I held the letter in my hands and although it seemed safe for now I wasn't sure about whether I should open it or not.
After all it was able to hurt me, even if it's just a scratch. It was a quick cut, I couldn't react and it was there, I wasn't even able to feel the movement, it was just like it appeared. It was comparable to touching a really sharp blade, immediately scratching the finger as easily as cutting through butter.
But now the letter felt like it was just normal paper, not hurting me anymore . As I was still hesitating about opening it or not I decided to once again wage the risk against the reward and thought everything over.
If I was really supposed to die when opening this letter, then it would actually be a pretty dumb trap. I was careful and moved slowly, but if there would've been a trap it should've been placed a lot earlier and not only when touching the letter.
No matter how hard I thought about it I couldn't come to a conclusion about why someone, who is able to create these barriers and hide a room like this between two others', would actually only make all of this to kill someone.
It could've even been placed here hundreds of years ago, was it supposed to be activated back then, but it got forgotten. No, that's such unreliable guess. I shouldn't just make up things to have excuse not to open this letter.
Looking at only the facts it was also not like there was another great treasure. The only thing here was this letter, so it had to be either something dangerous or something beneficial for me.
It could potentially be some really strong technique like you can see in a lot of novels, somehow being able to use lightning just with that one technique or something like that. It could also be a treasure map or just valuable information of a place, where you would be able to find something incredible.
The longer I thought about the more I realized that the risk was incredibly small compared to the reward.
"I'll open it."
I finally made a decision after realizing that it wouldn't do me any good to just stay here and think about it.
Now the only question was when. I shouldn't open it here, where nobody would be able to find me if I'd get hurt but still survive. Taking it back to my room and hiding it somewhere could be a good idea, but the problem then was that if I wouldn't find a good enough place to hide it it could be stolen.
I probably wouldn't be able to stay at my room for more than half the day.
I estimated the training to take at the least 12 hours a day, probably even closer to 14. That's a lot of time in which somebody could search my room, maybe the teachers even check the rooms of the students, trying to find potions or other stuff, which would allow you to cheat or make faster process.
Well either way the two safest options were to immediately open the letter in my room, when I came back, or let it rest here for now and come back sometime else.
I definitely wouldn't forget about this now that I found such a unique place, but maybe and just maybe someone else would also be able to reach this place by pure coincidence or even like me.
In the end my curiosity won and I took the letter with me. Considering all of the risks I took by just coming here leaving empty handed would be quite depressing.
I didn't open it for now and put it into one of my pockets, letting it rest there until later
I still wasn't at the top and I didn't want to miss any beneficial opportunity resting in one of the rooms near the top of the building. So after making sure nobody was able to see me, when I faced through the barrier again I quickly left that place thinking of investigating one other thing and then heading to the top of the tower.
Even thought it felt a lot longer in reality I didn't really spend that much time in that secret passage and when I came back out i immediately went to check on something that had bothered me after seeing that last room.
I entered one of the rooms, which lied right next to the secret passage. I walked straight towards the one edge at the back of the room. And then I discovered that it was indeed as I thought.
Profound space distortion!
The last room I had been in, it was a complete illusion or at least most of it. From the outside you can't see it, but from the inside you can actually enter another space, or even reality!
I was completely perplexed by that, because from the inside it looks like a completely separate room, but my guess was that it was actually only as big as the passage itself. The letter also precisely lied in the middle of the room right in line of the secret narrow passage.
From the outside you couldn't, but from the inside you were able to easily enter that enlarged room. You could just enter one of the rooms next to it, but you yourself saw it as a completely different room and it also wasn't possible to see you from the outside.
You could even go as far as to say you would be almost completely invisible! It was a level of illusion, which I couldn't even fathom to achieve. I mean how would I?
Even barriers like the one surrounding the academy follow the same principle, but if you know where the barrier is it is also easy to spot differences, it wasn't even close to the level of that one room. And there was one more difference. You were able to face through through the wall easily from the inside.
