A Villainess Should Be Strong

"So, what do you think I can do?" Estelle asked.

She was as clueless as a child when thrown into a foreign dimension with little to no explanation like this.

A bit frightened, she steeled her mind so that she wouldn't get shaken up too badly.

"First and foremost... I suppose I shall grant you with the power to wield 'nothingness'. It shall serve as your weapon in your trip inside this realm,"

The power of nothingness. It seemed that before she was even able to wield her Creation Magic, she would be on the way to master another element that was outside of the regular spectrum.

This time, she was directly met with someone who could be said to be the most proficient in their element, the Ruler of a realm.

Oh, how Estelle wished that she could see the entire universe from an outsider's perspective so that she could witness how many different sections of the world were there besides the ones she already knew.

Estelle predicted that through this certain encounter, she would gain experience equal to none other. A meeting she would never be able to get in the Surface alone. A special chance.

"And how do I use it?"

"Try to guess?" The Ruler chuckled.

Nothing changed within Estelle. She felt confused. No pain, no pleasure, no sensation in the slightest.

However, it was logical in a sense.

She was granted nothingness. 'Nothing' didn't have a form.

Because nothingness couldn't cause a change, it had to be approached through a different way. Her own way, as the Ruler said.

"You can take your time to slowly figure it out. The likes of you are usually very intelligent, I'm sure that you'll get the hang of it in no time," The Ruler said with a laugh.

"Is there not even a single clue that you're willing to spare me with?"

Estelle's brain was on the brink of being completely fried and drained.

"Hmm.. Try to imagine yourself.. as an existence. Then, discover the nothingness within yourself,"

Vague statements. It was always like this.

Like a huge puzzle, Estelle's encounters were always filled with these sorts of confusing riddles that made Estelle want to drop everything and placate her craziness with violence.

Screw everything.

It was just that she didn't possess enough power to do so, and she also didn't have the authority.

Although the clue was vague, it was still a clue. She had to scramble for everything she could use at this point.

"..Got it," Estelle grumbled, not expecting herself to be met with a blockage in progress this early on.

She imagined the headache she was going to face.

How was she supposed to figure it out?

Not minding Estelle's visible distraught expressions, the Ruler continued its 'help'.

"Next, I shall provide you with a soul meter. This can track your soul's longevity and liveliness, so make sure to always pay attention to this. Don't let it reach 0. No matter what. Keep it above 10 for safety measures, but in case that there's a dangerous event, be mindful of your usage,"

As the voice spoke loud and clear, an object in the shape of a golden pocket watch dropped down from the sky and flew towards Estelle.

In turn, Estelle reached for the object and clasped it tightly within her grip.

Opening the cover, she was greeted with a glimmering liquid and a series of numbers.

"This is.. the instrument?" At first glance, it seemed to be nothing but a simple ornament. The liquid fluctuated back and forth, hitting the rounded corners of the container again and again.

An instrument specifically created for counting one's soul's remaining value.

The glimmering liquid was purple in color. Like a galaxy, it had sparkles and silver glitters that looked like stars in the middle of the night.

Estelle observed the bewitching components and couldn't take her eyes off of the item.

However, the data displayed a much darker conclusion unlike the beautiful appearance it had.

Her soul count was miserable.

Her current count was wobbly sitting on the forties, which indicated that she had burned through more than 50 units just with the successive dilemmas that hit her in the recent times.

She observed as the pocket watch she received flickered from time to time, mirroring her unstable soul.

"Yes it is. Well, in truth, without that item, you should be able to tell when your situation gets dire. You will feel it, like your entire body is burning- breaking into flames because your soul evaporated too much," The Ruler said.

Humming in agreement, she reflexively thought back to when she had experienced a similar effect.

[So that's why I felt another.. sensation apart from the usual pain standard..] Estelle understood her immediate question when she faced the storm's backlash.

The pain was foreign to her, understandably. She finally accepted her conditions and comforted herself within her pressured mind.

"How does the soul count work? How much will it decrease by if I decided to use my power?" Estelle asked, cautious of the stagnant count.

