Hidden building. Old man Landon's place. The scent of aged paper and dust hung thick in the air as Noah approached the worn wooden door.
Noah walked to the door and opened it. The hinges creaked softly.
"Welcome," the old man said, looking up from his chair. His eyes gleamed behind round spectacles.
Noah entered the room and sat down. The chair groaned under his weight.
"I just noticed that you always enter from the door," Old man Landon said, tilting his head. "I wonder why you didn't just teleport inside directly?" He gestured vaguely at the empty space beside them.
"Because that would be rude," Noah said, leaning back comfortably.
"Really now?" Old man Landon said, looking unsure. His bushy eyebrows rose. "I didn't expect you to care about stuff like that."
"Hey, even I have standards," Noah said, smirking. He crossed his legs. "And I didn't want to accidentally see you naked, for example." He waved a hand dismissively. "Who knows what an old guy like you does when he's alone."
Old man Landon snorted. His mustache twitched with amusement.
"I don't get naked when I'm alone," he said, adjusting his glasses.
Noah shrugged. "Probably not," he said, smiling. His gaze wandered around the cluttered room before returning to Landon. "So why are you calling me again? You've been calling me a lot these days."
"Don't say it like I'm a lonely old man or something," Landon said, frowning slightly. He tapped his fingers on the armrest. "I didn't call you just because I want to. It's just that big things keep happening lately."
"Fair enough," Noah said, nodding. He rested his chin on one hand. "So what happened this time?"
"Do you know about the second awakening?" Old man Landon asked, leaning forward intently.
"Second awakening?" Noah said, his expression turning thoughtful. "Not really, but I had a guess from the name alone."
"That's right," the old man said, twirling his mustache between his fingers. "It seems that not only are people awakening their power more often now," he continued, his voice dropping slightly, "I heard in some cases that someone is experiencing a second awakening."
"As you might expect," the old man continued, pushing his glasses up his nose, "the second awakening means they awaken a new secondary power."
"That's both fascinating and scary," Noah said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Exactly right!" Old man Landon said, slapping his knee. The sound echoed in the small room.
"But how often do they actually happen?" Noah said, rubbing his chin. "I can't imagine something like that easily being triggered."
"The ones that naturally happen? Extremely rare, obviously," Landon said, shaking his head. "Who knows? Probably one in a million." He paused, his expression turning grave. "But the problem is, I heard a rumor that someone found a way to force it to happen."
"Really?" Noah said, straightening in his chair. "That sounds too good to be true."
"Well, it's normal to be skeptical!" Landon said, chuckling. He spread his hands wide. "After all, we didn't even know why suddenly a lot of people are starting to awaken recently." His expression turned thoughtful. "But progress doesn't necessarily need to be linear, right?"
"Fair enough," Noah said, nodding slowly. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the chair arm. "But what's the proof?"
"It's not necessarily proof," Landon said, waving his hand dismissively. He adjusted his position in the chair. "But it seems that right now your group is getting in conflict with Serpent's Slaughter, right?"
"You mean Joker Roulette?" Noah said, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, so what?"
"I heard the rumor that the method of the second awakening was being used inside that group—Serpent's Slaughter, I mean," Landon said, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "This is why I'm feeling like I need to tell you as soon as possible."
"I see," Noah said, his eyes gleaming with interest. He leaned forward. "So what you're trying to say is, if it's true, I will see it myself?"
The old man nodded slowly. His glasses reflected the dim light as he moved. "If you dig deep enough inside their group, you will find the truth eventually," he said.
"Great," Noah said, looking up at the ceiling. He exhaled sharply through his nose. "It means I have more reason to help Liam now, huh?" A wry smile crossed his face. "Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
"Liam as the leader of Joker Roulette?" Old man Landon said, his brow furrowing. "That black-haired kid?"
A worn wooden chair creaked as Landon shifted his weight, the afternoon sun catching dust motes swirling around him.
"Yeah, is there a problem?" Noah asked with a smile.
He leaned forward slightly, his relaxed posture contrasting with the old man's tension.
The old man got into deep thought. His fingers absently stroked his mustache.
"Hm... I'm not sure if I should say this or not," he mumbled, more to himself than to Noah.
"What?" Noah said, immediately focusing on the old man. "You know something about him?" His eyes locked onto Landon's face, searching.
"I'm not sure if it's directly connected to him or not," Landon said, hesitating. He removed his glasses to clean them nervously. "But I do know about something that happened in the past."
He held the glasses up to the light, squinting as if checking for invisible smudges, buying himself a moment.
"And it has something to do with Liam?" Noah asked, his voice sharp with interest.
"I suspect so," Old man Landon said. He sighed. "But, eh, it's just my conjecture. I might be jumping to conclusions." He waved a dismissive hand, the gesture weak and unconvincing.
"Well, let's hear it then," Noah said, smiling. He rested his elbows on his knees.
The old man touched his mustache, his fingertip tracing the curve of his mustache again.
"If you insist," he said, his voice distant as he tried to remember the old story he heard in the past. His eyes lost focus, looking inward at memories long buried.
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