Crownless Reincarnation: New World? Nah I'd win-Chapter 45: Clandestine.

Only now did he notice.

The elf had both his legs amputated.

’What happened to him?’

Akamir wondered, staring at the man as he stared back at him.

The woman’s eyes narrowed at Akamir’s tone. "This isn’t a student area. Leave. Now."

But Akamir didn’t budge.

His gaze remained fixed on the elf in the wheelchair—pale skin like polished marble, long blonde hair braided over one shoulder, eyes that burned with wisdom... and exhaustion.

The elf stared back without blinking.

"...His condition doesn’t look good," Nayomi whispered, her voice suddenly low. "He is suffering from some kind of disease."

Akamir quietly nodded as he turned upside down in zero gravity.

"What is this crystal thing?" Akamir asked, glancing at the woman.

The woman didn’t answer. "You’re not supposed to be here."

"No one told me not to be," Akamir replied calmly. "Maybe next time try a sign."

The tension in the room thickened.

Then—

The elf finally spoke.

"What were you trying to do, boy?"

His voice was quiet but really deep, like the echo of a falling waterfall in a vast forest.

The woman stiffened. "Lord Velyrian—"

"Let him speak," the elf said, eyes never leaving Akamir. "We don’t get many guests anyway."

Akamir raised an eyebrow. "I’m... but who are you actually?"

"A corpse," the elf answered dryly. "That breathes."

’That doesn’t answer my question.’

Akamir didn’t know how to respond to that.

The woman gave him a warning glance but stepped back, silently taking a post near the wall.

Lord Velyrian gestured slightly. "The crystal you were about to touch, what do you think that is?"

"...I don’t really know," Akamir mumbled, rubbing his chin. "But it doesn’t seem normal."

Velyrian motioned, and the crystal slowly dimmed, retreating into a rune-bound pedestal in the center of the room.

The gravity snapped back into place, and Akamir landed softly.

"You have a strange aura, human," Velyrian said after a moment. "Like those of a trained warrior."

Akamir’s eyes narrowed. "What makes you say that?"

The elf smiled faintly. "I have lived for over two hundred years. The one thing I learned was to judge people."

Akamir remained silent. There was nothing to say to that.

After a pause, Velyrian spoke again, more gently. "Tell me, boy, do you know where mana comes from?"

Akamir paused as his gaze landed on a poster of humanoid anatomy on the wall.

"Aren’t they present everywhere?" he replied, looking back at him. "Mana comes from the environment, right?"

"Knowledge is a paradox," Velyrian said, his golden eyes staring into him.

"The more one understands, the more one realizes the vastness of his ignorance."

Akamir’s brows furrowed at that.

"So... you’re saying that’s wrong?"

Velyrian’s smile didn’t reach his tired eyes. "Not wrong. Incomplete."

He gestured toward the pedestal again, though the crystal remained dormant.

"Yes, mana exists in the environment. But it wasn’t made in this world. It leaked from a different place."

Akamir frowned harder. "What do you mean?"

"All mana leaks from a place called Clandestine,"

Velyrian informed, as the woman pushed him close to his table. "In fact, I believe all the mana in the universe comes from this one place."

"Sounds like a far-fetched theory of a mad guy—"

"He is right," Nayomi said, making him eat his words. "Clandestine exists. I have seen it with my own eyes."

"...."

Akamir quietly looked up at the woman without a word.

’Couldn’t she tell me this before?’

He rubbed the back of his neck as he leaned on the table beside Velyrian.

"So," Akamir began, pointing at the crystal object. "What is that thing?"

Velyrian didn’t look up. "A key."

"A key to what?"

"There are places where the border between the Clandestine and the mortal world is thin,"

Velyrian replied as he leaned back on his wheelchair.

"This crystal, which I call Ven, is a way—"

"To connect Clandestine to this world." Akamir finished his words but he immediately frowned.

"Wait, are you trying to open a door between realms or what?"

"Of course not," he scoffed, looking at him. "Whatever is on the opposite side is unknown, and I would be foolish to let them come here."

"...Then why?" Akamir asked, tilting his head.

This thing was dangerous, and there was no denying it.

Akamir couldn’t understand why he was risking the world by trying to make a connection with that world.

Velyrian rubbed his head, sinking into himself. "That’s none of your business."

"....."

Akamir quietly looked away from him as he noticed those humanoid anatomies on the wall.

He once again pointed at the crystal.

"And how does that thing connect things?" he said. "All it did was make me float."

Velyrian stopped whatever he was doing. Leaning back, he looked at Akamir. "You don’t know the basics of mana, do you?"

"He is a first-year student," the woman from the back replied. "And he is a famous troublemaker at that."

"Ah, I see. You sounded too smart for a first-year," Velyrian replied, focusing back on his work.

"Now, shoo. Come back when you are as knowledgeable as Milo over there."

Akamir glanced at the woman, who snorted at him.

Without another word, he began to walk out of the room.

But...

His mind was now filled with thousands of thoughts.

’How many worlds are there?’

He wondered, skipping down a few steps to reach the ground floor.

Akamir already had seen the spirit world, and now he gets to know about another one as well.

’...A lot worse than the spirit world as well.’

Akamir couldn’t even begin to imagine what a world where mana originated would look like.

But what bothered him a lot was one thing.

’Why did I only see one world from the space?’

Back when Akamir arrived to this world, he only saw this planet and five massive bodies around it.

There was nothing but darkness except it.

Then...

How were these many worlds connected to this one?

He couldn’t be sure about it.

"Who was that guy anyway?" Akamir asked, glancing up at Nayomi.

"Lord Velyrian. Once the head of elven region’s research division. He, along with his wife...."

Nayomi halted halfway through as she looked at him.

"....Who is dead now."

Akamir quietly nodded. "...I see."

He let out a sigh as he took out the paper Inara gave him.

The one he needs to give Professor Elbon, the head of curriculum adjustments.

’Let’s focus on what is ahead for now.’

He began to walk towards a different building.

---

Changing curriculum was a lot more hard than Akamir had expected.

The way Elbon was looking at him was not what Akamir would like to see.

"He gave me the look like I was some kind of freak who lives off a woman’s money."

Akamir groaned, his annoyance spiked just by remembering him.

"Don’t bother with them," Nayomi replied, shaking her head. "And it’s not like he was—"

"Oh, shut up."

Akamir rubbed his temples as he walked in an empty part of the garden.

He did get what he wanted though.

The classes had already started, but thanks to his special privileges, he doesn’t have to join it.

And an empty place within the academy all for himself.

’I only need to attend classes for one or at most two hours.’

The rest of the time, Akamir could spend on himself and expanding his knowledge.

Away from all the headaches he had for quite some time.

"Hmm?"

Akamir’s steps slowed down as he heard a soft sniffing voice.

’What’s that?’

Curious, he began to follow the voice as it began to grow clearer.

Akamir slowly removed the bushes at the corner of the garden.

’.....’

Only to find Zaina crying in the corner.