Zura slowly moved his hand, revealing one clover, then two, then three. His heart pounded with anticipation. 'There's more. But how many? Four clovers or five clovers?'
He moved his hand a little more and saw the fourth clover. His breath hitched. 'There is more. Did I get a five-clover grimoire?!' The thought sent a jolt of excitement through him, but a part of him dreaded the challenges that came with such power.
With a deep breath, he completely removed his hand, hoping for a five-clover grimoire. But what he saw left him stunned. It was a nine-clover grimoire. Zura was baffled; he had no idea what a nine-clover grimoire was supposed to do.
He quickly turned to Noelle and showed her his grimoire. "Please don't tell me it's because I am the chosen one."
Noelle's reaction confirmed his suspicions—she had no idea either. He sighed and opened the grimoire, finding it blank as expected.
"Let's ask Drouot," Noelle suggested. "He knows everything about grimoires."
They showed the grimoire to Drouot, whose reaction was even more pronounced than theirs.
"Do you know anything about this?" Noelle asked, her curiosity piqued.
Drouot stroked his beard thoughtfully and asked them to sit on the ledge.
"Since the beginning of the world, grimoires have existed to make life easier for us," he began. "The absolute power of this world, the divine tree, has rendered all the powers in the grimoires. Different types of grimoires exist in other kingdoms, but the Clover Kingdom has clover grimoires."
After a brief pause, Drouot continued, "The first power grimoire, the first-ever grimoire, was a ten-clover grimoire. From that, the nine-clover grimoire was created, and later the eight, seven, and six-clover grimoires. They were the first-order grimoires, absolute power. Even a thousand four-clover grimoires combined can't match the power of a ten-clover grimoire."
He sighed. "However, the power was too great for people to handle. It brought prosperity to the world, but it also brought destruction. Thus, weaker versions of grimoires were created. Eight-clover grimoires were used to create four-clover grimoires. Six-clover grimoires were used to create three-clover grimoires. As for the two and one-clover grimoires, they were created from the grimoires which failed."
'I have never heard of this before!' Zura exclaimed inwardly. "What about the nine, seven, and five-clover grimoires?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Nine and seven-clover grimoires disappeared from the world," Drouot replied. "As for the five-clovers… they bring abomination."
"So… what does a nine-clover grimoire do?" Zura wondered. "If the fourth leaf of the clover symbolizes good luck and fortune, what about the nine-clover grimoire?"
Drouot quietly shook his head. "I have no idea. I will have to ask my elders and look through their notes about it. If I find something, I will let you know."
After saying that, Drouot left.
Zura sighed in frustration, rubbing his hand on his face. The weight of the unknown pressed heavily on him,
"Are you okay?" Noelle asked, her voice laced with concern as she looked at Zura, her gaze soft and unsure.
"No. I am not okay," Zura replied, his voice a mix of frustration and desperation. "So many unusual things are happening that I don't know what I should do. If I don't understand anything, what am I supposed to do?"
He was trying to stay calm, but the weight of the unknown was pressing down on him, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. "I want to see my sister…" he muttered, his voice low and unsure.
Noelle hesitated, her hand reaching out to comfort Zura but pulling back at the last moment. 'This is not me. This is not how I am supposed to act. I am royal, and royals don't care about anyone,' she thought to herself, her mind a mix of hesitation and uncertainty.
She shook her head, her voice steady and sure. "If you keep acting like this, then you will die even before you reach the third world. And if you die, you won't be able to see your sister again."
"Didn't you say that if I die in this world, I'll go back to my real world?" Zura frowned, his gaze intense as he glared at Noelle. "So doesn't that mean that if I kill myself right now, I'll go back to my world?"
Noelle's face turned pale, the weight of her words hitting her hard. She wanted to bring Zura's confidence back, but it backfired.
"You can't do that!" she exclaimed, her voice desperate. "If you kill yourself, who knows what the price for that might be? What if you go back to your world but are dead? What if only your corpse goes back and you die?!"
Noelle's theory was correct. It wasn't certain that Zura would end up alive in the real world if he died in this world. No one knew that, and they had no proof to prove it. It was just a theory, a thought that sent a shiver down Zura's spine.
"You truly suck at cheering up, you know?" Zura remarked, his voice laced with sarcasm.
Noelle's face flushed, her mind racing. She averted her face to the side, her voice defensive. "It's not like I was trying to cheer you up or anything."
"Yeah, yeah," Zura replied, standing up, his mind made up. 'Tsundere to the core, huh?'
"Wait, where are you going?" Noelle asked, her voice curious.
"I have a pretty faint idea about the power of my grimoire," Zura replied, his voice steady. "So I want to test it. Noelle, attack me with all you've got."
===
Author's note: Too many unexpected and unusual things. But at least Zura has a reason to cheer himself up. Any guesses what it could be? What about his grimoire powers?
Spoiler: Next chapter is going to be a little R-18.
Is anyone even reading this? Feedback through comments and reviews is appreciated.