"What is this?"

The moment Leon found the root, he felt a weird sensation. He wasn't sure how to explain it, but his body started to tremble for a brief moment.

'What'

Holding onto his trembling arm, he took a step back.

"Cadet?"

His actions may have startled those around him as the delegate from the Guild called for him.

"Is there something wrong?"

Leon flinched, and he looked back.

The delegate was staring at him with a confused expression.

"Is everything okay? And why are you here?"

"Ah, it's"

Just as Leon turned his head to point at the root, his heart dropped.

That was because,

'Where is it?'

The root.

..It was gone.

His body started to tingle all over. The back of his hair stood on end, and his breathing stopped.

His instincts screamed.

"Cadet?"

Coming out of it, the delegate was now standing in front of him.

He looked annoyed.

"Are you perhaps getting bored of my explanations?"

"No, I"

"You sure do look bored."

".."

Leon held his words back.

"I'm sorry."

In the end, the situation calmed down after he got a warning from the Guild delegate. From that point on, the delegate kept an eye on him, but Leon didn't act rashly from that point and listened to all the explanations carefully.

From time to time, however, he would fall back into his own thoughts, thinking about the root.

'..Was I just imagining things?'

There was something unsettling about it that he couldn't quite explain.

It made his heart quicken slightly.

But at the same time, it also appeared to have been a hallucination.

Clinging to the necklace on his neck, Leon clenched his teeth.

'Am I still being consumed by fear?'

Every time he felt like he was able to rid himself of its influence, it would come back stronger than before.

Now being the perfect example.

"Haa."

Taking a deep breath, Leon forced himself to calm down.

'I need to calm down.'

There was something clearly wrong with him.

..Unlike before, it felt sinister.

The only clue he had was the root.

While he wasn't sure whether it had been a hallucination or not, it was the only clue he could go on with.

It was black, with tiny red threads within the bark.

The image was imprinted in his mind, and the moment the delegate finished his orientation, Leon slipped out and headed for the library.

While going alone wasn't allowed, Leon couldn't care for such rules.

"Haa Haa.."

With each step he took, he felt his breath grow heavier and heavier.

When he did reach the library, the back of his shirt was soaked in sweat. Reaching out for the door, another hand met his and he stopped to look at the hand's owner.

"Ah."

A pair of hazel eyes met his gaze then, and Leon swallowed.

Staring at him, who looked as indifferent as he always did, Leon licked his parched lips before speaking.

"By any chance"

Please.

".....Did you use your spell on me again?"

Tell me yes.

***

Listening to Leon's question, I frowned.

Use my spell on him again?

Why would he

I stopped and took a closer look at him.

Pale face, sweat from the side of his face, dilated pupils, and though he tried to hide it, his breath appeared heavy.

My brows raised at the sight.

"No, I didn't."

"Ah, I see."

He looked disappointed by my answer and reached to enter the door, but I stopped him.

"What?"

".By any chance."

I squinted my eyes.

"Did you notice anything abnormal?"

"...What do you mean?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost. Be honest with me."

".....Yes."

Leon nodded after a few seconds of contemplation.

I stared into his eyes before opening the doors and entering the library.

"Let's go inside for now."

"Okay."

The library was silent. It was how they typically were, but coupled with the flickering of the lights that dimly lit the surroundings, it cast a rather gloomy aura around it.

There was also hardly anyone in the library.

Besides Leon and I, there were only a few other people.

Finding my seat on one of the tables, I looked at the candle station on our table. It was on its last leg with most of the wax already consumed.

Looking around, the same was true for the candles on the other tables.

I shrugged and focused my attention back on Leon.

"You start first. What did you notice?"

"..A root."

Leon talked, forcing himself to calm his breath.

"It was dark, with fine miniature red threads embedded within it. I'm not sure, but the moment I saw it, I felt a strange sensation all over my body."

".."

"I only managed to catch a glimpse of it for a short moment before it disappeared. It was almost as if it had never been there in the first place. That's why I was wondering if you had cast your spell on me again."

".."

"But since you said that you didn't do anything, I guess I'm just going crazy."

Listening to Leon's words, I eventually closed my eyes. He looked shaken. That was the first time I had ever seen him like this.

Not that I could blame him.

"You're not crazy."

Opening my eyes, I looked straight into his eyes.

"I also saw something similar."

".!"

"Tree of Ebonthorn."

I muttered the only clue that I had.

".Do you know anything about it?"

"Tree of Ebonthorn?"

