NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88: The possibilities
"Noo!"
Marcin's shout snapped Xane out of his memories as he looked at him in confusion.
It took Xane a moment to realize that he was still inside the room, sitting before Marcin.
The guy before him was standing behind the sofa with his guard up.
Xane looked up at him and asked, "What happened? Why are you shouting?"
Marcin stared at him for a long time, and only after making sure there was no more pressure coming from Xane did he stop hiding behind the sofa and ask, "Just now, what kind of hex art did you use?"
Xane rubbed his forehead as he was not sure what the other guy was yapping about. But the recent surreal memory sure had startled him.
For a moment, he thought that it was the effect of some unknown hex art on him. But then, as he thought about the vision, even though there were some inconsistencies and exaggerations, most of the stuff was almost the same.
It had just been too long; he did not even remember the entire ordeal, just a few cut scenes that left a deep impression on him. It should be some kind of illusion related to mind hex art.
Zayn noticed Xane's condition and asked in concern. [Dude, what happened?]
Xane said in an uncertain tone. <I don't know how, but just now I relived my past. It's like somebody suddenly threw me back in time to experience those memories.>
Zayn asked in a knowing tone. [Is this vision related to a big life-changing event?]
Xane raised his eyebrow. <You seem to know more about these visions. Don't tell me you also experienced a vision.>
Zayn mentally shook his head. [Nah, not right now. You remember I told you how I questioned my life in the void? Actually, during that time, I experienced the same thing. Every time I came to my senses, I was back at that big moment of the past, and then I tried to do different things to see how it would change my life.]
Xane frowned. < Weird, in my case, I just relived the past without any control over my actions. Heck, while experiencing that, I even forgot about my actual existence. The whole time, I had a sense of detachment, like I was just a viewer.>
Zayn said in an uncertain tone, [Ahh, why does that sound like a Viyron vision?]
As Zayn mentioned that, Xane suddenly remembered his experiences in both of Viyron's visions.
He remembered that while he was an extra existence in both visions, Zayn, on the other hand, experienced the second vision from within the little Viyron's body.
At that time, he thought it was because Zayn was controlling the body, but it seemed he was wrong.
The more he thought about it, a certain possibility emerged in his head, and he asked Zayn in a bitter tone. <Do you think that guy is still alive within us?>
Zayn imagined a third entity who was watching their actions all this time, waiting to seize control over the body.
Just thinking about that possibility sent chills down his spine, but then he thought about the first vision that Xane had narrated to him.
As he interlinked it with the novel, multiple new contradictions emerged in his head. He said to Xane. [No, dude. If what you saw that time was really true, then Viyron couldn't have survived. Such a thing would completely break the mechanics of forming a contract.]
Xane paused, as even though multiple things were going south, he still had to agree that nothing had actually broken the fundamental rules of this world.
A person dying while forming a contract and another entity occupying his body was still in line with the world's rules. It was just that in Viyron's case, the guy somehow managed to summon their souls.
One more doubt emerged in his head. Did both of them instantly transfer to this world right after their deaths? But then he knew the time he and Zayn died on Earth was extremely close, if not the same moment. But what if, in between this whole transfer cycle, something else happened?
Xane shook his head hard as he realized this cycle of "ifs" was an endless rabbit hole that would never end. The only clue he could use was that letter.
He looked at Marcin, who was silently observing him all this time.
This was not the time to get lost in thought; as for this vision, he was already way past that incident.
It just startled him, but that was all there was to it. So he asked Marcin, "Why do you say I used hex art?"
Marcin squinted at him. "Don't act innocent. I clearly felt massive pressure from you."
Xane rubbed his chin and asked Zayn. <Did I unknowingly pull off hex energy?>
At the mention of hex energy, even Zayn stopped thinking about other stuff and said with surety. [Nope. All I saw was you suddenly giggling for a bit and Marcin freaking out.]
Xane squinted at Marcin. <Then how?>
He thought about asking more questions to Marcin when Zayn suddenly said, [Dude, I do have a solid theory this time.]
<Just be quick.>
[Ok, so I think this could be related to the property of our hex energy. Even though the shroud mode of our hex skill suppresses energy detection, that doesn't change the fact that we're dealing with super pure madness.]
[In the novel, there was mention that when someone from the cursed land of chaos was on the verge of completely losing it, other people around them would feel weird irritation and oppression. Maybe the sudden change in your emotions in the vision, combined with the high purity of our hex energy, must have released a mental force onto Marcin.]
Xane just stared at Marcin, who was watching him vigilantly. <Oh, did that hex master Plena perceive this about our hex energy? Is this why she suggested we lead with illusion-type hex art?>
[Could be. After all, you just managed to scare a gold-potential student without even intending to. But if I compare it to hex art, it would be like a lower version of a one-star hex art, nothing much special.]
As he learned this, Xane just waved his hand to Marcin, acting embarrassed. "Oh, sorry, I may have unknowingly used just-learned hex arts."