《Project Pegasus: An Airplane Crashed into Me So I've Been Reincarnated as a Skeleton》 Disclaimer: Please, read this first before starting with the novel. Hi guys, Cielsensei here. First of all, thank you for reading this novel. This section will talk about a few important things so please read it first before continuing with the story. This story is a work of fiction. Most of the characters mentioned here are based on my imagination. However, even if some (note the word ''SOME'')things/events/places/etc came from ideas from real time, either from the past, present or future (base on studies), there are still some dash of fiction added to make it more colorful, and I''m in no wayrelated to any of this events. I just research them to build interesting stories. Plagiarism is a crime so please don''t copy and claim the story as yours. Though, if you wan''t to help me proofread (fix grammars, plot holes, improve the delivery, etc) I will gladly take your request. I will also properly credit you. just pm me Speaking of credits. I did not draw the cover art. It was made by my friendCafeKunDayo. We''re also planning to add some visuals in the chapters in the future to make it like a real light novel.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. I am just an amateur writer and still learning. That''s why occasionally, I edit some chapters to improve it. Though, I always try my best not to change the plot, unless the plot hole or mistake it too big. Below will be a list of updates sorted by date (latest to earliest) Update 3/27/2017 chapter 1: Improved sensory details and some dialogue. Other chapters, however, remain unedited since I lack the time to do it, so you might find it weird for the writing styles to be somewhat different. Don''t worry, I will fix it in the near future. This book is PG-16, or at least I want it to remain PG-16. Occasionally, there are some swearing inserted (though not that much in early chapters), a little gore (not too detailed though since I also don''t like gore) and a few other sensitive themes. Read at your own risk. Now, join me as we travel via plane to a world where fantasy and sci-fi coincides. Prologue ¡°Lily, I love you¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for your reply at the school¡¯s rooftop, so please... please come.¡± There I was, waiting for Lily, my beloved childhood friend, at the rooftop of our school building. During our recess, I confessed to her. Now, I''m looking forward to her answer. Walking left and right, repeatedly contorting and rubbing the skin of my palms, my excitement made me more anxious. Come to think of it, it¡¯s been eight years since my family moved here in Philippines from Japan. My father is a Japanese while my mother is a Filipina. The two of them met in Japan when my mother had her vacation. ¡°Lily, I can still recall that day I met you.¡± Our first encounter was on the day my family moved to our new house. She was always cheerful and energetic, had a long black hair and an average height. To me, she was a princess; it was love at first sight. We are now in our tenth grade of our school year and even share the same age: sixteen.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Time sure passed quickly, Lily.¡±
Patiently, I waited for her. Until the goodbyes of student going home turned into a silent night. Lily never came. ¡°It¡¯s already 8pm. Lily... Where are you?.¡± My eyes drooped, my paces became heavier; sadness swallowed me. ¡°I guess, she¡¯s not coming.¡± Looking up, my eyes stared at the evening sky. My parents are probably angry with me coming home this late. ¡°My love is one-sided, huh.¡± Tears began to fall. Using my hands, I wiped my eyes. My heart slowly ached as if it was being pierced by a sword. ¡°Why? Why did this happen?¡± So, this is what it feels to be heartbroken. ¡°Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have confessed to her.¡± Staring at my right hand, I was thinking what would happen if I never told her my feelings. How should I face her tomorrow? ¡°Ah. I hate this.¡± In my anger, I made a fist with my hands. ¡°Please, let me live in another world...¡± I want to escape reality. ¡°PLEASE, LET TRUCK-KUN CRASH INTO ME!!!¡± Suddenly, the place quickly became brighter, as if the sun is about to end this world with me at the ground zero. As I raised my head towards the sky, I saw¡­ A freaking airplane flying towards me. Chapter 1: That Beautiful Girl with a Scarlet Hair. Exhausted, I was running away from someone, from something. ¡°Where am I?¡± On the way, I saw strange, frightening trees around me. It was my first time seeing it. ¡°What is this place?¡± Darkness covered the place as trees covered the light coming from the sun. The foul smell of a dead creature scattered everywhere, irritating my nose. Eerie sounds of wild animals nearby enveloped the forest, producing a spine-chilling music. Without looking forward, I dashed and stumbled into something hard, but furry. As I looked up, a bear-like monster stood in front of me. Staring at his face, I saw a predator ready to devour his prey. My body stopped moving. The last thing I remembered was its right paw hitting me with full force. ¡°Ahhh.¡± Suddenly, I found myself sitting in the middle of a forest. ¡°Where am I? Was that a dream? Ahhg.¡± The surroundings looks familiar yet my head aches each time I try to remember it. ¡°This place is kinda creepy.¡± Wait, what happened to the school? ¡°There should be a plane crash around here somewhere. Also, why am I still alive?¡± Or maybe... This is the afterlife? ¡°Wait. Nevermind that.¡± ¡°How in the world could a plane even crash on me like that?¡± Standing up, I got a glimpse of my right hand touching the ground. ¡°AHHHHHHHHH---!!!¡± There was no flesh. ¡°Shit. What is this?! Why are my hands just bones?! Am I decomposing? But, it doesn¡¯t hurt.¡± Just like normal, I could feel my heart beating faster, however, as I touched my chest, I felt my fingers sliding through the intervals of my ribs; my heart was gone. ¡°Aaaaah!¡± Panicking, I heard a girl¡¯s voice behind me. ¡°Ahm...¡± Something touched my right shoulder; my body froze. Slowly, I moved my gaze, and saw a hand wrapped in white bandage. ¡°Ah!¡± Immediately, I smacked the hand and moved away. ¡°Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!¡± It was a girl apologizing while she repeatedly bowed. A girl? In this place? ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to startle you.¡± My feet walked towards her. ¡°Are you hurt? Ahm?¡± She then lifted her head allowing me to see her face. Cute. It was a girl with an angelic face; a beautiful woman dressed in a black robe. She was about my shoulder level. Her scarlet hair captivated me as it was styled in a bob-cut coiffure. She was trembling as she looked at me with her eyes as blue as the sky beneath the black rims of her eyeglasses. As she stood wearing a black pointy hat, her right arm held a stick with a skull and two red crystals for its eyes while the other clasped her wrist. Wait, a minute. What¡¯s happening? Where am I? That¡¯s definitely a scepter, like those from the mangas I read at home. Also... she looks like a witch¡ªa cute and beautiful witch. Oh, she¡¯s also flat. ¡°Ahm. G-good morning,¡± the girl stuttered. ¡±Ahm¡­ M-my name is Emily Scarlet. I-I¡¯m a necromancer and... Ahm¡­ I reanimated you from the dead.¡± Wait, a minute. ¡°Re...animated? What? Who? Me? So, I really died? Wait, you¡¯re a necromancer?¡± Looking left and right, my heart was beating fast. Oh, I don¡¯t have a heart, but I could somehow feel myself panicking. The girl¡¯s eyes were close to crying. ¡°Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.¡± She bowed again while apologizing. ¡°Wait. Please, don¡¯t cry.¡± My bony hands clapped. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She stopped. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to scare you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She wiped her eyes with the long sleeve of her robe. Looking at her, I asked. ¡°Uhm. Could you please explain everything?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m a necromancer¡­ Ahm¡­ Ahm¡­¡± I think she¡¯s nervous. I¡¯m really sorry. ¡°I have the ability to revive a dead person using magic. It¡¯s called reanimation. Ahm... I-I¡¯ve been trying to practice this for weeks. I found your corpse in this forest so I tried to reanimate you.¡± ¡°I¡­ I see.¡± Wait, a minute. Reanimation? Magic? What the heck is happening? Where am I? Is this place even on earth? ¡°Ahm,¡± the girl interrupted. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry. Anyway, my name is Hiiro... Hiiro Aki...¡± Before I finished my sentence, she began to cry loudly. ¡°Ehhhh. Scarlet-san?¡± Shocked, I raised my hands, attempting to hold her. ¡°Why?¡± What should I do? I¡¯m weak to a crying girl. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Why are you crying?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that... I''m always alone and¡­ I¡¯m just happy to finally talk to someone... I reanimated you thinking we could be friends,¡± she replied while wiping the tears using her robe. However, her tears kept flowing from her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not alone anymore,¡± I shouted. Looking at her, I patted her head. ¡°You¡¯re not alone anymore. I will be here for you.¡± I don¡¯t know what happened to her, but this is the least I can do for her as the one who reanimated me. She wiped her tears again and she looked at me. ¡°T-Then, will you be my friend?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± A loud crash echoed all over the place. When I came back to my senses, I found my body smashed into pieces. My bones were all over the place. With my skull lying on the ground, I saw a monster, standing as smoke came out from his mouth. He then let out a terrifying roar. ¡°What just happened? Is that a bear. Ughh.¡± My head hurts for some reason. He seems familiar. Did I saw this monster before?The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t protect you,¡± Emily spoke in a different tone. She raised her scepter, looked at the monster and began writing in the air. ¡°Scarlet-san?¡± Wait, is that a magic rune? ¡°Phantom Gun!!!¡± Pointing her scepter, she called out a spell. Some sort of a green light appeared from the rune and pierced the monster in the heart. Whoa. Is that magic?! It¡¯s so cool. Blushing, she looked at me. ¡°Ahm.¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry, Scarlet-san, the monster interrupted us earlier. I¡¯m Hiiro. Hiiro Akira.¡± ¡°H-Hiiro¡­¡± she stuttered. ¡°C-can you call me... ¡®Emily¡¯?¡± Cute. For the one who summoned me here, whoever you are, thank you. ¡°Emily.¡± ¡°Hiiro.¡± ¡°Emily.¡± ¡°Hiiro.¡± ¡°Emily.¡± ¡°Hiiro.¡± A bit awkward, we both didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°I¡­ I think we should go somewhere safe before something else appears again.¡± She¡¯s too cute for me. ¡°I-I see. Y-You¡¯re right. We should go to my house.¡± She then looked away, hiding her blushing face. Afterwards, she cast magic to put my bones back into place. We then walked away from the forest.
After opening the door, Emily turned to me and smiled. ¡°Welcome to my home.¡± The interior of the house seemed very old as the walls were made of wood. There was a table in the middle with two chairs on adjacent sides. On the left side of the house, there was a fireplace. On the right side, there seemed to be a collection of books. On the remaining side, there was a door. I guess that¡¯s the kitchen. Not far from that door, there was a ladder going up. By the layout of the first floor, perhaps that¡¯s her bedroom. ¡°H-Hiiro, I¡¯ll cook something good; wait for a bit.¡± Emily happily walked towards the other door. ¡°I¡¯m a skeleton, though, I don''t know if I can even eat.¡± ¡°I see. Y-you¡¯re right.¡± She then looked down, and continued to walk into that door. Moments later, she came back still looking down. She brought a plate with food, but it looked like those were leftovers from a previous meal. It looks delicious; I want to taste it. But, I guess it''s impossible since I don''t even have a tongue. Or maybe I can? Since, I can smell without a nose. But I don¡¯t have a stomach. Ahhh. ¡°H-Hiiro?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Please, don''t mind me. Go on and eat. I know you¡¯ve been tired of walking.¡± Emily started eating. ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I made you sad.¡± Emily chewed and swallowed her food then talked, ¡°i-it¡¯s okay. Sorry, I was so excited that I forgot you''re still a skeleton.¡± Still? ¡°So, does that mean I can have my normal body back?¡± ¡±Y-yes, however, I will need a lot more practice. For now, I can only reanimate your bones.¡± ¡°I see. I will be looking forward to it then; the day when you can fully reanimate my body. You will be surprised at how handsome I am.¡± Boasting, I tucked my hands on my pelvic bone. ¡°T-Then, when I bring back your whole body, will you eat my cooking?¡± she asked looking at me. Her eyes seemed to be sparkling. ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°I-I will practice hard then.¡± Did I just dig my own grave? I know my former self was not that handsome. Oh well, as long as I can eat her cooking, nothing else matters. ¡°Hahaha.¡± ¡°Why are you laughing?¡± Emily pouted as she looked away. ¡°Nothing, nothing. I¡¯m just happy because I¡¯m talking to a very cute girl right now.¡± ¡°I-I see.¡± She then looked down and covered her face with her hands. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± ¡°N-Nothing. I was just surprised because you said I¡¯m c-cute.¡± Realizing this, I also turned around. I can''t believe I just said that. The only time I said that to someone was when Lily¡­ ¡°Hiiro? Is there something wrong?¡± She looked at me as she bend her neck sideways. ¡°Nothing... Sorry, I just¡­ I just remembered someone.¡± ¡°I see. Whoever that is, he or she must be very dear to you,¡± she replied. ¡°Well¡­ It¡¯s all in the past now.¡± Why did I suddenly remember Lily? Well, I did love her for a very long time. But... I should forget her. Also, I think it¡¯s impossible to meet her again, if I¡¯m really in another world. Realizing something, I asked Emily, ¡°by the way, Emily, are you the only one who live here?¡± ¡°Yes. I don¡¯t have a father and my mother... is already dead,¡± she replied in a soft voice. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Ahm. I started learning reanimation so that I could bring my mother back to life. Unfortunately, I still can''t find her remains,¡± she added. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You used such a great spell for me. I guess you just wasted it.¡± ¡°No. Actually¡­¡± Her fingertips touched each other as she spoke. ¡°I¡¯m glad I used it on you, Hiiro. B-because of that, I met you.¡± Emily... ¡°I was so happy when you said we could be friends,¡± she added. ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m also happy I met you.¡± I almost forgot. I need to ask her something. ¡°By the way, where am I? I mean where is this place located?¡± First, I need to know this world. ¡°Ahm. We are in Dover, located in the eastern part of the Demon Kingdom.¡± Wait, did I just hear Demon Kingdom? ¡°So, are there other kingdoms?¡± Emily remained silent. ¡°Ahm?¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± she apologized. ¡°It¡¯s just that, I didn¡¯t expect there¡¯s someone who didn¡¯t know about the kingdoms.¡± ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry, when I was still alive I lived in the mountains. Haha.¡± Averting my gaze, I scratch the back of my head You probably won''t believe me if I say I came from another world. ¡°Well, there are a lot of kingdoms but the four most notable kingdoms are: the Human Kingdom, the Demon Kingdom, the Elven Kingdom and the Dragon Kingdom¡± Dragons? I want to see them. ¡°Hiiro, you¡¯re from the Human Kingdom right?¡± she asked. ¡°How did you end up here?¡± Actually, I came from the Human ¡°World¡±, Earth. ¡°I¡­ ah. I was travelling.¡± Should I ask her for more information? She seems to be suspecting me though. Looking around, I saw the books on the shelf. I think, I¡¯ll just research about this world on my own, for now. Emily and I chatted for a bit.
¡°Well. Since it¡¯s already night. I think we should sleep.¡± ¡°Okay. B-but there¡¯s only one bed,¡± Emily replied. ¡°Let¡¯s sleep together then,¡± I said that as a joke. ¡°O-okay. I-I think that¡¯s only normal since the bed is for t-two people,¡± she stuttered as she blushed. ¡°Wait. Wait. Wait. I¡¯m just joking, you know. Even though I¡¯m just all bones, I¡¯m still a man. You can''t just let me sleep beside you.¡± Since I am a perverted gentleman. ¡°I-I see.¡± Emily looked down. Please, don¡¯t do that. ¡°Ahhh. Okay. Okay. Okay. Just this once. Okay? After this, no more sleeping together.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She smiled.
Time passed, I couldn¡¯t sleep. Do I even need to sleep? ¡°So, I¡¯m in another world now. What will happen to me in the future? Is this... really ok?¡± ¡°Mother¡­ Where are you? Mother.¡± It was a voice of a woman. Curious, I looked at Emily; she was sleep talking. ¡°Mother...¡± As her tears began to fall, I held her hands. I see. She was longing for her mother. I wonder if that¡¯s the reason she wanted to sleep with me. ¡°Mother... Father,¡± I whispered, looking at the ceiling. I hope you¡¯re okay. I won''t be coming home anymore. That night, I barely slept. Chapter 2: How to Write a Rune. Standing, fear paralyzed my body. There it was, the bear-like monster in front of me, attempting to slash me using his paw. ¡°Ahhh...¡± Sitting, I found myself in Emily¡¯s bed. ¡°It¡¯s that dream again. Aggh.¡± My head hurts just by remembering it. I¡¯ve seen this somewhere before. I think this is called ¡°post-traumatic amnesia¡±. Emily suddenly woke up, and looked at me as she brushed her eyes. ¡°Hiiro, what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Sorry, I woke you up.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Oh yeah. I need to learn about this world. ¡°Emily, can I borrow your books on the bookshelf??¡± ¡°Hmm. Okay, Hiiro. Go on.¡± Emily returned to sleep; I went down to read.
¡°This is weird. These are not English, Tagalog nor Japanese but I can read them.¡± Come to think of it, I can perfectly understand Emily. If I''m really in another world, shouldn¡¯t I be unable to converse with her? I mean, it¡¯s such a big coincidence for the two of us knowing the same language. I hope I can find the answer after I read these books. Curious, I grabbed a quill pen and wrote on a paper I found. ¡°Weird, I can even write and comprehend these letters like normal.¡± Oh, my penmanship is the same as in my world; they¡¯re also bad. Afterwards, I grabbed a book. ¡°Hmm, This looks very old.¡± ¡°Septem... war¡­ -Eteria-¡­ the -Demons- ... -Humans-¡­ they¡­ spell. The purpose¡­ from another¡­ weird weapons¡­¡± ¡°This book is too old.¡± The pages were broken, and some text were faded out. ¡°I can¡¯t get any information from this¡±. As I walked towards the shelf, I grabbed a another book, however, it was the same as before. Moments later... ¡°Ahhrrg, All books related to history are too old... Well, at least I learned a few things: One, this world is called -Eteria-; two, a kingdom is equivalent to a country in my world and three, there was a war between the humans and demons before. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t find a decent map.¡± Also, what¡¯s the date today? I don¡¯t see any calendars. ¡°Does a calendar even exist here?¡± Base on the structure of Emily¡¯s house, I can only assume that this is medieval times. Curious, I grabbed another book, and began to read a few pages. ¡°Necromancy, huh?¡± Some parts were torn, however, I could understand a few. ¡°Five humans betrayed their kind and decided to pledge loyalty to the demon king. The demon king accepted and gave them the ability to master a forbidden magic; necromancy, the magic of the dead.¡± Is this the origin of necromancy? ¡°The humans who pledged loyalty gained an infinite amount of life energy; they would never age. They can still die normally by other means like their fellow humans, however, having infinite life energy gave them the ability to cast necromancy without limits.¡± Wow. Being a necromancer is pretty cool. Curious, I continued to fast read through the pages until I saw the topic about reanimation. Based on this book, necromancers usually target a knight, a mage or anyone with high fighting capability when using reanimation. ¡°Unfortunately, I was just a student before I died so I can¡¯t fight.¡± That fact made me depressed, after all, I was summoned in another world; I probably expected something amazing should happen. What¡¯s so special being summoned in another world when I can¡¯t even do anything. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­ a pile of walking bones...¡± ¡°Wait, a minute. Emily can use magic, right? Maybe she can teach me...¡±
Morning came, and I asked Emily after she ate breakfast, ¡°Emily, please, teach me magic.¡± She stared at me with a puzzled look. ¡°Hiiro? why do you want to learn magic?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that... when you used magic before... I thought you were cool.¡± ¡°C-cool? I¡¯m not really...¡± ¡°So I thought that if I learn magic, I can fight beside you and protect you.¡± She looked at me. ¡°Hiiro...¡± She then smiled. ¡°Okay, Hiiro. I¡¯ll teach you magic.¡± -Day 1- We¡¯ve decided to take the lessons outside, under the tree near the house. Attentively, I listened to Emily as she discussed the basics of magic. ¡° is like the air we breathe. It exists everywhere,¡± She walked left and right as she lectured. ¡°It is the combination of all energy around us, specifically ,¡± She then made gestures using her hands. ¡°Life energy determines when a living being would die. Having a little means you will die early. It means the opposite if you have a lot.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. So, it¡¯s like the life span of a living being. Emily stopped walking and faced me, ¡°However.¡± She then raised her fingers. ¡°When a living being dies before all of its life energy is depleted, the remaining life energy will then fuse with the surrounding energy, creating a different energy, mana.¡± I see. So life Energy is different with mana but similar. ¡°A mage can control mana and create certain phenomenons, like shooting fireballs, controlling animals or resurrecting the dead. We call this phenomenon as magic.¡± I barely understand anything, however, I get the important parts. ¡°Then... How can I use magic?¡± There was a bit of silence. Huh? Did I say something wrong? ¡°You just need to learn to control mana¡± Emily made a peace sign using her right hand. ¡°There are two ways to do this.¡± She then pointed them simultaneously using her left forefinger. ¡°You can either write a or use a . Both methods need an incantation to work, however, the first one requires lesser incantations since most parts are already written in the rune. The second one requires lesser symbols, some don''t even need one, depending on what are inserted in the magic tool.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Although, some magic tools are marvelously made that it can reduce an incantation of a spell to, at most, one to two words. It may sound easy, however, doing that is very difficult.¡± Hmm. So a magic tool is like a computer program. ¡°I understand. Then, how do I write a rune?¡± ¡°No, I won''t be teaching you how to write a rune today.¡± ¡°Huh? Then¡­ What am I going to do today?¡± ¡°You''re going to meditate.¡± ¡°What?¡±
In order to control mana, one needs a huge amount of concentration. Since I didn''t need to eat nor drink, I meditated for three days straight. Despite her shyness, she was very strict when it comes to magic. Every time my concentration was off, she immediately hit me with her scepter. ¡°Ow¡­¡± I can still hear the cracking sounds my bones make every time she does that. Good thing, it didn¡¯t break. ¡°However, this pain is nothing if I can learn magic.¡± -Day 3- ¡°Hiiro, you¡¯re being distracted again!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Can you teach me how to control mana now? I¡¯ve been doing nothing for three days.¡± ¡°Doing nothing and meditating are two different things.¡± Emily looked me in the eyes. ¡°But¡­ but--¡± ¡°No buts. No, means no,¡± Her face was scary, it was like an angry girlfriend who just had a fight with his boyfriend. Wait, what am I thinking? She¡¯s not my girlfriend. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°You need to perfect meditation first before we¡ª¡± Suddenly, Emily collapsed. ¡°Emily!¡± However, before she hit the ground, I caught her. ¡°Emily, you¡¯re burning!¡± Why did I never notice this? Emily is beside me all this time. Even though she still eats and drinks, she only sleeps two hours a day just to monitor me. I am only thinking about myself. ¡°Emily, get a hold of yourself!¡± Carefully, I carried her back to the house. Once inside, I found out that going to the second floor was difficult. This is bad. I can only use the ladder. However, I didn''t want her to sleep on the first floor, since there was no bed. ¡°Argh. I need to think fast.¡± I need to do something. Something. Something¡­ ¡°Emily, I¡¯m sorry but could you hold onto me tightly for a bit?¡± I¡¯ve decided to piggyback-carry her. I need to be careful. One wrong step and I might trip over and make the situation worse. ¡°Emily, please be okay.¡± Slowly, I climbed the ladder until we¡¯re finally at the top. I put her in bed so she could rest. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emily. I¡¯m sorry...¡± Her voice was very hoarse from the fever. ¡°Hiiro... It''s not your fault,¡± she coughed as she felt the pain in her throat. ¡°I¡­ I pushed myself too hard.¡± ¡°Emily.¡± ¡°I¡¯m okay now... Let''s... continue your meditation.¡± ¡°Please, don''t talk, not now. You need to rest.¡± ¡°But.¡± ¡°No buts. I can''t concentrate when you''re sick. I promise I¡¯ll meditate later. Your health is top priority.¡± Today, I learned something, a strict teacher will also be strict with themselves. I guess it''s the same with my professor in my world. Sensei, sorry for doubting your words. I realize how important it is now. Worried, I nursed Emily for a whole day. After Emily became well again, I continued my meditation. -Day 8- ¡°Hiiro¡­ Wake up¡­ Hiiro¡­ Wake up.¡± As I heard a girl''s voice, I opened my eyes. ¡°Woah. Oh Emily? Did I do something wrong?¡± I don¡¯t remember doing anything except meditating. And by anything, I mean literally anything. ¡°Nothing. You meditated perfectly. You¡¯ve been doing it for five days.¡± ¡°Really? Then I can finally...¡± ¡°Yes, I''ll teach you magic. But for now, let¡¯s take a break. I''ll teach you tomorrow,¡± Emily replied. ¡°Yes!!! Finally¡± -Day 1 After Meditation- Today, Emily will teach me how to use magic. For some reason, she didn''t want to teach me necromancy and taught me instead. ¡°Okay, Hiiro, today, I will teach you how to write runes. Are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes, I am ready.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s start then,¡± Emily began to write in the air. ¡°Oh, Goddess of Fire, Descend and lend me thy strength... !!!¡± A ball of fire then appeared and exploded in the swamp. That¡¯s so cooool. ¡°This is fireball, the most basic fire spell. What you saw was its normal rune and incantation. However,¡± Emily raised her hand. ¡°Writing it in a more complex rune will reduce its incantation.¡± She then wrote a different rune. ¡°!!!¡± A ball of fire appeared again and exploded in the swamp.. ¡°As you can see, I only said the word fireball and the spell cast like before. My mother once told me that great mages can cast high level spells without incantation using complex runes.¡± Magic is amazing. Hmm... Come to think of it, Emily is a necromancer and yet she can also cast elemental magic. ¡°Ahm. Emily, you''re a necromancer right? How come you know elemental magic? And you seem adept in it too...¡± There was a slight pause before she answered. ¡°My mother¡­ was a genius when it comes to magic. She was the one who taught me how to use elemental magic. However, she didn¡¯t teach me necromancy. I had to learn it by myself,¡± Emily replied. ¡°Oh. Did she tell you why?¡± ¡°Please, Hiiro, not now.¡± It seems something happened between Emily and her mother. I am curious, but I guess if she doesn''t want to talk about it, I will not push her to. ¡°Hiiro, let¡¯s continue with the practice.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Before we proceed to incantation, you first need to master writing a rune.¡± Emily sat on the ground, and wrote something. ¡°You can write a rune on anything; the ground, the trees or even in the air.¡± After she completed writing, the rune on the ground glowed. Cool.. ¡°Today, you will write a rune on the ground until you can make it glow like this one.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Excited, I then started writing one¡­ two¡­ three¡­ runes. I kept writing and writing, hoping for it to work, however, the day passed and none of them glowed. Chapter 3: The Art of Magic. -Day 2- ¡°Emily, can you help me with this? I can¡¯t seem to get it.¡± ¡°Hmm, Let me see...¡± Emily inspected my scribbling. ¡°I see. You wrote this part wrong. This line should be connected here. You should make a circle here.¡± ¡°But... I did put a circle there.¡± ¡°Really? But Hiiro, this is an oblong.¡± ¡°O-Oh. I-I see. Sorry. Thanks.¡± Ahhrrrggg. This is really hard. Memorizing and Art are my two worst skills. Even my penmanship is bad. I am a genius in Math and Computers though. Who needs memorizing when you could simply search it on the Internet? Who needs drawing when there¡¯s photoshop? Who needs writing when you have a keyboard? Sadly, they don¡¯t have computers in this world. Ahhrrrggg. I wish these were all numbers. ¡°Calm down Hiiro. All you need is to adapt¡­ Adapt, adapt...¡± I said to myself as I went back to my concentration. ¡°...Okay, let¡¯s do this again,¡± ¡°Ahm. Hiiro, who are you talking to?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Myself. I¡¯m talking with myself.¡± ¡°I-I see.¡± I know, I¡¯ll just imagine them as computer codes. ¡°Let¡¯s try that.¡± Calmly, I imagined myself writing a computer code in paper. After the rune is finished, it still didn¡¯t glow. As if imagining this as a code will help me improve my drawing. If that was the case then I should be able to perfect my art classes back in my school. ¡°Ahm. Emily, can I practice my penmanship and drawing skills first? I don¡¯t think I can write a good rune with my current self.¡± ¡°Okay, Hiiro, if that¡¯s what you want.¡± Emily blushed for some reason. ¡°T-Then, I guess, I should help you.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± We spent the whole day improving my drawing skills. -Day 3- Exhausted, in the meantime, Emily and I decided to take a break from practice. ¡°Hiiro, I can¡¯t believe your penmanship is this bad.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°Come to think of it. You told me that you were a writer before you died, right?¡± Emily asked. She remembered? That was when we first talk. Well, I avoided further question by telling her to go to sleep ¡°Yes?¡± Actually, I was a programmer. I just didn¡¯t know how to explain it to her, so I just said ¡°writer¡±. Well, both programmers and writers create something using a ¡°language¡± so I think they¡¯re almost the same. ¡°Hiiro, I¡¯m sorry if I would offend you but, how did you... became a writer with this penmanship?¡± she asked as I stared at her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean anything bad.¡± ¡°You don''t need to apologize... I¡­ I use a tool that lets me write a story without using a pen.¡± It¡¯s called a keyboard. ¡°Really? What a wonderful tool it is. I want to see it,¡± she replied. I don¡¯t think it would exist here. ¡°Ahm... Then, Hiiro?¡± Her eyes sparkled. ¡°How¡­ How long have you been writing?¡± ¡°I¡­ I started when I was 13 years old. My father taught me everything I know.¡± Technically, I¡¯m not lying this time. My father is a programmer, and he really did teach me. ¡°One day, I saw my father sitting beside the table (in front of the computer). I got curious, so I watched him write (a program). He then noticed me and asked if I want to learn to write (a program). I accepted his offer, and he''s been teaching me (how to code) since then.¡± ¡°I...I see. Your father... really loves you,¡± Emily looked down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to.¡± I forgot she doesn¡¯t have a father. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t... have to worry.¡± I need to think of something¡­ I know. ¡°Emily, would you like to hear one of the stories I made?¡± ¡°Really?¡± She smiled. ¡°Yes. I want to hear it.¡± Well, it¡¯s actually the plot of a game I created. ¡°Then I¡¯ll start. The story is entitled, The Master¡¯s Familiar.¡±
Once upon a time, there was a genius mage. His talents in magic were extraordinary; he was one-in-a-million... the Chosen One. The other mages treated him as some kind of king and praised him every time they met him. Yet, he didn¡¯t have anyone he could call a friend; he lived all alone in his house. It all changed when he could no longer endure the loneliness, and decided to summon a familiar. It was a female dragon who could transform into a human.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The two of them lived together, while taking up quests and missions from the kingdom. As the two of them embarked on their adventures, their relationship with each other eventually grew until the two of them fell in love and became lovers. One day, invaders attacked the kingdom. The king then instructed and sent the two of them, with some warriors, to defend the kingdom in the front-lines. However, their enemies were too many. As the day went on, their allies died little by little; either by battle, disease or some other incidents until only a few remained. The king, however, couldn¡¯t send any more reinforcements because the other warriors were also busy defending the other parts of the kingdom.
