the"Veil of Deceit?"

I stared at my status window and laid my eyes on the new skill that had appeared out of nowhere. The words shimmered with an eerie luminescence that seemed strangely tempting.

"How?"

How was it possible?

'No, I think I know.'

I thought back to the owl that had rested on my shoulder a few moments prior and let out a long breath, my breath misting in the cool air.

It was strangely cold.

"....Looks like it agreed to join me after all."

I wasn't sure why, but that seemed to be the case.

The skill was the best evidence for it.

That being said, I still didn't understand why it did what it did at the end, and how I had managed to get the skill.

'As far as I know, someone can only get an innate skill from birth, or through a bon'

"Ah."

That's when it finally clicked and my eyes opened wide.

".It can't be."

I tapped my body all over, feeling the solid muscles and bones beneath my skin, but there was no telltale sign of change.

I knew that what I was doing was meaningless, considering that I wouldn't be able to tell unless I checked using a special device, but it didn't matter.

The fact that I had gained a new innate skill was the best proof of the matter.

The tree

It had transplanted its bone in me.

'Does that even make sense?'

Trees having bones and stuff? It sounded odd.

Regardless, I was more interested in why it had done what it did.

Why?

Just why did it give me its bone?

And with the bone now transplaneted in me, what would happen to the tree?

"Ugh."

So many questions.

Questions that I could only throw to the back of my mind as I suddenly heard the collective sound of footsteps in the distance.

Eventually, turning my head, I spotted a group of people rushing our way. Wearing all sorts of different clothes, suggesting that they were from different groups, I spotted a few familiar people.

Their faces were a mix of concern and relief as they sprinted toward us.

"Hah."

I almost wanted to laugh.

".About time."

Pomf

I laid back on the ground and blankly stared at the gray sky that shrouded the surroundings.

The clouds drifted eerily, the occasional patch of white peeking through the overcast gloom.

Staring at the sky, I was reminded of the Crimson Shade. Its red color seemed to seep into my vision, making the gray clouds appear less dreary.

All of a sudden, the sky no longer looked so gloomy.

For now...

At least, I could finally relax.

***

The reports that something had happened in the Mirror Dimension made their way to Haven rather quickly.

Delilah, who was sitting in her office, was the first to know of the news, and the moment she did, she let out a pained groan. The sterile white walls of her office felt like they were closing in on her.

"..Why is it always them?"

How many incidents had there been since the start of the year? Delilah was starting to lose count at this point.

Her fingers annoyingly drummed on her polished wooden desk.

That wasn't the main problem. The main problem was that all the incidents were only related to the first years.

There were no problems with the second or third years.

In fact, everything was proceeding smoothly with them. Their progress reports were flawless, with each problem solved rather quickly by the staff.

Any attempts for them were quickly stopped by the Academy, and the situation ended on that note.

Sadly, the same couldn't be said for the first years.

..It was painfully obvious that they were being targeted.

"It has to be them."

There was only one organization that was capable of causing them trouble over and over again.

And it was because she knew who the organization was that Delilah felt helpless.

Unless she was with them 24/7 there was no stopping them.

Be it in the Academy or outside of the Academy.

"Haa."

Taking a deep breath, Delilah reached for her drawer and took out whatever she could find. Her hand brushed against the cold, metallic handle of her drawer before closing around the area where she kept her bars.

She closed her hand to grab whatever she could.

And,

".."

..Wrappers.

They were all wrappers.

Clenching her hand, her eyes turned gloomy.

But it wasn't as though she could waste time.

Closing her eyes, the world around her started to shift, and by the time she opened her eyes again, she was now standing in front of a Mirror Crack.

Several people were already waiting at the entrance, their faces anxious under the pale light filtering through the Mirror Crack.

In particular, Delilah's gaze fell over a certain man with short blonde hair and blue eyes. He was someone she knew.

'Patrick Kemile.'

Central's Chief Officer of Oversight.

"What's the situation?"

Delilah approached them with her usual impassive tone.

The air around her crackled with a tense energy.

Having already determined her presence, Patrick turned his head to stare at her. A small smile graced his lips as their eyes met.

"..We've already sent several officers inside. The situation happened rather quickly. I would say a minute or two. We lost total contact with everyone within the Mirror Dimension. We tried sending officers in, but they weren't able to enter. It's all good now."

"All good?"

Delilah tilted her head, her eyes narrowing.

Wasn't this supposed to be an emergency? How could it be good?

"Yes."

Patrick nodded, his smile fading slightly.

"The incident. It appears to have been resolved."

"Ah?"

***

"Ukh!"

Leon woke up with his head feeling like it had been struck over and over again with a hammer. The throbbing pain was so intense that he had to hold his head with both hands for several seconds, his fingers digging into his scalp.

'What in the world happened?'

