Safety~

As a magic barrier seems to exist around this cave the monkey shouldn't be able to bother me here, he was sent flying just from landing on it after all.

But a cave and a magic barrier? That can only mean the one I have been looking for is here, and sure enough, as I enter deeper, I can see a skeleton crunched over on one of the stone walls. He has a book on his lap.

"I greet the greatest sage!"

I bow down lightly.

"I am really sorry but I really need your Magic Circuits to get out of this situation!"

Yes, this is the corpse of the greatest sage, of whom I inherited the self-cleaning, untouchable and self-sustained house from. The greatest sage that was so powerful that no human could accept him as a human anymore, so powerful that he was invited into the Divine Realm by the gods themselves but denied to be able to at least die as a human.

I pick up the book left by this man and start reading the first page.

'It seems you know about me, I wonder why I even bothered to prepare a speech'

Right, I expected a response like this. In the novel, he could also converse with the protagonist for a while using this book. And he could probably read his mind or in this case mine.

'It is as you say, but I never expected a being so special as you to come here. No, a normal human wouldn't be able to reach this place in the first place. You seem to need my Magic Circuits, the strongest to ever exist in this world, and I am ready to give them to you. As you know any normal being born in this world has Magic Circuits, not being able to manipulate mana would strangely stick out here, even if you pretended to focus on your physical aspects. You did well to reach me.

I was ready to give my power to anyone who reached me, to begin with, it would simply be a waste for the world to lose them. It makes all the happier to give them to someone like you. You truly have a great future before you.'

"Future? You can not only read my mind but also look into my future? Are you really dead and not just pretending?"

'What are you talking about I've been dead for a while, I am simply writing this as I look into the future of this book.'

Nothing about that is 'simple'!

'I can also see that unlike me, you will not die alone, that is great. My greatest regret was not being able to live as a human due to my powers. I was always focused on my research and before I notices I became a monster in the eyes of the common and a tool to be used and be disposed of once no longer needed by the kings. Don't let that happen to you.

Anyway, this is all we can talk about for now. It is time for you to receive my Magic Circuits now.'

A strange yet complex-looking structure of light escapes from the book and enters my chest, right where my heart is, after floating for a few seconds. Ah, everything is slowly turning black.

* * *

A cave and a skeleton with a book, not exactly what I want to see when I wake up in the morning. Never mind it's not even morning right now. I either passed out for a whole day or just for a short time as it's still evening, I can see the orange-red sky.

Right, I received the Magic Circuits I've been aiming for all this time. Let's check with the sage again. The text in the book seems complete now.

'By the time you wake up my time should be over, but not much time passes, look even the monkey is still patiently waiting outside. You planned on using teleportation magic to return to my house, right? How did you plan on doing that when you can't even sense Mana? Just run back. Once you finish reading this the barrier will release all of its mana, causing the monkey to fly far enough away that you can escape. While my Magic Circuits have all my necessary theory bound into them, this book still has some extra magic knowledge that could be of use to you so keep it safe, ok? Now run, boy.'

I've been played by this dead old man!

I run with all my strength, the [Map] skill like the intelligence stat only starts working once you have it, so I don't know where my house is yet. But at least I won't run in circles from now on!

* * *

"Haaah... Haaah..."

Home sweet home! The sun has been down for a while, it should be after midnight already. Normally I should have enough stamina that running this long shouldn't exhaust me this much. But I am strangely out of breath.

I am lying on the grass, catching my breath. The starry night sky sure is beautiful.

"..."

Now that I think about it this is my first time doing this. Just lying here, face up and enjoying the stars. Nothing I have to do, nothing I have to think about.

If someone read my mind now, I'm sure they would think I have a strange obsession with the [Meditation] skill. They would be right but I still would dislike that to happen. But yeah, I can use that skill without fully cutting off my senses but I never managed to do it with open eyes. This might be my only time to do that.

Look at the stars. Empty my mind. Only the night exists in my vision.

...