Chapter 62: Using Hollow Eyes, Sword King’s Technique
The wisps moved slowly at first, curling and twisting like mist.
They gathered near her hand, merging together.
A faint orb formed above her palm, glowing softly like a small ball of fog.
It pulsed gently, floating in place.
"This is it," she whispered.
It was the source of the scent.
She stared at it in silence, completely absorbed by what she was seeing.
Then she heard footsteps running down the hallway.
"Seris, did you get ready—"
Marianne stopped mid-sentence as soon as she entered the room.
Her eyes went wide.
The orb hovered gently over Seris’ hand, drifting slightly as if caught in an invisible breeze.
It felt ’otherworldly.’
Marianne had a bad feeling about it.
Her face went pale, and she took a small step forward.
"...What... Seris... what is that?" she finally managed.
Seris turned toward her mother. "This is the thing I can smell. Can you smell it now, Mom?"
Marianne didn’t answer right away.
She took a slow step forward, her eyes fixed on the faint white orb above Seris’s palm.
It glowed softly, floating like mist trapped in a bubble.
"Seris, honey, let go of the orb," she whispered.
"Okay."
The orb vanished the moment Seris closed her hand.
Marianne rushed over and pulled her daughter into her arms, holding her tightly.
Her hands ran over Seris’s arms, shoulders, and face, checking for burns or wounds.
When she found none, she exhaled shakily.
"...What was that?"
"This? I told you, Mom. It’s the source of the scent I always talked about."
Before Marianne could speak, Seris raised her hand again.
The orb appeared once more, flickering into existence like it had never gone away.
"Seris, keep that away—"
But Marianne moved before she even finished speaking.
She swatted at the orb, knocking it aside.
It burst apart into thin white wisps that faded quickly.
A strange tingle ran up her hand. Her fingertips went numb for a second.
"Mom? Why did you do that? It’s hard for me to create this. Don’t knock it down," Seris complained, puffing her cheeks slightly.
And just like that, another orb appeared, hovering quietly above her palm again.
Marianne’s chest tightened. Her heartbeat picked up.
Whatever that thing was, it wasn’t normal.
She couldn’t smell what Seris did, but she could feel it.
There was something in that orb. Something heavy and cold that reminded her too much of the day her husband vanished in that flash of light.
"Seris," she said carefully. "Don’t touch it anymore. Please."
Seris frowned, lowering her hand slightly. "But I can control it. It doesn’t hurt me."
"I know, Seris. But just don’t. Let me call someone, alright?"
Marianne fumbled for her phone.
Her hands trembled slightly as she unlocked the screen.
"Who are you calling?" Seris asked.
"Lyra," Marianne said. "I need to ask her something. Maybe she can help."
She remembered what Seris said earlier, about the guard Nisha Hall from the Estenwald estate having the same scent.
Adrian’s people were strange enough as it was, but this... this was on another level.
If anyone would know what to do, it would be Lyra.
She looked again at the faint shimmer above Seris’s palm.
The orb was still there, quiet but alive.
Marianne couldn’t shake the feeling that it was watching her back.
...
MC’s POV
A Few Hours Ago
We had finished breakfast about thirty minutes ago.
The morning sun had climbed higher, warming the garden paths.
The hedges swayed gently in the breeze.
Birds chirped here and there, and the water in the pond shimmered softly.
Mom sat at the tea pavilion, a book open on her lap.
But she wasn’t reading.
Her eyes kept drifting toward us—me and Dad—as if she wanted to come over but didn’t want to interrupt.
Dad and I stood on the far side of the garden near a row of trimmed hedges.
There was enough open space to move around.
"Why aren’t we going to your house yet?" I asked, trying to sound curious, and even a little impatient.
"The flight’s after lunch," he said casually. Then he added, "But before that, there’s something more important."
"More important?"
I already had an idea of what he meant, but I tilted my head, pretending not to.
"Yes. I’m going to teach you two things today. First, how to use your Hollow Eyes. Second, a defensive technique: Varren’s Dominion Wall."
I blinked.
I expected the Hollow Eyes part. But Varren’s Dominion Wall?
’How does he know Varren?’
Varren, the Sword King.
A legend in Wageah.
His swordsmanship could split the sky.
I still remembered his sword from the battlefield.
It was sharp, precise, and domineering.
And Dad was saying he could teach that man’s technique?
"Looks like you’re excited to learn about your Hollow Eyes," he said, mistaking my expression. "But before we start, there’s one rule."
"Rule?"
He nodded. "You can’t tell anyone you have Hollow Eyes. Not your friends. Not your instructors at House Daelthorn. No one except your mother and me. Understood?"
"Okay," I said quietly.
His stern look softened.
He reached over and ruffled my hair.
"Good."
Then he stepped back.
In an instant, his whole demeanor changed.
The warmth disappeared. The faint smile vanished. The air around him grew heavier.
He wasn’t just my father anymore, he was something else.
Someone trained, disciplined, dangerous.
His posture straightened, his shoulders squared, and his eyes... those calm grey eyes turned cold.
I swallowed to show my fear.
I could tell this was the man who had survived battlefields. The one who had killed and lived to tell the story.
"There are five stages of Hollow Eyes. Each stage unlocks a new ability. Some are passive, others require body control and training."
He tapped just under his left eye.
"The first stage is what you’ve already awakened. It enhances perception and sharpens your vision beyond normal limits. You’ll start noticing details others miss."
He paused, then added, "But that’s not the true ability of the first stage."
I frowned. "It’s not?"
He shook his head. "No. The real power of the first stage is something else entirely."
He stepped closer.
"If you focus your mental energy into your eyes, you can activate an ability called [Colorless World].
"It strips the world of distractions.
"You’ll see everything in their fundamental shapes. The flow of mana, hidden movement, structure, all will be reduced to their most basic form."
I nodded slowly.
Dad must’ve seen the confusion on my face because he smiled faintly.
"It’s fine if you can’t control your mental energy yet. You’re still a child. Just follow my instructions. Sit cross-legged."
I sat down on the grass.
From the pavilion, I saw Mom frown a little.
She probably didn’t like me sitting directly on the ground, but she didn’t say anything.
Dad sat behind me and gently placed his palm on my head.
"I’m going to send my mental energy into you.
"Normally, you wouldn’t feel it unless you had control over your own.
"But since you awakened your Hollow Eyes early, you must be able to control it, even if only a little."
I nodded again.
A moment later, something strange flowed from his hand into my head.
It wasn’t painful, but it felt... odd.
Like mist swirling inside my mind.
It made me dizzy.
"Now, follow that string of energy with your own," he said quietly.
I did as he said.
He paused.
"You can do it so easily?"
There was real surprise in his voice.
"Alright," he said, recovering quickly. "Now push your own energy into your eyes. That will activate [Colorless World].
"Don’t panic when you see something strange. I’m right here.
"If anything goes wrong, I’ll protect you."