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Chapter 370: Unidentified Zone (5)

Oscar courted it earnestly.

Although he had never fallen in love at first sight in his life, in any case, it was a kind of courtship he had never even tried on a person.

“…….”

As such time continued for several days, the way he looked at the threads—no, the way he perceived them—changed.

Until now, he had only regarded the threads of space as something to be simply pulled, or as tools.

But the threads he quietly observed were more active than he had expected, and each seemed to possess its own individuality.

‘They move more incessantly than I thought.’

The threads attached to all things in heaven and earth kept writhing continuously.

At times, they looked like kites fluttering in the wind, and at other times like squids swimming through the sea.

If they were human, their hips would surely have been dislocated.

What mattered was their intent.

‘When I first saw them, I thought it was a natural phenomenon.’

Thinking about it now, that was merely his own preconceived notion.

Generally, a thread is something that flutters easily with even a light breeze, offering little resistance.

‘But those threads have nothing to do with the wind.’

Just in case, he tried stirring up wind, and also tried eliminating all wind in the surroundings.

Then he wondered if they were related to his emotions, so he tried getting angry and also tried calming his mind.

The result was the same.

The threads swayed as they pleased, each asserting its own presence.

‘Could it be that each thread has its own pattern?’

He focused intently on a few threads, but that wasn’t it either.

After staring at nothing but threads for days on end, he felt like his eyes were just becoming bloodshot for no reason.

As Oscar pressed his eyes firmly and took a rest, the thought-form offered unsolicited advice.

“You think too much.”

“……What can I do? That’s just how I’m made.”

Growing up as a back-alley orphan, one inevitably learns to read the room everywhere and think about even trivial matters from many angles.

Of course, he didn’t consider this entirely a flaw.

After all, this very disposition had played a significant role in allowing him to achieve great success as a mage.

“Then, let’s try this.”

Tap!

The thought-form lightly struck the crown of his head with some kind of stick.

“……What was that?”

“From today onward, live as a fool.”

“How do I do that?”

“It’s simple.”

He shrugged as he looked around at the world filled with threads.

“Relax your eyes, leave your mouth slightly open. And just watch those threads.”

“Just hearing that makes me not want to do it at all. More than anything, I’ve already watched them to the point of boredom.”

“What you’ve done so far is not watching. It’s analysis mixed with your own petty emotions and thoughts. What I’m telling you now is to simply look. Yes, like watching a goldfish in a fishbowl.”

That was not as easy as it sounded.

When he saw the swaying threads, how was he supposed to stop himself from thinking, Why are they like that?

Scratching his head, Oscar replied in an unconfident voice.

“I’ll try.”

While others were desperate because they couldn’t become geniuses, here he was having to strive to become a fool.

Nevertheless, Oscar diligently acted the fool.

“…….”

After staring like that for quite some time, a sudden thought occurred to him.

‘He’s not just messing with me, is he?’

Could it be that he was laughing at him for actually making a stupid expression just because he was told to?

With a half-skeptical mind, he turned his head—and saw the thought-form suppressing laughter, its lips twitching.

At the same time, a sense of self-loathing surged over him, and his mind went completely blank.

“……Hm?”

The constantly swaying threads became noticeably slower.

What in the world?

This had never happened before—why all of a sudden?

The moment that thought arose, the threads began bouncing around wildly again.

‘Wait, no way….’

Just in case, Oscar cleared the thoughts from his mind.

Then, astonishingly, most of the constantly swaying lines slowed down or stopped moving altogether.

“……!”

As Oscar’s eyes widened in shock, the thought-form spoke.

“Looks like you’ve finally realized it. Didn’t I tell you? Your problem is that you think too much.”

“What exactly is going on here?”

“The threads of space are influenced by the user’s thoughts.”

The thought-form stood up and beckoned him over.

When Oscar approached, a light hand rested on his shoulder.

“This is the scenery I usually see.”

“……!”

Astonishingly, in the world as seen by the thought-form of Ado Vail, all the threads were motionless.

A majestic sight, as if disciplined soldiers stood in perfect formation, not allowing even the slightest movement.

The thought-form spoke.

“When thoughts increase, the flow of the threads accelerates. Conversely, when you empty your thoughts, the flow comes to a halt.”

“……You said what matters is my mind and will, so I thought it would be affected by emotions.”

“Mind and will, by nature, are not bound by whether something is rational or emotional.”

Oscar stared blankly at the motionless threads before asking,

“I understand that the movement of the threads is affected by the amount of thought. But what does that have to do with pulling the threads without using my hands?”

“Oh, now is the time.”

“Huh?”

“Now is the time for you to indulge in all the thinking you like. So, what connection do you think there is?”

After pondering for a while, Oscar spoke.

“The threads of space detect the amount of our thoughts and react to it very sensitively. That means… our thoughts exert a tremendous influence over them.”

“Go on.”

“Then there’s only one answer.”

Extraneous thoughts, doubt, worry, hesitation.

He cast aside and erased all the worldly afflictions that only served to inflate the volume of thought unnecessarily.

There was only one thing he needed to leave behind.

Oscar slowly gazed at the threads of space,

and envisioned only the single result that his mind—his will—required.

“Ghk.”

