Seed of Titan-Chapter 142: Sacrificing 2 SP to Tame a Granny

Instead of replying, Madeleine twirled her fingers, conjuring a circular fog at their side. And akin to a window, the fog revealed a particular scene.

Max lay motionless beneath a tree, seemingly dead.

Drai’s eyes instantly reddened in fury as he turned to Madeleine. But the moment he was about to unleash his skill, a sound he knew all too well stopped him.

Zzzzz....

Drai looked at the circular fog again. The image had somehow zoomed in, focusing on Max’s sleeping face that was currently occupying the whole "window".

Drai’s fury quickly subsided, but he hadn’t trusted Madeleine yet. Frowning at the old woman, he asked, "What happened to him?"

"I think your friend was so tired that he fell asleep," she calmly replied before sipping her drink.

Drai doubted the woman’s statement, but he knew it would be unwise to press the issue—Max looked unhurt, and he was on the woman’s turf. So Drai chose to refill his cup to the brim before gulping the whole cup down again.

Wiping his mouth, he said, "Alright. Let’s talk now."

Madeleine smiled and snapped her fingers, dispelling the fog.

"Tell me, Drai—how did a young man like you end up in Siyeun Mountains?"

Drai didn’t immediately answer. He was unsure of Madeleine’s identity, and whether she was a friend or foe.

Noticing his wariness, Madeleine sighed. She waved her hand once more, summoning a fireplace poker to the table.

"What’s this for?" Drai asked as he looked at the gleaming poker.

"You don’t trust me, right? So hold the poker to my neck. You can just stab me if you think I’m trying to harm you."

Drai was baffled. He didn’t expect that Madeleine would come up with such an extreme solution.

"Uhm... Isn’t there a more civilized way to do this?" he remarked.

"Is there?" she questioned back.

Drai scratched his head awkwardly. He could sense a hint of annoyance from the woman’s voice, which made him wonder if he’d been too rude with his burst of anger and excessive caution.

"Fine," Drai eventually said. "I’ll tell you my story even without using this poker. But first, tell me—why are you so desperate to talk to me? You even brought up Max to make sure I couldn’t refuse your invitation."

"What’s there to tell? I’m a lonely lady in the wilderness, seldom visited by others. It’s been decades since I had a proper conversation. Why wouldn’t I seek your company?"

Drai was stunned. He hadn’t expected such a straightforward answer.

Just then, Madeleine flicked her finger. Drai felt a light smack on his forehead, startling him.

"Don’t just stay quiet. We’re here for a talk, not a sermon," Madeleine scolded.

Drai let out a wry smile. Madeleine seemed gentle at first, but now she was becoming more like a grumpy grandma.

Suddenly, Drai had an idea. He silently messaged the System, and seconds later, a new skill appeared in his status screen.

{Universal Grandson}

Drai gritted his teeth, feeling the loss of two points of precious SP.

’Whatever—I’ll just grind harder to make up for the cost. I really hope all the gramps and grannies won’t be so tiresome to deal with anymore.’

Seeing that Drai still wasn’t talking, Madeleine was about to smack his forehead again, but for no apparent reason, she suddenly hesitated.

"Drai, come on. Talk to me," she urged instead.

Noticing her gentler tone, Drai inwardly chuckled.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something," Drai replied. "Anyway, you want to know why I ended up here, right? Well, you can blame Zar Augra for that."

Drai expected Madeleine to react in surprise or astonishment, as his rector was famed across Atria. But to his puzzlement, her reaction was neither.

"Zar Augra? And who might that be?" she asked curiously.

"Er... Rector of Soluna Academy, a powerful spatial mage, the Punisher, a tiny grandpa..." Drai blurted, hoping to refresh the woman’s memory.

However, Madeleine seemed to be even further at a loss.

"I’ve never heard of this ’Soluna Academy’. Where is it located?"

"...Rivida, Rivideria," Drai weakly replied.

"Rivideria? I think I know that name... Oh—you mean the country next door? So you’re from that place?"

Madeleine’s eyes were gleaming, visibly curious about her guest’s home country. Drai, on the other hand, was feeling dizzy.

’Does she have Alzheimer’s? Why doesn’t she recognize Soluna Academy and Zar? And why did she have a hard time recalling Rivideria too?’

Drai suspected that he was in for a lengthy chat, and his suspicion soon came true, as Madeleine promptly bombarded him with endless questions, ranging from his country to his parents. She also looked particularly excited when Drai mentioned Sugar Garden.

"Looks like the world has changed so much," Madeleine remarked an hour later. "I wouldn’t have expected people to wait in line for hours just for a few pastries. I wonder how good they taste..."

Across the table, Drai was slumping on his chair, completely drained. He was accustomed to long meetings, but he usually wasn’t the one doing the most talking. He felt that he had just broken a personal record for the most words spoken in an hour.

"But how could there be such a group like the Crimson Order?" Madeleine kept musing. "I guess it’s been peaceful for way too long—evil-minded people became restless and the authorities became too negligent. There seems to be a lack of awareness among the populace too. Back in my day, these scum would’ve been flushed out and crushed in no time, either by the soldiers or the masses."

Drai slumped further into his chair. He no longer had the strength to entertain the lady’s nostalgic ramblings.

Suddenly, a gentle mist enveloped Drai. He felt reinvigorated, and his headache immediately cleared.

Drai quickly straightened his sitting posture. He noticed that Madeleine was still preoccupied with her thoughts, though looking at her hand gesture, she was obviously the one who had just cast the healing mist.

With his mind refreshed, Drai was able to wait patiently for Madeleine to finish contemplating. Moments later, she finally returned to him.

"Thanks for the insight. I’ve been removed from the outside world for so long that I almost couldn’t believe how much it has changed."

"No problem," Drai replied. "I’m the one who should thank you for healing me. I didn’t think you were a healer based on your strange fog spells."

Madeleine chuckled as she conjured a tiny ball of fog. "This may look like fog, but it’s actually particle manipulation. And I’m not really a healer—my expertise just happens to revolve around organisms, which include humans."

Drai didn’t know what to make of this knowledge, but he was certain that his new skill, Universal Grandson, had been working wonders. Madeleine had grown far too comfortable with him, to the point of casually divulging sensitive information.

"Anyway," Madeleine continued, "I can see you’re not much of a talker, and I’m sure my questions have stressed you out. Now, let me make it up to you by telling you my own story, starting with this inscription here."

Drai’s heartbeat quickened. Madeleine was clearly pointing at the mysterious cube—the very object that had stumped all the researchers at the underground site.

’What the fuck, Universal Grandson!? I didn’t know you were this overpowered!’ Drai thought excitedly. But he quickly suppressed his exhilaration because Madeleine had just walked over to the fireplace and started speaking.

"You see, this cube is the symbol of the organization I work for. But its origin can be traced back to a certain legend—or myth, depending on who you ask. This, right here, is the Ark of Genesis."