Marcel didn’t have to worry about getting lost unlike before his Spirit Eyes and honed senses came into the picture. After all, things like the formless spirits and their concentration, which generally meant that they were, well… everywhere, especially in the energy-rich area that is Nephavion, meant that they could point him in the right direction if he talked to them. Also, it was pretty hard to miss the place he was heading when, well… he, Dave, Alverona’s supposed beloved, was getting strange looks as he walked in the same direction as a lot of other people, sharing a destination with all of them.  

When he, or rather, they, got to the southern wing of the castle, Marcel found himself having to make an uninformed decision. From the looks of it, however, it was supposed to be straightforward.  

Having arrived, he and all the others found themselves faced with a disembodied gate. From the ‘looks’ of it, behind the gate was yet another decision to be made. You first enter the gate, then choose your path between two different other spatial gates to reach one of the two destinations: the Grand Archive through the left gate and the Observatory through the right.  

Thanks to his Spirit Eyes, he knew which gate to take and so, he entered the gate of his choice with several others, only to, strangely, come out alone on the other side, like, hm... he’d been redirected by something. Very strange!  

Regardless of how he managed to enter the Grand Archive, he was already inside, and he had come for a purpose. Unfortunately, that would have to wait a little while because... the place he’d arrived within the archive was just... a giant mess.  

Marcel was quickly overwhelmed by how many things were in the archive. It was unorderly and quite the chaotic place, with scrolls, grimoires, and magical reference books of various kinds spread everywhere. The shelves were messily stuffed with books and scrolls, some leaking out of the designated place for them, reaching the floors and cluttering up the entire place. It was a horrible mess! Whatever steward took care of this place was definitely slacking off.  

Marcel looked for a while before finally, he noticed a startling presence. Something was here with him. A figure?  

This figure laid amongst this messy pile, his head on the table buried in scrolls as if a pile had toppled over and covered him while he was sleeping. Overall, this figure added to the unkempt and uncaring mess that was the room. They looked completely knocked out.  

Recovering from noticing this figure buried in the pile of stuff, Marcel acted. With a simple wind spell, he blew off some of the scrolls from the floor and table, especially the figure among them. Seriously, if this person was the steward, then they’d definitely be getting fired after he left this place and complained to Claude.  

Fortunately, the image of this figure gave him, like just a teeny, tiny suspicion that it was definitely not a steward.   

The figure was a man; a very pale man, like ‘Gods, what have you done to him’ kind of pale. He wasn’t as bad as Gwendal or the vampires, because his paleness seemed like the type that came with not having seen the sun in many weeks, dare I say, years.  

Remembering what Claude had told him, he must be that person. He definitely must be!  

  

“Hello!” Marcel exclaimed after approaching, trying to wake the still unconscious man who made not even a sound.   

The man didn’t answer at all the first time, until Marcel softly went, “Um... hello?”, almost like a whisper in his ear.  

As if a jolt run through his body, the man reanimated, raising his head when he heard Marcel’s voice being whispered directly into his ear.  

When he raised his aid, Marcel finally got a better look at him.   

Speaking of this apparent ‘Divinity Incarnate’ like Claude called him, this man didn’t really look like much.  

Appearance-wise, he was... as mentioned earlier, a man. He was a chestnut brown-haired male with a tall physique, definitely as tall as himself. He also has bright amber eyes tinged with a gold that made them sparkle. He was a frail-looking, mid-thirty-years old man.   

Strangely, after a bit more observation from his side, Marcel concluded that this man was a plain... human, as human in the sense that he was perfectly human to the point that he was confused because somehow, he felt like this man was unlike the Demon Lord. The Demon Lord was something else with a perfect human disguise while this man seemed like the real deal. Maybe his senses were playing tricks on him but he did admit that this man was very mysterious.   

Unfortunately, Marcel was going to be left with a whole lot more questions...  

The man, after raising his head, looked at his surroundings for a while before fully overcoming his lethargic state.  

After he became fully awake, the first thing he did was move in the direction of the voice he heard earlier, his hands eagerly stretching forward. Reaching for it, he touched Marcel's face eccentrically, as if trying to figure something out, almost like how a blind person would. Quickly, his eyes ran with water and an unexplainable expression of happiness, sorrow, grief, longing, and hesitation, formed on his face, all in one.   

To Marcel’s surprise, after the man was done touching his face, he pulled him to his side, hugging him tightly, and then… he cried.  

He cried immensely, holding him tight as if he’d never let him go. He seemed to see something within Marcel and it brought him a plethora of feelings.  

Marcel, unsure of what to do in this situation, just let the man be. This wasn’t the first time someone had infringed upon his personal space and it was certainly not going to be the last.   

For some reason, his very presence seems to always provoke a reaction out of people that it’s become something akin to a recurring trend. Be it feelings of rage and jealousy, like when he first met Michael Dunkelheit, ‘the urge to simply experiment’, as he’d describe what Alverona and the elves did to him, Shalia’s urge to possess and keep him close, etcetera, etcetera. At this point, being held by a strange adult man he’d just met crying all over him was, probably, the mildest reaction he’d ever provoked out of someone. Maybe his shitty luck which is somehow, supposed to be top-notch in the universe, is finally doing something right for once. Today may end surprisingly well for him  

  

The man continued to cry for a few minutes with Marcel wrapped tightly in his arms. Marcel just let him! 

After he finally finished on the very patient Marcel, he fixed his face, and with a hoarse voice, he attempted to explain himself to the young lad, beginning with an apology,  

“I’m very sorry, young lad! It’s just that you reminded me of someone dear I used to know long ago. I offer my sincere apologies for my earlier behavior.” He said, cleaning his face and adjusting the tone of his voice to sound chipper. He then smiled afterward, as if to assure him that he was indeed fine.  

