Chapter 153: Oracle’s Revelation 2

Oracle’s Revelation.

It was a Skill Julian possessed, one he had obtained from Ilunia. A Skill that worked in a different way from how Ilunia always received her prophecies.

Considering that the Skill Unbidden Prophecy was very useless to Julian, since it very rarely gave him anything to know.

Oracle’s Revelation, in contrast, became a solution that gave Julian hope of becoming a seer himself. No, actually he did not like calling himself a seer, but having access to knowledge about the future was certainly very helpful.

Oracle’s Revelation, as its name suggested, was also related to prophecy. What made it different from Unbidden Prophecy was that, while Unbidden Prophecy decided for itself what to tell its owner, Oracle’s Revelation was a prophecy Skill whose user could decide what he wanted to know at any time.

’This Skill is very dangerous and far too strong.’

As Julian delved into that Skill a little, he could not help thinking about how broken this power of prophecy was.

Ilunia was clearly not as good as Kina in battle, but if Kina really had to fight Ilunia, who had been given time to prepare, wouldn’t Ilunia have more chances to win?

That was how unfair the power of prophecy was.

Of course, just because Julian could foresee anything did not mean he could act freely. He still had to pay for the prophecy with his Mana.

How much Mana was needed depended on how heavily fate itself would be affected by the future Julian saw.

For example, he might be able to foresee whether there was danger around him, and get a short answer.

He would only pay a little Mana. But on the other hand, if he asked for a prophecy like finding clues and the most perfect path to escape this world, without difficulty, without needing much time, the amount of Mana required might far exceed what he had.

Even imagining how much would have to be paid for such a prophecy made Julian uncomfortable.

Of course, it might be more accurate to say that the prophecy itself would not be shown if Julian did not have enough Mana.

And the reason Julian was thinking about this Skill now was that prophecy would be one of the most useful powers given how little information he had.

He did not know the location of the device Monk spoke of, did not know how it was guarded, and did not even know whether they truly had a chance to get it.

Too many things were unknown.

With a small sigh, Julian murmured softly as he used Oracle’s Revelation.

"Show me the room where the device that creates a Breach in this world is located."

Julian avoided the word location, or anything that would reveal the form of the device itself.

It was not that it was impossible; it was just that the Mana he would have to expend was far greater.

That was why Julian decided to get around it by only asking for the room where the device was.

Instantly, as Julian closed his eyes, his consciousness seemed to be dragged into an endless darkness.

Everything was so dark, before finally a single drop of light appeared and swallowed all of that thick darkness.

Colors began to appear in his vision, and soon Julian saw a room appear.

It was not merely a room, but a dark corridor, full of torches burning with light that was almost dying out.

The floor was made of somewhat muddy earth, wet and uneven, while the walls were rough stone, not polished in the slightest.

But, that was not what mattered.

What mattered was the rows of iron bars visible everywhere, making it clear this might be an underground chamber, a place where confinement took place.

’...What is this? Why is the device here?’

Julian could not help frowning.

He could not feel the air around him because he was not actually at that place in person. He also could not smell any scent or anything else.

But for certain, Julian could roughly estimate that this room was clearly a damp one.

Like... an underground chamber formed beneath something very large.

’...Under a cave? A mountain? Rock?’

Julian frowned.

The room was silent, with only the sound of dripping water echoing along the corridor.

And, at the same moment, Julian saw a shadow inside a cell far in the distance.

Julian was curious and wanted to see what it was, but it was impossible for him to move.

The vision given by the prophecy showed that place from only one angle. He could observe what was visible, but could not simply walk down the corridor to check every set of bars.

He also felt a large amount of his Mana finally drained.

Even though the prophecy had succeeded in being shown to him, maintaining that vision, it turned out, continued to consume Mana.

’...Wait a moment.’

Julian’s sight gradually grew blurry, but Julian tried to hold on to his sight and his consciousness. His gaze stared sharply and intensely at those shadows.

There, various creatures could be seen confined. Each had a different form, showing that they came from different races.

Some appeared only as silhouettes behind the bars, while others were a little clearer when the dim light of the torches reached their bodies.

’How could the device be here? Which one?’

Julian tried to look further, but his vision became harder and harder to maintain.

Julian’s consciousness drifted away, returning to the endless darkness.

When he came back, he found himself still sitting and leaning inside that dark cave, with a little sweat dripping down his face.

He let out a small sigh.

’I may really have to consider foretelling its location directly.’

His head throbbed slightly as Julian massaged it gently.

His memory returned to the shadows that had shown a creature with so many swaying tails. There was also one that seemed to have a humanoid body but a head like a horse’s.

There were quite a few of them.

Julian fell silent for a moment.

He had asked to see the room where the device was, and the prophecy had indeed shown him a room.

The problem was, he still did not know where that room was.

’...It seems I hoped for too much.’

So now what?

Julian tilted his head slightly, then murmured softly.

"Will we survive when we get the device?"

He used Oracle’s Revelation, but before the prophecy was carried out, Julian felt the price he would have to pay and found that the Mana he would have to expend was truly absurd.

Julian fell silent.

’...That much?’

He had not even learned how to obtain the device, yet the question of their safety alone required this much Mana.

So, he pondered, then changed his question.

"...What is the key I should pay attention to in order to leave this world?"

This time, the question naturally consumed a lot of Mana, but the amount was far lower than the previous one.

Julian hesitated.

He considered the amount of Mana he still had, then decided to pay and burn his Mana once more.

After that, he did not receive a prophecy vision directly, but a soft whisper in his ear.

"Fox."

The whisper echoed, but only Julian could hear it.

A whisper that felt as if it came from something that was not a living being, a whisper that felt like the wind speaking.

"...Fox?"

Julian, who had received whispered prophecies like this quite often, was not very surprised.

He instead focused on the single word that was the key he needed to pay attention to.

It spoke of a fox.

Was this just a coincidence?

Julian did not want to believe that the fox on his shoulder right now was the one meant.

It could refer to something else, but the problem was that Julian would feel uneasy if he immediately dismissed that possibility.

Perhaps this fox really was something?

But, how?

Julian glanced at the little fox still on his shoulder.

As far as he knew, that little creature was just a fox with nine tails, one that liked eating his Mana and seemed fairly comfortable being near him as long as it got food.

How could a creature this small be the key to leaving the Dragon world?

’...Felicya asked me to take care of it.’

For some reason, recalling Felicya’s behavior made Julian question the fox again.

So, blinking, Julian observed the fox for a moment.

The little fox stared back at him with a sharp glint, as if being cautious about what Julian wanted to do.

Its tails moved slowly.

Julian said nothing.

The fox did nothing either except keep watching him.

After a few moments of staring at each other, Julian could only consider that possibility once more and hope that this fox was truly the key.

If that were so...

Julian glanced at its small body once more.

"You need to eat more."