Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Desert Night
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Thud-
Durel and I stopped by a nearby village. I wanted to head straight for the Razga Basin, but our food supplies we'd brought were nearly depleted, so we needed to restock.
There was no need to buy drinking water. We could use the magic we'd learned at the Hajar branch to instantly draw moisture from the air and drink it. This had saved us a considerable amount on travel expenses.
'It's depleting faster than expected. Just how much has his appetite grown...'
As I entered the large village, I tilted my head. Now that I was aware of how much larger Durel had grown, things I'd glossed over before kept catching my eye. Increased sleep time and a bigger appetite. Both were common traits seen in kids during growth spurts.
Come to think of it, Durel would sometimes pat his knees. It seemed like pain from his sudden growth spurt. That little guy had now grown taller than me. I felt a strange sense of pride.
'He's growing up well...'
"Master. What do you think of this? They say it's pickled with salt harvested from the Razga Basin. The salt from there has a unique flavor unlike regular salt, making food taste even softer..."
"If you want to eat it, go buy some. You don't need to ask."
"Yes...!"
I sent Durel ahead first and naturally looked around the surroundings. Unlike a typical village, the ratio of street food stalls and vendors was remarkably high. Large and small buildings everywhere bore inn signs.
It was a village near a famous tourist destination, one featured in guidebooks. Given its location, it seemed to heavily rely on businesses catering to travelers. In fact, most of the people wandering the village were foreigners who'd come from outside the desert.
Durel returned not long after. He'd bought so much preserved food that his large bag was bulging. He was also carrying a hefty bundle of paper-wrapped goods in his arms.
"Master. Try some of this. It tastes amazing."
What Durel handed me was a skewer roast wafting a salty aroma. The deep salty scent suggested it had been grilled with salt. I naturally took the skewer and lightly bit into it.
"Mm..."
Sure enough, just as Durel had said, it felt a bit different from regular salt dishes. The strangely spreading unique flavor seemed to bring out the meat's natural taste even more.
"I like this."
"I figured you would, so I bought a lot."
"Good job. Salt harvested from the Razga Basin, right? We should stock up on this too."
"I knew you'd say that, so I bought it all up."
"Well done."
"Shall we prepare to leave right away then? I've got everything we need."
At Durel's suggestion, I looked up at the sky. The sun hanging high overhead was slowly sinking. The sunset spilling from the horizon was blanketing the village. The timing was ambiguous.
'Might as well rest.'
It wasn't urgent, so I muttered inwardly and shifted my gaze. My eyes naturally swept lightly over Durel's knee.
"It's getting late. We'll stay the night."
"I've found a decent inn. Let's head this way."
Late in the evening, unable to sleep, I got out of bed. The wind blowing in through the wide-open window carried a faint saltiness.
'Inner World Manifestation...'
From that moment until now, I hadn't forgotten that scene for even an instant. How could I? That overwhelming presence, that mythical battle.
'Is it possible?'
It was different from before. The voice that had always answered questions arising whenever I conceived a specific spell was silent this time. I'd seen the phenomenon with my own eyes and felt it up close. Yet I still couldn't grasp the exact principle.
Calming my breath, I began sorting through the central question floating in my mind.
This magic wasn't an illusion. It was an advanced spell that manifested into reality the mage's inner world—a realm that existed yet didn't exist.
Magic means shaping mana and imposing laws upon it to bring about manifestation. But manifesting the inner world was different.
'It's about bringing out something already complete.'
The inner world is a space akin to the mage's essence, built up over long periods of meditation, research, and sensory training. Severed from the outside, it isn't bound by real-world laws and establishes its existence by following laws rewritten by the mage's will.
Even if shaped through mana, it couldn't take the same form as before.
It felt like facing an insoluble problem. And it wasn't just a feeling. Frustration poured out of me in endless sighs.
It was problematic even after manifestation. The elf had shown it—his summoned inner world clashing with the existing world. It was like squeezing into a narrow space.
'Space... space... space...'
My head, lightly swaying in the breeze, came to a stop.
Enlightenment comes suddenly.
The moment of realization.
Space—the answer lay in that keyword. The inner world was undoubtedly a real world. Bringing it out required a passage, a space named a path connecting my imagery to the outside.
'The four cardinal directions...'
That's why. It all made sense.
As I nodded, mana flowed out around my body. Blue-tinted mana enveloped the four walls of the small room. It was about dominating space and constructing a passage linked to the inner world.
It was the advanced process of the space-leap magic, Blink. Not difficult.
Now all that remained was to pull the inner world out through this passage. I closed my eyes and focused my mind. The moment my sinking consciousness recognized the massive library deep in my imagery, I spotted the issue.
'This.'
The enormous library constructed in my inner world was far too vast to even guess its end.
'I need a wider passage.'
I needed a passage massive enough for this world to pass through. But doing so would cause problems. The larger the passage for manifesting the inner world, the more mana it would consume.
'Just how much...'
It was staggering, distant. Like facing an unclimbable wall.
Early morning. Durel, who'd woken early, came to my room. Having gotten a deep sleep in the soft bed last night, his expression looked utterly refreshed.
"Master? You have dark circles under your eyes. Was the bed uncomfortable?"
"No, it's not that."
I let out a deep sigh and rubbed my face. Last night, I hadn't slept a wink. With the completion of Inner World Manifestation right before my eyes, there was no way I could sleep. It felt like one more step would reach it, yet that step was impossibly far.
"How about staying one more day? You look tired."
"I'm fine."
Ignoring Durel's suggestion, I began packing my things. Pulling an all-nighter for a day or two was nothing new to me. My body might be that of a small child girl, but my mind was that of an adult male tempered by long years in society.
It meant I could endure with mental fortitude.
After packing, Durel and I promptly left the inn. We'd only come to this village for food supplies in the first place. With our bags fully stocked, there was no reason to stay longer.
"Let's head out."
"Yes."
We boarded the airboard together and quickly left the village behind.
The airboard could run on more than just sand. I adjusted its direction to race along a long river. The clear water shining under the sky split coolly.
The strong winds and splashing cold water streams cleared my stuffy mind considerably. They temporarily pushed aside the worries that had troubled me last night.
No need to rush. If it's me, I'll eventually overcome any wall. Positive thinking keeps the mind and spirit healthy. With a long sigh, I exhaled my worries.
We arrived at the Razga Basin around lunchtime that day. Durel and I stood atop the massive basin and looked down below.
Unlike the hot, swirling red desert, the basin floor embraced an overall white world. Salt pillars soared like ice columns, sparkling in the sunlight, while the clear water of the large lake at the center created long ripples carried by the wind.
As the breeze died down, the lake's surface grew still once more. The unmoving lake resembled a mirror more than water. Its tranquil surface, devoid of flow or wrinkles, perfectly reflected the sky above.
Not a single cloud, not a single ray of sunlight, not even a bird flying in the distance.
It looked like a fragment of sky that had fallen to earth.
'Fragment...?'
The scenery before my eyes suddenly rippled through my mind.