Pursuit (7)
A few days later, Calix found the room where Edirn was staying.
“Today’s the day for the regular check-up, right?”
“This is rare. You coming to find me first. Looks like you’ve got something to ask.”
Calix scratched the back of his head and gave an awkward smile.
“Haha… you’re sharp.”
“Let’s do the check-up first, then talk.”
“Got it.”
He took off his upper garment and sat astride a backless chair. Edirn approached, placed his hands on Calix’s back, and began chanting a spell.
Humm— Humm—
It was about an hour later when Edirn finally opened his eyes. He flipped open his notebook and started scribbling something down.
“All done?”
“Oh, right, you said you had something to say. Go ahead.”
“Do you happen to know a spell called Clear Mind?”
“Clear Mind? Why do you ask?”
“I was curious about its effects.”
Only then did Edirn look up and face Calix directly.
“Hmm, what exactly do you want to know?”
“If there’s a memory you want to forget, what happens if you use that spell?”
“How to explain this… Ah, yes! Let’s say, for example, that you loved someone passionately. But it didn’t work out in the end. It’d leave a painful memory, right?”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Every time that memory resurfaces, your heart would ache, and you’d regret it.”
“Right.”
“When you use Clear Mind then, it feels like this: I think I had that experience once upon a time. But it’s so faint now that I can’t quite recall the emotions I felt back then. I’m not even sure if it really happened. Something like that.”
Calix nodded.
“So the memory itself doesn’t disappear.”
“Memories are a crucial part of a person’s identity. Mess with them carelessly, and you could turn into someone completely different. Besides, it’s nearly impossible to erase just the exact memory you want without wasting energy on useless things.”
“Understood. Thanks for the advice.”
Edirn asked playfully.
“Have you fallen for someone, by any chance? Someone you shouldn’t love?”
“Haha, no way. I was just thinking ahead about preparing for another issue. I’ll head out now.”
“Sure.”
Back in his own room, Calix sank into thought.
He had lived about thirty years on Earth. His personality and values, formed from childhood, were bound to differ greatly from those of a native Eren Continent dweller.
Though his body had changed, his soul remained that of a modern man. Which meant it was hard for him to be numb to murder.
Especially during the Shadow Unit’s relentless assaults right before arriving at Nodeisa—he’d always been in the protected position.
No matter how much it was for survival, killing people wasn’t easy.
His first kill in the Poznyu Dungeon had left a deep scar.
Korbus, bleeding profusely from his gut and choking Calix’s throat—it haunted his nightmares every night.
That made killing even harder.
Reason screamed it was necessary for survival, but emotionally, he couldn’t accept it easily.
He’d diced up Vidits countless times, but against humans, he’d never laid a hand.
In the end, he’d subtly leaned on comrades and subordinates to handle it.
Calix gritted his teeth.
“This won’t do.”
He couldn’t keep dodging the issue like this forever.
Moreover, the Knight Tournament’s finale was duels between entrants.
Any hesitation at the blade’s edge, and ten lives wouldn’t be enough.
That’s why he’d asked Edirn about the Clear Mind spell’s effects.
But disappointingly, no real gains.
Fading the memory wouldn’t erase the instinctive aversion to killing itself.
“Then the only method left is that one…”
Back when he played games on Earth.
There was a hidden quest with rewards not worth the effort.
A spell to master the mind—and he never dreamed he’d need it so badly.
“Plus, now I can just go pick it up.”
The task before the Knight Tournament began was set.
The next morning, Calix took Krout and Edirn to the Royal Library.
It was a facility high nobles of count rank and above could use freely, but Calix lacked an official title as county heir.
So he needed a guarantor to escort him inside.
“Edirn, you got your Class 6 certification from the Magic Tower, right?”
“I resisted because it was a hassle, but they said I needed it for magic materials. Damn bureaucratic pests. Always yapping about procedures…”
He grumbled endlessly about the Magic Tower administrators all the way to the library. Calix was surprised at how talkative he could be.
Still, thanks to him, they entered without issue. Honestly, getting Royal Library access was the biggest hurdle for this hidden skill—and it resolved easier than expected.
