Chapter 232: Sixty-Second Floor, Waiting Room
[11 hours 59 minutes until the rest period ends. Please take a rest.]
The waiting room’s familiar visage greeted me, but the lingering sense of unreality made everything feel different.
Out of nowhere, an endless snowfield had appeared before my eyes, and the massive ice castle had shrunk to the size of a large house. Natalie had undoubtedly been responsible for that, but that only made it even more surprising.
Recalling the delicate flower that had bloomed amid the snow, I raised my right hand and examined my palm. A faint cut, no deeper than a paper slice, ran across it. Something had entered me through this mark and coursed through my veins, feeling foreign yet strangely warm, and I wondered if it had been her mana.
It does feel comforting, though.
Natalie had called it a contract, but I still had no real grasp of what that entailed. She had only said it would allow for many things, but not much beyond that.
At the very least, it didn’t pose any harm to me.
If anything, this means I have gained an ally.
Perhaps Natalie was similar to Doppy—someone trapped within the tower whom I had freed and would later become an invaluable comrade.
The question was simply when. Even Natalie had admitted that she wasn’t ready yet and needed to grow accustomed to her abilities first.
How long will that realistically take, though?
She looked to be about fourteen years old, and even if she were much older, it would probably take her years to master her abilities—I would have likely conquered the tower by then.