Player 0.4 [You have died.] [Reset in progress.]

“Again, congratulations on your elemental contract!”

The administrative officer, a kind-faced middle-aged woman with crescent-shaped pink spectacles, gave me a warm wave from behind her desk.

“Thank you,” I replied, accepting the document she extended toward me.

My name was inscribed at the top in clean script, followed by the official registration of my elemental.

Original Species: Cerberus.

​Grade: A

​I pursed my lips.

​The registration process had been… straightforward. Almost disappointingly so. Given Paisley’s warning about potential expulsion if I didn’t register my elemental right away, I had expected a thorough process. Especially given how potentially dangerous Void was, further confirmed by the Grade A classification. However, instead, the registration consisted of only a few questions, a brief scan, a short form to fill out—and that was it. No deeper probing. No dangerous inquiries. It took barely half an hour.

​All in all, this was fortunate for me.

​Particularly because I had lied, with the most notable lie at the top of the official registration document.

​Instead of listing the creature as a phoenix—which, based on everything I’d seen, heard, and read over the past eight days, didn’t seem to exist in this realm—I had written ‘cerberus’.

​My logic had been simple: that was the first guess that Paisley had thrown out. That meant the creature existed in this realm, and more importantly, that it was recognized as something powerful enough to produce a high-grade elemental, Grade A, as the brief scan determined. My lie was believable. More believable than the truth, which would have required explaining the existence of a creature previously unknown to this realm.

​“We’ll see you in two days!” the officer called out cheerfully as I stepped away from her desk.

​I pushed open the doors and felt the late afternoon light spill over me. A chime sounded from the clock tower.

​It was five. Classes had already begun.

​The sun still hung high in the sky, casting a bright, honeyed light across the academy grounds. The shadows were only just beginning to stretch, while the summer air remained warm, tinged with the scent of the various bright blooming flowers from the surrounding gardens.

​Most of the campus had quieted down. But not entirely. A handful of students hurried across the campus, clutching books and bags, their footsteps quick as they rushed toward their next lecture. Others relied on magic to propel them faster to their next class, so as not to be too late.

​I watched as the last stragglers disappeared into the nearby buildings as the chiming tower concluded and the academy settled into a quieter rhythm again.

​I glanced down at the document again as I finished descending the steps of the administration building. It included a compulsory weekly meeting I was to attend for the next four weeks, as I was newly contracted to an elemental. The goal was not merely structured training and evaluation, but also to socialize with other newly contracted mages.

​The next session, as the admin officer had stated, was in two days.

​On one hand, I was thankful for additional professional guidance and training. On the other hand, I was walking a tightrope.

​I folded the document and slipped it into my bag.

​My eyes looked up, toward the crystal building shining in the distance. The library. Its towering glass-like walls refracted the golden sunlight into soft, shifting hues—pinks, blues, and violets dancing across its surface like a diamond. Even from this distance, it stood apart from everything else.

​It was my next destination.

​I need to read up on what a cerberus is as soon as possible if I’m to keep up this pretense. Before someone asks me a question, I have no way of answering.

​My eyes drifted down. The shadow at my feet stretched along the stone path, darker than the others, its edges just a touch too defined.

​And I need to learn how to communicate with Void. Before it decides to do the talking for me.

​Paisley had said it was simple, but she was too exhausted to explain any of it to me. And given how critical it was, I had no choice but to figure it out myself.

​No. Wait.

​[[ Apophis, can you hear my elemental? ]]

​If there was anyone better suited to this, it was him. His knowledge bordered on dangerous—enough that even fragments of it had already cost me my memory several times. But if I avoided whatever triggered that reaction… It should be fine.

​~Yes. Unfortunately, I can hear him, Apophis replied, his voice sliding into my mind with a faint hiss.

​I blinked.

​[[ Why unfortunately? ]]

​Apophis exhaled slowly.

​~Phoenixes are annoying in their own way, but at least they carry fragments of ancestral memory. Wisdom, however flawed, persists through their lineage. Void… does not have that benefit.

​I continued walking, passing a fountain where water spiraled upward rather than falling, transforming into drifting rainbow bubbles that lazily floated before dissolving into mist.

~He was born under the pressure of dead mana, Apophis continued. That corruption stripped away the inheritance of prior knowledge. He possesses none of his ancestral memories—his mind is the equivalent of a toddler.

​My eyes widened at this.

​A toddler?

​My gaze dropped immediately to the shadow at my feet. A strange tightness settled in my chest, accompanied by an unfamiliar flutter in my stomach.

​Void was a Grade A elemental, the highest tier per the evaluation, and possessed power that I still did not know, but was nonetheless worthy of my wary. But if he was a toddler, he was barely little more than a baby, wasn’t he?

​[[ How can I hear him? I’ve contracted with him, but I haven't heard from him once. ]]

​~Huuu… Apophis gave a low, drawn-out sigh. It’s because you’re listening on the wrong frequency. Many of the residents of this realm are used to elementals and thus take for granted their ability to attune to the voices of elementals.

​I slowed as I approached the large crystal doors of the library. My attention was fixed entirely on Apophis’ words.

