Chapter 59 59:Witnessing A Different World



Out there in the vast garden, Lucas sat down before Shiya observing her serious expression. She looked as if she was going to devour him.

This meeting was about to take place in her office, but Lucas's body trembled uncontrollably just by standing before the entrance. Her office room looked like a hellhole, akin to a place where people were tortured and killed, so the location was changed to here.

"Professor, can you stop staring at me like that?"

Cough...Cough...

Shiya, coughing embarrassingly, pursed her lips.

"Lucas, I want to ask you something important. This is a grave matter so I hope you can speak the truth even if you have any inconvenience..."

Lucas, unable to comprehend the context, just bowed his head.

"Hm.....So, Lucas are you taking drugs?"

Cough...Cough...

Lucas coughed violently and almost choked his saliva.

"Professor, are you kidding me? Did you bring me here for this?" Lucas asked.

"Gosh...Lucas, I am serious..."

Shiya shook her head.

"Remember, last time we stumbled upon each other, a few balls of candy dropped here and there, from them I took one."

"Okay, so...."Lucas said indifferently with a neutral expression but inwardly he was freaking out.

'Bluff...Bluff....Lucas fake it or you're going to be in trouble.'

'This is the moment.'

"What is that candy?"Shiya stared at Lucas with a piercing gaze.

"That...as far as I know, it's a calming candy."

"Where did you get it?"Shiya pressed forward.

Lucas at the moment, felt something weird. Instead of reprimanding him, she looked troubled.

"I mostly visit the outskirts and go on dungeon raids with a mercenary group. There, I saw a hawker selling this candy. He said it acts similar to tranquiliser which soothes your nerves and calms you down. It's not a drug for sure and you will never get addicted."Lucas attempted to explain as reasonably as possible.

He could see her interest in this. It took a bit of time to guess her intention but after connecting the dots and seeing her appearance, Lucas could easily make a guess.

"I see..."Shiya fell into deep thought.

"Professor, why are you looking for this?"

Shiya pondered for a moment, occasionally taking a few peeks at Lucas.

'This kid is quite gentle and well-behaved. Maybe I could ask him a bit in exchange for some benefits.'n0vELusB.c0m

"Lucas, you might already be aware of my condition. I don't remember when but even before awakening, I would always hear faint whispers. At first, I ignored thinking that I have super sensitive hearing but it started to get worse. It wasn't until I awakened, I became aware of a new world around us."Shiya spoke vexedly.

"For me, it was quite frightening. Fortunately, our family's standing is quite good, and being eligible to enter high societies, my father looked for help and that's where my aptitude for spirit magic was determined. Being too sensitive to nature enables one to borrow nature's power and summon spirits capable of causing calamity, however on the downside, for every moment of my life, I had to live with these annoying presences haunting me."

"And it's getting worse. I have to rely on drugs and tranquilizers or indulge myself in hard drinks to dampen my mind, however, nothing has worked like this candy."Shiya's eyes moistened a bit as she told her story to Lucas.

Her words sounded simple but the pain reflecting on her face can't be described with mere words.

Lucas staring at her sympathetically, asked cautiously, "Is it that worse?"

"Ummm...You seem to have a low aptitude for spirit magic. Still, would you like to see the world I see?"Shiya said, drawing Lucas's curiosity.

"Can I?"

"Yes, you can. Just hold my hand."Shiya extended her hand towards Lucas who did not shy away.

Lucas grabbed her soft small hands and stared around.

A cold current passed through his body followed by a gloomy glow enshrouding him after which, the world around him lost its colour becoming blank and lifeless.

His vision distorted for a moment and his pupil shrank. Lucas looked to see a faint golden austere covering him while Shiya emitted a darkish orange austere which seemed to be the colour of the distinctive aura every person has.

It was then, Lucas found the picture of the whole world changing into something uncanny and something sinister. The lush and vibrant garden around him had disappeared leaving behind annoying patches of darkish wriggling slimes laying over a parched earth.

The sky became greyish covered by a thick layer of a darkish gas-like substance.

Over the parched ground, tentacles-like objects sprouted from the cracks dancing crazily.

Rotten ravenous flies swarmed all around. The ground was blood-stained and from blackish slimes, many wriggling masses of maggots oozed out that sucked the malevolent darkish gas all around.

Lucas suddenly felt a cooling sensation on his shoulder. Turning his head in a robotic motion, he saw black sticky liquid over his shoulder. With trembling hands, he reached out and touched out only to find blackish leeches jumping on his finger.

"Kkkkkk's!"

"Kyakamak!"

"The human found us."

"Run..."

"He is dangerous."

A piercing sharp pain assaulted Lucas's head as if someone had cracked open his skull with a knife.

Swallowing his saliva, Lucas staring

at his feet, found awl holes over the slimes and fat leeches clinging over his body sucking something that dispersed noticing his gazes.

The entire sight was horrible and disgustingly hideous.

Lucas's heart hollered in bewilderment and fear. He turned his head towards Shiya and almost lost his sense of reason.

