"By the way, Al, do you know what this place is? Why does it feel so strange everywhere..." Rin sat down on the soft grass nearby and asked Al, who had also sat down beside her.
Although Rin didn't know how long Al had been here, judging by her calm and unhurried expression, Rin figured she must know something about this place.
"This is a place created by a miracle, similar to Magic," Al said calmly, sitting down.
"A miracle like Magic?"
Al nodded, her tone faint. "The overlap of spaces. Although I don't know exactly how it was formed, I imagine that whatever power created it must have some connection to the Second Magic..."
"The Second Magic? What do you mean?" Rin asked in surprise.
The Second Magic is spatial Magic, but not in the narrow sense of space, but in the broad sense. Currently, there is only one person in the Nasuverse who excels at this art: the second of the five Magi, and also the Fourth Ancestor among the Twenty-Seven Ancestors—Zelretch, also known as the Jewel Owner.
The Magus who can freely travel between countless parallel worlds using the Second Magic is an eccentric old man who claims to be a Champion of Justice but has a strange temper. Rin hadn't expected this place could actually be connected to the Second Magic.
Later, Rin learned from Al that the forest should be described less as "a place" and more as "a nexus," because it was a Shared Area created by the intersection of two different spaces.
To use a simple analogy, if you draw two circles on a piece of white paper, these two circles would originally not intersect. However, if you change the shape of one circle—for example, extending a certain arc outward and making it intersect with the other circle—then the intersecting part is the Shared Area of the two circles... Of course, the circle whose shape was changed can no longer be called a circle.
The same principle applied to this place. It was originally just an unremarkable forest, but due to some external spatial force, a part of another world extended into this one... Rin didn't know what the consequences of world-to-world collision would be, but she knew that if things went wrong, the resulting impact would certainly be world-destroying.
Although the intersection of the two worlds didn't create a fatal threat, this Shared Area underwent massive changes. One change was magnification: the entire area, including all objects within it, was enlarged by geometric multiples. The other change was the disappearance of all animals.
Whether they were erased by a mysterious force or thrown out of this space due to the change in the area, Lin Luo also didn't know. However, at least right now, in this area, aside from him, Al, and Rin, there was no third living creature!
Truly, this was a terrifying matter. Rin had originally thought that staying here a little longer wouldn't hurt, but after hearing Al's words, she felt her scalp tingle!
Are you kidding? This place harbors a terrifying power that made countless animals disappear without a trace! Heaven knows if that kind of thing will happen again. If she died inexplicably like that, she wouldn't even have a place to cry out for injustice!
However, the fact that such a Shared Area appeared—was it truly created by that Old Jewel Man who had nothing to do all day but wander around parallel worlds? That old man was also the grand master of Rin's family's magical path. The Tohsaka Family's Jewel Magecraft and the Jeweled Sword were passed down by him. It could be said that the Jewel Owner was the Tohsaka Family's founding master.
But none of that was important. What was important... Rin glanced at Al beside her, and a flash of extreme doubt and vigilance crossed her mind. Although she knew the girl wasn't ordinary, she hadn't expected her to know about the Second Magic. This loli was not simple; she was probably not an unnamed character from the original work.
"I got lost walking in the forest and stumbled in by accident. So, Al, how did you enter this Shared Area?" Rin asked suddenly after a moment of contemplation.
"Me?" Al was startled when this was mentioned, and a hint of sadness flashed in her eyes. "I accidentally entered here while being chased, because the change in this area even affected the outside environment, making it easy for people to experience visual confusion."
"I see..." Hearing her say this, Rin finally understood why she had walked so far outside yet still hadn't found the exit of the forest. It turned out she was being affected by this Shared Area.
This was not strange. Just as a large environment can affect a small one, it was normal for something as incredible as the Shared Area to affect the surrounding environment. To put it plainly, as long as Rin didn't pass through that "door" that looked like a water surface, she would just keep going around in circles. Only...
"You said someone is trying to hunt you down. What happened?" Rin couldn't help but frown. This adorable little loli's true identity was probably not so adorable.
"That is..." Before Al could finish speaking, her expression suddenly changed. "They've arrived!"
"Huh?" Rin's expression also tightened instinctively. He cautiously surveyed his surroundings, but even with his current sensing abilities, he couldn't detect anyone else nearby. He looked at Al, puzzled.
At that moment, he noticed that Al's previously calm face now held a hint of tension. Frowning slightly, she said, "Just now, a group of people entered this shared area. I think those must be the ones hunting me."
"You can sense them?" Rin immediately felt extremely strange. He knew that the spot where he had entered this area was very far from where they were currently standing. Even if his aura sensing ability were five times stronger, he might not have noticed them, yet Al could. Was her sensory ability that powerful?!
Al did not answer Rin's question but asked in return, "When you entered here just now, did you pass directly through that membrane?"
"Membrane? Oh, you mean that thing. Yes, what about it?"
"Ah... so that's how it is. No wonder I didn't sense you when you entered." Sighing heavily, Al looked enlightened. Then she said gravely, "Listen closely. That membrane was never meant to be a 'door' allowing people to enter here. Correctly speaking, it's a lock. Although I don't know why you could ignore that lock and enter, the true entrance to this area is the 'door' behind the lock, and that is where I entered."
Why could he ignore it? In front of the Jeweled Sword, the vessel of the Second Magic, any spatial lock was meaningless.
"There's such a thing?" Rin was somewhat surprised. He was becoming increasingly curious about Al's identity.
Next, Rin heard Al continue, "Originally, I left a mark on that door. As long as someone entered here through that door, I would be able to sense them. Since you didn't enter through that door, I didn't notice you until I saw you..."
"Wait!" Rin suddenly realized something was wrong. "You said you accidentally entered here, so why were you able to leave a mark?"
"Uh!" Al froze for a moment, looking embarrassed as if her lie had been exposed. But she quickly regained her composure. "Because passing through the door doesn't instantly bring you here, I had enough time to prepare. Since you didn't come through the door, naturally you wouldn't know."
"Hmm...?" Although the explanation was plausible, Rin felt that Al wasn't telling the whole truth. If she accidentally touched the "door" and had enough time to prepare, why didn't she escape instead of setting up a mark? It clearly seemed like she intentionally hid herself here!
Of course, although Rin thought Al might be lying, he wasn't displeased. After all, she had said she was evading enemies, so it was impossible for her to reveal the full truth to him.
Just then, Rin suddenly saw Al pull out a mirror from somewhere. A white light flashed, and several images immediately appeared in the mirror.
When he clearly saw the attire of those people, Rin frowned and said seriously, "Church Agents! Who exactly are you?!"
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