《Against the Sky》
Green Light ( Prologue)
***
The light turned green.
It was already 3:00.
I still have to fetch my younger brother from school then study for the test tomorrow. It was during that reds of traffic lights seemed to gleam so evilly. Which was why, when the traffic lights gave the go, my legs almost flew.
That was when a stupid driver decided to appear.
I was running across when a low groan of engine took my attention. My eyes reflexibly snapped towards it, but by then, everything was too late.
The world slowed. I saw the flawless Mustang ramping its speed down the lonely road, the driver making a lengthy ''O'' as he noticed me, while my legs barely moving at all.
And bang.
It hit my waist first, hard, then ruthlessly dragged me under. My calf tasted the first lick of the burning engine, then continued up to my thighs. Before the burn climbed higher, my broken waist have to fit under its low ridge first. The car''s speed and weight had to do the grinding before continuing to cook my flesh of seasoned bones. After my torso, my head cracked onto the asphalt before being grated with its jagged surface before being sucked with the rest of me.
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Then the car quickly skidded to a complete stop. The Mustang had very good brakes, but its driver was not as good enough.
Fortunately, my face was spared from the burning.
Unfortunately, reality caught up.
Pain. Searing pain ransacked my consciousness in thorough raids that atrociously destroyed everything that reminisces reason. Nothing retained in my head except the ever increasing screech of my own agony.
I never wanted something in my life as much as a swift end right there and then.
Letting a last howl of pain, my consciousness finally dropped to the void.
***
Chapter I
***
I died, but time still flew.
How ridiculously obvious that sounded. My death definitely would not stop time, though for some reason, I ended up scrubbing the already pristine-looking marble floor instead.
"Oy, do your job properly." The lady in white kicked my brush away, yet ironically made me clean harder. If you want my job done properly, would brushing with my bare hands be better? Very ironic, really... not that I could complain.
This was Clara, an old matron who bossed around using her seniority. Her name was too cute for her, so I dubbed her Vinegar, much more fitting with her perpetually grumpy face.
"Understood." I replied meekly as I fix the mess of scattered droplets. This was the rule of thumb around here, be docile and you live a relatively peaceful life.
Vinegar let me off with a humph, and a final touch of tossing hair. I abhorred that show-off behavior of hers because overflowing dandruff always sprayed under. I could only steel my will in keeping movements frozen.. After few moments, I finally gave in and breathed, hoping that all the debris of previous encounter had settled enough to be inhaled...
Marble cleaner, errand girl, bottom of the pyramid. This was me. A twenty year old college student who lived a rather short life only to find myself as slave. How nice was that?
Five years since my unfortunate accident, I have thought a lot about many things.
Some of which were, why I could still think? What happened? What now?
Without much option and having reality in my face, I concluded that I did die and got reincarnated, or something of the sort.
That this world was not the one I previously knew.
That this world was one of swords and magic.
That I was powerless to change my fate.
Really, how frustrating. What, just what, was my retained memories for?!
When you lose everything, there was supposed to be a clean slate for you to start over with. Imagine, there was no mistakes and all to torment me, just all these possibilities of what I could do with otherworldly memories. But no, my fate dictate my starting slate be one of the worst kind, slave at birth. Was this the prize of being ahead of people my age? I felt toyed and have someone laughing behind my back, for some reason.
Sometimes, I wished I should have just lost everything when my vision went dark right with my life, my memories included. So that nothing would be haunting me with regret every single time I had to lower my head for reasons that were unreasonable. So that, I won''t be greedy for things I once took for granted. So that, I don''t long for things I never experienced in this life.
...But then again, without my previous life''s memories, all I would have were memories of this world, a nonstop work-eat-sleep cycle. A life so empty, I would rather bask in the bittersweet past that would never be. It became my only relief in this dreary life.
For short, I was torn whether having memories of previous life was worth it when I couldn''t even life a finger to get of my everyday monotone existence.
As for the worlds in general, this one was not so cheerful either. After my entrance, which was birth, I did not even had the chance to look at my birth mother as I got handed to some cloaked woman who whisked me away to a mansion, this place called Orphanage, yet piggery was what I saw.
Stupid parents sold their children here in this world, where newborns grew as perfect slaves. Knowing nothing besides serving, they were also indoctrinated to not ask for more. Thoughts like blind obedience, and insect-worth of existence was ingrained to their bones. It was all they ever knew. To put it in a picture, this Orphanage could be painted as an underground slave factory. Every year, all five year olds were called out to be presented in front of ''visitors''. We would be asked to do things, the same thing we had been rehearsing since we could walk. Clean. More disturbingly, did I mention we were all girls?
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Next month, it would my batch''s turn. My age-mates were all excited, hoping they would get ''adopted'' by rich and kind parents. With all their expecting eyes and giggling remarks, it was obvious they do not even know the definition of slaves.
We shouldn''t, yet I knew.
And still, I would be sold. Just knowing things does not give me power to change anything. I was as powerless like everyone else in the Orphanage. Clara could pretend all high and mighty, but that was the end of it because, the bottom line was, she was also a slave like me, less than human in every equation and infinitely nothing more.
I sighed. This must be the effect of stress that never ended, developing inferiority complex which caused depressing pessimism. So, before self-deprecation further deepen my grave, I shook all negative thoughts aside and pasted a practiced smile on my lips.
---
"Now, behave nicely. Delicious food await good girls!"
"""Yes, Lady Moran."""
This was the day. A group of little girls have wonderfully lined up in an organized line. Everyone was tidied up with clean white dress that dangled silly frills at its hem. They all exuded a beam of purity, radiating from their innocent eyes. Excitement could almost be felt pulsing in this shack of room, and, of course, I had inconspicuously mixed in. With my wide eyes and toothy grin, I was confidently resembling a cute puppy waiting for bones to fetch.
After a few more fuss, Moran, together with Vinegar and their like, ushered us towards the newly furnished vintage door. The gates to my future minutely creaked, until an exuberant hall boomed down my eyes. This was the first time I got to enter this room, and I must say that at least fifty percent of renovation budget was generously spared in this relatively small space. Sparkling chandeliers, red carpets, flashy candelabras, and giant ivory statue of the goddess Khrys were displayed flamboyantly. Around the room were people that donned luxurious clothes, easily catching the eye despite the distance and unpleasantly round bellies that it covered. Most of them were men, around forties, and were really overweight. These was not exactly bad, but the way their eyes settled down on these pure angels were simply goosebump-inducing.
We filed in, then settled to a neat circle before our visitors. There was no long table occupying most of the room, instead, there was just comfy chairs and sofas around the edges, highlighting our little group in the middle of the hall. My smile started to get strained as I consciously took on their stares. Some were heavily lidded with lust. Some were calculating expiry dates. One was colder still, with blank face that reminded me of the void of death I kept buried.
Personally, I actually wanted to be picked by those pigs. Their type was usually synonymous to stupid, so my chances of escape was the highest with them. The calculating type were the root of the word slave-driver, capable of milking you even when only blood dripped, though I guess you could bribe them with elite service to make your life easier. The last type would be least desirable. They were hard to predict as their intentions were never clear. Like a lottery, their type covers a wide range of heaven and hell, and I rather not risk my freedom for either.
As I played various scenarios and counter-measures in my head while diligently sweeping the floor, someone broke the show with a grunt. With a pointing finger and steady eyes, he spoke, "I want her mine."
***
Chapter II
***
A big, round pig strenuously spoke and pointed his chubby finger to my face. Two metre distance was enough for his laboured huffs to be heard, disgusting me from the bottom of my heart. Why, just why, would anyone let themselves become this pitiful? By his sparkling clothes and numerous jewelries, it was obvious he had tons of money hoarded to himself, so why can he not use his wealth to find some time for his well-being?
"A wonderful choice! Allow me to finish preparations." Moran quipped in with soaring enthusiasm. She gingerly guided me toward her assistant who stood expectantly, holding a bracelet. A thick, iron bracelet with glowing inscription sprawled around its smooth surface. It was a ''present'', our memento from the Orphanage. With an ominous click, it was bound to me with unflattering fitness signifying impending days most probably worse than death without escape.
The little girls of my batch was openly admiring my new jewelry. "Pretty!"
It was quite a moving sight, moving my conscience to pound my heart. Soon, they will wear these fancy bondage and realize its true purpose. Subjugation. Their happy moments at best would be limited to their dreams, the only thing their masters cannot dictate. And I can''t do anything about it.
I hardened my heart and forget their looming future. Worrying was a luxury I cannot afford, especially when my life ahead were not exactly unicorns and rainbows.
After receiving the farewell gift called ''tali'', only one step remained for the ownership to be completed. The classic drop of blood from the owner. The pig, my hopefully short-term master, took out a needle and poked his forefinger. Scarlet slicked its way down, and the pig hurriedly aimed for my ''tali'' to get this over with.
Amusingly, his haste caused waste.
Since I was short, he was the one who needed to reach down. A very entertaining scene to watch when the latter have such unproportional body that even the slightest shift in gravity made his chair grieve in protest. Of course, I did not make the chair''s life easy. I teasingly held out my arm while my future master desperately tried to reach the ''tali'' attached to it. His wide eyes vividly projected fear and panic. Apparently, a needle wound was enough to kill 400 lbs godzilla.
I kept this on for another few moments until, finally, the expensive oak chair gave in and surrendered its life to me. The pig fell on his butt and momentum demanded his face to follow. Of course, again, I was wise and stepped back at the first hint of crack from the dying chair.
Feathers exploded as the pillow under his butt popped. Some splinters probably pierced it, plus cushioning the combined mass and gravity of my dear master was way too overkill for the comfy pillow.
There was a brief pause before screams followed. Astonishment, horror, and dismay rung as people scattered about. Moran''s appalled shriek was particularly striking. This was bad for business, I supposed.
Above all the chaos, there was a sound that uniquely stood out.
It was a not-so-muffled laughter.
An old man was clutching his mouth and shaking violently, so much that the fact that he was standing was admirable. His face was red like a tomato while tears fell down unhindered. He looked like he was having the time of his life, not stopping even when the hall had quieted down and began staring at him with colorful faces.
The hall gave him his moment and waited for him to finish. The old man noticed the silence and began to settle down, until he saw my feather-adorned master... and his laughing fit would continue for another episode.
"K- k- k- kukuku~" He did not stop even after falling on his knees. Instead, he shared his moment to the marble floor by a constant low fives.
The old man''s blissful smacking was getting airborne and was spreading infectiously to other visitors, even my lips were also being tugged up to a curl. Luckily, my soon-to-be master have boiled up in rage before my smile fully bloomed. Things would be bad if I caught his attention right now. He looked quite committed in murdering someone indiscriminately.
As my buyer shockingly leapt to the old man, shadows suddenly danced darkly despite the sun shining with full strength through the open windows.
My danger sensors went nuts, and I could hear my heart screaming at my limbs to run. However, my brain refused the notion. The disorder nailed me at place despite my pulse going overdrive for flight.
"Wha- Wha- What- What is happenning?" A bald man whimpered.
A bad course of action.
Opaque darkness engulfed him whole, dumbing its audience into silence with this unfathomable turn of events. The shadows formed a dark bubble around that man then floated above ground.
Then shrunk, a mass of darkness no bigger than my five-year-old-kid height.
The man inside got squeezed in a circumference far smaller than his size. With a crunch, a bone-chilling scream splattered together with volumes of blood, showering the regal room with crimson rain. Warm blood forced realization to sink in. Danger. Everyone''s disbelief immediately tipped into panic, and they began to ran for their lives. This reaction, however, only provoked shadows to jump unto anyone that remotely moved.
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Everyone but me. I was too stunned.
In just a few seconds that lasted for eternity, a scene of carnage worse than any movies was laid uncensored before my eyes. I wanted to vomit, to scream, to cry, to run. Anything that would pull my eyes away from this scene beyond nightmares were welcome. Yet nothing came. I was too frozen.
"Well, aren''t you something?" A familiar voice whispered behind me, amusement twinkled in his voice.
I didn''t look back. I couldn''t. My gut told me it wasn''t over. That a tiny move may very well send me meeting Death twice a bit too fast.
"Hoo, quite an impressive thing." It urged on.
"..." I kept my silence.
"Hey, hey, you still got a tongue, right? Use it."
"..."
"Have you gone deaf or something?"
"..."
"He~y!"
The pestering continued persistently, but I persevered. Soon enough, I managed to tune all the noise out, so I could focus on critical matters.
First, I assessed my situation. The whole place was piled with gore, all besides the small area I was standing in. Not a single stain of blood dripped close, nor any unidentified pieces invaded in. Quite peculiar considering that even the ceiling was smeared red. I had a few theories, but since I can''t confirm a thing without moving, I left this information be for later. The important thing was I survived, albeit still frozen solid.
