Chapter 98: Mana Disturbances (2)

Ayen was actually excited. Deep inside him, the dream of exploring and being an amazing field guide did not leave. It was still there.

Khal and Devion were only awakening them again.

He seemed to have remembered how he dreamed of being a dedicated field guide. Someone who specialized in exploring with the espers.

Now that was something he had yet to encounter in his life; this awakened his long-lost dream. Ayen himself was quite surprised, but he chose not to focus on that feeling.

He wanted to focus on the present.

“Do you want to explore more?” Khal repeated Devion’s question. He fixed Ayen’s bang to the side, highlighting his eyes.

Devion also listened with a warm expression. They seemed to be in a good mood. Devion even forgot his small grievance with Khal. They stood in front of Ayen, easily towering over him.

Yet this security only assured Ayen.

Ayen nodded. He was honest with his desires. That was already a known fact to them. While Ayen typically would not express his feelings verbally, he chose to show them instead.

Khal and Devion exchanged glances and nodded with each other.

Devion smiled and pulled Ayen closer to him.

“Then, let’s go see what’s strange in this place.”

Ayen did not know, but he was also igniting the lost passion and excitement within Khal and Devion towards exploring the unknown. For the past few years, they were already in seclusion and rarely ventured out.

The world was at peace, and there was no need for SS-class espers to be deployed. They gradually got accustomed to their isolated and somewhat monotonous life.

That changed when Ayen arrived. And now, he was also awakening something within them, which they had thought was long lost in the river of time.

Although Ayen arrived like a storm and messed up their stable life, Khal and Devion loved the chaos more. After all, as SS-class espers, they thrive in the chaos more.

“What caused this mana disturbance?”

When Ayen started to become open or ask questions, he would not easily stop. Just like if he did not want to talk, then you would not be able to hear him say a word.

Especially so if it’s something that interests him.

Khal and Devion spread their mana and sensed for any other area where the mana disturbances manifested, similar to the lamppost. They managed to encounter a few others.

“Hmm.” Khal pondered how to answer it. They stood in front of a burned bakery. “Different situations created different mana disturbances. I can’t tell what happened here because of that.”

He pointed at the bakery. Then Devion also took an action to demonstrate something to Ayen. Khal stood by Ayen’s side as he prepared for any unforeseen events.

“Simply saying mana disturbances are like chaotic branches of mana isn’t correct. They aren’t entirely incorrect either.”

As Khal spoke, Devion threw something at the bakery. A kind of pressure also descended. Ayen watched as the bakery, which had only burnt earlier, suddenly lit up and began to repair itself.

In the blink of an eye, the bakery, which had almost half of its building burned, stood without any traces of being burnt. Also, in a matter of seconds, fire began to spread from its roof and slowly burned the building, and returned to its original appearance.

“It’s a bit of trouble.” Devion turned to them and clicked his tongue. “Mana disturbances with time traces are always annoying.”

Khal hummed and stared at the burned bakery building. If Ayen did not see it repaired, he might not have noticed something was wrong with it.

He looked up, walked in circles, and then stopped. Ayen and Devion watched him and waited for him to speak. When he turned to them, there was a solemn expression on his face.

Khal sighed.

“We really stumble upon something troublesome.”

“How so?” Ayen asked.

“This place is filled with mana disturbances. It did not come from one source alone.”

Khal was alarmed; his premonition that they had entered a troublesome event might still downplay the issue.

“How is that possible?” Devion could not believe it. He wanted to retort, but Khal would not joke or be mistaken about this.

Ayen had already sensed that their situation seemed more bizarre than they initially thought.

Khal turned to Ayen as he answered Devion’s question. Since this was Ayen’s first time encountering a mana disturbance, Khal specifically focused his explanation on him.

“Usually, or I can say most of the time, a place can only be afflicted by one source of mana disturbance. I’ve only heard of two sources creating wide mana disturbances in the area, and it created a forbidden zone.”

Of course, the mana disturbances alone were not the reason it became a forbidden zone. However, it started from that seemingly simple anomaly, and before the government reacted, it could not salvage the situation anymore.

It was called the Ghost Town. Ayen was also familiar with this story, but how it came to be was not widespread. Forbidden zones were a stain and shame for humanity, so the government would not tell the whole story of why they came to be.

Since it emphasizes their own incompetence.

Khal let out a heavy sigh.

“I’m afraid this place is riddled with mana disturbances from at least five sources.”

This was not a conjecture based on assumption; Khal had already noticed how the anomaly they encountered gave different results. The first was just a small jolt, barely noticeable. However, as they encountered more, Khal started to become suspicious.

These mana disturbances with time traces and how the space around the area seemed stagnant made Khal almost certain of his suspicions.

What he said made Ayen and Devion suck in a breath.

Ayen never thought his first encounter with such an anomaly was already the strangest out of all of them.

“Is five even possible?” Devion’s brow furrowed. “How come no one discovered this place before?”

One source of mana disturbance was already enough to influence a whole area. Although this town was abandoned and the surrounding area was rarely visited, the nearest yellow zone here was less than twenty kilometers away.

The government also had devices to specifically target mana disturbances unless…

Khal voiced out his thoughts.

“This place is already cut off from the real world.”

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