Few days passed since Adam met Ramon and his words from before still echoed in his mind.
"Borrowed… not reincarnated." He couldn't make sense of it.
Lorna aware of Adam's uneasiness. She then talked to Ernand.
Ernand and Lorna try to console Adam, but Adam implied that he wants to find the answers.
"Hermit…. words... Adam… want… find… answer…" Adam slowly speak to them.
Both of Ernand and Lorna understand. They knew if Adam stays there, he won't find the answer that he looked for. The Scholar's Town can give him the answer that they cannot.
"Tomorrow… Merchant… Travel… Scholar's Town…" Ernand said gently.
So, it is settled that tomorrow Adam will travel to Scholar Town with ride from Wandering Merchant that will leave tomorrow. The next day, Lorna packed some food for Adam. Ernand and other villagers send him off with warm joy. Then Adam starts his journey once again to Scholar's Town.
Adam woke up to the noise of wooden wheels rolling over cobblestones. Morning light filtered through the thin cloth covering the wagon. His head still felt heavy. His body ached from the long road from Angkara to Scholar's Town.
The merchant who had offered him a ride dropped him at the town gate before sunrise and left without asking for anything. Scholar's Town felt like another world compared to Angkara. The buildings were sharp and tall. Stone and wood blended together with carved runes glowing faintly along doors and lamp posts. People moved with purpose. Robed adults discussing lessons. Apprentices carrying tomes. Children sweeping the streets with tiny sparks of mana drifting from their fingertips.
Adam clutched his bag and walked slowly. He listened to the language around him. He caught fragments.
"Mana… weak… traveler…"
"Where… from…"
"Registration… Council…"
He still understood pieces, not full sentences. But he was improving. Enough to sense tone. Enough to know when people spoke about him.
He tightened his cloak. He needed information. A library. A clue. Anything that spoke of Earth or Indonesia.
But before he went far, someone cried out.
"Help…! Please…!"
A young boy knelt beside an older man collapsed on the ground. The man's breathing was shallow. His hands trembled. A reddish glow flickered weakly around his chest.
Adam froze.
He didn't know their language well. But he understood the pain on the boy's face.
He approached. The boy looked up, tears streaming. "Please… mana… fading… father…"
The words were broken, but the meaning was clear.
Adam knelt. He had no magic. No mana training. Only instinct. He placed his hand gently on the man's chest.
A soft warmth pulsed through his palm.
Not painful. Not overwhelming. A gentle vibration, like something alive shifting beneath his skin.
The reddish glow steadied.
People gasped. Someone shouted. Footsteps rushed toward them.
A woman pulled the boy back. Her voice shook.
"What are you doing?!"
Adam didn't understand every word, but he knew the anger in her tone.
"I… help…" he said slowly. "Help… him…"
A crowd formed. Several stared at the glow lingering around his hand. Others whispered.
He recognized one word clearly.
"Mana…"
The man's breathing eased. His eyes slowly opened. The glow faded. Adam pulled his hand away, shocked.
What did I just do?
He didn't know. He had simply acted.
Three guards pushed through the crowd.
Their armor bore the crest of Scholar's Town. One pointed at him.
"You… Stop…"
Adam raised his hands. "Wait… not harm… I help…"
"You used mana without registry." a guard said. Adam only understood: "Mana… no… record."
He shook his head. "I… no mana... Not know…"
The guards exchanged tense glances.
One said, "Council..."
Another said, "Investigation… foreign…"
Then the last word he feared: "Danger…"
He didn't need full comprehension. The tone was enough.
"I didn't— I'm not—"
He couldn't express himself. The words failed him.
Two guards bound his wrists—not cruelly, just firmly—and led him away. People whispered as he passed.
"Untrained…"
"Strange aura…"
"No crest…"
"No lineage mark…"
Adam's heart pounded.
He was not afraid for himself.
He was afraid of being misunderstood.
The guards took him into a circular stone chamber. Runes lined the walls. The air was cold.
A man in a long dark blue robe entered. His hair gray. Eyes sharp.
"Sit…"
Adam obeyed.
The man spoke slowly. "You… mana… use… not normal."
Adam swallowed. "I don't know... Accidentally…"
"You… Name…" Then the man asked his name.
"Adam" Adam answer shortly.
After that the robed man produced a small crystal with faint light inside.
"Touch..."
Adam hesitated, then pressed his hand on it.
White light burst outward. The chamber runes shimmered. The air vibrated softly.
The robed man stepped back, startled.
Adam jerked his hand away. "Sorry… sorry…"
The man stared at him—not angry, but shaken.
"You…" he whispered. "Mana… Not ordinary…"
The guards stiffened.
Adam took a breath. "I not… danger... not Mana… pray… I want… learn… Mana… understand…"
The robed man exhaled slowly.
"Council… decide... You wait..."
Two guards escorted Adam to a holding room. Small. Clean. A bench. Not prison, but not free.
Adam sat, trembling.
He tried to pray, voice unsteady.
"Ya Allah… what is happening to me…?"
His palms were still warm.
He stared at them.
He didn't know if he had healed that man or awakened something unknown inside himself.
But one thing felt clear.
This world had begun to react to him.
And he didn't know whether it was guidance or a warning.
Adam waited at the holding room for a night. He is nervous, he knows no one there. All night he feels agitated. He doesn't stop praying. Early in the morning, the robed man that yesterday asked him to wait come with group of people. In the middle of that group seems some wise old man with white rob and a flashy staff. The robed man from yesterday then start to talk.
"Council… Leader…" He pointed to the white robbed man.
It seems that he is the council leader of the scholar's town. Then he produces similar crystal-like yesterday.
"Touch…" He asked Adam gently.
Adam feels hesitated, but still pressed his hand on it. The same thing happens like yesterday, white light burst outward. The chamber runes shimmered. The air vibrated softly. The group seems shocked but the council leader only nodded his head.
"Mana… Different…" Council leader reacted.
"No… Danger… Just Different…" He elaborates.
The group of people then asked some question to council leader about the situation.
Council leader looks curious about Adam; he senses no harm from him.
"What… You… Looking…" He asked Adam.
"Answer… Mana… Learn…" Adam replied slowly.
The council leader feels Adam sincerity from his answer.
The council leader and the group discuss shortly, then it seems they reach an agreement.
"You… Go…" Council leader spoke to Adam.
They decided that Adam present no harms for the town but they will watch him closely. Adam then got released. He just want to rush straight to Study Hall. He wants to find the answer quickly. The council ordered two guards to monitor closely Adam's movement.
Ramon's word stuck in Adam's head. He tries to find answer even though he realizes that it would difficult considering language and communication limitation that he had. He just do his best effort to find even slightest clue for the answer.