Justine entered the door and climbed down the stairs. Philip followed behind her with expectant eyes
The stairs was long and the path was getting darker. Suddenly, the staircase light up with a not too bright light. It was because Justine manipulated the vector of light
It looked like there was an unlimited source of light coming from somewhere but it was just like that. Since the photon particles, which is the particle of light, doesn't decay, Justine can constantly manipulate the vector of light around her to provide vision perpetually
Philip noticed this phenomenon and thought that it was just the walls that emits the light. But once he looked behind him, he saw that the light was disappearing
It might be a quirk of the materials of the wall but Philip highly doubted that. He looked at Justine's back and thougth that it was her ability
Of course Justine felt Philip's gaze and just ignored it for now
After a few more minutes, Justine and Philip arrived at a big metal door. Justine placed her hand on the door and the door emitted a deep sounding rumble
The door opened and wind breeze seeped through the cracks of the door. As the door opened, it revealed a room with wooden floors, wooden logs as floors, wooden planks as roof, and wooden furniture. Old light bulbs provides a source of light
Philip entered the room and his nose was stimulated. Clean and fresh air entered his nose and the air smellee like greenery an chlorophyll. The bundle of disorderly emotions in his head slightly lessened and became calm
"Where are we?"
Philip asked Justine as she sat down on the chair in front a small circular wooden table
"This is the basement of the mansion, otherwise known as the Log Cabin, a pocket world that was created by the Old Man's power"
Justine took a sip from a cup of coffee that seemed like it came out of nowhere
"Come take a sit"
Philip walked towards the table and sat down just in the opposite side of Justine
There was a window next to the table and Philip instinctively looked outside the window
His eyes widened after seeing trees as far as the eye could see. The trees were most likely pine trees or oak trees by the looks and color of the tree trunks. Seems like they were in the middle of a dense forest
Philip was plenty surprised that a whole ecosystem was built or made under the mansion. It was the same as the place under the Mystical Academy
Was both place and ecosystem made by the Old Man? If so, how? With how early the transition of Mysticism Age currently, one shouldn't be able to create something of this caliber
Unless the Old Man is actually a being on Earth that has lived for over a billion years like what he said yesterday to Philip
The question remains the same, who or what is the Old Man?
These ate the thoughts that were lingering in Philip's mind
"Before your questions, I'll tell you the meaning of our titles"
~~~
The owner of the land could also be called as the Landlord
The entire land and everything and everyone that is inside it is under the protection of the Landlord. The Landlord can also alter and transfer the land to another location
But Justine and the Old Man, who is the previous Landlord, didn't manage to figure how the transfer works
According to Justine, the first and original Landlord died three thousand years ago before transferring the title to the Old Man
After Justine came to the mansion, the Old Man immediately transferred the title to her
On the other hand, the owner of the mansion could also be called as Homeowner
Everything inside the house belongs to the Homeowner and everyone that is living in the house has to obey any and every order or request of the Homeowner
This was the rule that the Old Man made after building the mansion
~~~
"You know what this means, right?"
Justine said with a glint in her eyes
"Yes"
"I don't even know why the Old Man made you the Homeowner without even telling me first... He must have trusted you very much"
Justine mumbled
"Anyways, since you understand... Don't go on taking advantage of everyone in the mansion, okay? They are under my protection"
"Do you really think I'm that kind of person?"
Philip retorted, slightly annoyed that he is being suspected even though he hasn't done anything. Justine narrowed her eyes at him
"I don't really think so"
Justine sighed while holding her head
"Do you have any questions?"
"Hmmm..."
Philip pondered
"What is this place?"
"Oh yeah! This is practically the basement of the mansion. The space that we are currently on is the Log Cabin as the Old Man liked to call it. Also, only the Landlord and the Homeowner can enter here since it is a Pocket World created by the Old Man"
"What do you mean by Pocket World?"
"Apparently, that's the power of the Old Man. Even I don't know the full extent of his abilities or power, but creating Pocket Worlds is one of them"
"Is the Pockey World under the Mystical Academy created by the Old Man too?"
"Wow, you really came from Mystical Academy, no wonder you knew about the transition of the Mysticism Age"
"You doubted me?"
"Not really, It's just that no one could easily access any information about the Mysticism Age"
Philip took a mental note of that
"Anyways, yes. That Pocket World was created with the combination of the Headmaster and the Old Man's power thus it was called Mystical Origin with that giant tree and the Spirit Mines"
"Were you there when it was built?"
"Yes! I helped in building the academy since the reason for building it follows my virtue and it's beneficial to the future when the Mysticism Age has been revealed to the world"
"I see..."
Philip nodded and there was a moment of silence as Justine sips coffee
"Got any more questions? I'll answer it the best that I can"
"I actually got a lot"
"Then ask away!"
