[Rein’s POV: ]

{ “He’s diving.” }

“Hmmm?”

The snake that we saw in the previous room, the being that gave us the choice of going into the room that would have contained the legacy or whatever he was talking about, had now taken the form of a small snake.

He was still bigger than most of the snakes present outside of the dungeon but, it was not as big as it used to be.

‘We had been talking about mundane things since I somehow managed to complete his trial, but since Eon was still unable to figure out how to ‘use’ his powers, we were waiting until he did so.’

The creature was quiet until now, but now, he was looking at Eon’s still body with a keen interest.

“What does that mean? He’s diving?”

{ “Oh, seems like you do not understand the term, Great Lady.” }

The snake was as tall as me and though it was not as large as it used to be, it was still a long and tall one which towered over even the Naga warrior.

His green eyes were pretty. So much so that I could not help staring at them.

His scales were pretty as well, and they were most definitely magical.

The kind of powers that he had did not seem that special to my eyes, but I can tell this creature was in fact something more amazing then we could fathom at the moment.

{ “To [Dive] is to enter one’s own mind realm, or to be more specific, an uncharted realm inside of you.” }

The term that he was using seemed uncommon to me. He was an ancient being who perhaps had been around for a long time so there was some chance that he was used to terms that were of his own time.

But, since he was using the Mana speech and since there was something like a unique temporary connection between us, I understood most of the things he was saying.

And, even this new term, [Dive] did not seem like something too unique after his explanation.

“So… it’s something like entering in the deeper part of the [Zone], right?”

Eon’s body had been laying still for a while.

He was not moving.

He was not breathing by himself either and, it seemed like his body was on live support or something, functioning on its own.

Mana was being used to circulate air inside of him the bodily functions were being maintained artificially, though, it seemed like he was not the one doing this.

‘I know about Lucy, so it seems like she’s the one helping him.’

And, if what the snake was saying was correct and he was deep inside some unexplored area of his own mind, then it is understandable that his body itself is not functioning anymore. Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

{ “The Zone that you people refer to primarily means entering a state of mind that makes your mental functions flow without any interruptions.

Stay tuned to empire

Many of the psychological and physical processes are involved when it comes to the Zone phenomenon, but it is different in a [Dive].” }

He did not have to explain all of this but he was still doing it for some reason after not explaining shit during the whole trial.

‘We had to fight all those pretty snakes and defeat them even though we had no need to do so.’

They were dead now. I don’t even know if I will get to see something similar to them anytime soon. But, we cannot do anything about something that had already passed.

{ “The [Dive] is when ‘you’ detach yourself from your sense of self, separating the very ‘Ego’ from the ‘mind’ that it is part of.

Though, even I do not know how this phenomenon works, this is how I understand it with my limited understanding of this unique mental state.” }

It seemed like he was hyped up by whatever Eon was doing right now.

He surely was surprised when he saw me using my Eyes properly, but there was no unique interest like him.

Now though, it seems like he really is looking forward to the outcome of whatever Eon was up to. But…

{ “Doing this is extremely dangerous since ninety nine out of the hundred times, there is a chance that you will receive irreversible mental damage.” }

My heart froze the moment I heard him say that.

{ “When you [Dive], you’re practically leaving the physical world and going not out into the world, but inside the eternally vast mind which is ultimately connected to the rest of the world and Nature that we all are part of.” }

I did not hear anything that he said after that since, now… the only thought left in my mind was, his safety.

{ “In the ancient times and even today, I believe there would be pilgrims out in the deep parts of this world who have forsaken the pleasures of the mortal world and the society.

Those people go into secluded spaces or in faraway lands devoid of any destruction and eternally submit themselves to introspection, divining deep into their own minds and staying in that state for days, weeks, months, and sometimes… for centuries.

At least, traditionally, that is how it is supposed to be done. That too, after an arduous physical training where They gain a complete control over their mind and senses.” }

The snake seemed to be talking about those beings we call Monks.

Not the kind of monk his elder cousin was, but the true monks who have achieved a complete control over their mind and senses and leave the pleasures of the world and dedicate their life to understand the nature of the world, the Truths, and ultimately achieve liberation from the eternal cycle of life and rebirth.

{ “What he just did… seems to be similar to what those pilgrims achieve after years of dedicated training.

Not having to control senses directly and having the power of the Sun to block the senses. Temporarily blocking the simple functions of the mind which, in most cases, is impossible, and even doing something as absurd as separation of his Self from his psyche.

He ultimately achieved [Dive] and was able to enter a dark part of his mind, however, it seems like he was able to pull himself back right before anything worse happens.” }

As the creature, the snake said that, the Mana around his still body started dissipating.

I could tell with my eyes that he was regaining his consciousness, and it was a good thing at the very least.

“Then… is he safe now?”

{ “Seems like the Dive that he experienced was unique in itself. Though, he surely seems to have found nothing after that attempt as he was pulled back before he could even experience the ‘density’ of his his own mind.” }

I did not understand what he was saying exactly but, he meant Eon was fine.

And, that was all that I needed to know to bring my frozen heart and enraged mind to a rather normal state.

“Is he… going to be alright?”

Walking up to him and sitting down beside his still unmoving body, I tried checking if his organs were working as they should.

‘Thankfully…’

It didn’t seem like there were any complications with his physical body.

But, I didn’t know if I can say the same for his mental body just yet.

{ “He will be fine, Great Lady.” }

His green eyes glowed for a moment as he looked at his still body, and, when he moved his tongue closer to him, on his forearm, and tried doing something…

-SPARK…!

A strange current pushed him back as a unique tattoo, or… Stigma of something resembling a feather flashed on him.

{ “Yeah. He will be fine.” }

The snake’s tongue was burnt.

He had to cut his own tongue and heal it with his powers to stop more of it from burning.

“…?”

The fire that had burnt it was White. A pure white so unique that even I was seeing something like this for the first time.

{ “He will definitely have to work hard to actually realise these dormant powers of his though.” }

There was a shocked expression on the Naga warrior. Even the snake himself seemed shocked about something, but the shock in his eyes was present only for a moment.

After curing his tongue, the creature went to the back of the room where we had been since a while ago.

{ “Still…” }

It seems… like he couldn’t access his powers.

Though it was my first time seeing his stigma, it was obvious from what just happened that he still did not have any control over it.

‘The snake, in fact, seemed to be the one that triggered the stigma and was hurt as a result.’

But, even though it happened in a fraction of second, even I saw how the White flames burnt the snake.

It was clear that the snake was no simple entity and yet, it got hurt. And, even though Eon seems to have failed his trial, the snake was still shocked by his failure.

Which was simply confusing for me in many ways.

“You… dummy.”

But, all that aside, I’m glad he’s fine.

He might have gotten hurt doing whatever he was trying and ultimately… I would have been the cause of it since I suggested him to do it.

‘I almost hurt him.’

A mental wound could not be healed with potions or spells or scrolls. Perhaps some kind of artifacts could do it, but, we did not have that.

So…

“I’m… I’m sorry…”

This would have been bad…

“I’m sorry…”

It would have been really…

“Eon…”

Really…

“I…”

Really bad.

“…”

And it Was my fault that he even considered doing something So Crazy!