Thousands of eyeballs popping out from the skin hovered around Professor Shiya. Accompanying them, boned birds with hollow eyes emitting shrieks of happiness popped the eyeball and ate them.

Suddenly the bony birds felt a presence and as soon as their attention drew to a pair of golden eyes.

"Cawww...Kakak...."

Letting out a terrifying bestial roar, they ran.

Swishhh!

As they flew, Professor Shiya swayed her body causing the eyeballs to fall on the ground.

A darkish figure covered with an orange hue emerged from her body.

Lucas's eyes then fell on the scene behind her.

The trees swayed in the gentle wind, however, instead of leaves, a layer of flesh grew on branches, and above them, dark shadows flickered.

Apparently, Lucas sensed that the shadows were speaking to him.

The shadows opened their mouths showcasing a huge hollow cavity with broken white sharp bony teeth, and letting out a bestial smile, struck Lucas's heart in horror.

It was then Lucas started to hear whispers and unknown words ringing in his mind became louder with the rasping sound of scratching a metal surface.

It was unbearable and impaired his sense of thinking, his eardrum felt bursting apart.

His body became drenched in cold sweat and his eyes became hollow. He wanted to retract his hands but his body refused to listen to his command.

It was as if his body was paralyzed and stopped functioning.

Shiya, noticing Lucas's discomfort, retracted her hands after which Lucas fell to the ground and darkness greeted his vision.

His mind started to linger with questions due to temporary memory loss. The shocking scene seems to have affected his mind.

'Who am I? Where am I'

"Lucas.....Lucas...Lucas....."

His eyes trembling in fear finally moved and the distorted blurry vision finally disappeared with everything returning to normal.

"Take this... It will calm you down."Shiya urged Lucas to take a greenish liquid.

Lucas with trembling hands wiped his sweat and after taking the bottle, he asked"Wh...What is that? It's horrible?"

"It's nothing compared to a real scene," Shiya said nonchalantly.

Lucas, staring at her with a questioning gaze, took a sip of the bitter-greenish liquid in the bottle.

"What you saw were the tainted spirits of the deceased. If a corpse is left out in the open, the remaining life force in them would give birth to these malevolent spirits. The dark aura hovering around is called malevolence that seeps out from a dead body if not handled correctly. It is also called resentment of the dead."Shiya explained.

Pausing a bit, she further added"Since we are at the edge of the forest where countless beings die every day, this place is filled with cursed spirits. It's way worse in the graveyard and on the battlefield. If you come across those scenes, I am sure you will probably be passed out and become traumatized for your entire life."

"There are some places where you will find beautiful good-natured spirits but with human expansion, places like this are rapidly decreasing," Shiya said with a saddened expression.

"Professor, are you still seeing the world like this?"Lucas asked respectfully.

"Yes....That's why I need your help. This candy decreased my spirit sensitivity and after eating this for a day, I was able to perceive things normally instead of such horrifying scenes."

Staring at those sincere pleading gazes, Lucas's heart stirred.

Lucas knows only a tiny bit about her. Sadly, she died by the end of this year. She was now at peak 6-Star realm. After she broke through to 7-Star, she seemed to lose her reason and committed suicide.

Lucas can supply her candy for now as he had brought an ample amount before but now since the items in the shop had changed. The calming candy is unavailable now.

"Professor I have some but it will not last long. So, I have a suggestion but for that, you have to take a mana oath "Lucas proposed.

"Why?"Shiya asked suspiciously.

"Because it's dangerous. I have a plan but for that, I need your trust. If something bad happens in the future or if I am betrayed or if this information leaks, I may be in trouble."

"Okay...What oath do you want me to take?"Shiya decided to hear out first. If it's something against her morale, she wouldn't agree to it.

"Please take an oath that you wouldn't harm me and betray me by divulging my information."

Hearing his words, Shiya blinked her eyes surprisingly.

"Is it too much?"Lucas asked.

"No, it's too little. I thought you would ask me to do something bad."Shiya muttered, averting Lucas's gaze.

The corner of Lucas's lips twitched.

'Do I look like that kind of person?'

Shiya took the mana oath after which Lucas saw mana swirling around her as if overseeing the pact between them.

'Later, I should make her sign a mana contract. Mana oath had many loopholes.'

Lucas shook his head and said"I think you should find an alchemist and ask her to research this candy and try to replicate it. As long as it works it's okay if the product efficiency is less."

"If the research is successful not only will it help you a lot but we can also sell it and earn a fortune. But for that, we need a worthy alchemist which you have to find."

"Okay, leave this work to me."Shiya nodded with a smile.

"Thank you for accepting my request. You arrived as a ray of hope in my dark world. I don't know how long I could go on if I don't find a treatment."

"So, really thanks," Shiya exclaimed in joy.

Lucas smiled seeing Professor's cute happy expression but hearing her words, he felt it sounded a bit wrong.

'Or maybe it's my illusion.'