Thump— Thump— Thump—-
Zen sat up on his bed with sweat trickling down his temple, his sense of hearing being drowned by the sound of his beating heart.
This took a few minutes before he was able to speak, albeit with a stamr, "W-What the hell was that...?"
He was feeling a mix of emotions.
Fear. Amazent. Dread. Indignation, and the like.
Fear because of the sight of the sky falling towards him was sothing that he could never have imagined.
Amazent because he was able to see his teacher’s strongest magic.
Dread because of the lingering feeling of death that remained within his heart.
And indignation, due to his not expecting that Arthur would really kill him.
In simple terms, he really did not know how to feel at this mont.
’So that was death, huh—’
"Ow!"
Before Zen could even finish thinking, he felt a searing pain in his left hand.
More precisely, on his left index finger.
"T-This—!"
The pain was not inferior to the one he felt whenever he activated his Blaze Attribute.
Fortunately, it only lasted for about a minute before everything went back to normal once again.
Zen, who had just co back to his senses, perhaps due to the pain, imdiately inspected his left index finger.
"What is this..."
On his finger was a tattoo of a fire that seed to circle it like a ring.
However, unlike traditional black tattoos, this one seed to be made with white ink— the kind that was subtle and harder to find unless one really observes it.
"Is this from Teacher or Aunt Ada?"
Zen tilted his head curiously before deciding to inject it with mana.
Whoosh—!
"Whoa!"
Even though Zen was still sitting on his bed, and nothing seed to have changed, the sa thing could not be said for him.
In his mind, he could see a vast white space that was filled with nothing.
It was bright and reminded him of the System’s character creation space— a space that was white throughout with grids that made it look a little similar to tiles.
The only difference was that this ti, it was not inside the ga.
"I-Is this my very own storage space?"
Being an avid fan of various fiction, it did not take long for Zen to make an "educated" guess about the real function of this space.
He kept looking around until his eyes landed on a small wooden table, which looked a little too normal for this space.
On it were a small jar of ink, a quill, and a sheet of paper with a leather pouch on the side.
Curiosity lit up Zen’s eyes as he approached it and sat on the wooden stool in front of the table.
"Hah, this chair looks like the ones we had in the training grounds..."
A chuckle escaped his lips as he caressed the ever-so-familiar wooden stool.
He then focused his gaze on the table, his expression taken aback, "This... is the table I had in my room back in the dilapidated building..."
Seeing the familiar things in this strange white space, he could not help but feel a little excited.
"These are the things I once saw in the ga. Did Teacher put these here?"
Zen thought out loud, "Then, if Teacher can put these things here, does that an I can et them personally in the future?"
At this thought, his excitent got stronger.
After all, the thought of eting them in the ga and in reality was two different things.
This was in addition to the fact that there was a high chance that the Free World was a real world as well!
"Hmmm, I hope I can et them in the future~"
Zen could not help but feel a little giddy thinking about it.
He then felt as if his feet struck sothing.
Looking under the table, Zen saw a wooden chest, which he seed to have overlooked earlier.
"I wonder what’s inside this... Maybe a treasure?"
After all, although he knew that Arthur was cruel when it ca to training, he was also very reliable when it ca to gifts and rewards.
"Hmmm, I’ll check it out later. Anyways, let’s see what this note has to say..."
In his mind, Zen did not really think too much about Arthur killing him.
After all, even though his teacher was very ’benevolent’ when training, everything he had done was to make him, his one and only apprentice, stronger.
Besides, he could not really gain anything from killing him.
With his mind free of any hatred, aside from the petty revenge he was secretly setting up in his mind for his beloved teacher, Zen began reading the note.
[...
My dearest apprentice,
If you’re reading this, then you should be dead by now...]
"Wait, this is wrong. This isn’t how it goes in the movies!"
Zen had not even finished reading the first line when he felt like crashing out.
[...Hahahahaha...]
"Does he really need to include his laugh in the note!?"
Seeing the following line, the thought of burning the notes to ashes flared up in his mind, but he did everything in his power to stop himself.
Inhale— Exhale—
"Aaah, hooo~ Calm down..."
Zen relaxed and kept reading.
[Even though I’m writing this before you leave tomorrow, I can already feel like I’ll laugh when I look at your face as you face death.
Well, enough with the jokes.
I hope that you don’t resent for it. This is the surest way for them not to trace your existence.
Anyway, this is my and your Aunt Ada’s farewell gift to you.
This is a storage artifact that has the space of a small continent. This is also the keepsake of our beloved brother, Ignatius.
You will be able to see the details from the System once you descend into the Free World again.
Moving forward...
Adara and I will be leaving this place.
I know that they have caught wind of our whereabouts.
Even with my most conservative estimate, they would find us in a few days.
You eting them at your current stage is not ideal, and I don’t have a way to perfectly erase your connection with them, because I know that those bastards will either use magic, skills, or divine authority that involves fate.
So, I had no choice but to borrow the assistance of the System.
I had to kill you.
Anyways, even though the ti we spent together is quite small, I believe that it is enough.
The only thing I wish for is that you’ll rember everything you have learned in this place.
I don’t know how much ti will pass before we’re able to et again.
Even though I could have given you a communicator exclusive to our church, I don’t dare to take the risk of you being exposed.
I won’t be making this note too long.
Stay safe, and may we et again when the ti is right.
May the God of Fire bless you.
Your beloved teacher,
Arthur Vermillion
...]
"..."
Zen fell speechless by the ti he finished reading the letter.
Then, upon noticing sothing amiss, he moved the quill that covered a part of the note and saw an extra string of words beneath his teacher’s signature.
[...
P.S.: Before I forget...
Your magic, Atomic Rend, should not be used anymore. I may or may not have injured a high-ranking mber of the Temple of Light using the one I contained...
So if you don’t want to get hunted down, it’s better to formulate another kind of magic that could not be traced to it.
Just treat this as an extra training lesson to train your undercover skills, teehee~.
...]
"............"
Zen’s wide eyes looked like saucers as he read the latter part of the note.
[Fla]
He chanted as blazing crimson fire instantly covered the note.
Seeing the crackling flas before him, Zen’s eyes did not show much of an emotion.
Even though he easily cast magic involving the elent of fire with a single word, he was only able to do it due to two main reasons:
The first one was due to the myriad of skills that he had in his arsenal.
As for the second reason...
It was because of the repeated tis that he got burned in training sessions with Arthur.
One must rember that his title, Apprentice of Fire, gave him immunity to fire below Legendary grade and resistance to higher grades.
Thus, for him to be burned, the flas needed would at least need to be Legendary.
And Arthur seed to have exactly that due to the number of tis he was able to burn him close to death.
This led to him becoming overly "familiar" with the elent of fire.
It took a few minutes before the flas subsided.
But what greeted Zen’s sight made him almost cough out blood.
"What the hello!?"
The reason for this was that the note, which he had burned, remained at the table without a single speck of char on it.
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