"Hm, let's hold on that for now... I'm very curious about this gift that you'll be giving me"
"Oh! The gift is this entire Pocket World!"
Justine spread her arms to show that the gift is everything
"What do you mean by that?"
Philip couldn't help but ask. Of course it's obvious that Justine meant what she meant but Philip thought otherwise. There must be something else because he wouldn't be able to do anything here except for wood cutting or cabin building
"You see... Since this is a Pocket World created by the Old Man, it can handle any stress and destruction that happens inside"
"You don't mean..."
"Yes! This Pocket World has a quirk. The Old Man made it so that anything can be manifested as long as it was within your imagination!"
Philip heard a thumping sound within himself as Justine said those words. He became extremely excited and butterflies were wilding in his stomach
"So you can do anything you want in here, no rules or laws restrict you! Like this!"
Justine conjured a pot that has coffee in it and poured coffee in her cup as it levitated in the air
"The only downside is that everything that you manifested in this world, you can never bring it out nor throw it out"
Justine stood up and bent her body forwards while extending a finger at Philip with her right hand on her waist as her right eye is closed while pouting
She tried to be cute
Philip looked at her with worry
"Why don't you try?"
Justine urged Philip to try manifesting something into this world
"I just have one question before I start..."
"Shoot"
"Do you get hurt if you accidentally hit or hurt yourself?"
Justine was incredibly confused by Philip's question. Nonetheless, it was a valid question since unexpected accidents may happen
"Now that you mentioned it... I'm not sure? But maybe if you imagined yourself as an immortal, you won't die!"
"Have you tried it?"
"No, I never understood how immortality works so I can't manifest it"
"I see..."
There was another moment of silence
"Well, are you going to try it now?"
"Yes, but, is this house always has been a log cabin and a dense forest?"
"The first time I came here, it has been like this, so yes"
Justine's brain spun quickly trying to analyze Philip's question
"You don't mean..."
Before Justine could speak further, the log cabin rumbled as if there was an earthquake. The log cabin then slowly changed into a modern house with appliances, a clean kitchen, and architectural stairs and balcony, complete with rooms, restrooms, bathrooms, garage
Justine looked around in disbelief and awe. It was then when she looked out the window and saw that the trees were falling down like dominos. The fallen trees rotted quickly and turned into earth then a valley of green grass
Just then, flowers bloomed starting from the modern house towards the horizon. Thousands of flowers grew as far as the eye could ever see
"You know, this world is very dangerous to people that has a very wide and powerful imagination..."
Philip spoke as he kept sitting on the chair without moving. He was also staring into nothingness as his imagination started running wild
"Especially to someone like me"
Justine looked at Philip with wary and worried eyes. Her danger senses were spiking and she suddenly felt something drip from her left eye
Justine touched what she thought was a tear, but when she looked at it, it was blood coming out from her left eye
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you or anyone... I'm limit testing at how this Pocket World can handle my imagination"
As soon as Philip said those words, half of the modern house was ripped apart and flew towards the sky. Violent winds blew everywhere as earth and debris flew
The artificial Sun in the sky turned red and a black circle flew across the sky towards the red Sun. A Total Solar Eclipse was happening. It was then that an eye opened on the moon
Magnitude 10 earthquake happened and the ground opened that lead to the Asthenosphere. The flowers on the ground was ripped apart and flew into the sky like a cherry blossom that falls down
Black clouds formed in the sky that released violent rains that shredded the plants and the ground. Different colors of lightning struck the ground and crawled through the air without striking anything
Volcanos formed and erupted in an incredibly violent manner. The lands also changed constantly from a swamp to a desert to a snowy taiga to a wasteland and to an urban city
Thousands of nuclear bombs rained on the lands and created thousands of explosion and shockwaves that destroyed newly formed mountains and swept the lava from the volcanoes
A 100,000-feet high tsunami grew from the horizon and tried to wash everything up only to be frozen instantly and melted as orbital strikes beamed down from the sky
Justine watched the calamities and disasters unfold in front of her. She had chills in her spine and wanted to stop Philip. But a part of her trusted Philip when he said that he was limit testing and no one would get hurt
It was then that Philip spoke and smiled...
"Impressive..."
Hundreds of meteors of different sizes then appeared in the sky that ripped the black clouds apart. It struck the Earth that caused shockwaves that can shatter the Earth
Philip also conjured swords beside him that he saw from anime and manga. Millions of swords that are stabbed on the ground appeared across the lands towards the horizon
It was then that a giant sword, larger than the Earth, pierced through the Earth that caused a supernova, destroying the world
Of course, Philip and Justine were on a small rock that retained its shape, floating in space
At this point, a crack appeared in the sky. Justine and Philip noticed this
"Uh, Philip?"
Justine called for Philip in alarm after seeing the purple crack
"Just a moment..."
