I trusted my instincts.

My senses haven't failed me yet. It saves me more time than I can count, though there is a problem with that comparison though. I don't know how much I can count.

And so when I say that bells were ringing nonstop, like church bells that constantly ring every morning to signal the start of the day. The world felt fuzzy, I uneasily walked or, better yet, hopped from one rooftop to another with tense movement.

Mr. Lucius shot through the air, not slowing down one bit. Direction as to why he was going there, I had no idea. He only said that we needed to talk, and I don't think I'm going to like this talk. Nevertheless, I followed.

I had to speed up, I could still see Mr Lucius from over the yonder, yet if he sped up for only a little bit more, I might lose him. Speaking of losing something, I also need to lose the people tracking me. I have a guess it's from Mr Samuel.

The sound of thunder crackled through the air, and within a split second, I was gone from my previous position. And was now beside Mr Lucius. Using {Life Detection}, I still felt some hundreds or thousands of people on the streets, yet there were no signs of my pursuers. It was easy to differentiate them from the crowd, I only needed to focus my {Life Detection} and could feel faint signs of life.

Meaning it could only come from them or a dying person. I also used the same skill they were using, lowering my presence to the point where I would be ignored like air, yet not to the point where I would incur suspicion. That was enough.

Besides, I saw that Mr Lucius had a carefree expression. On his hand was also a drink he pulled out from somewhere, casually drinking it as he flew through the air.

“So um Mr Lucius… Where are we going… again?”

Sometimes I like these little trips. It lets me spend more time with Mr Lucius. It's rare that we ever bond together even though he lives inside of me. But on the other hand. I hate it.

It always leads to me being beaten to the point where I can almost see the Gates of Asphodel. On this particular trip, I might enter it for a brief period. I won't die, Mr. Lucius won't let me, or at least I don't think I will die. Instead, it would just hurt a lot. I don't have a better way of putting it honestly.

Instead of replying like a normal and polite person, Mr Lucius only smiled and flew faster, leaving me in the dust. I sighed, feeling a little helpless, and grabbed inside my pockets, and felt the cold warmth of the talismans.

‘Just a chant, a chant would be enough. I thought.

Eventually, I let it go. I felt that a little trip wouldn't be so bad. With a flash of lightning, I followed up with Mr Lucius.

…

This was not what I expected.

I looked dumbfoundedly around me, the scene and environment were something I never even considered. The sheer reason why someone like me was there already baffled me. What we were going to do there, I had no idea.

“What you're going to do? There is no we in this situation.”

Mr Lucius simply shrugged at my thoughts, reminding me that we have the same cerebral link. I sometimes forget that part honestly. Mostly because Mr Lucius rarely appears, anyway.

“Okay… What am I going to do?”

I stood at attention, feeling myself stirring and squirming where I stood. I already had a good look at the place, and frankly, I was surprised that this place even existed. From the corner of my eyes, a passing fisherman was waving hello at me, I wanted to wave back but I was too uncomfortable just standing there.

Taking a deep breath, I calmed my nerves down, feeling as if my veins were about to explode and cause a shower of blood. Why oh why am I here again…

The moon lightly hung in the sky, gently shining upon the seabed. The water sparkled with brilliance, reflecting the light glow of the moon. The two bodies seemingly complement each other, causing no conflict that overshadows one another. Wish the world was like that.

When I looked back at Mr Samuel and still received no answers, he was leaning against the edge of the boat, yet he didn't make the boat sway like he didn't even exist in the first place.

“One thing you will do over the night my dear pupil, is to fish.”

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“But I don't even know how to fish, heck I don't even have fishing- never mind…”

Mr Lucius snapped his fingers and poof, a full fishing gear was laid out in front of me. Why did I even bother questioning it? I slowly lowered myself, making sure to not fall over. I have a feeling that going overboard isn't such a good idea right now.

No point complaining, let's begin.

…

Get me out of here.

I sat down at the edge of the boat, holding my fishing pole as I silently gazed out across the water. There was no sound to be heard except for the calming waves of the lake, and the sound of Mr Lucius sipping his drink.

I gave Mr Lucius a sidelong glance, his posture leaning back against the edge of the boat, a glass drink on hand, silently gazing at the moon above us. I still have no idea why he sent me here. The bad feeling too, the terrible feeling I had before this was gone.

Meaning it could only mean one thing. It was already here. And I was pretty sure that I was already in the middle of the storm. But it's worse. Because there was no storm, and as much as I hate to admit it, I would rather fight a storm than do nothing and sit around in a boat, waiting for some fish to come and be whisked away by a stick.