Second, what just happened? I knew that magic existed in this world, but the dark tendrils snaking around me for a chance to swallow looked unreasonably powerful. For what purpose? Everyone here was evidently defenseless, so was this show of power really necessary? ...How did I even survive?
Lastly, what now? I can''t just stand here forever, yet moving was not too far off from digging my own gave. The only clue, sadly, was the annoying voice that never ended behind me. It chattered relentlessly. Talking about worldly philosophies at one point, then somehow jumping to weather reports the next. Ignoring irritation, this situation left me with two choices, struggle against baseless instinct and force myself to do something rather than stand frozen, or wage a battle of attrition and just wait everything out.
No matter, the other party ran out of patience first.
"Argh! Why?! Why! Kh- Fine!" Like a bolt born out of blue sky, a deafening boom shattered the world into million pieces. Before my eyes, these pieces reconstructed into the luxurious hall with sparkling chandeliers, red carpets, flashy candelabras, and giant ivory statue of goddess Khrys displayed flamboyantly. Yep, exactly like the room in its full glory moments ago before hell broke lose.
The sudden change in scenery gave me an indescribable relief. My knees finally gave out, and I staggered to the ground.
Many thudding sounds followed as well as groans and huffs. I looked up and saw that everyone was in one piece, though obviously shaken to the core, they were still alive and breathing.
Immediately, my eyes swept the space at my back, finally capable of doing so. However, besides the disoriented little girls and adult alike, the owner of that annoying voice did not seem to belong to any them so it probably hid away from sight. I gave up searching and just concentrated to catch my lost breath.
Over and over, I inhaled and exhaled, trying to chase away the bloody scene that now covered the lid of my mind. Adrenaline rush was over, and the barrier I built up against the previous madness began crumbling down. Hysteria rose and forced my breakfast out. My vision became unreliable as I felt another wave of bile climbing up my throat. I threw up, then nausea came to follow. Being grossed out would be for later, for the time being, I need to calm down and stop my shaking body. I hated this. Being so vulnerable.
My consciousness slowly dwindled. Before I passed out, a figure came and wiped my face with a smooth fabric. There was a smile as the person asked, "What is your name?"
"... Vitaly." I answered with my vanishing strength. My voice conveyed resignation, probably my lingering plea for help was leaking out.
The figure smirked broadly, and suddenly did something fast, too fast for my hazy mind to follow. Nevertheless, my eyes shut weakly, ready for a very long slumber.
When I thought I would wake up after a day at least, a slight pain tugged some bits of my consciousness at bay. Since I was barely awake, what happened next was very hard to register.
Something tightened in my wrist, and rotated fast enough for friction to burn my skin.
I could not help but sigh. I got duped.
"Pleased to meet you, Vitaly." Those words echoed in my dreams and transformed them as nightmares.
***
Also found at japtem.com under pen name Mocha
Chapter III
***
The sun had began to peek from the east, chasing dark hues to paint the world in its golden glow. Birds sang their early tune to wake the forest fogged of morning dew. All the while, I walked sluggishly with gargantuan load on my back so the horse beside me would not get tired.
I grunted. The day just started, but mine was already ruined hours before the sun had risen. We had been walking since midnight, covering a good distance away from the Orphanage.
After the fiasco yesterday, I woke up straddled atop a horse, together with other baggage and an old man. He noticed I was awake and introduced himself as Wuen Dreik, my new owner. During the confusion, he completed the disrupted ownership ceremony by dripping his blood to my ''tali''.
Which was illegal.
That was considered stealing other people''s property. Even though every ''visitor'' then had already paid before hand, choosing slaves was a first-come-first-served basis, an unwritten law in slave business. Since I was already chosen by that pig first, no matter what, I should had been on his care right now. Hence, the reason for travelling despite the dead of the night. We were escaping. For better or worse, I was stuck with Wuen. Because I was already bounded by the seal, there was no way for me to disobey and prevent myself from becoming both a slave and a fugitive. The seal works like a curse, causing severe migraines in the form of intolerable high pitched sound inside my head. It was like a steady shrill that gets increasingly worse until you do what you were ordered.
I spoke from experience. Wuen''s first order were to lessen the horse''s burden by getting down and walk on my own. Which I hesitated to do for a second because, again, I was short and had no idea how to climb down a full grown horse. That split second hesitation triggered the damned curse, suddenly piercing my barely awake mind. Surprised, I subsequently fell off and even nearly got stomped to death by the horse. I immediately rolled off to the side, disregarding the thorny bushes in my landing zone.
The old man got the nerve to laugh it off. Though he did cast a healing magic, in the end, he passed more burden to me in the form of a big backpack. Like that, I walked for hours carrying a load half my size. Its weight were not laughable either. The size was actually deceivingly lighter than the actual kilos I was shouldering. I had no idea what was inside, just that, they protruded sharply on my back and irritated me with an itch I could not scratch. Good thing I was not born a normal human, or else, I would be dead either due to fatigue or blood loss.
"How is your body?" His sudden worry made me jump.
I looked up, and regretted. He was not worried. His grey eyes were twinkling with curiosity and awe, telling me that resting for even a moment may never come.
"My back, legs, and shoulders are sore. My eyes is also dropping from exhaustion. I am thirsty and hungry-"
"Kukuku, I order you to carry on as long as you could! This is the first time I had seen your kind, so I had more than a few questions! Kuku, I really am blessed." He blatantly ignored my misery and went on blabbling about random things.
I could only bite my lip in frustration. I did not lie at all. My legs were already shaking with fatigue. Back and shoulders were also stiff from bearing so much weight for too long. I may be a ''jinn'', but five year olds were not exactly so invincible.
Jinn, a term used for a group of humanoid species with golden eyes. Most commonly found in the south, they were renowned as great warriors in both melee and ranged combat. Quite OP in wars, but jinns have one fatal weakness, their fertility rate was extremely low. They were all about quality, but laughable quantity. Neighboring nations saw them as a threat and profit, then banded to wage war against the small country of the south. The war was said to be the bloodiest in history, but the result inevitably ended with the jinn''s loss. Their land divided and absorbed by its neighbors, while the survivors scampered before they ended up dead or collared. Centuries had past, the gene for golden eyes had been heavily diluted into the population, making them a rare commodity worth killing for. I guess that should be termed ''we'', since I also had those golden eyes. Which, right now, only made me sigh. My new master seemed to be very curious, and eager to constantly to test my racial limits. Too eager.
After a few more hours of silent and tireless walking, we finally stopped. Not for my sake of course, but because the horse Wuen was riding on began to go limp with froth visible in its mouth. It had been walking for twelve hours after all.
"Haa, can''t be helped." Wuen easily hopped off in a puff, and considerately patted the worn out horse ...officially making my worth lower than that of an animal''s.
The old man took out something from his robe, a long wooden stick taller than me. Bright red stones glittered at its hilt, adorning a jet black orb at the top which was the size of a fist. This must be the infamous staff, powerful magical equipment that only the rich and powerful could acquire.
All staves were graded based on the size of the magic stone, where a dot was worth a bullion of gold, a pinkie for royal treasury, so a fist must be equivalent to a country by least. If that was so, then why does this person wore a beat up robe, headed out with only one horse, now led the way to nowhere? It obviously meant he was more than he appeared ...or far less.
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With a swish of his staff and incantations I did not understand, our surroundings shifted. In the next instant, the thick forest surrounding us transformed to something stunningly different.
"The sea..." I whispered in disbelief.
We got transported to the bottom of a cliff facing the sea. Endless blue greeted me with a breeze of salted air. Waves constantly smashed against a wide field of jagged rocks, greatly taming the rapid water to eventually lick my dirty feet with warm and bubbly splash, slightly tickling me.
I never considered wanting to see this sight ever again. I thought it was a lost cause, a mere wishful dream at best. Now that I was standing here, feeling everything that I once took for granted, I was stumped on what to do.
"Come on, that is something you''ll see everyday anyway." Wuen called out.
The curse activated immediately with his new orders, so I turned before it got louder. I was not really curious to know how worse it could get. So with a last glance at the blues, I looked away.
Then paused.
What stopped me was the impossible sight upfront. It was something I thought possible only in computer graphics. Clearly, that was not the case. This grand architecture looked as real as the sea behind me. Made of material whiter than the clouds, a gigantic maze-like city was carved out of the cliff. There was no gate towards it, instead, two angel statues standing on opposing side marked the entrance towards a dangerous looking stairs that might crumble at the slightest pressure. Looking closely around, seaweeds and some other shells were sprinkled everywhere, hinting that the tide occasionally swallows higher than what it currently does.
Anxiously, I began to follow Wuen up, keeping my eyes wide at the incredible feast before me. The more I looked, the more majestic this place seemed to become. Far more than what I could see, settlements after settlements lined impossibly to trace the winding walls of the cliff. How it stayed stuck without falling was a mystery, but they looked old and worn by time which proves the the sturdiness of whatever kept the buildings in place. Aside the white infrastructures, greeneries were also present. Vines crawled all around with occasional pink and red flowers blooming out. It stunningly made a hanging garden to complement the vertical city.
Overall, the cliff became a surreal city with no lefts or rights, just ups and downs.
Climbing stairs with no railings was very unnerving, especially when one wrong move led straight to jagged rocks at the bottom. Still, safety issues aside, finding our way through this place was very counter intuitive. I knew we were climbing a cliff with stairs, but all my life, the way had always been composed of a turn here and there, something I keep searching for when I see a house in every landing. Heck, their doors were not on the side, but on the roofs and opens down where another short set of stairs was built to finally lead into the house.
There was just one thing that greatly worried me. We were alone. Even the horse was nowhere in sight. No townspeople milled about, nor any voices resounded. Our footfalls echoed eerily with the backdrop of the splashing waves against the solid cliff. Even though it was a very beautiful city, without people, a deserted city would still be dead city. The desolation was saddening.
I lost count how many flight of stairs we climbed. On and on we went, I felt the tinge of loneliness growing out of my calm facade. Looking at this deserted place was very depressing, and I was plenty depressed enough to tolerate any more.
"We''re here!" Wuen looked back to me and grinned ever so curiously.
A wide door stood at the end of our climbing journey. He opened it for me and waved me in. I took note that hand gestures do not trigger the shrill sound of slave curse in my head.
When I entered, the third surprise of the day waited for me.
A dimly lit space, easily the size of a football stadium with the generous stands included, was amazingly contained behind the white city outside.
"Welcome to my laboratory! From now on, you will be assisting me in many tasks ahead." He gayly announced with open arms.
"..." I was speechless.
"Kukuku, it really is amazing isn''t it? For the most powerful alchemist in the world, this is only as expected."
"Alchemist? I thought you were a mage?" I inquired half-heartedly. It wasn''t hard to connect alchemy and magic, but my mind was busy evading any thoughts of what could repositories, exhausts, and screams in the far corner of this big dome had in common.
"Tsk, tsk, this is why slaves are... Well, we have a lot of time in our hands to learn everything you need to know." He nodded with his own words, and immediately ordered me to dispense the load of my backpack to the nearest table. I flipped the bag upside down, and an assortment of contents clattered as it fell. Accessories, cutleries, and weapons. In this variety, there was one glaring similarity. They all sparkled with the brilliance of luxury.
I looked up accusingly to Wuen, who just shrugged as he dumped another bag-full of sparkly things. "Well, a freelance alchemist needs a lot of money, you know."
With that, a life of struggle truly began.
***
Also found in japtem.com
Chapter IV
***
-Day one at the lab-
Wuen asked me to familiarize myself with his dome. After that, he excessively waved goodbye as he slowly backed off and disappeared in the near corner.
I was suspicious, but ignored it as I thought of what to do. Then smiled as a thought dawned on me. With such a short instruction, loopholes were bound to be present. Like, say, there was no time limit so I could keep ''trying'' to memorize the place forever and nothing more.
Then and now, I had never been the most diligent individual, and since I started a new life, I never got to just sit back and relax. This opportunity to just roam and slack off was such a rare silver lining if you''re a slave.
Thus, I walked on and on at a snail''s pace, taking my time while occassionally sipping on the water bottle Wuen gave before disappearing. The leisurely sightseeing was actually nice. Glowing crystal were attached at the ceiling and walls, but not really bright enough for a preferable illumination. Still, walking through this dim and silent dome was like strolling under the starlight. It was very pleasant, adventurous even. It felt surreal, like I was just magically wandering in some sort of fictional setting out of fantasy books. My aching muscles were forgotten as I continued to stroll with wondering eyes.
-Day two-
... I was still walking. My earlier enthusiasm was thoroughly burnt out by exhaustion. All the sores came back with the armageddon brought by debt collectors. My whole body simply, yet excruciatingly, felt painful. Every step was a real torture. This was not an exaggeration after you had walked for two days straight without ever stopping or sitting down. And I can''t stop. His second command from our midnight escapade was still active.
''Kukuku, I order you to carry on as long as you could!''
