Chapter 152 – Narcissism (One)

Thud!

From Ayla’s swift landing, the momentary creak of a wooden puppet could be heard.

‘It’s a bit clumsy.’

The boy soon exercised deep insight, piercing through the essence of the girl.

‘She’s uncoordinated.’

Just like, Philip.

‘She can’t use her body well.’

So, just like Philip.

It seemed she had perfectly mastered the theory, but her body couldn’t keep up, leading to failure.

Putting it that way was accurate.

As a result, the limbs that crashed into the ground must have been very painful… but the girl showed no particular sign of it on that front.

She just looked up at him with eyes tinged with faint bewilderment.

Why are you coming out of there…?

That was the look in her eyes.

Thanks to Ray not answering, an awkward silence flowed for a moment.

Just as the girl, her startled heart having calmed down, was staggering to her feet.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

Ray finally opened his mouth.

“Huh…?”

“You don’t seem to show much sign that it hurts.”

“Ah, that’s… it’s fine.”

Ayla, who had by now returned to her original expressionless face, casually brushed off her clothes.

At that moment.

Whoosh!

The Blue Mana contained in Ayla’s Vessel expanded.

To be precise, it thickened.

Blue Mana, unlike in general cases, was Mana that took on a special form covering the entire Vessel.

Ray had thought before.

That appearance was very much like an ice sheet.

In the boy’s Vessel, the lavender Mana corresponding to curiosity surged strongly.

‘…Blue. It’s clearly related to some state rather than an emotion. Like the Gray Mana corresponding to calmness.’

Blue was extremely rare, but it was also the color of Mana Ray had seen more than any other.

Because an ice sheet was also spread across the boy’s Vessel.

Since when had it existed?

He couldn’t know for sure.

It had just been covering his Vessel from as far back as his memory reached.

In fact, at first, he hadn’t even realized it was Mana.

‘I just thought my Vessel color was different from others.’

The ice covering the boy’s heart was always chillingly cold in its place, but from a certain point on, it had been thinning.

As if melting away in the sunlight.

…The exact cause was unknown.

However, the boy guessed that the starting point was when he left Sector 50.

‘It’s definitely thinning.’

And at a considerable speed at that.

Of course, objectively speaking, the boy’s ice was still so thick it was closer to an iron plate.

But the thought that someday all the ice would melt, leaving only a pool of water in its place, stirred up no small amount of anxiety in the boy.

He had resumed the observation and research he had invested considerable time in and then halted, but…

‘I haven’t figured out a single thing.’

What emotion.

Or what state it was related to.

Had he looked at it for so long he’d grown dull to it?

Or was Blue Mana itself a trap-like color with no associated emotion?

Just as his research had hit a dead end, another high-quality specimen appeared.

Absolutely. Absolutely could not miss it.

Of course, before that—

“This, this isn’t how you do it.”

—he had to say what needed to be said.

In Ray’s hand was the ice house model that had popped into the air when Ayla performed her self-abuse disguised as a landing technique.

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

Ice bloomed above the first floor, and an extension was completed in an instant.

A second floor was newly created.

The hardness and coldness of the ice were similar to the first floor, but it was on a different level in terms of precision and detail.

“Here, try it.”

Ayla was handed the two-story house.

She looked at the house, which now had three more rooms and one more bathroom, making it a structure suitable for a middle-class family, and said.

“…Our house wasn’t this big.”

“Your house?”

“Yeah. The house we used to live in. With my parents and younger sibling. Both passed away a year ago, and Master took in my sibling and me.”

Her parents’ death, experienced just a year ago.

But Ayla’s voice was excessively calm for that, and there was also no change in her expression.

‘Sadness, longing, depression… The emotions are appearing normally, so why aren’t the corresponding actions manifesting?’

Ray, observing Ayla’s Vessel, noticed one fact.

Ayla’s emotions were touching the ice sheet, freezing solid, unable to move an inch.

In a way, it was similar to the effect of Gray Mana, which sits like a rock in the Vessel and hinders the activity of other emotions.

The difference was that on the ice sheet, there were also emotions whose movements were accelerated instead.

Some froze.

Some slid swiftly.

‘I’m seeing this for the first time.’

Out of curiosity and excitement, the boy couldn’t take his eyes off the girl’s Vessel.

Meanwhile, Ayla proceeded with the extension as Ray had said.

Ice bloomed above the second floor, forming a third floor.

“Finished. But still, it’s not as good as yours…”

“Bleeding.”

“Huh?”

“Your finger.”

Perhaps she had accidentally cut herself on the ice, blood was trickling from Ayla’s index finger.

It wasn’t a big wound.

But it wasn’t a small wound to be dismissed lightly either.

“Ah, this… it’s fine.”

Seeing the wound, Ayla took a handkerchief from her pocket, wiped the blood once, and that was it.

