If one were to ask which character Erich, a notorious cutscene-skipper, was most familiar with in the game, there was only one answer—Lorraine, the female protagonist of 《Starspire》.
As a story-driven game focused on the beautiful relationships between girls, most chapters of 《Starspire》 had players controlling Lorraine, choosing dialogue options to save and romance one girl after another. Although many players were actually drawn in by the 【Abyss】 and its highly detailed power system, anyone who wanted to enjoy the combat was inevitably forced to stare at Lorraine's face for a long time. After all, this game only had a fast-forward feature, not a skip button.
As a specially admitted commoner student, Lorraine naturally had her unique qualities. She possessed an exceptionally outstanding affinity for space-time and psionic magic. Space-time magic was still fine; spatial teleportation had basically become widespread nowadays, and since it was extremely difficult to master, it generally only showed results in the late stages.
But psionic magic was different. It was a school of magic specifically targeting the mind and consciousness, covering areas like mind reading, illusion, mental attacks, and memory manipulation. The Radiant Empire classified the psionic school as a "dangerous faction." Even nobles were not allowed to study it privately, and the already scarce psionic mages were almost entirely controlled by the royal family.
Lorraine had been personally recruited into the academy by the principal because of her incredibly stunning psionic talent. Of course, this was covered up on the surface by her equally outstanding space-time talent.
Just how outstanding was Lorraine's psionic talent? Without any systematic training, she had awakened the ability to read minds on her own. In the game, this manifested as being able to hear the inner thoughts of the female characters during conversations, helping players choose the correct dialogue options.
So, what could she do in reality?
Erich wasn't quite sure, but he didn't plan to take any risks.
“I don't know you,” Erich answered Lorraine's question while clearing his mind, thinking of absolutely nothing, repeating a single mantra in his head over and over: “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”
Lorraine's expression turned to one of confusion. She had clearly heard it just now. The very moment this man saw her, his mind had clearly echoed her name. But now, as she stood right in front of him trying to catch more of his thoughts, she could only hear strange, repetitive words.
She had never encountered such a situation before. Ever since she was a child, the thoughts of those around her had been like an open book; she couldn't help but read them even if she tried. But now...
“I'm sorry.” Lorraine blushed, finally realizing how rude her behavior was. Stopping a strange man and asking if he knew her looked like a clumsy pick-up line no matter how one sliced it. “I seem to have mistaken you for someone else.”
With that, she turned around and ran back into 【Embers and Chords】.
Erich watched her disappear behind the shop door before finally allowing his mind to return to normal. Beside him, Irene stared at him, her confusion almost tangible.
“Let's go.” Erich grabbed Irene, offering no explanation.
The two walked dozens of paces further down Sage Avenue and turned into another, much smaller staff shop. Inside, there was only an elderly clerk dozing off. Spotting two young students entering, he immediately put on a professional, warm smile.
“Are you two here to pick out a staff? Come, come, take a look over here. These are new arrivals.”
Erich tried several staffs in the shop. The elderly clerk eagerly handed him one after another, each accompanied by an enthusiastic sales pitch. This one was made of yew wood inlaid with moonstone, capable of boosting elemental affinity by thirty percent; that one had an ironwood core paired with dragon crystal, significantly increasing casting speed; the one in the corner was even more remarkable, with twelve runes carved into its body, supposedly the private creation of a retired instructor...
Every time Erich took a staff, he would channel mana into it to feel its resonance, ask for the price, and then put it back down upon hearing the answer.
In the end, he bought the cheapest one in the shop.
An unadorned pine wood staff. Its core was supposedly pressed from the most common mana crystal shards, devoid of any amplifying runes. Its only merit was that it was cheap—a single gold coin.
The elderly clerk's smile stiffened, but he still maintained his basic professionalism to complete the transaction.
One gold coin still made Erich's heart ache, but there was no helping it. Although one could cast magic without a staff, a mage without a staff was like a swordsman without a sword—completely soulless!
Outside, the sky had already darkened. Quite a few stalls were beginning to pack up, and upperclassmen pushed their carts as they dispersed in twos and threes.
“That girl...” Irene finally couldn't help but ask.
“We'll talk about it when we get back.”
The two walked back toward the academy along Sage Avenue. By the time they crossed the plaza, there were far fewer pedestrians around. Only then did Erich slow his pace, pondering how to explain things to Irene.
“If you ever run into that girl in the future, you must be extremely careful,” he said, lowering his voice. “It's best to keep your distance from her and avoid thinking about anything important around her. Otherwise...”
A hand grabbed his hand.
Erich stopped mid-sentence and turned back in confusion. Irene was tugging on his sleeve, an indescribably awkward expression on her face. Standing behind her, having appeared at some unknown point, was Lorraine.
She looked at Erich, a smile on her face that held no warmth whatsoever.
“Otherwise, what would happen, Mr. Erich?”
Rate on N.U.