Ha! Just thinking about it pisses me off.
-Day three-
Yeah, I was dying. I saw my limbs were still attached, but I felt no sensation coming from it. I would prefer the previous pain over the this paranoia of loosing an arm or two. As for my stomach that had been grumbling since day zero, it was now raging like hell. Probably tired of digesting the blue water I keep feeding it. Ah, water was everywhere, so there was less nightmare due to dehydration.
-Day seven-
One week, and I was still alive. How cruel was that? Even though I should just drop dead with fatigue... My dear master was still nowhere in sight, probably enjoying my misery in the distance. My eyes were no longer dependable as it showed me paradise where there was a wall. It also turned the once beautiful crystals into some creepy eyes that kept staring at my every move.
-Day fifteen-
I gave up and sat, no longer caring about the damned curse shrieking in my head. I just wanted to faint, to tell this stupidly strong body of a jinn that its mind can no longer keep up with all this stress. That it should let us rest.
But I couldn''t.
The high pitched noise clung to my consciousness like a leech. Very, very irritating. Then, a sudden shock took me by surprise. The noise became grating screech. I immediately crumpled to the ground and screamed as the noise started to increase in maddening intensity. Involuntarily, my hand began to claw my head without mercy. Skin was peeled off and blood dripped. It didn''t feel painful, nor did it lessen the cursed noise in my head, so I resolved to banging my head again and again against the concrete ground and roared at the invisible heavens.
-Day thirty-
...My head was full of gibberish. And gibberish. And endless gibberish. And gibberish. Plus some more gibberish. Gibberish.
---
-Day fourty-
My eyes snapped open. The sun instantly glared down at me, and I winced away in response... then did I notice I was not above ground. I was riding a boat in the middle of the sea. On all directions, only endless blue greeted me. My stomach grumbled, and I instinctively looked down... to the piece of meat feasted in horror.
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I staggered away. The meat flinched. It was still alive. I felt sick, and immediately threw up. A lot came out, something that shouldn''t had if I didn''t eat anything in the the last month... I threw up more.
"Aiyaa, finally came to your senses, eh?" An unfamiliar voice called out.
When I looked up, a beautiful woman was sitting comfortably in chair under the shade of her umbrella. She wore an ankle-length red fabric that looked closer to a curtain than a dress. Flaming red hair was ponytailed, while her irises were shades of both orange and black. She sipped some sort of juice and smiled sweetly down on me, like we were just in some fancy home and she didn''t stand out far worse than a sore thumb against this bizzare scenario.
"Who are you?" I asked, my voice smooth and charming. I felt disgusted all over again.
"Aracelli, business partner of your owner." She stated calmly. I opened my mouth with questions boiling inside, but she silenced me with a sweet smile. "Now, now. I know you have many question, but let''s have you cleaned up first."
"No, before that, can you kill this first, please?" I looked down with guilt to the whimpering creature below our feet.
"Hmm, aren''t you kind. Well, that is fine." Without batting an eye, a lance of fire materialized in her hands. She did not even pause as the lance easily pierced through the gore. The thing jerked one last time, then relaxed, free from its torture. Aracelli pointed to the sea while still sweetly smiling in my direction. I took the cue, and took my first my bath in weeks.
---
Aracelli teleported us back to the dome, back to hell.
"Oh, so you did come to!" Wuen greeted with an approving smile. "Ara, it''s my win."
"You showed me something interesting, so I will honor my words." An opaque purple stone came out of nowhere, and she handed it to Wuen''s eager hands.
The stone emitted eerie vibes that seemed to pulse through the air with a force that made me shiver in repulsion. For my depleting sanity''s sake, I ignored that ominous thing''s existence. Instead, I asked what was obvious, but still pressing on my mind.
"Excuse me." I took their attention. "Can you please tell me what happened?"
They both stopped their chitchat and turned to my direction. Wuen wore his eternally curious eyes while Aracelli hinted no emotion on hers despite the placated smile on her lips.
"Well, should I explain?" Wuen questioned his business partner while thoughts of scenarios visibly zipped through his head, imaging what would happen if he did.
"Please?" I pressed. I must hear.
"I do not see why not." Aracelli gave her permission and patted her partner. "However, you must keep me informed of anything interesting that occurs. Understood?"
"Of course! Just keep those crystals coming." Wuen beamed, greatly reducing his withering look by ten years.
"Fine." With a last smile to me, she vanished out of thin air. No staves, no incantations, no effort. It seemed I was surrounded by unreasonably powerful people... if they even were one.
"Please?" I politely urged Wuen on. If I learned anything at all this past forty days, it was patience. I was forced to endure stress worst than anything else for weeks, so moments of waiting for their round about way of dealing with things was far from draining my patience.
"I don''t know where to start. Where do You want me to start?" He said and sat atop a desk with a quill and scroll in hand.
"From the start. What were you doing at the Orphanage? What was that scene you showed everyone? Why did you chose me at all just to orchestrate my death after? ...How did I ended up outside, eating something... What did I do? ...What was... was- was I..." I couldn''t continue. Nothing was stuck on my throat, but words just seemed to get choked in. Then, I was crying. "Tell me... what monster am I becoming."
***
Chapter V
***
"What do you know of jinns?" Wuen asked.
"Golden eyed people who are superior in all fields. However, their nation was destroyed about a century ago, so they now all lived either in isolation or as slaves." I replied.
"Yes, yes. That was what is written in books. However, historians were forced to omit a very important detail." He smirked. "Jinns... loved being in trouble. Hell, they were born making it! Their appetites were never satiated, enough to drive them insane and forever be that way. They will eat anything made of flesh, alive or not, including their mothers, fathers, siblings, or whatever. Oh, that was the reason their population was low, by the way."
I shivered. That explains how I blanked out, and got a full stomach after. "So the month long starvation was to test my limits and whether I stay insane or come to after?"
"Hoh, amazing. Yes, that was mainly about it."
I ignored the ''mainly'' word as question popped up in my head. "Wait, why was this even omitted? Shouldn''t it be the opposite? Like marking it as the heroic tale of the century. Saying jinns were evil, so the sword of justice was drawn to banish them and bring peace upon the land." I shrugged. "Anything that is dramatically grand to get people''s support in something as painfully costly like wars will do, right?"
"... You are one weird kid." He commented with a frown.
"Just curious." I said. This might have been like showing my trump card to my enemy, revealing that I was not just a stupid little girl in a predator''s body. That I do know how to use brains for its worth. And probably, this was a very stupid move. But, I have to know the answer.
I am a jinn. If I plan to somehow escape from my slavery, then I must know where I could, and should not, step into the world. I don''t want stepping into hidden landmines because I had been too cheap with my resources early on. Even if that meant increasing the diffculty of my escape by showing my enemy what I had. I rather gamble now, than when the stakes become irrevocably higher after becoming free. No way. For the sake of my blissfully normal future, I had to play my cards right. Though... I''ll keep my fingers crossed for my gamble''s success.
So I continue to pester someone who knows more than what was mass produced. "I am a jinn, so I want to know."
He contemplated for a bit, then glared alarmingly. "A slave have no need to know! And I forbid you from repeating what I just said to anyone, in words or actions." The order was easy to do, but it made want to cry a river''s worth. Already, he was wary of me, and his orders were less vague than the previous ones... making less loopholes to exploit. I want to smack my head. I just made the road to freedom a bumpier ride. And what did I get. A big loss for no gain. This was why I hate gambling! And yet I did it...I was thinking far too ahead.
Suddenly, he stood up. "This talk is done. I have things for you to do. Get-"
"Wait! Please. I overstepped my boundaries. I apologize. This will not happen again." I jumped in front of him and degradingly grovelled on the paved ground. I gritted my teeth as I spouted words that killed my pride.
"...Fine. But, do that again and I''ll make you pay the price for trying to outsmart me." He stomped on my head to make a point, causing my forehead to thud heavily against the paved floor.
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Shamelessly, I threw showers of praise. "Of course! I am grateful for your kindness."
He clicked his tongue and put more weight on my head before lifting his foot away. "Good, it is important to know your place. So? What else do you want to know? Beware of your questions, okay?"
"Of course! Then, as for my question, why me? You just said that jinns were both mad and powerful, so why take someone who might just be able to kill you?" Above all the questions popping in my head, I was determined to know this. To know what exactly did I do so wrong to catch the worst attention.
"You? Kill me?" He laughed hard. "You are centuries too early for that, little miss. First of all, you are too kind to actually kill anyone."
"What!?" My head unconsciously snapped up to that unexpectedly placed compliment. I had been called many things, but never as too kind. I was mostly too insensitive to actually be one.
"Vitaly, Vitaly, Vitaly. I made your greatest fear manifest that time at the Orphanage. And what happened? It seems you are very afraid of the dark, of watching others in pain, of being helpless to help them, of being alone even when that loneliness allowed you to escape the pain! I had used that spell to many people, and I must say, your fears are such a refreshing wind after watching all sort of hells of the mind."
Me? Kind? The idea was really hard to swallow.
"The second reason is that, you are different from all the jinns I''ve seen. At your age, not only weren''t you mindlessly eating, you are even showing intelligence far beyond your age. This occurrence is a first, you know. So, I want to know why. The third reason is Aracelli. The old maid lives to see interesting things. I figured that a thinking jinn would interest her as well. That secures my supply of rare materials, so I wouldn''t have to scramble around looking for them. Fourth, and most importantly, was because you were funny! I haven''t laughed that hard in centuries, and you did it so flawlessly. Heh, the pig''s face was priceless, something I would not trade for the most expensive stones. And did you see his widening nose? It was so unbelievably wide, you know! Also..." He blabbered far more than I cared to listen to.
I... will not dwell on the fourth reason, or else my soul might break from depression.
"Thank you for answering. So, what am I supposed to do as your slave?" It had been roughly one hour since I woke up in the sea, but I felt extremely tired. Talking with this guy was such a mental drain.
He wrote something in a paper and handed it to me. "Yes, yes. You handle the cleaning and cooking."
Huh?
"And?" I asked in confusion.
"That will be it. I am not blind and can see that this place is big, and I am not stupid to know that cooking meant you will need something cook. Ugh, whatever. What I mean is that, doing all those things will require an entire day, and I want you to do them everyday. Understand me?" He asked the last bit with frustration.
After I nodded, he reached down to my head, ruffled my hair, then wordlessly went off to his business.
Really, I don''t know whether to cry or be happy for having him as my master.
...One month later, and I decided I want to quit.
***
Chapter VI
***
Days surprisingly went by fast.
I had been busy.
Though there were only two things in my itinerary, I never expected cleaning and cooking to be much worse than cramming an entire book to my head in one night like my college days. I actually much preferred cramming a hundred book in a day over this impossibly mountain-high tasks.
First of all, this laboratory was an absolute mess. It was like a magnitude ten earthquake threw everything into a mixer and just dumped its contents as is. The result was a horribly assembled space of scattered unidentified objects. One week of tearfully sorting was still far from enough to call anywhere clean. More annoyingly, it wasn''t helping when someone suddenly comes and mess everything all over again just to find one freaking page of paper. I still remember his reply why he didn''t just ask me where it was...
"Oh, I forgot you were still here." He carefreely laughed his mess off then went back to whatever he was doing...
A**hole!
Anyway, cleaning was not only frustrating, it was also very dangerous. A good example was when I saw a puddle. With a reasonably sound mind of a custodian, I took my make-shift leather mop to wipe the wet floor. Unexpectedly, the leather briefly bubbled then somehow transmuted to a puff of smoke.
Voila, my mop vaporized!
My eyes could only stare at the magical event in front of me. The smoke slowly rose to my hands, and numbly disintegrated my skin. I jumped back in fright as blood began to bead out of exposed flesh. I kept my distance from the puddle, but I was curious what it was. So, I watched as the condensed grey smoke took its time going up, to the blue crystal right above it. I waited for a hole in the ceiling to open up, but nothing happened. With a dismissive sigh of a ruined day, I turned around.
Then splash.
I heard a sound similar to a raindrop. I looked back at the puddle that was still rippling from that tiny disturbance. I waited again and observed the crystal-puddle relationship, more patiently this time, until one clear drop dripped from the crystal and fell directly to the puddle and nothing visible happened. Whatever that meant, foreboding curiosity made me toss what remained of my mop, the wooden stick, back at the puddle. As I dreaded, it also puffed to smoke.
What does leather, skin, and wood have that crystals in the ceiling don''t? The first three were all organic material. I shivered as a speculation came to mind. The dirty-looking puddle might just be an acid specifically created to corrode life. Yet, it was carelessly mixed among harmless unsanitary puddles I had been cleaning off in the recent days. When I asked Wuen, he said those were placed intentionally to ward off outsiders. More disturbing was why he didn''t even warn me. My first few drink from this dome came from those kind of puddles...
