Enrico was the first to leave the hot springs, and the reason was obvious to him: training, of course. After all, he had already rested enough and had no intention of wasting any more time when he still had so much to do.
'Tomorrow, I'll go to the warehouse dungeon, so I need to be prepared.'
[You know, you'd be even more prepared if you were completely rested.]
'Nice try, but it won't work.'
While walking back, he ran into Danyana along the way and had to stop to help her with some questions about her magic and how to improve it. Although she considered him a rival she wanted to defeat, she had also realized that Enrico was a good trainer. Therefore, she didn't hesitate to ask him for some tips when she had the opportunity.
"And if you do this, you'll be able to fuse your unique ability with your magic at one hundred percent."
"I see. Thank you very much for the tip. You can be sure I'll use it against you in our rematch."
"Good luck with that, because you're going to lose anyway."
"We'll see about that, Enrico."
Danyana walked away with one hand on her chin, deep in thought, concentrating on how she could apply the advice she had just received. Her expression was cold, which was quite natural when someone of her species, a beastwoman, focused on a goal.
'I hope she manages to use this technique well.'
[If you see potential in her, then she will certainly be able to improve considerably.]
Upon reaching his room, Enrico opened the door, entered, and closed it behind him. Then he remained motionless for a few moments, his eyes closed, preparing to attempt something he had been putting off for some time.
Since the end of the qualifiers, he had been trying to establish contact with the original Enrico again to learn more about that magic. However, all his attempts had failed, and the System didn't seem willing to help him with it.
'Hey, Enrico, can you hear me? Come on, try to communicate with me.'
Time passed as he concentrated more and more, searching for any sign of a response. When he finally opened his eyes, several memories flooded into his mind all at once, causing a momentary headache. Upon encountering that black panther again, he let out an irritated snort.
"Why won't you let me remember? The more I try to recover my memories here, the more my head hurts because all this information is being dumped into it at once!"
The panther gave a wild smile before answering.
"That's nothing for you... Well, as for your question, I'd rather not risk you trying to eliminate me somehow."
"Tsk! Why did we have to share the same mind? None of my methods will ever work against you!"
Behind the panther, the egg Enrico had seen before had grown considerably and was now about a meter tall. That bothered him, mainly because he still had no idea what would emerge from inside it.
Unwilling to continue that discussion, Enrico closed his eyes and turned away, beginning to walk toward the void. The panther wore a bored expression.
"Are you seriously going to try that?"
"Of course! I need to get stronger. Since you don't want to teach me that magic, I need to find the original. Maybe he knows something that could help me."
The panther rolled its eyes.
"Sorry about that, but if I teach you, you won't let me take control from time to time anymore..."
Seeing that Enrico continued walking, it let out a sigh.
"Just don't forget to keep your eyes closed. Otherwise, you'll be devoured by the void itself."
"And whose fault is it that I have to do this?"
When Enrico had finally managed to enter that place three weeks earlier, his first question had been about the original's whereabouts. The damn panther's answer had simply been to point at the void behind it, revealing that it had sent him there.
"My fault, I admit it. But I won't let a fourth person try to control our body."
Enrico kept his eyes closed even as he turned his head toward the panther.
"A fourth person? Are you talking about the egg behind you?"
"Yes. I hope you be careful, because I may owe her a debt, but I don't want her controlling me for too long."
Great. Now he had one more thing to worry about, all because of that creature.
To make matters worse, when he was in the outside world, his memories were sealed, making the Enrico who remained awake different from the one who had access to so much information about his dark side.
'This is worrying... Maybe if I find the original, he can help me resolve this situation.'
Of course, before anything else, he would need to find him and check his mental state. After all, it wasn't enough to consider the fact that he was trapped in that void. The original had also been betrayed by the world he had saved, something that could have deeply affected his mind.
'If he's all right, I can try to make a deal with him. If he isn't, I'll have to leave him in this void.'
Perhaps it was cruel to think that way, but Enrico believed it would be better than allowing someone mentally unstable to return to the outside world and ruin everything.
Keeping his eyes completely closed, he continued walking through the void. The feeling of being unable to see anything was uncomfortable, but there was something even worse: the growing sensation in his chest, an insistent urge to open his eyes and admire that place.
'Even though I feel this way, I can't let it control me.'
One of the things he had discovered was that the longer he looked at that void, the more he seemed to merge with it. To prevent him from trying to observe that place again, the panther had revealed something Enrico couldn't ignore.
"It's better not to try that. Otherwise, a being might emerge, and even I can't understand what it would become. Perhaps your current self will die and, of course, so will I."
That was why Enrico had never tried to open his eyes and gaze upon that place again. If a new being emerged and caused his death, all the plans he had devised would be completely destroyed.
'Of course, I don't completely trust that panther. That's why I'll keep watching what it does whenever I get the chance.'
Walking for hours in that place with his eyes closed was a difficult task. Without any visual reference, Enrico couldn't tell whether he was making progress, walking in circles, or remaining in exactly the same place. The only thing he could do was keep calling for the original, hoping to receive some kind of response.
"ENRICO! ARE YOU THERE?"
His voice echoed through the darkness, but there was no answer.
Being in such a dark place, without knowing what might happen at any moment, was a strange experience. He never knew what he would encounter ahead, or even whether he would actually be able to find the original in that space.
'That bastard said this place was an infinite void... I hope that's a lie.'
It made no sense for something infinite to exist inside him. There had to be an end to that place, some boundary he could reach. It was impossible for that void to be so vast that it had no limits whatsoever.
"This is so annoying. It's been a long time since I felt this way, not knowing where to go... Although, now that I think about it, things were a little different back then."
Enrico continued walking, trying to push away the uneasiness the situation stirred within him. The feeling seemed familiar, as though he had experienced something similar when he was younger, although he knew the circumstances weren't exactly the same.
Even so, there was something about that incomplete memory that made him feel there was another detail from the past he couldn't recover.
"It seems my time is up."
Feeling himself begin to disappear, Enrico sighed and simply waited calmly. He was already used to that phenomenon and knew there wasn't much he could do to prevent it.
The only thing that truly bothered him was knowing that, when he returned, he would forget everything that had happened there.
"How annoying."