Philip prepared the final test and immediately manifested it
A super massive blackhole appeared at the other side of the world. The black hole sucked all matter on the shattered Earth, including the red Sun and the moon with an eye. It started to distort space and the purple crack elongated towards the black hole
~~~
Meanwhile, the Old Man was walking through the streets of New York City while eating a hotdog that he bought
Currently, no one can see him because he intended it that way
Suddenly, the Old Man fell to his knees and coughed blood
"Ah, damn it! The ketchup is spoiled!"
He then clutched his stomach and looked in front of him
"Has Justine shown the Log Cabin to him?"
~~~
Justine was alarmed and she flew upwards. Her eyes widened while her Energy Contemplation and Vector Contemplation were acting up
Justine struggled as it took to long for her to analyze the energy of the black hole and the vector of gravity that the black hole was pulling from
Since space was distorted and space was a scalar, not a vector, Justine had an incredibly hard time. Especially that the black hole is a singularity, a super condensed matter and energy in one point in space, Justine couldn't analyze anything
Justine became hopeless. It was then that she almost screamed upon seeing something on Philip's palms
"P-philip, what is that?!!!"
"I'm trying to manifest the Big Bang, this will really test the limit of the Pocket World"
The thing that was on Philip's palm was a singularity that was nearing its critical point. The singularity kept releasing massive burst of energy to which Justine was unable to analyze
"Don't you think this is enough? There's already a crack in the Pocket World"
Justine tried to be calm as to not annoy Philip. She felt like Philip was unhinged and she didn't want him to become angry
Philip looked above him at Justine. He looked directly at Justine's eyes and saw the fear on her eyes
Philip's eyes widened, realizing that he has gone too far
"I understand, this is enough..."
Philip clasped his hands together and the Big Bang singularity disappeared
"But let me try this first"
Philip raised his right fist while his index finger is pointing upwards
It was then that a gray coloration grew from the tip of Philip's finger and rapidly expanded. Justine was surprised and tried to jump back but she stopoed midair. The purple crack stopped and the super massive blackhole stayed in place
Justine's pupils were shaking as she looked towards Philip. Her vision slowly turned dark as the velocity of light has stopped and there was no light and information that are being passed around since time has stopped. Just then, she couldn't see nor hear anything
Philip closed his eyes and erased all of his current emotions
As he opened his eyes, everything came back to normal. It was the same for Justine as she was sitting across Philip
They were in the modern house with a valley of green grass. Philip didn't like the dense forest and changed the terrain
Justine was sweating bullets and breathing heavily that her arms were on the table supporting her body
Philip was also breathing heavily but he's not showing it. Imagining and manifesting all of that took too much of his mental strength
"I now understand why the Old Man trusted you too much!"
Justine conjured a water bottle and drank all of it in one gulp
"I don't even know how you can manifest all of that without even witnessing or learning about it!"
"Oh, trust me... I know!"
Philip said arrogantly
"So, what do you think of the gift?"
"It's okay... I don't think I'll ever be using this place though. It's pretty weak"
"Weak?! It can't be!"
"It is, want me to show you in one strike?"
"Huh... A part of me kinda want to see that"
"Then let's not do it"
"Damn, my curiosity is too wild"
There was a moment of silence again
"So... I'm curious... Can I ask about you?"
Justine opened a conversation
"Yeah"
"What is your real abilities?"
Philip's eyes dilated from Justine's question. His eyes turned towards Justine which made her uneasy
"Ah! It's alright if you don't want to say it and kept it in secret! I was just curious"
"What makes you say that my Pain Denial and Emotion Manipulation are fake?"
"I'm not saying that they are fake... I'm asking if you have other abilities"
"And what made you think that I had other abilities?"
"It was during Chris', that general's unreasonable way of getting his wants"
Philip facepalmed himself. He made a blunder of being a show off. His abilities will eventually be leaked if observant and deductive people like Justine were around
Justine looked at his actions and it seemed that her thoughts that he was a four abilities were true
Little did she know that she was wrong, in another way
"Alright, tell me the true nature of your abilities first. The general didn't know about your abilities when he was a friend of the Old Man and looks like the residents also didn't know anything about your abilities"
Philip spoke while pointing his observations earlier
"If you tell me the true nature of your abilities, I'll tell you mine"
Philip crossed his arms
"My ability is Energetic Vectorization"
Justine told Philip her secret without thinking twice. Her curiosity was screaming about Philip's true abilities from the start. She was willing to reveal her secret for his
~~~
Energetic Vectorization is Justine abilities that came with three sub-abilities each from energy and vector
In the energy part of her ability are Energy Manipulation, Energy Contemplation, and Energy Insight
In the vector part of her ability, it's the same as energy, Vector Manipulation, Vector Contemplation, and Vector Insight
Both of her sub-abilities needs a step-by-step procedure to be used
First, she needed to contemplate the energy and vector to understand the nature of her target. By using contemplation, she will be able to define whether something is an energy or a vector
Longer contemplation is needed in a more complex structure of energy and vector
Second, she will use her insight to analyze and identify the contemplated energy and vector. This is the easiest step since she will be able to identify the accurate information and nature of an energy or vector
She will be able to learn new kinds of energies and vectors without knowing them in the first place using insight
Third, she will be able to use manipulation on the energy and vector that she analyzed and identified with insight. She will be able to always manipulate the type of energy and vector as long as it doesn't mix and blend with another energy or vector
There is no limit to which Justine can manipulate the contemplated energies and vectors that was analyzed by insight
~~~
"Fascinating"
Philip blurted out
"You think so?"
