In the room shared by Sirius, Neriah, and Enel, Sirius finally opened his eyes, waking up. He rubbed them and got out of bed, noticing that Neriah was still asleep. Ignoring him for now, he headed to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face until he was fully awake. Sirius stretched his arms, then walked out and noticed that Enel wasn't in the room.
"He said last night he'd go to the lab. Did he already go?" Sirius wondered, recalling how Enel told him and Neriah yesterday that he'd be doing experiments on the axolotl tomorrow morning which is today.
Sirius turned to Neriah and started shaking him awake.
"Hnnggh," Neriah groaned sleepily, lazily turning to look at Sirius, who was standing beside him.
"Wake up, we're late," Sirius said, unaware of the current situation.
"You idiot, there's no class for the next three days," Neriah replied, irritated, then turned over in bed with his back to Sirius.
"Why would Enel go to the lab in the morning if we had classes in the first place?" Neriah added grumpily, pulling the blanket over himself and shutting his eyes again.
"I didn't know that. But why is there no class?" Sirius asked, tilting his head curiously.
"You dickhead, did you forget someone died yesterday? When someone dies, there's this thing called a funeral—it lasts for three days, in case you didn't know," Neriah snapped, now extremely annoyed by Sirius's ignorance, to the point that his hand trembled from the urge to punch him.
"So I can go back to sleep?" Sirius asked, eyes gleaming with hope and curiosity.
"Yes," Neriah answered.
As soon as he got the go-ahead, Sirius leapt back into bed and pulled up his blanket.
"You should've told me that earlier, nyaah~" Sirius mumbled, a soft, ridiculous smile on his face.
----------
Back in Noah's room, he was sitting on his bed, holding the Sacrifice Bag—filled with worms.
"There's no specific way to kill them, right? I can do it however I want?" Noah asked with a mix of curiosity and concern. He didn't want to rush ahead without knowing the full conditions.
[There is no specific method required to kill life-energy-filled entities. As long as the host throws them toward the System—even if they're turned to ash—the sacrifice ritual will succeed.]
"Ash?... Now that I think about it, I've never really used the Thermokinesis skill before, have I? I used it once against the Nocthyrs, but since I lost my vision then, I don't even know if it worked... Should I try it now?" Noah muttered to himself, looking at the bag in his hand.
A red flame ignited in Noah's hand, beginning to burn the bag and its contents. The bag turned red, bubbling from the heat as the worms inside thrashed and melted into a soft, slimy fluid. But Noah didn't stop there—he continued until the bag turned black, charred, and crumbled into fine dust.
"This is amazing. I think this effect is called Flamebind, if I remember correctly. I don't feel any burning or pain even though my hand is on fire… How have I never used this skill before? I didn't even try it. I'm such a fool," Noah thought, impressed and mildly mocking himself.
The flame vanished once the bag became black dust in his hand. Then, a sudden breeze came from nowhere, lifting the dust and blowing it toward the system screen in front of Noah. As soon as it passed through the screen, it disappeared entirely, not even appearing on the other side.
[Life energy required to activate Pages of Rebellion has been obtained.]
"Is that it? Can I finally use it?" Noah asked, curious and uncertain.
[Yes. Please select the chapter and character whose memories you want to enter.]
"T-That's surprisingly easy. As long as I use insects as fuel, I won't have to kill anyone…" Noah thought, letting out a relieved sigh before turning back to the screen.
"I choose the chapter 'The test Begins' and the character: Headmaster of Kaisel University, Edgar Vaughn," Noah declared, aiming high—he'd naturally choose the strongest person featured in chapter group 13. Edgar was rank A and clearly mastered mana sensitivity.
[Due to the vast power difference between the host and the character Edgar Vaughn, access to his memories is not possible.]
"I expected that. You should've told me the conditions from the start, you cheap system!" Noah grumbled, annoyed by the system's tendency to withhold information just to add suspense to the story.
"What about the character Noctis Vinye?" Noah asked, still curious and annoyed.
[Access to Noctis Vinye's memories is also not possible.]
"You bastard…" Noah muttered through clenched teeth, his fists tightening. If the system had a physical body, Noah would've beaten it to a pulp.
"If that damn thing says no again, I'll jump out of this floor... What about Rael Veldric?" Noah asked, his eyes burning with anger, veins visible on his clenched fists and forehead.
[Connection with the character Rael Veldric is possible, but the memories will be fragmented. The host can access only one memory.]
"Fine... Better than nothing," Noah said, finally calming down after taking a deep breath.
[Does the host wish to enter Rael Veldric's memories?]
Noah remained silent for a moment, staring at the screen. His hands began to tremble—not from anger, but from inexplicable fear and anxiety. Still, he had resolved to change long ago. He wouldn't hesitate now.
"Yes!" Noah said, giving the system his permission.
[Establishing connection between the character Rael Veldric and the host.]
[Weak connection successfully established.]
[Transferring host to the character Rael Veldric's memories.]
Noah's eyes turned completely black, color draining from them before he suddenly collapsed, unconscious.
[Host successfully transferred to Rael Veldric's memories.]
Noah's eyes shot open—he was now standing in a colorless area filled with thick, gray fog spreading in every direction.
"Huh? Where am I? What is this place?" Noah said, panicked, looking around and touching his face to make sure he was still alive.
[The System welcomes the host to the "Gray nexus."]
"Huh? The Gray nexus? What is this—a part of hell?" Noah asked, frightened and confused. He genuinely thought he might be dead.
