novelnext Chapter 262: Laplace’s Demon Library
Chapter 262: Laplace’s Demon Library
“So, those are the three things you want. Or rather... the three questions you need answered?”
Amanda slowly recapped the three demands Pandora had just laid out. Her violet eyes, magnified slightly by her thin gold-rimmed glasses, were locked onto Pandora, wearing an expression of keen, intrigued scrutiny.
“Interesting. And honestly, you didn’t ask for anything you shouldn’t have.”
“So, it’s my turn to answer.”
Amanda shifted her weight, leaning casually against the nearby vine that pulsed with soft silver light.
“First up, Wizardry.”
“I can absolutely provide that. In fact, I’m probably the only one in the entire Academy who can perfectly satisfy your needs on this front.” A mysterious little smirk played at the corners of her mouth. “We’ll explore that in detail later, though.”
“Next, the Witch bloodline.”
Amanda’s gaze seemed to drill right through Pandora, zeroing in on the alien power flowing through her veins.
“From where I’m standing, you’re already doing remarkably well on this front. You don’t really need my help or intervention.”
“You can just keep doing your own thing. Unless it becomes strictly necessary—like if you run into a problem you don’t think you can solve yourself—I don’t see any reason to interfere too much.”
She paused, offering a polite smile. “How does that sound to you?”
Pandora mulled it over for a second, then nodded. A hands-off approach, letting her develop freely, only stepping in with a Mentor’s perspective to course-correct if things went sideways? Indeed, that suited her just fine.
“And lastly... the Red Moon.”
Amanda’s expression turned decidedly complicated. She let out a sigh so faint it seemed meant only for her own ears.
“Truth be told, I don’t know much about It either. An entity that transcends worlds, so unimaginably ancient—you really shouldn’t expect me to know much more than you do.”
“The card spelled it out clearly enough: I’m only Rank-6.”
Amanda shrugged casually, as if being “Rank-6” was some sort of minor footnote. The sheer absurdity of that statement wasn’t lost on Pandora.
But then again, if she used “Faye” as the baseline... it kind of was. Maybe to truly ancient, terrifying entities, Rank-6 was just the beginning.
“Still, I can share what little I do know,” Amanda’s voice yanked Pandora back to the present.
“For starters, you don’t need to worry about It being malicious.”
“It might seem like It is paying you ‘special’ attention, but that’s actually an illusion.”
“You aren’t special.” She paused, letting that sink in for a second. “Well, at least, not as special as you might think.”
“You can just think of it as Witches naturally drawing growth, power, and certain... qualities from the Red Moon’s moonlight.”
“Treat it as a simple law of nature. Just like the existence of extraordinary powers and Ether. They exist, and they are a given.”
“If you really want to dig into it and interrogate the underlying reasons, go right ahead. But frankly, that shouldn’t be where you’re dumping the bulk of your mental energy right now.”
She summed it up neatly, “So, to put it simply: just get used to the Red Moon being there. It’s significant to us as a whole, but Its gaze on you specifically? Not that extraordinary.”
She didn’t give Pandora a single second to react or fire back a follow-up question. Once the words were out, Amanda instantly pivoted right back to the original topic.
“Alright, three questions answered. Now, let’s circle back to the first one.”
She tilted her head, feigning a thoughtful frown. “What was it again? Oh, right. Wizardry.”
“Here, take a look at this.”
Amanda stepped in front of Pandora, producing a key from out of absolutely nowhere.
The main body of the key was forged from some unknown black meteoric iron, giving off a matte, scorched finish. Faint, star-like silver specks dotted its surface.
The bow of the key was intricately carved with a dizzying pattern of intertwining vines and constellations. The bit, however, was absurdly sharp, its edges gleaming coldly—less like a key, and more like a bizarrely shaped miniature dagger.
“Is that... a key?” Pandora frowned.
The next second, she blinked in surprise, looking down. Amanda had suddenly reached out and gently taken her hand. The motion was utterly natural, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Before Pandora could react, Amanda’s lazy, elegant voice murmured right next to her ear, “Careful, my Apprentice. Hold on tight.”
The second the words left her mouth.
Rustle—
Pitch-black branches, seemingly spun from pure shadow, violently erupted from the pale flesh-pink moss right in front of them!
They grew frantically, weaving and twisting around each other! In the span of two or three breaths, a door stood before them.
A heavy, archaic black wooden door, framed by an archway of tightly furled black rose vines.
The door was shut tight. Pandora stared at it, completely baffled. Amanda didn’t seem interested in explaining, either.
She just tilted her head slightly, addressing Elsa who was standing at Pandora’s side. “Remember, this is a door. We go in through it, and we come out through it.”
With that, Pandora felt the hand holding hers suddenly clamp down like a vise!
An irresistible force yanked her forward, dragging her right up to the vine-wreathed door.
Pandora could even smell the aged wood of the door, mingled with the cold, dangerous fragrance unique to the black roses.
“Watch closely. This is how you use the key.”
Amanda’s voice was perfectly calm. Using her free hand, she lined up the razor-sharp black meteoric iron key with an incredibly well-hidden keyhole on the door—so seamlessly blended into the natural wood grain it was almost invisible—and slid it in.
She gave her wrist a gentle twist.
Click.
A crisp, satisfying sound of tumblers falling into place.
The door unlocked. Amanda pushed it open.
Pandora suddenly felt weightless, as if something infinitesimally small, yet vastly important, had been temporarily stripped from her body.
But before she could process it, let alone react, the grip on her hand tightened again. Amanda pulled her bodily through the threshold.
..............
“You wanted knowledge, so here we are.”
Amanda’s voice echoed through the dead silence, carrying a strange, reverberating quality.
It was only then that Pandora realized she had fully crossed the threshold. She turned her head to look at Amanda. The woman was smiling, but there was something... different about that smile now.