No matter how much he racked his brain, nothing appeared that could take credits for this, it was like the answer he was looking for wasn't even in this world, at least not yet. Val thought long and hard before giving up.
He laid back down, lost in thoughts, not staying in one (thought) for longer before jumping to another. He even thought if he really was alive, but then again, the pain was a wonderful friend, reminding him he was. Then it finally stopped. Once more stuck on that mysterious figure, his mind, trying to make her complete facial features, but every time it fell short, he just couldn't tell why.
His thoughts lingered on her as he closed his eyes, his wounds slowly healing. The effect of the healing talisman that Erik used was still there. Still, it would take more than a day before he could move around normally.
...
While Valcroy was recovering, Erik was busy with his own experiments. Sitting cross-legged, eyes closed as he used his inner vision, an ability that an intermediate-knight gets when he/she starts using mana to strengthen his/her inner organs.
He was checking his chest and the black mist, like usual, obscured his vision but he could still make out an empty area, it was like a lake had formed in his chest where this black mist lived now, where his heart should've been. But today, he was not checking that. It went AWOL a while ago. What he wanted to see was where the creature went.
The moment it reached his heart, it vanished, making him raise an eyebrow. He wanted to see what it would do when it reached this black lake, but he didn't expect such a thing to happen.
He looked everywhere in his body, but it was nowhere. Erik's eyebrows scrunched tightly as he kept looking, and now here he was, staring at the black mist lake. He found something else in there, a mist of another color.
He saw it just for a moment, but he could tell that it was not there before; he tried penetrating the black mist and check what that was, but the moment his mana gets even a micrometer closer to the black mist, it vanishes, like it was never there to begin with.
Erik, not giving up, tried once more, but had no success. He could only stare at it from the distance, like a stargazer, and wait for the reddish mist to appear, which he was doing for over an hour now, but it didn't show up.
He looked at the black lake one last time before giving up; he decided to check up later. Erik left his room and asked the servants to prepare a meal for him. He kind of missed Alyssa, she did everything for him, without him needing to say anything.
He inquired the servants about her and found that she was tending to Valcroy. He nodded and dismissed the servants while he thought, 'What should I do about you?'
No matter what he thought, from whatever angle he looked, Valcroy always looked like an anomaly. He wanted to confront him but couldn't, and just as he thought about visiting him to clear everything, Collum arrived.
Erik interrupted his thought process and turned to him. At that moment, the servant also came with a meal for him. Erik told him to set up the table, he'll be back soon. Then he followed Collum, who wanted to show him something.
They walked past many guards, who were still tense. It will only rise as the Alliance army continues to sit on their doorsteps. But the mystery of their visit was still not solved, so Erik could do nothing about it.
He followed Collum, and soon they arrived at a whole unfamiliar area, at least unfamiliar to him. A building that had a low, rectangular block made of gray stone, giving it a simple and somewhat dark appearance. It featured high, reinforced walls topped with seals and Veritasian words that flashed from time to time. Narrow slits for windows for providing minimal light and ventilation. A heavy iron gate with a solid lock that served as the main entrance, and with guard towers at each corner, manned by watchful guards who had the same expression as any other guard right now.
Erik looked at the outer structure of the jail. This was where they kept the spies they captured, as well as some other people who took advantage of the chaos and decided it was good to add fuel to the fire.
Click* Click*
The door opened, Erik entered along with Collum, and the door behind them closed. Inside, the jail had the same structure. The corridors were narrow and dimly lit, lined with solid metal doors leading to individual cells. Each cell was sparse, containing only a small cot, a metal toilet, and a tiny barred window, with Veritasian words written over it.
The walls were bare, and the floors had cold stone. Air was damp and musty, and there was a constant echo of footsteps and distant murmurs. The overall atmosphere was created to be uncomfortable and disorienting, ensuring that the prisoners remained subdued.
Erik walked past many prisoners, some threatened, some whistled, some gave a nasty remark. Overall, they didn't see him in a positive light, but he didn't care and kept walking with an indifferent expression.
Collum, meanwhile, was noting everyone and everything, and he'll have a personal meeting with them later. After walking for a while, they arrived at a stairs case that led down. He stepped on them and was led to another corridor, where more prisoners were kept, but they were huddling in the corners, trembling. The cold stones made sure that they kept doing that, while a meeting with Collum left them in such a state.
Collum said nothing and took the lead, stopping before a particular cell, and used his mana. The cell bars lit up before the door opened.
Erik looked inside and found a single person in there. Other cells had 3 or 4 in them, but this one had a sole person in it. He was someone Erik had met before. As he turned toward Collum, his eyebrows raised a little, clearly confused.
"We found he was also a spy."
