Endless blackness.
The aroma of meat was gone, along with the bubbling of the stew and old Lunse's cheerful humming.
Ruger calmed himself and sensed his surroundings carefully, until he caught that feeling again.
The wondrous pursuit began anew. It seemed as though he was advancing, yet also as though the entire world was retreating, moving toward him. Or perhaps neither had moved, but he was reading that trace, drawing closer to it.
His conjecture seemed to have been confirmed. This time really was different from before.
A little risk had been worthwhile. By worthwhile, he did not mean only the immediate gains. The surprises along the way, the seemingly insignificant details, had all taught him a lesson. They had been unexpected, yet should really have been expected. Deep down, he had refused to admit defeat, while also believing that if he became too deeply immersed, the old Wizards of the Holy Tribunal would intervene. He had only deceived himself into thinking the outcome was unexpected.
Compared with the blackness, he preferred that hazy gray feeling. Some objects presented just such a scene when he used the Divine Object Art.
It was much better than last time, but still a tug-of-war. Ruger was quite relaxed. His only regret was that he had never actually eaten that dinner or passed the test involving those four potion formulas. Back in Burning Blood City, he had only gotten halfway through before it was interrupted. Now, in this illusion, he had failed to finish it again. Of course, old Lunse had left him the Painless Body Potion formula before departing-the reward for passing the test. It was a genuine, exclusively improved version.
He had obtained it without trouble, but the process had gone wrong, and that always left a sense of regret.
Though he