Early the next morning, Yuna arrived.
Following Kanzaki Rei's instructions, she was now free to enter and leave his residence whenever she wished.
"Rei, you have so many books."
Yesterday, she had stayed with him in the basement the entire time and never actually toured the enormous mansion.But today, as she walked around the house with him, she discovered row after row of bookshelves—each one packed with books.
"Of course," Rei replied."I love studying."
Then he casually added,
"By the way, Yuna."
"After awakening as an Erudite Scholar, you should have gained a Talent, right?"
Rei asked as if the thought had simply occurred to him.
"When I awakened my own Talent, I was incredibly excited."
His plan was to guide the conversation indirectly first, then gradually probe her Talent from the side.
"So… what Talent did you awaken, Rei?" Yuna asked, tilting her head.
A faint twitch appeared at the corner of Rei's eye.
Although Yuna looked perfectly innocent, Rei sensed a playful ripple in her mental state.
She definitely hadn't asked that question casually.
She had thought about it beforehand.
"My Talent is Proficiency Mastery."
"It allows me to learn spells very quickly."
Rei considered for a moment before answering.
This was the ability he had already exposed the most.
"Oh~"
Yuna drew the word out slowly.
Rei sighed inwardly.
Trying to hide things from someone with the knowledge base of an Erudite Scholar was probably impossible.
But guessing and hearing it directly were two completely different matters.
It was similar to how Rei had seen Iz perform absurd magical feats yet still couldn't determine exactly what Talent Iz possessed.
When someone had too many outrageous abilities, identifying their underlying Talent actually became harder.
From Rei's own perspective, he knew he possessed ten God-Tier Talents.
But from an outsider's perspective, it probably looked like this:
What the hell is going on with that mage who can simultaneously cast hundreds of transcendent-tier spells, whose physical body is ridiculously strong, whose Root Supreme Combat Art can directly rip souls out of enemies, and who can sacrifice countless Supreme Souls?
A class user with such absurdly complicated mechanics…
Let people guess the Talent all they wanted.
"Rei," Yuna said, clasping her hands behind her back while lightly rocking on her toes.
"Even though you don't intend to tell me your real Talent…"
"I can still tell you mine."
"My Talent is Supreme Resonance."
"I can share my professional specializations, insights, and knowledge with others."
Yuna…
Rei sighed internally.
When you say it like that, it makes me feel a little guilty.
"Rei, yesterday you told me your secret," Yuna continued.
"So now it's your turn to keep mine."
Rei's expression turned serious.
"Of course. I will."
Today Yuna had brought many books with her.
She had also become interested in Fate Studies.
Rei and Yuna opened the same book at the same time.
As the information from the pages flowed into Rei's mind, he felt something more than just the book's contents entering his thoughts.
Fragments of Yuna's own reflections and insights flickered through his mind like scattered sparks.
"Here."
Rei pointed at a particular line.
"Why interpret it that way?"
Yuna replied,
"Because in Crossroads of Choice, it mentions that if fate is inevitable…"
…
Many things that had previously puzzled Rei suddenly became clear.
The Erudite Scholar class brought knowledge from many different disciplines.
From that day onward—
Yuna came to visit Rei every day.
Sometimes she stayed for a long time.Sometimes only briefly.
Every day, Rei still had to spend part of his time teaching magic classes at Loinz Magic Academy.
But during those hours, Rei felt restless.
He didn't want to teach.
He wanted to continue studying deeper knowledge.
The moment class ended—
Rei would instantly activate Flash Step and rush back to his mansion.
Back to the basement.
Back to researching strange and fascinating subjects with Yuna.
"So this is… a ritual that gathers monster tides?"
Rei nodded.
"Yes. And this is another secret that absolutely cannot be revealed to anyone else."
Yuna nodded carefully.
"Rei, what do you think about this ritual?"
"Recently I've been following your suggestion and studying Ritualism, though I haven't gone very deep yet."
"But I do have some ideas."
"Rei, what if you modified the ritual like this?"