Drops of blood, of course, formed again at her fingertip and, unable to bear their own weight, plopped down onto the ice house.

Looking at the ice turning red, Ray asked.

“Are you insensitive to pain?”

“That doesn’t seem to be the case…”

“If you leave it like that, the wound might get infected or scar.”

“Hmm… It’s fine, somehow.”

That was when.

Flicker

For an instant, a blue light flashed and disappeared on Ayla’s ice sheet.

“Are you really fine?”

“I’m fine.”

Flicker.

“Are you really, really fine?”

“I won’t die from a wound like this.”

Flicker. Flicker.

“It would be better to treat it.”

“Is there a need to?”

Flicker. Flicker. Flicker.

Ray poured out words of worry as if pressing vending machine buttons.

While the boy was glaring at the ice sheet, the girl asked in a puzzled voice.

“Are you… worried about me?”

Worry.

The familiar keyword summoned the boy’s mind back to reality.

‘Worry. I suppose it’s because the ice sheet shouldn’t melt or anything.’

Seriously pondering, Ray uttered a sentence that efficiently summarized the thoughts and judgments lined up in his head.

“I’d prefer if you weren’t hurt. At least while I’m staying here.”

Saying so, he used White Mana to heal Ayla’s wound.

The girl couldn’t take her eyes off the boy’s face, her gaze dazed.

“…I attacked you before. Though it was on Master’s orders.”

“It’s fine. Binjin already paid the price for that.”

Ray took a band-aid from his bag and stuck it on Ayla’s finger.

Veronica had given it to him.

‘Please don’t get hurt and take care of yourself a bit,’ she had said.

He thought he could understand that feeling.

Ayla had aspects that reminded him of himself during his Sector 50 days.

Without any purpose in life.

Not living, but merely existing.

He hadn’t cared what wounds or abnormalities occurred on his body.

If it weren’t for the rescue and treatment of the children under the bridge in winter, he probably would have become one of the common cold corpses on the street, suffering from frostbite.

A recent conversation with Veronica replayed in his head.

「Ray! Again! Again! Again! You’re hurt!」

Slap!

「You act like you have ten lives every day! Please take care of your body!」

「Veronica. That’s the injured area, you shouldn’t hit it.」

Slap! Slap!

「Hurt just once! Always! Because I heal you! You feel safe getting hurt!」

「That’s true.」

Slap! Slap! Slap!

「I wish Ray would become someone who cherishes and loves himself.」

And she added.

「Hm, hmph. First, you have to know how to love yourself before you can give that love to others… or so Grandpa said.」

He didn’t know why she was embarrassed or what she was expecting.

Anyway.

The advice to cherish and love oneself seemed like something he could pass on to the girl before him.

‘Unlike back then in Sector 50, I sufficiently love myself now.’

Paying attention to nutrition.

Increasing the intensity of physical training.

Reflecting on emotions, and also…

…Come to think of it, it was all for the single goal of the Rainbow.

“I appreciate the sentiment… but you don’t need to be this nice to someone like me.”

The girl’s voice that came then broke Ray’s reverie.

“……?”

“I’m a human being with not a shred of usefulness. My Magic skills are poor, I don’t know how to do anything, my personality is weak, and also…”

The girl’s Vessel.

The expanded Indigo Mana was melting stickily, about to drip down onto the ice sheet.

My specimen.

Ray answered swiftly.

“That’s not true at all.”

“Huh…?”

“Your Magic skill is the most outstanding across all classes.”

“No. You don’t need to say that on purpose. I know my own skills best.”

“No, you don’t.”

Ray wasn’t lying.

The timing of the words was coincidental, but in his view, the person with the highest Magic completion level in the mansion was Ayla.

It was just that her application ability was lacking.

If she were taught the proper methods, she could exhibit tremendous potential.

“You are the most outstanding.”

Therefore, he said decisively.

“The most in this mansion. Even more than Binjin.”

“……”

Ray, after confirming the Indigo Mana disappearing from Ayla’s Vessel, said.

“That, give it back.”

“Ah, okay.”

Ray was handed the three-story house.

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

He returned a four-story house and said.

“See? Do it like this.”

“…I’ll try.”

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

A five-story house with better precision than before was created.

But in Ray’s eyes, it seemed Ayla’s maximum hadn’t been exerted yet.

“Give it back.”

“Okay.”

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

The house became six stories.

“Try again.”

“Okay.”

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

The house became seven stories.

“Again.”

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

“Again.”

Crackle! Crackle-crackle!

“Again.”

And so, a few minutes later, when the house had transformed into a 25-story high-rise building.

“…I can’t do it perfectly like you.”

Ayla, exhausted, said.

“Why not?”

“Because my skills are lacking.”

“Why are your skills lacking?”

