Darkness was all that they saw.
Both of them could hear a liquid bubbling the background and a voice that sounded like it came from a man.
"Hope this potion works."
The warmth that surrounded the siblings felt again, familiar and comforting, distinct from the decrepit dimension they encountered three times before. But this time, something was off.
Beyond the bookshelves, fireplace, crates, and brewing stands was a familiar young man with long braided dark hair, chipped emerald eyes, and fair skin. Just by the appearance alone, both Asahi and Aletha recognized who he was.
"Belial?"
This time around, instead of being greeted by Akwan, Belial was the one who welcomed them. Asahi wondered how and why Belial came here, but then he remembered… (Oh… my…) that he dropped his bow on the room in that dimension before. It was at this moment that Asahi and Aletha realized that Akwan's theory was correct.
Actions in the strange dimension affect this dimension as well.
Struck with skepticism of this discovery, The Wanderers ignored Akwan and immediately raced to Belial. But before they could reach him, they noticed he ran too far from their reach. In as much as the event, Asahi and Aletha were forced to partake in the same recurring event like before.
"Ugh, why are the words so difficult to read? I can't even see the price!"
Akwan chuckled, hearing carriages pass by behind.
"Ha, yeah. I suppose some of what you were familiar with may be completely changed. Remember, it's been five thousand years since you left. Of course your world ought to change." And so had this scenario, Asahi thought as he felt like he lost control of his own body.
Despite the changes, Asahi and Aletha were forced to do the same events they had done two times before.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Carriages started moving, people continued squandering, and Akwan scratched his head. After a slight silence, he picked up one of the starch goods from the market and gave it to Asahi, replying as life continued to flow in motion.
"See, time dilation is…"
As what happened previously, it seemed as if the world slowed down for both Asahi AND Aletha as they tried to look over to the roof. But this time, instead of seeing the long dark-haired braided boy, or the tall dark-haired woman, all they were greeted with was silence.
This quickly startled Asahi and Aletha, knowing well that it was at the fault of their actions in the separate dimension that drove this event to occur. Now that the problem had been solved, Asahi could finally hear the full answer Akwan wanted to give him.
"...are you listening? Okay, I was just making sure. To repeat, time dilation is an element when one is too far from the area, thus… time works differently. Since you two were outside of this world for ten years, because of the distance that you were at, time in this world had fast-forwarded to five-thousand years instead of ten years. Does that make sense?"
Asahi slowly nodded his head, his eyes cruising around the sight of the area to see if anyone else was around.
(This would be the time someone would attack, but it's been…) He looked over to the eight-hour clocktower at the center of the street. (Ten minutes and not an ambush is to be seen.)
After he had pondered about the sudden shift of events, Asahi and Aletha decided to show Akwan what they found and discovered two loops before.
They pulled out The Forbidden Book and walked along the streets of the city, paranoid about the ominous peace resonating within them. Aletha turned the pages to the two with both the clues and the list out in the open.
However this time, something had changed in the book, moreover the list. Aletha's shock robbed her of speech, stammering as she saw the words change.
"Eh?! What happened?!"
"What is it?" Asahi asked as he leaned over to the book. "Wait, did the page change?"
Suddenly, HIS eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of the magical glowing sentences forming from top to bottom on the page.
---------------------------
1. Find out what the ingredients mean.
2. Follow the places where the drawings are.
3. Use the clues, illustrations, and figures in the page to find the ingredients.
4. :// :/// :/:/
5. :// :/// :/:/
6. :// :/// :/:/
7. :// :/// :/:/
8. :// :/// :/:/
---------------------------
Forthwith this sight, Aletha's hand covered her mouth and hyperventilated in surprise, bewildered at what her eyes revealed to her.
"HUH? H-How?! I… could have sworn I made only three. But now..."
Asahi finished his sister's sentence, Stupefied just as much as his sister, Asahi finished his sister's sentence with an apprehensive tone in his voice.
"...There are eight. Eight things to do, and five of them are missing. I'm guessing that we should follow what the three say, and maybe the other orders would be revealed."
Awe-struck and distracted, Aletha added as she held her hand up, showing three fingers.
"Yeah, but I wrote three. Not eight."
(Chapter is to be extended once all of Arc 2 is finished. I will edit at my own pace. Keep your collections if you will. It is a really demotivating factor once one had done so. I suggest that if you want to keep reading the story, skip to Chapter 58. It may not be perfect, but I assure you that when I finally gather my bearings and come to publish all of Arc 2, I will ensure that I will return back to Arc 1 for editing purposes.)