Erik nodded and turned toward the person who was acting strange. Strange, because he kept mumbling, "A monster," while biting his nails, and he might be doing that for a while now, that he could tell from the nail and skin shaving on the ground and his fingers that bled, the guy seemed oblivious as he kept chewing his fingers.
This was not all, as his body seemed a little shriveled, like he was drained. There was a hollow look in his eyes, like the world had lost all its meaning. He saw something he shouldn't have. This was the same lackey that survived in that alley, but he differed completely from the person they found outside that alley.
Collum felt uncomfortable just by looking at his state. Since the moment he arrived here, he kept repeating that phrase and when they asked what he was saying, his voice kept increasing a decibel each second before he passed out.
Erik, meanwhile, was busy with something else. The moment he entered the cell, he felt the same feeling that he had felt when he looked at this person before. He closed his eyes. Collum, upon seeing that, stood in front of him, wondering what he was doing, but didn't disturb him as he kept his eyes on the crazy guy before them.
Erik was once again at the black lake, but this time he could see the red in there, it was more visible than before, surprisingly it formed a string as it stretched out, like a fisher throwing a life line toward him, Erik, who without hesitation tried to get close to it, but the black mist made sure not to let it happen.
The red strand stopped wiggling, like it understood what happened, and extended itself until it was out of the black mist, making it easier for Erik to grab onto it. He did so and used his mana to connect with it. The connection felt extremely faint, but he just wanted to see what it was.
The moment his mana came into contact with that red string, Erik's whole body shuddered, like he was seizing. Collum's eyebrows rose as he looked at the trembling Erik and wondered what happened, but he didn't disturb him as a thought occurred in his mind, "An Enlightenment."
When he thought of that, his eyebrows raised further, his mouth opened, comprising an O. He was shocked to his core, even in his 50 years of life, he gained enlightenment once when he almost crossed his forties, but here was young master Erik, who got his first epiphany at 17.
He sighed as he looked at him, a little jealous of his talent, but soon it turned into admiration. "This is talent," he said in a low voice, not daring to interrupt Erik's enlightenment.
Meanwhile, Erik didn't know what to say as he felt something completely surreal. He was looking at Collum, who, surprisingly, was looking at him with a strange expression, but there was the twist. He heard what he said but didn't reply. He was busy trying to get used to this new view.
He looked at his body, who was standing there motionless, eyes closed. After a while, he closed his eyes once more and when he opened them; he was in his actual body.
He looked at the guy, who was still busy nibbling his nails, and turned to Collum.
"Let's go."
Collum followed, not saying a word. He felt it to be natural that the young master wanted to make use of his epiphany and meditate. He followed him out and soon they left the jail. Just then, he received a command that made him feel like he heard something wrong.
"Release that prisoner."
Erik explained nothing after he was done and entered the mansion, leaving behind a contemplating Collum who scratched his head but couldn't make head or tail of this.
He could only exhale loudly, and tell the guards at duty to release him, but also that they should keep track of this person.
While Collum was wracking his head about such a command from Erik, he was busy having a meal. He cut the steak with a knife and used a fork to pick it up before placing in his mouth. He chewed on it while he thought about something. The magical thing that happened in the prison.
When he saw himself from a different viewpoint, he knew he had somehow hijacked the eyes of the lackey, Senva. Collum told him his name. He would have ignored it before, but now he can't.
After the meal, he went back to his room and started meditating; he found himself at the edge of the black lake made of black mist, and this time there was something else in there, a red strand that came out from the deep black lake. He used his mana and formed a connection with it. A wave of mana rose, and like a hook, connected itself to that red strand. When he did, he felt his view change.
"....don't know."
"Let's not assume anything. We don't know what the young master is thinking."
"Let's just hope he knows what he is doing. The army outside is already getting on my nerves."
"Yeah, it's nerve racking."
He heard the guards conversing as they dragged Senva out. After a while, he was brought before Collum, who was looking at him with raised eyebrows. Senva had stopped biting his nail and was looking around like he was a prisoner for decades.
Collum asked, "Were you acting? "
Senva's head turned toward him, and he just stared. Not saying anything.
'I can't speak through him,' Erik thought as he tried to speak but failed. He then tried controlling his movement, but it also failed, to which he concluded he could only see and hear what Senva was hearing, his fidgeting and such actions stopped though but he was like a shell now, an empty husk that Erik was wearing.
Erik tried everything he could to get valuable data before cutting the connection. An idea coursed through his mind.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the moment Erik cut the connection with Senva, his condition worsened. He turned even more frantic, but before those symptoms could expose themselves, Collum knocked him unconscious. He then told the guards to bring him along.
"Just what are you thinking, young master?"