¡°What happened then?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Well... The mage¡­ I mean the two successfully defended the kingdom until reinforcements arrived. The king then awarded them as the savior of the kingdom.¡± ¡°Wow. What a nice ending.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± Actually, that¡¯s not the real ending: The mage was mortally wounded in one of his battles. The dragon then came to save him, but the mage begged her to protect the kingdom at all costs. The mage also knew that if he died, the dragon would also die, so he held on to his life while the dragon was fighting. Finally, reinforcements came, but they were too late--the master and his familiar had already passed away. Touched by their efforts, the king informed his people that they will conduct a hero¡¯s burial for the two of them. I just can¡¯t tell Emily things about death, considering her mother died. -Day 4- The rune I wrote on the ground glowed. Yes. Finally, I can write a decent rune. ¡°Emily, it glowed.¡± ¡°Congrats, Hiiro. You finally did it...¡± Filled with joy, I jumped and hugged Emily. Wait, a minute. Realizing what I just did, I separated from her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Emily. I... got carried away.¡±. ¡°I-It¡¯s okay. I-I don¡¯t mind.¡± She blushed. ¡°A-Anyway, Hiiro, you are now ready to use magic. Now, we can go to the final step.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°This time, you will write the rune in the air.¡± ¡°The air?¡± ¡°Yes. Even though you can still cast a spell on runes written on a solid surface, in an actual battle, it¡¯s impractical to do.¡± I see. She¡¯s right. In a battle, mages tend to move while fighting. Going to a solid surface each time to cast a spell will make you predictable. ¡°Remember Hiiro, writing in the air is harder than writing in a solid surface. You need a great amount of concentration and imagination for it since you can¡¯t see the runes until you complete it.¡± Ooh, so that¡¯s what the meditation is for. ¡°Now, I will show you again how to cast fireball.¡± Emily wrote a rune. ¡°Oh, Goddess of fire, descend and lend me thy strength... !!!¡± The spell exploded into the swamp. I¡¯m so excited. I can¡¯t wait to do that. ¡°Now, Hiiro it¡¯s your turn. You just need to imagine there¡¯s a wall in front of you.¡± -First Try- There¡¯s a wall in front of me. There¡¯s a wall in front of me. There¡¯s a wall in front of me. Raising my fingers, I wrote the rune in the air. ¡°Oh, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength... !!!¡± However, nothing happened. I tried it again and again, but, it produced the same results. -Sixth Try- ¡°Hiiro, you need to concentrate more. You also need to imagine the rune you¡¯re writing and not just the wall. You need to picture it. The words, shapes, lines, everything.¡± Calm down Hiiro. You can do this. First, imagine the wall. It¡¯s in front of you. It¡¯s hard and smooth. Now, start writing. Imagine every words, shapes and symbols. Write it all in the wall. They should be properly placed and perfectly connected. Concentrate on the image. The rune appeared in front of me. It was glowing. ¡°Oh, Goddess of fire, descend and lend me thy strength... !!!¡± Unfortunately, my hand exploded into flames. ¡°Waaaah. Emily, help!¡± As fast as she can, Emily cast some sort of water magic to put out the fire. ¡°Hiiro, You did it.¡± ¡°But... I failed.¡± ¡°No, you almost did it. You just wrote the rune too slow; the fireball couldn¡¯t be released on time. You just need to hasten your writing.¡± ¡°Gotcha.¡± However, the results stayed the same for about five times. This is harder than I thought. I need to move my hand faster. Okay let¡¯s do this again. -Twelfth Try- ¡°Oh, Goddess of fire, descend and lend me thy strength... !!!¡± This time, the fireball exploded in my legs. Emily then cast the water magic again to put out the fire. ¡°You¡¯re almost there, Hiiro. This time your incantation was too fast. You need to time both the writing and the incantation.¡± Future results stayed the same. -After so Many Tries...- I am covered in smoke. My bones are charred black. I guess I need to take a bath later. However, I refuse to let go of my training. I¡¯ll try it again one more time. ¡°Oh, Goddess of fire. Descend and lend me thy strength. !!!¡± Unfortunately, I still failed ¡°I guess, this is it for the day. You can still try tomorrow.¡± Emily suggested. ¡°Yes.¡± A smoke then came out from my mouth. -Day 5- Hours passed, I tried and tried, each having a different result. However, all of those were failures. A lot of times, I almost hit Emily. I need to be careful. I don¡¯t want to hurt her. ¡°Oh, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength. !!!¡± A fireball burst forth from my hand and hit the swamp. ¡°Yes¡­ Finally, I¡¯ve done it!¡± Brimming with happiness, I jumped and hugged Emily. She also hugged me. ¡°Yay, Good job Hiiro!¡± We then noticed that we¡¯re hugging. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I did it again. I got too excited.¡± ¡°I-It''s okay. I-I got too excited too.¡± Emily paused for a bit. ¡°Ahem. Anyway. Hiiro, I never thought you would be this good. It took me one and a half month just to cast a fireball.¡± ¡°Really? I guess because I¡¯ve meditated for a long time or I could just be a genius. Haha~.¡± Suddenly, I heard a grumbling sound coming from her stomach. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry. I forgot, I haven¡¯t eaten yet.¡± She blushed. ¡°It¡¯s okay... I know I¡¯ll cook something for you. I¡¯m a good cook after all.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Emily seems excited. ¡°Yes. You seem to be excited for a moment.¡± ¡°Yes. Honestly, this would be the first time I would taste someone else¡¯s dishes other than my own or my mother¡¯s cooking.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go to the kitchen, then.¡± Walking back to the house, Emily realized something. ¡°I forgot. We¡¯ve run out of food.¡± ¡°O-Oh. What should we do?¡± The sounds from her stomach became a bit louder. ¡°Hmm.¡± This is hard. Animals don¡¯t wander in this part of the forest and the trees don¡¯t seem to bear any fruits. ¡°Hmmmm¡­ I know. Is there a village nearby? We can buy ingredients there.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a.... There¡¯s a necromancer village nearby,¡± Emily said in a gentle voice. ¡°Really? Let¡¯s go then. I want to see it. I want to know more about it.¡± We¡¯ve decided to go to the necromancer¡¯s village. My mind was filled with excitement, I didn¡¯t notice Emily¡¯s distressed expression. Chapter 4: The Village of the Necromancers. We arrived in the village. Looking around, I saw the houses designed like in a medieval age. Some were made of bricks with a chimney on top. The people there wore the same type of clothes as Emily. A lot of them were talking and interacting with each other; some were casting magic. As the two of us continued walking, I noticed something. They were looking at us in a strange manner, as if they didn''t want us to be here. It made me curious, but I chose not to ask Emily; she just remained silent. ¡°It¡¯s that girl, right?¡± said a voice from the crowd. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s her,¡± whispered by a different voice. The people gossiped as they looked in our direction. However, Emily kept looking down. We then arrived at the plaza. ¡°Emily, you should eat first.¡± After she took her meals, we bought stocks for our food supply. We then decided to go home. I really want the two of us to look around, but seeing Emily¡¯s face, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea.. Suddenly, a group of women approached us. There were three of them: the first one was short and had a blonde curly hair. She looks like an ojou sama-type character. The second one was a head taller and had a blue hair in twintails. Whoa, a necromancer in twintails. The third one was tall and had a black long hair. She looks physically strong. It¡¯s a cool beauty. All of them are very beautiful, and each had a different scepter. The three necromancers then confronted us. ¡°Hey you, fake necromancer...¡± the blonde girl shouted. Fake necromancer? The blonde girl kept shouting but Emily ignored her; she stayed silent and continued walking. The three then went towards us and all of a sudden, the blonde girl pushed Emily, knocking her down. Good thing I was holding the food we bought. ¡°Emily,¡± I shouted. ¡°Hey, fake necromancer, don¡¯t just ignore us,¡± the blonde girl mocked Emily. ¡°Yeah, you should know your place,¡± the blue-haired girl spoke as she bent at Emily. Seeing this, I couldn¡¯t contain it anymore, so I confronted them. ¡°Stop this. You''re hurting her. Don¡¯t you think ganging up on people is wrong?¡± The girls then glanced at me. The blonde girl then talked to Emily, ¡°heh, so the fake necromancer is controlling a skeleton to talk back to us, huh.¡± Controlling? Me? ¡°How dare you...¡± the blonde girl tried to slap Emily, however, I immediately blocked her hand. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you''re saying, but Emily is not controlling me.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± the blonde girl said to me with a puzzled look. ¡°Shut up, you puny skeleton.¡± She backed off, raised her scepter and started chanting a spell. As I prepared myself, I started to write a fireball rune, however, Emily held my hands preventing me to finish my spell. ¡°Emily?¡± Why? The blonde girl then pointed her scepter at me and a green light came forth from its tip. However, nothing happened as it hit me. Huh? That¡¯s it? ¡°W-What?¡± The blonde girl¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°This¡­ This is impossible.¡± ¡°Maybe you did it wrong sis. Aria, help me out a bit.¡± The other two then cast the same spell. However, it produced the same results. ¡°Impossible.¡± The blue-haired girl looked in shocked. ¡°Is this reanimation?¡± The crowd then surrounded us. ¡°Did I just hear reanimation?¡± a voice from the crowd. ¡°She just said reanimation, right?¡± murmured a different voice. ¡°Really? She means that spell, right?¡± whispered by another.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. It seems the people started gossiping. Is reanimation a rare spell? ¡°Let¡¯s go Emily.¡± As I grabbed her hands, I helped her got up. The three necromancers were dumbfounded; they couldn¡¯t speak. Emily and I decided to go home after that.
On the way, Emily was silent. ¡°Emily, please talk to me.¡± However, she ignored me as if she didn¡¯t hear a thing. ¡°Please, I want to help you.¡± But, she never responded. As we arrived to her house, I realized something. Why does Emily live far from the other necromancers? Why is she living in this secluded house, all by herself? ¡°Come, Hiiro,¡± Emily displayed a forced smile. As I enter the house, Emily hugged me. ¡°Emily?¡± Confused, however, when I looked at her, she was crying. Seeing this, my heart twinge; I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. As gentle as I can, I hugged her back to give comfort. ¡°If you want someone to talk to, I¡¯m here to listen.¡± Looking in Emily¡¯s eyes, I patted her head, ¡°I''m your friend right?¡± I asked as I tried to smile with my bony face. ¡°You''re not alone anymore.¡± The two of us went to the table and sat in the chairs. Emily seemed hesitant to speak. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Emily,¡± I spoke as I looked into her eyes. ¡°Whatever you say, I won¡¯t hate you nor I¡¯m going to leave you; I will stay by your side for as long as you live.¡± Emily looked at me; she then braced herself and told me everything.
Night came, I couldn¡¯t sleep. There was a lot of things going on inside my mind, and it kept bothering me since Emily and I discussed. Since Emily was sleeping, I decided to go outside the house. Darkness covered the sky as the clouds concealed the light coming from the stars and the moon. As I climbed to the roof of the house, my favorite place, the deafening silence struck me. It was perfect for reflecting the things I heard from Emily this morning. As I lay down, I started to think. It¡¯s been a long time since I went to the roof. ¡°So Emily, is not a full-blooded necromancer.¡± In order for someone to become a full-blooded necromancer, one of its parents must also be a full-blooded necromancer, so that the child would inherit the immortality. However, Emily is just a normal human. She was abandoned by her real parents. Her foster mother found her in front of her house and decided to adopt her. But, adopting a human was a taboo in the village, so they were banished. Her mother then decided to live here. There¡¯s also that thing with reanimation. Emily said that reanimation is forbidden spell, however, she doesn¡¯t know the reason why. Also, since I¡¯ve been revived only by incomplete reanimation, she needed to continuously supplying me with her life energy. ¡°If Emily dies, I will also die.¡± However, me dying did not bother me at all. Rather, the one thing that shocked me the most, was that my existence alone, puts Emily¡¯s life at risk. Emily¡¯s life energy is decreasing because of me. ¡°Should I¡­ Should I tell her to cancel the spell?¡± But she would be left alone. Without friends or family, she would be crying, depressed and empty. ¡°I know the feeling since I experienced it before.¡± It was when my family and I moved to the Philippines. Those years of friendship and bond that I made together with my classmates in Japan, all gone in an instant. That is, until Lily came to my life. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­ I just can¡¯t leave her.¡± There¡¯s also the fact that she¡¯s being ridiculed by her fellow necromancers. As I raised my hands to the sky, I said, ¡°father, mother, what should I do?¡± Morning came, the light from the sun woke me up; I was sleeping on the roof. ¡°I need to talk to Emily.¡± Sitting in the chair, I was waiting for Emily. Then, I walked towards her, the moment I saw her came down from the stairs. ¡°Emily, please let me help look for your mother.¡± ¡°Hiiro? W-Why are you telling me this?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­ It came to me that¡­ I¡¯ve been doing nothing but practice elemental magic this past few days.¡± Looking into her eyes, I held both of her hands. ¡°Emily, I want to help you. Using the magic you taught me, I want you to be reunited with your mother.¡± ¡°Hiiro.¡± She then looked at me. ¡°Please, Emily,¡± I pleaded as I bowed. ¡°Hiiro, please don¡¯t,¡± she replied. ¡°I should be the one requesting for help, not you.¡± ¡°No, Emily, I¡¯m the one who needs to request,¡± As I raise my head, I looked at her. ¡°You¡¯re overworking yourself too much.¡± ¡°Hiiro, don¡¯t tell me, you knew?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes, I notice one day, after practice, during my meditation, you would always go to the forest. You¡¯re looking for your mother, right? You could have just told me. I¡¯ll gladly help you if you did.¡± ¡°But¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t want to be a bother to...¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a bother,¡± I interrupted her. ¡°Friends help each other in times of need. I¡¯m your friend, right? Please, Emily, let me help you.¡± And after you reanimate your mother, please cancel the reanimation you cast on me. I don¡¯t want to put your life into danger any longer. At the very least, even if I¡¯m gone, you won''t be lonely anymore. And since your mother is a necromancer, she might help you increase your life energy. ¡°Hiiro.¡± There was a bit of silence. ¡°Please... help me.¡± ¡°Of course. I will gladly help you¡±
Weeks passed, and I kept on practicing magic; I learned the four basic elemental spells: fireball, water ball, earth wall and air slash. Emily and I scheduled to look for her mother¡¯s remains every three days. We went to different places asking people. At first, I thought, that looking for her mother would be hard, considering that her flesh should¡¯ve been decayed. But Emily said that a necromancer¡¯s body would never rot. It¡¯s already been a month and we still haven¡¯t found any lead. It was nighttime. Laying down on the roof, I reflected on the things that happened... ¡°It¡¯s a good thing that I¡¯m progressing in magic but we¡¯re at a dead end looking for her mother...¡± ¡°Hiiro, think positive. Think positive.¡± This was a favorite quote of Lily. Lily, why do you always pop up inside of my head? ¡°Come to think of it, when I was alive I used to climb to our roof to code my programs.¡± Though my mother would always scold me for doing that. ¡°I really miss programming.¡± As I looked at the sky, I thought of something. ¡°Hmm. I just realized something. Rune writing is very similar with programming.¡± Just like a code, a rune have symbols and words. Each of these corresponds to a function or attribute of a spell. An example would be the word ¡°fire¡± on a fireball rune, which literally means to produce a small fire. ¡°I wonder if I can incorporate programming, in a rune, like the while loop for example? Hmmm... I¡¯ll experiment on it later. In computer programming, using a while-loop means repeating a certain function until it meets a condition. In layman''s terms, it is to repeat an action until you order it to stop. Chapter 5: Let’s Try to Program a Rune. The next day, I practiced magic with Emily. ¡°!!!¡± The spell then appeared in the rune and exploded in the swamp. ¡°I¡­¡± As I made a fist, I raised my hands. ¡°I did it.¡± ¡°Hiiro, you did it,¡± Emily shouted. ¡°You cast fireball using a single-word incantation.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± As I ran towards her I held both of her hands. ¡°Emily, thank you for teaching me.¡± ¡°It¡­¡± Emily looked down. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡± She then blushed, ¡°i-it was because of your perseverance that you did it.¡± She gently let out her voice. ¡°Emily...¡± ¡°Ehem,¡± Emily coughed. ¡°Anyway, now that you mastered , I will teach you another spell.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Hold my scepter for a bit.¡± Emily then wrote a rune. ¡°I gather the water from the air. Form a rope and disarm my enemy, !!!¡± The spell then grabbed the scepter I was holding and threw it away. Another water magic? Nice. ¡°This spell is called water whip,¡± she explained. ¡°It''s mainly used to disarm the weapon of your opponent.¡± Cool. ¡°Okay, Hiiro. I¡¯ll show you how to do it.¡± As she sat on the ground, ¡°its rune is a bit different from water ball but I believe you can do it.¡± She then wrote a rune. ¡°Okay. Please, allow me to study the rune.¡± The entire day, I continued practicing water whip with Emily .
Night came, and I went to the forest to experiment. ¡°Okay, Emily is sleeping right now.¡± I need do this alone since this can be dangerous. Who knows what I might cast with this... ¡°Hmm. Since, I already mastered fireball, I will use its rune as a base. For now, I¡¯ll try making a while-loop rune.¡± ¡°First, let¡¯s analyze the fireball rune.¡± Sitting on the ground, I wrote its rune. ¡°The rune seems complicated at first, however, it can be easily divided into three different steps: produce fire, compress the fire into a sphere and shoot the fireball¡± ¡°With the right symbols and words in the rune, a mage can simulate these methods and create a fireball.¡± ¡°My aim in this experiment is to repeat the first and second method before I can shoot the fireball, producing multiple spells at once. Before, I used trial and error to analyze how a fireball works. Every time I cast a fireball, I altered one part of its rune, then observed the change. It took me a lot of casts to do it. I don''t have a choice but to use trial and error again for this experiment. ¡°Well, since for some reason I know this world¡¯s language, I don¡¯t think it would take that long to convert it.¡± The whole night, I experimented with the rune, however, I couldn¡¯t make it work.
Morning came, I continued training with Emily. ¡°I gather the water from the air. Form a rope and disarm my enemy, !!!¡± The spell then grabbed Emily¡¯s scepter and threw it away. ¡°Hiiro, you... you did it.¡± ¡°I¡­ I did it,¡± Shocked, I scratched the back of my head. ¡°Hiiro, you¡¯re amazing. To cast water whip after only a day of training.¡± ¡°Well... I¡¯ve been practicing rune writing after all.¡± Actually, I also didn¡¯t expect this. ¡°Hiiro...¡± Emily looked at me. ¡°Ehem,¡± she coughed. ¡°I think you''re ready for the second stage of training.¡± ¡°Second stage of training?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. ¡°This time we''ll play Hide and Seek.¡± ¡°Hide and seek?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Emily replied. ¡°However, it''s not the same hide-and-seek you might know. This is training after all.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°I see. Then, what should I do?¡± ¡°These are the rules. Your goal is to hide and wait for a chance to hit me with any magic. My goal is to catch you,¡± she explained. ¡°Oooh. I see.¡± This seems easy, considering the amount of hiding place in the forest. ¡°Okay, Emily. I¡¯m ready.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll give you fifteen minutes to hide,¡± She then turned her back to me. As fast as I can, I dashed to the forest and climbed a tree. ¡°Ready or not, here I come,¡± Emily shouted. ¡°Here she comes,¡± However, when I looked below, I didn¡¯t see her. ¡°Where is she?¡± She had disappeared ¡°Hello, Hiiro.¡± As I looked behind, she was there. ¡°What the...¡± Shocked, I fell from the tree. She then went down, ¡°I caught you, Hiiro.¡± She smiled. ¡°You¡­ You caught me.¡± That was fast. ¡°Emily, how did you find me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because I could feel your aggression,¡± she explained. ¡°Aggression?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. ¡°Other people call it killing intent.¡± ¡°Killing intent? But¡­ I didn¡¯t plan to kill you...¡± ¡°I know. I know,¡± Emily interrupted. ¡°It¡¯s just a comparison, Hiiro.¡± ¡°Oh..¡± ¡°Hiiro, there will be times where you fight an enemy while hiding. You need to learn to conceal your killing intent or else they can easily pinpoint your location.¡± ¡°Then, that means...¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she interrupted. ¡°The goal of hide and seek is to train oneself to hide their presence.¡± ¡°Presence?¡± ¡°Hiiro, you must remember this,¡± she added. ¡°There are opponents who can detect an enemy even without killing intent. You will train how to hide not only your killing intent but also your presence.¡± Oh. This training is what I really need. ¡°I understand, Emily. I will do my best.¡±
Days passed, my training with Emily continued. During the day, Emily and I played hide and seek while training how to cast my other spells in single-word incantations. During the night, I continued experimenting with the fireball rune. Five days had already passed, I hope I can make the ¡°while-loop trick¡± work now. When I was experimenting before, I thought of using a different name when using a while-loop to avoid confusion. The name I chose was¡­ ¡°!!!¡± Suddenly, a large number of fireball runes appeared in front of me. ¡°I... I did it! Finally! Yes!¡± Jumping up and down, I was too preoccupied that I forgot something. Wait, a minute... Suddenly, the runes activated at the same time and blasted multiple fireballs in the forest. It exhausted my mana; I blacked out.
¡°Hiiro¡­ Hiiro¡­ Hiiro.¡± It was a familiar voice. ¡°Emily.¡± As I woke up, I saw the forest, replaced by a giant crater. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°Hiiro.¡± Emily hugged me, tightly. ¡°I... I thought you were gone.¡± She began to cry. ¡°Emily...¡± ¡°Please, don¡¯t leave me,¡± Her tears kept flowing. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be alone anymore.¡± When I looked at her, I hugged her back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Emily. I will never leave you,¡± I said, patting her head, as I looked into her eyes. ¡°I promised, right?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t hate you nor leave you; I will stay by your side for as long as you live.¡± She then looked at me. ¡°Hiiro,¡± she mumured, and hugged me tighter. Still, I can¡¯t believe I did this with just a fireball spell. I need to create the code for the ¡°condition¡± fast so I can control its power. What I mean by condition is the thing that will stop the fireball from casting infinitely. Emily wiped her tears. ¡°Hiiro, what happened here?¡± ¡°I...¡± How do I explain it to her? ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emily. I can¡¯t remember.¡± ¡°I hope it won''t happen again,¡± she said, worried. I promise. It won¡¯t happen again. ¡°I also hope so.¡±
¡°Hiiro, Hiiro, where are you?¡± Emily shouted. We were playing hide and seek; I hid in the forest. ¡°...¡± I whispered the incantation as softly as possible, and a fireball then went to her blind spot. But, she blocked it with her scepter. Well, I expected that. ¡°.¡± Okay, this is enough, I don¡¯t want to go all out. Using a while loop, multiple runes then appeared around her and blasted her. Shocked, she stopped moving. However, she immediately regained her composure and twirled her scepter, blocking all the fireballs. ¡°¡±. Moving like a graceful snake, it aimed for her scepter, attempting to disarm her. She then jumped away from the whip, and it hit the ground instead. She threw her scepter, and it hit my head. ¡°Ow...¡± As I looked above, she was already there. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Hiiro. A-Are you hurt?¡± ¡°Don''t worry, I¡¯m okay. You¡¯re too good Emily.¡± She blushed. ¡°Y-You can do it. You just need to practice more.¡± ¡°I will.¡± As we walk, Emily asked me, ¡°Hiiro, how did you cast multiple fireballs at once?¡± ¡°I...¡± How should I explain this again? ¡°I wrote all the runes on the trees beforehand, and cast them when we were fight.¡± She raised one of her eyebrows as she asked, ¡°really? Are you sure that¡¯s all?¡± ¡°Y-Yes.¡± I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m hiding it to you. I just don''t know how to explain it or if you would even understand my explanation. After that, we went home. In front of the house, we saw a girl---another necromancer, just like in the village. ¡°Emily, isn¡¯t she one of those three who we met in the village before?¡± Emily paused for a bit and let out a soft voice, ¡°Aria.¡± It was like she just saw a ghost ¡°Emily, the village is under attack. We need to get away from here quickly!¡± the girl shouted. ¡°Emily? You know her?¡± ¡°Yes, she¡¯s Aria, my sister.¡± Chapter 6: Blood is Thicker than Water; Bond is Greater than Blood. Half a Year Ago... It had been three years, since my mother taught me elemental magic. As a part of training, we¡¯ve been playing hide and seek. ¡°Emily, Emily, where are you?¡± mother shouted. I need to be careful. I¡¯ve never won in this game, her detection skills are amazing. She would always find me no matter how well I hide. Waiting for a chance to strike; I hid underwater while using to help me breathe, to camouflage my presence, to monitor the land and to detect anything floating. Once her guard is down, I¡¯ll attack her. ¡°Yep, I guess this would be your plan, huh, Emily?¡± Hearing a voice, I looked behind, and saw mother smiling. ¡°Gotcha~.¡± We got out of the swamp and used fire magic to dry ourselves. ¡°Haha. You need to do more than that you know.¡± Mother patted my head. ¡°Your plans are too obvious.¡± ¡°Geez. Mother, you''re too skilled,¡± I complained as I pouted. ¡°Can you, at least give me a handicap?¡± ¡°Maybe next time. Haha,¡± she laughed. ¡°Geez.¡± ¡°Well then, since it¡¯s already late, let¡¯s have our lunch,¡± she suggested. ¡°I made your favorite.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± We then went inside the house. Mother¡¯s cooking are the best.
While we were having our lunch, someone suddenly knocked on the door. ¡°I¡¯ll go check.¡± However, when mother opened the door, she backed off a little. ¡°Why are you here?¡± she whispered. In front of her, I saw an unfamiliar face; it was a man. ¡°Emily, stay inside. I¡¯ll just talk with this person for a bit.¡± She then went out; I continued eating. A few minutes later, mother went inside and talked to me, ¡°Emily, I¡¯m going outside for a bit. Whatever happens, do not go out the house.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± Hours passed, mother was taking so long so I went up. Near the bed, I saw mother¡¯s scepter. ¡°Come to think of it, she was not bringing her scepter earlier.¡± ¡°Geez... Mother, you forgot your scepte---¡± As I was about to grab the scepter, I heard an explosion. It was so strong that it shook the house. ¡°What is that?!¡± Then, I realized that her life might be in danger, she forgot her scepter. Quickly, I grabbed both of our scepters and went out. ¡°Mother, please be safe.¡± Outside, I felt a barrier surrounding the house. ¡°Why is there a barrier here?¡± It seems weak in the inside though. After I broke the barrier, I went looking for her in the forest. ¡°Mother, mother, where are you?¡± Where am I? I-I¡¯m lost.¡± I never went out of the house without mother before. ¡°I need to find her quick.¡± Suddenly, I heard another explosion. As I looked up, I saw smoke coming from the north. Hurriedly, I ran as cold wind blew unto my skin. ¡°Please, mother, be safe!¡± Finally, I reached the source of the smoke. There, I saw a village, engulfed by fire. The cold wind was then replaced by searing heat. As I went inside the village, I saw mother, fighting alone, surrounded by enemies. ¡°Mother!!!¡± I shouted. ¡°Emily! Why are you here?!¡± She looked at me in horror as I dashed towards her. While I was running, I saw a giant rod flying towards my direction. My mind froze; fear paralyzed my body. I don¡¯t want to die. ¡°Emily!!!¡± Mother ran towards me. She cast a barrier then hugged me. However, the spell was too strong, the shield was shattered by the explosion.
Smoke cleared, I saw mother lying on the ground, badly wounded, her bleeding wouldn''t stop. ¡°Mother! Mother! Please be okay. Please, don''t die.¡± My tears were everywhere, crying like a baby, creating a small pond on the ground. ¡°Please, please, don¡¯t leave me. Mother!¡± ¡°Emily,¡± she muttered as she caressed my face. ¡°I-I¡¯m glad you''re okay.¡± ¡°Mother...¡± ¡°I''m so happy... to be your mother. I-I¡¯ll never regret everything I did.¡± Her eyes closed; she stopped breathing. ¡°Mother, mother, wake up. You said we''ll play hide and seek again. You said you will give me handicap. Mother!!!¡± Fear, sorrow, anger, negative emotions came surging from deep within me. It released my magic; I couldn''t contain nor control it. ¡°Ahhhhhhh!!!¡± Empowered by emotions, an explosion occurred. The amount of magic I¡¯ve released was too much, I blacked out.
Waking up in an unfamiliar room, I was lying in a wooden bed. ¡°Where am I? How did I get here? Mother? Where are you?¡± Looking at a door, I got up the bed, then walked towards it. As I opened, I saw a stranger, a man. It was the same man whom my mother talked to at our house. It¡¯s the one who visited us before. ¡°Good morning, Emily. How¡¯s your body?¡± ¡°U-Uhmm-¡± As I moved back, I raised my hands in front of my face. ¡°H-How did you know my name?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry,¡± the man apologized. ¡°My name is Oliver, Oliver Silvermoon. I am a friend of Marina, your mother.¡± ¡°Mother?¡± Quickly, I put down my hands and walked towards him. ¡°Where is she? Is she alright?¡± Desperate, I was hoping that she¡¯s still alive. ¡°please, tell me that she¡¯s okay,¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± Oliver replied. ¡°Your mother¡­ didn''t make it.¡± ¡°Mother¡­.¡± As I fell down to my knees, I cried like there¡¯s no end. The feelings of depression engulfed my body; I lost someone important. Seeing this, Oliver walked towards me and calmed me down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emily. I was too late. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Time passed, I calmed down. ¡°Here.¡± He then gave me a hat and a robe. ¡°These were your mother¡¯s. Please, take it.¡± ¡°My... mother¡¯s?¡± Seeing it, I hugged it as tight as I can, feeling mother¡¯s warmth still present in the clothes. ¡°Oliver¡­ Is it¡­ alright if I wear this?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he replied. ¡°I already washed it while you were sleeping.¡± ¡°Thank you. This will be a memento of her.¡± Soon, a woman came as she walked with grace towards Oliver; she then stood beside him. Her eyes were like the green leaves of the trees in spring as her black long hair shines like porcelain. She was wearing a black robe, same as my mother¡¯s. ¡°Aria, good thing you''re already here,¡± Oliver spoke. ¡°Emily, I want to introduce you to my daughter, Aria.¡±
Present... ¡°A-Aria, why are you here?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain later but first we need to get away from here.¡± Aria? Did you ran here straight from the village? Hiiro and I followed her instructions, packed our things then escaped. ¡°Aria, Where are we going?¡± ¡°To -The Castle of Dullahan, The Headless King-.¡± ¡°Ahm... Can somebody explain everything?¡± Hiiro asked. ¡°I¡¯m kinda confused.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain later but first we need to go far away from the house and the village.¡± Aria replied. ¡°Your lives might be in danger if we stay here any longer.¡± Like a deer escaping from rampaging lions, we ran.