This should had been obvious as a high school student, but carelessly touching anything in a laboratory was a big don''t. This was most especially true when that lab belongs to someone as crazy as the one I knew. Unfortunately, that common sense was not enough caution in this rag tag football-stadium-sized laboratory, where, apparently, the simplest things were in contest in which was the most dangerous. Therefore, these kind of events had repeatedly occurred one after another in alarmingly short intervals. I could list my complains forever.
There were incidents when my hand almost got eaten off by a mimic disguised as a book, or that time when built-up dust was actually a highly flammable material similar to gun powder. Like a match striking against a rough exterior to make fire, my dried palm broom swept the flammable dust and sparked an explosion. I did survive, but it was scary as hell to be blown away surrounded by glaring bright flames while skin, flesh, bones melt upon impact.
On the bright side, it all happened too fast to feel pain. I also learned another feature of my stupidly sturdy race of golden eyed people. Fatal injuries would regenerate as fast as being injured itself. Of course, there were limits. Regenerating from melted form like that consumes too much energy. My satiety dramatically decreased right after, something very dangerous if you were a jinn. With hunger on tow, my judgement tremendously blurred. It took great mental fortitude to not suddenly rage and become a blood seeker. In conclusion, fast healing required both energy and sanity, so I would never rely on it except as a last resort.
Aside from cleaning, my itinerary also included cooking.
My second task sounded very ordinary, but, again, that was unless you were in better place than an underground cavity. Either because Wuen was too lazy to actually gather some, or the lab itself was too contaminated for food storage, there was absolutely nothing edible inside, much less to cook. With that, it left me searching outside the dome. His orders never said I could not go out.
Fishing, hunting, gathering. They were gruelling tasks for someone who had no experience, no coach, and no weapons. I had to wrack my brain for survival strategies from previous life until I had migraines since, beside what was on books and movies, I had no idea what to do.
I experimentally started with fishing.
Spear fishing sounded so cool in books, but real life had always been about crushing fantasies. With the sun high in the skies, I dove down the cerulean sea. Greeted with extravagant corals and rainbow school of fishes. It lifted my spirits to witness such marvellous sight. However, there was a slight problem. There were only Nemo-sized fish around, definitely not big enough to satisfy a kid''s stomach, much less a monster''s. I swam on and on, but, everywhere, cute little fishes swam with naivety of the world. It felt so embarrassing holding my shabby-looking spear in this backdrop of underwater beauty. I felt like a try-hard mean villain bent to terrorize unsuspecting village A.
My stomach grumbled and interrupted my thoughts. I swam further, deeper into the waters, away from pretty corals, until sunlight barely lit my way.
My head started to ring. The curse of slavery began to demand my master''s order to be accomplished, which was: cooking him a meal. I automatically swore under my breath ...and stupidly released my scant oxygen away. With no choice but to breath, I swam up, towards the hazy bright spot above. I was resigned to go killing spree at village A.
Fortunately, a promising dinner came.
A blurred shadow steadily grew as it headed my way. I smiled, and enticingly swam my way to the surface. A crude and slow swim that delishly resembled a prey in panic as it scrambled to safety. The shadow soon cleared to a long sleek fish, quite similar to an enlarged sword fish, just misplace its piercing snout on a vertically flat forehead, projecting an intimidating long horn instead.
It arrived faster than expected, before I had a fill of oxygen. It speedily assaulted, so fast, I couldn''t even respond as it rammed its horn to pierce my abdomen. Blood immediately oozed out. The fish didn''t stop its momentum. Using the force from its initial speed, I was helplessly dragged towards the pitch black seafloor, leaving a trail of red ribbon that tainted the clear blue sea.
I forgot my spear, somewhere along the line, as my silent screams interlaced with the slave curse and together amplified my suffering.
With everything going wrong and death creeping too close, my senses snapped to predatorial state. My body rejected my brain and moved without compassion. The fish sensed something went wrong and began to slow our descent. Too late, my hands mercilessly took its eyes and dug a handful of its brain. I could only watch in horror as I fed myself with eye balls and brain matter.
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After completely devouring its head, flesh and bone alike, the beast inside me began to falter with satisfied belly. I jumped at the chance and retaliated with a mental tug. It let go.
The beast inside subsided underneath my consciousness, laying low, waiting for an opportunity to strike back in my mishaps. I could feel it silently observing me with uncharacteristic patience. I was reminded, the most dangerous predators attack only when the condition was ripe.
I further drowned any lingering feral hunger by taking another bite of raw flesh spiced with salty sea ...or perhaps just my tears. I was scared.
Of myself.
For the millionth time, I was being stupid. I knew I was strong, monstrously so, but refused to acknowledge the danger this power came with. I got carried away by arrogance. No. I was running away from reality. I didn''t really believe I would go insane from hunger, those were just for movies, like these slavery stuffs, these magic stuffs, and those reincarnation things. Someday, it''ll be fine. All will be fine. I''ll be just fine. Everything naturally goes that way. Like every dream.
But it won''t easily be fine. Because this wasn''t a dream. Not a fairy tale either, just reality.
The screech in my head was agonizingly real. The tingle in my gaping stomach was painfully real. The taste of salt and rust that bit my tongue was disgustingly real.
These truths were not pleasant, but they were what I had. Whether I like it or not, if I want to live, then I should bear with them and move on. I can''t keep being set-backed by pessimistic thoughts forever. Instead, I should think positively. I was still young, with unbelievably high rate of survival, and my brain contained information from another world. These were my cards. In more than one sense, those were cheats to find a bright future. I just need to play them right, then I would get what I wanted. A happy life.
Finalizing these straightforward thoughts, my mind became clearer, like the dark clouds had finally moved away. By all means, no problems were solved, but it was infinitely better than floating with the wind, aimless and groundless.
I was still afraid of myself, of what was out of my control. Nonetheless, I still wanted to live a life more satisfying than my last. This time I wouldn''t regret anything even if I die tomorrow, for I did my best with everything I had today.
That night, I simply roasted the remains of the unicorn tuna and gave it to my dear master. The dish was a crunchy tail fin with random fillet of guts on the side. There were no complaints as he ate it heartily... more like, he didn''t really spare a thought about what he ate and concentrated to whatever he was experimenting. Seeing that, I happily gave him my scraps from then onward.
---
Following day, I avoided the sea and climbed the cliff instead. Using the vines that crawled from top to bottom as my ladder, getting to the top was relatively easy. My lanky build also helped. I wouldn''t even dare putting my weight on those fragile vines if not for my five year old body.
What topped the cliff was a dense forest. Though the greens were redundant, I could tell this wasn''t the same forest we used to escape the Orphanage. It just didn''t give off a sense of recognition. Another jinn perk was an invaluable sense of time and direction. Even though I basically lived in a cave, I could tell when the sun rise or fall without any visible change in my surrounding. Deep sea diving won''t impair my stickler sense of north either. I had a built in GPS and clock in my head, quite convenient for wandering about.
I would never get lost, though the thought of bolting did cross my mind. However, my orders mentioned cleaning and cooking everyday. That meant I had to go back, one way or another, and do some chores, for now. Instead of just blatantly running away, I explored this possible escape route.
Unlike the deep sea that only have gurgling sound and endless blue, this forest was brimming with so much life, it overwhelmed my senses.
Various shades of leaves jumping from mossy green to neon or even black depending on the will of the wind against the filtered light given way by the tree top. Rich bark of chapped trunks patterned uniquely, yet gave a sense of unity among the impulsively growing shrubs that parasite each other. The browns were like the only straight lines in a world of green curls.
In the distance, an orchestra of natural sounds were in a concert. Running water conducted over random tweets, squawks, or shrieks of birds, into erratic rhythm. At first they were just a mundane sound of a forest, but moments of being exposed to it told me otherwise. The fact that it wasn''t systematic made it precious. It was different. It was refreshingly different. That the beauty was there, had always been, and it was up to me to recognize it. Music had never been about ancient scores of accomplished artists, it was about immersion and appreciation. I gratefully bath in this free rhythm.
A single breath, again, stopped me in my tracks. Smell brought by morning dew threw images in my head. The crisp air of an after storm, the damped earth after it rains, the decaying wood and leaves during autumn, the Chrysanthemums of my grandmother''s garden, the green grass from freshly mowed lawn, and many more images kept me standstill.
I always lived by plan, time, and purpose. A mechanical life that scoffs at the unscheduled. Even my last moments, I was too busy thinking of what to do next. I never really cared to look at my right, until my death became inevitable.
Perhaps, this life was a golden chance? To live as someone new, and correspondingly lead a life I never even considered because of inconvenience? Would that make my life more satisfying?
Most likely, yes.
I smiled again, brighter than I had in a really long while. I simply felt happy.
---
After months of unexpected self-discovery, trial and error, learning, and understanding, one sentence suddenly woke me up from my tranquil journey to enlightenment.
"Little Vee, do you want to go to a trip?" Wuen asked with mischief in his eyes.
"A trip? What for?" I asked. In my one year stay here, there was one thing I had to grudgingly learn, my master would absolutely not do anything without more than one objective.
"You know, it gets stuffy staying at one place for too long, no?" He said, already taking out his staff and preparing for a spell.
Slowly, I backed off. Though the act would not necessarily help if this guy had set his mind, getting even a step more distance would at least help me prepare my mental state. "What exactly are we going to do?" I asked and bought time.
"Well, you see. My funds are running low~" He stretched the his last word with tear-jerking smirk, definitely tears for my future.
I froze right then.
"So, help your master become rich again!" He declared and subsequently casted the teleportation spell.
I felt something click in my head. The slave curse had recognized an order. There was no escape.
Probably, my priority should really be to get away from this guy, shouldn''t it?
***
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Chapter VII
---
Hominium, a renowned Colosseum that had been soaked of death since its construction a millennia ago. Even with age, its uses never flitted. Crowd would gather everyday to watch blood fly with gore.
Violence attracts many, and Hominium provide refuge for their madness. Hosting varied shows of carnage, ranging from intense death matches all the way to one-sided slaughters, the Colosseum represented the media in my previous life. The arena will show anything that people craved to witness.
The blood garnered attention from far and wide. Fighters across the land flock like moths to flames, baited by fame, wealth, and glory that winning came with. The rich gambled against each other, placing astronomical bets upon their favoured fighter in their petty war of pride, while nobilities and plebeians alike occupied the stand in fervor despite the glaring sun and still, humid wind.
In short, everything an individual greeds about was here, overflowing more than any part of the world.
All these, in the name of entertainment.
Standing in the center of it all, was me.
---
Twenty three hours before the first regret in my life:
Wuen teleported us to another forest. Contrary to the salty one above the laboratory, this one smelled wrong. Simply wrong. It was humid, the sun was directly above, and the plants had one foot on their grave. The earth was rock solid, obviously dehydrated, and any rain smelled like fairy tale, something that was too fantastical to happen.
"Where are we going?" I asked again.
"North. Stop asking questions." Just like that, another bomb was dropped on my face.
With his vague words, I wouldn''t be able to ask him any questions -and anyone ever again, or else the curse would activate. That was unless he retract his words, something he would never do even if his orders inconvenience him.
Therefore, we walked north in silence. In no time, tall walls peeped above the treetops. Smoke rose beyond it, and I can pick up noise as well.
My heart began to race, and I began to skip with my steps. I was excited. Since the start of my new life, all I had seen were the Orphanage and Laboratory. Neither were pleasant, so when a city finally opens my way, I could only conceal a squeal of anticipation.
The city gates were packed with people. Crowd went in and out, on foot or by carriages, and most of them were not exactly gentlemen. Pushing and shoving, finding my way in was like trying to bypass sets after sets of linebackers.
Being small was both good and bad. Good that it enabled me to needle my way through holes, bad that getting kicked was common because I was too small to be seen.
When I passed through that series of obstacles, one big breath of relief escaped me unconditionally.
"You!" Wuen called out, and followed it with a smack in my head. "What took you so long?"
"But it was so hard to get through..." I reasoned while massaging the lump in my head.
"Whatever, keep up from now on." He bastardly walked on without consideration.
I followed him mindlessly. My eyes were too busy looking around to grumble. If I could make them bulge, then my eyes would be spilling out right now. Everywhere I look was countless new sights. Buildings, made of brick, wood, and stones were assortedly assembled in all directions. The walkway itself was a maze that offered more than left or right. There were occasional tunnels that lead to a mysterious somewhere, or ladders that ascending to building entrances or the continuation of the maze-like journey.
In every open space, a vendor would be there with a flapping mouth. Selling variety of goods, they hawked their products to every passerby with a chorus of unending scripted lines.
While I was eyeing everything curiously, a random vendor suddenly tugged my sleeve. "Hey little miss, isn''t it hot with a robe on. Try this refreshment to cool down and-"
"No, thank you" I immediately brushed his hands off and tailed behind Wuen, who gained three metre distance from that short conversation.
