Chapter 70: Awaken

After following the swamp river for an hour, the Aces team members arrived in front of an old island-like city and stared at the 3 meters tall stone wall in awe and astonishment.

"How should we cross this river?" Andrew asked while zeroing his gaze on the swamp river that encircled the whole ruin city.

"There is a natural wooden trunk bridge over there. We can use that," Emilia said as she pointed her fingers at their right side and started walking with hurried footsteps.

Charles and Andrew also followed after her and soon arrived right beside the wooden trunk.

'Hmm, I detect two different types of divine powers from inside.' As Charles was about to step on the wooden trunk, the Holem's Crown suddenly spoke in his mind.

Charles subconsciously halted his footsteps and asked in surprise.

'What are those?'

'It's the Corruption and Morality.' The Holem's Crown responded before making a short pause and then added in a confused tone,

'Something is not right.'

'What is it?' Charles raised his thin eyebrows and asked.

'Be careful of any sudden-'

At this moment, Charles suddenly felt quietness appeared around his surroundings and became stunned. He then realized that he also lost the sense of smell.

'What the h-?' Before he could even curse inwardly, his closed lips opened all of a sudden and let out a few words.

Although he couldn't determine what he was talking about, he somehow guessed a single word that came out of his mouth.

'Miracle? Why did I mutter that word?' He got completely flabbergasted.

Before he could understand, he somehow gained full control over his body and got relieved.

'What happened?' Charles furrowed his brows as he unsheathed his Ghost Dagger and looked around in confusion. Emilia and Andrew also went took out their weapons and glanced around the swamp river, wooden forest, and the other side city wall in puzzlement.

'Nothing is abnormal. But why did we lose our hearing all of a sudden? Why did I even speak those unknown words?'

Charles first glanced at Emilia, then at his red-gem embedded bracelet, and soon called out in his mind.

'Team Leader? Mr. Runeth? Can you guys hear my thoughts?'

To his shock, the eerie silence remained.

'What is happening here?' He instantly halted his thought and soon looked up at the 3-meter city wall on the other side.

'We might find answers from the other side.' A strange thought appeared in his mind.

In the meantime, Emilia and Andrew climbed up on the wooden trunk and moved towards the other side.

Charles also joined them and started crossing the swamp river through the wooden trunk. Although they faced difficulty walking on the wooden trunk due to the sudden deafness, they somehow managed to cross it after long unsteady walks.

Then, the trio appeared in front of the 3 meters tall ancient-looking stone wall and started searching for a way in.

Ten minutes later, the Aces team members finally found a half-broken area in the stone wall and hurriedly went to the other side by climbing.

Once they arrived inside, the trio looked around at the city ruin and soon widened their eyes in astonishment.

They saw hundreds of broken buildings, stairs, pillars filled with green mosses, passages, and statues that appeared all over the places.

Without even looking at the surroundings, the trio stepped on the broken concrete passage and soon started walking towards the skyscrapers.

As they moved deep into the city, the trio suddenly heard a bang sound from the direction where the half-broken ruined temple was located.

Charles subconsciously turned his gaze towards the temple and soon widened his jade eyes.

In that instant, his mind became clear-headed all of a sudden!

He felt that some fog suddenly disappeared from his mind and caused him to think clearer.

'What the-? Sh*t! We are in danger! Something is not right. Why are we roaming here openly?'

'What the hell are we doing here in the first place? Why do I even walk deep into this Unexplored Forest? Did someone manipulate my thoughts? Are we under some mind control?' Questions whirled in his mind as his face stiffed up all of a sudden, but he still maintained his gaze on the particular half-broken temple and walked forward.

'Mr. Runeth? Can you hear my voice?' Calming his mind a little, Charles first tried to contact the Holem's Crown, but he couldn't. He felt that the strange power completely blocked him from reaching the outside world and grew anxious inside.

'Something is affecting my thinking. It's the same as the time when I battled with the Dark Wolf in the Dreamworld. If things go on like this, I might die here.' His heartbeat raced, and soon he noticed something odd about his previous actions.

'I already have thousands of Exp, right? Then, why haven't I leveled up? Is this due to the strange abnormality in my thinking?' He didn't dare to delay any longer, so he directly opened the Game-interface and checked the Exp amount.

'I currently have 3909 Exp points.' He muttered inwardly and then poured 3606 Exp into the main class.

[759 Exp deduced for Leveling-up!]

[You are a Level-2 Fire Weaver now!]

[2 Free Attribute points Rewarded!]

[+1 Wisdom Obtained!]

[10 Skill points Rewarded!]

...

[1139 Exp deduced for Leveling-up!]

[You are a Level-3 Fire Weaver now!]

[2 Free Attribute points Rewarded!]

[+1 Wisdom Obtained!]

[10 Skill points Rewarded!]

...

[1708 Exp deduced for Leveling-up!]

[You are a Level-4 Fire Weaver now!]

[2 Free Attribute points Rewarded!]

[+1 Wisdom Obtained!]

[10 Skill points Rewarded!]

...

A bang echoed in his mind, and soon Charles noticed that the small dark space had suddenly expanded twice the size as before!

But the strange deafness still appeared in his mind, causing him to frown a little.

Charles thought for a moment before he poured all the six skill points into the 'Wisdom' attribute and increased it in one go.

Once he increased the wisdom to 29, another bang echoed inside his head. But this one was ten times greater than before!

The dark space also expanded to an unimaginable level and appeared more like a big empty world.

In a second, Charles's sense heightened to an unimaginable level, and he also noticed some strange power was covering the outer layer of the dark space.

