"Yes, you thought… WHAT?!"
I wasn't sure if I heard the correct thing or not.
"I asked whether you are my father or not. Doesn't seem like it." Ana muttered while keeping her gaze towards the ground.
"I am twenty-one years old and you look like you are eighteen. I am not your father." I explained.
"I'm not eighteen yet. I will turn eighteen tomorrow." Ana sighed.
"Ohh… why did you think I was your father?"
"No reason. I was wrong anyway so it doesn't matter. I just want to find him and check whether he is alive or not."
"I see."
I refrained myself from saying anything else. I had a general idea about who Ana's father was but never went into the details.
The novel didn't mention her father's encounter with her mother and the details of her past. During the introduction of her character as a villain, most people who loved backstories dropped the novel.
I simply focused on writing the fighting scenes in the novel to get some money from the remaining readers.
"What are you planning to do now?" I asked.
"I don't know… I was planning on leaving my home when the apocalypse began. I survived till now but I don't really have a goal."
Hints of sadness were present in her voice. It was true that with the beginning of the apocalypse, some lost their purpose of living while some gained a new purpose of living.
It depended on how one looked at their new situations.
[ The Viewers want Anabelle to obtain revenge. ]
[ An anonymous Viewer wants Anabelle to give in to her dark side. ]
Ana's eyes darkened at the appearing messages. She dismissed them instantly. I did the same thing with the messages in front of me.
The anonymous Viewer likely possessed an ability similar to mine that allowed him to see the faint sparks of black energy that appeared around Ana.
If he knew about their true nature, things could turn messy. Black sparks indicated an evil or demonic form of energy.
Once news about Ana spread out, Viewers with twisted mentalities and evil nature would try to get her as their Blessed.
No, the correct word for such beings was 'Cursed'. If normal and good Supports got Blessed, the evil ones got the Cursed.
Sigh, why did I come up with such weird and complex names? Perhaps I should have named them something simple and easier.
"What revenge are they talking about?" I asked curiously. After all, my knowledge was limited as well.
"I don't know," Ana mumbled and turned in the opposite direction.
"It's all right if you don't want to tell me. You can follow me if you want. I am going to clear this scenario using the alternate method."
"Are you sure you can do that?"
"Yes, I can. I am quite strong and I know how to clear the scenario."
"You did kill all those people."
"Please don't mention that…"
I used my calming technique once again to prevent myself from facing any backlash. Fortunately, the technique seemed to work and I maintained my calm.
"What are you planning to do to clear the scenario?"
"You have to follow me to see it. I can't explain it to you."
"What if you take me somewhere isolated and kill me.?"
"I can kill you here too."
"True… I will think about it."
"I don't have that much time. I have to prevent people from dying you know."
With that sentence, I started walking. Any more time wasted and a lot of people could die, thus turning the summoned bird evil in nature.
All my efforts would be wasted if that happened.
< She is following behind. >
'I know. This is probably the first time anyone has talked to her as nicely as I did.'
< Michael sounds sad. >
'Obviously. I am the one to blame for making her life like that. Her life turned hell because I wanted a villain with a sad backstory. >
< Don't be too hard on yourself. Blue told Michael to stop overthinking. Too many thoughts can lead to chaos. >
'All right. I will shut up.'
I silently trudged through the hallways. I was heading towards the location where the bird could be awakened using pure energy.
The location was vaguely mentioned and only a general layout was present in my mind. I had to make do with that and hope to find the location as soon as possible.
[ Michael: Hey Vin, how are things looking on your side? ]
I sent a message to Vin through the chatbox to check on her. Five minutes went by but no reply came back.
'Hmm, she might be busy.'
< That's what we all think in the beginning. >
"Blue, we are not talking about chatting over a social media platform. Vin might be in a fight right now. There's also a slight chance that she is having a vision and hid herself somewhere to prevent herself from being discovered.'
< Blue was joking. Michael took it seriously. >
I sighed and continued forward on my path. I kept [Author's Eyes] activated as it helped me to detect mana presences.
[Author's Eyes] allowed me to detect mana on the other side of the walls. It worked in the same way Ray's [Heavenly Eyes] did.
Whenever I spotted any other human in my path, I changed directions and avoided any contact. Getting myself involved in more fights would only tire me out.
'Hmm, this feels nice.'
I had been walking for quite some time and didn't encounter any psychopaths. In the novel, Ray fought numerous psychopaths dead set on killing any person they encountered.
Perhaps the Vermilion castle I was present in didn't have such psychopaths.
"I have been silent for this long but where exactly are we heading?" Ana finally questioned after another five minutes passed by.
To her, it seemed like Michael was roaming around with no purpose.
"We are not going to a particular location."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Do you know where one goes after they die? Depending on your beliefs and faiths, this question can have many answers. But in reality, no one knows the exact answer to this question."
"That is true. How is that related to this though?"
"The bird we are trying to revive is essentially dead. There is no particular location where we can find him. We just have to keep looking and we will arrive at our destination somehow."
"Oh…"
[ Many Viewers are surprised after hearing your words of wisdom. ]
[ 100 Glens has been gifted to you. ]
In order to find the Phoenix, one had to roam around the castle endlessly until a path appeared in front of them.
This was the only way to awaken the bird without sacrificing or saving others. It was also a lot quicker and more efficient than the other methods.
'Hmm, looks like I am heading towards a crowded area…'
I spotted a group of four walking in a hallway on the other side of the room to my right. Two people seemed to be fighting two left turns away from my current location.
The fluctuation in their mana showed that they were fighting.
'Need to avoid these two as well as the four on the right.'
I was about to turn back when I suddenly paused. My gaze shifted towards the right and I noticed only four mana sources present in that location.
In the blink of an eye, the sources were reduced to two. All sources vanished in the next five seconds.
Someone killed all five of the sources and my eyes detected no moment.
< There is movement… >
While keeping my eyes on the other side of the room, I broke into a sprint. I shouted for Ana to do the same as she followed me with a confused expression on her face.
'Fk. Look carefully Michael!"
I focused harder and finally managed to catch traces of movement. Within shadows, some beings moved without using any mana.
No blue sparks of mana flickered around their body and their movement was almost concealed by this.
"What the fuck?! How can someone use shadow walk this early on!" I cursed out loud.
[ Many Viewers are shocked by your words. ]
[ Certain Viewers are asking Entertainer Inari if this is true. ]
[ Entertainer Inari is currently investigating the appearance of the shadow walking skills and confirms the statement to be true. ]
This was not good. Even with my current strength, fighting against someone with shadow walking was not something I could do on my own.
"You look paranoid right now." Ana, who was somehow running at the same speed as mine, muttered.
How did she catch up with level 3 agility stats?
"We have to run away from someone. If they catch up to us, we are fucked." I explained things in limited words.
I needed to find a safe zone and put as much distance between me and shadow walk user. If a direct confrontation occurred, my powers alone weren't sufficient to win the fight.
"Running is useless, you know. We are too fast." A cackle entered my ears.
I paused for a split second as a figure suddenly appeared in front of me.
"Finally found you!"