Angor’s mind became more agitated as the sound of footsteps got louder.
The owner of the steps did not enter the study. He went into another room first.
Angor considered and decided to go check it out on his own. If it was a monster, Angor could escape better in the living room, which had more space.
With that in mind, Angor stood up quickly.
The chair he was sitting on was pushed backward by his legs along with his action. It knocked into the wall and created a “bam”.
The small noise sounded loud and clear in the absolute silence. Even Angor himself was startled by the sudden sound.
“Who is it?” A low, raucous voice came from the neighboring room.
The familiar voice reminded Angor of Sunders’ image immediately. Unlike the younger Sunders’ voice, this one carried less immaturity and more calmness.
Is it really Sunders?
“Is that Angor?” The man left the next room and walked toward Angor’s position.
Angor was happy upon hearing his own name. “Pro—professor?” He tried to call out.
The door to the study was pushed open, revealing a handsome gentleman wearing formal attire. He looked at Angor who had been standing in front of the reading desk and raised an eyebrow as he said, “I didn’t think that it would really be you, Angor.”
Angor’s worry somehow disappeared completely when he saw the figure at the door.
It was Sunders. The real Sunders that came to the Nightmare Realm together with him, not the younger version that tried to slaughter him without listening to reason.
Sunders approached him. When he saw the notebook lying on the desk, he smiled and asked, “It looks like you found it before me. Did you read it? How does it look?”
Seeing the only man he knew in this totally strange world, Angor could not hide his excitement. His lips uncontrollably curled upward while speaking, “I did! It was really good! But, too bad there’s only half of it…”
Sunders did not comment. He picked up the notebook and took a brief peek, and all the memories hidden by the Nightmare Realm all came back flowing into his mind, along with the memory about this channeling method book. One simple look was enough for him to remember all of it.
“Thirty percent baseline, the highest one among all channeling methods I ever know of. It isn’t complete, but the first half was already a priceless treasure,” Sunders exclaimed.
“But enough with the book for now. Let’s talk about YOU,” said Sunders as he then put down the notebook and stared at Angor straight into the eyes.
About me?
Angor was taken aback, not knowing what Sunders meant.
Looking at the boy’s puzzled look, Sunders smiled again. He then flipped the fringe of Angor’s hair aside as he said, “As I expected, you entered the Nightmare Realm as a soul—no, wait, what is this?!”
Sunders’ expression changed greatly and he leaped several meters away from Angor. He sized up Angor with a doubtful attitude, “Who are you?”
Angor was completely puzzled now and he replied, “I’m… Angor?”
“Angor?” Sunders sneered. He added, “Angor would never make it here with his current strength. Sir, I sense an aura deep like the sea from your body. May I ask why would you disguise as Angor?”
I have an aura deep like the sea? Why would I disguise as… myself?
Angor’s mind was in chaos. What was Sunders talking about?
“Professor, but I’m Angor! I was teleported to the underground maze from the beginning. It was really difficult to get here,” Angor spoke with a wronged look.
The distrust in Sunders’ eyes did not falter.
Angor explained himself again at again. He almost cried in the end.
Looking at his eagerness to prove himself, Sunders was wondering as well. Those expressions did not look like pretending, but why was the boy releasing such a strong aura? Even the mighty being behind Greya never gave Sunders such an oppressive impression. Apart from the terrifying aura, Sunders also noticed a faint sweet smell reaching his nose. Where did that come from?
The terrifying aura was not obvious when Sunder kept his distance. However, if he tried to approach Angor, the aura immediately coiled itself around the boy and released a boundless pressure against any creature, forcing invaders to run away.
“You’re Angor?” asked Sunders. He was still doubtful but his words sounded more certain this time.
“I am!” Angor nodded hard. He took out the half of the Twisting Protozoa from his pocket to prove his identity.
Sunders looked at the worm corpse. He then gave Angor another thoughtful look and decided to believe him. The man tried to suppress his instinct, which kept telling him something was dangerous. He then sat down on a chair beside Angor.
“Tell me what happened in the Nightmare Realm. How did you find this place?” asked Sunders as he knocked on the desk with a finger. The consistent rhythm contained an amazing strength which quickly calmed Angor’s panicked mind.
“When I entered the Nightmare Realm, I found myself inside the underground maze.”
“You had some tough luck, Angor,” said Sunders. He crossed his legs and relaxed his expression before he said, “At the same time, you are very lucky since you came here successfully.”
Angor continued, “My starting position had two monsters. They only had heads, red eyebrows, big single eyes, nostrils but without noses, and thick, white beard. They looked really scary.
“I was afraid they would attack me, so I flew into the air to hide. But I don’t think they wanted to attack at all.”
Sunders considered it for a moment before saying, “Heads with single eyes? You must be talking about Hover Heads. They are low-level monsters, but they are strong.”
Here, the man snickered a little as he said, “You won’t get away by flying. Hover Heads are good flyers as well. Although it was strange that they let you away.”
“So they can fly too…” Angor muttered. He added, “Professor, I can fly when I’m in the Nightmare Realm. What’s going on?”
“That’s your talent I meant to tell you. You came here as your soul, not your solid body. You have all the right to fly.”
“I’m here as my soul?” asked Angor as he looked at Sunders.
“Correct. Your soul. Let’s talk about your talent later. Please continue your story.”
Angor nodded. However, he still had questions. If he was a soul now, then what was with his hologram tablet? All the images he recorded were not real? They would disappear when he got back to the wizarding world?
Angor did not reveal his questions on his expression. He remained calm when talking to Sunders, and slowly explained everything during his journey. He told him all the truths while omitting any information relating to his tablet.
“The Hover Heads didn’t chase me. To find where I was and go to the coordinates you gave me, I picked a random direction and made my way from there. The tunnel was strange. I flew for a moment and arrived somewhere completely dark. I couldn’t see anything in there.”
“You entered a tunnel void of light?” asked Sunders as he looked at Angor with a weird look.
“Yes. I saw nothing in the darkness, so I could only feel my way around,” Angor hid the fact that he used his flashlight on the tablet. He continued, “I kept flying until I reached another strange place.”
“You… kept flying? No monsters stopped you?” asked Sunders. He was so surprised that his voice was several pitches higher as he continued, “Such as vines of some plants?”
“Vines? Do you mean the mouth flowers? Oh, wait, mouth flower was a name I made myself. There were flowers with mouths growing on them. They looked pretty fun. Their roots looked like vines, and they saved my life too,” Angor answered truthfully.