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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 104: The Tower Master (2)
"In this world of threads visible only to us, which I have named the String Realm, there are rules to be followed,"
Ado Vail explained solemnly, embodying the image of the great mage Oscar had imagined.
"First, every object or being possesses a number of threads proportionate to its size and shape."
Several small stones rolled across the ground and floated into the air, dropping between the two men.
Ado Vail pointed to the smallest one and asked,
"How many threads do you see emanating from this stone?"
"One."
"Correct. And how about the one next to it?"
"Three."
Even though they were all stones, the number of threads attached varied depending on their size and shape.
Oscar nodded enthusiastically, like a diligent student.
"Larger objects have more threads attached to them."
"Exactly. Now, let me explain the second rule."
Ado Vail stood up and approached a massive boulder many times larger than a person.
"This rock has thirty-seven threads attached, but each thread serves a different purpose."
"…A purpose? Are you saying that each thread has a specific role?"
"Indeed, and that is the second rule."
As he spoke, he lightly tugged on one of the threads.
Outwardly, the boulder appeared unchanged.
"The skill and capability of a spatial mage are determined by their ability to interpret these threads. You must precisely predict what will happen when a particular thread is pulled. Try it."
Oscar carefully examined the boulder, looking for differences.
But no matter how closely he observed, it looked the same as before.
‘Wait, could it be?’
A thought struck him.
He knocked on the boulder with his fist.
Thoom! Thoom!
Although only a single thread had been tugged, the boulder sounded entirely hollow inside.
"Most importantly, identifying the core thread of an object is crucial,"
Ado Vail instructed.
"…Is there no hint? To me, all the threads look the same."
"As I said earlier, this magic relies solely on intuition."
Ado Vail's stern and unwavering gaze bore into him.
"You must reach an understanding on your own. You must train until the images you form in your mind as you pull the threads align perfectly with reality."
"That's absurd…."
Unlike traditional magic, this training method was entirely different, more akin to an art than a science.
After all, science required logical and systematic explanations for its outcomes.
‘Intuition.’
Looking into Ado's unyielding eyes, Oscar asked,
"When I first entered this place, you mentioned that you intended to pass this magic to me, saying no one else could handle it better. Was that based on intuition as well?"
"Indeed. As one practices this magic, their sense of perception becomes extraordinarily sharp. I call it the sixth sense. The moment you stepped into the Starlight Library, that sixth sense told me."
Ado Vail chuckled softly.
"It said you could master this magic at a level comparable to mine."
"…."
Normally, Oscar would have dismissed such a claim.
Ado's reasoning was based purely on "gut feeling."
However, considering the time discrepancy between this realm and the real world, Oscar calmly nodded.
"Please take care of me for the time being."
It seemed he would be staying here for quite a while.
* * *
Though Ado Vail emphasized intuition, Oscar couldn't help but doubt him.
‘…If I can discern the rules governing these threads, I might be able to formalize them. Perhaps Ado just couldn't figure it out.’
Determined to prove his hypothesis, Oscar began experimenting.
He collected ten rocks from the forest and crafted them into identical shapes.
"Now that they're uniform in size and shape… okay, as expected, they all have the same number of threads."
As his confidence swelled, Ado smiled encouragingly from the sidelines.
"Pull as many as you'd like. It will still add to your experience."
"Prepare to be amazed."
Oscar carefully tugged on the most similar-looking thread from each rock.
The results were disastrous: only two of the rocks had their cores neutralized.
Watching, Ado Vail burst into hearty laughter.
"You really are a fool. Did you think I hadn't already tried such methods?"
"Still… that means it really comes down to luck, doesn't it?"
"It's not luck, but intuition."
Saying so, Ado easily pulled one thread from each of the remaining eight rocks.
Naturally, all eight cores were neutralized.
"Hmm. It seems you'll need special training. How about it?"
"…What kind of special training?"
"You're too dependent on this."
Ado tapped his temple lightly with his finger.
"You rely too much on the information your brain provides."
"But isn't that normal? Everyone relies on their senses to judge the world."
Sight, smell, hearing, and touch—humans used these senses to perceive their surroundings.
Those with sharper senses were naturally seen as more capable.
"I was born with dull senses, so I unlocked the sixth sense faster. But your senses are as sharp as a finely honed blade. So we'll need a bolder approach."
"…I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
"You can refuse, but there's no better way to cultivate the sixth sense."
Oscar felt a strong premonition about what was coming.
Was this the famed sixth sense?
"You’re not going to tell me to live without using any senses, are you?"
"Why not? Depriving yourself of the senses you've relied on your entire life…"
Ado Vail smiled brightly.
"It will offer you an entirely new realm of experience and perception."
* * *
"…."
He wasn't exaggerating.
Ado Vail used magic to completely block Oscar's vision, smell, hearing, and touch.