When the pain finally subsided, he was able to see the sky again. It was gloomy and reminded him of where he was.

'Right, I'm in the Mirror Dimension.'

They were here on a Guild experience trip.

Or something like that. He was having a hard time thinking properly. His thoughts were a jumbled mess, like pieces of a puzzle that refused to fit together.

"Hmm!"

"Ah."

Suddenly, certain noises attracted his attention and he turned his head.

His eyes immediately widened at the sight that lay before him.

"Ah."

Over a dozen people were lying down on the cobblestone street. They too appeared to be in a similar state to his, all holding onto their heads while groaning.

"What in the"

Seeing what he was seeing, Leon was able to sober up rather quickly. Lifting himself weakly off the ground, he looked around him.

Wherever he looked, all he saw were people lying on the ground. Many of them were still unconscious, but a small number were slowly starting to wake up.

Leon felt his heart twitch at the sight, and he quickly tried to remember what had happened.

But,

"Uh?"

His mind was blank.

Despite his best attempts at trying to recall what had happened, his mind continued to remain blank.

That was when he realized.

'Gone'

His memories of the entire incident.

They were gone.

"What"

He stopped mid-speech as his eyes caught sight of a certain blood-red leaf floating before his eyes. Its vibrant hue was a sharp contrast to the dull surroundings.

Extending his hand, the leaf fell on his palm.

Staring at the leaf, he felt his entire body shudder.

He felt an innate, almost primal fear while staring at the leaf. And before he knew it, several people appeared behind him.

They were all wearing uniforms, their expressions stern as they looked around before settling theri gazes on him.

"Cadet, are you alright?"

"...."

Staring back, Leon didn't answer immediately.

He was still struggling to understand what had happened.

"Cadet...?"

"Uh, ah."

Snapping out of it, Leon looked back at them before frowning.

"Yeah... I think I am."

***

The situation passed like that. With the staff from Haven and Central assisting, everything was resolved rather quickly.

..Or more like, there was nothing to resolve in the first place.

Everyone was still alive, with just a few still struggling to wake up.

I was one of the first to wake up and was escorted back to my room.

I was still struggling to recall what had happened before the tree had taken over, but there were other thoughts that were currently taking over my mind.

Like the new skill that I learned

"Cadet, we will be leaving you here for now. If there are any problems with your health, please let us know so that we can assist you. Later, you might be questioned, please be ready for that."

The guards who escorted me back to my room gave me a brief rundown of the situation before leaving.

Clank

I now stood alone in my room. Looking around, the room looked exactly as it did in my memories, and as I traced my finger over the wooden desk, I still had trouble understanding if this was all still an illusion or not.

The grain of the wood was familiar, and so was the texture.

But so did in the illusion.

Could it be that...?

".It's not an illusion."

Suddenly, a voice reached my ears from behind me, and yet again, my eyes laid on two blood-red eyes.

They were staring at me with a strange intensity.

But that wasn't what I paid attention to.

It was the form it was in.

.It was still an owl.

"How?"

I felt my heart squeeze briefly.

Despite its appearance, I knew I knew that it was the tree.

But why?

Why was it in the form of an owl?

"My form?"

Flapping its wings, the owl rested over the wooden desk, its feathers ruffling slightly.

"This is not my real form. My main body is also not here."

"Your main body isn't?"

"Correct."

"Then?"

"I'm a corporeal manifestation of the will that I left in your body."

"Uh?"

It took a moment for me to process its words.

Corporeal manifestation? What did that even mean...?

"Will that you left in my body? Are you talking about the bone?"

"Bone? Hmm, I presume you can call it that way. Yes, bone."

The owl nodded and I found myself swallowing my saliva.

'So it was true'

The tree had truly given me the bone, and the skill that I had was a direct result of my transfusion with it.

But,

"Why? Why did you give me your bone? Will you not di"

"I will not."

The owl cut me off before I could continue.

"It will take many years, but my body can regrow it without a problem."

"That's possible?"

How come I have never heard of it before?

Actually, when I thought about it, most, if not all bones were taken from dead monsters.

There had hardly ever been a case when a monster willingly gave their bone away.

While I didn't think this was the first time it had happened, the information was probably extremely secret.

"I see the fact that I can see you is also a result of you transferring the bone directly to me?"

"That's correct. My main body is currently hidden. I will be following you for as long as I am able to reach my goal. When the time comes, I will leave. In exchange, you will be able to keep the bone. But"

The owl stopped, its gaze turning suffocating.

".If you fail to help me, I'll retrieve the bone from your body. Death will be the best thing you'll wish for."

That's when I felt it.

An undescribable pain at the top of my skull that took my breath away.

"Ukh...!"

The pain was so intense that I couldn't hold me from groaning.

Looking up, the owl stared back at me.

"Do not dissapoint me, human."