"Fuck…"
Every nerve inside my body screamed in agony.
Using two incomplete Sword Fields consecutively—
then forcefully bending space afterward—
my body simply couldn't endure it anymore.
"…Haa…"
The cheers of the crowd sounded distant now.
Almost unreal.
My mana core burned painfully inside my chest.
No—
not burned.
Cracked.
I could physically feel the instability spreading through it.
Then—
my vision completely darkened.
And I lost consciousness.
---
[Few Hours Later]
My eyes slowly opened.
The faint scent of medicine lingered through the room.
White ceiling.
…Infirmary.
"Finally awake?"
A familiar voice echoed beside me.
I slowly turned my head.
Aurelia Lioren sat quietly beside the bed.
Her long black hair flowed over her shoulders while those void-like eyes silently stared at me beneath the moonlight entering through the infirmary windows.
For once—
she looked tired.
I slowly pushed myself upward slightly.
Pain instantly surged through my chest.
"Tch…"
Aurelia's eyes narrowed immediately.
"Don't move."
"Your mana core is unstable."
"…I see."
Silence filled the room briefly.
Then—
her expression darkened slightly.
"What exactly were you thinking?"
…I deserved that.
"You pushed yourself so hard your mana core nearly collapsed."
Her voice remained calm.
Too calm.
"Do you understand what that means?"
I quietly looked down at my hand.
"…My mana pathways would shatter."
"And after that?"
"…I would lose the ability to wield mana."
Aurelia slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"And if the collapse spread further…"
Her eyes locked onto mine.
"…you could have died."
The room became quiet again.
Then—
I quietly spoke.
"…At that moment I wasn't thinking about that."
"I know."
"That is exactly the problem."
I leaned back against the bed slowly.
"…Silver kept adapting."
"My space wasn't enough."
"My light wasn't enough."
"So I pushed harder."
Aurelia closed her eyes briefly.
"…Rio."
"There will always be someone stronger."
"If your answer to every obstacle is to destroy yourself for more power…"
"…then eventually there will be nothing left of you."
Silence.
Then—
her gaze shifted slightly away from me.
"…There's something important I need to tell you about space."
The atmosphere inside the infirmary changed instantly.
"As much as I admire your growth…"
"And the way you utilize space…"
For the first time—
I noticed hesitation in her voice.
"…Space is also a cursed element."
My brows furrowed slightly.
Aurelia slowly stood up and walked toward the infirmary window.
Moonlight illuminated her figure quietly.
Then—
after several seconds of silence—
she finally spoke again.
"…I once had a twin sister."
My eyes widened faintly.
"She possessed the space element too."
Aurelia's voice had become distant now.
Almost nostalgic.
"She was…"
"…far more talented than I was."
That alone surprised me.
One of the strongest mage alive admitting someone surpassed her?
But Aurelia continued quietly.
"When we were younger…"
"…she used to laugh constantly."
"She loved studying space."
"She called it beautiful."
A faint smile appeared on Aurelia's face briefly.
"She believed space connected all things."
"That it existed beyond logic."
"But…"
The smile disappeared.
Slowly.
"…the deeper her understanding became…"
"…the stranger she became."
A chill ran through the room.
"She stopped sleeping."
"She would stare at empty corners for hours."
"Sometimes…"
Aurelia hesitated slightly.
"…sometimes she would speak to things that weren't there."
My eyes narrowed faintly.
"She began saying strange things."
"That space was calling to her."
"That it whispered."
Aurelia's fingers tightened slightly near the window.
"At first everyone believed she had simply become obsessed with her research."
"But then…"
Her voice grew quieter.
"She started forgetting people."
"She would look directly at me…"
"…and ask who I was."
Silence filled the infirmary.
"She once disappeared for three days."
"When we found her…"
Aurelia's eyes darkened slightly.
"…she was standing alone inside a collapsed ruin."
"Smiling."
"She kept repeating the same sentence over and over again."
A faint tremor entered Aurelia's voice.
"'It's so vast.'"
"'It's endless.'"
"'I can hear it breathing.'"
The room suddenly felt colder.
"…Eventually she stopped fearing space."
"She became fascinated by it."
"She wanted to go deeper."
"To fully understand what existed beyond reality itself."
Aurelia slowly turned toward me afterward.
And for the first time—
those void-like eyes held genuine fear.
"Then one day…"
"…she vanished."
"No battle."
"No corpse."
"No traces."
"Only distorted space."
Silence.
Heavy silence.
Aurelia lowered her gaze slightly.
"But sometimes…"
"…I still feel her mana."
My eyes widened faintly.
"Not clearly."
"Just…"
"…faintly."
"As if something is still there."
"As if space itself never truly let her leave."
The room became completely silent afterward.
Then—
Aurelia slowly walked toward my bed again.
Her gaze remained fixed directly on me now.
"So when I watched you force space beyond your limits today…"
"…all I could think about was her."
Her hand slowly rested against my chest lightly—
directly above my unstable mana core.