“That’s…”

“I don’t really understand.”

“……”

“Why can’t you do this?”

At some point, as no answer came, Ray raised his head.

He could find Ayla aiming at him with the corner of a book held high above her head—where she got it from, he didn’t know.

It was that brown-covered book she had also been holding during the fight in the back-alley clearing.

[The Sleeping Princess in the Tower]

That was the title.

Meeting his gaze, Ayla spoke like someone caught in the act of committing a crime.

“Uh… I did it without thinking.”

Ray silently took out the Cromwell Encyclopedia from his bag.

Startled, Ayla widened the distance, covering her head with the Sleeping Princess.

It was then that an angry shout came from the far end of the corridor.

“You! What are you doing to Noona right now!”

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud──!

Turning his head, he could see a boy running fiercely down the long corridor.

“You bastard! You hurt Noona!”

The identity of the blue-haired boy with bandages on his hands and Enhancement Magic on his feet was—

“Little brother?”

“Yeah. It’s Ain. He seems to be misunderstanding something…”

—Ayla’s younger brother, Ain.

The bloodstain remaining on the ice building.

Ayla in a defensive posture.

He seemed to have misunderstood the situation.

Ayla said in a voice tinged with a rare sense of panic.

“Heiler, was it? Let’s avoid this place for now. When Ain gets angry, no one except Master can stop him. And he happens to be out right now…”

“Is it that?”

“Huh?”

“Anger management disorder.”

Ray mentioned a symptom he had seen in a psychiatry book.

In Ain’s Vessel, anger far exceeding normal levels was surging.

“He can’t control his anger. He’s not usually like that… but when it comes to issues related to me, he becomes incredibly fiery. Uh, let’s get away quickly.”

Ray didn’t answer.

He just prepared to respond, drawing up the Ring’s Mana.

But then.

‘……?’

Ain’s anger, which had been charging like a truck with broken brakes, suddenly began to wane.

The closer the distance narrowed, the greater the reduction became, and fear was generated in the place where the anger vanished.

The place where the earthquake in Ain’s eyes was directed…

‘The encyclopedia?’

Ray looked down at the Cromwell Encyclopedia he was holding.

Was it because of this?

He held up the encyclopedia like a talisman.

Then, the trembling occurring in Ain’s pupils grew uncontrollably.

Ray was instantly convinced, and when the distance had narrowed somewhat—

Whoosh!

He threw the encyclopedia.

Thudoom─!

A red-skinned monstrosity soaked in the blood of the streets descended upon the battlefield with a heavy landing sound.

“……!”

Ain hastily reduced his speed, stopping exactly three meters away from the monstrosity.

Then, with an indignant face, he pointed at Ray and shouted.

“You bastard! Get away from Noona right now! If you so much as lay a finger on her! I’ll kill you!”

His momentum was indeed impeccable.

If only his trembling eyes, constantly glancing at the encyclopedia on the floor, weren’t there.

“I’m warning you clearly, if you touch Noona just a little more, watch out! I’ll tear your limbs off and throw you to the dogs!”

His momentum was splendid.

So, if only his throat gulping saliva gulp-gulp while looking at the encyclopedia wasn’t there.

‘Was it called trauma?’

A considerable amount of anger still remained in Ain’s Vessel, burning like fire.

But perhaps because fear was greater, he couldn’t easily charge forward.

“You male bastard! Cheaply! Blocking the way with a Barrier like this! If it weren’t for that thing, you’d be dead by my hands! Last time I went easy on you!”

Watching Ain squawking, Ray used Telekinesis to clear away the encyclopedia.

Whoosh!

Roll-roll-roll!

Perhaps this was an unexpected situation, as a large amount of bewilderment bloomed in Ain’s Vessel.

The gazes of the two boys met.

“……”

“……”

After glaring at Ray for a long time with trembling eyes, Ain created a wind and returned the encyclopedia to its place.

Whoosh!

Roll-roll-roll!

“You bastard! Get rid of that thing right now! If it weren’t for that! You’d be rolling on the floor from my punch right now!”

“……”

Ray thought.

Both siblings are weird.

Is it genetic?

Tilting his head, he took big strides forward and picked up the encyclopedia.

It seemed he needed to catch the boy named Ain who had appeared before him.

Because.

‘Sky Blue Mana.’

Though not as much as Blue, a similarly rare-colored Mana was fluttering in the opponent’s Vessel.

And very abundantly at that.

For detailed observation, capture was necessary.

Tap─ Tap─ Tap─

“……!”

Seeing Ray approaching with quick steps, Ain began to step backward.

Tap─ Tap─ Tap─

The advance and retreat of the two boys accelerated at a tremendous speed.

And the moment Ain completely turned his body around.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!

It changed into a run.

Ain’s fleeing face had changed as if he was about to cry.