Orin's POV
I entered my room with the stuff I bought today, stepping inside to find Zek sitting on his bed, flipping through a spellbook. He glanced up as I entered, closing the book with a soft thud.
"You know you could help me with this," I said as I almost dropped the crossbow.
"I'm not the one who bought so much stuff today," he retorted.
I rolled my eyes and smiled as I set the crossbow down against the wall, hesitated, then finally spoke. "Jack said something weird to me."
Zek looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "Have you met Jack? He always says weird things."
"No, I mean..." I sat down on my bed, running a hand through my hair. "He told me not to climb the mountain before I know what I'm getting into."
Zek stiffened. It was subtle—just a brief tensing of his shoulders—but I noticed. His eyes flicked toward the door before returning to me, his usual sharp wit absent.
"…That's an old story," he said finally, his voice quieter than usual.
I frowned. "What story?"
Zek leaned back against the wall, fingers idly tapping against his closed spellbook. He exhaled through his nose, staring at nothing for a moment before finally speaking.
"I don't remember all of it," he admitted, "but I can give you the basics."
I nodded, shifting on my bed to get comfortable as he turned onto his side, facing me.
Zek sighed and began.
"A teacher once told his student that the world is like a mountain in the middle of a vast forest. Most people live on the ground, surrounded by trees, never seeing the stars hidden by the leaves. But they are safe. They live happy, simple lives."
His voice was even, calm—but something about the way he spoke sent a shiver down my spine.
"But some people," he continued, "the adventurers, the curious, the ambitious... they start to climb the trees. They fight monsters, trick spirits, and struggle against the unknown—just to catch a glimpse of the stars."
I swallowed. My mind was filled with images of warriors, scholars, and wanderers fighting through dense forests, clawing their way up, eyes fixed on something just beyond reach.
Zek's fingers tightened around the edge of his book. "And when they reach the treetops, they finally see the stars… but they also see the mountain."
I frowned. "The mountain?"
He nodded, his expression unreadable. "Some wonder if the view is even better from the peak. They think, 'If I climb higher, I'll see everything.'" He paused, his voice dropping lower. "So they begin the ascent."
A silence settled between us, heavier than before.
"The higher they climb, the darker the world becomes. The laughter of the people below fades. The warmth of campfires grows distant. The higher they go, the more they realize how small they truly are."
I felt an uncomfortable weight in my chest as if the very air in the room had thickened.
Zek's gaze darkened. "Near the peak, they encounter beings that could crush them with a flick of a finger. They stumble upon knowledge no one was meant to understand. They find power—power that could change everything. Power that could destroy everything."
I shivered.
"Secrets," Zek murmured. "Secrets hidden for a reason. Secrets that should stay hidden."
He hesitated, then as if considering whether to continue. Then, his voice grew quieter.
"And when they finally reach the top…" He exhaled slowly. "The stars are the same."
I blinked. "What?"
"The stars," he repeated. "After all the struggle, the hardship, the sacrifices… they realize the stars haven't changed. The journey wasn't worth it. And in the end, they just… lie there. Alone. At the peak. And they pass away."
A chill ran down my spine. My throat felt dry.
Zek met my gaze, his eyes dark, and serious. "I don't know if Jack was saying the story is true… or if he knows something we don't. But if I had to guess..." His grip on the book tightened. "Jack's seen the mountain. Maybe he's even climbing it. And he doesn't want us following him up. At the very least, it would explain how he knows this stuff."
I didn't know how to respond.
Silence settled between us, thick with unspoken thoughts.
I leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling as Zek's words settled deep into my mind.
Jack had been warning me about something… something about Aaron.
And for the first time, I wondered if I was already climbing that mountain without realizing it, and if so... what does that mean for all of us?
~~~~~~~~
Jack's POV
I walked into my room and started to put my things away.
After another few minutes, Aaron walked in too.
He didn't put anything away but did ask me, "What did you talk to Orin about? He was acting weird."
I looked over with a dark expression and said, "Do you wish to climb the mountain of stars?"
He turned to me in confusion. "Mountain of stars?... What?"
