Accidental Entry

After entering Ian pretended to look around the old cottage, searching all rooms and the kitchen before turning his gaze to the fireplace.

Due to the low visibility inside the cottage, he used his cell phone flashlight to search his surroundings...which drained his phone's battery dry after a while. So right now, he is walking at a snail's pace, relying on the puny amount of light coming into the cottage from a crack in the wooden wall.

A moment later, Ian rested his hand on the concrete wall, sweating and panting. Tired from searching all around the cottage.

But...the brick he was resting his hand on suddenly sunk into the wall, revealing an old passage inside the fireplace.

'indeed...it's here.' Not daring to think any further, Ian distracted himself with some irrelevant topics and diverted his attention to something else...

He walked into the passage slowly to avoid tripping...The moldy floor is slippery causing him to fall many times in his search

'I should have bought a flashlight..'. Ian regretted not buying a flashlight before entering here.

______

MYSTERIOUS SPIRIT'S POV

.

An elderly man sat on a couch in a room with only a desk and a bookshelf. His face is barely visible due to the newspaper blocking light from the only fluorescent bulb in the room. But bizarrely the newspaper is actually floating in the Air!

He turned his head away from the newspaper and looked at the entrance of his room.

Seeming to notice something He closed his eyes..." Interesting...another person entered this old man's house...Oh! He even found the secret entrance!"... The old man uttered in surprise.

This is called Spiritual Perception, a special type of power that allows a spirit to 'see' everything happening in a certain range from a 3rd person's perspective.

While scrutinizing the youngster who was slowly getting closer to the door, the elder smiled and waved his hand,... which somehow opened the door and 'dragged' the kid in front of him.

The kid looked at his surroundings in astonishment and surprise. He then looked at the elder with curiosity as well as a bit of fear and confusion.

"What brought you to this abandoned house?". The elder was curious about why this youngster dared to enter his house. It's mainly because, he knew his house was notorious for being a ghost house, and anyone who entered this cottage in the past called him a ghost.

The youngster didn't reply but just scanned his surroundings curiously as if looking for something.

The elder frowned at the moment and tried to read that youngster's thoughts. It's been a long time since someone has been so rude as to ignore his question.

This is one of the powers that he had learned...Mind Reading. It is used to read memories, thoughts, etc Based on the proficiency and the level of the being that used the power. Usually, it only works on those below their level and is not helpful at all in combat, but it can be a really useful power based on the situation.

When the elder tried to read the youngster's mind, a sudden chill enveloped him. He fell into an illusion and saw 'it'...

A colossal eye.., whose size is beyond what he can understand... It was as big as his field of vision, saying he is an ant compared to it would be an overstatement. he followed the gaze of that eye and looked down, and the elder almost fainted by the spectacle he saw.

It's...a bubble...a tiny bubble which had countless glowing spots and barely visible tiny rocks...Moreover, rather than a single one, it looked as if an uncountable amount of bubbles existed at that very same spot. every time the eye flashed with light the bubble got changed.

Even though he isn't entirely sure about it, he can guess what it is...

'The Universe!?'.He knew a thing or two about the current space research of the mortals and If he isn't wrong then this thing is definitely the universe but...

The old man turned his gaze towards the eye and felt terror. He suddenly snapped out of the illusion out of nowhere and wiped the imaginary sweat on his forehead with his right hand.

The elderly man then looked at the mysterious youngster before him with shock and felt slightly wary.

He knew something was wrong with this guy... something that someone at his level could never understand.

He waved his hand in the air, and a pen and paper floated to him as if an invisible hand was controlling them.

The pen moved on its own and wrote on the paper swiftly... and then the paper got folded and entered into the envelope in the old man's hand.

The envelope floated in the air, under the astonished gaze of the youngster, and landed on his hand.

The old man took a small cubic box and sent a glowing white power from his hand, which caused the cubic box to glow in blue...Opening a spherical portal in front of him.

After closing the space tunnel, the old man sighed in relief.

He knew that if anything went wrong, then that old guy from the university would fix it.

He then went back to reading the newspaper as if nothing happened...Leaving the muddy footprints in the old cottage as the only proof that the so-called youngster... Ian Froda once entered this cottage.

_____

After the initial dizziness of traveling in a space tunnel, Ian felt lost... He can't understand why that old spirit suddenly sent him to the university.

He thought about countless possibilities and devised a plan to fool the spirit perfectly, but..."did.. I just did all of that for nothing?"Ian felt as if he has done everything for naught.

Although he achieved his goal, he felt lost...Ian can't understand why that old spirit immediately sent him to the university when he saw him.

He sighed with sorrow and looked at his surroundings.

"so this is the principal's office..".He muttered.

The reason why he searched for the spirit is simple. It's because that spirit in the cottage and the principal of this university are partners. Moreover, there is a space tunnel between the principal's office and the old spirit's house allowing him to immediately enter here without wasting time traveling.

Ian felt more aggrieved the longer he thought about it. He stayed up all night thinking of a plan. And he even brainwashed himself as the persona he chose relentlessly when he was on the train so that he could avoid the spirit's mind-reading power after meeting him...But...But..Ahh!

While Ian is fuming in anger, He heard the noise of an opening doorknob...

Ian turned his head towards the opening door and looked at an old man in a vintage-styled suit wearing a monocle, the old man has completely white hair that was caused due to him entering his declining years and his eyes carried a sense of oppression as well as a tinge of melancholy.

Ian knew this person...The Principal of the University of Novaetas - 'Osiris Griffin' ... Overseer of humanity's haven.....This is the only university in the central realm that was dedicated to training the next generation experts of humans for the sole purpose of increasing humankind's strength.

This is the place where the first arc In his story started...as well as the only safest place Ian could think of.

Ian entered here as he planned but...The way he entered is a bit different from his expectations.

'Ugh...what should I say here again?' Ian forgot the next part of his script.

An awkward silence encompassed the room...