'I can even perceive the surroundings clearly and absorb the 'mana' from the outside world. No, I can extract fire elements from the 'Mana' and refuel the spell models. With the current absorption rate, I can refill my Rank-1 spell models in 5 to 10 minutes. Hm?' He suddenly narrowed his eyes and soon noticed that everything around him was also moving slightly slower than usual.

'No, I think I'm thinking faster than before and even perceiving the surroundings like radar. Moreover, I'm also sensing another connection from somewhere. No, it is coming from my soul. Wait, is this dark space a link between my consciousness and my soul?' Such thought crossed his mind.

Hiding his curiosity, Charles first focused his attention on the strange power covering his mind, aka the dark space, and directly broke it with a single thought.

"Hey, why is your voice breaking?" A second later, Charles heard an old man's shouts from his bracelet and breathed out a sigh of relief.

'Don't shout. We seem to have been affected by some mind-related ability.' He said in a gloomy tone and then turned his gaze towards Emilia.

'Can my 'Burning Thoughts' spell wake her up?' He halted his footsteps and was about to cast the spell but stopped.

At this time, he heard a breaking female voice in his head.

'Charles…Hide and act...Then, kill the [Mesmerist].' She deliberated for a moment and then added.

'Then...wake me up...My thoughts are deviating...' She spoke in a low voice and soon went silent.

Meanwhile, Charles got stunned for a moment and soon frowned.

'Mesmerist... Is this the corresponding class of a Telepathist? But how did she manage to resist the strange hypnosis this long? Did she also wake up from the broken temple's effect? How did she know that I would wake up? Is it due to her prediction watch?' He kept his face motionless and followed after Emilia and Andrew.

At that time, he suddenly thought of his earlier action and asked the Holem's Crown.

'Did I say something about 'Miracle' earlier?

Upon hearing his question, the Holem's Crown went silent for a moment and soon said with a deep sigh.

'Yes. And, you also asked me to cast the 'Miracle' skill on you.'

A startled expression appeared on Charles's face as he raised his eyebrows in suspicion and asked,

'What do you mean?'

'I don't know, but I also felt that it was necessary to cast the skill on you, so I did what you have told me to do.' The Holem's Crown also said in a somewhat puzzled tone.

'You also manipulated by the mind-magic?' Charles asked in a shocked tone.

'It's is a similar type. Mind-Magic can alter one's thoughts and it has the ability to confuse us outside. But this one made me subconsciously believe your words from the bottom of my mind.' Upon hearing those words, Charles's face stiffened up.

'But why did the enemy wants to cast the 'Miracle' skill on me? Moreover, the earlier 'Miracle' seemed to be no effect on me. What the hell is happening?' Charles was bewildered.

While he was in muse, the Holem's Crown continued.

'Although you are the one who cast this 'Miracle' spell, the effect seems to have gone to someone else. Even I couldn't understand our current situation.'

Charles's heart sank.

'Not a good sigh. Although I woke up from the strange hypnosis, I'm still in danger, and the helping 'Miracle' effect also appears to have gone already. There are few things I still don't understand. Does the enemy have the ability to manipulate my thought from afar? During the past few days, I've been acting very strangely. My first question is: Why did I agree to Emilia's request to fulfill the Goddess's strange prophecy?

Wait. At that time, I subconsciously believed that Quest reward is more important than my own life. Yes, subconsciously… Then, what did I say to Carter when he asked me why did I come here? Ah, yes, 'behind every fortune lies a great danger. If I want to push forward, I have to face these types of obstacles.' That isn't my style. Did someone really manipulate my thoughts and engrave this quote into the depth of my mind?!' An absurd thought appeared in his mind, causing his heart to race faster.

'Damn, everything is possible in this magic world. But when did they do? I never came across any terrifying enemy, right? I never imagined-… Imagined… Imagination…' Charles suddenly squinted his jade eyes as he thought of a possibility and soon glanced at the 'Mark of Imagination'.

'Could it be Eddie's doing? Is he the one who manipulated my mind to cast the 'Miracle' skill and obtained its effect through strange power? Wait, he also said something about an ultimate miracle, right? Then, why is he acting now?' Doubt appeared in his mind.

'Is that why Eddie wants me to come to this damned ruin? Something still doesn't feel right. If Eddie Nightwind is the one who manipulated my mind, why didn't he attack me when I went to the Dreamworld and took complete control over my soul? If he did that, he could have an easier time capturing this artifact, right?'

'Wait! Maybe he isn't powerful enough to complete control over one's mind?'

Charles then suddenly thought of Eddie's trick in the 'Contract of Imagination,' and soon his pupil flared.

'When the Holem's Crown told me about the loophole in the contract, I didn't doubt Eddie at all. I felt that Eddie Nightwind might have done that as a backup. That definitely wasn't me. I would never believe anyone to that level. Moreover, the Contract of Imagination itself looks more like a tricky one. Then, what was the other guy's name in the contract? Xander Nightwind, is it? Hmm? Wait... Xander... Xander… I definitely heard that name somewhere...' Charles racked his brain as he stepped on the broken path and soon widened his jade-eyes a little.

'Yes, I heard it from Richard 13 days ago! When I asked him about the Arc Kingdom's Royal mages, he told me about a dark mage. I think his name is Xander, and he is the one who is loved by the citizen of Arc Kingdom and has a great reputation among the masses. At that time, I also noticed that somehow I forget to search for the 'informer.' Richard also said that Xander also came to Riverdale City thrice during the past six months and even donated a large amount to Slum Street's Richie Orphanage!'

'This... Is he also a family member of the Nightwind family? Now, my main question is, why did Eddie put his name in the contract? What did I miss? Think Charles... Think...' As he was about to shift his attention to the current problem, Charles suddenly felt something was not right about the Nightwind family from the very beginning.

Charles then glanced at the Holem's Crown and asked.

'Mr. Runeth, why did you choose me as your successor?'