But from the outside it felt like it was just like the other walls. It was even harder than the barrier, which was supposed to hide the passage leading to the room itself.
At that moment i came to a shocking conclusion.
What if that master, the one who set up these barriers... what if he wanted to downplay his skill and wanted to wait for the right person, the one who was able to see his real skill? I wasn't able to sense any mana from those barriers, it was something I thought every barrier should have, after all it was magic. And normally every living thing or everything magical should ha-
At that one explanation came to mind and it was terrifying to think about.
The mysterious swordsman. That man... I also wasn't able to sense his mana. Either he was intentionally hiding it somehow, or it was too strong for me to see. He was so strong that even to me, who had intentionally searched for another world, even to me it felt like he was out of this world.
He was so strong that I didn't even think about why I wasn't able to see his mana.
But the person who put up those barriers, could he be on the same level? And if he is, then the worth of that letter was incomprehensible.
My mind was so filled with these different kinds of thoughts that I almost didn't notice the person, walking around just a few hundred meters away from me.
I could only hear his footsteps, but I wouldn't want to take the gamble, so I quickly left the room and went on to the next floor by using the stairs right next to the room I had been in.
I would surely return back to that place, but now it was too risky for me to stay any longer. Thinking about it, removing the letter could've even triggered some kind of alarm.
I would return after a few days, maybe a even only after a few weeks had passed, this matter was too important to get careless.
Without even really knowing where I went I decided to prioritize gaining distance from the secret passage as fast as possible.
If I were to be seen at the highest floors of the tower I could use it as an alibi, even if someone were to question the students.
And so I did exactly that, I rushed up the stairs, trying to reach the top floors and before I even knew it I reached the very top.
And on top of the building it once again felt like a complete déjà-vu.
I could see a girl standing there, her white hair uncontrollably flying around in the wind, her gaze directed at the city in the far. If I think about it makes sense for her to be her, but I was still a bit surprised.
I don't know why, but I felt like I knew what she felt. In her eyes Raiken seemed like it wasn't only a city. Well if it's the right time I will surely hear it from her... her story, but even if not, then it just is what it is.
It would be a good opportunity to show myself and be seen by the princess, she would surely cover for me, after all she couldn't know what exact time it was right now and wouldn't be able to tell if I had been here at that point in time or in the room a few floors prior.
It was a perfect chance... but the day before I had already been reluctant. It was the same this time, it feels like I shouldn't interfere with her at such a moment, where she looked so calm and completely at peace with herself.
But I didn't know about her real intentions yet, why she had been so nice to me, why she would go so far for me, even attending this academy seemingly just because I would be interested in going there.
Was it really just feelings? Emotions? If so I was not at a stage yet, where I could understand her, nor did I really need to. I just needed to repay her for the generosity she had shown me.
That was all. Or at least it was what I thought at that moment, even if my heart said otherwise I wasn't ready to trust it yet.
And so I left her alone, this time I silently left without her noticing me at all. I would just search someone else to cover for me.
It's such a damn bother, I don't know who to trust and who not, I can't trust anyone. But then why is she so different.
I forcefully pushed these thoughts aside, not being able to bear them anymore and went on down the tower again.
This time however, whenever I sensed someone in my surroundings, I didn't evade them, but rather waited for the last few moments, the moments where they were bound to see me and then I left, pretending not to have seen them.
After doing that a couple of times on the higher floors I began to go down again, I had inspected the rooms on the higher floors, but I got aware really quickly that they weren't what I was looking for.
It was rather unimportant stuff at such an academy, stuff like paintings, famous books, basically just works of art and hobbies people pursued.
Normally everyone finds some kind of joy outside of their daily life, they will spend more time with it and maybe even implement it into their daily routine.
Even people in this world can get bored. Encountering a bottleneck can be frustrating and some people would probably turn to other things to feel like they are doing something productive.
These kinds of things were stored in the top rooms. There were a few other, rather interesting rooms, but nothing I really needed or was completely surprised by.
And so after a long time I finally was completely finished.
