'Alright, let me get this straight." Cyan said, pointing at Ethan first. "You are saying that you found a map leading to Evana City, which was supposed to have been wiped off centuries ago?"

He looked between them again.

"…a merchant was selling this in a black market—." Ethan opened his mouth, but Cyan raised a hand to stop him.

"No, no. Don't explain yet," he said. "I just want to know something first."

Ethan's lips twitched, and Leon watched him struggling to keep up.

Cyan looked at Ethan. "Do you know what you are saying? Evana City is wiped off, it doesn't exist in this era. So, for something which doesn't exist, how would two first year would explore it?"

Cyan had a point.

From his perspective, this entire conversation bordered on insanity.

He did not know the truth. He did not know what Leon knew. And he certainly did not know what Ethan had seen.

So questioning it like this was natural.

Ethan met his gaze and spoke carefully.

"And what if it were true?" he asked. "What if Evana City really does exist? And it was never gone in the first place?"

Cyan shot him a sharp look.

"Well then, Mr. Rank-1," he said slowly, "answer me this. If that were true, why hasn't it appeared yet? From what I've read, their technology was insane. If they were still around, they wouldn't be hiding in some corner. They'd be the leading power in the current era."

Ethan replied, "There could be a reason for that. Right? After Dreamweaver tried to wipe them out, it's possible they survived… and chose to stay hidden."

Cyan stared at him.

Then he scoffed.

"Wow," he said flatly. "You think a civilization can hide from a literal Calamity?"

That was where Ethan froze.

His mouth opened slightly, but no words came out.

That argument had no easy counter because it was stated fact what the literal calamities are capable of.

"So?" Cyan pressed. "What then?"

Leon watched the exchange silently.

Cyan wasn't like Alice. He wasn't aggressive or dismissive, he was calm, and much more logical than her.

This wasn't skepticism of him, but was someone genuinely trying to understand.

Leon turned his gaze toward the window.

Below, students were standing up from the grass, gathering their plates, laughing, slowly returning to class.

'I need to meet Eula after this,' Leon thought, sighing.

Then he straightened.

The room went quiet as he pushed himself off the desk.

"Cyan," Leon said.

Cyan turned toward him.

Leon's golden eyes met his directly.

"Evana still exists," he said calmly. "And the proof is already in front of you."

Cyan frowned. "…The prism?"

Leon nodded once.

"If Evana had truly been erased," he continued, "then a map like that wouldn't react at all."

"What do you mean?"

Leon smirked.

'Against reason, only superior reason survives.'

Leon walked toward Ethan and took the prism from his hand.

"Cyan, try examining this map carefully and tell me what you see."

"Hm?" Cyan narrowed his eyes at him, then looked at the prism in his hand. The palm-sized holographic map hovering over the prism was not even flickering.

To Cyan, it looked like a dense gathering of energy in a single spot, shaping the map.

"Wait…" Then Cyan noticed something. "This is not mana!"

He extended his finger toward it once more. If it were mana, then it should have reacted to his mana core. But instead, it responded only to the touch of his fingers, zooming in and out, and nothing else.

"What the hell is this? It's… strange…"

Leon smirked. "Do you know what makes Evana special?"

Cyan looked at him, surprised.

Leon continued. "Unlike us, they don't simply rely on mana. Their other source of energy is directly drawn from the Astral Spectrum and from the Endless. This prism right here is doing exactly the same."

That was all true. Even in the records, it was mentioned that the civilization of Evana City had a complete understanding of the Endless, as well as a basic grasp of the Astral Spectrum.

Most of their technologies ran on the combined energy of both.

In fact, one could say that they found an alternative to mana.

But that didn't mean they wouldn't use mana at all.

Cyan understood what Leon was pointing at, but still, this didn't answer one thing.

"Alright, I get it. But this only proves that this prism, or whatever this thing is, was created by them. It doesn't prove that Evana still exists."

"You are wrong," Leon said casually, staring him dead in the eyes with the confidence of this world's creator.

Leon continued without raising his voice.