I suddenly heard the rude vendor gasp. When I turned, I saw him looking at my wrist, at my ''tali'' that indicates my slavery. I rushed off before he reacts even more.
There was a reason why I wore long sleeves in such a hot day, and that was to hide my slave status that ''talis'' made obvious.
Wuen headed towards the city''s outskirts, and stopped in an Inn. Though I called it that, it was actually just a series or four walls with black cloth as its roof. No matter how I looked at it, the word ''for poor'' was written all over it.
A bountiful lady rushed forward and graciously exposed her bounty. Tilting her head forty five degrees and chest forward like a string was dragging her sternum to the ceiling, her try-hard attempt to be seductive was a picture of hippopotamus while sunbathing. Basically, the she looked like drowning. "Welcome to the cheapest Inn of Manara! One room costs ten copper coins, add me in for a deal of twenty! That''s for a limited time only. Also-"
"One room. Go away." Wuen answered frankly and entered a random room without care.
The look on the lady''s face was priceless. At first, she froze, then thawed with fire on her nose, then went pale and deflated to some other corner of the city maze.
I giggled for a bit, then followed Wuen in. The size of this room was a stuffy two metre wide and one metre long. One folded blanket was rolled in the corner, and that was all the room has to offer. No windows, no bed, nothing but a pile of rag.
"We are sleeping here?" I asked dumbfounded, and immediately grimaced as the slave curse rung in my head. I forgot, no questions allowed.
"Hmph, I rather go back to my lab and sleep on a table."
"Okay." I sat in a corner and tried to fan myself, waiting him to continue whatever he has to say.
"Not gonna ask where you''ll sleep?" He teased.
"Mmm." Was all I could reply.
The old man laughed at my predicament. He really had severe mood swings. A minute ago he was pissed, minute after he was in his own bliss.
After he was done making fun of me, he finally started talking. "Tomorrow, a free-for-all tournament will start and would last a week. You are participating."
Huh?
"What- what- uhhg. Fine!" This was a really annoying order. I want to bombard him questions, but I couldn''t even begin to ask.
"Last as long as you can, stand out as much as you can, make them curious so their attention stay locked on you."
"Keep their attention on me so you can creep as much as you love. Understood." I kept my voice dripping with malice.
"Kukuku, just imagine the number of people going. There are even royalties coming! Ah, you think they brought royal treasures with them? Perhaps, some royal heirloom passed down for generations? One of those would fetch bars and bars of gold!" He got lost in his greed and started fantasizing shiny things. Wuen, a mad scientist and part-timer thief. He was such a hard working fellow.
"Oh, before I forget. Here." He handed me a slab of wood. There were numbers inscripted to it. ''100''. "That is your proof of registration... Actually, just go there now. You sleep there, by the way."
He kicked me out of the room and left me with nothing except my ID to hell. Plus, I didn''t even know where ''there'' was.
-
Pretending to be a lost kid was an amazing way to find your way without having to ask. Just telling a random noble lady my parents were watching the tournament, she generously offered to escort me towards the Colosseum.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.Along the way, she babbled a lot.
"My name is Pina, what is yours?"
"Teresa."
"Why do you keep hiding in your hood?"
"I''m scared."
"Aww, there is no need to fear me, little girl. This lady here will definitely help you reunite with your parents. Oh, I know! Are you hungry?"
I nodded. I''m always hungry.
The trip was slow and filling. I kept lying in every question, and she kept me well-fed throughout the ride. When we neared the Colosseum, I bolted. She was screaming at my back, but with my speed, her voice was soon drowned by the city''s noise. I felt a little guilty, but I would soon make trouble so acquainting with strangers would not be smart.
When I arrived at the entrance, bulky men were surrounding me. Their eyes were sharp, and weapons of all kind were strapped at their backs or waists. They didn''t pay me attention, but finding my way through them was very unnerving.
There were three entrance clerks. On top of each desks were written banners: ''Contestants'', ''Nobles'', ''Commoners''.
I immediately went for the contestant line, but an armed guy stopped me from my tracks.
"Brat, this is no place for you." A fully armored guard stood in my way.
I held out my ID number plate that Wuen gave.
The guard frowned, "You picked that up? Here, give it and go back to your parents."
"No. This is mine." I shamefully tucked my sleeve and showed my ''tali''. "My master ordered me to participate."
The crowd around me paused. Then, with a snap, murmurs erupted like volcano. This was how to stand out wasn''t it? Be unusual.
"...Fine." The guard backed off with pity in his eyes.
I lined up with other contestants. Eyes occasionally wandered to me, but no one really knew what to do with the kid forced to die like a bad joke in a supposedly prestigious competition. Even though my existence there was discomforting, they knew a slave that moves without will was not the one to blame, so they just grimaced in my direction.
I smiled bitterly. At least, most of them were rational enough to not suddenly beat me up impulsively for tainting the place. These kind of events usually had some of those hot-blooded ones.
When I reached the clerk, a stubby man with long moustache, he gave me basic information. All participants, a total of 5000 and counting, would be divided into four groups. Named creatively as one, two, three, and four, everyone in that group would fight one another until the last ten were left standing in their designated day.
I was in group one, which was day one.
That night, I slept in a barracks full of muscled men. Their snores kept me awake, not that I could sleep even if I tried. Tomorrow, I would be surrounded by blood, again.
Red, the color I hated the most. It was harsh on my eyes, and reminded of aggression, of the monster inside me that craves that color. It was the color of blood. And I would most likely bathed in it tomorrow. Just thinking about it made me scared and sick. I silently crunched on the wall and drowned my mind to a world of nightmares.
---
Present
When the gong was sounded, waves of violence immediately swept through the arena. Besides the classic swords and what-not, there apparently quite a few number of mages. They stood out like a sore thumb as their spells colored the battlefield more than just the crimson of blood.
Thunder showers rained down and induced many screams. Hell fires were summoned from nether reaches and burnt many into charcoal crisp. There were even illusion magic that froze the weak-willed on the spot, making them an easy picking for the survivors. Though the mages were powerful by their own right, joining a tournament like this one was a suicide. There were smart warriors that simply waited for their mana to run out, and immediately pounce on the fragile spell casters when the chance arises.
The crowd was roaring in delight. As they had wanted, it was the carnage they had been waiting for. Blood from countless bodies seeped into the sandy ground.
In this sea of blood, a kid was standing despite the innumerable adults around her. Adults that were mostly incapacitated, dead, or bent on creating more chaos.
At first they ignored my existence, not wanting to be labelled as ''someone who killed a kid''. However, one shout of recognition dramatically changed my silent treatment. The illusion Wuen casted on me was somehow broken. Someone saw my face and screamed in fright. I saw what was reflected in his eyes, a kid with glowing golden eyes. The eyes of the race that forced more than twenty nations to band together just to destroy.
And that kid moved with an absolute grace, flawlessly evading all attacks that was aimed with intention to kill. I was immediately seen as a threat, even though I never harmed anyone. All the spilled blood was something other fellow participants caused. Not me. Yet, when just one person had seen my eyes, he screamed loud enough to gather numerous attention. I was reflected in their eyes, and what they saw was a monster in a human guise. Just like that, everyone became my enemy and rushed to claim my head.
With eyes full of fear, hostilities were directed my way. I grinned. They looked no more than a bunch of fools, provoking someone they knew far superior than them. They should let a sleeping lion lie, for waking it up never turned out good.
I made an example to the first one to attack. Grabbing a sword from the ground, for the first time, I killed something not for survival. They were far weaker than any prey I had eaten, so I should had been able to dismiss any attempt on my life. But still, I retaliated with blood thirst.
My movements were fast and sure as I brandished the sword taller than me like it was part of my arm. I intercepted the first offence, leaping onto his outstretched hands then simply let my blade meet his neck. Slicing through skin and bones was not a new experience. I was both a hunter and cook, after all. However, performing the same task to a human being felt different. It was grating.
His head flew without resistance. Others stopped, cautioned by what they had seen. Too late, my innocence was already gone. All hesitation had been severed when that head flew off.
I begin to slaughter anything that remotely move. Coldly dismembering when necessary, I left piles of disembodied corpses in my wake.
When nothing moved anymore, I stopped. Looking around, I noticed that the entire stadium was so silent I could hear the soft blow of the wind. Also, the noon heat was unnoticeable because instead, I felt cold shudders rising in my throat.
What in the world had I done.
Again.
---
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Chapter VIII
***
My head was ringing. It was not the curse, nor was it caused by any external source. It simply rung like a thousand cracks were ebbing around my thoughts.
It was ominous. If now was any other day, then I definitely would had done something rather than just stand frozen.
But now was not those passive days. Now, I was surrounded by corpses and my blade dripped of their blood. Now, my mind was flashing images of recent scenes. I remember every bit, the smile in my lips, the ecstasy in their fear, the hunger for more.
These were not predatory traits, just a monster''s, bent for violence.
I trembled and fell on my knees. Letting go of the blade, I cradled myself with my arms. And screamed.
"Nooooooooo!!"
It was a scream of refusal, of denial. I did not just murder people. I did not just enjoyed doing so. I did not...
I don''t want this. I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. I just wanted to live, but the whole world seemed to look down on me in fear.
Anything. I would do anything just to escape this dark storm that was driving me to insanity...
A loud boom suddenly erupted and shook the Colosseum. The radiating sun rapidly dimmed as dark clouds took over and showered rain and lightning, causing destruction in its wake.
Panic immediately ensued, and the once lively stadium became an unruly place where people raced to survival. Wealth, fame, and power became naught. Flashing golds and threats, no one cared as their mind prioritized selfish safety. People single-mindedly stampeded to any exit. Everyone did, but me.
Still kneeling, I watched true hell descending onto the city. Not caring, not scared, just watching the scene like it was someone else''s business, not mine. I had more than enough hell looping in my head to worry for more..
''Do you want an end upon your suffering?''
A silent whisper was carried to my ears. I looked about, and found a figure standing hundreds of meters away. Clothed in dark robe, it glided towards me with the smoothness contradicting the turmoil of its surrounding. I couldn''t discern much from the mysterious guest. Just that, it wasn''t human.
Eerie, dark aura pulsated as it moved. Anything in its immediate vicinity was drained of vitality. The weapons, the corpses, the blood, all these turned to ash and mixed with the muddy ground dampened by rain.
The figure slowly crept, no feet visible under its swaying robe. The closer it got, the faster cracks seemed to spread around my thoughts. Still, I did not care.
"How?" I asked. "What can you do?" My head correspondingly had deafening shrill pitch because of the slave''s curse-no questions allowed, but by this point nothing could possibly distract me from the sins I just committed.
''Not me, you. You are blessed with powers far capable than you believe. Petty ties like this-'' It swung an arm sideways, and my tali disintegrated to dust. -are not even worth your attention.''
The cursed sound immediately stopped. I should had been happy, but something held me back from being so. It was the very same feeling I got in Wuen''s illusion. That time, my instinct told me to stand still, this time, it told me to ran away. However, once again, my guts and brain had different opinions. My mind was enticed at what this figure had to offer.
"But, I''m still a murderer, a monster." I sobbed weakly.
''Monster... is what you would call a being beyond comprehension. That is what you are. Misunderstood. No one deserves such fate because of ignorance, much less you, who is destined for much importance. But the world is too young to accept what you are. They will not understand, and attempts would only hurt you even more. Come with me, I''ll give you a place to belong. A place where you can be what you are without reserve. I''ll give you a chance to prove the world what they had shunned. An existence they cannot ignore, you are not a monster they believe you are.''
It stopped exactly one meter away from where I sat. Floating above ground, only shadows colored on what should had been a face. The cloaked figure spoke the words I needed to hear, and extended an arm, reaching for me.
I was presented two choices. To live a life of hell, or join hands with the devil.
In the background, Manara, the most influential city in the continent, became a picture of apocalypse. The constant lightning strikes completely destroyed half of Hominium''s audience stand, revealing the chaos dawning on the city. Inferno swallowed establishments to burning piles. Ash and smoke stubbornly rose against the thick rain pouring down in torrents. Thunders drowned all sound, but the fear in people''s eyes spoke loud enough to further increase the mayhem in the beholder''s mind...
Among the devastated civilization, something caught my eyes. It was a child. Wandering in the middle of the road, the boy mostly got kicked or ignored by the scrambling crowd. Still, he stood up. He guided a smaller child behind him who was bawling uncontrollably. His determined eyes and unyielding attitude made me warm inside. Against fires and confusion, he did not give in to despair, and even fought back to protect someone. He had the courage I was losing. His heroic stance reminded me of a memory I can''t believe I had forgotten.