"Change the corner node of the array? And this symbol is…?"
Yuna replied,
"It's a stacked symbol. If we adjust it this way, the monster tide drawn in should become even more concentrated."
"Want to try it?"
Rei thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"Not for now. It's a little dangerous."
"Let's research something else."
"Yuna, don't try experimenting with it yourself either."
Yuna swung her legs lightly and nodded.
"Mm! I know it's dangerous. I wouldn't mess with it casually."
Talking with a smart child was easy.
As for the truly dangerous things, Rei had no intention of letting Yuna get involved with them.
"Oh right," Rei said.
"I caught this in a dungeon."
He took out a Soul Lamp.
A furious voice immediately erupted from inside.
"You little brat!"
"Let me out!"
"You promised you'd die after asking your questions! When are you going to keep your word?!"
Yuna's eyes lit up the moment she saw the lamp.
"What's that?"
"A monster's… soul."
"I imprisoned the soul of a Tier-6 Land-Sinking monster inside it. It's an extremely rare type of monster that possesses intelligence."
Seeing the Soul Lamp, Yuna instantly rushed over to Rei.
"Another Tier-6 Land-Sinking monster!"
"Try guessing what kind of monster it is."
"I think…"
She stared closely at the soul inside the lamp.
"Guess your mother! You damn brat!"
"Let me out!"
"I'll drain both of your souls dry! I'll avenge Lord True Soul of Ten Thousand Forms!"
Yuna looked fascinated.
This monster… could actually swear.
"I guess it's a humanoid monster… ugly, old, and capable of manipulating souls to attack?"
"That's pretty close."
Rei didn't actually know its exact combat methods.
After all, he had killed it instantly the moment they encountered each other.
But her guess was surprisingly accurate.
"How did you know?"
"Hehe~ Just guessing."
During these past few days together, the cold impression Yuna had given when they first met had gradually faded.
In its place was the feeling of a kindred spirit—someone who shared the same curiosity about the mysteries of the world.
Perhaps Yuna felt the same way.
Having a friend who could marvel together at the strangeness of the world…
Was truly wonderful.
November 30
The final day of the Month of Storage and Cold.
The snowfall had been gradually weakening.
But on the final day of the month, the snow suddenly became extraordinarily heavy.
Looking out—
Everything was nothing but a vast sea of white.
Nothing could be seen clearly.
In a storm like this, if someone stretched their hand forward, they probably wouldn't even be able to see their own fingers.
"What heavy snow."
Rei stood by the window, quietly watching the falling snow.
"Kaede, does Knorloya usually get snow this heavy around this time of year?"
The maid bowed respectfully.
"Young Master, the snow on the final day of November is usually heavier than usual."
"But this year's snowfall… is indeed somewhat abnormal."
Abnormal.
Rei hated that word.
Abnormal meant something unexpected was happening.
Hopefully nothing had happened to Iz and the others who had gone to the Abyssal Fall Valley.
The title "Young Master" was something Rei had asked the servants to switch to.
"Lord Rei" sounded too awkward.
After thinking about it, "Young Master" sounded much more natural.
As for whether there was a "master of the house" above him—
That didn't really matter.
Rei sat beside the fireplace.
With snow this heavy and signs of potential trouble, he had no intention of leaving the house today.
He might as well finish reading "Apocalypse of Fate."
Once he deciphered the hidden mysteries within the book, his Cipher Scholar would meet the conditions to advance to Level 3.
Rei focused his mind on the text.
"Young Master."
"Miss Yuna has arrived…"
The sudden report pulled Rei out of his concentration.
His perception instantly spread outward.
When he sensed Yuna, he relaxed slightly.
She was safe.
The maids had already escorted her to the reception hall, where she sat on the sofa warming herself with hot tea.
Whoosh!
Rei transformed into a streak of light and appeared in the hall.
"Yuna."
She looked up, her small face slightly flushed from the cold.
"The snow is so heavy today. You didn't have to come."
