Chapter 43
Hands...
Hands...
In a dark and eerie place, a young man stood silently.
"Eh, where am I?" Ray asked, confused.
Looking in all directions, Ray felt a strong sense of familiarity with this place as if he had been here several times before.
Confused, Ray walked in every direction, searching for a way out.
The longer Ray stayed in this strange yet familiar place, the more breathless he felt.
Somehow, he felt uneasy.
Hands...
Hands...
Ray continued walking without a specific direction. The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the sound of dripping water and his footsteps echoing on the muddy ground.
After walking for a considerable time, Ray finally caught sight of something other than the vast muddy field.
Ray felt that something was amiss when he saw it. However, despite that, his feet continued moving without stopping.
This scene felt familiar, reminiscent of typical horror plots, and Ray found it peculiar.
The closer he got to the object, the more constricted he felt.
Ray sensed a threat emanating from the object.
For the sake of his safety, Ray turned around and tried to escape quickly.
However, when Ray thought he had distanced himself enough, he felt a sense of hopelessness. The distance between Ray and the object remained unchanged; it neither drew closer nor moved farther away.
The distance remained the same as before!
It was as if Ray's attempts to escape all this time were merely an illusion.
The feeling of danger grew stronger.
Beads of sweat started drenching Ray's entire body.
Ray decided to look behind him to confirm the situation, but to his surprise, and with a shiver down his spine, the object had vanished.
Swos...
Feeling a cool rush of air against his neck, Ray quickly turned around to see what was happening.
"..."
The object that had frightened Ray didn't appear, but still, he didn't feel relieved.
He scanned his surroundings, and suddenly, a humanoid figure with a sinister face materialized in front of Ray without warning.
Sksksk! Nyittttt! Arghhhh!
A chilling, agonizing voice rang in Ray's ear.
Ray was so shocked that his heart nearly stopped, and he felt as if he had been transported to another world.
Without hesitation, Ray attempted to escape. However, unfortunately, he couldn't elude this incident.
Ray could only cry.
The sinister humanoid figure seemed familiar, but Ray didn't pay much attention as he felt the pain intensifying.
Ray's body was covered in bloody wounds.
Just as Ray thought that his death had arrived, he suddenly woke up from his sleep.
Still, in a state of shock, Ray remained silent, trying to calm himself down.
After a while, Ray finally gathered the courage to ask.
"What was that? What the hell was it?"
Ray's body and mattress were completely wet as if it had rained in his room.
It took Ray a while to compose himself before getting up from his bed.
...
Ray arrived at school feeling tired, with noticeable bags under his eyes.
As he entered the classroom, Ray was immediately confronted with an impolite question.
"Hey, what's wrong with you? Did you waste Ray's seed this time?" asked Hamar, giving Ray a pitying look.
Without even trying to guess, it was obvious that the one asking was the idiot, Hamar.
Out of laziness, Ray simply nodded and said yes.
"Oh yes, my friend, I didn't sleep last night," Ray said languidly.
Hamar, who heard this, was confused. He was prepared to hear something strange from his friend, but Ray's response lacked enthusiasm.
...
During the lunch break, Ray was still feeling down. He could only listen to his group discussing among themselves.
"Hey, did you guys know that Alex from class 2A has already reached the mid-level of mortal practitioner?" Agni said excitedly, gossiping.
Clara, who wasn't too interested in gossip, was also a bit amazed.
"Really? How long has it been? How could he progress so quickly?" she asked.
"Don't think it's just Alex, there are many other geniuses who reached the mid-level of mortality first," Agni added.
"Whether it's talent or not, we can't compare ourselves to them," Lucas said realistically.
Ray, who was listening to their conversation, looked at Hamar expectantly.
"Don't despair, soon I will make you guys proud as we will be the second class to reach the pinnacle of the mortal ladder!" Hamar declared proudly with enthusiasm.
Ray could only shake his head and ask, "Which stage are you at right now?"
"Ahem... it doesn't matter which stage I'm at right now! What matters is being the first in the second class to reach the pinnacle of the mortal ladder!" Hamar replied, momentarily taken aback but not giving up on his boast.
The group ended up laughing at their friend's antics.
...
Ray returned home as usual. Even though he tried to act casual, the fear from before still lingered within him.
As a result, his progress in practice significantly decreased.
However, Ray stuck to his schedule diligently because he didn't want to let it affect him too much. If his mental state continued like this, would he stop training for days on end?
Certainly not!
After dinner, Ray took a bucket filled with bamboo pulp to a corner of the attic.
He then filtered the pulp through gauze and continued with the traditional papermaking process.
Ray was accustomed to this task, having been doing it for weeks.
For no apparent reason, Ray absentmindedly dripped the sticky liquid that belonged to the previous scorpion onto the wet paper's surface.
Afterward, Ray proceeded to chop the bamboo into several appropriately sized pieces.
Now, Ray was not only sculpting and painting but also combining both skills.
He was making shadow puppets out of leather and bamboo to entertain his younger siblings.
He had also prepared suitable stories for the children to listen to.
Ray finally stopped making shadow puppets at eleven o'clock at night. His puppet display was not as serious as it would be in his old world because, according to Ray, it was just a toy for his younger siblings and not a proper show.
Ray wanted to take Puppet more seriously, but he felt lazy. Moreover, his emotions were still unstable due to the nightmare he had that morning.
After tidying up all the equipment, Ray took out some alchemy tools.
Now it was time for Ray to showcase his learning abilities and alchemy skills.
He neatly organized every ingredient and tool on the table. Then he retrieved a strand of hair from his storage ring.
With great care, Ray prepared alchemical potions, meticulously using each ingredient.
Upon seeing the black liquid inside the burning glass, Ray couldn't hide his joy.
"May my efforts not be in vain!" Ray muttered hopefully.
Carefully, Ray placed a sterilized strand of hair into the glass kiln.
The thin and brittle hair easily melted in the kiln.
With anticipation, Ray couldn't help but sweat involuntarily.
After a while, the liquid in the burning
glass started to react and eventually changed completely.
The previously black liquid transformed into a magical bone-white color.
Ray, witnessing this, felt happy and full of anticipation.
Channeling Aether into his eyes, Ray activated the aura eye art he possessed.
Observing the turbulence of the rich white aura, Ray couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
"Ahhhh, I finally did it!" Ray shouted happily while jumping up and down.