-
As the youngest, I was mostly clumsy and impulsive, which got me in trouble far more than I could deal with. However, I wasn''t afraid making mistakes. I knew that my older brother would be there to guide me. I was never alone. He would reprimand my stupid decisions, would help me find a solution, would become my accomplice in some situations, or would at least listen when I reasoned. My eldest brother was my parent, my friend, and my councilor. Looking back now, he simply was my light. He always steered my to the right path. If he see me considering to join a gang, quite similar to my choices right now, he''d probably ban me from internet until I get married. In my previous life, that was like a life-long imprisonment. He was that strict, but it was all the encouragement to make the right choice.
-
Reminded of him, I made up my mind. I faced the devil, and smiled. "I refuse."
''...'' If the shadows could frown, then this figure''s face must be making that expression.''You choose to live a life dampened by others? You are far greater than this. They will never understand.''
"I don''t know where your high expectations came from, but I don''t want to regret not trying. I''ve had a taste of that, and it was the worse. I will not relive it again."
''...And what of your base desire? You seek carnage more than anything. The recent bloodbath was proof enough. Staying with these fools any longer would just increase the toll of deaths. You will kill again, and the cycle of blood and penance would have no end.''
What it said was true. In fact, my head was still reeling with pictures of death. The memory tore my conscience. It was painful. However, I refuse to ran away. I swore to always face reality, even if that reality was my bloodstained hands. It was was unpleasant, but just because I am miserable now did not mean the rest of my life would be the same way. I wanted to believe there would be someone who can help me, like my older brother once did, or that brave boy to another. Despite all the wrongs in my life, I wanted to believe that there was still hope for me. I know there is, moving on from horrible past taught me that reality was unpredictable because nothing is impossible. So, definitely, if it could get worse, then it could also get better. The solution is out there somewhere. Happiness is an achievable dream. I will live with that hope at heart.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
I stood up and looked squarely at the figure. "Still, I refuse. Besides, who are you anyway?"
''...Child, you called me here and I would not go empty handed.'' It tried to get closer, but was stopped by an invisible barrier. The figure roared and struck the barrier with a deafening blow. The barrier cracked, and I finally noticed the other countless cracks that had been ebbing in my mind this last whole while. ''Pay the price, of value beyond measure in asking death for solace.''
I paled and backed away. The invisible barrier that kept me away from the ominous figure looked so fragile against the swirling mass of darkness pouring out of it. Shadows probed, inching its way in through the gaps made from the cracks. I could feel danger emanating from it.
I thought hard. What do I have that can be considered valuable? My possessions were just blood soaked cloak and a pair of sandals I amateurly made from whatever materials I found in the forest.
"Teresa!"
A familiar voice. I turned and saw Pina, the bubbly noble lady that fed me and delivered me to the Colosseum. She now looked haggard with her tattered blue dress and bare feet, and her face screamed panic.
"Milady, we have to go." A man in full armor held her in place. It was the quiet guard that watched me in silence throughout the ride to Hominium.
She struggled against his grip and shouted, "Then, take her with us!"
"Milady..."
"Go." I said. "I still have business to do."
"What could- Doesn''t matter, come!" She held out her hand. It was stained with dirt and mud. Slight cuts were minutely bleeding from her thumb. Her once flawless skin became just a memory. Still, her outstretched hand was achingly beautiful.
Can I accept?
But I was a jinn... Even if I could somehow contain my nature, my golden eyes would not spare us from trouble. I would burden her. I don''t want that.
Then an idea came to mind. Paying the price just to drive this figure away, I had decided what to give, what to lose.
My shoulders sagged as I longingly looked at the sky. I wish there was more to it up there than dark clouds and flashes of lightning. At the very least, I want to see a sea of stars. Those were my favorite. It was nostalgic. Even worlds apart, the night sky was mesmerizing all the same with glittering diamonds scattered across, teasingly beautiful but beyond reach. I remember being stubborn. I insisted that I would land on one of those diamonds someday, where no one ever ventured on before. I will be an astronaut, travel the universe, leave my footprints, and engrave my name on the first big stone I''d find! It was a silly childhood dream.
Really, it felt nostalgic.
I faced the dark figure. Contrary to my first impression, it was neither eerie nor ominous. It was just dark, empty. "Take my eyes."
''...Acceptable.''
Shadows crept to my face and covered my vision. Pina''s aghast and tearful face was the last sight I saw. I smiled at her, trying to placate her worries. Though I doubt my smile was convincing. I must had looked pitiful.
Because, I was crying.
---
The pandemonium in the city continued even after I lost my all vision. Pina, who I later learned as Lady Pinara La Areintol, took me under her care and we escaped to west via teleportation.
Months after, we found out that unidentified beings began to spawn at that city''s surrounding. Manara, the city once called the den of dreams became a den of monsters . It was rumored that these monsters had golden eyes, but no one really lived after meeting them without going mad. Survivors would shake in remembrance and mutter incorrigible words, words that were immediately dismissed as a madman''s whispers. Ironically, these words were the only clue of what happened in the following year.
In no time, the southern continent became a territory of these unidentified creatures. The world did not watch in silence. Armies were hastily assembled and was dispatched to the shrouded south, where the tropical climate permanently froze into eternal maelstrom. And none came back. Every scouts sent did not return. It was like the south became a bottomless void, encased in mystery. The rest of the world became wary, but the south made no further move than contain itself in silence.
In that one year, all southern nations became history. Many died, and many more drowned in despair. I was among the lucky ones. Protected by Pina, I came to live a life I had always wanted. There was roof over my head, food came in platter, clothes were fine and comfortable, I even got enrolled to a school despite being blind.
But there was something occasionally nagging mind. I had missed something.
It won''t be years before my neglect came biting back at me. I should''ve questioned the series of coincidence that day, both good and bad. I should''ve doubted my easy escape. I should''ve tried to find answers in about just everything. What made me kill thousands in cold blood? What was that barrier around me? What was that foreign, but ominous cracking sound I kept hearing? Why did everything became chaotic to start with? Why then and there? Where did Wuen disappear to? Who was that dark figure? Did that little boy survive?
However, I didn''t clarify anything. My mind and body was in the verge of breaking. I was tired of second-guessing, of gambling, of worrying, of always trying to swim up from my despair.
Right then, Pina offered the hope I badly needed. She lit my way. I accepted her hands, and I know, no matter how many times I repeat that scene, I chose wisely.
For now, I forget the complexities. With Pina legally becoming my sister -she forced her parents to adopt me, I became part of the nobilities and started a new beginning.
***
AN:
And that is the end of volume one. A bit short for one volume, but I''ll make it up for the next.
For next chap, just give me a bit more time. I had to plot it first, before fleshing it out so... yeah.
Well, hope you like this one!
Just say in comments for areas I needed to improve and so on. I''m open for criticism.
(English is my second language, so there are a lot to work on. Plus, some of the diction might have sounded a little too old school? Courtesy to thesaurus.com lol)
***
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V2 Chapter IX
***
While it Lasted
***
A group of three ran through a riddle of thick tree trunks, patched bushes, and uprooted undergrowth that covered the forest in a foliage that was no less than an obstacle course in difficulty. However, not even acknowledging these, the three speedily made their way without much effort. They expertly found their footing, casually chatting like a group of friends would over a cup of tea. It was a mood that seemingly mocked the forest''s effort in providing a natural training spot for daring adventurers.
"If that is the case, then it had all been a battle of attrition. Does that mean other skills were useless? No, no, no, I am getting ahead of myself..." One of the three talked to herself, lost in her own world. This was Lanna, the battle freak princess that always found time in her busy royal studies to fight me even though she never won.
"Please, hurry!" Another was irritated, impatience at her companions'' slack attitude was evident in her tone. Ra''in was the caring mother type who looked after me and Lanna. Lineage-wise, she belonged to an ancient nobility that would not lose in prestige against royalties.
"What can I do? I''m blind, you know." While I leisurely chatted back, purposely annoying her. This was one of the few entertainments I enjoy. Seventeen meant being rebellious after all.
The three of us were on our way back to the school after a hearty exercise deep inside a forest clearing where teachers would not care over the destruction caused our surroundings. It was a good fight, too good, perhaps. We ended up taking our time and forgot the gathering supposedly held an hour before. Well, either way, we were late no matter how fast we ran, so I might as well take my time. We would get scolded, but... whatever. What would happen would happen. I really don''t want to stress over something I cannot help.
By now, the Western skies were probably dyed with an orange glow over the setting sun. I could feel heat in that side while coldness of the night slowly crept from the East. The forest itself was transforming to new life, an ecosystem exclusive without light. As the night dwellers began to stir, docile creatures of the day began the daily retreat to their homes before predations fully prowled. The relaxed and leisurely rhythm of the day slowly vanished in place of tense and mysterious mood of the night. This transition was always amusing to observe.
Books can say that forest at night was different than a forest at day, but experiencing it myself, I would not call it ''difference''. It was a cycle. Everything was part of something, trying to separate that something would result to losing a piece in the process. As someone who keeps breaking and rebuilding myself over and over, every piece was indescribably important, or else, I would have nothing left to begin again before I knew it... These melancholic thoughts circled in my head as I continued annoying my companions.
-
It had been a decade since the destruction of the city of Manara and the whole southern nations after, and it had been a decade since I was living the dream of normality.
My life went on.
At first, it had not been easy. My background as an orphan coupled with my blindness, I was far from being useful much less leading a satisfying life. If even walking down the street without bumping against anyone was next to impossible, who would hire the invalid me? Just when I was at another dead end, Pina helped me out, again. She made me her sister, something her parents grudgingly accepted only because that was the condition she set to agree marrying the son of powerful family in a province further in the cold north. I was furious. I burdened her enough, just the fact that she was not freaking out around me after knowing the horror I was capable of was a sympathy I felt deeply grateful for. She was the only person who accepted me for who I was, and yet, my debt on her only grew.
On the day she had to leave for a wedding I was forbidden to attend, Pina made me promise. She wanted me to go school, make that my stepping stone so in the next time we meet, I would no longer be the helpless girl that always clung to her for guidance.
I obliged. There really was not much I could do because, after all, I was nobody. I could only assure Pina that I would be fine. I would make her proud. So, I spent the next months diligently adapting to society, something so simple but harder than I thought it would be.
First, I started filling the void left by not having my sight, a void that was fast becoming a black hole that kept swallowing its surrounding to make a bigger hole. It was scary not seeing the world move. Trapped in that darkness without anything to rely onto, I was filled with regret for sacrificing my eyes, like I betrayed my most trusted friend even with our innumerable hardships together over greed of the bribe that was freedom. For what? There was only darkness. These grave thoughts caused more frustrations, clouding my judgement with paranoia born from my restless imaginings. It was not helping to sleep through it and only to wake up with nothing but black or previous nightmares to distract my mind from my desperation.
In a situation where I had no reprieve, I could only grind my teeth and force myself on focusing over other things.
Books.
I drowned myself in them.
I never knew how to read, neither the Orphanage nor Wuen taught me how. Instead, the books, or any written material for this matter, talked to me. Not verbally, but through flashes of images that I had to decipher. It was an inborn ability that I did not appreciate because of its severe drawbacks.
My way of ''reading'' was like an old school animation. Every page was useless by itself, but stacking the drawings that was slightly different than the last then flipping all these in rapid succession creates the illusion of a moving picture.
This idea was similar to how I ''read'', except two major difference. First, each flash was not an still picture, but a short clip of breathtakingly detailed video. It would stay in my head for a couple of seconds before disappearing completely. One video clip per page.
Second, unlike an animation that flow with consistency, the flashes per page I saw varied in content. This irregularity made it hard to understand the context . For example, the books I stole from Moran back in the Orphanage were history books. At one page, it was an aerial view of a landscape that made mountains seem small. However, the next page could be totally unrelated scene like fancy people talking over a long table. When I went back to the first page, the aerial view was gone and I end up seeing the same landscape but on a worm''s perspective where the said mountains appeared gigantic.
Experiments told me that what the short flash of videos I see were randomed like lotteries. In every touch, the flash of image would be different than the first, second, or third attempt. Sometimes there would be similar clips, but that rarely happened.
In summation, my way of ''reading'' was like that game that gave you four images and make you guess what one word would describe all of them(1). My case, however, forces me to make a reasonable story out of an infinite video clips...
More clips might mean more clue, but swallowing that much information was too much to digest.
I had to flip back and forth a hundred just to understand that the first scene was simply telling the setting and the next page was about the people involved. Considering that there were at least couple hundreds of pages in a book, it was needless to say, understanding a whole content took me countless nights suffering from nausea and migraines.
And that was just simple history book for casual record keeping.
This was the main reason I did not learn a thing from a mad scientist''s hideout. I wasn''t really encouraged to read the ridiculously complicated books in Wuen''s laboratory. Those gave me horrible nosebleeds, literally, until I just gave up trying. My head could not take anymore of those torturously detailed explanations. My ''reading'' technique was simply too painful to bear, so I hadn''t tried ''reading'' again after I swore to not nosebleed ever again.
