「 World of Imagination 」
Both Philip and Rue's vision flashed in a blinding white light
"...!!"
Rue tried to close her eyes, but the blinding light is not getting blocked. She was slightly worried, but not concerned as she trusts Philip. Eventually, she just waited until she can see again
A few seconds later, Rue's vision didn't fade to black for her vision to return to normal. Instead, she heard a familiar voice and he emerged from the white world
"Welcome to my World of Imagination... This is a place where I have complete control of everything. In other words, you're in my absolute domain"
"...!"
Rue was surprised. She looked around and her vision wasn't actually filled with white light. She could see Philip and she could see her arms and her body
"This... This feels surreal! I-I can't comprehend it!"
"You don't have to... Just think of it as a world where I can do everything I want and manifest anything I want"
Philip then manifested a grassy plain with verdant and vibrant grass. A table appeared in between them with a tea set. Chairs pushed up beneath them that forced them to sit down. Finally, a parasol appeared above them to shield them from the just manifested Sun
"Ah..."
Rue was surprised that the white world changed drastically. She was stunned as she held a teacup that's full of aroma
"..."
She subconsciously took a sip and flapped her lips
"...!"
She was surprised once more that she can taste the tea and it felt real
"This is delicious!"
"It was brewed by someone I know..."
"Oh? Can I know who it is?"
"A girl from the Mystical Academy"
"Oh?"
Rue smirked and teased Philip. She knew that he is a lover boy, so she tried to tease him, but Philip was unperturbed
Philip is not knowledgeable about tea at all, though he knows what good tea tastes like. After all, he only has tasted tea that came from packets and teabags that almost tastes like lemons
The first tea that he tasted that was extremely good was the tea that Yuze brewed for him from the Silky Gaia Leaves in his first day in the Mystical Academy
'Hm...'
Philip then pondered and remembered his friends that he met in the Mystical Academy. He felt like it's too much to call them friends since they've only known each other in just a few days, but he also felt that he has been friends with them for a while
He thought that what if he took five of them and let them live in the mansion so that he can protect them
'Naaah... They have duties in the Mystical Academy and I'm sure they'll do extremely well there...'
「 ... 」
"So, why did you bring me here?"
Rue broke the silence and asked
"Well... I want to see your new magic eye"
"Is it really okay to use it here? I almost destroyed the mansion about five months ago when I unraveled it"
"It's fine!"
Philip then changed his imagination. The plains didn't become grassy anymore. Pines grew from the ground and grew taller and taller until it reached the sky. Lush greenery, bushes, and ferns spread across the land as land formations formed with hills, cliffs, rock formations, boulders, caverns, and river formations. The land also turned into podzol, soil, and clay to match the biome that they are in
They are now in a taiga biome. Se parts are dry, some parts are warm, and some parts are cold and snowy
"..."
The biome that they are in right now resembles a biome in a game that's built by blocks
"Hm? Why the change of scenery?"
Rue asked as they are now sitting on the dead logs, in front of a campfire, with two tents next to them that are close to each other
"Nothing, I thought it just suits the theme..."
"What theme?"
"Nevermind that. Show me your magic eye"
"What if I hurt you?"
"I said it's fine..."
Philip doesn't seem to be annoyed as Rue is becoming stubborn. At this point, he should've urged her forcefully, but didn't
"..."
Rue noticed this and she just let out a deep breath
"If you say so..."
Rue tilted her head to the right and lifted her arm. She grabbed the eyepatch and basically ripped it off of her face as the string snapped
"..."
Philip saw the veins popping around her eye. He was slightly surprised, but it's nothing to be concerned of
Rue faced Philip while her eyes are closed
"..."
"..."
Just then, Rue opened her eyes and the atmosphere dropped. Philip felt vertigo two times and his body jerked and twitched once
Rue's right magic eye glowed with brown color as her pupil was red. The fire from the campfire was snuffed out and the log that she's sitting on crumbled into pieces. This made Rue stand up
The soil under her dried up into clay and into bricks. The rocks around the campfire broke down into pieces and the tents was torn away as the sticks snapped into splinters
The grass and fern was also torn apart adn uprooted. The trunk of the giant pine trees created cracks that went to the tip. Some pine trees crumbled into splinters and and some trees just fell on the ground. The roots were uprooted and grew upwards as it turned to dust
Air also began to be violent as it blew strongly around them. The log under Philip instantly became dust and he stood up
"..."
He then heard a cracking sound from himself and he looked at his hands and arms. Cracks began to form across his skin and patches of his skin was being peeled off
"Ah!"
Rue was shocked and she panicked because she saw that she's corrupting Philip and she might kill him
She immediately tried to cover her eye with the eyepatch again to stop, but the eyepatch was torn into shreds
"No...!"
Rue closed her eyes, bur her eyelid was also torn
"Ah--!"
She then tried to cover it with her hand, but Philip stopped her before she could do so
"Stop! Keep your eye open... I am fine, don't worry"
"..."
Rue kept her eye open and looked at Philip. Tears started to form on her eyes, but the tears of her right eye was hovering around her eye and the tears on her left eye are hovering upwards
"..."
Philip closed his eyes and clenched his fists. White lines and roots began to grow and crawl around his body
Just then, [Regenerative Ivory] emerged from his skin and his entire body
'If Regenerative Ivory is a living armor... I can equip it whenever I please...'
