After leaving Taralaya, Shyam opened his map window and started following the shown path. Soon, he was inside a forest, breaking fallen tree branches as he walked along the dried dirt road—as if no human had walked here for years. As if the system had betrayed him by showing a path more difficult than getting a girlfriend. But Shyam just reminded himself: the path to success is… a dried dirt road?
"Honestly? I hate these kinds of roads," Raitha said, placing her feet carefully onto the dirt, each step calculated like she didn't want to touch anything besides soil. She really cared about her feet, huh? But one thing that didn't make sense even to me—the author—why does she not fly when she absolutely can?
"And I hate you for not floating even though you can!" Shyam hissed. He had always admired people who used their powers and skills in the right place—but hated people who had power or resources to learn new things and simply didn't. Out of laziness.
It was selfish, he knew that. But still, it hurt seeing someone misuse something you dream of having.
"It's good to feel nature sometimes, you know?" Raitha replied, sounding like a stubborn girlfriend who just did whatever she felt like. Honestly, I admire people like that. They can do things their way. No rules. No manners. I wish I was like that.
"As if…" he hissed again, but a little calmer this time.
"So anyway… who is Anantara?" Shyam asked, suddenly remembering the moment he got the email—or rather, S-Mail—about his skill upgrade from Shadow Capture to Shadow Soul. The sender had signed off as "Anantara." Honestly? He didn't even know if that was the sender, but people usually add their name at the end of messages, so he figured she—or he—was the one behind it.
But Raitha flinched, almost as if Shyam had just asked a forbidden question. "I, uhh… I'm not really sure," she murmured, turning her head slightly to the left like she might actually disappear if forced to answer.
Seeing her so nervous, Shyam dropped the question. Though it still lingered in his mind, he didn't bring it up again.
"The energy in this place is so dim. I wonder why," Raitha said, still facing the same direction she had tried to hide her face in.
"Oh yeah?" Shyam whispered, looking around the dimly lit forest. Everything seemed normal. Almost the same as his past travels. Then again, maybe it was because he hadn't learned to control or sense mana properly yet.
Suddenly, as he scanned through the forest, a faint smoke caught his attention. Almost three hours in—he hadn't hoped anyone would live this deep inside a forest. Especially not in a world with monsters.
So… was it a forest fire?
Curious and a little bit worried, he immediately walked toward it. Raitha had no choice but to follow—she was his assistant, after all. One who never listened.
A few moments later, they arrived near the source of the smoke: a treehouse hung by vines, surrounded by moss. A faint trail of smoke escaped through a chimney, like it didn't want to be there—reaching for the sky like it had friends waiting there.
"What's a treehouse doing so far into the forest?" Shyam whispered. If there hadn't been smoke, he could've just ignored it, assuming it was abandoned. But smoke meant someone was here—or had been here very recently.
"Who knows. Wanna peek inside?" Raitha suggested. She seemed oddly interested in exploring this house, like it was calling to her.
"Why so?" Shyam asked, surprised to see Raitha taking an interest in exploration for the first time since they met.
"Well… because I'm sensing a great amount of mana coming from inside that house," Raitha said, her eyes sparkling with who-knows-what kind of chaotic excitement.
"Really now?" Shyam narrowed his eyebrows. But the excitement didn't last long. He couldn't sense any mana increase or decrease at all. So, he turned around and decided to leave.
"Eh, doesn't matter. Can't sense any mana anyway, so why care?" he said, raising both hands like he just wanted to get to his destination and take a nap.
"Just once!" Raitha whispered, grabbing Shyam's hand and pulling him toward the treehouse.
Seeing her not give up, Shyam finally decided to enter the treehouse—uninvitedly. Though, he did feel like some unknown creature might be sitting inside sipping tea while waiting for a sacrifice. And for some reason… Shyam felt like the prey this time.
He believed in Raitha—yes—but not to the point of doing everything she said. She was still an unknown entity to him. He didn't know her origin or intentions. He didn't even know if she was friendly. But she had that aura that made Shyam feel like he shouldn't judge her by size. He didn't know why—but he just did.
Walking slowly toward the treehouse, he kept his guard up.
Moments later, he stood at the doorstep.
He legit felt like a thief.
Suddenly, the door creaked open—like the house knew someone had arrived.
"Uhh… hello?" Shyam said, pushing the door open wider.
"You're too early. The water hasn't boiled yet," a heavy, aged voice called from inside.
"So should I come later?" Shyam asked, starting to pull the door shut.
But… it became too heavy to pull.
"Oh no! It's almost ready. Come inside," the old voice called again.
Suddenly, a faint trail of lights shimmered from the door inward—probably guiding the way to the man.
And it felt like magic.
He hadn't seen many people use it—especially not like this.
Shyam stepped inside. And the door shut behind him.
Just like a horror film.
"Formation, huh? Been a while since I saw one," Raitha whispered, staring at random items scattered across the floor.
"Well, you've got sharp eyes," the old man spoke again—this time in person.
Brown beard. Sharp black eyes sparkling with blue rays. Black hair down to his neck. Worn skin, just like any old man. But he walked and talked like he still had a hundred more years to live.
Both Shyam and Raitha flinched… but somehow calmed down.
He could see Raitha?
According to her, not even the strongest people had that ability.
Let alone hear her.
Then how?
The old man caught their surprise. He smiled, as if he knew exactly how they'd react.
"Don't worry, I still can't see you. It's just… you've kept your presence hidden, but forgot to control your mana properly. As for your words, I don't actually understand them. I just caught the mana disturbance and decoded the frequency to calculate what you're saying," the old man said, sitting down on a chair.
Two cups of hot chai waited on the table, ready to be sipped.
"Impressive," Shyam whispered. He had seen many respected adventurers so far in his journey—but never expected to encounter someone with this much flexibility over mana.
"Years of training. That's all," the old man said—and started laughing.
Perfect.
That laugh was enough to prove that despite his power, despite his mana—he was still just an old man.
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Ch-24