Path Awakening

The Library fell into an eerie silence in an instant.

"You're very suspicious, Ms. Kafka." Chu Mu took a step back, breaking the silence himself. "So far, all I know is that your name is Kafka. I know nothing about where you came from. I don't think I have any basis for trusting you right now."

"That hurts my feelings." The purple-haired beauty pretended to wipe away tears, but she quickly remembered that the boy before her couldn't make out her expression.

She simply dropped the act, her voice turning wistful:

"Even if I could give you power? Would you still refuse to come with me?"

"Power?" Chu Mu frowned slightly. "If you mean giving me a full meal so I can build up a little strength, then I'll have to pass. Go find someone else."

"Hehe, you're quite funny." Kafka couldn't help laughing. "Taking you along on an interstellar journey would certainly be entertaining."

"Is this your way of dangling an empty promise in front of me?" Chu Mu's young face was utterly serious. "You pretend to casually mention interstellar travel, but you're actually trying to tempt me, telling me that if I follow you, I can leave Jarilo-VI. Is that what you mean?"

At that, Chu Mu looked quietly at Kafka.

"Thank you for giving me that information. Now I have another theory: you're either a traveler from the Sea of Stars or a swindler from the Upper District."

"You don't have to analyze everything so seriously." Kafka smiled and waved a hand. "All right, let's get down to business. Do you want to awaken your power? I mean the power of a Path."

"A Path?" Chu Mu looked at Kafka in surprise.

Then he shook his head. "The power of a Path only awakens when someone happens to receive an Aeon's favor. Ms. Kafka, please stop teasing me."

"I'm not teasing you." Kafka smiled. "I'm no Aeon, but you already have a gift from a Path within you. You've simply never opened it. All I'm doing is offering you a key."

"A gift from a Path?" Chu Mu was puzzled. "Do you mean my left eye?"

"I can't say much about that left eye of yours." Kafka glanced at Chu Mu's green eye. That deep green gaze always made her feel as though Yaoshi were watching her through it.

She hurriedly looked away.

"In any case, the gift within you has nothing to do with Abundance. It exists in your sea of consciousness."

When she had interfered with Chu Mu's subconscious earlier, Kafka had discovered the power of a Path within the boy's mind. That power was sealed deep inside and had never been used.

If Chu Mu had been a Pathstrider, influencing his perceptions wouldn't have been so easy for Kafka.

Only the power of a Path could resist power that likewise came from a Path.

Against ordinary people, Pathstriders held an overwhelming advantage in sheer power.

And now, Kafka was going to help Chu Mu become a Pathstrider!

"My sea of consciousness?" Chu Mu was even more confused.

"I know you have a lot of questions." Kafka patted Chu Mu's shoulder. "I have a lot of questions about you, too. There are many secrets about you that need unraveling. But my experiences traveling so far have taught me that it's best not to be too curious about the secrets of the Sea of Stars. You never know what hidden being might be behind them."

As she spoke, she took out a plain-looking key and handed it to Chu Mu.

"Hold it and use it to open that gift. You may see some strange sights and hear some eerie sounds. Don't think about them. Don't ask."

"Can this really open something inside my mind?" Chu Mu held the key, its cold touch leaving him in no doubt-

This really was just an ordinary door key! An iron one, at that!

How was this supposed to open anything? Was he meant to drill a keyhole into his brain?

He looked at Kafka in confusion, as though seeking confirmation that this woman wasn't making a fool of him again.

"This is indeed an ordinary key." Kafka's voice was very gentle. "But what you're holding doesn't matter. What matters is that you know there's a gift inside your mind. Now, open it."

As the last syllable fell, Chu Mu's heart gave a violent jolt.

Chu Mu clutched his chest hard.

This feeling... was he having another episode?

Around him was the deep, dark Sea of Stars once again.

Suddenly, the sound of music reached his ears.

The lilting music had been distant at first, but now it was drawing closer and closer!

A band appeared in his field of vision, marching toward him in step as they beat drums, struck gongs, and blew horns!

Every member of the band looked outlandish, dressed in multicolored clothes and wearing exaggerated masks.

The designs on the masks kept shifting, changing faster and faster.

Suddenly, Chu Mu saw a familiar face on them.

Sampo!

As his pupils contracted, the masks stopped changing.

By then, the band had stopped and stood in a row before Chu Mu, every mask frozen in Sampo's likeness.

The performers in Sampo masks marched in place, playing their instruments.

The music was deafening now!

Just then, a Clockwork Doll emerged from the very center of the band, holding a box in its hands.

The Clockwork Doll came up to Chu Mu and stood motionless.

Chu Mu looked at the box and instinctively reached out to open it.

At that moment, the music stopped, and all the performers in Sampo masks stared fixedly at him.

Beneath the masks were crimson eyes!

Open it, open it!

Open it, and you'll join us!

Open it, open it!

Open it, and we'll march together!

Open it, open it!

Open it, and the music will never stop!

Suddenly, Chu Mu's hand stopped.

"You're not very clever, Aha," Chu Mu said in a low voice. "You got one detail wrong."

The performers said nothing, but the exaggerated expressions on their masks turned cold.

Two streams of bloody tears ran from Chu Mu's eyes.

"Aha, I'm blind."

When the Aeon of Abundance had pressed that finger down on him, it had not only blinded him in reality, but in this space as well!

How could he possibly see so clearly?

That was why Chu Mu was certain that everything before him was fake!

These musicians could only be the work of that Aeon-

The Aeon of Elation, Aha!

As for why Sampo's face had appeared here?

Perhaps Sampo was an Elation Follower.

Or perhaps he was an incarnation of Aha.

Chu Mu didn't dare speculate any further.

Sure enough, as soon as Chu Mu said those words, the scene around him began to shatter.

The performers broke into fragments, inch by inch.

The Clockwork Doll also lost power and fell to the ground, its mouth opening and closing-

"...How embarrassing... Aha... how embarrassing..."

As that voice faded, Chu Mu's vision grew hazy.

For those who lost their sight later in life, what they saw often wasn't pure blackness, but a thick fog that could never be cleared away.

The thick fog in Chu Mu's eyes was green.

Chu Mu had once hated this color. It reminded him of the culprit who had blinded him.

But now, the color gave him a sense of reassurance.

Chu Mu understood that seeing green meant Aha had left. He was safe now.

He reached out and slowly felt his way forward.

Until his hand found a platform.

On the platform rested a Golden Crown.

The moment he touched the crown-

A vast, majestic voice resounded all around him:

"What the Seeable cannot see is the gift of the eyeless."

"Don the crown, and He shall enter His kingdom!"