"Yeah! It's so cool!"
Justine slightly blushed by Philip's words. No one has complimented the true nature of her ability before. She was always afraid that someone disgusted of her ability because of how powerful and convenient it is
"So, that's how you stopped the bullets earlier and how you lifted the military vehicles and pinned the general down earlier with gravity?!"
"Yup, that's basically it"
"Fascinating"
Justine crossed her arms and looked at Philip with one eye. She seemed to be noticing Philip's good looking appearance after a few hours
"Are you going to tell me yours?"
Justine couldn't wait and reminded Philip
"Ah, yes! Along side Pain Denial and Emotion Manipulation, there are Fate Control and Future Vision"
Philip said seriously and Justine could only stare at him with no facial expressions or muscular movements
There was only a chill going down her spine as cold sweat formed on her back while shivering. Her brain immediately hurt upon hearing Philip's words
Never mind the other two abilities that Justine predicted that Philip had. The other two abilities that Philip casually revealed was out of this world
"Is... Is it true?"
"Yes"
"C-can you show me?"
"Nope, that's all you get"
"Awww! C'mon!"
Philip giggled slightly and Justine smiled
"I'm getting hungry, should we leave?"
Philip asked
"Did you know that you can manifest food and drinks in this Pocket World?"
Justine mentioned as two plates of medium-rare steak, roasted asparagus, and mashed potatoes appeared in front of them
"What? How?"
"I forgot to mention that it's another quirk of the Pocket World that the Old Man added"
"Is it infinite?"
"As long as the Old Man is alive"
"What?! Then this can solve world hunger!"
"But you can bring out anything in here, right?"
Justine said as she took a bite from the steak, same as Philip
"Mhm! This is delicious! I never had this meal before! But, if we ate here, will the digested food disappear on exit?"
"Nope, consumed food won't disappear"
"I see!"
Justine and Philip enjoyed the food that they were eating
"This feels bland... Let's make it special!"
Philip mentioned
The day became night and the white lights of the modern house became yellow. An extravagant table cloth appeared above the plain table and two wine glasses appeared in front of them
A gold candelabra appeared in the middle with two scented candles on the side. A wine appeared on thin air and floated around as it poured wine on the wine glasses. It then landed on the side of the table as display
Table napkins landed on both laps and red rose petal scattered around the floor. Classical music then began playing in the background as floating musical instruments were playing
The full moon illuminates the table with its faint blue light and a cool night breeze sweeps through the room
"My, how romantic, are you taking me on a date or something?!"
Justine slightly blushed while covering her mouth
"No? I just imagined this scenario since I have never been in a place like this ever before. Plus, it suits you because I find this place beautiful"
"Wow, really?"
"Yeah... I had a terrible childhood. I envy these kind of places"
"Oh, tell me more"
"Huh? If I tell you more, you should also tell me about yourself!"
"Sounds like your challenging me"
"Well, it's only fair, right?"
"Alright then!"
Philip and Justine talked to each other about their past and childhood. They got carried away and talked most about their hardships and trauma. It's probably because of the wine, or perhaps the mood that Philip managed to recreate
Philip learned that Justine is a child of a very rich family. She was spoiled and she matured very quickly. Eventually, she decided to run away from home at the age of 20 and start her own life
Of course, since she was a daughter of a rich family. She was prone to criminals that wanted to take advantage of her to earn money
That's when the Old Man took her in to the mansion
Justine also learned about Philip when he was a child. It was too early for him to learn the truth of the universe and know despair. Not to mention, the problems that was created by his family and the constant suffering from being self-aware
Justine found it fascinating that Philip managed to live and survive up till now even though Philip wanted to die constantly
They already finished the steak meal and the soup meal, they were already on their salads since they craved some and decided to eat some
They also managed to talk about trivial things such as their beliefs and perspectives about life and the universe. They argued at times but it always went to agreement on both sides
Philip was understanding and patience while Justine was extremely curious and passionate. Their conversation never showed any signs of stopping
Eventually, they reached to the point where the forbidden topic has been brought up
Love