Upon entering, a librarian guided them.
“Welcome, nobles. If you have any sub-space artifacts, please deposit them here.”
“None.”
“Apologies, but please place your hand here for verification.”
Krout flinched and glanced back subtly. But Calix calmly complied as instructed.
Confirming the glowing blue artifact, the librarian bowed politely.
“All clear. Enjoy your reading.”
Krout sighed in relief, but truthfully, a player’s inventory was akin to a soul-etched authority.
No crude artifact like that could detect it.
Inside the library, Calix slowly scanned the interior, matching the 2D game view to reality.
Bored of waiting, Edirn stacked books from the shelves and began reading. Krout yawned beside him, then dozed off in a chair.
After some time, Calix muttered.
“I’ve got the layout now…”
He looked up at the ceiling.
The round dome featured concentric iron rings symbolizing celestial bodies.
Below them, stained glass of angels blowing trumpets adorned the walls beautifully.
Calculate the celestial positions and sunlight fall…
When the sun and stars become one, the hidden secret bookshelf shall open.
3, 2, 1…! Counting down while watching the floor’s shadow, Calix placed his palm on the bookshelf base at the precise moment.
A complex magic pattern floated up on the shelf.
The glowing rune faded soon after, leaving a thin booklet in his hand.
He swiftly stored it in his inventory and glanced around.
Fortunately, no one paid him attention.
He slotted the held book back and approached Edirn.
“Let’s head out now.”
“Already?”
“Business is done.”
“Huh, then why’d we even come? Weren’t you here to read? It’s barely been time for a cup of tea.”
“Haha, I had some research and checked a few tomes. That’s all.”
Edirn eyed him suspiciously but didn’t pry further.
By nature, he wasn’t one to meddle in others’ affairs.
Thanks to that, Calix glossed over it smoothly.
Back at the salon, Calix locked himself in his room alone.
He pulled the skill book from his inventory and placed it on the table.
Type: Activation Skill
Grade: A-grade Hidden Unique
Effect: Activates the abnormal status Star's Heart.
Limitation: Lasts for (Class × 10) minutes. Cannot be reactivated for 24 hours after deactivation.
Trivial cosmic dust won’t shake my heart.
In the game, Star's Heart granted temporary complete immunity to mental attacks like fear or mind control.
But the prerequisite of Royal Library access was too stringent; he’d only acquired it a few times.
By then, other skills offered similar effects anyway.
Yet Calix had a specific reason for seeking this one.
“Light fades to blind the eyes, sound vanishes to seal the ears. My heart is a clear lake, unmoving and still, so upon your departing path, I send red petals adrift.”
⟨ Star's Heart ⟩
Thump—
As soon as he recited the incantation, his heart pounded once heavily. His pupils slit vertically like a reptile’s.
It felt as if he’d become an omniscient being overlooking the world.
Interest in worldly complexities vanished, human emotions like joy and sorrow fading faint.
“As expected…”
He recalled a game record of someone who learned this skill massacring an entire village.
The perpetrator reportedly couldn’t comprehend why they were restrained.
I merely swept away some worthless dust—what’s the problem?
Now he understood that statement.
As the status description said, “trivial cosmic dust” couldn’t affect the caster’s psyche.
No one feels guilt brushing dust from their clothes.
“Deactivate Star's Heart.”
Upon deactivation, emotions thawed like ripples on a frozen lake.
“Haa…”
Only then did Calix relax slightly, exhaling a long breath.
He’d once dismissed it as an overrated skill, but experiencing it firsthand, he felt it was underrated.
It wasn’t mere magic resistance—it elevated the soul’s rank temporarily.
Probably how the gods thought in cutscenes.
“This is… dangerous.”
Forcing his mind against his will wasn’t pleasant.
It felt like another soul hijacking his body.
“But no choice. Can’t be picky about hot or cold rice now.”
Calix closed his eyes, slowly moving his body as he began mana breathing practice.
Either way, levels were king.
Class-ups solved nearly everything.