𝒩𝑶𝑣ℯ𝓵xt.𝒞𝑜𝐌

After breakfast, Kai led Eva to his room. There, on the table, stacks of paper and books could be seen occupying all the space. There were even some on the ground.

On the wall were also sticky notes filled with well… Notes.

“What is all of this?” Eva asked with a stupified expression.

“I needed some references that I couldn’t find on the web so I had to go out and get them.”

“Where did you even get these books? Hmm, ‘Introductory level for theoretical Origin’.” Picking up a book, she read the title. All of these books were only found in Divinity’s libraries, the Guild’s libraries, or in the possession of clans and families.

“Don’t bother. It took me some effort to get them. But, the important thing is that I have discovered a few things.”

Eva sat down and listened to Kai attentively as he started explaining. “The first thing I discovered is that my symptoms are directly related to Origin. The more Origin I try to use, the more the chances of the symptoms appearing increase. I think it has something with my main talent.”

“Main talent?”

“I don’t know how that works. But, it seems to be the case. Although, I’ve never used my main talent before. I guess it’s more about the Origin-pumping aspect of it, not the power itself.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on a second! You… You never used your main talent before?!” Eva asked as she shook her head, her eyes blinking profusely.

“Not in years,” Kai replied.

“…” Eva was speechless for a good minute. “So, Momentum Talent isn’t… your main talent?”

“No. I never said it was.”

Eva was beyond shocked at that moment. This whole time, she thought Kai’s main talent was the momentum one. Why wouldn’t she think so? That talent was absurdly strong, destructive enough to beat any enemy, versatile enough to be used in basically any situation, and also fit Kai’s fighting style perfectly as if it was the center of it.

Yet, turns out, she was wrong… Very wrong.

If that absurd talent wasn’t the main one… Then, what the hell was his main talent?

“I can’t disclose what my main talent is. It’s for the best interest of everyone.” Kai said in a rather complicated tone that made Eva even more confused. Still, she nodded her head in understanding. She respects Kai’s wish to keep his power hidden.

“So, what else did you discover?”

“The second thing is that depending on how much power I use, the effect of the symptoms will be more destructive. However, there was another case of those symptoms happening to me when I was not even using Origin.”

Eva looked confused for a second before she nodded her head.

“I still am not quite sure why or how it happens.”

‘Those eyes… They were familiar. But, I can’t put my hand on where I remember them.’

Those eyes appeared to Kai exactly two times. Running through his memory, Kai could determine two common themes between the two events. The first one is that in both cases, Kai was in a place that had some kind of link to pharmaceuticals. The one from a few years ago was when he was on a mission to assassinate the CEO of a company that was selling Leviathium to Divinity even though they were connected to the Guild. They also sold a good amount of their medicine, potions, and other things to Divinity. The second time was when he entered Charlamagne’s hidden lab where they researched all forms of drugs, medicines, and other related things to that.

Kai didn’t know if that was pure coincidence or not. But, since he lacked clues, he used all he could get.

‘There is also what Kaya told me a few days ago. A shadowy figure… ‘The other side sends its regards’.’ Although Kai understood that message, he still couldn’t determine who was that person.

“Kai?” Eva called for her beloved when she noticed him falling into deep thought.

“It’s nothing. Anyway, that’s all I could discover for now. I’m sure more things will get revealed with time.”

“Hopefully… I have a library in my parents’ house. I will see if I can find any useful books.”

Turning around, Kai walked to the table and picked up two items from it. A rolled map and a very old book.

“I also inspected these two things and I must say… They’re something.” Kai spoke with a curious tone.

When Kai finally had time to check the map, he was a little underwhelmed by its content. It only had a very old and even inaccurate depiction of the world. Some continents were missing while others were drawn in a different shape than their actual forms. It even made Kai think that the one who drew it was an amateur and not one of the best adventurers this world had ever seen.

However, that all changed when Kai read the book that he collected from the castle. This book which was allegedly written by the Progenitor was rather interesting. Although it was missing a huge amount of pages, Kai could understand from the bits and pieces left that the Progenitor had left countless treasures across the world, hidden somewhere.

The book didn’t specify where, how, or what these things are. But, it didn’t take Kai long to realize something.

‘The way the progenitor describes the locations in the world… It’s almost similar to this map…’

Since the book was in and out of itself a diary. The Progenitor had made sure to describe the places he went to and what he did there. When Kai compared that with the map, the similarities were uncanny.

Which meant one of two things, either these two things were fake and the one who created them was just trying to pretend to be the Progenitor and his companions. Or… The world was indeed a completely different place thousands of years ago. And by different, he means that somehow, in a mere few thousand years, the continents shifted their appearance, some continents dissapeared, while others appeared in their place.

Such drastic changes would need millions and even tens of millions of years to happen and even then, it would still be highly unlikely continents could appear and disappear just like that without anyone noticing.

Eva seemed to share the same concern and confusion.

“What are we really looking at?” She asked.

“I… really don’t know. But, if it’s true, there is something hidden behind all of this. Something that’s not normal at all.” Kai said with a frown.

***

“Claire! Claire! Are you awake?!” A woman clad in a professional suit knocked on the door of a room.

Her face was sweaty and her breathing was erratic. But, the excitement in her eyes was as visible as day.

A few seconds later, the door opened, and an extremely beautiful girl holding a cane in her hand appeared in front of the woman. The girl had mesmerizing silver hair that reached her shoulder, a beautiful white face that shone under the dim light of the corridors, and a graceful figure that would draw anyone in, never letting them out.

However, the most noticeable thing about her was the red handkerchief that covered her eyes.

“What?”

“The huge announcement went well… Overwhelmingly well. Look! ‘The legendary composer and singer Claire Redsky announces her return after a 10-year hiatus!!’. It’s on the main page of all magazines, newspapers, and all the news channels across the world!!”