Past... Oliver offered if I want to live with them; I accepted. However, he forbid me to go outside since it was still dangerous. Oliver¡¯s home was located in the burned-down village where some buildings were still intact. Outside, the villagers were rebuilding the damaged houses. Aria and I became not only friends, but treated each other as sisters. In the same way, Oliver treated me like his own daughter. Oliver once told me that Aria sometimes goes out working as the bodyguard of two nobles. It sure is amazing to be working as a bodyguard at a young age. Months Later... ¡°Oliver, please let me see my mother¡¯s grave,¡± I pleaded. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emily but it¡¯s still dangerous outside,¡± Oliver replied. ¡°I can¡¯t let you go out.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I shouted. ¡°Two months had already passed. It should be safe by now. Please, explain why is it still dangerous?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± He looked down. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± "Why won''t you let me see her?" I shouted, as I walked away. ¡°Why?¡± I just want to see her grave and say goodbye, for one last time. After I locked the door to my room, I confined myself for the whole day. Aria then came knocking outside. ¡°Emily, it¡¯s me Aria.¡± She was persistent. ¡°Please, let me inside. Let¡¯s talk.¡± But, I paid her no attention. Morning came, I got hungry after locking myself up for so long. As I opened the door, I saw Aria, sleeping on the floor. My eyes widened. ¡°A-Aria¡­¡± After I walked towards her, I shook her body. ¡°Aria. Wake up. What are you doing sleeping there?¡± She then woke up. ¡°Emily. Good morning,¡± she muttered, still sleepy. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯ve slept.¡± ¡°Why? Why did you do this? I don¡¯t want you to get sick because of me.¡± ¡°Silly,¡± she smiled, ¡°it¡¯s because we¡¯re sisters.¡± My tears fell; I hugged her tight. ¡°Emily, if you have a problem let¡¯s talk.¡± ¡°Aria... Let¡¯s go inside.¡± We went in my room and sat on the bed. We then talked about what happened between me and Oliver. ¡°Please, Aria, I know you knew something,¡± I begged as I looked her in the eye. ¡°Please tell me where is my mother¡¯s grave?¡± I know Oliver told you something or at least had seen it. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Emily, but I made a promise with father,¡± Aria replied as she looked down, hesitating to answer. ¡°Please¡­ Please¡­ Please....¡± Repeatedly, I pleaded to her. Please, Aria. Help me. ¡°I just want to go out just this once. I just want to see my mother¡¯s grave.¡± Aria hesitated a little. ¡°Okay. Okay,¡± she agreed. ¡°But you have to promise me to never tell father what I told you.¡± ¡°I promise.¡± We then made a pinky swear.
Present... After ensuring that we were far from the village, we stopped for a bit of talk. ¡°Okay. Emily, could you please explain your relationship with her?¡± Hiiro scratched the back of his head. ¡°Aria and I¡­ are sisters.¡± ¡°Sisters?¡± he replied. ¡°I thought you only live alone?¡± ¡°We... We¡¯re not blood related, but we treat each other as sisters. After my mother died, I lived together with Aria and her father.¡± ¡°I don''t get it. Why are you living in the house then?¡± Hiiro added. ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°If you girls are sisters, then why didn¡¯t she helped you when we first came to the village?¡± Hiiro asked. ¡°I...¡± There was a bit of silence. ¡°You¡¯re scaring Emily,¡± Aria shouted. Aria... I¡¯m okay. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± Hiiro apologized. ¡°Please, forgive me. I didn¡¯t mean anything. I¡¯m just confused.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay Hiiro. I understand. Aria¡­ is working as the bodyguard of those two noble necromancers,¡± I replied. ¡°She can¡¯t go against any of them. She couldn''t do anything.¡± When I saw Aria at the village, I was happy, but the circumstances wouldn''t allow us to have a happy reunion. Yet, I was so glad to meet her again. ¡°I¡­ Ah¡­ I see. Uhh.. Hello.¡± Hiiro looked down as he scratched his head. ¡°My name is Hiiro.¡± He then faced Aria. ¡°Hiiro Akira, Emily reanimated me from the dead.¡± He then offered a handshake. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for doubting you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Aria replied. ¡°I¡¯m actually glad because it means you care for Emily.¡± Aria¡¯s words made me blushed. ¡°I am Aria.¡± She then shook hands with Hiiro. ¡°Aria Silvermoon.¡± ¡°Silvermoon-san¡± ¡°You can call me Aria,¡± she replied. ¡°Nice to meet you, Aria.¡± After that, I explained the reason I returned to my mother¡¯s house.
Past... ¡°Finally, I¡¯m outside the house.¡± On the way, we passed a lot of places like the plaza and the park. ¡°The village is very beautiful.¡± We then arrived to my mother¡¯s grave. The moment I saw it, I knelt for I couldn¡¯t control my feelings, my heart was hurting like it was being squeezed. ¡°Mother, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry... because of me¡­ because of me...¡± My tears kept flowing, this was the saddest moment in my life. Aria hugged me, comforting me; I cried until my eyes couldn''t produce anymore tears. ¡°Goodbye, mother. I love you so much.¡± We stayed for about an hour. As my tear kept falling, I told my mother everything I wanted to tell her. After that, we went home. On the way, we met two girls, one was short and had a blonde curly hair accompanied by another short girl who had a blue hair in twintails. The two were wearing a black robe with a pointy hat, each of them had a scepter with a crystal on top. ¡°There you are, Aria. We¡¯ve been looking for you since yesterday!¡± The blonde girl shouted. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, lady Thea. There was an emergency at our house.¡± Aria bowed to her like a knight in front of her queen. Aria? What¡¯s happening?? ¡°Hoh, tell me, Aria, what could be more important than guarding the daughter of the village chieftain?¡± she continued to scold her, her hands already on her hips and about to scream in her face. ¡°Ahm. W-who are you people?¡± It was the first time I saw them. ¡°Hoh. I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s someone who doesn¡¯t know me. Hear me commoner, I am Thea Skyheart, daughter of the village chieftain,¡± the blonde girl replied. ¡°I am Sophia Skyheart, Thea¡¯s twin sister.¡± These two appears to be important people. ¡°Now, Aria, tell me. What could be more important than guarding us? You¡¯re such a useless bodyguard.¡± Aria was still bowing, recognizing her grave mistake. ¡°Good thing Alfred came yesterday.¡± Yesterday? It was the day I confined myself. Then it only means Aria didn''t go to work because of me? ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry lady Thea,¡± Aria kept apologizing. ¡°Shut up, you useless bodyguard. I don¡¯t need your apologies,¡± the blonde girl created a rune. What is that rune? I¡¯ve never seen it in my entire life. ¡° !!!¡± Suddenly, a green beam of light hit Aria, blasting her away. ¡°Aria!¡± The villagers saw what happened; they then surrounded us. As I checked Aria, she could barely got up; she was hurt, having light wounds. ¡°Aria, are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine, Emily. Please, don¡¯t mind me.¡± ¡°Emily?¡± Thea whispered. ¡°Where did I hear this name before?¡± ¡°Stop this. You¡¯re hurting her!¡± ¡°Shut up, commoner. Know your place!¡± She created the same rune again. ¡° !!!¡± As she released the spell, I instantly cast , blocking her spell. ¡°!!!¡± The spell then grabbed and disarmed her scepter. ¡°Y-You. You¡¯re not a necromancer?!¡± The crowd then looked at us and murmured. ¡°E-Emily, why are you here?¡± Hearing a voice, I looked behind me. It was Oliver. ¡°Oliver. Do you know this girl?¡± Thea asked. ¡°Emily, come with me, quick!¡± Oliver then carried Aria, I followed him. We went back home. Chapter 7: The Girl, The Skeleton and a Book. Worried, I stayed in Aria¡¯s room and took care of her. Aria. Please, be okay. Looking at her, I noticed Aria¡¯s wounds gradually disappearing as if it was healing by itself. Aria... Thirsty, I went out of the room. As I walked to the kitchen, I saw Oliver talking to someone, a man wearing the similar clothes to those nobles we met outside. He seemed older though. They were both sitting. I don''t want to eavesdrop so I¡¯ll go now. However, before I ca walked away, I heard some unexpected things. ¡°What are you going to do now, Oliver?¡± the man addressed. ¡°The villagers already saw Emily. You can¡¯t hide her anymore.¡± Oliver is hiding me from the villagers? ¡°Why?¡± I whispered. Oliver looked down, his palm on his chin. ¡°I-I really don¡¯t know yet.¡± He then looked at the man. ¡°Please, Master, help me with this.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Oliver,¡± the man replied. ¡°After banishing Marina from the village, I don¡¯t think the elders nor the villagers would just accept that girl.¡± Mother was a citizen of this village? And they banished her? My trust in Oliver was losing, I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. There were too many unanswered questions in my mind so I confronted him. ¡°Oliver.¡± ¡°Emily...¡± His eyes became dilated, his mouth opened wide; he was stunned. ¡°Oliver, please, tell me.¡± Holding my wrist, I held-back my anger, as every inch of my body shook. ¡°Why¡­ why was my mother banished from this village?!¡± Please, Oliver, I need answers. Give me the reason why. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, Emily.¡± Oliver couldn''t speak anything but keeps apologizing. ¡°The Village banished Marina because she adopted a human,¡± the man in front of Oliver answered. ¡°Human? Why? Why would adopting another human be punishable by banishment?¡± ¡°Marina is not a human. She¡¯s a necromancer,¡± the man replied Facing the man, I asked with a slow voice, ¡°necro...mancer?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. My name is Merael. I''m also a necromancer.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a necromancer?¡± ¡°Yes, a necromancer. Others call us immortal humans.¡± Immortal humans? ¡°Then, my mother... is also a necromancer?¡± ¡°Yes, and our laws forbid a necromancer to adopt a mortal like you.¡± ¡°Adopted? Me? I¡­ I am... adopted?¡± ¡°Master, please don¡¯t tell her that,¡± Oliver shouted. ¡°Oliver, don¡¯t you think it¡¯s about time she learned about the truth?¡± Merael replied. ¡°She¡¯s already old enough for this.¡± ¡°But,¡± Oliver responded. ¡°Merael, please continue,¡± I begged as I looked at him. ¡°Emily, please,¡± Oliver begged. ¡°Please, I want to know the truth!!!¡± There was silence before Merael continued. ¡°Okay Emily, listen. Sixteen years ago, Marina found you in front of her house.¡± ¡°I was... abandoned by my real parents?¡± ¡°She asked the elder necromancers to adopt you but they insisted otherwise, for they discovered that you are a mortal,¡± he added. ¡°However, she went against their order, so they banished her.¡± ¡°Mother...¡± ¡°If you continue to live here, the elder necromancers will also banish Oliver and Aria.¡± ¡°Oliver and Aria? Why? Why would the elders banish them?¡± ¡°Because by staying here, would also mean that Oliver adopted you, a mortal,¡± Merael explained. They will banish Oliver and Aria because of me. ¡°What are you going to do Emily? Choose. Live with them and let them be banish? Or leave and let them return to their normal lives,¡± he added. ¡°I...I...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll give you a day.¡± As soon as the necromancer left, I ran to my room. The whole night, I was wide awake. Oliver told Aria everything the moment she woke up. Merael came in next morning and I talked with him. Oliver and Aria was also beside him. ¡°I¡¯m going back home.¡± I¡¯ve decided. I don''t want to burden you guys anymore. Aria shouted, ¡°Emily? Why?!¡± She then looked to Oliver, and tried to convince him. ¡°Father, I think we could still do something. Father, please.¡± However, Oliver could not give an answer. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± Oliver replied.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Aria then walked towards me. ¡°Emily, please don''t go,¡± and hugged me. ¡°Aria¡­ Please¡­¡± Gently, I broke free from Aria¡¯s embrace. Please, Aria. Let go. ¡°I don''t want the village to punish you and Oliver. The guilt would haunt me.¡± Because if this continues. ¡°You two already did a lot of things for me and I¡¯m grateful for that. Please, Aria, I¡¯ve already thought this through.¡± It would just keep things harder for me to leave. ¡°Please.¡± Looking at Oliver, I asked, ¡°take me to my previous home.¡± ¡°Then, I¡¯ll go with you!¡± Aria requested. ¡°You can¡¯t, Aria,¡± Merael spoke. ¡°The village chieftain¡¯s daughters were angry at you for not showing up two days ago and for what happened yesterday. If you go with Emily, Thea and Sophia won''t forgive you.¡± Aria fell down on her knees, as her tears began to fall. ¡°N-No. It can¡¯t be!¡± I see, you couldn¡¯t come with me. ¡°Goodbye, Aria¡­¡± I said. ¡°Until we meet again.¡± After I turned away from her, my tears fell. ¡°I am so happy to become your sister,¡± ¡°Emily!!!¡± Aria shouted. Tears kept falling from my eyes; I couldn¡¯t control my feelings. However, I didn¡¯t face her. How could I face her? It would just hurt us both more. ¡°Goodbye, my sister. I love you.¡± I don¡¯t want to leave. I want to be with them forever. I don¡¯t want to be separated from them.
We arrived at my mother¡¯s former home. It¡¯s been so long since I last saw this house. Before they returned, Oliver and Merael gave me things to help me live by. They even used necromancy to avoid spoilage on the food. ¡°Are you sure you want to live here?¡± Merael asked. ¡°I can help you find a better house if you want.¡± ¡°Thank you, Merael but¡­ I have a lot of memories with my mother in this house. I want to live here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emily.¡± Merael apologized. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I won''t tell anyone about this. It¡¯s the least I can do for my friend, Oliver.¡± ¡°Thank you, Merael.¡± Oliver looked down, averting his gaze. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I couldn¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°It''s okay, Oliver. Thank you for everything.¡± As I hugged him, he then held me tight like the last hug of a father to his daughter. ¡°Goodbye, Emily.¡± ¡°Goodbye, father.¡±
Days passed, the feelings of depression pierced unto my body. All those memories, I can¡¯t forget. Doing things, I don¡¯t regret. Remembering all those things that made me smile, I can¡¯t stop crying. I miss you so much. Aria¡­ Oliver¡­ After days of crying, I went out to ease my sadness. While walking in the forest, I saw a book, lying on the ground; I then picked it up. ¡°Did someone dropped this?¡± The book was about necromancy ¡°If I remember correctly, Merael said mother was a necromancer.¡± Curious I kept reading; it contained its history, spells and others. As soon as I flipped the next few pages, I felt happiness. In the upper left of that page, it was written, How To Resurrect The Dead. ¡°Mother. I can¡­ resurrect mother.¡± Turning the page, I noticed some parts were torn, however, the method of doing reanimation was still intact. Quickly, I came running home. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but whoever owns this book, I¡¯ll just borrow it for a bit.¡± I must learn this as soon as possible.
Weeks passed, I studied a lot of spells. ¡°I need to master them first before learning reanimation.¡± Casting necromancy took part of my life energy but I soon learned to use it using mana. However, some spells required using my life force; I lost two years of my life just practicing. ¡°Today, I will practice , one of the prerequisite spells for reanimation.¡± It involves controlling a corpse. The corpse would look like it¡¯s alive, however, it would have no soul and would only move if given a command. ¡°I¡¯ve been wanting to use this spell, yet I couldn¡¯t try it since I couldn''t find any human corpse.¡± Walking in the forest, I stumbled upon a skeleton lying on the ground; I then cast the spell. ¡°Oh, body who once died, rise and lend me your strength, !¡± However, nothing happened. But I didn¡¯t lose hope and tried a bunch of times. Eventually the skeleton stood. The magic was successful. ¡°Yes!¡± I shouted. Three people then came as it seemed they have heard me. ¡°Hoh, so it was the commoner.¡± It was a voice of a woman. As I looked at them, I saw the chieftain''s daughters and... ¡°Aria.¡± ¡°Commoner, what are you doing here?¡± Thea asked. ¡°I... I¡¯m practicing necromancy.¡± ¡°Hahaha,¡± she laughed. ¡°Necromancy? You don¡¯t even know how to cast any necromancy spell. It¡¯s useless. A mere mortal like you will never become a full-blooded necromancer like us!¡± She then hit me. ¡°Emily!!!.¡± Aria tried to help. ¡°Don¡¯t even try to help her or else...¡± But, she was restrained by Sophia. ¡°My apologies, lady Sophia,¡± Aria bowed. Aria, after all this time, I¡¯ve finally seen you. Yet, why can¡¯t we be happy together? The two noble necromancers bullied me; kicked, punched, they even hit my face. All this time, I was in pain but I didn¡¯t cry; I didn¡¯t want Aria to see my tears. If Aria saw my tears she would fight them. When that happens, it¡¯s not only her that would be punished but also Oliver, so I endured everything until the nobles were satisfied. They then left me in the forest, wounded and exhausted, with the skeleton lying by my side. Looking at the skeleton, I smiled. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see that. Good thing I immediately hid the book in the bush or they might get it.¡± Then, I stared at the sky. ¡°Why am I even talking to a dead person?¡± I looked at him again. ¡°Could you be my friend?¡± Tears then fell from my eyes, creating a small puddle in the middle of the forest.
Soon, I learned reanimation. I wanted to use it on Skely but it would use a large percentage of my life energy, so I decided that I would use it in mother instead. As I ran to her grave, I was so excited to be able to see her again. ¡°Mother, I¡¯m coming.¡± However, when I went to check out the graveyard, mother¡¯s remains was dug out. My world crumbled. Time stopped. My knees weakened and fell down as I cried. ¡°Emily?¡± As I looked behind, I saw Oliver standing while holding a bouquet. ¡°Why are you here?¡± He then walked towards me; I stood and went to him. ¡°Oliver, where is my mother? Who dug her grave?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Emily.¡± Oliver looked down, as he apologized. ¡°Your mother¡¯s grave was dug out three days ago. We don¡¯t know why and we still haven¡¯t found the culprit.¡± ¡°No¡­ Mother...¡± My heart was aching once again, all my hopes shattered. ¡°Mother,¡± I cried. ¡°I want to see you again.¡± Crying, Oliver brought me back to my home, then went home after ensuring I was safe. ¡°Who dug her grave? Where did they took her? Mother, I want to meet you; see you, touch you. I want to feel your warmth again, your warm love. I want to eat your cooking and share stories with you.¡± ¡°Why? I was too late. If only I learned it earlier, I could¡¯ve reanimated her.¡± The entire night I cried in my bed. ¡°Mother, I miss you so much.¡±
Present... ¡°What happened next?¡± Hiiro asked as we traveled. ¡°Skely saved me.¡± ¡°Skely? The skeleton?¡± Hiiro asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°During those days, I was too depressed that I couldn¡¯t eat nor sleep. My body was too exhausted by everything that happened. Suddenly, Skely moved, but I didn¡¯t order him. His body trembled as he walked. He then patted my head and hugged me.¡± Looking at Hiiro, I smiled. ¡°That skeleton was you.¡± ¡°After that incident, I went to the forest again and prepared the spell; I used reanimation on you and it was a success, though a little incomplete. However, I was so happy that I met you. You even became my real friend.¡± ¡°We are here,¡± Aria interrupted as we stopped in front of a huge castle. ¡°-The Castle of Dullahan, the Headless King¡± Chapter 8: That Castle with a Headless King. ¡°We are here,¡± Aria announced. ¡°-The Castle of Dullahan, the Headless King.¡± ¡°It¡¯s huge.¡± Emily was fascinated. True, I had seen a lot of castles in my games, anime and manga but this is the first time I see an actual castle. It¡¯s like looking at one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The castle sat at the top of a cliff with magnificence. Fortified by defense, it was only accessible by a two bridge; one at the front facing the ocean and the other at the side also serving as an escape route. Enclosed by a stone wall, a large building is installed at the middle supported by four giant pillars. ¡°This is so cool.¡± I was mesmerized, like a child going to his first time trip to an amusement park. ¡°Emily, this is so amazing¡± ¡°Hiiro, is there something wrong?,¡± Emily spoke. ¡°Nothing. It''s just that, my family always took me to the amusement park when I was a child. Still, this is the first time I have seen a real castle.¡± ¡°Hiiro, what¡¯s an amusement park?¡± Emily and Aria asked with puzzled looks in their eyes. ¡°O-Oh. Sorry it''s¡­¡± How do I explain this again? ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s a... a beautiful place I went to before I died.¡± ¡°O-Okay,¡± Emily replied. Sorry Emily. I don¡¯t know how to explain a place that does not even exist here. We walked towards the castle until we made it to the bridge where Aria then shouted, ¡°I am Aria Silvermoon, daughter of a necromancer named Oliver Silvermoon. The girl beside me is also a necromancer named Emily Scarlet. Beside her is a skeleton knight named Hiiro Akira. Our village was attacked, so we came and fled to this castle.¡± A few minutes later, the barrier disappeared. We then crossed the bridge towards two massive wooden doors. The air was chilling, my bones felt a bit more brittle. Yet, it wasn¡¯t painful, rather, it felt good. As I look around, I saw the waves from the ocean crashing into the rocks near the castle. Ahh. This is so amazing. Normally in this situation, people would be scared but the feelings of excitement overwhelmed the feelings of fear, all while hearing the song of the tides creating a graceful tune. Living once in two countries surrounded by water, I became that type of guy who loves the ocean. This feels so nostalgic. It was like that time I was walking from the chairs to the stage when I graduated middle school. As we reached the doors, they opened, allowing us to pass through. We then traveled a few more meters until we reached the door of the main castle. As I stepped inside, I felt the coldness of the marble floor through my bony feet. My excitement came back as I looked into the crystalline tiles. Looking around the hall I noticed portraits of a headless knight riding a horse with a flaming head. He was also holding a round object that seemed to be a human head. There were also a lot of sculptures of him, each in a different position and angle. To see real live portraits and sculptures carved from stone and not plastic like those in the amusement park, this is so cool. A man then came to us wearing a white tunic with a sword latched in his waist. ¡°A pleasant day to you three,¡± the man spoke. ¡°My name is Satrillo Stradivarius. Please, come with me. The King wants to meet you.¡±
The man took us to the throne room. In front, there he was, sitting in some sort of royal throne---the same being we saw in the portraits and statues. The detached head stared down at us from its lap. ¡°It¡¯s a real live Dullahan,¡± I shouted in my mind for saying it out loud would be rude. Aria bowed as she gestured for us to do the same. ¡°King Dullahan, Your Highness. I am the one called Aria. We came here from the village of the necromancers.¡± As soon as Aria was done with her introduction, a servant came to Dullahan, lifted the detached head and whispered something in its ear. Dullahan then stood up in a fit of rage. ¡°How dare you?! You may be a daughter of Oliver but to bring a human in my castle, this is unacceptable!¡± Everyone was startled, especially the three of us. We knew he was pertaining to Emily. ¡°Guards, surround them!¡± We were then encircled by small creatures¡ªgoblins I assume¡ªeach armed with a sword and wearing silver armor. ¡°Emily, stand behind me.¡± Immediately, I steeled myself in front of Emily, protecting her in case they attacked us. This is bad. This is definitely bad. ¡°Your Highness, please. Allow me to explain everything,¡± Aria pleaded. With all these guards, we won¡¯t stand a chance if we retaliate. What should I do? Though outnumbered, I was prepared to protect Emily even with the cost of my life. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear your excuses,¡± Dullahan shouted, pointing his sword at us. ¡°Your insolence will never be forgiven!¡± ¡°At least, please read this letter.¡± Aria handed out a wax-sealed letter that came from her pocket. One guard cautiously took the letter from Aria. After ensuring that it wasn¡¯t dangerous, they gave it to Dullahan, who began to read its contents.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°I see... So you¡¯re the adopted daughter of Marina.¡± He then looked at Emily. ¡°Necromancer, what is your name?¡± ¡°E-Emily. Emily Scarlet, y-Your Highness,¡± Emily stuttered as she looked at Dullahan. Anyone would be frightened if a headless king would point a sword at you. It¡¯s okay Emily. It scared me too. ¡°Tell me. Why do you wish to live here?¡± ¡°B-Because...¡± Emily looked down. As I noticed her shaking, I held her hands to ease her anxiety. ¡°B-Because I am looking for my mother. A-and also¡­¡± You can do it Emily. You can do it. ¡°I wish to keep Hiiro safe.¡± Shocked, I never expected that. My heart screamed in happiness. Woah. Woah. Woah. Good thing I have lots of self-control or this serious talk with Dullahan might turn comedic. ¡°Hoh...¡± Dullahan smiled. ¡°In that case, you first need to pass the trial.¡± ¡°T-Trial?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Yes. Three days from now, there will be a three way battle between you and three of my warriors,¡± Dullahan explained. ¡°To make everything fair, each of you will draw from this basket. You will battle the one whose name was written on the ball you draw.¡± Dullahan paused. ¡°However, it seems there¡¯s only two of you.¡± Maybe Dullahan thinks I¡¯m a familiar. Well, he¡¯s not technically wrong. ¡°I will fight as the third person, Your highness,¡± I shouted. ¡°H-Hiiro?¡± Emily and Aria stammered. Everyone around us whispered. ¡°You? A skeleton?¡± Dullahan paused for a bit. ¡°Hahaha. You amuse me young lad,¡± Dullahan laughed ¡°Very well, I approve you as one of the fighters.¡± ¡°Hiiro, are you sure?¡± Aria grabbed my hand. Actually, I¡¯m not. But if I can help Emily then I will fight for her. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°Very well. Emily, will you accept the trial?¡± Dullahan asked. ¡°I-I accept the trial,¡± Emily replied.. We each drew a ball. Each had a name engraved in it: I got ¡°Lucie Dreizehn¡±, Emily got ¡°Satrillo Stradivarius¡± and Aria got ¡°Robyn Accalia¡±. So Emily will fight that butler we met earlier. Based on the reaction of that girl who came to Dullahan, Aria will fight her. As for me, I don''t have a clue who my opponent is. Looking around, I saw a girl winking at me. My experience as an otaku is telling me that there''s a big probability it¡¯s her. ¡°Now it¡¯s decided, I look forward to your battles,¡± Dullahan announced.
Dullahan then instructed his guards to show us to our single room. However, there were only two beds in it. Wait a minute, something¡¯s definitely wrong with this... Before the guards could go away, I ran up to them. ¡°Wait, wait, wait... At least give me a separate room, I¡¯m a guy you know!¡± I can¡¯t help it. I¡¯m a perverted gentleman. I¡¯d like to respect Emily and her ¡°sister¡± who saved our lives. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter since you¡¯re a skeleton. Don¡¯t worry,¡± the guard said as he winked at me and shoved away my hand. Don¡¯t give me that ¡°if you know what I mean¡± look. Really guys? Really? I know it¡¯s okay for Emily but Aria¡­ ¡°Hiiro, what are you doing there? We need to rest since we traveled quite far. We also need to plan our strategy tomorrow,¡± Emily called out to me. ¡°Coming,¡± I replied as I stepped inside the room. ¡°Hiiro, you can sleep in the other one. Since the bed is big enough, I will sleep beside Aria,¡± Emily requested. As I lay down, I looked at Aria, who seemed to be talking to me. ¡°If you do anything perverted, I¡¯ll break your bones.¡± She was not letting a sound but I could read her lips. I knew it. Girls are scary, really scary. That night I couldn''t sleep; I was thinking. What should I do? This is will be my first official fight. Can I really do it? With my current skill? What if¡­ I lose? What if¡­ I just become a burden?Can I¡­ really protect her?
After we woke up, the guards came to our room and instructed us to follow them. They took us to a large hall. Estimating its size, it was capable of holding at least two hundred people. A number of monsters: goblins, zombies, mummies, demons and many more filled the room; it was like a gathering of them. The guards then instructed us to sit beside one of tables and wait for further instructions. Moments later, Dullahan came in front and had a speech. ¡°Good morning, my dear servants...¡± After Dullahan¡¯s wonderful speech, we then ate---I mean, Aria and Emily ate. This is sad. Eating is impossible to me for I am but a skeleton with no stomach. Looking around, I noticed something; they were eating worms, live worms. Thank you, skeleton body. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Hiiro?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Oh. Nothing. Anyway, come to think of it, yesterday, they were just trying to kill us but now it seems everything turned 180 degrees.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Emily replied. ¡°I don¡¯t know what father wrote in that letter but it seemed to be have calm His Highness yesterday,¡± Aria added. ¡°Now, I¡¯m curious.¡± My eyes turned to Dullahan.
After eating, we then went back and talked about our strategy. ¡°Ok, so based on our line up, Hiiro will go first, I will go second and Emily will go last. Hiiro, how many spells do you know so far?¡± Aria asked.. ¡°Sorry, I can only use six spells.¡± I can¡¯t help it. Drawing is not my forte. Even though I¡¯ve been practicing a lot, drawing a really good image is not that easily attainable. I wouldn¡¯t have any problems in my art classes if it were. Water magic runes are quite easy though¡­ Or maybe I just love water magic. ¡°I can use , , , , and . Also, is mainly used to disarm the opponent. If my opponent doesn¡¯t have a weapon, it''s pretty much useless leaving me with only five spells.¡± ¡°This is a problem then,¡± Aria held her chin. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Emily spoke, looking at Aria. ¡°I know Hiiro can do it. I believe in him. Also¡­ learning those in two months is already an achievement.¡± It made me happy been having complimented by her. Emily, why are you so cute? ¡°Then, I will also believe in him,¡± Aria replied. After three hours of strategizing, the three of us trained; I created combos so I could use my spells effectively in battle, I also experimented on some runes. ¡°I hope this water whip works.¡± This continued for three days.
