Sometimes, all it took was one mutual interest for people to hit it up with each other suddenly.

"....The fuck am I witnessing?"

"This..."

"I'm not seeing things wrong, am I?"

"...."

It was the next day. The expedition group had resumed their walk towards the necromancer. However, compared to the previous day, things appeared to be different.

"Hahahah! You're good!"

".....Thank you."

It was Julien and Professor Hollowe.

Walking ahead of everyone, the two had been inseparable since last night. But that wasn't the most shocking thing.

'He can laugh like that...?'

Seeing the subtle smile on Julien's face as he talked to the Professor, and recalling how he had laughed the previous night, Aoife had a hard time making heads of tails of the situation.

It was as if she was seeing a completely different person.

"...."

Turning her head, Aoife's gaze fell on Evelyn.

She appeared to be the most shocked by the scene that was unfolding before their eyes.

"How...?"

And Aoife once again recalled the words she had told her not so long ago.

'He's changed.'

Julien certainly did seem like a different person than he usually appeared. It could just be that he found himself comfortable with the new Professor.

Perhaps she was overthinking. And she probably was.

But...

'Why do I feel like something isn't right?'

Turning her head, her eyes paused on another figure. With long platinum hair and red eyes, her gaze was locked on Julien.

It was hard to read her thoughts.

However, the sight of her made Aoife frown.

'Right, I did hear rumors about the two of them spending time together. Could she know something...?'

At first, Aoife thought that way, but the more she looked at it, the more unlikely this seemed.

Just as she had taken another step forward, she hastily covered her mouth.

"Achoo!"

Aoife sneezed.

Covering herself up, she pursed her lips.

Looking up at the sky, she frowned.

"Is it just me, or is it getting colder?"

***

It was almost as if I had met a long-time friend. No, rather, I had never had a proper friend. Be it in this life, or my past life.

It was hard to tell.

However, for some reason, I felt extremely comfortable when talking to the Professor.

....It was weird.

"I heard you were one of the cadets involved in the incident that happened in the forest?"

That was until a certain event was brought up and my heart twitched. I didn't show it on the outside and merely looked at the Professor who was looking towards the distance with a serene look.

We weren't far off from the destination.

I could feel it.

"....Are you perhaps referring to the incident with Professor Bucklam?"

"Yes."

Professor Hollowe turned his head and our gazes met.

"It was an unfortunate event. I was quite close with Robert."

"You were...?"

What bullshit.

I had seen his memories. There was no such figure in his life.

With that being said, I pretended to understand.

He went on to elaborate.

"....Well, you can say we knew each other? Acquaintances?"

"Oh."

I still didn't believe it.

Rather, I raised my guard up without showing it outwardly.

"How was he?"

I asked, pretending to be interested in the conversation.

"He didn't speak much. Always played checkers by himself at the Academy campus and all. He was a peculiar fellow if those are the right words to describe him."

"That does sound like him."

It was no secret that the Professor spent most of his lunchtime playing checkers by himself.

That much, everyone knew.

"Hehe, yeah. He was quite known for it, wasn't he?"

".....Yeah."

Just as I thought he was going to continue the conversation, I was surprised to see him leave it there. It made me question whether I was being overly cautious or not.

In the end, I still kept my guard up.

That was until...

"Achoo!"

I heard a sneeze.

Turning around, I noticed a few cadets, Aoife included covering themselves up.

"It's getting quite cold."

".....Y-yeah. I c-can barely feel my lips."

I frowned at the sight. Cold? While it certainly was cold, it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone was making it out to be.

Something wasn't quite...

"We're almost there."

Professor Hollowe's words brought me out of my thoughts. Just as he said those words, I felt a weird energy pulse spread throughout the area.

"W-what the...!"

It made my chest heavy, and my breathing became rougher. But outside of that, I was able to suppress the discomfort.

"Cough! Cough!"

"Ahk...!"

To my shock, the same couldn't be said for the others whose faces paled.

"I-I can't breathe!"

"Huu...! Huu...!"

'What's going on?'

I looked around in confusion. Not only did the others seem to be dying, but there were several who dropped on the floor on one knee. Kiera and Evelyn in particular.

Leon seemed to be faring better.

"....This is troublesome."

Professor Hollowe's voice echoed from beside me. Raising his hand, a transparent dome covered the area around us.

Almost instantly, everyone felt a sense of relief as everyone slumped to the ground.

"Haaa... Haaa..."

"W-what the hell was that?"

"Huagh...!"