​~Elementals do not communicate through sound. Not in the way you are expecting. Their thoughts ride along mana, following subtle fluctuations, impulses, and intent.

​I frowned and entered the library.

​Cool air washed over me immediately, a stark contrast to the warmth outside. Soft footsteps and hushed whispers echoed beneath the open crystal ceiling. Sunlight filtered through the towering crystal walls, refracting into shifting colors that danced across the floors and bookshelves.

​[[ How do I do that? ]]

​~To hear him, you must stop listening with your ears… and begin listening with your soul.

​I smiled at his answer as I walked past a row of tables with students focused on their studies or in conversations with one another.

​[[ That’s too vague. ]]

​~Of course it is, Apophis replied dryly. If it were simple, that girl would not have delayed teaching you, even though she was exhausted.

But she said it was simple…

​I grumbled inwardly.

​I made my way toward the now familiar librarian, Laura Hayde. She was organizing books, which hovered midair beside her, before floating up to the various tall crystal bookshelves.

​She looked up as I approached and offered a warm, knowing smile.

​“I need to reserve a study room,” I said, “one reinforced with protective runes. It should be strong enough to withstand a Grade A elemental.”

​Her brows lifted slightly, but she didn’t ask any questions.

​“And I’ll need two books,” I added. “One on cerberus. And an introductory text on elementals.”

​Just because I had Apophis didn’t mean I was going to rely on him entirely.

​“Of course,” Laura said with a smile. The floating stack beside her shifted, a few books peeling away and gliding toward the back of the library as if guided by invisible hands. “The two texts will be delivered to your room shortly.”

​She reached beneath the desk and produced a brown leather slip attached to a heavy metal key, placing it gently in my hand.

​The leather was stamped with a floor and room number: B9-24.

​I raised a brow.

​“How many levels are there below this building?” I asked.

​Thus far, the lowest I’d gone was B6 with Paisley.

​“Ten,” Laura replied. “Though the lower levels are rarely used. B10 is typically reserved for… more destructive experimentation. Senior students studying war-focused magic tend to book those rooms weeks in advance.”

​I nodded, understanding why Laura had reserved B9 for me.

​Accepting the key, I turned and made my way toward one of the crystal stairwells.

​The moment I walked down past B2, the atmosphere completely shifted. The bright overhead sunlight disappeared, with my light source replaced by the steady glow of embedded light stones. The clear crystal walls gave way to smooth white stone, and the air grew cooler with each level, heavier and quieter.

​It felt less like entering the study rooms of a library… and more like descending into a dungeon.

​As I walked, Apophis resumed his explanation.

​~Instead of focusing on sound per se, you must focus on the vibrations around you. Elementals are, at their core, dissolving souls. They do not speak in words, but in frequencies.

​The moment I passed B4, the walls began to gain layered wards.

​~To best attune to that frequency, you must first draw your awareness inward—toward your own soul. The simplest anchor for that is your mana core and its connection to the sixth dimension. Learn to feel it. Not just its presence, but its rhythm.

​[[ What is the sixth dimension? ]]

​I rubbed my temple as I continued downward, the temperature dropping another degree as I passed B7.

​~It is a space that exists regardless of time, loop, or realm, Apophis explained. For the purpose of learning how to communicate with elementals, you merely need to seek out the string that connects your soul to that sixth dimension. Once you attune to your own soul’s vibrations, you’ll be able to hear Void’s voice.

​I slowed slightly as the stairs opened into another landing: B9. It was my floor.

​I walked down the corridor, whose white walls were filled with far more advanced protective runes.

​As I walked, I focused on my core, trying to parse out the hidden thread Apophis spoke of that connected to the sixth dimension.

​And then, I felt it.

​If I had to describe it, it felt red. Or like the blotchy buzz in my vision when I closed my eyes, except that it was more distinct.

​I paused in front of a door with a silver plaque reading B9-24. My hand hovered over the key opening, but I didn’t open it right away. I was too focused on the strange sensation.

​The feeling shifted, becoming something else, akin to a sound. Though to call it sound felt not quite correct. The transition was subtle, like the eyes adjusting from a close-up to something farther out. There was a brief blur and a hush, but then the existence of this strange tune snapped into sharp focus.

​{{Grandpa! Grandpa! Can Mama hear me yet?}}

​My head whipped to the side, instinctively searching the empty corridor. My eyes fell, realizing where the voice was actually coming from.

​{{~Yes, yes. Soon. Be patient.}}

​Apophis’ voice sounded at this new frequency, too. And it was full of annoyance, though forcefully suppressed.

​{{Grandpa, are you angry…?}}

​{{~No. I’m not angry.}}

​But Apophis was evidently lying, and the child had caught on, asking another question in its innocent, sad voice.

​{{Are you happy…?}}

​~Hahhhhhhh….

​Apophis hissed into my mind only, using the means of communicating with me that I was more familiar with.

​~Master, have you been able to attune to the soul’s vibrations yet?

​I unlocked the study room door and walked in, as I gathered my thoughts and emotions.

​[[ Apophis… why exactly does Void call you ‘Grandpa’? ]]

​[[ And why am I ‘Mama’?? ]]

​I frowned.

​And if I was Mama… who in the world was Papa?

​

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