You can drop the ’-chan’... whatever, call what you like." Haru’s lip twitched. He was halfway through his sentence when he saw Gaia’s eyes well with tears, and he quickly changed his tune.
Alaya slamd her hand on Gaia’s head, sending her face, mid-pout, crashing into the tabletop. "Did you bring the crystal?" she asked, her tone flat.
"I brought it. Speaking of which, what is this thing?" Haru walked to the table, sat on the floor, and took out the fist-sized, pale green crystal from his pocket dinsion. He placed it on the table, his tone laced with curiosity.
He had studied this thing extensively. He had used all sorts of detection equipnt, magic, True Magic, authority, and even his seven remaining small suns on this crystal, without leaving so much as a scratch.
This thing was a treasure, but aside from its extre durability, its properties remained a mystery. So, he had asked Alaya for help with identification. This was one of the main reasons he had delayed his journey to the Root.
Pop—!
Gaia slamd her small arm on the table, peeling her face off it. She looked at the pale green crystal with a curious expression, her amber pupils filled with a deep gravity.
"..."
Alaya and Haru imdiately focused on Gaia’s solemn expression.
After several long minutes, Gaia said blankly, "I don’t know what it is."
Pfft—!
Haru nearly choked. ’If you didn’t know, why were you staring at it for so long?’
Thwack—!
Alaya once again slamd Gaia’s face into the tabletop, then quickly wiped her palm with a white silk handkerchief as if afraid of catching a virus.
After wiping her hand three tis, the handkerchief vanished. Alaya looked at the crystal for a mont, then looked up at him.
"In fact, I don’t know what it is either. According to Gaia, this object likely isn’t from Earth..."
"According to my mory, the old Aozaki True Magic User obtained this crystal in 1955. Ten years later, he created the magic, Order Collapse. Its previous owner was Albert Einstein. Before him, the collective mory of humanity has no record of it," Alaya explained, her tone strange.
Haru raised an eyebrow. The ’mory’ Alaya referred to was, naturally, the mory of all humanity. So, she only knew this crystal had two owners: Einstein, who created the theory of relativity, and the old Aozaki bastard. There was no other information.
"Then, I’ll keep this crystal for now," Alaya said, her tone grave. The two previous owners were both capable of destroying humanity, and the crystal’s indestructible nature was enough to warrant her vigilance.
"Alright. Then, it’s about ti I go to the Root and deal with the issue of rule integration," Haru nodded, stood up, and said to Alaya softly.
"Though it’s not your first ti, be careful," Alaya nodded slightly. After his figure vanished, she stared at the crystal before her.
"Huh, where’s Haru?" Gaia once again pulled her small head out of the table.
"He’s gone," Alaya replied flatly.
"What a pity. I wanted to let that child feel the ’temperature of the Earth.’ Why didn’t you know how to keep him here?" Gaia pouted, a look of dissatisfaction on her face.
Faced with Gaia’s blatant advances, Alaya chose to remain silent.
————
It was a void without up or down.
"The second ti," Haru thought in this place without sound.
"Well then, let’s connect with ti and space. As for the other rules I acquired, I’ll just continue to fill that bottomless pit of an egg," He mused.
Just as he was connecting with the rules in the Root, the pale green crystal hovered behind him. Inside the crystal, a pair of erald-green eyes watched him with keen interest.
Yo ho ho, silver hair, gray eyes, a gentle look. My type. And that egg he carries... it reminds of the universe His Majesty left behind.
It’s decided, then. I’ll train him.
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