However, I couldn''t be such a spoiled girl forever. Becoming blind forced me to endure this experience to compensate my sight. For the sake of my promise to Pina, I had to become a successful student which meant ''reading'' even if I teetered to insanity.
In a way, this ability was a blessing for the blind. I didn''t have to live a life with nothing but monotonous darkness.
Pain in exchange for more than black, it was a bittersweet relief.
After coming to terms with my blindness, the second thing I dealt with was how to walk without toppling in an even ground. Finding my way in a throng of crowd, it was actually easy after I stopped being frustrated for being blind.
I did not lose everything by becoming blind. My ears and nose had always been excellent, but I never really learned to use them properly because I had been too reliant on my eyes.
I thought of ways to combat my handicapped. One idea resulted. Be a copy cat. There was that article about blind people in my previous life, human echolocation. By clicking the tongue or tapping of a cane to the ground, the projected sound would hit objects and would reflect back as an echo carrying information like what and where objects. Of course, this was not an amateur''s work. However, I had confidence that my hearing would not lose to anyone''s and therefore make the attempt easier. Thinking this, I smiled, and silently promised another thing in my heart besides ''reading'' even when my nose bleeds. It was, to become a batwoman in action.
After a few months of practice, I moved better with eyes closed and headaches from ''reading'' became less severe. By no means did my migraines became lighter, my mental fortitude simply got tougher.
There might still be a lot to learn, but what I had was enough to stand toe to toe with my future classmates.
And so, I, seven year old Vitaly la Areintol started going to school.
-
Yenoa Academy was an all girls prestigious academy that only welcomes the children of nobilities. Given my background, I was barely passable. In exchange, I received discrimination. Most of them were cute pranks that I couldn''t be bothered with, but the faculties'' condemn was quite a pain. They would try embarrass me in every opportunity, double my responsibilities, and purposely give me work that heavily relies on vision. Of course, I pulled through, laughing with them over dumb remarks against me, and the doubled responsibility was a breeze compared to what I endured in Wuen''s lab. As for the books I had to sort in a library that was obviously shuffled, it was a miracle I didn''t go insane. Sorting it was like repeatedly watching pirated movies of crappy quality without audio, somehow summarize it into sensibility, figure out the title, finally sort them alphabetically and by category, and multiply all these by a thousand every single day. As if that was not enough, I always got grilled with insults after.
That was until my patience just became zero.
-Flashback-
"It is such a simple task, but as expected of filthy blood, your simple head could not handle it. However, the Areintols had done so much for the Academy, the least we could is to tolerate the charity they imposed upon themselves." She spoke condescendingly about five meters away from me. This was the general attitude of faculties towards the charity which was mne, though there were exceptions which were rarer than diamonds, but I was sick of being belittled by these spoon fed aristocrats.
I responded with mockingly sad voice. "Yes, yes, it cannot be helped. What, with a stupid academy and all~"
"...What did you say?" Her voice excitingly dropped an octave.
"I said Yenoa Academy is a stupid academy. Lady Zaratix, why can''t you understand something so simple? Ah~ as expected of noble blood, was my words too vulgar to understand? But those were common language... Oh, I know! Nobles would never understand something they lacked, in this case, it is common sense for common language, isn''t it? So nobles got no common sense, good to know! As expected of a prestigious academy, I am learning something so early in the morning." I rattled refreshingly. It was like sipping a cup of coffee in a snowy day, so warm and relaxing, I could do this forever.
As for the lady silenced to dumbness, I just happily imagined the veins popping in her head. She took shaky steps toward me, then pinched my ears and twisted it hard with her sharp nails. Blood immediately bleeded out and dripped down to the hardwood of the library. "You dirty... it seems you have forgotten your place." She did not let go and dragged me out the doors looking like that.
It was actually noon outside, not as early as I sarcastically remarked. With that said, there were many students milling about as they enjoyed the free time I never got. My entrance made them gasp in horror, their appetite ruined. Meanwhile, my head was too hazy from ''reading'' too many books to care over their disgust or the bleeding pain on my ear. I only had to think about my recent outburst and my smirk easily erased the sensation of blood dripping down my neck. A few drop was a bargain if that meant pissing this stupid teacher off.
I was dragged until the courtyard, a total of five hundred meters. By this time, my blood dripped down the cobblestone spilling enough to make me more dizzy. I barely got to eat anything that day, added with the stress and insomnia, my situation was fast becoming dangerous. Zaratrix let go and distanced herself, five meters away from me. "Beg. Grovel to the ground and beg forgiveness." Threat heavily laced her words.
I did that once, and I would never do it twice. I was no longer a slave, never would I be so low again. "I refuse."
"... You have three seconds."
And I waited three seconds.
I think that made her snap. Mana gathered around her and she began to chant. But wow, she was slow. This was actually the first time someone casted a spell in front of me besides Wuen, and I must say that this instructor really sucked in comparison. "?O Khrys napno cay gracia, Napunas lan amin so ermenya acbibiten-?(2)"
"What is this!" Someone with a booming voice entered. It was the Headmistress, Lady Fatima.
Zaratrix got distracted and chanted wrong. The spell backfired, electrocuting her. So it was a lightning spell. The Headmistress sighed and headed to her with a healing spell at ready.
While this took place, I remained standing unconcerned. I don''t have the energy to do much else. I wanted to sleep. And eat. Soon, I hope.
"This- This is her fault!" Zaratrix came to and immediately pushed the blame to me.
The headmistress looked at me, then shockingly healed my ears. It was so unexpected, I staggered back. "We will talk about this in my office." She said firmly.
"Headmistress, she insulted the school!"
"I did." I seconded. "I mean, why does such a prestigious rely on a blind girl to sort their library? Then, if I don''t get it right, you get mad? What were you expecting? If this is not stupid, I gladly would like hear how you define it. I have high expectations, Lady Zaratrix." I spat my words without care.
"What did you say?" The Headmistress sounded surprised.
It was my chance blabber. "Lady Zaratrix made me sort the library everyday, when I woke up, during lunch, and after school until the library closes. This started since a month ago..." An I continued tattling.
In every word the Headmistress became stiffer, while Zaratrix struggled to retort back which I easily countered.
My tattling went out on, until she had enough of my testimony that dripped with insults. "You are lying!" She became hysterical and leaped, brandishing her nails like a mad woman.
"?Barrier?" A single word from me, and my mana spilled out and lumped to a shield. Just like how the book showed. This was actually my first time casting, but the ugly lump was really embarrassing. I dissolved it and made a new one, "?Barrier?" This time, I pictured a simple round shield, and was shocked how easy it was. Controlling mana was like playing with playdoughs, it was fun. I made various shapes, a flower, a rabbit, and a wolf and made them all chase Zaratrix. She was screaming as she ran, scared of walking flower and baby bunny. Though I could watched her like that forever, my anemia kicked in and made me fall asleep.
-End of Flashback-
"What are you smirking about?" Ra''in pulled me back to the present.
"Hmm, just thinking what to eat for dinner." I replied with a shrug.
It seems we already arrived at school. Now we just needed to enter the Great Hall inconspicuously. It was where the gathering was held, as well as where dinner were served.
"Dear princess, can you please stop talking to yourself? Illusion or not, if you keep muttering like a mad woman then we might as well walk in grandly instead of sneaking in hopelessly." I said to the girl behind me, whose mumbling would not just end.
"I understand..."
"Finally." Ra''in murmured.
The three of us stuck close together and casted spells. Ra''in with noise-cancelling magic, Lanna with light-dispersing magic, and me with space magic.
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"?Mapalpal nay dagem catecep toy linac, oras lay mareen(3). Silence?"
"?O Malinac na labi ya manuwab ed agew, iingas tay bendita to sicamin amin(4). Hide.?"
"?Warp?"
I teleported us until beyond the door, that was the maximum distance I could manage with my depleted mana. The earlier fight really exhausted me.
What laid beyond was the extravagant Great Hall. Two columns of ten long tables, assembled in rows, were divided by a straight aisle of red carpet leading to an elevated platform where instructors sat and observed the Hall. This was a prestigious school, and as expected to what that implied, nothing in this luxurious big space was cheap. Be it food or chairs, the blind me somehow could very well picture the sparkle of everything in it because of the elegant echo of spoons.
However, the Hall right now was weird. Contrary to the refined silence during meals we expected, the Hall was bustling with startling festivity. Girls openly chatted, giggling about something. This was weird. This elite school strictly enforced etiquette which include the grace during meals. We were not even allowed to grind knives against plates, so talking while eating was absolutely out of the option. And yet, everyone was noisy.
"What happened?" Ra''in spoke up, her voice nearly drowned by the buzz around us.
"We need to sit down first." Lanna supplied.
"Sure, but don''t break the spell for now." I quipped in.
They agreed with nods, and we gingerly made our way to our usual seat, first column front row, among the oldest students.
In this school''s system, it was a total of ten years of education. Starting from level 1s, or first years, all the way to level 10s, which the three of us belong to. We sat at the front row, with fellow level 10s. This arrangement was done purposely, something like seniors were expected to act as role models for our juniors so we were placed there, in the pedestal of attention. No one really minded the added visibility, in fact, most were gleeful about it, happy of flaunting their seniority. I was reminded of Vinegar (from Chapter I) with their attitude. I swore to never copy it.
This school was actually new, so new that my batch was the first one occupying these highlighted sitting arrangement. Our batch would be the first batch of alumnus.
Yenoa Academy was hastily established, though teachers kept saying that it was for the growing need to educate children early, it was obviously built because of war efforts. They need more soldiers, badly enough that they would teach girls, who were mostly considered as housekeepers and therefore useless in combat, to participate. Even noble families could not say no in sending their girls in. This just say how desperate the League was, sparing no money to get a quantity of quality students.
The League, or what was officially known as League of Nations, was an alliance of multiple nations from across the continent to combat aggression from the South, or what we now termed as the Southern Regime.
In the year that followed my freedom from slavery, the Southern Regime suddenly initiated an offense, conquering villages and cities adjacent to the dark thunderclouds that marks the land theirs. The League was formed to combat their increasing aggregation of territory. With the combined efforts of allied nations, the Southern Regime''s invasion was slowed and contained, but not without casualty on both sides. Then on, the bordering nations between the two great powers became a place of ruthless violence under maelstrom.
The League of Nations, LoN, foresaw that the bloodbath would stretch for years, hence, the establishment of schools, or training ground as I saw it.
LoN was correct. The war soon escalated to a degree that even outskirt countries in the far north, whose doors were closed for no one knew how long, and neighboring continent in the East, Dyggrul, had made their own move.
The Southern Regime was not giving in either. It unveiled its troops that was once shrouded in memory-tampering magic. The result was, the reconnaissance army that LoN first sent. The Southern Regime had been using LoN''s power against its own all these time. Going MIA for months then returning with the enemies'' flag in tow, the discovery dealt heavy blow on LoN''s troops'' morale.
Additionally, most of the first reconnaissance troops were conscripted farmers or other members of the lower class. After finding out they were alive, their families immediately sought for their pardon, reasoning that there must be a mistake, that the conscripted troops would never betray their home country. These families wanted their loved ones back, but when the government cast evading eyes, dire consequences followed. Sense of betrayal aroused people into action. The families full of strong longing had spread riots to garner their government''s attention. Their frenzied mentality triggered the rest of the populace''s built up tension from the constant danger posed of the south. One thing led to another, and riots soon turned unstoppable chaos. It was needless to say that an unrest swept the allied nations into disarray. The alliance was crumbling.
This was the Southern Regime''s aim, to exploit the League''s glaring weakness. LoN was too young for such a big power. Barely two years since its creation, the chains of command had not been fully established yet. The fact that this alliance had not fallen despite wars in the south was a feat on its own. In a picture, the League of Nations would be similar to hatchling dragon. It has a formidable future, but as young as it was, its limbs have not grown enough to support its own body. Similarly, when problems simultaneously arose in and out of their controlled boundaries, the League suffered great damages that brought it on the brink of collapse.
Just when I thought that this alliance was over, they revealed something that stunned the people into their senses. Riots stopped, and any rebellious thought effectively ceased. To prevent its own end, the league took a bold step. Quenching people''s anger using fear, they revealed a truth that paralyzed the populace in terror.
The League captured hundreds of men from that first reconnaissance army.
And hanged them all in city plazas.
It was not the promise cruelty that drenched people in terror. Nor was the fact that fathers and brothers, family or friends, were hanging dreadfully high in a pole. It was the one glaring similarity in all these corpses that made people forget their animosity. In all corpses, each shared the same shade of eyes. Golden like a sun''s.
LoN calmed the unrest, but was faced with the other edge of their blade.
-
"Vi-ta-ly!"
"Eh?"
"I thought you were hungry, so why are you ignoring your favorite meatloaf?" Ra''in peered under my face, which I ignored and focused with my sense of smell.
