Ruger blinked and looked at his teacher. Immanuel seemed equally bewildered.
"What will happen, then?" Ruger asked again.
At the same time, another thought struck him. If this so-called Soul-Eater Book was so powerful, and was meant for duels, how could merely opening it and reading a passage have brought him into this situation? Couldn't it be used to forcibly interfere with other Wizards?
"Though this is the first meal of trust and sacrifice, the outcome remains the same. One party will face the fate of being eaten. That will not change," the hazy figure said. "Even if you have never heard of my master's great renown, you should have been prepared. The Soul-Eater Book can only be opened with both parties' consent."
Ruger froze at those words.
The outcome surprised him, as did the conditions for opening it.
He had never asked his teacher anything. Without asking, how could he have obtained consent?
The spirit of the book suddenly laughed.
"I understand now. This is why a meal of trust and sacrifice has come about. You did not ask the other party. You did not even speak. Perhaps it was only a glance, a fluctuation in mental power, or the pull of your aura. Whatever you expressed, the other party would agree and respond instinctively. That is why you appeared here. There is nothing wrong with the Soul-Eater Book. Everything follows the rules laid down by my master," the hazy figure said.
Unconditional trust and response?
Ruger asked himself that question. He wanted to reject the idea, only to understand in a flash.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been a problem. But his teacher-the teacher before him, Immanuel-was not normal, which made all of this possible. His teacher might not even have been a real human. Ruger had