Marcel didn’t mind at all, “It’s all right, really! We all need a good cry every now and then. I hope you feel better now.” He said, a bit concerned that he was already speaking casually. He really should stop doing that when he’s worried.  

“Your kindness... is even like his!” Marcel thought he heard the man whisper to himself under his voice.   

Anyway, the man smiled genuinely at him, considering the mess he showed Marcel earlier to be nothing major. He didn’t mind what his image was like in this lad’s head, after all. It helped a lot that he already knew it. No need to sweat the irrelevant details!  

“So... what brought you to this dreary place on such a lovely day, young lad?” He continued. So, they really were going to forego the unnecessary introductions, seeing as they both were already aware of each other’s identities. Hm~, I like this!  

“I was informed that the answers I seek might be found here, with you, so I came,” Marcel responded.  

“Ask away! I know the pains of childbirth, the awe-inspiring image of the gods, the thousands of territories that encompass this plane, the source of their power, the Knowledge of Divinity, why you did whatever you did yesterday, the slight angle at which this planet’s rotation deviates by every second, the path to the stars. What, young lad, do you desire to know?”  

Although Marcel had come in here to indeed ‘ask some questions’, he thought that whatever the answer for any of the things the man had just mentioned wasn’t going to be very straightforward and maybe even, extremely sensitive in nature… to say the least.  

“Um, just the knowledge about natural power, please! At least, for now…” He answered sheepishly. He then took a seat on one of the chairs close to the man after he cleared off its items.  

“Heh~, sorry!” Advisor Charles answered, almost embarrassed. Seriously, why does he always do that whenever he tries to impress someone; flaunting his knowledge, I mean?  

“Right!” Yeah, Marcel suddenly felt like he’d said something wrong, feeling like he wronged Advisor Charles when he saw his disappointment after he answered.   

Anyway, Marcel received just what he desired from Advisor Charles,  

“The true nature of natural power is a fairly touchy subject, seeing as the Spirit Administrator wouldn’t let anyone use that knowledge for ill purposes; seeing as the core of natural power is related to the heart of worlds themselves. Natural power is this world’s life force, a power that gives birth to the spirits; the elements that make up this world, and the true potential of all life in this world. Anything can virtually grow strong enough to wield and produce natural power one day. It’s the power that allows this world to shape its form, the core of power.  

“Vitalis doesn’t consider you a hostile figure; quite the opposite, actually, so I’m allowed to tell you. It’s a power gained only after traversing into the realm of divinity; the rank after S. Only after reaching it can you begin to interact with the divine and gain sensitivity to natural power. You bear traces of this power within you already, though its influence has been diminished to a vast degree.”  

“Really!? How?” Marcel asked.  

“Blessings! They can only be granted by figures who have gained sensitivity to the power. The ‘Authority’ that Guardians and Progenitors possess, which allows them to bestow certain gifts unto individuals and races is a form of natural power. This world’s natural power, however, is so much more powerful than that of Guardians or Progenitors, allowing it to birth and open up opportunities to attain new forms of power. Unfortunately... that’s about all I’m allowed to tell you, for now!” Advisor Charles concluded abruptly, leaving Marcel feeling like he had been given half a piece of very juicy meat and told that he’d just get the other half later.   

Marcel didn’t like how restricted this subject seemed to be in general, but still, he understood that there are certain things that he isn’t allowed to know yet, “I understand!”  

“Brilliant! As a bonus, how about I tell you all about Spirit Weapons, like the sword you own, and the secret to more efficiently asking Vitalis for more skills without making her mad?” He asked Marcel as if trying to cheer him up with more personalized knowledge as replacement for what he can’t tell him. This man really knew a lot, didn’t he?  

  

And so, Marcel learned a whole lot of beneficial knowledge that may or may not make him a better threat to his enemies in the future and maybe also, all the more irresistible. It was finally Charles's chance to help develop the monster just a little bit and he didn’t hold back.  

As they were discussing different topics, the topic of how Marcel was able to so easily find him came up. Marcel learned just a little bit more about Spatial Magic. Apparently, sentience can even be incorporated into it.  

“You see, I created it myself! The gate possesses a sort of incorporated sentience. By reading the brainwaves of those who enter its domain, it can interpret its visitor’s thoughts and send them to the location they wish to enter.”   

In Marcel’s case, he had a clear goal in mind: finding him, Advisor Charles, so, although it rarely did so, the nice gate let him through, bringing him directly to his target.  

  

***  

  

The two chatted for what seemed like hours and Marcel had his entire worldview shifted in the time they spent together. He, inevitably, felt overwhelmed, burning out from the sheer stockpile of knowledge he needed to unpack after chatting with the Grand Advisor. Even with [Eidetic Memory] and [Processing Increase - 2x] working optimally, this man had completely crushed him mentally. Mission accomplished, I guess, because now all those interesting theories and facts he'd learned were shoving his romantic problems in another corner to be dealt with at a later date.  

Marcel, afterward, thanked Advisor Charles for the material he managed to procure on what was, unfortunately, not very much about natural power, but other subjects in more depth. Marcel’s mind had been completely worn down to a point where Advisor Charles had to transfer him out of the southern wing’s Observatory directly to his wing of the castle.  

Advisor Charles, after the transfer... collapsed to the ground, his legs having given out after the long day he’d had. He really couldn’t believe that the time had finally come, but really...  

  

"Is this some kind of punishment, because it sure feels like one?! What am I supposed to do now... Luka?" He said to himself, exhausted and terribly fatigued. He sighed, sitting on the floor for a while before suddenly, he broke into tears again; this time, carrying a faint smile on his face because... he’d found hope!  

What is Charles' connection to the ever-so-mysterious Luka? I guess only the future will tell.