I sighed. "...An old story. Read it before you ask that again. Orin got too close, and I chased him away. That is all I will say on the matter."
Aaron stared at me in confusion and concern.
Not wanting to explain further, I grabbed some things and walked to the door.
"I have some things to do. I will be back later," I said and left the room.
The instant I closed the door, I sensed spirit magic on the other side.
'So it's a shadow spirit,' I concluded.
Thankfully, to my knowledge, Aaron didn't know I was a spirit summoner, as he was never around when I explained it to the others, and so long as the spirit didn't know who I was, I could work against it without it knowing.
I instantly used an old technique with my spirit magic to remove my presence and make it seem like I was walking away unless you were watching me.
Focused on our room, I could sense a dark presence inside.
The mana frequency inside fluctuated, and I could hear Aaron saying something. He was having a conversation with the shadow creature.
I couldn't make out what they were saying, all I could here was a slight whispering, from the shadow and nothing from aaron.
so since I couldn't hear anything I tried something else.
"Glare," I whispered while looking at the palm of my hand.
After a second, an eyeball opened in the center of my palm.
This was Glare—an Artificial Eyeball Spirit I found years ago.
It doesn't have a conscious mind yet, despite being a Rank 3, and possesses no combat abilities.
In order to keep him safe until he can think for himself, I allow him to remain inside my body. This also allows me to move him around wherever I want, and doing this grants me the ability to see further, get a more detailed look at things, and even see things from a different perspective—though it can be slightly disorienting.
I moved Glare to the end of my finger and closed my eyes.
I put my finger through the crack under the door and watched.
The entire room had gone dark, and a shadowy mist was flowing from Aaron's body.
Something shaped like a human torso and head was floating in front of Orin and talking to him.
The shadow was moving around as if talking but made no noise. Aaron was standing there frozen. It looked almost as if he was being yelled at by it, as he looked away with a hint of disgust on his face.
It was creepy and very concerning.
'That's a Rank 6 at least,' I thought.
I tried to read Aaron's lips, but I was not familiar enough with Leonin speech patterns or how their mouths move, so I couldn't make anything out.
Not being able to do anything more, I pulled away from the door and started walking.
~~~~~~~~
About 40 minutes later, I was walking away from the arena with a few items in hand.
Those items were the hellhound's remains Terra told me about earlier.
I had gotten 5 Infernal Cores, 6 pelts, and several bones, teeth, claws, and a few vials of blood. Sadly, I couldn't get anything from the Alpha, as the academy was keeping it as evidence and for study for three years.
It was annoying that I didn't get anything from the Alpha, but even without it, I got a larger haul than I was expecting, and I wasn't going to refuse it.
I stored it all away in my ring but paused just as I was about to put the cores in.
I stared at one for a second before storing them.
'If it's one of them, I may need these for Aaron,' I thought as I walked back inside.
~~~~~~
I decided to head to the library next, as I had a few things I wanted to research.
I started scouring the shelves and grabbing a few books that seemed interesting.
One was about mana and ways to increase your mana pool—this one for me and Araki.
Two others were about how to teach a sorcerer to use their magic and the basics of wind magic—both for Ark.
Finally, I grabbed one about Orc tribes and their cultures.
I flipped through the pages of the Orc culture book first and found a page on Branding.
Many Orc tribes brand their members. It is usually a tattoo of a certain symbol or marking they put on their warriors before every battle.
I flipped through the pages until I found one about the Red Hand.
The Red Hand was different. Rather than needing to brand their members themselves, any Orc born to their tribe automatically had a blood-red marking on their chest in the shape of a hand—hence the name Red Hand.
I looked back at my memories of Orin and found too many similarities.
'I have very little doubt now. Orin was at some point a member of the Red Hand, or at the least, a descendant of one.'
'I guess the question is what happened. He said he left around ten years ago... maybe around the time of the attack on Thornbranch. He left because his father disappeared... Could he have died in the attack?... That's not good.'
I sighed as I put the book back and sat at a table.
Leaving the topic for now, I started reading the other books I had gotten.