"Is it time yet?"
"..."
I glanced back at Strata, who was sprawled across the cold floor on his back, looking every bit like a dead snake.
Several days had passed since the minotaur left after recovering his prana. I had spent almost every waking moment assimilating <Spirit Perception>, and the process was finally nearing completion.
"No" I replied, giving the same answer for what had to be the seventh time that day.
The moment Strata learned that I had finally acquired the art I had been waiting for, he had started asking when we would return.
I couldn't really blame him.
Unlike me, he wasn't capable of casting Polymorph. As far as the outside world was concerned, he was still an enormous snake. Stepping outside in that form would throw the entire settlement into panic.
Ignoring his theatrics, I turned my attention inward.
Within my soul space, the newly acquired art floated beside my innate one.
The pale wave of light that had once appeared dull now shone with the same brilliance as my own art.
So this was what it meant for an inherited art to become one's own.
Arts truly are mysterious.
The two luminous waves drifted through the dark spherical space, endlessly changing shape. Every movement appeared chaotic, yet somehow perfectly ordered.
Until now, I had believed that acquiring another art would allow me to uncover the principles behind their existence.
Instead, I found myself even more confused.
They were nothing like magical runes.
A rune could be studied piece by piece, each symbol revealing its purpose before combining into something greater.
Arts... were different.
They twisted, folded, and reformed without pattern I could comprehend.
They behaved less like constructs and more like living things.
As the last trace of the minotaur's prana dissolved, the darkness surrounding the two arts brightened ever so slightly.
The assimilation was finally complete.
I directed a stream of prana into the newly acquired art.
"Let's see what you can do."
The moment the art activated, my vision transformed.
Color bled from the world in an instant, leaving behind nothing but countless shades of gray.
I turned toward Strata.
A brilliant golden light enveloped him.
Just as the minotaur had described.
Gold represented absolute trust toward the user.
That much wasn't surprising.
What caught my attention was something else entirely.
Through my green eye, I noticed several faint threads extending from Strata's body.
One connected directly to me.
The others passed through the walls of the building and stretched beyond my sight.
I frowned.
The minotaur hadn't mentioned anything about threads.
Either he had neglected to tell me, or this was another peculiarity of my mutated eye.
"Hm..."
Curiosity got the better of me. I activated <Clairvoyance>, sending my vision high above the settlement. To my surprise, it synchronized perfectly with <Spirit Perception>.
For a brief moment, my thoughts wandered to the countless possibilities such a combination could offer.
I quickly pushed the thought aside and examined the threads more closely.
One led directly to the mansion where Tranx resided.
Another stretched far beyond the settlement, disappearing well beyond the limits of my normal vision.
What if...
Rather than jumping to conclusions, I decided to test my theory.
I shifted my attention to an imp wandering through the streets below.
A faint, almost colorless haze surrounded him—a sign that the target felt neither favor nor hostility toward me.
Unlike Strata, dozens of thin threads branched from his body, stretching throughout the settlement.
I focused on one of them.
The world blurred.
My vision raced along the thread before settling on another imp several streets away.
Interesting...
This is convenient.
I released the spell and turned my attention back to Strata.
Focusing on the thread linking him to me, I watched as my vision shifted once more. A moment later...
I found myself looking at my own back.
"Oh..."
Without hesitation, I shifted my focus to one of the threads leading away from Strata and beyond the settlement.
The world blurred again.
When it finally came into focus, I found myself staring at a massive snake coiled upon an endless sea of burning sand.
...
Its eyes snapped open.
The colossal serpent slowly raised its head.
Then it turned...
...and looked directly toward the point from which I was observing.
My heart skipped a beat.
I severed the connection at once.
The moment I severed the connection, <Spirit Perception> collapsed on its own.
A wave of exhaustion washed over me as a significant amount of prana drained away in an instant.
I had already noticed a slight increase in prana consumption while tracing the imp's thread.
This only confirmed my suspicion.
The farther the connection reached...
...the greater the prana consumption.
"Strata," I called to him.
"..."
He remained sprawled across the floor, utterly committed to his silent protest.
"I found one of your relatives."
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then...
One golden eye slowly turned toward me.
"...What?"
"I didn't know your kind could grow to the size of an adult dragon," I said, unable to keep the amusement out of my voice.
A beat of silence followed.
He finally lifted his head, the exaggerated misery vanishing from his face, replaced by unmistakable suspicion.
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