"Well- although I don't know what exactly happened on the Surface that caused you to be sent here in the first place.. I assume that you forced your mana internalization too much, and that led to a haywire set of circuits,"

"Circuits? What are those?"

"..So you don't even know the mana circuits? Oh, this is going to be hard, isn't it.." The Ruler sounded disappointed, to which Estelle grew ashamed of.

"Can you manipulate your mana? To what extent?" The Ruler quesitoned.

"To.. a good range. I don't know how to measure it,"

"Well, to be precise, mana circuits are something everyone has. Even if you don't have mana, you have mana circuits. Even in the Eterna, there are specific mana circuits that work behind the scenes," The Ruler spoke.

"This is because everyone- the entire world revolves around this delicate structure, which is a circuit in itself. Everything is based on circuits that are entangled with each other. Through tangling with the outside environment's circuits, we materialize our mana and get the ability to use them to our own advantage. The practice of entangling such circuits is what we call mana manipulation. We manipulate the circuits, and through that, we probe around our mana, too,"

With that explanation, Estelle was able to get the gist of things.

She began to try to manipulate her mana, but she was deterred by the thought of draining her soul power away.

"Don't worry, manipulating a small amount of mana won't harm you. Be sure to control it well, though," The Ruler assured Estelle's worries.

"..I see," Estelle heaved a sigh of relief, as she began to experiment with the image of these 'circuits' the Ruler talked about.

After controlling her mana, she began to let it course through her bloodstreams. Slow, steady, and passive movements throughout her entire system.

Estelle made timed breaths in order to fully immerse herself in this process. Her chest rose up and down. With it, the mana inside her also circulated.

Then, the imagery started. A set of wires. A circuit.

Since it must have a center, Estelle set her mana bank as its 'core'.

Estelle was sure that it would take a long time since the concept was foreign to her.

She took it slow, as she blindly went through her system to imagine complicated circuits forming all around inside her body.

Then, suddenly, it happened before her.

The tying up of two circuits, one inside her body and the other outside.

It was a weak imagery, but it was still a great progress to make.

"I saw it!" Estelle exclaimed.

Though it was only for a brief moment, she saw the circuits flash through.

Like a pattern woven into the world by intricate threads that contain mana, the circuits each had their centers, a 'core'.

Estelle was enlightened. She beamed with confidence.

"I want to play around with this concept of 'nothingness' you speak of," Estelle stated.

That was her priority. To grasp the concept that ruled the current realm she was in.

If she couldn't master the power, how would she fare inside the realm? She didn't know how long her journey was going to last.

It depended on her soul power.

To cover for that loss, she had to master this 'nothingness' first.

"Want to bet how long you'll take?" With a jolly tone, the Ruler asked. To the Ruler, Estelle's arrival might just seem like an amusing piece of entertainment. A great stress reliever.

Estelle scowled, rolling her eyes at the Ruler's attitude.

"Come on, it's just going to be a fun bet!"

"No," Estelle declined, theorizing about the different ways she could wield this absurd 'nothingness'.

"Well, that's too bad. High risk, high return. Isn't that the golden rule?" The Ruler instigated, trying to poke Estelle's mind.

"..There's no way that one would voluntarily offer a high risk bet without knowing firsthand that they have a clear advantage," Estelle calmly replied.

Estelle sat down, crossing her legs to think. The Ruler had gone away, so what was left in the realm was only blank silence.

She thought deeply. This was a whole realm in itself. Like the Surface, like the Underworld, it was a realm. A realm of nothingness.

What was it for? How did it start? How did it operate?

The Eterna and its denizens. Estelle was currently inside the outer realms. She wondered what laid within the inner parts, but she knew far too well not to wager her life for that knowledge.

Clutching her instrument tightly, Estelle pursed her lips. Her fate depended on her discoveries.

Her thoughts wandered near and far.

Nothing is everything. So, everything should be considered nothing inside Eterna.

The problem was, which 'nothing' could she use?