Yuna tilted her head.
"Rei, do you not want me to come?"
Rei shook his head.
"No, that's not what I meant."
"I'm just saying the snow is dangerous. You don't have the ability to protect yourself yet…"
"I had someone escort me," Yuna replied.
"And my clothes are enchanted with heat-generation and cold-resistance enchantments."
"Yesterday we agreed we'd finish reading Apocalypse of Fate together today."
Rei smiled helplessly.
"Well… actually I just finished it."
Yuna's hands froze around the teacup.
Her eyes stared straight at him.
Although she didn't show any obvious resentment, Rei could clearly read it in her gaze.
I braved a snowstorm to come see you… and you didn't even wait for me…
"But there are still some parts I don't fully understand," Rei quickly added.
"Since you're here, I wanted to discuss them with you."
Only then did Yuna lower her gaze and look down at the steaming tea.
"Alright."
There was no real need to worry about Yuna's safety.
Her parents were high-ranking members of the White Tower.
They would never allow anything to happen to their child.
Although Yuna had no combat ability, she was intelligent enough not to run into trouble inside the city.
November 30
On this day, Rei finished deciphering "Apocalypse of Fate."
He unlocked the hidden Guiding Ritual contained within the book.
The ritual's function seemed… somewhat underwhelming.
All one had to do was draw the ritual array and place the appropriate offerings.
Then—
Whoosh!
A gigantic pillar of light would shoot into the sky.
It shone extremely brightly and could supposedly be seen from very far away.
This beam of light was called the Guiding Beacon.
Based on Rei's interpretation, it seemed similar to some kind of signal.
Something like—
I'm here. Come rescue me.
Or perhaps a signal used to initiate military operations.
Either way, this ritual was perfect for sending such a message.
Many of the secrets Rei had discovered within books were ancient rituals or hidden knowledge.
Rei had also searched for these rituals within the White Tower.
After several days of research, he had come to fully understand the White Tower's functions:
Research
Learning
Knowledge exchange
Information retrieval
With the proper permissions, one could search for almost any record or document.
Even vague fragments of memory could be used to locate the corresponding text.
The White Tower contained far more than just books.
It also housed:
Ancient scrolls
Artifacts
Fossils
Even fragments of ancient stone walls
Yet after searching extensively—
Rei discovered that most of the rituals he decoded from hidden texts were not recorded anywhere in the White Tower.
Which meant…
He might be the only person in the world who knew them.
Even Yuna found this astonishing.
How did Rei constantly discover so many strange new things?
Things even the White Tower had never recorded.
If these discoveries were submitted to the White Tower, they would easily become excellent research papers.
The Guiding Ritual alone had taken far more effort to decipher than expected.
Even with Rei's current decryption abilities, it took him an entire afternoon and night to complete.
And Yuna—
Spent the entire afternoon and night watching him decode it with great fascination.
November 30 — Night
Snow raged violently outside.
All the eye could see was endless white.
Sending Yuna home in this storm would have been too harsh.
Since she had already stayed this long, a little longer wouldn't matter.
Rei and Yuna stood by the window, watching the howling blizzard.
Dong—
The mansion clock struck midnight.
In that instant—
The raging snow outside vanished completely.
BOOM.
It felt as though reality itself had been forcefully torn open like a page.
The entire world changed color.
The once pale sky became a murky mixture of black and white, like filthy milk poured into dark ink.
The heavens themselves seemed polluted and oppressive.
December 1 — The Month of Death and Destruction
Ruling Moon Star: WhiteCelestial Phenomenon: Ruin
The moment the new month arrived—
Rei felt an overwhelming spiritual heaviness.
From that very second onward, it felt as though the shadow of death hovered above him constantly.
No matter what he did, the risk of death had increased drastically.
At the same time—
Rei sensed something else.
All life itself had become more fragile.
Easier to kill.
During this month, the destructive power of all his magic and combat techniques would be greatly amplified.
In this month—
It wasn't only Rei who was easier to kill.
It was everything.