I activated the All-Knowing Eyes only after ensuring that every trace of Soul Force within my body had returned to its peak. The previous few days had taught me enough to know that this Talent wasn’t something that could be used casually.
Every answer carried a price, and that price wasn’t determined by curiosity but by the depth of the truth hidden behind the question. Ask something ordinary, and the Eyes demanded little. Ask something that touched the foundations of reality, and they would happily consume the one asking before revealing a single word.
That was why I sat quietly for several minutes before even thinking of my first question.
It had to be safe. It had to reveal something useful.
Most importantly, it couldn’t accidentally touch the true secret behind the Twelfth Soul Current.
After taking a slow breath, I allowed the familiar black markings to spread across my face while the rotating black crosses within my pupils slowly accelerated.
"Who was the last individual to enter the sealed realm of the Twelfth Soul Current?"
The drain on my Soul Force was immediate but manageable. Darkness quietly swallowed my surroundings before another monochrome vision unfolded inside my mind.
Unlike the previous visions, this one wasn’t continuous. It appeared in fragments.
The first image lasted barely a heartbeat.
A school of enormous stingray-like creatures gliding gracefully through the depths of the Soul Sea.
The scene shattered. Another fragment appeared.
The ancient gate. Already standing within the tunnel carved through the underwater mountain.
The image shifted again.
A humanoid figure covered in dark scales stood before the gate. Even though the All-Knowing Eyes concealed his identity, I could still tell he belonged to no race I had ever encountered before. Broad shoulders, a long tail trailing behind him, and rows of overlapping scales covering every visible inch of skin gave him an almost draconic appearance.
Without hesitation, he stepped through the gate.
The vision ended. I slowly opened my eyes.
"So..."
I murmured while thinking over what I had seen.
"The Eyes aren’t showing me the entire journey." They were only presenting the moments relevant to my question.
Recovering my Soul Force took nearly an hour. Fortunately, Generator continued doing what it always did, constantly drawing in surrounding energy and converting it into my own reserves. Once I felt my Soul Sea return to its normal state, I activated the Eyes once again.
This time my question changed.
"Where was the final place in the gate occupied by the last individual who entered the sealed realm?"
The familiar pull returned.
Another vision unfolded.
This time there were no fragments.
The scaled man stood inside a lively bar.
Laughter echoed throughout the room even though I couldn’t actually hear it. Wooden tables filled every corner while dozens of different races drank together, talked together and celebrated together. Someone placed a large mug into the scaled man’s hand before another individual wrapped an arm around his shoulder, causing him to burst into genuine laughter.
He looked...happy.
Not merely content. Truly happy.
The kind of smile people only wore after finally returning home. Then, without warning, faint white particles began drifting away from his body.
The process started slowly at his fingertips before spreading across his arms, torso and finally the rest of him.
He didn’t react. He didn’t struggle.
He simply continued smiling as his body dissolved completely into countless particles before disappearing forever. The tavern remained exactly as it had been.
Nobody screamed or looked surprised.
The vision quietly ended.
I frowned.
"...That’s strange."
Nothing about it made sense.
If that had been the place where he died...Why did everyone continue drinking?
Why didn’t he resist?
More importantly...Why did he look so... peaceful?
I recovered my Soul Force once again before asking my third question.
"What was the final action performed by the last individual?"
The tavern returned.
The scaled man laughed once more before lifting his mug toward the people surrounding him.
A toast.
Several others raised their drinks as well.
The scaled man smiled broadly before taking one final sip.
The moment the mug left his lips...
His body quietly dissolved into white particles exactly as before.
The vision ended.
I remained completely still.
One image.
Two images.
Three images.
Every one of them painted the same picture. Nobody even seemed aware that something terrible was happening.
A quiet uneasiness settled inside my chest.
Something...Was very wrong.
After recovering once more, I decided to approach the mystery from another direction.
Perhaps the last visitor had simply been unusual. Perhaps someone before him had experienced something different.
I activated the Eyes again.
"Who was the individual before the last person to enter the sealed realm?"
Darkness returned.
Once again, fragmented scenes flashed before my eyes.
The familiar stingrays.
The ancient gate.
Then...
Another visitor.
This one looked completely different.
Towering nearly 3 meters tall, his broad frame resembled a walking mountain of muscle. Smooth blue skin covered his entire body while his eyes had clocks ticking inside them.
Without hesitation, he too walked through the gate. The vision disappeared.
Another recovery. Another activation.
Another carefully chosen question.
"Where was the final place occupied by that individual?"
This time I found myself inside an enormous library.
Books stretched endlessly in every direction. Towering shelves disappeared beyond sight while floating manuscripts drifted lazily through the air.
The blue-skinned giant sat alone at an equally enormous wooden desk. He wasn’t reading quickly.
He wasn’t searching frantically. He simply turned one page after another with complete satisfaction, occasionally smiling whenever he discovered something particularly interesting.
Hours seemed to pass. Eventually he reached the final page.
His smile slowly widened.
Then...
Exactly like the previous visitor...His body dissolved into countless white particles.
He disappeared. The books remained.
The library remained. Only he was gone.
I waited until my Soul Force had recovered before asking another question.
"What was this person?"
And an answer direct appeared in my mind.
Reaver Klosen - Astral race.
So an Astral race being who can see the future had actually found the gate and then they must definitely have a record.
By now, my curiosity had begun outweighing my caution.
I activated the Eyes once more.
This time, instead of asking for another vision, I used the second function.
All-Knowing Judgment.
The drain on my Soul Force was considerably smaller.
"Did the second individual willingly end his own existence?"
The answer appeared immediately.
FALSE.
I frowned.
"So it wasn’t suicide."
Without wasting time, I asked another.
"Was the second individual killed?"
The answer came just as quickly.
TRUE.
My breathing unconsciously slowed.
Killed.
Yet...
He hadn’t resisted. He hadn’t even realized it.
No...
That wasn’t entirely correct. He had never behaved like someone in danger at all. I replayed every vision inside my head.
Both individuals had been living inside completely different worlds.
One surrounded by friends.
The other surrounded by endless knowledge.
Both places perfectly matched what each individual might have desired most.
A cold feeling slowly crept up my spine.
"...No way."
My heart began beating slightly faster. There was only one question left.
One question that could connect every piece together.
I hesitated.
Every instinct inside me screamed that this was dangerous.
Even so...
I slowly activated the Eyes once more. The black crosses inside my pupils accelerated.
Soul Force gathered.
I opened my mouth.
"Was what the second individual experienced..."