Three days passed, the day of the trial came. The guards went to our room and instructed us to follow them to the arena. We then sat in chairs provided for us. Dullahan then made his opening speech. What¡¯s going to happen now? Nervous, I couldn¡¯t even hear them talking. My hands were shaking. What should I do? What should I do? What should I... ¡°It¡¯s okay Hiiro. I believe in you,¡± Emily held my hands. ¡°Emily.¡± The shaking slowly disappeared. I¡¯ve been doing this to Emily, but I never thought holding hands would have this much effect. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°To start with the trial, at round one, we have Hiiro Akira against Lucie Dreizehn!.¡± Round one started. Chapter 9: The Girl I Promised to Protect. ¡°Where am I?¡± Tired, I woke up lying on a bed, looking at the ceiling. If I remember correctly, I should be fighting in the arena. ¡°Good Morning, Hiiro.¡± It was a familiar voice. As I turned to my left, I saw Emily sitting in a chair beside me. ¡°How¡¯s your body?¡± she asked. Looking around, I realized that I was sleeping in our room at the castle. ¡°Emily? What happened to the fight?¡± My head ached. ¡°Aagh.¡± Why can¡¯t I remember anything? ¡°You won, Hiiro,¡± Emily spoke. ¡°I won?¡± ¡°Aria is fighting in the arena right now, so I¡¯m taking care of you.¡± How? I don¡¯t even remember fighting my opponent. ¡°I was worried,¡± she added. ¡°Your opponent hit you pretty hard in the head.¡± I see. So that¡¯s why I can¡¯t remember anything. ¡°I¡¯m okay now, Emily. You should go and watch Aria.¡± You should go and cheer your sister. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she replied. ¡°I believe in her. I know she will win,¡± she added while looking at me. ¡°Hiiro. Thanks for everything.¡± ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure to help you.¡± ¡°Hiiro...¡± She blushed as she spoke with a soft voice. ¡°...What is it Emily?¡± Wait, what is this? I have a feeling something big will happen. ¡°I-I just want to say¡­¡± Is this what I think this is? ¡°I-I¡­¡± ¡°I?¡± ¡°I-I think, I love you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Wait. Wait. Wait. What just happened? Is this really a confession?! ¡°Hiiro...¡± This is real, right? ¡°Emily?¡± ¡°Hiiro.¡± Her eyes were sparkling. ¡°Hiiro.¡± Ahhhrrg. She¡¯s too cute. I can''t stand this. It was like a charmed snake tamed by a flute. My hands slowly touched her face, caressing it as I watched my bony hands grind into her skin. It was as smooth as polished marble with her complexion as white as snow. Her lips were so pink, they shone as if tempting me to kiss her. Little by little, our lips were slowly meeting. For each second that passed, I could feel my heart beating faster as if it still existed. She was beautiful. However¡­ ¡°Hiiro.¡± Another voice echoed, a faint but familiar voice, stopping me from what I was doing. ¡°What is it, Hiiro?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Hiiro.¡± There it is again. It¡¯s coming from somewhere but I can¡¯t determine where. ¡°Emily, can you hear something?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t. Hiiro, what are you talking about?¡± ¡°Hiiro.¡± The mysterious voice was not coming from Emily, yet, it had the same voice as her. ¡°Hiiro, let us continue. Please.¡± Emily attempted to hug me. Something¡¯s wrong with Emily. She¡¯s acting weird. ¡°Hiiro.¡± The voice was getting stronger, louder. ¡°Hiiro!¡± The faint voice then turned into a shout. ¡°Hiiro!¡± As I realized something, I pushed the girl in front of me. ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked not the voice but the one in front of me. ¡°You are not Emily.¡± ¡°Heh. I never thought you could break my spell.¡± Suddenly, cracks appeared everywhere. The space is breaking? No, this is not reality. As the illusion shattered, I found myself back in the arena.
¡°You will pay!¡± As I clenched my fist, anger arose inside of me. Perhaps it was because of my experience with Lily. Having my heart toyed twice was too painful for me. This is not good. I need to calm down. ¡°Hiiro!!!¡± Emily shouted. ¡°E...mily?¡± As I looked at her, she then smiled out of relief. Ahhh, That smile... It¡¯s beautiful as always. As my anger subsided, I opened my hand. Hiiro, remember why you''re here, the reason why you¡¯re fighting. Yes, it¡¯s for her. Remember your promise: ¡°I will protect her.¡± Thank you, Emily, for bringing me back to my senses. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll win this fight. ¡°You finished now?¡± My stares switched to the girl in the arena. Standing in front of me was a girl who looked like princess with blonde hair curling from the tips to the hairs beside her eyes. Her pink dress and doll shoes surrounded her with an aura of innocence as a pink rose headpiece further magnified it. Wait a minute, it¡¯s a Hime-kei. ¡°Hello, I am Lucie Dreizehn, a succubus. Good job breaking my illusion, Hiiro. I¡¯m impressed,¡± she added The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. What? A succubus in a hime-kei? Curious, I stared at her. She is really dressed in a hime-kei. How is is this possible? Calming myself, I slapped my bony face with my two hands, Hiiro, you need to concentrate. Anyway, based on my anime, manga and games, a succubus mostly fights at close range. This is a gamble, but I bet she doesn¡¯t know I¡¯m a mage since normally, skeleton knights fight at close combat to distract their opponent while the master casts a spell. Fighting a close combat specialist, I was at a disadvantage, however, I had a plan. I¡¯ll use "that" to win this battle once and for all. ¡°I¡¯m going to defeat you, succubus..¡± ¡°Oh, really. I love to see you try, Hii¡ªro <3,¡± she replied as she rushed at me at high speed. ¡°Boy¡ª, can you endure my punch <3?¡± It¡¯s kinda weird seeing a princess running towards you at full speed. Preparing my counter, I waited for her to get close but not too much. As she met the required distance, I smiled. ¡°Gotcha.¡± Immediately, I then cast a spell to block her attack. ¡°.¡± ¡°Elemental magic?!¡± Her eyes widened.. After casting, I moved away. She then crashed to the wall, destroying it. However, it was within my calculations; I knew the wall would easily break---after all, it was a basic spell. What I was looking for was not blocking her attack but the dust it would produce. Since, she was not expecting it, a lot found its way into her eyes and blinded her. ¡°Ahh, my eyes!¡± Immediately, I ran in circles around her while writing a rune, preparing to cast fireball. ¡°I¡¯ll use a while loop to cast multiple spells at the same time.¡± Using a spell will give away my position since she can just follow where the spell came from. I need to change my position each time I attack. As I ran, I attacked her with multiple fireballs simultaneously. ¡°Sorry, I know this is cowardly but my experience (as a gamer) is telling me not to fight a stronger enemy head on.¡± I need to attack while maintaining my distance. "Kiting" is what they call it in a MMORPG. She then rushed in to attack me but missed. Immediately, I barraged her continuously with fireball and repeated what I was doing before. She couldn''t fight back. Each time she attacked me, she would always miss. Even though her eyes had recovered, the explosions from the fireballs produced a lot of smoke which I used as a smokescreen, limiting her vision once more. ¡°Ahh... You pesky skeleton,¡± she shouted as she punched the ground, producing an earthquake. The blast stopped my movements. It also dispersed the smoke around her. ¡°Hahaha. I can see you now~!¡± She then charged towards me. However, I had a counter for it. ¡°!!¡± The spell grabbed her hands. I can¡¯t believe it worked. Simultaneously, I threw her upward and cast air slash at her. The force blew her away and landed into the side of the arena. ¡°Followed by, .¡± A number of spheres made of water then shoot at her producing smoke as it hit the ground. She then stood, damaged. ¡°How... How dare you...¡± She stomped the ground and a rock about the size of my head flew upward. She then slapped the rock which came flying towards me with great force. ¡°Uggh!!!¡± The rock hit me; it was moving too fast. She then immediately dashed towards me one more time. However, it was also within my calculations. After she crashed, I knew she would rush at me in a straight line so I cast water mine beforehand. It¡¯d leave her immobile if she ever steps on it, and it did. ¡°W-what is this?!¡± ¡°This is the end!¡±. I didn¡¯t hesitate for I knew she could break out of it anytime, so I cast my trump card: ¡°!!!¡±. Suddenly, fireball runes kept appearing, surrounding her from above. There should be over three hundred fireballs in there if my training serves me well. ¡°Fire!!!¡±. The fireball runes blasted her all at the same time, but it took all of my mana---it was a one time spell.
Draining her energy by attacking continuously then trapping her to deliver a finishing blow, did my plan work? ¡°I can¡¯t believe... you¡¯re this strong.¡± Wounded and exhausted, she could barely stand. ¡°You took.. three months worth... of my you know.¡± ...Why? My spell was not enough? ¡°I only plan on playing with you at first but... I hate losing you know. You even ripped my favorite clothes!¡± Suddenly, a strong gale then appeared in the stage; it was coming from her. ¡°Behold my real form!¡± A black light then surrounded her. It was like a transformation sequence from a mahou shoujo anime. As the light disappeared; I saw her flying as she flapped her wings. Her headpiece was then removed as a pair of horns emerged from her head, curving front into a 90 degree angle; her pointed tail made her more seductive as it moves slowly from left to right; her dress was replaced with a one piece black bikini with two big holes in the waist turning her once innocent aura into a woman filled with lust as her doll shoes changed into a pair of high heels further increasing her charm. Also... Did her breasts just became larger? ¡°This is bad.¡± Her transformation was within my calculations, however, I knew my magic alone was not enough to fight it. My plan was to finish the duel before she could change. She landed on the ground. It seemed some of her strength was restored. She then pointed her right hand at me like a gun and a black light came rushing to her index finger, forming a ball. It was small at first then it grew larger as the second passed. ¡°Tsk. I can only gather this much power but I think it¡¯s enough.¡± ¡°Oi. Oi. Oi. That¡¯s overkill!¡± My body was too exhausted; I couldn¡¯t move. It was like I was glued to the ground. As I looked at Emily, I heard her shouts in the crowd. ¡°This is punishment. Try to dodge this, Hii¡ªro <3. !!!¡± Oh, power of friendship, please, help me. The spell hit me and I was blown away. Who am I kidding? This... is reality. Plot armors don¡¯t exist... With my vision getting blurry, I looked at Emily for one last time as I slowly lost my consciousness. ¡°Emily, I¡¯m... sorry... I... lost.¡±
Seeing Emily¡¯s face close up, I woke up lying in her lap. Wait¡­ Isn¡¯t this?¡­ This is the famous lap pillow! ¡°Hiiro,¡± she spoke as she looked at me. ¡°Emily, I¡¯m sorry, I lost.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. It was your first fight.¡± She smiled. Ahh, this smile. It¡¯s so beautiful. It¡¯s different from the illusion I saw in the fight. This is her genuine smile. A smile just like that of a child playing innocently in the playground. The pain in my body slowly disappeared. I was saved twice¡­ by this girl I promised to protect. ¡°By the way, Hiiro, could you explain what was that last spell you used? I thought you only knew six spells,¡± she asked. ¡°Uhh¡­¡± I think I should explain it to her now. ¡°Outside your house, after I mastered fireball, I was tempted to experiment on rune writing for a bit. You were sleeping that time, and I discovered that runes were very similar to a computer code.¡± ¡°Com...puter code?¡± Oh, yeah. I forgot computers do not exist here. ¡°Uhm...¡± How do I explain this again? Machines do not exist here either making it harder to explain. ¡°Basically, it¡¯s a set of algorithms used to do a certain function.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t understand, but continue,¡± Emily spoke. I¡¯m sorry. ¡°Anyway, I found out that each symbol drawn corresponds to an attribute or an action of the spell. For example, the circle in a fireball rune corresponds to the speed on how it would travel, however, making the speed too fast will cause an error, making a useless fireball.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s basic information,¡± she replied. ¡°In my experiment, I tried to create a while-loop function.¡± ¡°While...loop... function? What¡¯s that?¡± she asked. Oh yeah. I forgot. ¡°Sorry. Its purpose is to repeat a certain task continuously until a condition is met.¡± Looping is one of the basic functions in programming after all. It is also the reason I can cast multiple spells of the same kind that fast. ¡°O-Okay.¡± Sorry, Emily. It¡¯s also hard for me to explain it. ¡°Anyway, I was experimenting on it for a long time until I finally created it. That was the time you found me lying on the ground near your house.¡± ¡°Wait. So it means you made that giant crater from before?¡± she replied. ¡°Yes... I¡¯m sorry for hiding it to you¡­ And for worrying you..¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Hiiro. At least, I know now that it was not an attack from the humans.¡± Humans? ¡°Anyway, for a loop to stop, it needs a condition. However, that was my first successful loop so it didn¡¯t have a condition. Since I haven¡¯t created its code yet. ¡°It kept casting until my mana was depleted.¡± While speaking, I realized that I was still lying on Emily¡¯s lap, so I stood. ¡°S-Sorry.¡± ¡°I-It¡¯s okay. I-I don¡¯t mind,¡± Emily blushed. ¡°Anyway, even though it would consume all of my mana, I didn¡¯t want the spell to go to waste, so I made it a trump card.¡± Suddenly, the host announced the 2nd round: ¡°Now, at round two, we have Aria Silvermoon against Robyn Accalia!¡± Round two started. Chapter 10: Faux Coeur. Emily and I were seated beside the arena, and we could clearly hear the two combatants talking. ¡°Aria, we finally meet again,¡± her opponent said. ¡°After all these years, I can finally have my revenge.¡± It was a woman with gray, long hair tied in a ponytail. Her black, silken corset armor brought forth the glamour of a beautiful fighter. This was magnified by a white cloth for her skirt with one side opened, revealing her smooth legs, combined with a pair of black high-heeled boots. A collar in her neck and a golden bracelet in each of her hands further emphasized that she was not just a woman but also a warrior. ¡°My apologies, but I can¡¯t seem to remember who you are,¡± Aria replied. ¡°So you even forgot about about me,¡± the girl spoke while looking down. She then angrily looked at Aria. ¡°I will never forgive you!!!¡± ¡°The battle between Aria Silvermoon and Robyn Accalia, now begins!¡± The gong was hit, signaling the start of the battle.
Robyn immediately dashed around the stage, attempting to confuse Aria. She¡¯s fast. Moving like those characters fighting in an anime, I almost can¡¯t see her. Meanwhile, Aria was observing her surroundings carefully. Robyn then charged towards her, however, Aria immediately used her scepter and cast a spell. ¡° .¡± The rune was finished in an instant. Wow. Her writing is too fast. I can¡¯t even follow her fingers moving. The shield didn¡¯t break, however, the force was too strong, Aria was knocked back a little. Robyn dashed around again and attacked simultaneously. Aria couldn¡¯t do anything but defend herself---Robyn was just too fast. ¡°Aria...¡± Emily¡¯s hands were clamped together. This is bad. Defending alone is not enough, her magic will eventually diminish but Aria¡¯s opponent is too fast, she can¡¯t even counter attack. ¡°You can¡¯t defend forever you know!¡± Robyn attacked again, breaking Aria¡®s shield. The force accumulated was too much, the spell couldn¡¯t keep up. Aria was thrown quite far. ¡°Hahahaha!!!¡± Robyn laughed. ¡°Aria!!!¡± Emily screamed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Aria? Stop using necromancy and use your ¡°other¡± power!¡± Robyn shouted. Other power? ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Aria asked. ¡°Who are you?!¡± ¡°You still can¡¯t remember me?¡± Robyn replied. ¡°Then, let me refresh your memory for a bit... [Project: AD].¡± ¡°I-It can¡¯t be. R-Robby?¡± ¡°Finally, you remember me. I will never forgive you for forgetting and leaving me back there.¡± ¡°N-No, you¡¯re wrong. I have never forgotten you!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Robyn shouted. ¡°If you didn¡¯t forget me then why didn¡¯t you recognize me?¡± ¡°T-That¡¯s because... That¡¯s because you¡¯re wearing a girl¡¯s clothes!¡± ¡­ Huh? ¡°You¡¯re a guy right?!¡± Aria questioned. ¡°Why?¡± My eyes then switched to Robyn¡¯s skirt. What? ¡°Why are you wearing a skirt?¡± ¡°EHHHHHH!!!¡± Everyone was shocked. No. No. No. No. Please, no. ¡°W-What are you talking about?¡± Robyn blushed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Robyn. I didn¡¯t know,¡± Dullahan spoke. ¡°Why Robyn? Why?¡± a random man shouted. ¡°It¡¯s okay Robyn, we still accept you,¡± a bunch of random males cheered in unison. It¡¯s a trap!!! ¡°Noooo,¡± Robyn shouted. ¡°You guys are ALL WRONG!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay as long as there¡¯s love,¡± the butler shouted. ¡±I guess.¡± ¡°Shut up, you perverted butler!¡± Robyn shouted. ¡°I was never a man. I am always a girl!¡± ¡°Ehhh?!¡± Aria was shocked. ¡°Really?!¡± Everyone had doubts. ¡°Yes. I... am... telling... the truth,¡± Robyn defended herself. ¡°I can testify she¡¯s a girl. I used my ¡®magic¡¯~¡± Lucie confirmed. ¡°We believe you, Robyn!¡± a lot of random males cheered in unison. ¡°Yeah, we do!,¡± a bunch of random males shouted simultaneously. ¡°Just shut up!¡± Robyn angrily looked at Aria. ¡°You will pay for this humiliation.¡± ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry Robyn,¡± Aria apologized. ¡°I-I didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± Robyn dashed at Aria and grabbed her. ¡°I will never forgive you.¡± She then threw her in the middle of the arena. ¡°Why?¡± And barraged Aria with a series of attacks in every direction possible. ¡°Why?¡± Aria cast phantom shield again ¡°Why did you leave me?¡± However, Robyn was moving too fast. ¡°I was alone.¡± Aria couldn¡¯t keep up, she could only defend herself. This is bad, Aria is losing Once more, the shield broke, Aria was hit and was thrown into the wall of the arena creating some cracks. ¡°Aria,¡± Emily murmured as she stood. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Aria apologized, barely standing. The damage she took was too bad.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°If you won¡¯t fight me seriously then I might as well end this.¡± Robyn removed her boots and her bracelets. ¡°We don¡¯t need you in this castle!¡± Something¡¯s happening to her. The aura around her changed. I don¡¯t like this feeling. Robyn transformed; her arms and feet turned like that of a clawed beast. With the addition of a tail and fangs, her appearance changed similar to a dog. It was further amplified but her new long ears and the color of her right eye. She became... a werewolf? ¡°Die!¡± Robyn dashed at Aria; she was faster than before. ¡°Aria!¡± Emily shouted. However, Aria was not hurt. For some reason, Robyn froze mid air. She then fell to the ground and immediately moved back. ¡°Finally,¡± Robyn spoke. A strong gust of wind suddenly appeared, it was coming from Aria. ¡°Ahhh,¡± she shouted in pain, holding her left shoulder. A black light then surround her, accompanied by smoke, it formed a tornado from where she was standing. ¡°Aria,¡± Emily murmured. ¡°Please, don¡¯t.¡± What¡¯s happening to her? Suddenly, a lightning was shot from Aria¡¯s place directed to Robyn, however, she dodged it. Lightning magic? The tornado subsided; Aria came forth. However, her appearance changed. Standing was woman filled with dark aura. With fangs and a bat wing in her left shoulder, I knew that she was not the same girl I met three days ago. The left part of her once beautiful face was covered by a black mark, with the iris of her left eye turned red. Is this... really Aria? ¡°Finally, I¡¯ve been waiting for this, ¡± Robyn laughed. ¡°Artificial Vampire.¡± Wait, a minute. Did I just hear ¡°Artificial Vampire¡±? ¡°Aria,¡± Emily whispered, still worried as she looked at her sister. To ease her worries I held her hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Emily. Believe in Aria.¡± Meanwhile, on the arena, no one is making a move. It seemed the two of them were waiting for something. They were just looking at each other. Suddenly, they both dashed into the middle of the arena. It was too fast. With just a blink of an eye, they reached the middle. As they threw their punches, the shock waves produced from it was too strong, it made an earthquake. The two of them then began punching each other nonstop. My eyes couldn¡¯t keep up. It was like an epic fight scene of an anime. This is too intense. They continued until Aria finally landed a punch on Robyn, knocking her away. She then created lightning in her hands and blasted Robyn from afar. ¡°Emily, is that lightning magic?¡± ¡°No,¡± Emily replied. ¡°It¡¯s .¡± ¡°Psychic lightning manipulation? Wait by psychic you mean...¡± ¡°Aria once said, she can manipulate the around her, creating lightning. Aria, just like all vampires, is an esper.¡± ¡°Aria... is a vampire? And an esper?¡± Emily and I were talking to each other when we heard a crash. ¡°Aria!¡± Emily shouted. It was Aria who crashed into the side of the arena. ¡°You¡¯ve been using telekinesis to slow me down, ¡± Robyn said. ¡°Too bad I am protected by . It may have worked before, but not anymore.¡± ¡°Wait, did she just said chi?¡± Shocked; I couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°Werewolves are known to be physically strong because they can perfectly utilize the usage of their chi energy in both their offense and defense. This also protected them against mind attacks,¡± Emily explained. ¡°My mother once said, in the previous war, there was a powerful werewolf that annihilated an entire army of humans all by himself.¡± ¡°You lost,¡± Robyn spoke as she walked towards Aria. ¡°You¡¯re exhausted now and your psychic powers does not affect me anymore.¡± However, as Robyn walked closer and closer to Aria, she suddenly fell on her knees. ¡°W-What just happened?¡± ¡°It seems you forgot something Robyn,¡± Aria spoke. ¡°You were too focused on my vampire part that you forgot that I¡¯m also a necromancer.¡± ¡°I-It can¡¯t be,¡± Robyn said. ¡°This is...¡± ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve been using while we were fighting,¡± Aria said. ¡°True, using your , you can nullify my psychic attacks.¡± Aria stood ¡°However, it would also leave you vulnerable to magic.¡± ¡°No!!!¡± Robyn punched the ground. ¡°This can¡¯t be happening!¡± ¡°Robyn, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Aria apologized. ¡°From that day until now, I always regret what I did when I left you in that lab and I don¡¯t know if you will ever forgive me.¡± Aria picked up her scepter. ¡°However, it is not true when you said that I forgot you. It¡¯s impossible. How can I forget you?¡± Aria wrote a rune ¡°Since before, when I thought you were a guy...¡± Aria then smiled at Robyn. ¡°You were my first love.¡± Pointing her scepter to Robyn, she shouted, ¡° !!!¡± ¡°I... lost...¡± A green beam of light then struck Robyn. After the explosion, Robyn was seen lying on the ground, unconscious. ¡°The winner of the second match, Aria Silvermoon,¡± as the host finished announcing the winner, Aria returned to her normal form and fell down. ¡°Aria, ¡± Emily and I shouted. ¡°Guards, quickly bring them to the recovery room,¡± Dullahan shouted. The guards then quickly but carefully carried Aria and Robyn. ¡°Hiiro, please go to Aria,¡± Emily begged. ¡°Emily? How about you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± she replied while looking down. ¡°Actually, I also want to go to her, however, I have an upcoming match so I can¡¯t.¡± She then looked at me in the eye. ¡°Please, Hiiro, take care of her; take care of my sister.¡± ¡°Okay. I will go to her,¡± I said to Emily while going to Aria. My eyes then looked back at her and made a thumbs up. ¡°Emily, good luck with your fight.¡± ¡°Yes, I will do my best,¡± she smiled.
The guards guided me to where Aria¡¯s room is located. There, Lucie was standing beside the door. ¡°Lucie...-san?¡± ¡°Hello, Hiiro <3,¡± Lucie greeted me. ¡°Aria is currently being treated right now, so you can¡¯t go in.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why, while you wait, I¡¯ll tell you a story.¡± ¡°A story?¡± ¡°Ten years ago, a group of humans kidnapped two human children,¡± Lucie spoke. ¡°They were the first test subjects of [Project: AD] or [Project: Artificial Demons] ¡± [Project: Artificial Demons]? From the name alone, I can tell, this is some inhumane experiment. ¡°Wait, by two child you mean?¡± ¡°Yes, those two were Robyn and Aria,¡± she replied. ¡°Like the name implies, [Project: AD] aimed to create Artificial Demons by transferring a demon¡¯s organ into a human.¡± Wait a minute, is she talking about organ transplant? ¡°The humans did a lot of cruel experiments to them, Robyn¡¯s limbs were cut and changed into that of a werewolf while Aria had a more bizarre experiment,¡± she added. ¡°Her heart was changed into that of a vampire. Right now, the blood flowing through her body is not hers.¡± They performed a heart transplant? ¡°After two years of experiment, the two of them decided to escape, however, the other child was caught. That child was Robyn. Out of anger, the humans then punished her by performing extreme experiments on her.¡± ¡°This is¡­ too cruel. ¡°Now Hiiro, what are you going to do~?¡± Lucie asked as she walked away. The doctors then came out from Aria room; I then went inside.
As I entered, I saw Aria sitting on top of the bed. It seemed, her room was separated from Robyn. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Aria asked. ¡°You should go and watch Emily.¡± ¡°True, I am worried about Emily¡¯s fight.¡± Aria looked gloomy. ¡°However, I am also worried about you.¡± ¡°Worried? You? To me? Impossible,¡± Aria muttured. ¡°We are just acquaintances who happened to know the same person. How can you be worried to someone like me?¡± ¡°Aria, I¡¯m telling the truth.¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Aria shouted as she looked at me. ¡°I am an abomination; neither a human, a vampire nor a necromancer. I am just a test subject, a rejected experiment. I am nothing but trash.¡± ¡°You are Emily¡¯s cool sister,¡± I shouted, stopping her from talking. ¡°I don¡¯t care what your past is, what you look or what you are.¡± Looking at her eyes, I walked towards her. ¡°There¡¯s only one thing I know; you are not a bad person. You saved Emily a bunch of times: you became her family when her mother died; you supported her when she was alone; you helped us escaped the village when we¡¯re in danger; and now, you fought very hard for her sake.¡± ¡°Hiiro,¡± Aria mumbled as I grabbed both of her shoulders. ¡°Don¡¯t call yourself things you are not. You are Aria, Emily¡¯s sister and friend. You are not trash; you are beautiful.¡± She blushed. Realizing this, I let go of her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry... I got carried away.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, Hiiro. Thank you.¡± Today, I got to know Aria¡¯s past, however, there was one thing that was bothering me the whole time. Heart transplant. If you think about it, this is impossible considering the technology of medieval times. Or... is it because of magic that humans have this possibility? I don¡¯t know what to feel right now. Chapter 11: That Tree Who Looks Like Human and is Also Macho. Inside the arena... Hiiro, please take care of Aria. ¡°Greetings, lady Emily,¡± the butler greeted. Lady? ¡°G-Good morning.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve read Master Oliver¡¯s letter to the King. It seemed lady Marina had adopted such a peculiar child.¡± Master Oliver? Lady Marina? My mother? ¡°Y-You know my mother?¡± ¡°Yes. Lady Marina and I met 50 years ago near the -Elven Kingdom-,¡± the butler replied. ¡°My condolences for her loss.¡± ¡°The battle between Emily Scarlet and Satrillo Stradivarius, now begins!¡± The gong was hit, signaling the start of the battle. The battle already started, however, none of us decided to attack. ¡°Please Satrillo, do you know where my mother¡¯s remains is? ¡± Satrillo looked at Dullahan and spoke, ¡°Your Highness, can I have a request? Can lady Emily and I talk for a bit?¡± ¡°Your request is approved,¡± Dullahan replied. ¡°There¡¯s no time limit anyway.¡± Satrillo then looked at me. ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry lady Emily. I don¡¯t know where lady Marina¡¯s remains is right now.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Looking down, my hope was shattered. ¡°Then¡­ How did you know my mother?¡± ¡°Before I met lady Marina, I was a dying treant,¡± he answered. ¡°A treant?¡± ¡°Yes. When lady Marina found me in the forest, she used her magic to help me,¡± he added. ¡°I then decided to serve her with my life as thanks.¡± ¡°Mother.¡± ¡°Judging from that young skeleton earlier, I can say that you were the one who taught him elemental magic, yes?¡± he asked. ¡°Y-yes, I did.¡± ¡°I see. So you¡¯re just like your mother; both of you use necromancy and elemental magic.¡± ¡°W-why are you telling me this?¡± ¡°My apologies, lady Emily.¡± Satrillo bowed. ¡°I just thought that it¡¯s quite unfair that I know a lot about you, my opponent, but you know nothing of me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯ll show you first my power.¡± As he flicked his fingers, his skin suddenly changed. It became darker, rougher and harder. His skin turned into bark; he became a wooden man. ¡°My intense training with Lady Marina turned my body into this,¡± Satrillo spoke as he drew his sword. It was a long, single-edged blade. ¡°This sword came from the -Elven Kingdom-, my home. We call this a katana.¡± Suddenly, eight wooden tails sprouted out from his back. ¡°Let me introduce myself again.¡± Satrillo bowed. ¡°My name is Satrillo Stradivarius; a treant, a master swordsman and a user of .¡±
Standing, I was looking at him, waiting for an attack. Suddenly, his eight tails moved towards me, attempting to pierce my body. He¡¯s capable of long range attacks? And he didn¡¯t even wrote a rune. Quickly, I wrote an earth rune. ¡°.¡± However, the wall was destroyed by his attack. Good thing I jumped. He just destroyed a high level earth magic. Suddenly, he appeared in front of me. What? He then slashed me with his sword; I blocked using my scepter, yet my body was thrown away. However, I received no damage since I used air magic to prevent myself from colliding to the wall. First, I need to blind him. ¡°!!!¡± Suddenly, a tornado appeared carrying clouds of sand with it. Visibility became zero, however, using Terra Sense, I could sense him. ¡° !!!¡± Ghosts then appeared below him and grabbed his feet, immobilizing him. Controlling the sandstorm with my hands, I compressed and concentrated it to his position increasing the spell¡¯s speed and power. ¡°Satrillo, I¡¯m sorry.¡± While I was writing a fire rune, I sensed something below me. ¡°!!!¡±; It was his tail, coming from the ground, and tried to attack me. That was close. ¡°Lady Emily, you¡¯re not the only one who can see in a sandstorm, you know.¡± He then swung his sword; the force dispersed the sand and destroyed the ghosts. ¡°You might be confused, but we treants can use wood manipulation magic without writing a rune,¡± he spoke. ¡°Our body is just like a magic tool.¡± That¡¯s amazing. Then, I¡¯ll have to attack him from the sky. Flying around, I cast several fire magic. However, he easily blocked every one of it. This is bad. I can only fly for a limited time. I need to disarm him. ¡°!!!¡± The whip went and attempted to grabbed his sword, however, he stopped it with his tail. The fly magic¡¯s time was up. Slowly, I landed to the ground. Satrillo used this opportunity to attack. He appeared in front me and slashed my body. ¡°Ahck!!!¡± However, that was a trap. ¡°!!¡± Casting a spell, I landed far behind him. ¡°A water clone?¡± Satrillo asked as the water from the clone enveloped him. ¡°!!!¡± The whip successfully grabbed his sword and threw it outside the arena. However... ¡°It seems you forgot something, Lady Emily,¡± he said as he slashed the water prison. ¡°What... just happened?¡± Shocked, I looked at him. He was holding a wooden sword. ¡°You forgot that I can use wood manipulation magic; I can manipulate all kinds of wood, even my own body,¡± Satrillo explained. ¡°That also includes reshaping them into anything I want.¡± ¡°This¡­ This is actually my first encounter with this magic.¡± ¡°Is that so? My apologies then,¡± he replied. Suddenly, another sword appeared in his left hand. ¡°Dual wield?¡± This will be a hard battle.
