They covered my surroundings, wrapping over the furniture and hanging suspended in the air.

"....."

I sat there dazed for several seconds before swallowing and lowering my head to look at my forearm.

A slender white thread extended from the underside of my forearm, looping over my arm and dividing into five finer threads that wound around my fingers before darting out into the room.

I had a hard time spotting the threads given how thin they were, but I could feel them. As though they were a part of my body, I knew exactly where each of them was.

"This..."

I hesitated to move from the spot.

While I could feel every single thread in the room, I had no idea how to control them. Only when I closed my eyes did I get a better idea.

".....So it works like this."

Swoosh--

The threads withdrew with a single thought from me.

When I opened my eyes, the threads were no longer scattered around the room.

In the end, it all depended on my mana control.

"Hm."

The thought made me frown.

There was a simple reason for this. My mana control was awful.

To prove this, I closed my eyes and channeled the mana in my body. Then, mimicking what I had done before, I felt my forearm tingle and a connection established.

A single white thread appeared in my darkened vision as I kept my eyes closed. Like a snake, I tried to direct it forward, but that proved to be a more difficult task than I expected as it continued to veer toward the left.

Drip... Drip...

Sweat trickled down the side of my face the more I focused on my task, and just as the thread inched forward a couple of meters, I had no choice but to cut my mana connection and open my eyes.

"Haaa..."

I took a deep breath.

Not only was it difficult to control, but it took a lot of mana too.

I reached my hand forward and touched the thread that coiled around my fingers.

"Hisss..."

I drew a cold breath when I felt a sharp pain on my finger as a red line crossed down my finger.

"Sharp."

I suddenly grew excited.

This was what I had been missing the entire time...

A skill that could complement my curse magic which leaned more toward the support side like Emotive Magic.

Not only was this skill great for offense, but it was also extremely important for control.

If utilized properly, then I was sure my strength would increase drastically. At the very least, I wouldn't be so helpless.

There was something else that I was curious about.

"....Let me check my status."

A familiar widow popped in front of me.

-- [Julien D. Evenus] --

Level :18 [Tier 1 Magician]

Exp : [0%-[3%]------------------100%]

My eyes immediately widened after staring at the first part.

"My level increased?"

I was no longer level 17, but level 18....?

What an unexpected development. I more or less expected it given that I felt my mana grow. But my surprise didn't end there. When I looked down, my eyes locked on the last section.

Skills :

[Innate] - Foresight

[Innate] - Etherweave

-- [Julien D. Evenus] --

"So it's called Etherweave..."

My new ability.

I opened my mouth for a moment before closing it.

.....Interesting.

***

Evelyn sat serenely in the lobby of the Rondeo Dorm, surrounded by three figures whose mere presence drew the curiosity of passersby.

They were none other than Josephine, Aoife, and Luxon.

Within the common room, they were engrossed in their studies, preparing diligently for the upcoming exams in just a month's time.

But not all were here to study.

"Did you guys hear? A person was found dead after the incident."

Josephine, being the talker that she was, started the conversation off with some gossip regarding yesterday's incident.

Only that nobody seemed interested in what she was talking about.

Fiddling with the pen in his hand, Luxon casually replied.

"Uh, yeah. I heard about it."

"....What's with the lukewarm reaction? Weren't you there yesterday? It was in the same place you guys were in."

"Ah, right."

He still didn't seem interested.

That was until Josephine took out a paper and placed it on the table.

"Look, it's this guy. Did you see him yesterday?"

"Right, I want to st--uh?"

Luxon stopped mid-sentence and his eyes widened.

"Isn't this..."

His reaction prompted the others to look, and Aoife's blank expression twitched slightly.

Clearly, she too recognized the figure in the picture.

The one who didn't show any reaction was Evelyn who blankly stared at the article in front of her. She had actually seen the article beforehand. Therefore, it didn't come as a shock to her.

However...

"The apparent cause of death is a suicide, yet traces of curse magic have been detected on the body..."

Her mind had been continuously haunted by one thought.

'.....He did it.'

Julien was the culprit.

She was sure of it.

It was a wild conclusion that ate at her mind, but thinking about it, the butler was most likely the person who had planted the 'item' in her purse.

He was the one who wanted to screw her over.