Leon frowned feeling into thought before shaking his head.

"No, I don't."

"I believe that's the source of the root."

The quest at least hinted at it.

"Is this why you are also in the library?"

"Yes."

I nodded and looked around.

"Since it looks like we're looking for the same thing, why don't we look for clues together?"

"....Okay."

Leon similarly looked around.

The library was vast. There were over a thousand different books. It was going to take a long time for us to get the information that we wanted.

But at least we had a clue.

And we weren't working alone. Two brains were better than one.

"Tree of Ebonthorn"

Leon muttered to himself before standing up.

"It should be in the botanical section."

".Most likely."

"Should we look there?"

"You do that."

"What about you?"

"Me?"

I turned my head to look in a different direction.

[Monster classification]

"I'll check that area out."

"..Monster classification?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It might also be a monster. You never know."

"That's true. Okay, let's do that."

As such, we came to an agreement. I searched the monster classification area while he searched the botanical area.

Just as he left, I was also about to stand when I realized I couldn't.

"Hm?"

I felt a weird sensation creeping up on my legs.

It kept me rooted on the spot.

"What th"

The words stopped at my throat the moment that I looked down.

Tangling my ankles from beneath the ground were two black roots. Just as Leon had described them, red lines appeared beneath the bark, almost as if they were pulsing, and my body suddenly grew weak.

Opening my mouth, no words escaped from it.

My entire body felt paralyzed, and the utter sense of helplessness that I had felt in the vision enshrouded my body.

"Uah!"

I screamed.

Before I knew it, I was standing.

Looking around, everyone was staring at me.

Seeing their gazes, I felt the hair at the back of my neck stand. For some reason, they felt a little off, but in the next moment, that feeling disappeared.

Looking down, the roots were gone, and a tall lady with circular glasses appeared before me.

"Sir."

Her stern voice rained down on me.

"..This is a library. Please do not scream."

"Ah."

Realizing what had happened, I lowered my head.

"I apologize."

"This is your last warning."

Tak, Tak

Her heels clicked against the wooden floor as she left the area. Silence yet again returned, and I weakly sat down on the chair.

"Haaa Haaa"

Yet again, my breath was heavy.

Holding onto my head, I leaned forward.

'I'm losing it.'

Ever since the vision, I felt like I was starting to lose it.

My sanity.

Just what in the world was going on?

"Hey."

Hearing the familiar voice, I looked up. It was Leon. He was looking at me with a frown.

"Are you alright?"

"..I'm not."

I answered truthfully.

"The roots."

Leon's eyes widened.

".I just saw them."

***

The next day.

It was early in the morning.

"Huam."

Coming down to the training area of the Guild, I yawned. It had been quite late since I returned back to my apartment.

Leon and I spent countless hours looking through the books at the library in order to look for any clues, but regardless of how hard we tried, we couldn't find a thing.

In the end, we could only go back to our designated rooms.

We had decided to do the same thing today after training was over today.

"Welcome, cadets."

Waiting for us at the training area, an expansive indoor white room with hardly any decorations, was a man with long blond hair and blue eyes. His features were striking, with a well chiseled jawline, and a smile that could turn the heads of anyone that looked at it.

Holding onto a white and golden shield, alongside a sword, he stared at us with a kind smile.

"My name is Ryan, and I will prepare you for the upcoming expedition."

Even his voice was pleasing to the ears.

"Yesterday you were given a brief rundown of the Guild's infrastructure and how we operate. Today, things will be different."

He looked at all of us.

"..Today, we will be getting you ready to withstand the environment of the Mirror Dimension."

Placing down his shield, he went on to move toward a corner of the room.

"You may have not noticed it yet since you haven't been to the deeper areas of the Mirror Dimension, but the environment can be quite harsh. From the intense radiation found in some areas, the scorching heat of the sun, the poisonous miasma's located in other areas, to the freezing temperatures of some other areas."

Extending his hand and placing it against the side of the wall, he smiled.

"What better way to get used to the environments than experiencing them for yourself?"

The area around his palm lit up as intricate purple circuits spread throughout the room. All of a sudden, the scenery around us started to change, alongside the white room.

By the time it took for me to blink, I was no longer in the white room.

No, I was standing in the middle of a scorched plain, with jugged mountain areas around. Most glaring, however, was the white ball that hung in the colorless sky.

I suddenly felt my body grow sluggish.

"Your first test."

In the background, the instructor's voice echoed.

"..Survive the heat."