Seeing that, the thought-form curled up one corner of its lips.

“Correct.”

Kwaaang!

A single slash of space that fell to the ground immediately afterward proved it.

“Congratulations. Now even if you’re kidnapped and your hands are tied, you’ll be able to manipulate space.”

“……That’s truly incredible.”

A form of magic that could be used simply by thinking strongly.

It was even more powerful than the ‘Dragon Speech’ used by dragons.

After all, it omitted even the process of uttering sound.

“With Dragon Speech, at least you can tell what’s coming the moment you hear it and respond. But this…”

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There was no way to respond.

If, in the middle of a tense battle, a spatial slash were to fall from above your head without any warning?

Unless one possessed senses sharp enough to encompass the entire space, death would be inevitable.

“That is precisely why you must be even more careful.”

The thought-form warned. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“From now on, you’ll become afraid of your own thoughts.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s simple. It means that even a ridiculous thought like, ‘I wish a spatial slash would fall on that guy’s head,’ must not be entertained carelessly.”

Of course, even that would only be possible when all other thoughts were cast aside and only that result was held.

But the difference between being able to do it and not being able to was significant.

“……When I think of it that way, it’s quite frightening.”

“You’ll need training. Always keep a few useless stray thoughts in your head. Like a kind of lock.”

“Ah, I think I get the feeling.”

Then, once entering battle, he would erase those thoughts.

Of course, he only felt like he understood—it seemed quite difficult to actually put into practice.

The idea of managing one’s mind 24 hours a day and deliberately holding only the desired thoughts seemed almost absurd.

“Now then, since the first lesson is over… we can move on to the second lesson.”

“There’s more?”

“Of course. Do you remember the state of the threads I showed you earlier?”

“They were perfectly aligned without a single disturbance. It was quite a sight.”

“Do you know why I go to the trouble of maintaining that state by organizing my thoughts?”

After a brief moment of thought, Oscar shook his head.

“I’m not sure.”

“It seems this will be quicker to show than to explain.”

The thought-form provocatively opened and closed its palm.

“Try firing any magic. The power doesn’t matter.”

“Alright, here I go.”

At this point, there was no need to ask if it would be okay.

Over the past few days, he had painfully realized just how strong the thought-form before him was.

Oscar prepared the wind magic he was most confident in.

It was a wind so fast and powerful that it could turn a person into liquid in the blink of an eye.

‘Thirteen directions.’

His gaze covered blind spots beyond his line of sight and above his head.

Even from beneath the ground at his feet.

With a mere snap of his fingers, the generated wind would surge toward him.

“Here I go.”

Snap!

The moment Oscar snapped his fingers, seven mana circuits burned hot and completed the spell.

『Dance of Wind and Thunder』

Swaeaeaeaeak!

What flew gracefully toward the thought-form were thirteen spheres.

They looked weak at a glance, but the moment they touched their target, the magic would activate.

From within those small spheres, dozens of layers of compressed wind would burst forth, literally grinding everything around them to pieces.

“Ho, so such magic exists in the future. The structure isn’t bad.”

After briefly evaluating the incoming magic, the thought-form slowly raised one hand.

“……!”

The world stopped.

As if time itself had frozen, everything that had been moving, however slightly, came to a halt.

The thirteen spells flying toward the thought-form also stopped in place, becoming part of the scenery.

“This is precisely why the original body discarded all distractions and reduced the flow of the threads to a minimum with only the barest amount of thought.”

Once more, the thought-form placed a hand on his shoulder and shared the scenery it was seeing.

What Oscar witnessed in that world was an infinite number of threads, motionless and shining.

“If the spatial slash is the ultimate spear that forcibly twists space, then this is the ultimate shield that preserves the true form of space as it is.”

“…….”

“Ah, and let me say this in advance—don’t overexert yourself. In your current state…”

At that moment, Oscar’s fingertips twitched.

“Hmm?”

Perhaps he had simply misseen it.

Just as the thought-form’s brows furrowed—

An overwhelming surge of mana flooded out, and Oscar, regaining control of his previously immobilized body, exhaled the breath he had been holding.

“Hah, haaah.”

After catching his breath for a long while, Oscar asked,

“This is truly incredible magic. But I didn’t quite catch what you said at the end—what was it?”

“……No, it’s nothing.”

The thought-form unconsciously clicked its tongue.

It had never expected Oscar to be able to move within this space—『Absolute Stillness』.

‘To break this with his own power… truly monstrous reserves of mana. I had planned to assign it as the next task.’

In other words, he had solved the problem before it was even given.

As an examiner, while he was grateful for such an outstanding student, it was also burdensome.

‘Certainly. I can see why the original body chose him as a disciple.’

He had seen countless individuals in his life who possessed more mana than the original, who handled more attributes, or whose casting speed was faster.

But if asked whether their talent surpassed the original’s, that was another matter.

In the end, the original’s overwhelming talent had brought them all to their knees.

‘But this one….’

Talent equal to, or perhaps even surpassing, the original.

And on top of that, still young—his potential for growth was virtually limitless.

If possible, it made one want to see just how far this man could go.

With a gentle smile, the thought-form said,

“What you will learn as your second and final lesson is precisely this—Absolute Stillness.”

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