Meanwhile Hiiro... Troubled by this feeling inside me, I was walking left and right inside the recovery room. Emily... ¡°Hiiro, you¡¯re worried about Emily¡¯s fight, right?¡± Aria spoke. ¡°Yes. I feel uneasy right now. It seems something bad is happening to the arena,.¡± ¡°Then, maybe you should go and see her.¡± ¡°But¡­ I can¡¯t just leave you alone.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± Aria stood and walked towards me. ¡°I¡¯m okay now.¡± However, she fell down. Good thing I caught her. ¡°Aria, please, don¡¯t push yourself!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry; I¡¯m okay,¡± Aria replied while I assisted her to bed. ¡°It seems my energy still haven¡¯t fully recovered but I¡¯m okay.¡± ¡°Aria.¡± ¡°Actually, I¡¯m also worried about Emily right now. I¡­ I have a feeling that she¡¯s too troubled about me so she couldn¡¯t fight well,¡± Aria added. ¡°Please, go to my sister.¡± Looking at her eyes, I couldn''t say no. ¡°Ok. I¡¯ll go see her.¡± Aria smiled. ¡°Then, I¡¯ll give you something you can use¡± She then touched my forehead with her two fingers. Huh? ¡°Hiiro, can you hear me?¡± It was Aria¡¯s voice, however, she didn¡¯t moved her lips. The voice was coming inside my head.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°What?¡± So you can hear me. I¡¯m am currently using telepathy. [Aria] Telepathy? [Hiiro] Yes. I use this to communicate with someone using my mind even at a distance. [Aria] That¡¯s... kinda cool. [Hiiro] Hiiro, I want to tell Emily something, however, with my current strength, I can¡¯t use telepathy to communicate with her from here. [Aria] I see. [Hiiro] So I tweaked your mind for a bit. [Aria] ¡®Wait, what?¡± I¡¯m sorry. I gave you telepathic powers so you could communicate with her even you¡¯re afar. I just want to deliver a message to her. [Aria] I-I see. Wait... I can use telepathy? [Hiiro] Yes, however, since you¡¯re not an esper, it has limited effects: One, it has a time limit; two, you can only talk with one person at a time and three, you can only talk with someone you¡¯re looking at. [Aria] Limited time? Then I¡¯ve been wasting it just by talking to you? [Hiiro] ¡°Hahaha,¡± Aria laughed. ¡°Why are you laughing?¡± Don¡¯t worry. I didn¡¯t activate your telepathy yet. [Aria] I see. [Hiiro] Aria then told me her message to Emily. You know, it¡¯s kinda funny since I always thought you were the silent type. It seems like you¡¯re very talkative when using telepathy. [Hiiro] ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me being talkative?!¡± Aria shouted. ¡°S-sorry.¡± Sorry. I didn¡¯t mean anything. It¡¯s just that, I¡¯m kinda happy having to know one of your cute sides. You¡¯re also cute when you laugh. [Hiiro] Silence enveloped the room. Hello? Aria? Hello? ¡°You won¡¯t hear me; I turned off my telepathy,¡± Aria spoke. ¡°Oh. I see.¡± ¡°You should go now. Emily is waiting.¡±. ¡°You¡¯re right. I should go then,¡± I said while walking through the door. Then I looked at her. ¡°Take care Aria. We¡¯ll visit you later after the match.¡± ¡°I will wait for you two,¡± Aria replied. ¡°I¡¯ll activate telepathy now.¡± As the young skeleton ran to the arena, the necromancer then lay down on bed. She then looked at the ceiling and said, ¡°Emily¡¯s sister and friend, huh.¡±
Back in the Arena... Exhausted, I was fighting him for a long time. He¡¯s too strong. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Lady Emily?¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to surrender now?¡± ¡°I-I will not surrender!¡± I shouted as I wrote a rune. ¡°I call thee from the land of the undead giants, !!!¡± Suddenly, an earthquake occurred as a huge skeleton came out from the ground; it then attacked Satrillo. I need a distraction. Using fire blast, I attacked him while being distracted by the skeleton. However, he blocked all of my attacks with his swords and tails. Suddenly, he appeared in front of me and slashed me with his sword. However, it was a water clone; I was at the top of the skeleton. ¡°Hoh. So you¡¯re the type of person who uses the same spell.¡± Satrillo then jumped away from the clone. ¡°!¡± While writing another rune, a giant tornado appeared and sucked him inside. ¡°Combine with, !¡± This is not enough. I have a feeling that he can just get out from there . Writing another rune, I instructed my skeleton to punch him into the ground. ¡°!¡± Using life drain requires the user to touch the target, however, it will also activate if I use my familiar. While draining my opponent, I jumped down from the skeleton and wrote another rune. ¡°I summon the flames from the pits of hell. Help me create this destructive spell. Annihilation comes to all my enemies. From the ground, burn all of their bodies!" Satrillo then slashed the Skeleton¡¯s hands, destroying it. However, I already finished my rune and cast it in point blank range. ¡°!!!¡± It was the strongest fire spell I know.
Meanwhile, Hiiro... ¡°I finally made it.¡± Looking in the arena, I saw a giant skeleton punching the ground. ¡°Woah. That¡¯s one big skeleton!¡± As I looked at it carefully, I saw Emily jumping from above. ¡°Emily?¡± She landed near the skeleton¡¯s fist. Then, the fist got destroyed by something. ¡°!!!¡± she shouted as a huge explosion occurred, blasting away from her. She then jumped back, exhausted. The explosion subsided, a silhouette of a human appeared, standing. The smokes then disappeared as a wooden man with eight wooden tails come into view; his top clothes were scorched by the fire. ¡°A wooden, eight-tailed mannequin?¡± I asked as I looked at him. ¡°Damn abs, he¡¯s so macho!¡± The man then spoke, ¡°Too bad, lady Emily.¡± Lady? ¡°My body became sturdy from training with lady Marina for 50years,¡± he added. ¡°That also includes her using fire spells every fight.¡± Emily¡¯s mother? ¡°No, this¡­ This can¡¯t be.¡± Emily fell on her knees. ¡°EMILY!!!¡± As loud as I can, I shouted at her. She then looked at me. In the perspective of others we were just staring at each other, however, that was not the case. Aria is ok now. You don¡¯t have to worry. [Hiiro] ¡°Hiiro?¡± Aria said you don¡¯t have to worry about her. [Hiiro] Is this Aria¡¯s telepathy? [Emily] Yes, Aria gave me this temporarily so I can talk to you. [Hiiro] Aria¡­ [Emily] She said she¡¯s ok and you don¡¯t have to worry so just fight seriously. [Hiiro] ¡­ Sorry, Hiiro. I¡­ I don¡¯t think I can win. [Emily] Emily? Why? [Hiiro] It¡¯s no use. I already cast my strongest fire spell. I did damage him a bit, however, preparing it takes a lot of time. I don¡¯t think he would let me use it again. [Emily] ¡°Emily.¡± Staring at her, she looked depressed, however, I thought of something. Emily, can you still do what you just did before? [Hiiro] Hiiro, it¡¯s useless. Even if I can pull another one, it won''t make a difference. [Emily] How about casting multiple spells in one go? [Hiiro] Hiiro, it¡¯s not that easy¡­ [Emily] No. What I mean is, how about using a loop? [Hiiro] A loop? But I don¡¯t know how to make a loop. [Emily] I will teach you. [Hiiro] As hard as I can, I concentrated the image of a loop rune. In my mind, I thought maybe I could send a picture to Emily just like an email. And it did; it sent both the loop and the code to add a condition for it to stop. Hiiro, I can... I can see it. [Emily] I¡¯m glad. By the way¡­ Aria has another message for you. [Hiiro] Aria? [Emily] Yes. She¡­ said that¡­ if you lose¡­ she will start calling you Flatmily. [Hiiro] ¡°I am not flat!!!¡± In the perspective of others, Emily just shouted out of nowhere. Geez. That sister of mine. [Emily] I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s not my fault. She said that I MUST tell it to you no matter what. [Hiiro] It¡¯s okay, Hiiro. Also, thank you. [Emily] Time was up, the telepathy was gone. ¡°Lady Emily, are you finished now?¡± said the macho mannequin. ¡°Yes, Satrillo, I¡¯m ready,¡± Emily replied. Wait a minute. That¡¯s Satrillo-san? Satrillo then dashed to Emily. He was fast, however, Emily defended with phantom shield. ¡°Hoh. You¡¯re using a different strategy now,¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°!¡± Suddenly, flames blasted in a circle with Emily at the center. Satrillo, jumped away. ¡°!¡± A large number of whips then appeared from the rune. I see. Emily is using a loop. Satrillo then slashed everything using his swords and tails. ¡°Oh, spirits who are unable to rest, help me with this quest, !!!¡± Suddenly, a portal appeared behind her and call forth a lot of ghost-like creatures which then attacked Satrillo.
Back to Emily¡¯s POV... Satrillo is amazing. Each of the ghost have life drain, however, it seems he¡¯s not affected by it. While the ghosts distracted Satrillo, I ran around the the arena and wrote a rune. ¡°!!¡± A tornado then sucked Satrillo with the ghosts. He was having a hard time fighting with them inside the tornado. ¡°!!¡±. The tornado was filled with fire; the place was so hot. However, he just slashed everything like nothing happened. He fell to the ground and continuously attacked me using his tails from afar; I dodged them all. He then blinked in front of me tried to slash me, however, he was stopped. ¡°What?!¡± Satrillo asked. It was a water mine; I planted it while running. Hiiro, I¡¯ll borrow your strategy for a while. Jumping away from Satrillo, I tucked my scepter to the ground then wrote several runes using both of my hands. ¡°, , , ...¡± As fast as I can, I cast a number of immobility spells. I need to make sure he can¡¯t escape since this is a one time spell. ¡°I summon the flames from the pits of hell. Help me create this destructive spell. Annihilation comes to all my enemies. From the ground, burn all of their bodies..." Several runes then appeared around Satrillo. ¡°!¡± Dullahan shouted. He cast it to protect the people outside the arena. Thank you, Dullahan. Now, I don¡¯t have to worry. ¡°!!!¡± The explosion was too strong; the shock waves almost destroyed multiple barricades that I cast to protect myself. While the smoke was dispersing, a silhouette of a man was seen standing. ¡°It can¡¯t be.¡± However, as the smoke finally cleared, the man fell down, unconscious. ¡°The winner of the final match, Emily Scarlet,¡± the host announced.
Back to Hiiro¡¯s POV... ¡°Emily, you did it!¡± Immediately, I ran to to her. She then smiled at me and fell down, but, I caught her. ¡°Good job, Emily.¡± Dullahan then instructed the guards to carry Emily and Satrillo to the recovery room, however, I requested that I would carry her. On the way, Emily woke up. ¡°Where¡­ Where am I?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Good morning. The fight is done and you won.¡± Ispoke as I carry her, piggyback. ¡°H-H-Hiiro, w-w-why are you carrying me?¡± She blushed. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m carrying you to the recovery room.¡± ¡°I hate you,¡± she said, pouting. ¡°After I told you to take care of Aria, you left her.¡± ¡°Ehhh. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m just worried about you.¡± ¡°Bu---t. I¡¯m also happy that you came and see me.¡± She smiled. ¡°T-Thank you, Hiiro.¡± ¡°Your welcome.¡± We were blushing when we saw the guards smirking in front of us. Oh yeah. I forgot about them.
Meanwhile¡­ Far from Hiiro and Emily, a succubus and a treant were talking. ¡°Master Satrillo, you let her catch you, right?¡± the succubus spoke. ¡°There¡¯s no way you would fall from that trap.¡± ¡°Well, the King did said to hold back,¡± the treant replied. ¡°After all, he was planning to keep them after he read that letter.¡± ¡°Yeah. I think he¡¯s just bored so he organized a trial~¡± the succubus laughed. ¡°Hahaha. Unfortunately, Robyn couldn¡¯t control her anger,¡± the treant spoke. ¡°Well, it was an eight year hatred after all~¡± the succubus replied. ¡°By the way, Master, the lottery was also rigged right? I mean there¡¯s no way they would be paired with the three strongest generals of this castle by some random chance.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think you should ask the King himself,¡± the treant said. ¡°Still, lady Marina¡¯s daughter is amazing, and also very beautiful.¡± Several days later, Hiiro¡¯s group found out about this truth. Chapter 12: That Weird Weapon. Petrified, I couldn¡¯t move. A giant monster stared at me from above with his glaring, red eyes. As he lifted up his claw, I knew, it was my end. ¡°Ahhh...¡± Sitting, I found myself in a bed. ¡°It¡¯s been so long since I last saw that dream.¡± What does it even mean? Turning to my left, I saw Emily in the other bed, still sleeping. ¡°Emily¡­¡± In front of me, the rays coming from the sun hit the floor; it was already morning. I then went to the veranda. ¡°Emily and Aria were amazing in the trial.¡± Their strength were incredible. ¡°Meanwhile me...¡± Thinking, I placed my two hands on my forehead, while my elbows rested in the guardrail of the veranda. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ too powerless.¡± I can¡¯t even win a fight. To stand straight, I put my hand down, and looked at the sky. How am I supposed to protect her? ¡°How am I supposed to fulfill my promise?¡± I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m just... too weak... My right hand then made a fist. ¡° I need to be stronger.¡± I need to learn more magic. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a burden to her.¡± I don¡¯t want to weigh her down. ¡°I need to train more.¡± Emily then woke up. ¡®Hiiro?¡¯ she asked. ¡°Why are you outside?¡± ¡°Oh. Nothing. I¡¯m just thinking,¡± I replied. ¡°Good morning, Emily.¡± ¡°Good morning, Hiiro.¡± Suddenly, we heard someone knocking the door. ¡°You may enter,¡± Emily spoke. It was one of the guards. ¡°My apologies for waking you up, master Hiiro, lady Emily.¡± The guard told us that Dullahan had organized a party as a commemoration of our acceptance in the castle; it was scheduled at lunch. He then gave Emily a gift, and told us to prepare for the upcoming feast. ¡°There is a dress inside, lady Emily,¡± the guard addressed. ¡°The king requested that you should wear it for the party.¡± ¡°T-thank you,¡± Emily replied. ¡°If you don¡¯t have any question I¡¯ll excuse myself now.¡± After that, I went outside, so that Emily could change. Moments later... ¡°H-Hiiro, I¡¯m done changing.¡± When I opened the door, time froze as a beautiful princess stood bashfully in front of me. Her long, blue dress gracefully complemented her short, red hair. Staring at the masterpiece in front of me, it was the first time I saw someone this pretty. Her allure blocked all the voice that would come out from my mouth; I was speechless. ¡°H-Hiiro, d-don¡¯t stare that much.¡± Emily blushed as she covered her body with her hands.. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± I apologized. ¡°Emily, you''re so beautiful.¡± ¡°R-really?¡± She looked down, and covered her face with her hands. ¡°Yes.¡± After that, we went to the great hall.
In the forefront of the great hall, Dullahan was having a speech, welcoming us as the new members of the castle. Emily and I were seated at the front facing dullahan with a vacant seat beside me. Satrillo explained that it was for Aria, and she would catch up later from the recovery room. After Dullahan¡¯s talk, the great hall was filled with laughters and screams coming from everyone. One by one, each of them walked towards me and Emily, offered a handshake and congratulated us. The shouts grew louder as Dullahan announced the arrival of the food; the feast had begun. Different monsters and demons happily chatting with each other, some dancing with the music produced using musical instruments present in the hall. The melody turned serene; I looked at Emily who seemed to be thinking about something. Placing myself in front of her, I bowed down like a knight in front of her. ¡°Shall we dance?¡± She then held her hands and placed it in her chest. ¡°H-Hiiro? But, I¡­ I don¡¯t know how to dance,¡± she replied. ¡°Shall I teach you then?¡± She hesitated for a bit, then agreed, ¡°y-yes.¡± She slowly grabbed my hands, and we walked towards the middle. ¡°Just follow my lead.¡± I smiled at her. ¡°O-okay,¡± she responded.. Holding her left hand with my right hand, I placed the other to her waist. We danced through the melody of the song. Each of our steps swayed with the notes as Emily carefully followed everything I said to her. ¡°You¡¯re doing good.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°T-thank you,¡± she replied. However, when I gazed at her face again, I became captivated by the beauty of the girl I was dancing with. A strange warmth erupted from deep within me as we moved around. However, it was not bad, but a pleasant feeling slowly engulfed my body. What... is this? Everything around me blurred, my senses concentrated on one spot; time stopped. Something paranormal, rather, something magical happened, but I knew that it was not caused by magic. It was different from the time I was seduced by a succubus. Right now, everything is real. Seconds passed, I felt my heartbeat increasing even if it was not there. Slowly, I raised my hands and attempted to touch her face. But, I was interrupted by the sudden stop of the music. ¡°Hi...iro?¡± she asked as she looked at me. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry.¡± The song was finished. Everybody stopped dancing. We then walked towards the tables. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emily. I¡¯m not feeling well right now.¡± ¡°Hiiro? Are you okay?¡± she asked. ¡°Yes. I think I need go to back to our room and rest.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± she replied. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You should wait for Aria,¡± I told her with a fake smile. ¡°O-okay,¡± she agreed. After I asked permission from Dullahan, I went to my room. The party continued.
Meanwhile Emily... ¡°Hiiro...¡± Moments after Hiiro left, I was sitting beside a table when Aria arrived. ¡°Emily?¡± she asked. ¡°Where is Hiiro?¡± ¡°He¡­ He¡¯s resting in our room.¡± Looking down, I couldn''t¡¯ look at her. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you okay? Did something happened?¡± Aria and I had a conversation. I told her everything that happened; from the dress scene in the room unto the moment Hiiro almost touched my face while we were dancing. ¡°Aria... what should I do?¡± I asked, blushing. ¡°I can¡¯t help but be happy every time I see him. But, everytime he comes near me. I always feel overly conscious of myself. I¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do. I want to see him, talk to him. But at the same time; I want to hide, I want to go away. Aria... please, help me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s love.¡± Lucie entered the conversation. ¡°L...ove?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Lucie replied. ¡°It seems you¡¯re in love with the boy~¡± ¡°Emily, is this true?¡± Aria asked. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± I¡¯m¡­ in love Hiiro? I don¡¯t know. I want to know. What is love? What does it means by falling in love to someone. ¡°Well, that¡¯s just me saying what I think,¡± Lucie spoke. ¡°I could be wrong though. I know you¡¯re confused right now, but you¡¯re the only one who can I answer your question.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°However...¡± Lucie paused. ¡°Nevermind that part. Anyway, I advise you to properly sort out your feelings or both you and Hiiro will get hurt.¡± ¡°Thank you¡­ Lucie.¡±
Meanwhile, Hiiro... Time passed, I was lying on the bed, staring deeply at the ceiling. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep...¡± After I stood, I went out of the room. There, I saw Satrillo walking. ¡°Satrillo-san?¡± ¡°Hiiro? Why are you here?¡± he asked. ¡°The party is not yet finished.¡± ¡°I...¡± ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Sorry Satrillo-san, it¡¯s just that¡­ there¡¯s a lot of things going on right now.¡± ¡°I can listen if you want,¡± he replied. ¡°Maybe I can help you.¡± He smiled. ¡°It¡¯s okay. It seems you¡¯re busy at the moment.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I¡¯m actually done patrolling the area. I also want to help you for being always there for lady Emily.¡± We then went inside the room, sat on the bed and had a discussion. ¡°Suppose¡­ there was a boy who confessed to the girl he loves for seven years, but when he waited for her reply, she never came. Suddenly, he met another girl, became friends until he noticed his feelings suddenly changing. How¡­ How can you tell if the feelings are real or not?¡± ¡°Real?¡± he asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because... the boy doesn''t know if he really loves her or he just loves her so he can forget the previous girl.¡± There was a bit of silence. ¡°Well Hiiro, the boy is only one who can answer that since he¡¯s the only one who can feel those emotions. ¡± ¡°His emotions?¡± ¡°Yes. To me, it seems the boy is unsure if he still have some lingering emotions on the previous girl.¡± Satrillo added. ¡°Since, he wouldn¡¯t have problems like this if he does.¡± My emotions. ¡°Well, Hiiro, here is my advice for the boy. Properly sort out your feelings so none of you gets hurt someday.¡± ¡°Satrillo-san¡­ Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. It¡¯s the least I can do for you,¡± he replied. ¡°But, is that the only thing you want to ask?¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Well, to me, it seems that¡¯s not the only thing in your mind,¡± he answered. Satrillo-san, your perception is really good. ¡°Don¡¯t be shy. You can tell it to me. Maybe I can also help,¡± he added. After that, I told him about how I was so powerless in the trial and how I felt like a failure. ¡°Hiiro, you don¡¯t need to think too much about that. Lucie is a very powerful succubus.¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°Normally, a mage with a few months of experience is not enough to beat her. It¡¯s actually impressive that you can even damage her.¡± ¡°I... I already know that. It¡¯s just that, I can¡¯t shake this bad feeling.¡± ¡°Hmm. Hiiro, I don¡¯t know if you know this but I can somehow feel a very strong magic in you.¡± ¡°Strong magic? What do you mean?¡± ¡°It¡¯s like your mana is being suppressed by something, but I don¡¯t know the reason.¡± he replied. ¡°Hiiro, can you remember anything relating to this manner?¡± ¡°I... don¡¯t. This is the first time I heard this.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he replied. ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s put that aside for now. I think I can help you become stronger.¡± He then told me that the time for me to cast magic was too slow. Usually, a mage would use a magic tool to reduce the cast time. Since I was not using anything, he suggested that by having one, it could greatly help me both in practice and an actual fight. This would also solve my problem on drawing a rune. ¡°But Satrillo-san, I don¡¯t have a magic tool.¡± ¡°Well, I did say I can help you,¡± he replied. ¡°Follow me..¡± Satrillo took me to an underground passage, the way looked very similar to a pathway to a dungeon. ¡°Satrillo-san, where are you taking me?¡± Silence filled the area as we walked down. ¡°Just follow me,¡± he replied. Chills touched my bones; I could feel the cold air coming from below. Mices running on the floor, and a bunch of spider webs were scattered everywhere. Where are we going? After long walks, we arrived in front of a wooden door. He opened it, and a large room appeared in front of me. It was filled with weaponry; swords, wands, bows and many more. ¡°This room is an underground storage for weapons used on the last war,¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°There was actually a lot of mages who fought in that war so this place is filled with magic tools. Maybe you can find something useful here.¡± This is amazing. Mesmerized by what I saw, I looked around examining the stored weapons. There¡¯s so many of them. However, I paused when I saw a drawing of a familiar object fixed onto the wall. No, this can¡¯t be possible. ¡°Did the portrait caught your attention?¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°This was one of those weird weapons the humans used inthe war 70 years ago. If I remembered correctly they called this a tank.¡± No. This is not just an ordinary tank. Back when I was still alive, I played a lot of tank battle simulation, and there was this one tank which I loved the most. ¡°E 50 Ausf. M¡± It was a German tank designed in world war II. Chapter 13: The Birth of a New Me. ¡°E 50 Ausf. M.¡± These words were written at the bottom of the portrait. ¡°Hiiro,¡± Satrillo reacted. ¡°Are you curious about that picture?¡± ¡°Y-yes.¡± He then told me about the previous war. Decades ago, the Demon Kingdom found a new source of energy, called curse. Unlike magic which uses mana, curse utilized the energy that came from the negative emotions of living beings. Lucie¡¯s usage of lust energy is an example. With this new found power, the Demon King decided to conquer all of Eteria starting from the Human Kingdom. After years of fighting, the Demons almost won the war with their enemy left with only three cities. At their desperate moments, the humans sacrificed a large number of powerful mages, including the prince next to the throne, just to create a spell that would call for heroes from another world; five were summoned. These heroes were blessed with great power which they used to win many battles; the humans gained hoped. However, it was not enough to defeat to Demon Kingdom; it could only buy them time. The humans knew that magic was not enough to defeat the demons, so they developed a new source of power; nuclear energy. ¡°Sat...rillo-san?¡± My eyes stared at him as my body trembles. ¡°What¡­ do you mean¡­ by nuclear energy?¡± He explained the process of nuclear fission. This¡­ This can¡¯t be. No... This is impossible. ¡°Written reports from the Demon Kingdom¡¯s spies said that the idea came from the summoned heroes.¡± ¡°Sat¡­ Satrillo-san, you said that this happened 70 years ago, right?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he replied. ¡°To be exact, the first nuclear power plant was built in 1950. The tanks appeared a few years before that time.¡± Did he just said 1950? Wait, a minute. Calendars already existed? ¡°Satrillo-san?¡± Instantly, I asked him ¡°What is the date today?¡± ¡°Hiiro? You seem a little bit off right now,¡± he responded. ¡°Anyway, today is August 21, 2017 ¡± When I confessed to Lily, the date was November 11, 2016.
Meanwhile, Emily and Aria were still at the party. ¡°By the way, Aria,¡± Lucie spoke. ¡°I heard from Dullahan that the scouts already found the new secret lab of Dr. Albrecht.¡± ¡°Dr. Albrecht?¡± Aria asked. ¡°Do you mean?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Lucie replied. ¡°They found the man who kidnapped you and Robyn 10 years ago.¡± ¡°Aria¡­¡± My eyes turned to Aria who seemed to be looking down, while touching her chest. ¡°Oopsie. I¡¯m sorry, Aria,¡± Lucie bowed as she apologized. ¡°I just realized that this is not the right time to be talking about this thing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s... okay... Lucie.¡± Aria let out a hoarse voice. ¡°Please, continue with the information,¡± she pleaded. Lucie stared at Aria. ¡°The king is planning for an attack mission few days or weeks from now,¡± she spoke. ¡°So far, we are still having a meeting on how many troops we will send,¡± she added. ¡°Anyway, I already told Robyn about this.¡± Aria looked at Lucie. ¡°It seems she wants to join the mission.¡± ¡°Robyn...¡± Aria whispered. ¡°What about you, Aria? Are you also going to join the mission?¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± Aria responded, still looking down. ¡°Well, it¡¯s still early so you have plenty of time to think about it.¡± ¡°Thank you, Lucie.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Well, it seems king Dullahan is calling me. I need to go now, Aria, Emily. Bye. Bye. Enjoy the party.¡± ¡°Yes. Thank you,¡± Aria and I replied. Time passed, Aria was still sitting near the table. She hadn¡¯t yet spoken anything and kept refusing the food I offered to her. The party that was supposed to be filled with smiles was replaced by the melancholy of a girl wearing a black robe. ¡°I¡¯m okay Emily.¡± It was a voice coming from my head. Aria? Are you using telepathy? [Emily] I¡­ I¡¯ll just go out for a bit. I want to be alone right now. [Aria] She then asked for permission from king Dullahan to go out of the hall.
