Chapter 669: Preparation {Edited! Refresh to clear Duplicate!}
Like that, several days passed. Coincidentally, in both of his worlds, Michael was preparing to head out.
In the Land of Origin, the Michael who bore the title of Lord did not have much to pack. His greatest preparation was not weapons or supplies but people. He spent those days making sure the territory could function smoothly in his absence, finalizing instructions for Rohan and the others.
Once he left with a certain princess to explore the ruin of a so called strong man, he wanted Thornvale to keep running as if he had never stepped away.
On Aurora, the other Michael also did not have much to prepare on the surface. His destination, however, was very different. While one Michael was heading toward an ancient ruin, the other was preparing to follow his year mates into Hell.
There were no territories to manage here. His days remained almost deceptively ordinary. At most he quietly adjusted his schedule so his body and mind would be in their best state when the time came.
But in the Land of Origin, Michael used those same days for something else as well. He studied Wisdom. Not openly, of course. After all, he had lied. To a certain princess no less. He had already told her that the owl her family gifted him had died for no reason.
He even blamed it on the creature’s strange mutation, using Wisdom’s earlier transformation to solidify the story.
It was the perfect excuse. No one could ever be fully certain about a miracle mutation in such a weak animal. Sometimes they lived. Sometimes they died.
Sometimes they became something else entirely. And the princess had believed him. So Michael made sure Wisdom was kept hidden.
Michael’s private observations during those quiet days confirmed something important. As long as Wisdom’s actions remained within the gentle lines of space, sliding through it, folding it, slipping between its seams without disturbing its balance, the bird used little to no mana.
It was almost effortless, as if space itself welcomed him. But the moment Wisdom tried to corrupt that space like he had with Singularity Pulse, everything changed. The burden shifted back onto Wisdom. He was forced to use his own mana, and even that was not enough.
He exhausted himself because he was still weak, not because the skill was too heavy, but because he was too small to bear even a fraction of the cost. The greater cost, the true cost, was being paid by the Void.