"Rio."
Her voice softened faintly.
"Do not chase space too deeply."
"Because one day…"
"…it may begin whispering back to you too."
…
After Aurelia finally left the infirmary—
silence filled the room once more.
Moonlight quietly illuminated the empty chair beside my bed.
I slowly raised my hand.
Space around my fingertips distorted faintly.
Tiny ripples spread through the air almost like invisible water.
Honestly—
after hearing Aurelia's story—
I couldn't stop thinking about it.
What even is space?
Not merely an affinity.
Not simply power.
But something capable of swallowing its own wielder whole.
My fingers slowly moved through the distortions quietly.
Then—
a familiar irritated voice echoed inside my mind.
[Tch.]
[She literally warned you not to overuse space and here you are playing with it again.]
"…What a wonderful companion."
The black cat suddenly appeared atop the nearby table before glaring at me with golden eyes.
Her tail flicked slightly in annoyance.
I quietly looked toward her.
"…Do you know anything about what she said?"
For once—
Astarax didn't immediately mock me.
Instead—
her golden eyes silently bore into mine.
Then—
she slowly spoke.
"She is absolutely right."
The atmosphere inside the infirmary subtly changed.
"Space is not your ally."
"Never think of it that way."
Her voice had become colder now.
Far more serious than usual.
"You humans constantly misunderstand power."
"You believe affinities belong to you."
"Fire burns."
"Lightning destroys."
"Darkness devours."
"But space…"
Astarax's eyes narrowed faintly.
"…Space simply exists."
A chill quietly ran through me.
The black dragon slowly hopped down from the table afterward.
"Do you know what space truly is?"
"…No."
"Neither do your mortals."
Her gaze shifted toward the distortions around my fingertips.
"You think space is merely distance."
"Movement."
"Teleportation."
"Domain"
"That is only the surface."
Her voice lowered afterward.
"Space is the gap between existence itself."
"The endless void separating worlds."
"The thing that exists before creation…"
"…and after destruction."
The room became completely silent.
Then—
Astarax's expression darkened slightly.
"Your master's sister most likely made the same mistake countless space wielders before her made."
"She stopped treating space as a tool."
"She began trying to understand it."
I frowned slightly.
"…And?"
Astarax's golden eyes quietly gleamed.
"And space answered."
A cold feeling crept down my spine.
"There are things hidden within the depths of space."
"Things even gods avoid."
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"…What things?"
For the first time—
Astarax hesitated.
Then—
she quietly spoke.
Entities.
The room suddenly felt colder.
"Things without shape."
"Without beginning."
"Without end."
"Beings that drift endlessly through the void between realities."
Astarax's voice lowered further.
"Most space wielders never reach deep enough to notice them."
"But geniuses…"
"…always dig too far."
Aurelia's sister.
Astarax slowly continued.
"The more someone bends space…"
"The more they begin resonating with it."
"At first…"
"…they hear whispers."
"Thoughts that are not theirs."
"Voices in empty rooms."
Then—
her golden eyes narrowed slightly.
"And eventually…"
"…they begin seeing beyond the third dimension."
Silence.
I frowned.
"…Third dimension?"
Astarax glanced toward me as if deciding whether or not to continue.
Then—
she sighed softly.
"You humans perceive reality in three dimensions."
"Length."
"Width."
"Height."
"You move forward."
"You exist linearly."
"But space itself…"
Her voice quieted.
"…does not."
The distortions around the room subtly intensified.
"There are layers to reality your minds were never designed to comprehend."
"A fourth dimension exists beyond your perception."
My eyes narrowed.
"…Time?"
Astarax slowly shook her head.
"Time is merely one fragment of it."
"The fourth dimension is… direction beyond direction."
"A place where distance loses meaning."
"Where countless realities overlap."
"Where existence folds into itself endlessly."
The room felt heavier with every word.
"True space wielders eventually begin glimpsing it."
"At first only briefly."
"Shadows moving where nothing exists."
"Voices before they are spoken."
"Moments that haven't happened yet."
Aurelia's sister.
Astarax's golden eyes darkened slightly.
"She most likely saw too much."
Silence.
Then—
Astarax quietly continued.
"When someone reaches the pinnacle of space…"
"…their perception begins changing permanently."
"They stop viewing reality the same way normal beings do."
"They begin seeing cracks."
"Layers."
"Things hidden behind existence itself."
A faint chill ran through my body.
"And the terrifying part?"
Astarax stared directly into my eyes now.
"The entities hidden within deeper space…"
"…can also see them back."
The distortions around my fingertips vanished instantly.
Astarax's voice softened slightly afterward.
"That is why space is feared."
"Not because it is destructive."
"But because the deeper you understand it…"
"…the less human your mind remains."
Silence filled the infirmary completely.
Then—
Astarax slowly turned away.
"So listen carefully human."
"Use space."
"Control it."
"But never…"
Her golden eyes gleamed faintly within the darkness.
"…become curious about what exists beyond reality itself."