Outside the castle, Aria sat near a tree while looking at the stars. ¡°It¡¯s already night time.¡± Time sure passed quickly. ¡°Where are you right now, Dr. Agatha?¡± Ten years ago...Stolen story; please report. Waking up, I found myself in an unfamiliar room. ¡°Where am I?¡± Looking around, I realized I was confined in a tight room with nothing but a bed beside me. In front, there was a number of iron bars tightly engraved preventing my escape. ¡°Mama? Papa? Where are you? Help me? ¡± I shouted with all of my voice. ¡°Shut up!!!¡± A loud shout coming from outside; it was from a man. ¡°H-help me, please. I¡¯m scared. I don¡¯t know this place. Please, help me.¡± I kept screaming at him, hoping he would help me. But, his response was not what I wanted. ¡°Shut up, you stupid kid!!!¡± He let out a deafening voice. ¡°Waaaah.¡± Repeatedly, I cried. ¡°If you don¡¯t shut up I¡¯ll cut your tongue!¡± he screamed as he walked towards me carrying a knife.. Scared, I ran towards the corner of the room. ¡°Mama¡­ Papa¡­¡± Crying, all I can do is mop while hugging my knees. ¡°Help me. I don¡¯t want this place.¡± Suddenly, I heard another voice. ¡°Oi, crybaby.¡± At first I ignored it, but he spoke again. ¡°Oi, I¡¯m talking to you.¡± ¡°A-are you talking about me?¡± ¡°Yes. Who else is crying right now? What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°A-Aria. Aria Lange.¡± ¡°My name¡¯s Robyn. Robyn Acallia.¡± As the two of us discussed, I found out that he was a child on the adjacent cell. He said that he was just playing outside their house when two man approached him, and offered to give him candies. However, as he walked to them, one of the man covered him with a large sack then carried him until they reached this place. ¡°They probably kidnapped you too,¡± he spoke. ¡°That¡­ That''s not true¡­ Waaaah¡­ I want my papa and mama.¡± Tear then fell from my eyes. ¡°¡±Ahhh. Will you please shut up?¡± he shouted. ¡°Crying won¡¯t help you, you know.¡± ¡°But¡­ But...¡± ¡°Geez. This is why I hate crybabies,¡± he said in a loud voice. ¡°W-what are they going to do with us? I¡­ I¡¯m scared. What if the bad guys hurt me? Am I going to see my mama and papa again?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, ok,¡± he replied. ¡°They still haven¡¯t touched me ever since I arrived here.¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m scared. What if... What if they cut my tongue... like what the guy said earlier? What if they kill me?¡± ¡°Ahhh. Alright. Alright. I¡¯ll protect you, ok? So please... please stop crying!!!¡± he shouted.. ¡°Y-you will protect me?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m quite strong you know,¡± he responded. Robyn and I continued with our conversation. We talked and talked from morning till dawn. It was the only thing we could do in that tight room separated by a wall. Speaking to him eased my loneliness; he was the only friend I had that time. This lasted for days. One morning, two individuals, a male and a female, wearing a white coat came. ¡°Good morning to you two.¡± The man greeted us. ¡°W-who are you?¡± They ordered the guard to free us from the cells. That was the first time I saw Robyn in person. With his boyish nature, short hair and clothes, I assumed he was male. The man in a coat spoke to us; his name was Albrecht, and the female is named Agatha, his wife. The two of them were surgeons. After that, they requested us to participate in an experiment. Its objective was to strengthen the human body using the DNA of demons. During that time, I had no idea what they were talking about, but their reason convinced the child mind of me and Robyn. They wanted to do it for their daughter who had a weak constitution, and on the verge of dying. The kingdom¡¯s law, however, forbid the usage of humans for this type of experiment so they had no choice but to kidnap us instead. They also promised they would return us to our parents once the experiment is finished. Robyn and I thought that by helping them, we could save the life of their daughter; we agreed. It was for a heroic deed, we thought. After that conversation, they took us to a mansion. ¡°It¡¯s so big...¡± Me and my family lived in the streets of Hamburg. During those times, we searched the trashes of restaurants in hope for something to eat. At night, we slept in the outskirts of the city. I never had the chance step inside a house, let alone a mansion. ¡°This will be your new house for the experiment.¡± Dr. Albrecht smiled. Robyn and I had a separate room. Doctor Albrecht said it was necessary. It would help them with the observation since there would be lesser factors to consider. Since then, Robyn and I rarely met with each other. Most of the time, I was alone in my room, and would only go out during an experiment. Routinely, they would inject me with some sort of liquid. They told me that it was a concentration of DNA from demons, though I had no idea what their talking about. However, months passed, but all the experiments failed. My body rejected the liquid. Usually, my stomach pained, followed by vomiting with traces of blood in most cases. ¡°I miss my mama. I miss my papa. Waaah.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Aria. If only the experiment was a success.¡± It was Dr. Agatha who was comforting me after a failed experiment. ¡°I want to go home, doctor¡± My hand held Dr. Agatha¡¯s palm. ¡°When will the experiment end?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry,¡± she apologized. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Doctor¡­ Do you think my mama and papa also miss me? I really miss them.¡± Talking with the doctor, I told her my life with my family. Even though we were poor, we were happy. We would always smile and didn¡¯t worry about not eating in a day as long as we have each other. ¡°You really love your parents,¡± Dr. Agatha spoke. ¡°Yeah. I really really love them.¡± I talked to her about my siblings, my parents; all the members of my family. ¡°Aria, follow me,¡± Dr. Agatha requested. She took me in a room. As the doors opened, I saw a child lying on the bed. She got up in a sitting position. ¡°Good morning, mother,¡± the girl spoke. ¡°Aria, this is Ada, my daughter.¡± After every experiment, Dr. Agatha would bring me to Ada. Sometimes, Robyn would also be there. The three of us shared stories and laugh with each other¡¯s jokes; we became best friends. Doctor Agatha would also come and play with us if she wasn¡¯t busy; she became like a mother to me and Robyn. However, these blissful moments soon ended. A year passed, the experiment was far from success. The two doctor¡¯s expressions turned gloomy every time I saw them in the lab. One day, while having our usual conversation with Robyn and Ada, I went to the bathroom since my bladder was at its limit. Going back to our room, I saw Dr. Agatha crying as Dr. Albrecht spoke to her with a sad face. What I heard shook me. It seemed Ada had only a few months left to live. My mind went blank; I didn¡¯t know what to do. I ran towards Ada¡¯s rooms. They asked me if there was something wrong, however, I couldn¡¯t speak. A week after that incident, it was time for a new experiment. However, Dr. Agatha was not present in the lab. ¡°D-doctor? Where is Dr. Agatha?¡± ¡°Agatha¡­ is busy right now,¡± Dr. Albrecht replied. Soon, four people entered the room. They were wearing the same coat as Dr. Albrecht. He then asked me to take a pill. ¡°Please, take this. This will be the last stage of the experiment. If it fails we will return you back to your parents.¡± After I took the pill, I felt sleepy. ¡°Good night, Aria,¡± Dr. Albrecht talked to me as I closed my eyes.. After I woke up, the laboratory was destroyed. ¡°W-what happened.¡± ¡°The experiment is a success.¡± The voice was coming from behind; it was Dr. Albrecht. Chapter 14: Project: AD. Soon, a car stopped behind Dr. Albrecht. The driver came out, and opened the door on the backseat of the vehicle. A man in white suit sat there smoking his cigar. ¡°Good morning, Dr. Albrecht,¡± the man smirked. ¡°Is she the one? Where is the other girl?¡± With the sudden blow of a strong gale, the foul scent of the smoke found itself onto my nose; it was like the smell of the city. ¡°S-sir.¡± Dr. Albrecht stuttered, as drops of sweat fell from his face. Looking everywhere, he was avoiding eye contact with the man. ¡°T-the other girl is on the house.¡± Soon, two huge men in black suits came out from the other side of the car, and accompanied the man in white suit as he got out. Directing my gaze at them, I noticed something. They had pistols tucked on their pants. But, it was not the first time I saw something like that. Living in the streets for so long, seeing a gun was normal for people like me. And most of the time, a person having that meant bad news. ¡°Aria, I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Dr. Albrecht looked down. ¡°It¡¯s the only way.¡± The two huge men ran, and attempted to grab me. ¡°W-who are you?¡± But I squirmed. ¡°Dont¡­ Don¡¯t touch me.¡± With great force, I released a deafening shout; the two men were thrown away. Everyone was stunned. ¡°Wha¡­ I¡­ I...¡± Suddenly, electricity came flowing out of my hands. ¡°Wha¡­ N-nooo!!!¡± I shouted, and produced a powerful shockwave that blasted everything surrounding me. ¡°Mama, Papa, help me!!!¡± However, the electricity just got stronger; I couldn¡¯t control it. A current managed to find its way into the man¡¯s car, frying it to crisps. As the wind got stronger, the smell of burned grass spread everywhere. The sounds of the electricity resonated around me, dancing with blinding light. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want this¡­¡± Tears fell from my eyes, with bits of sparks as it was made of water. ¡°Mama... Papa... Please, help me...¡± ¡°Hahaha,¡± the man in a white laughed. ¡° This is amazing. Truly amazing.¡± The man in white then pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. ¡°S-sir. Please, don''t kill her,¡± Dr. Albrecht pleaded. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This is just a tranquilizer,¡± the man in white replied. ¡°A strong tranquilizer.¡± He pulled the trigger, and a loud bang echoed throughout the place. The electricity flowing from me slowly stopped. When I touched my stomach, blood flowed from my hands. ¡°Ma...ma...¡± My vision turned blurry. Everything turned dim as I fell down.
When I woke up, I found myself lying on the ground. ¡°Aria, can you hear me?¡± It was a shout from a woman. ¡°Aria, please answer me.¡± ¡°D-doctor Agatha? Doctor Agatha!¡± Immediately, I ran towards her, but I bumped into something; there seemed to be a transparent wall between us. ¡°I¡¯m scared. Please, help me. Please, I want to go home. I don¡¯t want it here.¡± I cried as I repeatedly pound the glass. ¡°Aria, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay.¡± However, it seemed she was scared to look at me. ¡°Doctor?¡± ¡°Aria, I¡¯m really sorry.¡± She looked down. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t have the power to help you right now.¡± ¡°Doctor? What are you talking?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m really sorry,¡± she replied. Slowly, I stepped backwards. ¡°No, you¡¯re lying.¡± ¡°Aria,¡± she said. ¡°Please, believe me.¡± ¡°Nooo!!!¡± I shouted. ¡°You¡¯re lying. You¡¯re just like Dr. Albrecht. You just want to hurt me.¡± ¡°Please, Aria,¡± she pleaded. ¡°I tried everything I can to stop Albrecht. I didn¡¯t want this to happen to you.¡± ¡°Get away from me!!!¡± My body released a strong surge of electricity towards Dr. Agatha, however, it was blocked by the wall separating us. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± She looked down as she went out of the room. Betrayed by the people I trusted, I sat at the corner of the cage, crying. ¡°Robyn¡­ where are you? You said you will protect me.¡± Moments later, Dr. Albrecht came with a bunch of people wearing a white coat. ¡°Hello Aria,¡± Dr. Albrecht spoke. ¡°How¡¯s your wound.¡± But, I was silent. He then faced the people who accompanied him. ¡°Please, leave us for a while.¡± After the others went out he began to speak again. However, I never responded.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Aria¡­ I¡¯m really sorry,¡± he apologized. ¡°It¡¯s the only way. Ada¡­ Ada is dying.¡± Based from what he said, Ada¡¯s illness was getting severe. They had to put her in a state of comatose. However, it would only delay her death, and with Dr. Albrecht¡¯s limited resources, time would tell when would be her last breath. In order to save Ada¡¯s life, Dr. Albrecht sold his research to an international terrorist specialized in creating superhumans; the Shadow Purgatory. The man in white suit before was their leader. He was called Schatten. The experiment they did on the lab before was to transplant a vampire¡¯s heart into me, and since the operation was successful, they needed to transfer me to their secret base located in the Demon Kingdom for the next experiment. Using their advanced technology, the group further slowed Ada¡¯s death. However, to completely save her life, Dr. Albrecht must complete a certain experiment which they would also use on Ada. They called this, Project: AD or Artificial Demons. After Dr. Albrecht¡¯s talk, the people in white coats returned. They seemed to be talking about something, however, I couldn¡¯t hear them anymore. It seemed there was something blocking the sounds. Watching them, I was bewildered by Dr. Albrecht sudden change in behavior. He was begging them for something, but they didn¡¯t agree. At first, I thought the experiment was just the same as from the mansion, but I was wrong. Project: AD was more severe. It was inhumane. Every week they tested one of my ability as an artificial vampire, regeneration. They would cut off one of my limb and observed it grow just to cut it again a few hours later. Multiple times they would shoot me with guns. Other times they would pour acid on my body, or burn me with fire. They tested every form of torture they could think off. Everything was so painful that my body stopped feeling anything. The ratio of me dying in a single day was more than one. The experiment lasted for months. ¡°Aria, please answer me.¡± It was Dr. Agatha, looking at me from outside. She was not present in any experiment, but she would always see me after the guards brought me back to my cage. However, I never responded to her. All this time, I was at the corner of my cage, silently hugging my knees and would never talk. ¡°Aria, please, talk to me.¡± But, she was persistent, and would always come. The only good thing the experiment did to me was that I stopped crying. However, my smile also never came back; I stopped caring for anything. My family, Robyn or Ada, nothing mattered anymore. Dying only to be brought back to life, that was my new purpose. I wanted to die, but I couldn¡¯t. Funny, for a child such as myself, my only wish was to end my life. The next experiment was to study my psychic abilities. At that time, I had no idea I have telepathy. The doctors would usually ask me what was in their mind. Every time I tried to answer incorrectly, they would punish me. The torture continued for weeks until I could answer them right. Soon, they tested my other esper powers. One day, the doctors brought me to a large hall. There was no one there except for me and another child. When I looked at him, I was petrified. His limbs were different; he had claws. ¡°Ro...byn? Robyn is that you?¡± ¡°Aria?¡± he asked. ¡°Nooo. Please, don¡¯t look at me.¡± ¡°What have they done to you?¡± ¡°Today, you two will kill each other,¡± a man announced. ¡°You can use the weapons located beside you.¡± ¡°Noo,¡± I shouted. ¡°I can¡¯t kill him. Please, anything but that.¡± ¡°You two will kill each other, or would you like another punishment?¡± the man asked. ¡°Aria.¡± Robyn looked at me. ¡°It seems... we don¡¯t have a choice.¡± Robyn jumped and dashed towards me, but I dodged. ¡°Robyn, please stop this.¡± ¡°Good job, Aria.¡± He grabbed a sword. ¡°Robyn¡­ Please, don¡¯t do this.¡± He smiled. However, I did not expect his next move; he stabbed himself with the sword. ¡°N-nooo!!! Robyn!!!¡± Soon, the guards approached us and separated Robyn from me. They brought me back to my cage. It was the first and the last time I saw him in that lab. Midnight came, I couldn¡¯t sleep. A mysterious person entered the room where my cage was located. The door of my enclosure suddenly opened. ¡°Aria, are you ok?¡± It was was Dr. Agatha, panting. She ran towards me, and tightly hugged me. ¡°Dr... Agatha? What¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going to escape,¡± she answered. ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t stand this anymore. This¡­ This is just too cruel.¡± ¡°But¡­ How about Robyn? And¡­ And Ada? We can¡¯t leave them.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she replied. ¡°Robyn is safe right now. She didn¡¯t hit any vital parts.¡± Dr. Agatha gave me a piece of paper. ¡°This is a map of this lab. Follow this line and go here. Wait for me there. I¡¯ll go and get Robyn and Ada.¡± We parted afterwards. Carefully, I went to our meeting place. There were a lot of guards roaming the area, but with Dr. Agatha¡¯s map, I managed to avoid them. Until I finally reached the goal. There, I waited for them, but they never came. Time passed, the sirens suddenly activated. I knew that if I waited any longer, the guard would eventually caught me; I had no choice but to escape. Wasting no time, I ran as fast as I could, not knowing where it would take me. The only thing that was on my mind was to go as far as possible. I didn¡¯t want to come back there. I didn¡¯t want to die again. I wanted to live. Days passed, it was amazing surviving for so long without food nor water. However, it only sadden me, for it meant that I was no longer human. Due to exhaustion, my vision was slowly blurring; I found myself walking with my eyes closed, until I fell down. When I woke up, I was lying on a bed in an unknown room. There, a man wearing a robe was standing. ¡°Good morning. How¡¯s your body?¡± he spoke. ¡°My name is Oliver. Oliver Silvermoon.¡±
Why did I suddenly remember the past? ¡°Dr. Agatha¡­¡± Where are you? Meanwhile, after the party... ¡°Hiiro¡­ Aria¡­ I hope you guys are okay.¡± When I opened the door, I saw Hiiro sitting on top of the bed. ¡°Hiiro? What¡¯s wrong?¡± But, he didn¡¯t answer. He then stood up and looked at me. ¡°Emily... Why?¡± he asked. ¡°Why did you hide it from me?¡± ¡°Hiiro?¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± he shouted. ¡°Hiiro? W-what¡¯s wrong? You¡¯re scaring me.¡± Slowly, he walked towards me. ¡°Why did you keep it a secret? That if¡­ That if you reanimated me¡­¡± His hands grabbed my shoulders. ¡°You will die.¡± Chapter 15: An Unexpected News. Back at the storage room... No. This can¡¯t be. I¡¯ve been dead for almost a year? ¡°Hiiro?¡± Satrillo asked; ¡°Is there something wrong? You¡¯re acting weird.¡± ¡°N-nothing. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m just a bit shocked from what I just heard.¡± ¡°Shocked?¡± he whispered. ¡°By the way, Hiiro, can I ask you something?¡± ¡°What is it Satrillo-san?¡± ¡°How did you meet Lady Emily?¡± he asked. ¡°This has been bothering me for quite a while since I met you. Actually, when I saw you fight in the arena, I thought you were a Lich.¡± ¡°A Lich?¡± Satrillo explained to me what Lich was. When a mage with powerful magic dies, there¡¯s a rare chance of them coming back to life. The negative energy from the mage¡¯s regrets or anger to their killer could combine with their mana cursing them to be re-born as an immortal. This was also how the demons discovered curses. ¡°When I saw you cast elemental magic in your battle with Lucie, I immediately assumed you were a Lich,¡± he added. ¡°There¡¯s also the fact that a normal Skeleton Knight would never have a will of its own. However, you seem to be self-aware and in control of your own actions.¡± So Liches also exist here. ¡°But I can¡¯t seem to feel any form of curse on you,¡± he added. ¡°Hiiro. What are you? How did you meet Emily?¡± What should I do? He¡¯s suspicious of me. Do I tell him the truth? That Emily used a forbidden spell to reincarnate me? Well, he did serve her mother. Maybe he can help us look for her; or knows something about reanimation. ¡°Emily¡­ reanimated me from the dead.¡± I stated. As these words came out of my mouth, Satrillo¡¯s behaviors suddenly changed; his body froze. His face became paler with his mouth slightly opened and eyes widened. ¡°Hiiro. P-please, tell me you''re joking,¡± he faltered. ¡°N-no, this is just not possible. I can still talk to Lady Emily. There¡¯s no way this is possible.¡± ¡°Satrillo-san?¡± I queried. ¡°Hiiro, do you know that reanimation is forbidden? Do you know the reasons why?¡± he quickly grabbed my shoulders. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know the reason but I know it¡¯s forbidden.¡± ¡°When necromancers use reanimation. They use all of their life energy and give it to their subject,¡± he explained. ¡°All of her life energy? Does this mean...¡± ¡°Emily will die,¡± he added.
After my talk with Satrillo, I went to our room and sat on top of my bed, thinking about everything he just said. ¡°Emily... will die?¡± I whispered, looking at my hands. The door opened, and I saw Emily entering. Everything happened so fast that I never noticed my shouts vibrating throughout the room. When I returned to my senses, my cheek bones were hurting as I looked at her hands red and swelling. With the continuous drop of tears from her face, I couldn¡¯t speak. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry,¡± she apologized and ran outside leaving me still standing, regretting what I¡¯ve done. ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Shouting these words, I continuously punched the wall close to the door, almost breaking my right hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± I wanted to cry but I couldn''t, for I had no eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emily.¡± Staring at my fractured fist, it stung every time I tried to move it. But, her slap was more painful. It twinged not on my face, but on my heart. ¡°I need to find her quick. I must apologise to her.¡± Immediately, I went out to look for her. Running around, I explored the inside of the castle, but I couldn¡¯t find her. ¡°Please, Emily, where are you?¡± I did this until I saw Aria entering from the castle gate. ¡°Aria!¡± I screamed. Running over to her and panting; I quickly asked her. ¡°Have you seen Emily?¡± ¡°Emily? I just passed her. She went outside,¡± she replied. ¡°Hiiro, what going on? Seemed she was crying.¡± ¡°I...¡± ¡°Hiiro, whatever it is, please talk to her,¡± she pleaded. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t want to see her cry again. She already suffered too much from the past.¡± ¡°Yes. I will. Thank you, Aria.¡± Before I had the chance to ran, Aria stopped me. ¡°Wait, Hiiro, I¡¯ll help you look for her.¡± Aria and I decided to split up so we could find Emily easier. The entire area was massive; I looked everywhere until I was exhausted. ¡°Shi*t.¡± The sky had turned dark since it¡¯s already night. But, I never gave up. With my fist hurting from punching the wall, and my feet aching from too much running, I managed to find her, standing beneath the shade of an autumn tree. She was facing the other way. ¡°Emi...ly.¡± But, I was too tired. Visions dimming, steps slowing, I forced myself to continue, and walked towards the girl wearing a black robe. ¡°Emily¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Everything turned black, and I collapsed.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
Waking up, I found myself lying in Emily¡¯s lap; she was crying. Slowly, I raised my left hand towards her face, wiping the falling tears. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I made you cry again.¡± ¡°H-Hiiro.¡± Tightly, she grabbed my hand. With her forehead touching my fingers, she spoke, still crying. ¡°Hiiro, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really really sorry.¡± ¡°No, Emily.¡± I said as I stood. ¡°I¡¯m the one who should apologize. I couldn¡¯t control my emotions and I¡­ I did that you. I¡¯m really sorry.¡± ¡°But...¡± As her gaze shifted down, she saw my broken fist. ¡°Hiiro, what happened to your right hand?¡± she asked, but I couldn¡¯t respond. Avoiding eye contact, I remained silent. ¡°I¡¯ll heal you right now.¡± She immediately grabbed her scepter and started casting a spell, but I stopped her. ¡°Please, Emily you don¡¯t need to exhaust your life force on me.¡± ¡°Y-you don¡¯t have to worry, Hiiro,¡± she replied. ¡°I-I¡¯ll use my mana.¡± She cast a spell to fix my broken hand. Turning my back, I pleaded, ¡°Emily, please; cancel the reanimation spell. I¡­ I don¡¯t want you to die because of me.¡± ¡°I-I can¡¯t,¡± she responded with a soft voice. Hearing these words I faced her. ¡°Emi--¡± But before I could say her name, a guard appeared and interrupted us. ¡°Master Hiiro, Lady Emily,¡± he shouted. ¡°King Dullahan wants to see you two in the throne room. Please, go there immediately.¡±
At the throne room, Dullahan sat in front with Satrillo, Lucie and Robyn standing beside him. ¡°Emily, answer me.¡± Dullahan slowly spoke, looking at us with glaring eyes. ¡°Did you really use ¡®reanimation¡¯?¡± My gaze turned to Satrillo. ¡°My apologies, Hiiro,¡± he spoke. ¡°I had to tell this to the king since this is a serious matter.¡± ¡°Answer me!!!¡± Dullahan¡¯s loud voice echoed across the entire room. With her trembling hands, Emily answered as she looked down. ¡°Y-yes, your highness.¡± There was a bit of silence before Dullahan let out another word; his face became sullen. ¡°Tell me, Emily,¡± he said with a soft and slow voice. ¡°Where did you learn this spell and how did you survive?¡± Survive? ¡°I-I learned reanimation from a book I picked up in the forest,¡± Emily quivered; her hands were shaking. Immediately, I held her right palm. It was the only thing I could do. ¡°Where is this book right now?¡± Dullahan slowly asked. ¡°I-it¡¯s in our room.¡± Emily answered.. Dullahan commanded his guards to search for the book. The throne room became quiet after that. ¡°Y-your highness.¡± Looking at Dullahan, my voice stuttered. ¡°Can I ask something? What do you mean¡­ What do you mean by survive?¡± ¡°Allow me to explain...¡± Satrillo interjected. He explained the process of reanimation. In order to perform ¡®reanimation¡¯, the necromancer must offer their life force force to their target. In other words, for reanimation to be successful the necromancer must first die. Emily being alive contradicted that one requirement of the spell. She shouldn¡¯t be breathing right now. The guards returned, one of them held a worn-out book in his hands. He walked towards Dullahan and handed him the book. As Dullahan read its pages, his expressions suddenly changed. They had the same eyes as when I told Satrillo about Emily reanimating me. ¡°No, this penmanship. It can¡¯t be.¡± He looked at Robyn and called out her name. ¡°Go to the Village of the Necromancers right now and look for Oliver! I need him to explain this to me.¡± ¡°Yes, your highness,¡± Robyn replied and walked out of the room. ¡°Your highness,¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°What¡¯s the matter.¡± ¡°The reanimation spell on this book had been altered,¡± Dullahan responded. ¡°It seems the previous owner is trying to resurrect a necromancer.¡± ¡°A necromancer?¡± Satrillo looked at me. ¡°In order to reanimate someone, the target must have a soul. However, due to the contract of the necromancers to the Demon King, if they died, their souls would vanish.¡± ¡°Then that means...¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Satrillo responded. ¡°It is impossible to reanimate a full-blooded necromancer.¡± Hearing this, Emily fell on her knees. ¡°I-I can¡¯t reanimate mother?¡± No. I forgot Emily is here. ¡°Then, for what reason did I learn necromancy. For what reason do I have to live!!!¡± Emily shouted. ¡°Satrillo, take Emily back to her room, immediately,¡± Dullahan commanded. Satrillo then went to the king and whispered something, but I couldn''t hear them since they were too far from me. As the three of us walked towards the door, Dullahan called me, ¡°Hiiro, please stay. I need to talk to you.¡± After the door closed, Dullahan began to talk. ¡°I never thought the reason why she¡¯s looking for Marina is so she could reanimate her.¡± ¡°Your highness!¡± I shouted. ¡°Please, tell Emily to cancel the reanimation spell she cast on me.¡± Dullahan looked at me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Hiiro,¡± he apologized. ¡°But that is impossible right now. Reanimation is a one-time spell; the caster is supposed to die after using it. There is no known way of canceling this spell.¡± ¡°No... This can¡¯t be.¡± ¡°However, Oliver might know something about this,¡± he added, and coughed after. ¡°Anyway, Hiiro, I know this is too sudden, considering what just happened with Emily, but I want to ask you something. This is important so please don''t lie to me.¡± Dullahan flicked his finger, and a number of guards entered the room, each carrying a weapon. ¡°Are you a spy from the Human Kingdom?¡± ¡°Y-your highness. W-what do you mean by spy?¡± ¡°Tell us the truth, Hiiro,¡± he added. The guards raised their weapons and aimed it towards me. ¡°We can tell if you¡¯re lying using Lucie¡¯s curse.¡± What¡¯s happening? Spy? Me? But I never even went to the Human Kingdom. ¡°Hiiro, we¡¯re waiting for your answer,¡± Dullahan demanded. Since I had no choice, I told them everything. How I came from another world. How a plane did crash into me. How I don¡¯t have memory of anything that happened before I died. And how Emily and I met. ¡°I¡­ I never once set foot in the Human Kingdom.¡± ¡°Are you really sure, Hiiro?¡± Lucie spoke. ¡°Lucie-san? What do you mean?¡± ¡°Based on the information that we have gathered.¡± Lucie walked towards me. ¡°Last year on November, the humans tried to duplicate the summoning magic they used on the previous war. It seems they¡¯re planning to start the third world war.¡± ¡°The third... world war?¡± ¡°Yes. We¡¯re also investigating about the recent attacks on the Village of the Necromancers.¡± Lucie placed her right palm on my forehead. ¡°Sweet dreams, Hiiro~ I hope that when you wake up, we¡¯re still allies.¡± Suddenly, my body felt exhausted. Visions slowly fading, sounds disappearing. As my sight completely vanished, my skeleton body fell on the ground. Chapter 16: A New Beginning, A New Goal ¡°Where am I?¡± Suspended in a world full of flashing lights, a number of rectangular screens floated around, showing events very familiar to me. ¡°Are these...¡± ¡°These are your memories, Hiiro.¡± A sound coming a woman resounded throughout the place, speaking with a seductive voice. ¡°Hello, Hiiro~¡± Suddenly, a silhouette of a girl appeared in front of me, slowly gaining its color and form. It was Lucie. As we toured the place, she explained what was happening. A person¡¯s dreams also contained their own memories. This is the reason why people sometimes have dreams about their past. Using Lucie¡¯s ability to tap into these dreams, she could use my memories to ascertain if I was telling the truth. We stopped in front of a particular screen, showing a recent memory of before I died, after I confessed to Lily. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside, Hiiro~,¡± she chuckled. As she touched it with her hands, the screen sucked us inside. Just after entering, we saw a man standing while looking at his hands forming a fist; it was the me of the past. ¡°Hoho,¡± Lucie giggled. ¡°You¡¯re actually quite handsome in your human form.¡± As the man shouted, the place was suddenly filled with blinding lights mixed with a deafening sound coming from the sky. It was the same plane that killed me, or so I thought. Mere seconds before it crashed into him, he suddenly vanished into thin air; Lucie and I soon followed. The two of us were brought in a forest. ¡°Wait, a minute. The plane did not crash into me?¡± We observed the man as he panicked, running all around the place. ¡°Hiiro, you¡¯re kinda funny here,¡± she chuckled. Covering my eyes with my hands, I was too embarrassed to look at myself. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Hiiro. He, or you, are going somewhere.¡± We followed the man until we reached a village. ¡°No way,¡± I spoke in denial of what I saw. The two of us were standing right in front of the Village of the Necromancers. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion coming from inside. Curios, the man entered the village. In the middle, there was woman wearing a robe, casting elemental magic and necromancy left and right. ¡°That girl is Lady Marina, Emily¡¯s mother,¡± Lucie spoke in a serious tone. Looking around, I couldn''t believe everything that was happening. Dead bodies of necromancers were scattered all over place, there were also those who were still alive helping the injured. ¡°It seems Lady Marina is buying time for them to escape.¡± Emily¡¯s mother was fighting, alone with humans wearing military uniforms which seemed to be a modernized design of German clothing used last world war II on earth; they carried firearms of high caliber. There were also three tanks simultaneously firing at her, however, Emily¡¯s mother blocked it all with barrier magic. But the tanks and the soldiers were not the only ones there. A weapon not existing in the reality of my world was hovering above the tanks. It looked like a mechanized exoskeleton covering the limbs of the pilot. Strange metal-like objects were also floating behind it. The body of the pilot seemed vulnerable at first, having only a suit as protection, but when Emily¡¯s mother tried to attack it with a spell, some sort of shield dispersed the magic like it was nothing. ¡°W-what is that?¡± Lucie stuttered, looking at the mecha with her eyes opened wide. ¡°H-Hiiro. Do humans in your world have that kind of weapon? Please, explain to me what is that,¡± she shouted, pointing at the weapon. ¡°Sh*t. I-I don¡¯t want to die.¡± The human me fell on his butt; trembling, he dashed towards the forests. Lucie wanted to look at the weapon more, but we had no choice but to follow my other self; the image was disappearing. It was a scene from my memory after all; we could only observe the things that I once saw. He was running while looking down at full speed. ¡°Sh*t. Sh*t. Sh*t. Sh*t.¡± The scenario he just saw, with the addition of the eerie atmosphere of the forest, just made his fear worse. Until he bumped into a bear-like monster, pouncing him to death.