Even now, she didn't understand why she had been targeted. Was it because they had a grudge against her family?

"Evelyn."

That could be a reason. Her family was rather influential and it made sense for people to target her.

It was because of this that she had her knight accompany her most of the time in the Academy.

....But even so.

'To go as far to kill him...'

Evelyn was once again reminded of the past. A past that she wanted to forget. However, the more she tried to forget, the more it seeped into her mind.

Like a curse, it wouldn't stop haunting her.

"Evelyn."

'....It's too late for that. The Julien you remember. That we remember. He's no longer in this world.'

'Think of him as a stranger.'

She reminded herself of Leon's words.

What exactly did he mean by these words....? Was he trying to say that the current Julien was someone different? Or that he had been consumed and fully turned into the monster they had seen?

But if that was the case, why did he help her?

Why-

"Evelyn!"

"Uh? Ah."

Evelyn felt her head snap up as her name was called out. When she looked around, she noticed that all eyes were gathered on her.

Josephine neared her as she asked,

"Evelyn, are you okay? I've been calling you for the last minute."

"Ah, no I'm fine."

I'm not.

"....I was just thinking about this question."

She tapped her pen on the paper in front of her.

"Oh, ah."

Scratching the side of her face, Josephine's face twitched as she was reminded of their situation and she sat back down on her seat.

"Right... We're here to study."

Only then did she seem to recall the purpose behind their group and sighed.

"Fine~"

"...."

Evelyn stared at her for a brief moment before pursing her lips and paying attention to the question in front of her.

Though 'he' continued to haunt her mind, she had no choice but to pretend to be fine. At least, she had to pretend to be fine in front of everyone.

She thought she was doing a good job at it, but...

What she didn't notice was the sudden squint of Aoife's eyes as she looked at her.

Her yellow pupils flickered as she similarly lowered her head to focus on her paper.

Scribble~

In the newfound silence, the collective sound of their pens scratching their papers echoed throughout.

***

A week later.

It was now the Monday of the next week. The week passed without any hiccups. Attending lectures, training, and even more training.

Such had been my life for the past week.

I was content with such a life. Sort of. My progress had started to stagnate, and I was once again reminded of my lack of talent in the magic field.

"This will be the second time that you will all explore the Mirror Dimension. For the past two weeks, we've been preparing you for your current trip. Unlike last time, we will allow you freedom of travel."

We stood by a familiar crack.

There was a certain tension that hung in the air as all the cadets waited patiently for the Professor to speak.

I could feel the nervousness of some of the cadets beside me as they chewed on their nails.

I couldn't blame them.

We were currently headed into the deeper territory of the Mirror Dimension.

Contrary to them, rather than being nervous, I was somewhat excited. I wanted to see the result of my training.

To what extent had I improved over the past week?

"Of course, when I say freedom of travel, there will still be a limit to how far you can go. The Black Region is your limit. Going further into other regions is prohibited. We will not be responsible for your safety if you wander deep into those regions."

The Mirror Dimension was classified into several regions which ranged from, black, yellow, orange, and red.

The Black Region stood as the safest domain, firmly under the Empire's control, boasting numerous supply stations strategically dispersed across its territory.

The Yellow Region lay southward from the Black Region, inhabited by numerous Terror-ranked monsters.

Following the Yellow Region was the Orange Region, and lastly, the Red Region, an infamous no man's land.

"You will be free to go in groups, or you may go alone. We suggest you go in groups, but if you don't want to, it's not a requirement. However, with that said, this isn't going to be a simple walk in the park. There are things that you must achieve during your excursion."

Ah, there it was.

The expected catch.

"Points will be assigned for each monster that is killed. Infant-ranked will count ten points. Junior-ranked will count a hundred, but... I don't see how any of you are capable of defeating such a monster at your current level. Perhaps if you work together, but..."

The Professor shrugged and ended things there. The meaning behind his words was clear.

"Now then..."

He called his hands and turned to face the crack.

"Let's head in. I expect great things from you all."

I was just about to follow when I felt a hand press against my shoulder. When I turned around, I was surprised to see two gray eyes staring at me.

"You...."

His brows furrowed into a tight frown, his expression betraying his hesitation. But in the end, he managed to get his words out.

And when he did, my brows jumped in surprise.

"....Do you want to pair with me?"

Uh?