“Patience child, patience.”

I didn't reply, because I did not know what to say. Disregarding what Mr Lucius said wasn't a good idea. He was usually, scratch that, always right when it came to these things. Every time I didn't listen, bad things always happened. Reminds me of my sister.

Scratch that again, bad things always happen regardless of what I do. It becomes like that when I don't heed their words when I don't listen.

So I sat quietly, looking out into the waters. There was still no response from my fishing pole, no little fishies were biting my bait. Wait a second. Did I put bait?

“No, you did not.”

With Mr Lucius’ confirmation, I sighed before reeling my line back, not wanting to think about the hour I wasted staring off into nothingness. Why did I come again?

As I was slowly reeling my line back, it suddenly stopped. Confused, I tilted my head sideways and looked at my line. It became stiff and straight like it caught a boulder. The last time I checked I couldn't catch a boulder with a fishing rod.

I tried reeling it back once again, yet it refused to budge. Getting annoyed, I stood up and pulled back even harder, with the fishing rod bending so hard I felt it would snap at any second. Yet it did not. And the thing that was caught in my line didn't seem to moving.

It was just there, like a rock. Neither pulling or getting pulled. This is a difficult situation I might add. I stared at Mr Lucius and asked him what I should do.

“What do you do when you catch something on a fishing rod?”

“…Reel it back in.”

Mr Lucius nodded before going back to what he was doing, which was nothing. No choice then.

Wrapping the fishing rod in mana, I pulled back even harder, and yet even with the use of magic, it still refused to budge. What did my line catch down there? All of a sudden my line started moving, and it was moving towards me.

Exhilaration filled my being, yet my line was moving faster and faster, with the sense of dread replacing my exhilaration. I stopped reeling back the line yet it was still going back to me.

I slowly moved my head towards Mr Lucius, pointing towards the thing that was moving towards us. He lazily looked at me and the rapidly moving line, as a spark of interest passed through his eyes.

“Interesting, very interesting indeed.”

He only replied with those words and a smile, before going back to what he was doing, which was, again, nothing. Why did I even bother?

The line stopped reeling back in, and for a few seconds, everything was all calm. It didn't last long of course. The water suddenly started rising, like something was breaching out of the water. No, something was rising above water.

Its head peeked out, its slit eyes focusing on me despite the rest of its body still rising. His head was so close to mine that I felt that any slight threatening movement coming from me, would result in the creature plucking me from the boat and swallowing me whole.

Why is it that every time I come near a body of water, I run the risk of getting swallowed whole? A damning question indeed. And it was something I could only answer later on.

The snake-like thing fully rose to the surface, its eyes still kept focused on me. I could smell its every breath, as every time it breathed, it sent a gust of wind my way, a disgusting gust of wind I might add.

The smell was so horrid that I didn't even know how to describe it correctly. I couldn't even hurl properly, the mere scent of it seemed to kill my sense of smell. I'm grateful that it happened. At least my reaction would be delayed somewhat.

Despite the titanic creature staring at me with that slit, yellow eyes, and its mouth covered with razor-sharp teeth that were probably sharper and stronger than my chokuto. I didn't flinch. I only stared at it with some annoyance and a feeling of helplessness.

Making me think that I have to solve another problem at hand. I didn't bother making a fuss. I lowered my body and picked up my Chokuto, drew it from its sheathe, and started relaxing my body while also making sure I was alert.

I waited for the inevitable attack to come. My mana came alive, as it wrapped around my body and blade, with eventual sparks of lightning materializing. A few seconds pass by.

Then a minute, and then that minute turned to five full minutes. The creature still didn't attack. I still held a defensive guard, ready to run away at a moment's notice. If any outsider read my thoughts, they would think I'm a coward.

“You are a coward. A smart coward, but a coward nonetheless.”

I ignored what Mr Lucius said. Frankly, because I started to mute him out, but he wasn't wrong. I am a smart coward, and as a smart coward, I know that fighting this beast head-on wasn't a smart idea.

There is a reason why I am still alive.

It wasn't obvious just based on the sheer size of the creature, if I was only running away because of its size, then I would just be dumb. Being bigger doesn't always mean being better. No, there was another reason. A more, very important reason.

And it's that the mere presence of the thing in front of me was somehow suppressing me from the deepest part of my existence. I was sure, though I didn't know how, that if I didn't have my [Lexicon] or the [Class] that was contained in it, I would be kneeling in its presence.

Then I heard someone else speak, and I was extremely sure it wasn't Mr Lucius.

So it's you…