After that, we returned to the real world. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s how I died?¡± ¡°Lucie, tell me what you saw.¡± It was Dullahan who commanded Lucie sitting on his throne with his head placed on his lap. He was looking at her who seemed to be dumbfounded. ¡°Your Highness,¡± Lucie spoke while looking down. ¡°We need to start preparing for an upcoming war.¡± After that, Lucie explained everything. How I was innocent, and was telling the truth; what happened in the village; and the strange weapon that we encountered. She was shouting as she hastily talked. ¡°Please, Your Highness. If we don¡¯t prepare now, everyone will die,¡± Lucie begged. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lucie,¡± Dullahan apologized, looking at her. ¡°But with little evidence we can¡¯t just decide on this. What if those were not from the Human Kingdom, but just a bunch of terrorist?¡± ¡°But¡­ Your Highness. They already summoned...¡± Before Lucie finished her sentence, Dullahan shouted at her. ¡°We can¡¯t go to war!¡± Shocked by Dullahan¡¯s sudden change of tone, everyone looked at him. Silence filled every corners of the room. ¡°We have too little information about the Human Kingdom and their military power. I don¡¯t want to repeat what happened in the past. It would only cause more bloodshed and sadness. You should know this, Lucie, since you¡¯re the one who experienced it the most.¡± There was a bit of silence before Dullahan continued. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will raise this concern to the Demon Council on our upcoming meeting next week. Until then, we can only gather for more data.¡± ¡°Yes¡­ Your Highness.¡± After she bowed in front of Dullahan, Lucie went out with a look of disappointment in her eyes. Dullahan then commanded the guards to leave. Dullahan sighed, with her two hands clasped together as her body bends forward. ¡°You may not know this, Hiiro, but among my three generals, Lucie hates humans the most,¡± Dullahan spoke, slowly. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Based on what he said, in the last war, the Human Kingdom attacked and killed the entire Dreizen clan; Lucie was the sole survivor. Maybe she want a war to start so she can finally have her revenge. All this time she was just holding herself, hiding her real emotions in a gleeful facade. The scene we saw in my memories might had destroyed the illusion she planted on herself. I couldn¡¯t imagine how hard it was for her to help a human like Emily; or me, a former one. But why would she do that, I wonder? ¡°Hiiro,¡± Dullahan called out to me. ¡°Do you know what was the last weapon you saw in your memories?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness.¡± After that, I described the current weaponry of earth. That mecha flying above those tanks were not present in our reality, but rather in the fictional world of anime. But, I couldn¡¯t properly explain what is anime. Though, he seemed to get it when I compared it to a ¡®novel¡¯. ¡°Hiiro,¡± Dullahan looked at me. ¡°Please return here tomorrow with Emily and Aria, we need to plan our raid on Dr. Albrecht¡¯s lab, and to decide on Emily¡¯s punishment for breaking a taboo.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ joining the attack?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he answered. ¡°We want the knowledge you possess about the weapons from your world. It may be different from what¡¯s here, but we might still need you regardless. Also, before you go back to your room, please promise me. ¡®Protect Emily with your life¡¯. She¡¯s very important to us.¡± ¡°I promise, Your Highness.¡± After our conversation, I went out of the room. Opening the door, I saw Lucie standing in front of me. ¡°Lucie-san?¡± ¡°So you heard the truth,¡± she spoke, with a serious look. Her flirty personality was gone, as if I was talking to a different person. ¡°I¡¯m really sorry,¡± I apologized as I bowed; I couldn¡¯t look at her. ¡°Why are you apologizing?¡± she asked. ¡°You''re not even from this world.¡± ¡°Even so, I was still once a human. I¡¯m also apologizing on Emily¡¯s behalf.¡± There was a bit of silence. ¡°Lift your head, Hiiro,¡± she said as she touched my shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s okay. After days of watching you and Emily, you made me realize that there are still good humans out there. Also, I should be the one apologizing instead.¡± She bowed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for tricking the three of you.¡± ¡°No, Lucie-san. For everything that you¡¯ve done for us, thank you.¡± ¡°But, I never really helped you,¡± she denied. ¡°Yes, you did. Our conversation before I talked to Aria in the recovery room, it helped me voiced what I needed to tell her. And today, even though there¡¯s a possibility of me being a spy, you still told me you hoped we¡¯re still allies. Even though... even though you have a grudge on humans you still helped us.¡± ¡°That¡­ That¡¯s not true, Hiiro. I helped you because the King gave a royal order to me,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m just following him since it¡¯s something that nobody should ever disobey.¡± ¡°Royal order? To help me?¡± No, considering what Dullahan just said, is it for Emily? ¡°Lucie-san, please tell me. Who is really Emily?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t answer that one.¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m forbidden to tell you anything regarding that. But, I have a feeling that you¡¯ll know it eventually.¡± She turned her back, and waved her hands as she walked away. ¡°Good bye, Hiiro <3.¡± Speaking with a seductive voice, was it her real emotions? Or just another facade? I don¡¯t know. But there¡¯s one thing that I¡¯m sure of. I¡¯m glad I met her. After that, I went to our room.
As I entered, I saw Emily and Aria sitting on top of the bed. Aria noticed, and walk towards me. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two for now,¡± she whispered, and went outside. ¡°Ahm¡­ Emily... I...¡± But, I couldn''t speak what I want to say. With her eyes swelling red, Emily stood, and hug me. ¡°Hiiro.¡± Crying, her embrace became tighter. ¡°What am I going to do now? I¡­ I can¡¯t reanimate mother.¡± ¡°No! There¡¯s still hope,¡± I replied as I hugged her back. ¡°Remember what Dullahan said, someone tried to reanimate a necromancer by altering the spell.¡± Holding her shoulders, I distanced myself so I could see her eyes. ¡°Emily, even if there¡¯s just less than one percent chance of attaining your goal, I will still follow you. Even if you lose all of your hopes, I¡¯ll be there for you. And if you lose all of your reason to live, I will ran to you and be that reason. I¡¯ll stay by your side forever.¡± There was a bit of silence until I noticed her blushing; I then let go of her and turned around. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I just¡­ It¡¯s just the words came out and I couldn''t control myself. ¡± ¡°Hiiro, thank you,¡± she spoke. I tried to look at her but she placed her hands on my shoulders stopping me. ¡°Don¡¯t look!¡± She shouted. ¡°P-please, don''t look.¡± ¡°Emily, let¡¯s start from the beginning. Let¡¯s look for your mother¡¯s remains together.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she replied. After that, we stayed in that position in silence for a few minutes, until Aria finally came in.
The next morning, our group together with Dullahan¡¯s officers had a meeting in the throne room. Robyn was not present that time since she was still at the village, but Dullahan said that he would inform her when she return. The raid on Dr. Albrecht¡¯s lab will be conducted in a month. Our primary goal is gather as much information as possible from the inside: about Dr. Albrecht¡¯s research, the Shadow Purgatory and the Human Kingdom; then destroy the lab after. There will be two teams consisting of six soldiers each. We need to have as little soldier as possible since the enemies might blow our cover if there¡¯s too many. Lucie and Aria will lead Team A; they will be the lookout and will act as backup if ever something bad happens. The strategy is to use Aria¡¯s mind reading ability to scout the guards and Lucie¡¯s memory reading to visualize the map of the lab. Aria will then pass that information to the soldiers inside via telepathy. Team B will be headed by me and Robyn. Robyn will use her enhanced senses so we could easily infiltrate the inside. However, there is one problem. And that is the Demon Kingdom¡¯s lack of knowledge on human technology. This is why I am needed for this operation. As for Emily... ¡°As punishment for breaking a taboo, you will be forbidden to join this raid,¡± Dullahan announced. She had no choice but to agree. But, I guess it¡¯s okay. If we think about it, the punishment is very light compared the the taboo she broke. Who is really Emilly? And what is her purpose for the Demon Kingdom? After the meeting, Emily and Aria returned to our room, while I asked for permission to go to the library. Based on what I saw on my memories, necromancy and elemental magic do not seem to affect the mecha. And if my theory is correct, then it should be the same for other kinds of magic or even curses. I need to be stronger. I need to create a new type of magic that will work against that monster. Then I thought of something crazy. Whatever material that machine is made of, it is still a machine. Meaning, it should have a computer to control or regulate itself. If computers does not exist in the Demon Kingdom, then I just have to create one. I will hack and destroy those monsters. This is my new goal. Chapter 16.5: Hiiro’s Untold Memories: The Day I First Saw Her. ¡°Where am I? If I remember correctly, there was this bear and...¡± When I looked beside me, I saw my body on the ground, covered with blood. The vomitous stench of rotting corpse almost made me nauseous. ¡°I-is that me? W-what¡¯s happening? ...Ahhh!¡± Hastily, I ran away, but some sort of invisible wall blocked me, no, more like something pulled me back. ¡°Oh man. Not another one.¡± A grating voice spoke behind me. My body rolled so I could see him; it was a man dressed in hip hop fashion. ¡°Sup bro,¡± he greeted while offering a high five. ¡°W-who are you?¡± With a bloody corpse beside me, and a random guy acting like everything was normal, I knew something bad was going to happen. Trembling, I slowly moved back while facing him. ¡°Don¡¯t be scare bro,¡± he uttered. ¡°Imma harmless dude.¡± ¡°Who are you? What happened to me?¡± ¡°Hmm. Jus¡¯ call me Gimmy, with a ¡®G¡¯.¡± he replied. ¡°Y¡¯see, you became a bounded spirit.¡± After that, the man explained what happened. The reason why my body was on the ground was because I had died; that bear-like monster before might have killed me. However, due to unknown reason, my spirit became bounded to my corpse, thus preventing me from moving away from my body, or passing onto the afterlife. Who is this guy? Am I really a ghost? Then, how can he see me? Can I really trust him? ¡°I¡¯m¡­ My name¡¯s Hiiro, Hiiro Akira.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Hiiro.¡± After offering a handshake, he pulled me up so I could stand. ¡°So bro, any regrets or hatred you have right now? Y¡¯see, if you remain bounded for a year you might turn into a Lich. ¡± ¡°A what?¡± ¡°A Lich. Well, that only happens in rare occasion though,¡± he replied, and brought out a mobile phone from his pocket. ¡°Oops. Sorry bro, gotta go.¡± After those words, he suddenly disappeared. ¡°Gimmy? Where are you, Gimmy?¡± Repeatedly, I shouted, followed by a bit of silence. ¡°What am I going to do now?¡± Weeks passed, with nothing but staring at my slowly rotting body, my life became empty. Eventually, I got used to the smell of my corpse. Even ghosts can smell things. Huh. There were times where I tried to speak to the trees around, or had conversations with animals that passed by. Some animals could see me, but couldn¡¯t talk with me, so I had this make belief of having an imaginary friend. Now I know why there are a lot of playful ghosts in stories. They had no source of enjoyment. With nobody to talk to, spirits play with the living to ease their loneliness. ¡°Yow bro, you¡¯re still here?¡± A sound coming from a familiar voice. When I looked around, I saw the same man wearing the hip hop fashion weeks ago. ¡°Oh man, you¡¯re still bounded? Dude, you should settle your regrets or you¡¯ll regret it. See what I did there, bro?¡± He spoke while pointing me with his two hands. ¡°Even if you tell me that... In the first place, why did you leave me before explaining everything?¡± I don¡¯t know if I can really trust him, but he¡¯s the only one I can talk with. ¡°Oh, sorry bro. My boss called me for a job,¡± he replied. ¡°Y¡¯see, I¡¯m actually a busy man, but also bored, so fuck it. Let¡¯s talk for awhile.¡± We sat near my body and conversed with each other. After weeks of talking to my imaginary friend, I realized something. The regret he was talking was probably about Lily. Even though she never came, I still haven¡¯t confirmed if she really did reject me. What if there was something she needed to do? However, because I¡¯m currently bounded there¡¯s no way of verifying what really happened. ¡°Y¡¯know man, there¡¯s something weird with your story,¡± he spoke, staring at me with puzzled looks. ¡°Dude, tell me, you¡¯re not from this world, right?¡± ¡°Wait, what do you mean? This is Earth, right?¡± ¡°No dude, this is Eteria,¡± he replied. Base on his explanations, I¡¯m currently in a world ruled by four powerful kingdoms: the dark immortals of the North, the Demon Kingdom; the genius mortals of the South, the Human Kingdom; the forest guardians of the West, the Elven Kingdom; and the horned beasts of the East, the Dragon Kingdom. I should¡¯ve known, since in the first place, Liches don¡¯t exist on Earth. How did I came to this world? But, Gimmy didn¡¯t seem to be lying. Those weird animals I saw, that giant mecha from before, and the scary trees around; there¡¯s no way all of these exist on Earth. Am I in some sort of parallel world, another planet, or an entirely different universe? ¡°This is just too much to handle.I just died weeks ago, and now I found out that I¡¯m not even on earth.¡± ¡°Sorry bro,¡± he apologized as he pat my shoulder. ¡°Y¡¯know what, I¡¯ll come visit you every week so you won''t get bored. Whaddya say?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you have a job?¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± After saying while averting his gaze, he faced me again. ¡°There¡¯s actually a lot of us, y¡¯know. And I¡¯m kinda bored. Jus¡¯ don¡¯t tell my boss,¡± he added while placing his forefinger to his lips. I don¡¯t even know your boss. My daily life consisted of talking with both inanimate and animate objects, watching my decomposing body and having a conversation with my imaginary friend. Fortunately, Gimmy kept his promise and visited me at least once a week. He always talks about his adventures in the four kingdoms. But, there was something that kept bugging me. Who is really Gimmy? Why is he helping me? I kept asking him every time we meet, but he always answered with, ¡°I¡¯m just a simple guide, bro, and I¡¯m kinda bored.¡± Months passed, my body was already at the stage of dry decay. All the flesh had disappeared, leaving only my skeleton in plain sight. If Gimmy hadn''t pointed it out, I wouldn¡¯t realize how long it was since I became a ghost. Gimmy and I were having a conversation when a girl with a scarlet hair came to my skeleton. ¡°She¡¯s so beautiful.¡± Her face was suddenly filled with dazzling smile when she looked at my remains. The twinkle in her eyes allured me as she jumped up and down followed by a joyful cry. It was so long since I last saw someone this happy. ¡°Hohoho,¡± Gimmy chuckled ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, you like her?¡± ¡°N-No bro. I was just surprise with how she acted when she saw my skeleton.¡± ¡°Hah, you called me your bro.¡± he reacted. ¡°S-shut up.¡± Gimmy hummed while observing the girl. ¡°That robe she¡¯s wearing. I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯s a necromancer, bro.¡± ¡°A necromancer?¡± ¡°Yea, but I think she¡¯s not a full blood,¡± he replied. ¡°You¡¯re kinda lucky, if she decides to reanimate you then you don¡¯t have to worry about turning into a lich,¡± ¡°And why¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Cuz¡¯ you¡¯ll come back to life,¡± he answered. ¡°Sadly, the girl will also die.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°What? No! Why would she die? I don¡¯t even know her.¡± Just after I said that, the girl started chanting a spell. The wind got stronger as magic runes appeared all over the place. ¡°Gimmy, stop her. I don¡¯t want someone to die because of me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry bro,¡± he replied. ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯s casting reanimation. That¡¯s just a basic spell called raise undead.¡± After she was finished casting, my skeleton stood. She then repeatedly shouted, ¡°yes¡± and jumped while raising her fist in the air. Her smile¡¯s so pretty. Suddenly, three other girls came. As they walked closer, her joyful expressions slowly disappeared, turning her once beautiful smile, into a gloomy frown. ¡°Gimmy, are they also necromancers?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know bro. There¡¯s something weird about them, especially those two,¡± he replied while pointing at the blonde girl and the one with blue twintails. The blonde girl confronted the girl with scarlet hair. She kept laughing while mocking her, but the girl with the scarlet hair remained silent. Annoyed, the blonde girl pushed her. When she fell down, I tried to catch her, but she just passed through my hands. Soon, the blonde girl walked towards her and repeatedly kick her, however, the girl with scarlet hair didn¡¯t fight back. ¡°Please, stop this. Don¡¯t hurt her,¡± I screamed repeatedly at the blonde girl, but she couldn''t hear me. I tried restraining her, but every time I touched her, my hands just passed through her body. ¡°Gimmy, help me. Please, stop her.¡± But, Gimmy replied with a sad look in his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, bro. I can¡¯t do anything about this.¡± ¡°Emily!¡± the girl with a black hair shouted, but the girl with blue twintails stopped her. The girl with black hair trembled as she watched the girl with scarlet hair get beaten. ¡°Why are you hesitating?¡± I shouted at her. ¡°If you want to help her, then do it. Please, your the only one who can touch them. Please¡­ Please, help her.¡± But, she never answered; she couldn¡¯t hear me. All I could do was watch her as the blonde girl torment her in front of me; I was useless. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry.¡± I never wanted to see this. Even if I tried to close my eyes, I could still hear the sounds of her foot hitting the body of the girl with a scarlet hair. I wanted to go away, to ran far away from that place, but my spirit was bounded to my corpse. It was like I was also being tortured, not physically, but mentally. After beating the girl, the three necromancers left. ¡°Gimmy, aren¡¯t they necromancers?¡± I asked. ¡°Then, why can¡¯t they see me?¡± My screamed echoed throughout the forest, but the girl still couldn''t hear me. ¡°Bro, unfortunately, only full-blooded necromancers can see spirits like you,¡± Gimmy replied. ¡°Aren''t they full-blooded?¡± I asked with a soft voice, trying to hide my emotions. ¡°They kept shouting and bragging how they¡¯re this so called legit necromancers.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know, bro,¡± he answered. ¡°Don¡¯t call me, bro.¡± I whispered, followed with a booming shout. ¡°You are not my bro! I know you have the power to help her, but you didn¡¯t do anything. You just watched her get beaten.¡± Gimmy then walked and apologized to me, but I thrust him away from me. ¡°Go away,¡± I spoke in a soft, slow voice. ¡°Go away!¡± Looking at the girl, she was crying while lying on the ground. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I apologized as I fell on my knees. The girl took my body to her house. Since I¡¯m bounded, I had no choice but to follow her. There, our little world started. She pretended I was alive, and kept talking to my skeleton. Obviously, it wouldn¡¯t respond, but even so, I always tried to reply even though she couldn''t hear me. With our pretend conversation, I found out her name was Emily, and plenty of things about her life. I can¡¯t believe that this pure and innocent girl went through a lot of hardships. If only I was there to help her. If only. As days passed, I began to regret what I said to Gimmy. I know what I did was over the top; the sudden surge of my emotions made me shout like that. When I first transferred to Philippines, my classmates bullied me everyday, and Lily would save me everytime. It was hard talking to them since I didn¡¯t know how to speak tagalog nor english that time, so they would always make fun of me. That event might had triggered me when I saw Emily getting kicked. I wanted to apologize to Gimmy, but he never once showed himself to me. ¡°I hope he¡¯s okay.¡± With Emily¡¯s daily conversation with my skeleton, we became imaginary friends, even if I was actually real. But as days passed, I¡¯m beginning to sense something. It was a similar feeling when I first met Lily. Am I falling in love? I don¡¯t know. Maybe it was just an illusion I cast on myself to escape from Lily¡¯s rejection; to run away from reality. Or because she was the only one I could converse with, though just pretend. But still, there was one thing I was sure of, ¡®I¡¯m happy just being with her.¡¯ Weeks passed, Emily mastered reanimation. It was so long since I last saw her this happy. That cute dimple of hers captivated me every time she smiled. I don¡¯t know why, but I really love it when she do that. However, my feelings reversed when I remembered what Gimmy told me, ¡°If she uses reanimation, she will die.¡± My mind was filled with contrasting emotions. I want her to be happy, but at the same time I don¡¯t want to lose her. She went out of the house, leaving me alone and hoping that she would come back. Please, let me see her again. I waited for her to come back, the suspense would definitely kill me, if I was alive. It was long, but I endured. When she returned, I almost cried. But when I saw her again, her smile was gone. She became a girl drained of life; her sparkling aura from before had disappeared. Three days had passed, Emily remained silent, not eating and unable to sleep. I couldn¡¯t remember how many times I tried to talk to her, but as usual she couldn¡¯t hear me. If only there was something I could do. If only I could touch her. Suddenly, I thought of something, poltergeist. Based on what I always saw on anime, manga and games; ghosts had the ability to move objects at will. With that on my mind, I tried possessing my skeleton, but every time I touched it, my hands would just pass through. So I concentrated my mind hoping for it to move, and it did after a lot of failed attempts. Immediately, I ordered it to walk towards Emily. It was trembling since it was the first time I did it. Emily was shocked, of course she would, since she never used magic to control it. As my skeleton finally reached her, it patted her, followed by a hug. It was the only thing I could do. Even though she couldn''t hear me, I wanted to at least ease her pain. Fortunately, it seemed my message reached her. However, a different problem occurred. Emily wanted to reanimated me after that event. But if she did, she would die. Using poltergeist, I tried to stop her, but I was too tired. What I did before drained my energy. Emily took my skeleton to the forest, and I followed her. Again and again I shouted at her to stop, hoping for a miracle to happen, hoping that she could somehow hear me, but I failed. As Emily started the spell, a familiar man appeared in front of me. It was Gimmy. ¡°Nice to see you again, bro,¡± he spoke with a soft voice. ¡°Gimmy!¡± I shouted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what I did before. I don¡¯t know if you would forgive me, but please¡­ bro... help me stop her.¡± ¡°Hah, you called me your bro,¡± he chuckled, followed by a serious tone. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s okay bro. I¡¯m sorry I couldn''t help you before.¡± ¡°Bro, please tell me, how can I stop her?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t bro,¡± he replied. ¡°Reanimation can¡¯t be stop.¡± ¡°It¡­ It can¡¯t be. Maybe there something we can do. Please, bro, I¡¯ll do anything.¡± After I said that, Gimmy looked at the runes that Emily wrote; he felt something. Based on his explanations, it seemed Emily¡¯s reanimation was altered, and it was incomplete. Which meant that there should be some flaws on that spell. Gimmy gave me a picture of a normal reanimation rune, and asked me to help him look for something odd. We needed to act fast; Emily¡¯s life was in our hands. After a few minutes we found what we were looking for. Good thing reanimation took a lot of time, however, it was already halfway done. Gimmy analyzed the rune, and fortunately, he found out a way to interrupt the spell. ¡°Bro, you said before that you will do anything for her right?¡± Gimmy asked while looking at the runes. ¡°Yes bro, anything.¡± ¡°Y¡¯see bro, in order to interrupt the spell we need a large quantity of mana.¡± Gimmy looked at me. ¡°However, even though you possess a large amount in your body, we can¡¯t use it right now since you¡¯re dead.¡± ¡°Then bro¡­ What do I need to do?¡± ¡°Well¡­ There¡¯s actually another good source of mana we can use, your memories.¡± he answered. ¡°However, it¡¯s too dangerous. There¡¯s a high chance of you losing all of them in the process. Bro¡­ Are you prepared to lose your memories?¡± There was a bit of silence before I answered with confidence. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m prepared.¡± Suddenly, a scythe appeared in Gimmy¡¯s hands, and he began casting a spell. For a moment I was startled, but I needed to concentrate on Emily first so I didn¡¯t questioned him. He instructed me to put my hands on his scythe and concentrate on putting mana on it. Again and again, I tried, but I always failed. ¡°You can do it, bro,¡± he shouted. It was my first time doing something like this, but with his guidance, I finally managed to do it. The magic was a success; we stopped Emily¡¯s spell. Moments later, my body was turning transparent. ¡°Bro, what¡¯s happening to me?¡± When I looked at him, his appearance was also changing. Standing in front of me was a skeleton covered by dark cloth while holding a scythe . ¡°Y¡¯see, even though we interrupted the spell, half of her life force were already transferred to you.¡± Gimmy looked at me. ¡°Be glad bro, you will be reanimated, though incomplete, but you¡¯ll be revived.¡± ¡°Bro... who really are you?¡± He walked towards me and put his hands onto my shoulders. ¡°Y¡¯see bro¡­ I kinda used up most of my energy. Well, I might retire from my job for a while. I can¡¯t have you lose all your memories y¡¯know. I already failed you once, I¡¯m not going to repeat it this time.¡± ¡°But why? Why would you do this? Why would you sacrifice yourself for me?¡± ¡°Cuz¡¯ you are my first friend, bro,¡± he replied. ¡°Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t protect all of your memories. When you return to life, you¡¯ll forget everything about me, and that girl. I¡¯m sorry.¡± There was a bit of silence before I answered. ¡°It¡¯s okay, bro. I have a feeling that even if I forget her, I will still protect her no matter what.¡± ¡°I see,¡± he replied. ¡°That¡¯s good then. Good bye, bro. Till we meet again.¡± ¡°Thank you, and goodbye, my friend.¡± After that, I returned to life and forgot everything from the moment I came to Eteria, the moment I died, until the moment I was revived. However, I sometimes dream of the time I was running away from what I saw in the burning Village of the Necromancers. Chapter 17: Execute Project: Zero. In 2008, a worm found its way inside the servers of the Military Central Command of America, stealing confidential information and sending those back to its unknown creator. The CIA tried fighting the worm, however, it took them 14 months to destroy it. The hacker who created that worm is my father. It was the reason why we left Japan; we were running away. I found that out two years ago when he forgot to turn off his computer. Incidentally, I was in my parents room, looking for a book about JAVA. Since then, my father became my mentor, both in programming and in hacking. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯ll ever think the idea of hacking in this world.¡± Looking around in the library, I was researching magic runes. ¡°Now, if only I can understand the meaning behind every symbols in a rune then maybe I can program a computer.¡± The musty smell of books lingered everywhere. It made me remember the addicting smell of papers coming out from photocopying machines. It was like a drug to me. The place were filled with books ranging from old and new, and because the area was huge, it would probably take me days to find what I was looking for. But, I won''t give up. ¡°Time wis my worst enemy. The way I am now will just hold back the team. I need to be stronger.¡± Four hours had already passed since I started. With Satrillo¡¯s help, I found some books about magic runes, but it only gave me little details. Maybe because the Demon Kingdom focused their studies on curses after its discovery. I was busy reading when I saw Emily entered. ¡°H-Hiiro,¡± she spoke while looked down. ¡°I-I was waiting for you, but it¡¯s already night and¡­ and...¡± As she switched her gaze on me, I saw a teary eyed Emily. ¡°I thought you already left me.¡± Small droplets of tears fell from her eyes. ¡°I-I don¡¯t want to be alone. I¡­ I...¡± ¡°Emily.¡± After seeing her eyes, I immediately walked towards her, and hugged her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I made you cry again.¡± I said as I moved away so I could wipe her tear. ¡°Didn¡¯t I already promised that I will never leave you?¡± ¡°But¡­ But...¡± she spoke with a strangled voice. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t have to worry, I won¡¯t leave you.¡± After that, we had a conversation. Emily still didn¡¯t know that I came from another world so I told her about it and the reason why I was at the library. ¡°T-then, please, let me help you.¡± Emily stammered while blushing. ¡°I-I won¡¯t be able to join you on the raid, and you¡¯ve already done so much for me. S-so just this once, p-please, let me be your strength.¡± Emily... ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s go look for it together.¡± After searching for three hours, we found a lot of sources. It was already midnight so I asked Emily to sleep. Reading the books, I learned basic and advance knowledge about magic. However, there was still something missing. If I want to create a computer then magic runes is not enough. I need something to process all the codes, and another thing to store those data. Fortunately, both of these exist in this castle. There¡¯s only one thing I needed to do, create a magic tool. Based on what I read, for a mage to cast spells faster, it uses a magic tool to store pre-constructed runes in its catalyst (memory). And when a mage voices the incantation (run the program), the tool will process the rune (code) and execute the spell. Luckily, there was someone I suspected to be an expert in this field, the living magic tool, Satrillo.
Morning came, I asked Satrillo¡¯s help about magic tools. In order to protect Emily, I told him that I needed to be stronger. He agreed, and invited me again to the storeroom. We were having a conversation while climbing down the stairs. ¡°Satrillo-san, can I ask you something? What happened to the previous war?¡± ¡°Hmmm... Let¡¯s see.¡± He turned around to face me. ¡°I was not born in Demon Kingdom so I can only provide you with what I know.¡± Even though the Human Kingdom found greater power, it was not enough to win the war. This only resulted to years of stalemate between the two Kingdoms, killing thousands of lives, both civilian and not. To avoid more bloodshed, the two Kings decided to have a treaty ending the decade long battle. Eteria once again gained peace. ¡°Based on what I heard, there used to be a Summit occurring every year,¡± Satrillo added. ¡°There, the two countries traded resources and knowledge with other. They also discussed things about maintaining peace and order.¡± ¡°Used to? Why did they stopped?¡± ¡°It was sixteen years ago when a huge explosion occurred while the Summit was ongoing,¡± Satillo answered. ¡°The investigation suspected that it was a terrorist attack, however, they found zero evidence to support this claim. Since the venue was located in the Demon Kingdom, the humans suspected that it was an inside job by them. However, the explosives found were modernized bomb made by the humans. Thus, creating a crack between the citizens of the two kingdoms. As far as I know, right now, the two kingdoms are not in bad terms with each other, but they are not in good terms either.¡± ¡°Then how about the Kings? They wanted peace right? Can¡¯t they do nothing about this?¡± ¡°They can¡¯t, Hiiro.¡± Satrillo gazed at me with a serious look. ¡°The explosion killed both the Demon King and the King of the Humans.¡± After that we continued walking to the storeroom. Both of us never spoke a single word. The place was filled with silence; the only thing I could hear was the small droplets of water coming from above. It all makes sense now. I¡¯ve been here in this world for a long time, yet never once I heard any news regarding the current Demon King. Because there was no longer a King. But there was something that was bothering me. The day of the attack was the same year Emily was born. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Is it just a coincidence? There¡¯s a small gap between the months though. What is her connection to this event?
After we finally reached the storeroom, Satrillo instructed me what I needed. First is the design. What I want is a portable device that I can effortlessly hide. It must look like an everyday accessory so no one will suspect it. Hackers work in secret after all. After minutes of brainstorming, there was only one object I could think of,and it was a ring. In this world, it is normal for people to die wearing one and not able to remove it, so me wearing a ring is okay. Second is the catalyst. In theory, if I¡¯m going to make a computer, I need to have a memory able to store large amount of data. Lucky for me, the castle have plenty of these. The only problem was that since rings were small, it could only use little catalysts. I can wear more rings, but I doubt it¡¯s enough. Then, I thought of another idea. The magic tool I want does not need to be small, rather it must not look suspicious. There was another thing that could fill this requirement, clothes. When I came to this world, I never once wore anything. Maybe because I became a skeleton that I have nothing to hide anymore; I got accustomed to being naked all the time. A skeleton wearing a robe is also normal in this world. But, since I like the idea of rings, I decided to use them both. After I told Satrillo my ideas, he asked me to wait for a week so he could assemble the base of the magic tools. Seven days seemed to be long, considering I have roughly 30 days till the raid. But, I still hadn¡¯t master rune writing yet, so I decided to study at the library for a while. Occasionally, Emily and Satrillo visited and helped me on my research. A week had passed, Dullahan went to the Demon Council meeting. By this time, I learned all things I needed about rune writing. Not that I memorized everything, rather I understand them. The reason I liked math was because I didn¡¯t need to remember everything; I only needed to understand how it was derived by recalling only a few formulas. Using that logic, I was able to learn rune writing like mastering a Programming Language. It was nighttime when Satrillo handed the magic tools to me; Robyn also arrived from her mission. Based on what Satrillo told me, it seemed the Village of the Necromancers had been entirely annihilated. Piles of necromancer corpses were everywhere, but among those bodies two important person were missing, Oliver and the village Chieftain. However, she couldn''t find out who was the culprit for the attack. ¡°The king suspects that it¡¯s caused by the Shadow Purgatory,¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°It¡¯s the reason why we¡¯re going to raid Dr. Albrecht lab, to look for evidence. ¡°But what happens if the Shadow Purgatory is innocent? Or if the culprit is really the Human Kingdom.¡± ¡°Then we have no choice but to start preparing for a war,¡± he replied. After our conversation, I went inside the library. There, I started applying everything I learned, and programmed runes after runes in the magic tools. It took me about three weeks to finish the Alpha, but it was still not 100 percent complete.