"This prism isn't just projecting stored information," he said. "It's drawing energy directly from the Astral Spectrum."

Cyan frowned. "Drawing… energy?"

Leon nodded. "The light you're seeing right here…. The one crystallizing in the air. That isn't mana. It's Astral Matter."

Cyan blinked.

"Astral Matter? Alright, I am lost… explain it such that I understand." he repeated. Even Ethan lightly nodded.

"Haah… Think of it as the equivalent of mana," Leon said. "But not for this reality. It's the foundation of the Astral Spectrum itself. Just like mana is the base of everything here in Mortal Domain, Astral Matter is what that reality runs on."

Cyan looked back at the hovering map.

Leon tapped the prism lightly with his finger.

"This thing is doing exactly that."

Cyan's brows knitted together. "So what you're saying is…"

"I'm saying this map doesn't work on stored coordinates," Leon cut in. "It works on a point to point source."

Cyan looked up at him sharply. "Point to point?"

Leon nodded again. "It locates Evana City in real time."

Ethan sucked in a quiet breath.

"If Evana didn't exist," Leon continued, "this prism would have nothing to connect to. No source and no response. It wouldn't even activate."

Cyan stared at the map.

"So you're saying," he said slowly, "this thing is projecting Evana's layout because it's locating it right now."

"Exactly."

"How do you know this?" Cyan asked.

Leon shrugged. "Don't ask me to explain the entire process. It's complicated."

He added casually, "I'm a research scholar. If I start explaining this properly, it'll take weeks. And even then, you'd still need a background in higher dimensional mathematics to fully get it."

Cyan clicked his tongue. "Great."

Leon's lips curved faintly.

Leon thought to himself.

'Well, it's not rocket science, this works on the same principle as satellites back in my old world. They projected real time data based on what existed. Just like a Global Poisoning System.'

"…I don't know if I fully understand all of this," Cyan admitted. "But I understand enough."

He looked at Ethan.

"And if you're lying," he added calmly, "this would be the dumbest lie imaginable."

Ethan let out a weak laugh. "Yeah. That's fair."

Cyan took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck.

"…Damn it."

Leon watched him closely. This was the moment he was waiting for. In the original story line, Cyan agreed to Ethan easily because they befriended before this arc.

Cyan looked up again.

"So," he said. "You want to go to Evana City."

"Mhm," both nodded.

"And you want me to come with you."

"Mhm."

Cyan stared at them for a long second.

Then he sighed.

"…You two are insane."

Leon smiled.

"But," Cyan continued, "if Evana really exists…" His gaze hardened.

"…then I want to see it with my own eyes."

Ethan's face lit up briefly, but Cyan raised his hand and asked him.

"But… what would I get in return?"

"Ehm?" Ethan tilted his head. He didn't know what reward they would get, it was only him who got the reward for the system.

Ethan thought for the time being, before replying.

"I don't have anything of my own to offer you," Ethan said honestly.

"But if Evana City really exists, then whatever we find there, if it's technology, records, information, I won't claim it for myself. We share it., fair and square."

That's an acceptable statement from Leon's perspective, but what Cyan wants the most was only known to Leon here.

So, before Cyan could open his mouth to answer Ethan's words, Leon added.

"And also, if you help us, then in future if you need any kind of help, then we won't reject the offer." Leon glanced at Ethan. "Isn't that right?"

"Of course, that goes without saying." Ethan agreed, nodding his head, while wearing a smile on his face.

Cyan eyes widen at Leon's words. If what Leon says was true, if they could help him, then…

"…Damn it," Cyan muttered. "Alright. I don't want to be left behind."

This made Ethan surprised to the point, but he maintained his expression natural.

"Sweet," Ethan said, walking close to him, and extending his hand, "we will leave the day after tomorrow, so short things out in Eclipse, alright?"

"Fine with me." Cyan grabbed and shook his hand.

"You too Leon."

Leon nodded.

As they all agreed, a familiar translucent window appeared in Ethan's view.

[Quest: Reminiscence of the Past]

[Time Remaining to Accept the quest: 45.3 Hours]

[▶ Accepted]

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.