[The "Gray mexus" is an isolated realm separate from the existential world, where the vessels of all creatures from □□□ and □□□ converge. It was created by □□□.]
"Huh? What are those? Why can't I read them?" Noah asked, confused and disturbed. His feelings spiraled into chaos. For some unknown reason, he felt a deep, unsettling fear in his chest, marked by the heavy thumping of his heart—as if his body, even his consciousness, didn't want to read the hidden text.
[□□□]
"F-Forget it… A-Anyway, what do I need to do to enter Rael Veldric's memories?" Noah asked shakily, trying to change the subject for reasons even he didn't understand.
[The host must walk through the gray fog. He will enter the memories directly.]
"O-Okay…" Noah said hesitantly, taking a breath. Despite his unease, he stepped into the gray fog, closing his eyes.
----------
Meanwhile, outside in the Student Council Room, Aria Valeblanc was seated in the President's chair, resting her head on her hand, deep in thought. Kieran floated nearby, sitting on a levitating briefcase, humming cheerfully.
"Kieran, shut up. Your voice is annoying," Aria said irritably, looking up at him as he floated directly in front of her.
"If you tell me what's bothering you, I'll stop. Hm hm hmm~" Kieran kept humming, trying to annoy Aria as much as possible until she finally gave in.
"You're such a nuisance... What's bothering me is obviously the Winters family. Who would've thought they'd come here personally to retrieve Elliot's corpse? And that their head would get into a quarrel with one of the members of the council of four the Black Marrow himself," Aria said, recalling the day's events involving the Winters family.
"Yeah, that's definitely concerning—especially since they decided to stay until they take the body..." Kieran agreed with Aria, but then gave a slight smile.
"...But, that's not what's truly bothering you. The Aria I know wouldn't be shaken by something like that, am I right?" Kieran said as he floated closer to Aria, then descended from her hovering pouch and stretched out on the table. Due to his small size, he fit there comfortably.
"You're so irritating," Aria said, then got up from her seat and started walking across the room.
"Come on, just tell me. I might be able to help. No—I'm sure I can help," Kieran said as he jumped off the table, grabbed the floating bag, and followed Aria.
"Fine... with your skill, you could be a big help... alright, if you want to help, then I won't stop you," Aria said, finally giving in, then turned to face Kieran. She placed her hand on her right earlobe, and a violet earring suddenly appeared. She took it off.
"If you really want to help, go to the male dorms in Sector 11, to the room of the new student, Noah Grace. Infiltrate his memories and tell me everything you see there," Aria said as she placed her hand on Kieran's head and began petting him.
"If you complete this task successfully, I'll reward you," Aria added as she moved her hand to Kieran's chin and tilted it upward so he had to look into her eyes.
"Why should I do that?" Kieran asked flatly, his cold eyes showing no reaction to Aria's tactics.
"You don't need to know the reason. Just do what I say. Got it?" Aria said with a sultry tone, her eyes glowing violet. In response, Kieran's eyes glowed with a violet-black flame.
"...Fine..." Kieran replied, obeying Aria's will.
"Good," Aria said cheerfully, letting out a soft, muffled laugh as she stared into Kieran's eyes.
----------
Back to Noah's room.
When Noah passed through the gray mist, he found himself in a spectral form made of the same gray mist. His body was somewhat blurry, as if it wasn't stable, with parts turning into mist each time he moved. He raised his foggy hands and looked at them.
"I'm not dead, right?" Noah asked himself anxiously and confused, though with a touch of sarcasm.
[The host is inside the memory of the character Rael Veldrick]
"This is his memory? …By the way, where am I?" Noah asked himself curiously.
He found himself floating above a dense forest, its towering trees casting deep shadows over the land. The sun was blazing, and despite the cloud cover, Noah felt the place was unnaturally bright—brighter than any sunny day he'd ever lived through.
Between the trees, perched on one of the branching limbs, sat a young man who looked Noah's age, with neat red hair slicked back and wearing a hunter's outfit bearing their famous symbol—four arrows pointing in different directions, like a compass. This was the Red hawk, Rael Veldrick, at age 19.
"Th-That's Rael Veldrick?! H-He looks… different," Noah thought in shock, recalling how Rael had behaved the first time they met. He immediately noticed the stark contrast between the calm, collected Rael before him and the wild, arrogant one he'd seen in the high school.
"W-What's he doing?" Noah muttered to himself, floating closer to observe Rael.
A colorless aura had appeared around Rael, moving in a calm, wavelike pattern.
"W-What's that aura?" Noah asked with excitement and curiosity.
[The aura enveloping the character Rael Veldrick is his Mana Field]
"Huh?... His Mana Field?!" Noah exclaimed, stunned.
"Why can I see Rael's Mana Field?" he asked, troubled and shocked, and it was for one reason.
The ability to see someone's mana field—or mana in general—comes from mastering a specific step of Mana Sensitivity called "Perception."
[Due to the host's current weakness, the system is assisting in this area. Without being able to see how a mana field moves, the host would learn nothing.]
"You could've just called me weak directly. No need for all that," Noah muttered, slightly hurt at being called weak so bluntly—but he didn't mind, because he appreciated the system's help.
Rael's mana field began to stabilize, and gentle ripples started spreading outward from him. These waves passed through everything around him, pinpointing the location of anything nearby. At that moment, Rael opened his eyes, stood up, and looked off into the distance.
"I've located him!" Rael declared with his usual arrogant grin—but Noah was focused on only one thing:
"Th-That… That was Mana Sensitivity?!"