Thoroughly investigating every room would've take far too long, but at least I got to see almost all of the rooms and their use.
It would also take a lot longer to explore the outside, but that would have to wait for a bit longer.
And so I was finally back, a few others had passed, but once again I was sitting on the bed, this time holding the letter in my hands.
"No turning back now."
I was not questioning everything again I had made my decision since I left that room next to the secret passage.
I held the letter in both of my hands while sitting on the bed.
And then I just decided to do it, I wasn't even sure what to expect, but I knew that it would either be death or at least close to it or some kind of incredibly powerful technique or text, which could lead me to an incredible place.
*rip*
I didn't hesitated and in one smooth movement ripped open the letter.
"I didn't die yet, all good so far."
*sigh*
I couldn't help but feel relieved, now the risk was almost certainly zero, at least for me dying.
The letter began to glow again and outside of the letter came a piece of paper. It flew outside, it didn't need anything and I didn't move it one bit. It just floated in front of me.
After nothing happened for a few seconds I decided to reach out my hands.
*grab*
And at the exact moment I grabbed the paper, at the first touch of my fingertip it glowed up, revealing the same pure white light as previously.
But I didn't have time to look at it, because at that exact moment I also felt like something inside of me had been unlocked, or rather something had added.
And then I fell down onto the soft bed. I immediately lost my consciousness after touching the piece of paper.
And before my eyes closed the last thing I saw was the light, expanding at a rapid amount like it was completely released from the previous shackles, which it had been bound by prior to that moment.
And although I couldn't see it for myself everyone outside and inside of the building could see the whole complex glow up in the same pure white and the light traveled even further, even transcending the clouds making it impossible to see it.
-A few minutes prior, somewhere in the academy-
"So, what do you think about him?
"Specifically you, 'master swordsman', Tatsuya Ishii."
The principal was looking down at the building, which the new first years of the lion class were residing in.
All of the teachers had finished their introduction for their respective classes. They had already given a report to the principal and had all been talking about the most interesting students.
"He seemed unusual, I could tell that much, but I am not so sure about the fact that he's really strong or has a lot of potential.
"At his age I was already stronger than him and I wasn't even that talented compared to the greatest talents in this world. But there might be something I haven't been able see yet."
The master swordsman was really cautious, because if the principal was evaluating someone so highly then he would have to really special. But he just couldn't quite see it, it was too early so he only gave vague answers.
"It may seem like that at the first glance, but do you know how long he had trained for and when he awakened his magic?"
It was an obvious question, which suggested that he was in fact talented, but didn't start training until not too long ago. Rethinking it Tatsuya Ishii decided to evaluate him even higher than his own talent at that time.
"I'd say he began training at least two years ago, you can't build such a solid foundation or even awaken your magic faster than that, that's common knowledge."
"Half a year... That's the amount of time he had trained before coming here."
Now even the teachers, who previously didn't pay a lot of attention to the discussion seemed to be in disbelief.
"That's impossible, nobody born in Raiken, or even in the strongest human kingdom could achieve such a level in less than 1 year and they would have to have one of the strongest people in this whole world as as a teacher! Such a growth would mean that he could rival even us teachers before he's 18."
"Indeed such a speed was too astonishing even for me, but do you know why I believed it? It wasn't just because I heard it from the princess itself, nor because I heard it from Seiichi Sugiyama, the best seal master in this whole kingdom."
You could guess the faces the teachers made after hearing of these people. Seiichi Sugiyama was well renowned and besides the old man no other teacher was really in contact with him.
"It's because I have a feeling, I have a feeling that maybe in a few years he will be able to obtain an 'inheritance'."
"What?!"
"That's completely imposs-"
At that moment a pure white light emerged from the building they were observing.
And that caused even the principal to lose his cool, he doubted it would've been possible and he thought it couldn't have been 'him'. But he had a slight premonition and he couldn't help, but follow that guess.
"Is it really not possible for him to possess such a talent?"
"Principal, it's impossible that this is the boy's doing."
The principal had already released his magic.
"Let's find out."