Outside the castle, I was testing my program. ¡°Execute Project: Zero!¡± Bright lights flashed around me as the robe I was wearing enveloped my body, transforming to a robotic exoskeleton. The black suit covered everything from my skull to my feet. A one-way mirror was placed in front of my eyes allowing me to see. ¡°The design is a bit plain, but I''ll fix that later. This is embarrassing. I look like some sort of hero from a children¡¯s show.¡± Should I make some explosions every time I transform? ¡°No. No. No. It doesn''t make sense.¡± ¡°H-Hiiro? W-what is that?¡± A girl ran towards me; it was Emily who was watching nearby. ¡°Y-you''re H-Hiiro, right?¡± ¡°Yes, I am Hiiro. Sorry, I don¡¯t have a name for this yet, though, I might just call it ¡®Zero¡¯.¡± As I slightly raised my hands, my gaze turned to my palms. ¡°This suit should amplify my abilities, including speed, strength and mana. It borrows energy from its surroundings so I don¡¯t have to worry about using up all of my mana. It should also help me with my problem casting a rune.¡± ¡°Hiiro.¡± It was Aria who also came. Satrillo and Lucie were also present. ¡°Can you show us what it can do?¡± Hmm. Let see. I don¡¯t think a basic spell is enough to showcase this. ¡°Let¡¯s try this one.¡± Pointing my right hand towards a trees, I concentrated on an advance spell. ¡°Ahm, you might want to move away for a moment. I still haven¡¯t tested this so it might be dangerous.¡± Suddenly, runes kept appearing in front of me, all of which having unique designs. ¡°INFERNO!!!¡± As I shouted those words, a powerful explosion occurred. However, it didn¡¯t hit the tree, rather, it exploded in my position. ¡°Hiiro!!!¡± Everyone yelled as they ran towards me. ¡°Hiiro, please tell me you¡¯re okay?¡± Emily begged while holding me. ¡°Please...¡± ¡°Emily, I¡¯m okay. The suit protected me from explosion.¡± Immediately, I stood to prove what I said. ¡°See. I can even jump just fine.¡± ¡°I hate you,¡± Emily cried. ¡°I was... too worried. That was¡­ a powerful spell.. I thought¡­ you was gone,¡± she stammered as her speech was interrupted by her sudden hiccups. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Well, it¡¯s okay I guess. It¡¯s normal for programs to fail at first try. I¡¯m just glad the defense mechanism worked fine. I need to finish this quickly, there¡¯s only three days till the raid.
In the forest, two figures were talking with each other. ¡°Ne ne, Onii-chan. Why are you looking at your phone?¡± It was a voice coming from little girl with long ears. ¡°I just received the information for the next job.¡± It was a man wearing black hooded-jacket. ¡°In three days, I¡¯m going to infiltrate and destroy a certain lab.¡± ¡°What do you mean ¡®I¡¯? I¡¯m also coming,¡± the girl replied. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous for you. I¡¯m going alone.¡± ¡°I wanna join. I wanna join. I wanna join,¡± The girl cried on the ground while repeatedly shouting these words. ¡°Shut up, you stupid kid. It¡¯s final! You¡¯re not coming. You wait for me here.¡± ¡°I am not a kid! I¡¯m already 22 years old.¡± the girl shouted back. ¡°Shut up, you brat! According to Elven Law, you¡¯re still a kid.¡± As she heard those words, tears fell from the her eyes. ¡°Baka Onii-chan! I hate you! When I turn to an adult, I won¡¯t talk to you even if you begged for me!¡± The girl screamed as she walked away while stopping her feet. ¡°Who cares? I¡¯m probably dead when that time comes.¡± ¡°That child¡¯s really a handful. Huh.¡± It was a voice of another woman speaking inside the man¡¯s head. Now I regret saving her from assassins. [the voice of the man.] Oh really? Your speech that time was marvelous though, ¡®I¡¯m not a hero, I don¡¯t save princesses. I¡¯m a criminal, I steal them.¡¯ [the voice of the woman] S-shut up, you ancient dragon. [the voice of the man] Hoh. You have some nerve calling me old. When I retrieve my body back, I¡¯m going to burn you alive. [the voice of the woman] Try it if you can, Old woman [the voice of the man.] Chapter 18: A Father’s Love - Part I. ¡°We are here,¡± an alluring voice coming from a woman. ¡°Skely, gather your team. We¡¯re having one last briefing for the mission,¡± she instructed to me. ¡°Roger, Lucie-san.¡± ¡°Call me Sexy Demon when we¡¯re in a mission,¡± she angrily shouted at me. ¡°S-sorry.¡± Of all things, why Sexy Demon? The enemy can easily determine your a succubus, you know. You know Skely, we¡¯re already connected via Aria¡¯s telepathy. I can hear you loud and clear. [Lucie] ¡°I¡­ I never said anything.¡± Sorry, Skely. [Aria] Engulfed by the void of silence, broken only by the songs of birds, we were surrounded by trees; oak and birch. It was a forest only few kilometers away from Dover. Not far from us, there stood a small wooden building, believed to be the lab of Dr. Albrecht. It was surrounded by barbwires with a number of guards stationed around it. We¡¯re raiding that house? But, it¡¯s too small for a lab. [Hiiro] Skely, don¡¯t let the appearance deceive you. Our spies have detected some sort of structure just below that building. [Lucie] An underground facility? How did the spies even find it? [Hiiro] There¡¯s no time to explain. Skely, do you remember everything you need to do? [Lucie] Yes. [Hiiro] Our plan was to use my magic to hack the security system of the lab and gather data from the inside. If my theory was correct, Dr. Albrecht should have a server storing information about the Shadow Purgatory and the Human Kingdom. After that, my team would go inside to plant bombs all over the place. We would then detonate it after we escape. ¡°Execute Project: Zero.¡± Compared from before, the lights produced was reduced to a significant amount to avoid drawing too much attention while transforming. The design of the suit was also altered, having a dash of silver on both of my hands and legs. ¡°It still not finished yet, but I¡¯ll adjust the design later.¡± If you ask me where did I get the inspiration from, it was taken from Iron Man. However, it was far from being completed. There¡¯s still a lot of things I want to add to the suit. After the transformation, a female voice spoke inside Zero. ¡°Welcome back, Master Hiiro.¡± It was Emi, an AI I created to assist me while using the suit. Her name was taken from ¡®Emily¡¯ when I recorded her voice for this AI a day before we started this mission. ¡°This is bad. I suddenly remembered that awkward moment of ours while recording her voice.¡± Skely, is something wrong? [Aria] Nothing. Sorry, I spaced out a little. [Hiiro] ¡°Emi, scan the area for hidden cameras.¡± ¡°Scanning¡­ Master, I found 15 CCTV in the area.¡± Emi replied. That¡¯s a lot cameras. Looks like I don¡¯t have a choice. ¡°Emi, Deploy: Invisibility Cloak.¡± Slowly, the suit turned transparent, but it never showed what¡¯s inside. Zero, including me, completely disappeared. I never thought the day would come where my past habit of reading random scientific facts on the internet could help me in the future. The process is still too slow though. In 2015, there was an article talking about a real-life invisibility cloak created by scientists. However, the product was not yet finished. By curiosity''s sake, I researched that technology for a whole day since it was a weekend. Using the information I got from that and combining it with magic, I was able to create a device able to bend light, rendering myself invincible. ¡°You know Skely, even though we¡¯ve already seen you do this a bunch of times, I¡¯m still amazed on how you¡¯re able to turn yourself invisible,¡± Lucie talked. ¡°Anyway, based on our intelligence report, there are 10 guards stationed across the area. It should be easy for you to invade. If you don¡¯t have any questions you can go now.¡± ¡°Roger.¡± Quietly, I snuck towards the entrance. The cloak was not yet perfect. Even though the enemy couldn''t see Zero, they could still hear or feel it if they happen to step a little closer to me. Reaching the door, I stopped for a while. Suddenly opening the door would be too suspicious; I had no choice but to wait for someone to open it for me. ¡°Come to think of it. Some guards doesn''t even look like human.¡± As I stood waiting, luck found me. One guard opened the door and entered the warehouse so I followed him until I reached an elevator going underground. Outside, Lucie used her memory reading on one of the guards to visualized the map of the lab. She could view the memory of someone at most 50 meters away from her. She said it took her years of practice to do that. Aria then relayed to me what Lucie saw using telepathy. She was also using it as our way of communication. At most, she could maintain this state for about an hour depending on the distance.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Emi analyze the effectivity of Aria¡¯s telepathy.¡± ¡°Analyzing¡­ Master, based on our current distance, the telepathy will last for about 30 minutes,¡± Emi replied. ¡°I knew it. I need a USB port, fast.¡±
Meanwhile, at a different area of the lab¡­ ¡°Who¡¯re you? How did you get inside?¡± a goblin wearing a uniform shouted while pointing his gun to a mysterious person. Three other goblins then surrounded the man, each holding another gun. ¡°Shit, I¡¯ve been discovered.¡± What are going to do now, Soro? [a voice of a woman] Please¡­ You already know what I¡¯ll do. [a voice of a man] After the mysterious man slowly raised his right hand in front of the guards, he made a tremulous grin. Those who witnessed it felt a terrifying sensation; it was like a looking at death itself. Immediately, they shoot the man nonstop until their guns wouldn''t fire anymore. But, the man just stood there like nothing happened. The sounds of the guns should¡¯ve also alerted the other guards, however, due to unknown reason, no one came. ¡°HAHAHAHAHA!¡± The man made a maniacal laugh while looking at the guards with his piercing gaze. ¡°Is that it? You can¡¯t even scratch me with that puny weapon of yours.¡± He opened his palm which seemed to be holding something that couldn''t be seen. As he made a fist, the guards felt a sudden pain in their chest. ¡°Die. Die. Die. You fucking small fries.¡± The man opened his hands again, and the guards fell on the ground in unison; all of them not breathing. This ¡®heart jam¡¯ of yours is always fascinating to see. Being able to kill them with nothing but your mind. [the voice of a woman] If you have time to talk, why don¡¯t you use that to swallow them with your shadow and hide the evidence. [the voice of a man] Okay. Okay. Geez, do all males in your country always this cranky? [the voice of the woman]
Meanwhile, Hiiro found an unoccupied room with a computer¡­ ¡°Nice, I¡¯m inside. Well, hacking the password of this computer is easy compared to a server owned by our government." It¡¯s time. ¡°Emi, Summon: Flash Drive.¡± When I discovered my father¡¯s secret, I got curious and asked him to teach me how he programed the worm he used against America. Based on his explanation, the worm only needed to be stored in any flash drive. After an unsuspecting victim plugged it to a computer or any gadget with a USB port, the worm would travel to the main server where the gadget was connected. Once there, the worm would start sending information back to my father¡¯s computer via the internet. By hacking the computer I found, I was able to connect Zero to the WIFI of the lab, granting me access to the internet. Based on what I found, the range of the WIFI should be at most everything inside the lab, which meant I could receive information as long as stayed underground. Also, the worm would stop sending data if the power was cut. The suit also have a function that hides its IP (Internet Protocol) address so that my enemies won¡¯t be able to find me. ¡°Now, to disable the security system.¡± Suddenly shutting down all CCTVs would be too suspicious. What I did was to rewind what the cameras saw for the past five minutes repeatedly. This way, even if someone looked at the footage they wouldn¡¯t see anyone walking through a CCTV. After that, I disabled all the traps and alarms inside and outside the building so that my team would be able to go in easily. Skely to Lightning. The security system had been disabled. I repeat. The security system had been disabled. Team B can now enter the lab. Over. [Hiiro] Lightning to Skely. Team B led by Wolf is entering the lab. I repeat. Team B is entering the lab. Over. [Aria] ¡°Good. Everything¡¯s going according to plan. But, why do I feel uneasy?¡±
After getting the message, Team B attacked the guards unconscious then went inside. ¡°By the way, Lightning. How¡¯s your current relationship with our Wolf,¡± Lucie talked as they gazed towards Team B running. ¡°She hadn¡¯t spoke anything throughout our journey. She wouldn''t even answer even if I asked her.¡± ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know,¡± Aria replied with a sad look in her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s okay. I believe Wolf will open up to you someday and be back to your old happy days. I think she¡¯s just shy,¡± Lucie said while patting Aria¡¯s head. ¡°Thank you, Sexy Demon,¡± Aria responded. Lucie stared at Aria for a moment. ¡°By the way¡­ How about Skely? Do you like him?¡± ¡°W-what are you talking about?¡± Blushing, Aria stuttered with a loud voice. ¡°Hahaha. Sorry, I¡¯m just messing with you. You¡¯re kinda cute when you blush,¡± Lucie giggled. As Lucie laughed, they were suddenly interrupted by a soldier who seemed to be holding a person. ¡°Commander, we found someone lurking in the bushes,¡± the soldier reported. ¡°Is it an enemy?¡± Lucie asked. ¡°No, ma¡¯am. It¡¯s a little kid,¡± the soldier replied. ¡°I am not a kid,¡± the girl shouted. ¡°I¡¯m already 22 years old. I¡¯m an adult.¡± ¡°An elf?¡± Lucie carefully looked at the girl. Noticing her face, she realized something. ¡°It can¡¯t be. Your Highness? What are you doing here? Why is the sole heir of the Elven Kingdom in this kind of place? Princess Arisa Kobayashi¡±
At the main room of the lab... ¡°Erstaunlich (amazing), using magic to go inside my guard¡¯s shadow, then control him to get inside the lab, this guy is something... Hmm, where did I saw this before?¡± the man pondered while looking at the screen of his computer. ¡°Now I remember. An ability to turn oneself to a different form of matter, this is the magic of a dragon.¡± ¡°Doctor Albrecht, we have detected an unauthorized person inside the facility,¡± a guard reported while panting from running. ¡°There¡¯s actually two of them. I¡¯ve been watching them all this time. One of them seems to be hacking our servers too¡­¡± the man replied as he looked back at his computer. ¡°Heh. It seems a lot have also entered the lab. ¡± ¡°You heard the doctor,¡± the guard instructed his subordinate. ¡°Capture all the intruders. If they fight, kill them¡± He turned to the man and bowed his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry of our uselessness, doctor.¡± ¡®It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s more fun this way. Also, I¡¯ve already completed everything that I need to do. In this moment, I don¡¯t care even if the lab gets destroyed,¡± the man replied. ¡°They will be first one to see my greatest invention.¡± He gazed at a different screen showing a woman inside a cylindrical tank made of glass, and full of liquid. ¡°Ada, my daughter, the time has come.¡± The man spoke as he caressed the monitor of the computer. ¡°Still, the guy in a suit is amusing. To think he could turn himself completely invisible. Even the Human Kingdom still hasn¡¯t reached this stage yet. Good thing I installed heat sensors all over the lab or else, I wouldn¡¯t be able to track him.¡±
In the meantime, Hiiro was busy reading the files he hacked from the lab¡¯s servers... ¡°What... is this? This¡­ This is sick. I can¡¯t believe someone would do this to their own daughter.¡± At the title page of the article, it was written, ¡°Artificial Demon Android: Project A.D.A.¡± Chapter 19: A Father’s Love Part II. Hiiro was reading an article he hacked from the server: After weeks of experimenting, all demon parts transplanted on Ada were rejected by her weak constitution. Her condition is getting worse for every experiment performed. Each day that passed by was like a week worth of life removed from her. The curse to extend her life was disappearing. We didn¡¯t have a choice but to halt the experiment. I must fulfill my promise to Agatha. Our daughter must live. Months of study and research passed by, I¡¯ve tried everything I could think of, yet, all of it failed to cure her. I was too late; Ada died. Sorrow and depression soon followed. I asked my friend to cast necromancy to preserve her body. Until one day, after an endless wandering on the Demon Kingdom, I met one of my colleagues from the Human Kingdom. He told me about a top secret project they made 10 years ago after the ¡®Legendary Hero¡¯ died, extracting the consciousness of a human being. My hope was restored. If I can¡¯t transplant demon parts to Ada¡¯s body, then I just have to transfer her consciousness to a demon. Using the article I found, I began studying, researching about this method. However, it didn¡¯t go according to plan. In order to preserve a person¡¯s consciousness, a demon¡¯s corpse was not enough. It required something mechanical. Thus, the project aimed at creating a modern frankenstein was born, Artificial Demon Android or Project: A.D.A. ¡°I can¡¯t believe someone would do this to their own daughter.¡± ¡°Master, I am detecting a number of unidentified beings approaching us,¡± Emi announced, interrupting me from reading. Eight guards entered the room room each carrying a gun. Half of them wore something on their heads similar to NVD or Night Vision Goggles. ¡°We know you''re standing there,¡± a guard announced while pointing his sub-machine gun at me. ¡°Resistance is futile. Come with us or we will shoot you.¡± How can they see me? ... Those goggles, does it have a function that enables them to see invisible things, or maybe detect something from me? ¡°Deactivate your invisibility now, and raise your hands,¡± the same guard from before shouted. Tsk, I don¡¯t have a choice. ¡°Barrier.¡± Using magic I created a translucent shield made of mana. Seeing this the guards were alarmed and they repeatedly shot at me. However, the barrier blocked all of their bullets. Zero has a built-in defense mechanism, but I need to be sure. After that, I used mist filling the entire room with fog. This made visibility almost zero other than the caster. The guards stopped firing while pondering what just happened. ¡°Water Whip.¡± In combination with looping, a function I invented before, a number of runes appeared, and created water whips enough to disarm all my opponents. Soon after, I cast aqua burst to make the whips explode knocking out the guards. While walking towards the door, I examined them to confirm something. Thank God, they¡¯re still alive. I know this is a mission with our lives on the line but I can¡¯t just bring myself to kill someone. ¡°I¡¯m still not ready to do that.¡± As I went out of the room, I saw a familiar girl with her head staring down on the left side of the corridor, gazing at every her step while plodding towards me. ¡°Ahm¡­ miss? What are you doing here?¡± However, she didn¡¯t respond. Waves of silence pervaded on the entire place. ¡°Miss?¡± Suddenly, she dashed towards me and punched me. It was too fast that I couldn''t react. It threw me to a considerable distance, destroying walls on the way. Good thing the defense mechanism of the suit worked or I might''ve died in that attack. Staring at the girl, I immediately recognized her. A lot of questions arose in every part of my mind. ¡°What are you doing, Wolf?¡± It was Robyn, my partner in this mission.
Outside the lab¡­ [Aria] Sexy Demon, are you really sure she is the abducted princess of the Elven Kingdom? [Lucie] Yes. I¡¯ve seen her a lot of times when I went to the Elven Kingdom for a mission. There¡¯s no mistake. She is princess Arisa. [Aria] What are we going to do now? [Lucie] We have no choice. We must protect her until we return to the castle. After that, it¡¯s up to the King¡¯s decision what we should do next. ¡°Ahhh. Put me down. I need to find Onii-chan,¡± the princess shouted. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, princess. Please, you have to stay with us. We are currently in a very dangerous place,¡± Aria requested. ¡°Ahhhh. Put me down. Put me down. Put me down,¡± the princess squirmed continuously with annoyance. ¡°Put me down,¡± she shouted as black flames exploded from her body, blasting everyone near her. Everyone was dumbfounded. In that split second, all of them had seen complete darkness. After that, the princess ran away to the lab. ¡°Shit,¡± Lucie cursed. ¡°Yellow Goblin, follow the princess, quick. Make sure she¡¯s safe,¡± she ordered one of the soldiers. ¡°Sexy Demon, what¡¯s happening? How can an elf use a cursed flame?¡± Aria questioned, looking at Lucie with a paled face. ¡°There¡¯s no time to explain. Lightning can you contact team B inside the lab?¡± Lucie asked. Aria tried to use telepathy, however, no one answered her query. ¡°What¡¯s happening inside the lab?¡± Lucie pondered as she walked left and right while her hands rubbed each other¡¯s skins. ¡°Team A proceed to plan B. We will go inside the lab for reinforcement. However, saving the princess is our top priority. If you find her contact us immediately.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
Meanwhile, in a different area of the lab... [Voice of a woman] How many times had we seen this portrait again? We¡¯ve been sneaking for so long, yet we always end up in the exact same place. [Voice of a man] Shut up, you stupid dragon. [Voice of a woman] You¡¯re so bad at directions. You should¡¯ve brought Arisa along. [Voice of a man] As if I can bring that kid in a dangerous place like this. [Voice of a woman] Oh really. How many dangerous situations did you get her in the past again, huh? Do you regret killing the guards now? You could¡¯ve just used your telepathy to get information. I always wonder how did you even get your esper abilities. This is why simple minded guys like you are so... ¡°Ahhhhhhhhh. Are you going to shut up or not?¡± the man shouted. [Voice of a man] I¡¯m trying to concentrate. Don¡¯t interrupt me, [Voice of a woman] Heh¡­ If you want me to shut up then use your power. Oh, right. You can¡¯t. Since we¡¯re basically one. [Voice of a man] I swear. If I ever restore your body back, I will kill you again. [Voice of a woman] Heh. I want to see you try, young man. After the man entered a door, he was greeted with a room full of light, enough to temporarily blind anyone unprepared. As the man¡¯s eyesight returned, he saw a girl standing while staring at him. [Voice of a man] Oi Qilin, there¡¯s something weird about that girl. I can¡¯t read her mind. [Qilin] Hmm. Come to think of it. This room is also weird. Soro, we¡¯re not casting normal shadows in this place [Soro] I think they¡¯re using soft light to reduce the shadows in this room. [Qilin] Soft what? [Soro] Soft light. It¡¯s a technique used in filming. Did they know we¡¯re coming? [Qilin] Tsk. I can¡¯t use my magic with this quality of shadow. [Soro] I know, and it seems my telekinesis is not working with that girl. I¡¯ve been trying to move her, but I can¡¯t. This is a trap. [Qilin] If only Arisa is here. Do you regret not bringing her now? [Soro] No. I can do this just fine.
At the main room of the lab, Dr. Albrecht is talking with himself. ¡°Sorry kid. You underestimated the capabilities of our security system,¡± he whispered while looking at the monitor with Hiiro on screen. ¡°Most of the our technology came from the Human Kingdom who already reached Technological Singularity, but I¡¯ll still let you play it for a bit. Still, I would like to know how did you create your perfect invisibility cloak. Will you please give it to me so I can study it?¡± He relaxed on his reclining chair, then gazed again at the monitor. ¡°Ahhh. It¡¯s been so long since I last saw you, Robyn. It¡¯s a good thing I have the apparatus responsible for your controls. After Aria¡¯s escape, we installed a microchip inside your brain that would allow us to control you. We can¡¯t have the ultimate lifeform we created, such as you, to go berserk on us. Now Robyn, show me the power of the limbs of Lycaon, the King of the Wolves.¡± Dr. Albrecht made a maniacal laugh while looking at the screen. After that, he moved his eyes to a different computer. ¡°Now, let¡¯s watch this other guy.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard rumours about how you abducted the princess and attempted to murder the Elven Queen, but to think that you would actually attack my lab,¡± Dr. Albrecht muttered. ¡°Investigations showed that you¡¯re able to use shadow magic, but I never expected that it was actually shadow dragon magic. Entertain me, oh most notorious criminal of the Elven Kingdom; Soro, the Black Wolf.¡±
Meanwhile, Hiiro is running away¡­ I¡¯m at a disadvantage. I can¡¯t fight her in this narrow space. I need to look for something spacious. My invisibility cloak is also useless with Robyn¡¯s enhanced senses. What¡¯s happening with her? Why is she attacking me? ¡°Master, I am detecting a child-like figure in the direction you¡¯re going,¡± Emi announced. ¡°What?¡± As I continued running, a girl with pointy ears stood in front of a door. Looking back, I saw Robyn threw a large boulder. ¡°Shit. If I dodged, the kid will be hit. Move out,¡± I shouted, but the girl didn¡¯t respond. Immediately, I pushed the girl to the ground, and the boulder went over us. After that, I ran while carrying the girl. ¡°I¡¯m sorry kid. It¡¯s dangerous here.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a kid. I¡¯m a 22 year old adult elf,¡± she shouted while squirming. ¡°Please, stop moving.¡± Realizing something, my pace slowed for a second. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re an elf? That''s so cool. This is my first time seeing an elf in this world.¡± ¡°This world? I think I¡¯ve heard that somewhere before,¡± the girl murmured. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for calling you a kid back there.¡± ¡°Onii-chan¡­ Arigatou.¡± She smiled as she hugged me tightly that I nearly let go of her. ¡°Don¡¯t move too much or you¡¯ll fall.¡± ¡°Gomenasai. This is the first time someone acknowledge my adult charms so I¡¯m just happy,¡± she replied with sparks in her eyes. I didn¡¯t really say that last part, but, oh well. ¡°Ne ne onii-chan, Why are we running away?¡± she asked. ¡°Shit. I forgot. Emi, check the map for a wide space.¡± ¡°Scanning¡­ Master, I found a large area which seems to be a testing ground for weapons,¡± Emi replied. ¡°Emi, direct me there, right now.¡± While dodging several of Robyn¡¯s attacks, Emi guided me to that room. A few meters before I reached the place, Emi spoke, ¡°Master, it seem the room is locked. Would you like me to hack and open the door?¡± ¡°Yes please.¡± As the door opened, I quickly jumped inside, but I was welcomed by a man flying fast, and crushing towards the wall on my left. ¡°Soro onii-chan,¡± the elf shouted. She broke free from me, and ran towards the man. ¡°What¡­ What just happened?¡± Looking to my right, I saw a missile coming from a girl. Based on its trajectory, it aimed at the man and the elf. I tried running towards them so I could block it, but I was too exhausted from running. There¡¯s also the fact that I carried the elf all the way the room. ¡°Dodge it,¡± I shouted while staring at them, slowly awaiting their doom. Fortunately, the elf was alerted. ¡°Don¡¯t bully onii-chan,¡± she shouted as black flames came out from her right hand, going towards and blasting the missile. The area surrounding them, and the path the flame took towards the missile turned completely devoid of light after a few seconds it disappeared. ¡°Is this¡­ a curse?¡± Before, while conversing with Satrillo in the castle, he explained to me the difference between magic and curses. Magic, even though it seemed unreal, followed the Laws of Physics. All fire magic still needs the Triangle of Fire to work, while most water magic turns the air around into liquid. It¡¯s also the same for other forms magic. However, curses are different. It¡¯s a type of magic that even I would have a hard time mastering. Like how Lucie has an ability that goes beyond just creating hallucinations and reading the mind; or how I retained all of my senses (though I still haven¡¯t tried taste) despite not having the body part responsible for it; curses could distort the laws of physics. It seems fictitious at first, but this is the truth. It was the only explanation I could think of after seeing an impossible flame. A flame that does not produce, but consumes light. A Very Important Announcement Hi guys. So one day me and my friend had a conversation. He agreed to be my new artist to add illustrations on my novel. He then asked me about each of the character profiles. As we talked to each other, I realized something, ¡°I don¡¯t know my characters that much.¡± After that we¡¯ve brainstorm on the the chara¡¯s design, personality, behavior etc. We improved their backstories on how they became the way they are right now. We even tried creating char sheets for each of them. Then, when I started incorporating it to the novel, I realized that I need to revamp most (or maybe all) of the chapters. Though the concept and main plot is still the same, a lot of scenes needs to be changed/revamped. At first, I thought that it¡¯s ok to upload revamped chapters while I continue with the story but then I realized that it¡¯s better to finalize everything first before I upload them to avoid too much confusion on the scenes specially for readers who¡¯s currently on the later chapters. Because of that I had to go on hiatus and revamp the story. I would be lying if I said the negative reviews didn¡¯t affect this decision. All 3 reviews are negative (the 1st one removed his review since I fixed the problems he pointed out) and they mostly pointed out the characters being too bland. Even though their reviews are not what I consider as ¡°healthy criticisms¡±, they¡¯re still criticisms nonetheless. And if that¡¯s what they saw in my story, then maybe the a lot of readers saw that too since the a lot rated the novel low. Because of this I would to ask you guys your opinion on the novel¡¯s style, story, grammar and character. You can make a review or just comment it below. Anything is fine as long as it¡¯s an honest opinion. It would really help me a lot if you could point out everything that I need to improve and retain. You can also suggest to if you want. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. As always thank you for reading and supporting this novel and I hope you will still support me when I finalize story. ps: I will be uploading the revised chapter asa separate story. I will make another announcement here and give the link once it''s finished. Important Announcement Hi guys, CielSensei here. So yeah. It¡¯s been so long since the last time I updated the novel. Sorry, there¡¯s some things that I needed to do. One of them is connected to school. And the good news is¡­ I¡¯m now graduated. Yey. And the bad news is. Naah I¡¯m just joking there¡¯s no bad news. Haha. Anyway, before I officially upload the story I need some help. I need some help from you my dear critiques. That¡¯s right I¡¯m looking for beta readers. So what are beta readers? So based on wiki, ¡°A beta reader is a test reader of an unreleased work of literature or other writing (similar to beta testing in software), giving feedback with the angle of an average reader to the author about remaining issues.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. What I¡¯m looking for is someone that would critique and comment in my story. Just voice out your opinion be it positive or negative it¡¯s okay. No hard feelings. Just don¡¯t be too toxic okay? So what are the perks? Well, for one you can read the story earlier than the non-beta reader. And second, you will also be invited to the beta reader exclusive discord server for studio tri4. Yey. If you want to be a beta reader just pm me. As always, thank you for your support GOOD NEWS. Project Pegasus has now been released Hi guys, Ciel sensei here. Sorry, it''s been so long without any updates. Some of you even got bored waiting. But fret not because I''ve got good news for all of you. Project Pegasus volume 1.1 is now done. that''s right, I''ve finally finished writing Volume 1.1 of project pegasus and it''s now officially released. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. you can view it here: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/23645/project-pegasus I''m sorry for the nonsense below. I needed to fill the 500 character limit per chapter of RRL. safasflskfjslfaiofka;lsjafola;skfosk;amfmoiafjlasmfoioalk;s,foiajl