To top it off, he tied a blindfold over Oscar's already-closed eyes, claiming it enhanced the training atmosphere.
‘Hmm.’
Sitting blankly on the dirt ground, Oscar slowly stood up.
He then began walking aimlessly forward, only to halt after a short distance.
‘…Wasn’t the path supposed to be in this direction?’
Despite having spent his entire life training his body and mind, just the act of blocking his senses was enough to shatter his confidence.
For him, a path was something you saw with your eyes and walked along if it existed—nothing more, nothing less.
‘Do we really need to go this far?’
Oscar’s movements shrank, his strides becoming noticeably smaller.
All his senses had been cut off, and yet, his sense of pain had been amplified several times over.
At this rate, even tripping over a small rock would undoubtedly cause immense pain.
As he hesitated in place for what felt like an eternity, a light bulb seemed to go off in his head.
‘Ah, could the answer be magic?’
The thought made sense the more he reflected on it.
Right now, all of his physical senses were shut down.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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So what medium could he rely on to receive external information?
The only answer that came to mind was magic.
‘Come to think of it, I’ve already been using abilities like Scan and basic magic detection without issue.’
The moment he started using magic to survey the surrounding terrain and began walking again—
Smack!
“Argh!”
An excruciatingly sharp pain struck his forehead, enough to make his vision (or rather, his perception) spin.
Simultaneously, the voice of Ado Vail echoed in his mind through a messaging spell.
-That’s the wrong approach. Using magic to artificially replicate and replace your senses isn’t the answer.
“What am I supposed to do, then? Live like this until I get used to it?”
-…Hmm. That doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.
“Pardon?”
-Face it head-on. Let yourself break and shatter. That fear will guide you into a new world.
With those words, Ado Vail’s voice disappeared.
* * *
A month into his sensory deprivation training, Oscar was running through the forest.
Of course, he wasn’t using magic to scan the terrain.
“...!”
A sharp alarm rang in his mind.
Immediately stopping, Oscar cautiously took a step forward.
As he did, his foot caught on a protruding tree root, sending him tumbling to the ground in agonizing pain.
“Grr…”
At first, the pain terrified him.
In a state where he couldn’t see or hear, even taking a single step was daunting.
Back then, he froze, petrified by the thought of the unbearable pain that could strike at any moment.
Even now, wandering blindly in darkness was frightening, and falling, rolling, and colliding still hurt just as much.
But now, he thought he was starting to understand what Ado Vail had meant.
‘This, too, is adaptation.’
The countless injuries, breaks, and fears he had endured hundreds, even thousands of times, were beginning to embed themselves into his body and cells.
It was a crude, brute-force method, but recently, he felt he understood what this elusive "sense" was.
‘This occasional tingling in my head.’
It was a kind of warning or signal.
From that day onward, Oscar began running through the forest daily.
At first, it took him a full day to make it out, during which he tripped over 400 times.
But with each passing day, the time it took to finish and the number of falls gradually decreased.
He changed his route every day to ensure he couldn’t memorize the path.
* * *
“.....”
Tap, tap!
As he ran through the forest, Oscar lightly twisted his torso to respond to the numerous warnings coming from all directions.
The terrain today seemed particularly rugged, as his intuition was issuing more alerts than ever.
“Huff, huff…”
He silently counted the time in his head.
The time from when he started running until he exited the forest was just three hours.
Thanks to using acceleration magic and running at full speed, it was possible.
And during that rapid dash, he hadn’t stumbled or collided even once.
“…Ah.”
Suddenly, a blinding light stung his eyes.
Oscar squinted, unused to the brightness he hadn’t seen in who knew how long.
“As expected, you have talent.”
Standing beside a large rock, Ado Vail greeted him with a gentle smile.
“Would you like to give it a try?”
“….”
Walking up to the rock, Oscar slowly closed his eyes.
He began to empty his mind of all information—the soft dirt beneath his feet, the shade cast by the large trees, and even Ado Vail watching him.
“….”
He visualized a world of threads in his mind.
Among the threads perceived through his senses, only one burned brightly.
Without hesitation, Oscar grasped it and gently pulled.
Then, he slowly opened his eyes.
The massive rock before him appeared unchanged on the surface.
Clap, clap, clap.
The sound of Ado Vail’s applause filled his ears.
Wearing a deeply satisfied expression, he looked at Oscar.
“To fully awaken your sixth sense in just five months—what an extraordinary monster you are.”
“…You attacked me with magic during my runs today, didn’t you?”
“Don’t complain. You dodged just fine. Congratulations on becoming a full-fledged spatial sorcerer. Oh, and—”
Ado Vail glanced at Oscar’s body with a smirk.
“On reaching Level 4, as well.”
Inside Oscar, four magic circuits surged with power.
It was the clearest proof that he had become a Level 4 intermediate mage.
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HELHEIM SCANS
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