Chapter 10 | Hallucinations We Got Along The Way

Purple smoke rose from deep inside the gemstone. It shone, roiled. It wasn’t like a smoke generator, not that strong. But still, Theo could feel how volatile it was. He could feel its strength behind the mana veil that covered his hand, as if he had worn a glove and submerged his hand in water.

What is this? Something like a mana stone? Theo guessed. Nevertheless, he wrapped his other hand with mana, too. Then he left a very small opening on the tip of his finger and carefully brought it down on the gemstone.

And as soon as he made contact, his mind went blank. His focus completely dissipated, and he was unable to perceive the world around him. His surroundings phased out, shifted. He was somewhere else, in the sky. Far outside in the depths of space.

Unable to formulate a thought, Theo instinctively tried to understand where he was.

To his left was a brilliant light far, far away. It looked small, but he felt it. He felt its scorching light on his skin and its gargantuan gravity pulling on his body even from that distance. It was a ball-shaped cosmic furnace, unleashing energy in every direction. To his left was a planet like a green dot in the distance. A miserable marble in the cold cosmos. There were some blue spots here and there on its surface, but it was hard to make them out. Especially when the distance was so large.

This is an illusion… Theo repeated to himself. He was obviously not in space. He wasn’t floating in near absolute cold, zero pressure, and probably several bazillion lethal doses of radiation without experiencing much discomfort.

Once he was done observing his surroundings, Theo noticed an anomaly near the center of the star system he was in. It had to be a massive shift to be visible from where he was.

Is tha—A black hole? It’s eating the star?

Indeed, the light from that distant furnace was warping and trickling out like it was being drained down a sink.

However, Theo had another slightly concerning realization.

Whatever was ripping apart the star was coming towards him. The location the star was being siphoned into was moving toward him at unimaginable speeds. Probably going faster than light. Which didn’t make any real sense in Theo’s understanding.

He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t move, but at least his mind had regained clarity.

An indecipherable voice echoed throughout the cosmos. Theo shook with it. Even as an illusion, it was enough to make his mind reel in fear.

I can’t understand what’s being spoken, but still…

How could someone make their voice echo in space? And Theo knew, from how the nearby planet shook in tandem with it, that this wasn’t a mental transmission. It had actually reverberated across the entire star system.

In the distance, the star’s light disappeared. Theo felt an unimaginable cold assault his mind. His organs lurched inside his body as the feeling of gravity was lost. Whatever planets were in orbit would be shuttled into the depths of the interstellar void. He could see it; the planet behind him was getting smaller and smaller in the distance.

Another voice responded. It was a familiar voice, but he couldn’t quite make it out. There seemed to be some sort of shrouding effect around it. It took Theo quite an effort to realize that it was coming from his own mouth.

Back and forth, two voices echoed on. By now, Theo could see a ball of black fire hurtling in his direction. Light bent around its gargantuan momentum, caught in its gravity. Theo’s body finally moved. However, he himself wasn’t the one to move it. The body did it by itself.

Colors faded around Theo. Mana started expanding in every direction. No. It wasn’t mana. It was something else entirely. Mana was a personal energy. He could feel his own signature in his own mana very clearly. Its color, density, even the way it moved about could be traced back to the owner.

This energy was different. It was too heavy-handed, too solid to be that way. It was reality itself. It had its own laws. In fact, it seemed much closer to Flux. It was less altered, if that made sense.

The mana-like energy had expanded beyond his understanding already. Theo couldn’t gauge the strength behind it. He didn’t know if it was stronger than Leila’s. But considering that he could properly gauge Leila’s mana, this person in the illusion was probably stronger.

The energy was unable to withstand the strength of a star. The last thing Theo saw before the illusion ended was a pitch-black spear penetrating his chest.

Then, he was kicked out. He found himself buckled over on the ground of the safehouse. Taking a quick look at the time, he realized that only a couple of minutes had passed. He sighed and checked his surroundings for the gemstone.

It was gone.

Where is it? Theo got up, patted every pocket he had, and checked under his feet, around the inscriptions, and on the floor.

However, he found the gemstone somewhere else entirely.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

It was in his mind palace, floating in the middle of his little cube room silently, bobbing up and down with gentle movements.

I absorbed it? How? Why?

The gemstone was now stable, unlike before. Nowhere was the purple mist that rose from its depths. Instead, it was changing in color ever so slowly. It was becoming gray, fading in with its surroundings.

However, Theo did feel it tugging on his mana pool slowly. The gemstone wasn’t changing on its own. It was using his mana. There was a huge question left, though. What the hell was this thing? Confused, Theo tried looking around in his system to find a clue. There were no new notifications, so he went to the only panel he could find solace in.

[Mana 3.551 –> 4.551]

That was it. His mana had increased, which was always welcome. But that enigmatic gemstone remained. The only thing Theo could do for now was to ignore it and hope it wouldn’t hurt him.

With that done, Theo took a look at how much time he had left for The Regressor’s quest.