「 !!! 」
『 !!! 』
White ivory grew from his arms, legs, thighs, shoulders, torse, chest, and neck. For some reason, no white ivory is growing on his head, specifically his entire face, except for the back of his ears, temples, and jaw. Though, a single diamond of white ivory appeared on the center of his forehead. His hair became spiky and shifted themselves backwards and outwards. The tips of his spiky hair either glowed white or white ivory also formed
He doesn't look like a person that's wearing a skintight white suit or a person wearing white painted cardboard boxes
Instead, he now looks like a fusion of a knight with a light armor and a mechanical suit, similar to some movies and anime, particularly a man that created an iron suit from scraps
The white ivory around his joints are flexible enough that it doesn't get in the way of his movement. Even if he uses ⟨⟨ Null of Magnificence ⟩⟩ to perform impossible movements, this white ivory armor will not prevent him from doing so
『 This is unprecedented! 』
As the white ivory grew on his body and formed a living armor, Rue's magic eye was rendered powerless. The surface of the white ivory still crumbles and some parts were cracking, but as the name implies as [Regenerative Ivory], the armor is regenerating itself faster than it being corrupted and destroyed
『 Extremely special condition requirements has been met!!! 』
'...'
Philip then opened his eyes and looked directly at Rue's eyes
"See? I told you it's fine"
"Ho... How?!"
"I have my ways... Now, let's fix your magic eye, shall we?"
"Wha?"
Philip closed his eyes and reopened them. His eyes flashed in golden light, followed by a brown flash
S: Soul Door: Second Knob: Consecration of Bounding Soul
"...!"
Rue was stunned and she could move an inch. The Magic Eye of Corruption became stable and the surrounding area stopepd crumbling
Everything becaem normal once again as Philip imagined everything back
"...!"
Philip slowly approached Rue and extended his right hand and aimed his two fingers at her forehead
Rue was taken aback, but she wasn't afraid. In the end, she let Philip do what he needed to do
Philip touched Rue's forehead and he closed his eyes
「 Origin Seeker 」
~~~
Philip's vision turned into a kaleidoscopic hyperspace and eventually, his vision flashed and he found himself in a familiar place
He looked around and saw the exact same taiga biome that he was in, in the ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩
'I knew it'
「 Hm? How'd you knew it? This looks exactly the same place as before, but different! 」
'Context clues and logic"
「 Right... 」
'Still... That Sai... She thought that it's beneficial for Rue to have that kind of magic eye. She doesn't know that Rue isn't capable of controlling it, unless she unlocked her true potential'
「 Are you going to remove the Magic Eye of Corruption? 」
'Hm... No. It is actually beneficial for Rue to have that magic eye as it compliments her Ruination ability... But, it's still too much for her to handle, considering that magic eye came from a goddess, a World Goddess of Disaster at that'
「 I see... 」
'With that said... I will be the one who will be granting her a new set of magic eye'
「 Oh? 」
'I remember she said back them, at the cafeteria in the military base, that her initial magic eye was lent to her by a spirit clad in white when she was a kid. Only four years ago, well, four and a half, that the magic eye activated...'
「 So, you're going to steal the Magic Eye of Diagnosis here in the past and give it to her in the future? 」
'That was the initial plan...'
「 What changed? 」
'Her actual origin and the identity of the spirit that gave her the magic eye'
「 ... 」
'Here it is...'
After a few seconds, a little girl was running across the forest while smiling and laughing with a stick on her hand. She looks so happy as her braided blonde hair flutters in the wind
This girl is young Rue as she's still an innocent and tidy little girl. Now, Rue doesn't care about her hair as she only ties it in a messy ponytail, compared to this little girl's intricately braided hair
The little girl ran and ran without care in the world, until she abruptly stopped in a middle of and opening in the forest. Even if this spot is an opening, light doesn't pass through from the sky as leaves cover most of it. A circle of giant pine trees surrounds her
Little Rue looked around in worry, but a dazzling light appeared in front of her, which she looked at in amazement
"Waaah~!"
The light formed a person, specifically a spirit, as Rue described it. Philip was surprised that Rue can remember far into this past with detail
'Hm?'
As the spirit manifested a figure, Philip was surprised at what it, or more likely, he looked like
The spirit kneeled in front of little Rue and extended his left arm towards her. Little Rue wasn't scared at all and she was just looking at the spirit's eyes
The spirit then swiped his left hand on little Rue's right eye and her eyes began to glow
"You now have a special eye. It's an eye that contains magic! It's the Magic Eye of Diagnosis and you'll be able to see people and understand them"
The spirit smiled and little Rue smiled back. Philip is unsure if little Rue understood what the spirit said, but considering that future Rue remembered everything that happened here tells him that little Rue understood the spirit
At such a young age, Rue is incredibly smart and intelligent that she understands these complex situations
The spirit stood up and gave little Rue a pat in the head
"Now, grow up to be fine woman and live your life in prosperity"
The spirit turned around and walked away
"I pray to Snawfu that you won't awaken your true name and also suffer the same fate as us, your family, the weredeers..."
The spirit muttered quietly that little Rue couldn't hear him, but Philip heard it with his enhanced hearing
The spirit's appearane revealed fully from Philip. The spirit is humanoid, almost like human, but behind his ears are antlers with specific branches amd intricately designed with vines, chains, and flower
The spirit ran away and his speed is fast. Philip left little Rue and followed the weredeer spirit. He's done witnessing the origin of Rue's magic eye after all
Now, he needs to see Rue's actual origin and why a spirit of a weredeer gave her a magic eye
Both the weredeer spirit and Philip ran through the taiga forest until they arrived a more lush area