A void of emptiness. This was what Elior visualised while training his mana. There's nothing but darkness, only nothingness where his consciousness hovered.
In his previous time, he had not started like this. The one that made him feel peace was just a simple candle lighting in the darkness. Yet now, when he tried to imagine the small candle, his mind unconsciously drifted to the emptiness of the void. There's not even a speck of light there, only darkness and him.
Staying here was quite dangerous for Elior. If something went wrong, he might get lost in space and, and that could cause a limbo, yet he tried nothing as the void emptied his worry and anxiousness. He felt nothing in the void. Not any mortal sins or emotion.
He did not sleep on his first day after regression, meditating the entire night.
The day came again as the temperature rose to a comfortable level. Shin woke up sighing as he saw Lyra was already awake, where Elior was still meditating in cross-leg.
"Should we wake him?" he asked Lyra, pointing at Elior.
Lyra shook her head. She had done most of the warding after Elior went for meditation. "Let him meditate," she said. "So, how was your experience yesterday?"
"I think I can sense mana now," Shin said with a radiant smile as he remembered the elf said those that can sense mana within a day are geniuses. "Sister Elf, I am a genius too."
Lyra snorted, but she could not deny that. Even though Shin was a dimwit fool, he had a good head.
"How long will it take to get to your sister elf if I train every day?" Shin asked again.
Lyra did not answer immediately. She pondered for a while before opening her lips. "If you just meditate normally like that, it would take you 2 years or more to get where I'm at now."
"What? That's so long." The enthusiasm on Shin's face dampened instantly.
"Let me finish, you idiot," Lyra yelled at Shin. "I said you would need 2 years if you train normally, but if you level up in that time to 20, and advance to your first class, it would be much easier. As far as I know, it would not be wrong to say you could master the basics in a month or two."
"Class?" Shin's eyes shone. "You mean like Mage, Warrior, Healer, Swordsman like that?"
"Yes," Lyra continued. "When you advance to level 20, you will be given classes which fit you the most. You have to advance in one of them, or you won't be able to level up further."
"Cool, just like the game," Shin nodded. "By the way, Sister Elf, where does this class and other stuff come from?"
"From Mother World," Lyra said as if it was general knowledge. "The Deities that look after the entire universe, created this system together."
"You mean the gods and stuff are real?" Shin felt a little chill as he was not much of a believer in the theory.
"Of course," Elior answered in place of Lyra as he rose from his meditative state. "But they were not the almighty beings that you find in the bible or other religious scripture. Remember, Deities are just as petty as humans."
Lyra frowned at Elior's comment. Elior said it as if he had a personal contract with the deities. "How can you say that?"
Elior cursed himself again, could not he just shut up. He was preparing for a convincing answer when the status window appeared in front of everyone, saving Elior from his explanation.
[Provisional merit list of Trial Zero will be announced in approximately one minute. Would you like to announce your name there or go anonymous?
P.S: Remember, going anonymous will terminate your chances to see the merit list.]
[Yes | No]
"Brother Elior, should I go anonymous or announce my name?" Shin asked as he could make out what this merit list was. It was probably the list of all the participants according to the progress they made so far in the trial.
"Do as you wish," Elior smiled as he tapped on the yes tab. "As long as you are with me you have nothing to fear."
"I wanted to see how many tokens the top ten got," Lyra said. "It will help me learn how far away I am from them."
"Then 'yes' it is," Shin said. "I wanted to see as well."
After the minute passed, the merit list was announced as another translucent window appeared in front of their eyes.
[Merit list of Trial Zero:
1. Renal: 454 tokens.
2. Leroy: 256 tokens
3. Unknown: 195 tokens.
4. Elior: 186 tokens.
5. Unknown: 148 tokens.
6. Unknown: 146 tokens
7. Lara: 112 tokens.
9. Scarlet: 102 tokens
10. Mopher: 101 tokens.
. . .
19. Lyra: 84.
. . .
79: Chainz: 52.
. . . ]
Elior found quite a few familiar names on the list, but that did not concern him. He scrolled up the list all the way down to see the name of his friend Ileana, yet he found nothing like the first time. That can only mean three things: Ileana was already eliminated, or chose to go anonymous, or choose a name he did not recognise.
Elior eliminated the last option. It should be Ileana already got eliminated or went anonymous. In his previous time, Ileana had failed in completing the quest, and was eliminated. Looks like it would be the same this time as well, unless Elior finds her before that.
"Brother Elior, you are fourth," Shin from the side, but seeing no response from Elior, he asked again. "What is it, Brother Elior?"
Elior sighed as he could not make a decision on if he should look for Ileana or not. If he was just as ignorant as in his previous regression, it would have been so easy to make his decision. He would search for Ileana heedlessly. Yet knowing what he was up against made his mind waver.
"Nothing," Elior said. "Just looking for a friend."
"Did you find it?" Shin asked.
"No."
"Should we search for him?"
"Nah," Elior sighed again. "We will do our own job first—which is collecting the tickets."
'I'll give it to fate, let's see if I come across Ileana or not.'
__________________________
Do I have to ask for Power stones again? Man, I'm tired, so give me power stone I need to cultivate.