I was curious too. Unlike them, I didn't feel that much. Lowering my head to stare at my hands, I raised it back up to stare at Professor Hollowe. I was just about to ask him for an explanation when he beat me to it.

"We're currently in an elemental heavy region."

Tracing his finger in the air, the Professor went on to say,

"....The curse element appears to be the most predominant here. For those who specialize in elemental magic, you'll find yourself struggling to breathe. It's normal. You just need to adjust your body to the high density of curse mana in the air. You may also find that the affinity with your own element will decrease. This is a side effect of such an environment."

His explanation wasn't long, but I was able to understand it.

Elemental heavy region...? This was a new term for me.

Closing my eyes, I felt the mana in the air.

"Ah."

As expected. It was just as he said. It was thick in the [Curse] element. That said, curse element? It didn't quite sound right. But I was no game developer.

"For those that do specialize in curse magic..."

Professor Hollowe turned to look at me.

"You'll find that it's become much easier for you to circulate your mana. Not only that, but it's also faster and easier for you to create spells."

It was as he said.

With just a thought, I knew I could summon [Chains of Alakantria] and [Hands of Malady] with little to no delay.

I could also probably channel them for a longer period of time and much more efficiently. The best part of it all was that it didn't hurt.

I could hardly feel my injuries.

"This..."

It was great.

How long had it been since I had felt like this?

"All that aside,"

The Professor's expression turned grim.

He stared into the distance with a frown.

"....It looks like the situation is a lot more dangerous than I previously anticipated. I can feel that we're very close to the source."

And we were.

Although such a scene never occurred in my memories, I could more or less tell from the landscape that we were near.

How many times had I been here in my memories?

"We'll take a moment to wait for you guys to adjust yourselves to the environment."

The decision was as such.

I had no complaints.

Rather, I sat down on the ground and guided the mana inside of my body.

There was something that I wanted to test.

'Since the curse element here is thick, what happens if I practice my spells...? Will it boost my progress?'

I put that to the test.

"Ah..."

Lvl. 1 [Hands of Malady] EXP + 0.1%

Lvl. 1 [Hands of Malady] EXP + 0.05%

Lvl. 1[Chains of Alakantria] EXP + 0.1%

Lvl. 1[Chains of Alakantria] EXP + 0.05%

Notifications flashed before my very eyes.

Both spells started to increase in proficiency at visible speeds.

I started to grow excited.

What would happen once the spells reached the next level?

Would they evolve...?

If so, what would become of them?

"....."

I sat there in silence and basked in the environment.

The visible improvement felt exhilarating. But even then, I knew that I couldn't enjoy such a sensation forever.

"Seems like everyone is ready. Let's head deeper."

Rubbing my face, I stood up from the spot.

'What a pity.'

If possible, I would've preferred to stay a little longer.

'Maybe I'll find a way of doing so later.'

For now, there was something else that I wanted to figure out.

"I will try my best to guarantee your safety. However, there may be circumstances where I may be unable to assist you. Since that's the case, I hope you all get yourselves ready and react for the worst-case scenario."

Everyone heeded the professor's words, channeling their mana and drawing their weapons out.

Only then did we proceed forward.

Unlike before, our steps were slower and we were more careful.

We were following the right direction, I could tell.

In the mountainous area, we followed the only path forward, winding its way through the rugged terrain as jagged rock formations towered on either side.

"....."

A strange silence took hold of the group as we marched forward.

Everyone could tell we were just a few meters away from the source of all trouble. It was for that reason that everyone remained quiet.

And then...

"Ah."

A familiar purple-shaped dome appeared in the distance.

It was large.

Far bigger than what it was in the memories.

"What is that.?!"

"Ukeh!!"

"I-I can't breathe."

And the same was true for the sense of oppression that lingered in the air. It was a stark contrast to the one in the vision.

So much so that the Professor was forced to take a step back, raising his left hand to shield us.

"....Stay back."

But it was too late.

In the distance, within the sphere, over a thousand familiar figures entered our vision, their heads robotically turning to face our direction. Each one seemed to be fixated on our presence, their gazes piercing through the space between us with an unsettling intensity.

"Uh?"

"H-how are they here? Weren't they..."

But if that wasn't bad enough.

A cloaked figure, shrouded in darkness, stood in the middle. The moment its gaze fell on us, it felt as though my entire body had frozen in place as if caught in the grip of an icy hand.

The same was true for the others who stopped dead in their tracks.

"Ah, this"

Professor Hollowe's bitter voice echoed from beside us.

"..Who exactly did the scouting?"