#42
“I’m not waiting. Are you listening? Andelion? I said I’m not waiting! Hey!!”
I ignored the sword’s voice calling me from behind and quickly left the room. I moved my feet while mentally rehearsing the apology I hadn’t been able to deliver. I thought about how the sword would worry until I returned, and how I’d have to make it up to him later.
I left the dormitory and headed outside. As I reached a place with few people around, I started to feel increasingly tense. Though it wasn’t a big deal, now that I was actually attempting it, I felt nervous.
Once, when Kara was assessing my basic abilities, she told me:
“You have absolutely no talent for magic.”
Not only was I physically weak, but I also couldn’t use magic. I wondered how she could deliver such devastating news in a world where magical beasts ran rampant.
Fortunately, while I had no talent for magic, that didn’t mean I couldn’t use it at all. I still couldn’t grasp attack magic, but I could handle supportive magic. Kara, who taught me magic, said this to me as I awkwardly cast spells:
“Try not to use it in front of others. Don’t even attempt anything beyond the most basic spells.”
“Why?”
“Well, that’s…”
Trailing off, Kara gave me a pitiful look. It seemed she thought my magic was so terrible that I’d embarrass myself if I used it in front of others. The sympathy in her eyes confirmed my suspicions.
After that, I avoided magic practice as much as possible and didn’t create situations where I’d need to use my abilities properly. But now was different. I had to use magic, however awkward it might be.
My feet had already brought me to the scene of the incident. I could see the huge hole that had put students in danger during the entrance ceremony. After completing their investigation, the school no longer stationed guards around here. Instead, they created a massive protective barrier to prevent people from falling in.
I approached the invisible barrier. Looking it over briefly, it seemed thinner than I expected and not too difficult to work with. I sat down and placed my hands on the ground.
I closed my eyes and recalled Kara’s teachings. Magic is thought. How well it works depends on how you develop your thoughts and how realistically you can envision them. The reason many people use specific activation words when casting magic is because speaking aloud makes it easier to materialize their imagination.
However, I was the type who lost concentration when using activation words. Even Kara found it strange while teaching me. Having memories of living in a world without magic, speaking incantations felt unnatural to me.
“…”
What I was trying to use now was search magic. Search magic isn’t difficult. You create a thin thread of magical energy from within your body and then spread that energy in all directions. Since there’s a limit to how much magical energy I can spread, the range isn’t very wide. Using the magical energy I gradually spread, I checked the magical energy lingering in the surroundings.
My goal was to find the magical energy left in the magic circle. Though others had likely already done this, I needed to confirm exactly where the person with this magical energy had gone. The moment I identified the magical energy in the magic circle, I scattered my own energy over it.
My magical energy, now remembering the energy left in the magic circle, turned red. This red energy rose into the air to find the remaining magical energy from the circle. I opened my eyes and watched the magical energy floating in the air.
I tapped the energy that had slowly approached me with my finger. It then scattered like fine dust in all directions. Now all I needed was for this energy to find similar power. My task was complete.
I was truly relieved that things had gone smoothly. Thinking that the sword would be waiting and I should head back to the dormitory soon, I turned around—only to come face to face with a sudden black silhouette.
Something wearing a black robe was staring at me. I wondered if it was Yaksi, but the shape of the robe was different from what she usually wore. It could have been someone from the school, but the atmosphere it gave off was unsettling.
It hadn’t said anything and was just standing still, but it didn’t feel like a living person.
I held my breath as I faced it. I thought I should get away from here as quickly as possible. I decided to walk slowly, since running suddenly might provoke it. As if reading my mind, the black-robed figure suddenly appeared right in front of me.
This wasn’t a normal person’s movement. Swordsmen using sword energy might move this quickly, but it was impossible for an ordinary person to move this fast.
Someone inside the black robe sniffed at me. As I reached out to push away this figure that had suddenly approached me, a black hand emerged from the robe and grabbed my arm.
“Let go!!”
I tried to shake off the black hand, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t break free. While struggling, I felt like I’d made eye contact with whatever was inside the robe.
This wasn’t human. Inside the robe was only a black mass. There were no eyes or nose, just a white mouth floating alone. The wide, grinning mouth gave me chills. Black smoke flowed from between the gaping white mouth. The smoke that seeped out gradually enveloped both me and the black arm holding me.
“What are you?”
The black figure asked in a raspy voice like it was scraping the floor. That’s what I wanted to ask. What was this thing? I couldn’t breathe properly. My vision was becoming blurry, and my legs were gradually weakening. I felt like I might collapse onto the floor at any moment.
The black figure gently stroked around my neck with its other hand. The black hand touching my neck was chillingly cold. Just then, I noticed a single red dot floating in the air. The dot touched the black figure’s shoulder.
It was the magical energy I had sent out earlier. My foggy mind suddenly cleared. This figure before me was the one who had drawn the magic circle at the school. I thought of the various spells I could cast. Though I couldn’t attack, there were a few things I could do.
Even at such close range, I could teleport. I took a short breath, raised my free hand, and flicked my fingers briefly. My body then moved to a spot slightly away from it. Now was my chance, while it was confused by my sudden disappearance. I quickly moved my legs to escape from the creature.
However, it regained its senses and chased after me at high speed. It seemed like I would be caught by its black hands again.
I rolled to the side to avoid its hands, but there was nowhere else to run. If anyone was still in the school building, they would see us chasing each other in the large open space right in front. However, the school building behind the black figure had no lights on. Then the creature spoke:
“Fun. You’re fun.”
I wasn’t having any fun at all. How could there be any fun in being chased by the culprit who created this situation? The black figure reached out toward me again. Just as I was about to activate another short teleportation, I suddenly saw a white sword cutting through the black figure.
The sword drew a long black trajectory in the air, cutting the black robe in two. Then, like mist being extinguished, the figure dispersed and flew away into the air. As the robe disappeared, I could see the face of the man holding the white sword. God can be so cruel. Why do I always end up meeting you at times like this?
Panting as if he had run from far away while putting away his sword was none other than Persis. I quickly got up from my spot.
“Thank you.”
Persis couldn’t easily respond to my greeting. He seemed unable to catch his breath. Given that Persis, who possessed physical abilities superior to ordinary people, was struggling this much, he must have run from quite far away.
“Are you alright?”
“How foolish.”
“Pardon?”
“Is this the time to worry about me? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ah, no.”
Apart from some minor skin abrasions from fleeing from the black figure earlier, I didn’t have any major injuries. But Persis, unable to trust my word, checked every part of my body once more. Then he discovered my slightly reddened hand.
“No injuries, you say!”
He quickly grabbed my hand and carefully caressed the back of it. I unconsciously frowned at the stinging sensation.
Persis clicked his tongue briefly before carefully holding my hand and walking forward.
“Let’s go. We need to wash that wound first.”
I watched his back as he walked ahead determinedly. Looking at that back, now completely familiar to me, strangely made one corner of my heart ache as if someone was piercing it with an awl. Thinking that I couldn’t understand the reason, I followed Persis without saying anything.
After walking for a while, Persis led me straight into the dormitory. His destination was the communal bathroom that all dormitory students could use. As soon as we entered, Persis washed my hand in cold water. There wasn’t really a wound that needed washing, but Persis’s touch was extremely urgent.
“Um, I’m fine.”
I thought this aspect of him remained exactly the same as when he was young. Back then, too, Persis would worry and fret over even my smallest injuries. Now, even though we were no longer close, he had such a kind heart that he cared this much. For this moment, I felt a surge of desire to rely on his kindness. But I couldn’t do that.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