Besides meatloaf, there were other types of dishes that made my mouth water. Meat-smelling roast, meat-smelling fried, meat-smelling soup, meat-smelling grill. It was the meat-smelling heaven.
"Like I said, I''m considering what to eat." I lied smoothly. Ra''in obviously noticed, but didn''t inquire further. I smiled. "Ra''in would make a good wife."
"Where did that come from?"
"Agreed." Lanna backed me up. As expected from a good friend.
We happily chatted and ate dinner at the same time. Lanna was quiet like always, but occasionally joined our conversations. She also enjoyed teasing the soulful Ra''in like me. Ra''in, in turn, teases Lanna about her addiction to combat. She never teases me, or more accurately, Ra''in always had her remarks backfire. I was best at reflecting someone else''s sarcasm back at them. That was part of my hobby. We spent dinner like this. It really was best to eat while conversing. Meals should be about filling your stomach, not about displaying how well bred you were. Period.
"Uwaa, I am full." I said after burping while groping my bulging belly.
"Manners!" Ra''in scolded.
"Lanna, help."
She nodded. "Dear wife, let our little Vitaly enjoy her meal once in a while. You would not want her growing to an ungrateful woman in the future would you?" Lanna said in a tone of passionate seriousness that made Ra''in''s jaw drop.
I laughed heartily as she tried, and failed to retort.
"Daddy spoke. Mommy, please stop being strict to Vitaly." I pouted childishly and tugged the sleeve of her robe.
"Do not call me Mommy!"
"Mmm, so calling you dear wife was fine." Lanna did the finishing blow, and made my day complete. There was nothing better than making fun of Ra''in.
The Great Hall was still buzzing with energy even after we ate. The table was cleaned by wisp-like servants who warped the dishes to wherever they clean it. These servants emitted sound similar to a running water. When a horde of them run around me, I always get an impression of wasted water from a faucet that an irresponsible someone forgot to turn off... I dismissed the thought away and focused peeping on the discussion around us, finding out what the commotion was all about.
"Hmm, got it." I declared after moments of ''overhearing'' their conversations.
"So? What is this all about?" Ra''in asked. She no longer bothered reprimanding me for listening in other people''s talk after years of doing so, and failing to make me repent. I can''t help it.
"It''s about the final test before we graduate."
"Did they finally announce the content?"
I shook my head. "Not completely, but they did say that multiple schools will be collaborating for it. But, something happened and cut their announcement."
"Like what?"
"Well, something important enough to need the whole faculty''s attendance. That''s why we are completely on our own as is with everyone being excited... Lanna, what''s wrong?"
Lanna was deathly still. She completely stopped breathing and was staring into space. Hearing my voice, she slowly looked up. "Nothing. Sorry to worry you."
I frowned. "So? What happened?"
"Vitaly! You are being insensitive!" Ra''in scolded, but I don''t get how that was being insensitive.
"I am?"
"Dear wife, it is fine." Lanna reassured Ra''in with her own sense of humor, but the latter was unconvinced.
"So? What happened?" I pestered.
"Vitaly!"
"It really is nothing. I just remembered something..." Lanna paused, and continued staring to space.
This behavior was really abnormal for the headstrong princess. Lanna usually don''t beat around the bush and get to the root of the problem right away. "Someone? Is it your fianc¨¦ and something?" I teased, intending to lighten her mood.
Unintentionally, I was spot on. She flinched. "Of- of- c-course... not". She tried to cover up, but the attempt only made it more obvious. In the end, she gave up and spilled the beans.
Apparently, someone had been courting her to be his bride. Lanna did not even know the stranger, so she refused upfront. However, the lad viciously pestered her until Lanna declared she would never marry a nobody. Instead of being discouraged for being called incompetent, the boy smiled and gave a courteous bow. Before he left, he promised to capture a princess'' heart through his knightly vocation. Lanna dismissed his oath and mostly forgot about it until she heard me saying about the final test, where multiple schools would be collaborating. That cheeky lad was level 10 too, meaning, he would have his chance in the upcoming collaboration.
"And you can''t just refuse him again?" I asked, though I roughly knew the answer.
"No, when I made that declaration, we were in a ball with many witnesses, and a princess cannot back down from her own words." Lanna answered sadly while silently chastising herself for her rash words at the time.
I sighed. "I guess we just have to sabotage him somehow- Wait- ouch!"
"This is not the time to jest!" Ra''in kicked my shin and I could feel extreme malice coming from her direction. She ignored me entirely and proceeded to console Lanna, who only sighed toward the heavens.
"Who ever said I was joking?"
They paused, and looked at me. I could feel the slight wind fanned by their eye lashes. Ra''in and Lanna kept blinking, trying to digest my meaning.
"Vitaly..." Ra''in sounded aghast, but her tone wasn''t objecting. While the princess again stopped breathing, this time not of frustration, but the gears in her mind were considering my suggestion.
Then, with a slow nod, Lanna snickered ominously.
Ra''in and I dreadingly shivered.
Aside from inhuman talent, Lanna was a princess known for her unmatched grace and beauty. As a blind person, deceit from outer appearance was impossible to distract me; therefore, I see Lanna for what she really was. If I was sadistic in thought, then the princess put my words into bone-chilling action. Ra''in was no stranger in this nature of ours after spending years in our company. This might actually explain her worrywart personality because when Lanna get started from my instigaion, no persuasion would make her stop.
More importantly, there had only been three times this stoic princess ever snickered darkly.
One, when we first met. Lanna accused me of faking my blindness. She said it was impossible for me to know my way if that was the case. In response, I simply opened my eye lids to show that there was nothing underneath. I meant to scare the snot-nosed princess back then, but, Lanna proved to be an exception to the cliched nobles I was surrounded with.
She was worse in an aspect I didn''t even consider.
The young seven year-old princess stared at my empty sockets then lifted her hands- and poked through the holes. She actually made the infamous scissor-hand attack and wiggled her little fingers inside. I was too shocked to act, even when her action hurt me far more than slight stings. After few moments of satisfying her curiosity, she backed off. And snickered. Muttering villainously about how interesting I was. Since then, I occasionally felt stares of insane curiosity that scared me more than any pain. I tried avoiding her since then, but the school system had it for the top students to group up and ''encourage'' each other thereon. Lanna''s curiosity soon died down for some reason, but memories those times still brought cold sweat on my back even years after.
Second and third incident increasingly got worse as she got older. The last one was when she was thirteen, but now that she was seventeen, I fear for the poor lad Lanna had her mad thoughts were locked onto. The scariest part was how she could pull this off while keeping her reputation clean, and indifferently ignore the deed after like her hands was completely clean.
"She would not kill him... right?" Ra''in whispered.
"Who knows? The last one nearly got buried alive after all." I mumbled back.
"Vitaly, take responsiblity."
"Are you kidding? No, I''m scared. I''ve got nothing to do with this."
"It is your idea."
"I''m blind. I don''t see what I don''t see."
"...Then I won''t share my sweets with you."
"What does that had to do with anything!" I was enraged. Sweets in this world was in the pinnacle of luxury. I thought I would never get cavities ever again, until Ra''in showed up, with a heavenly bundle of sugary treats from her patisserie brother. It was a poisonous drug I could no longer live without.
"Those are my words! What does blindness have anything to do with this?!"
"Everything, of course!"
And so we bickered.
I felt like I was forgetting something very important like a poor lad''s fate, but Ra''in''s threat were enough to fully distract me from saving the clueless soul.
May the Goddesses bless him.
***
(1) I meant the 4 pic 1 word app kind of game
(2) Hail Khrys full of grace, That all the sorrows I heard are gone-
(3) Gentle is the wind mixed with peaceful, quiet hours
(4) O peaceful night that yawns in the day, breath your blessings to us all
***
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V2 Chapter X
---
Morning.
As always, I did my daily routine.
First was a jog around the dormitory. Before that though, preparations were necessary.
Attire.
Though my chest were not exactly huge, they were the size enough to make continuous movement, like jogging, too uncomfortable so I had to settle with classically wrapping it tight... with bandages stolen from the infirmary. This made breathing hard, but I believe it was far better than either
robot-like jogging with a straight back due to corsets, or indecently flailing things around like some ecchi manga. Really, both was just as ridiculous. Then again, not that anyone would care in a girls only dormitory during breaking dawn where the surrounding was barely lit. No one would see nor care. However, this issue was a matter of mindset, I think.
Seriously, the inconvenience was real. Enough to make me set up my own tailoring company featuring sportswear someday.
Daydreaming aside, I shrugged and donned a loose shirt, then loose pants over my panties. Yes, we do have panties. Though, slightly long and thick like a boxer shorts... again, this issue was all about the mindset.
I braided my painfully long hair into single drop that extended all the way to my waist. Preferably, I wanted them so short to not need hairbrush, but it was Yenoa''s policy to never cut your hair unless you were a married woman. It displayed purity and genuinity, they said, but I only felt like words were written with itchiness on my back, Virgin...
In my mind, these noble antics were simply a pain to deal with. They were too old-fashioned for my liking. However, I was in a different world of different customs. Obviously, I follow their norms. This was like how grandparents frown upon vulgarly short shorts.
...I felt really old all of a sudden.
I sighed. With tight rubber securing the tips of my uber long hair, I finished initial preparations.
Next was warm ups with light stretches like I had seen on TVs. Jumping jacks, reaching for toes, making my shoulders crack then rotate it one eighty degrees. Well, I had no idea which was the proper way so I just did sixteen counts on everything I remember. This took around fifteen minutes.
After a few more cracking sounds, I finally bounded off.
While jogging, I let my senses spread. The air was still and moist of cool morning dew particularly smelling like the green of the forest nearby.
From the dorm, I could hear peaceful breathing from the still sleeping students, or the slight rustles of some early birds. The smell of the kitchen a couple hundred metres away near the back of the main building were particular pleasant. Scent of baking glory enticingly wafted over my sensitive nostrils. My stomach immediately rumbled, pleased with promise of the said temptation called fresh baked goodies... I shook my head, and focused my senses towards the forest, where appetizers lied.
Yenoa Academy was not built anywhere in densely populated vicinity like cities, instead, it stood lonesomely among the wilderness at the base of an infamous mountain range.
Alaminos mountain range, a natural habitat for many predators. But danger was not the main source of its infamy.
It was all due to its location.
This range traced the western edge of the continent. Beyond was the sea, probably an ocean, where human knowledge do not extend. A vast world uncharted. No one really knows what lies in those seemingly endless blue waters.
This mountain range was then connotated as barrier between known and unknown, an unsurpassable limit so to speak. It literally and metaphorically signified a wall unconquered. It symbolized fear.
Of course, not that the world lacked adventurous Magellans to brave up the challenge and conquer the vast sea. Unfortunately, there was simply no means to do so. Forget adventuring through uncharted waters, there wasn''t even a single village to harbor boats.
In history, there had been attempts to pioneer civilization in these parts. But because of the far off location hurdled with hundreds of mountains cradling innumerable dangers of varied forms, it simply became a dream of a mumbling fool. Just making a small town beyond this mountain range was a process that would take great amounts of money, labor, and necessity an impossible investment for mere curiosity.
And yes, exactly like Yenoa Academy, a school built beside that infamous mountain range, a mere week by foot away from the salty sea.
Yenoa Academy was made to make a statement like, ''Yes we can, and we did!'' kind of boasting. That was the school slogan, but this statement was plain stupid.
Who builds a far off school in the middle of nowhere just to teach students etiquettes not necessary in the wild? It was like throwing kids into swimming pool only to teach them how to swim and sew, totally unrelated and unnecessary. If they wanted a well mannered officers, then they might as well just build one right inside a city, where we could at least put those etiquettes into use, save everyone the trouble of months long travelling, and everyone would be happy.
For years, I did try finding out the real reason why they built the school here by eavesdropping to instructors'' conversations. Futily. All important buildings and rooms were soundproof. After constant failures, I considered this question one of Yenoa''s seven mysteries, the Far Far Away.
While mulling about these and thats, something caught my attention. I stopped from my tracks. The sun would probably be a bit higher now, making the world slightly brighter. The forest was waking up, reminding me. I had to hurry.
I paused and verified the noise up ahead. It was the sound of my prey.
My light jog was not for healthy lifestyle.
That was a pretense.
East. Three hundred and fifty meters away. A brawl between favourites. Scent of blood carried downwind. Perfect.
Storing my sanity into a safe corner, I made haste to get early appetizers.
-
Roughly an hour after, I cleaned myself to a nearby stream, ?Warp? my way near the school, jog to the dormitory, took a full bath, then headed to the Great Hall for breakfast while chatting with Ra''in and Lanna on the way. Perfectly normal morning.
On the Hall, everyone ate in manicured silence. The teachers were back from whatever their business was yesterday, and now overlooked the students with the same stoic postures they wore over the decade.
Exactly an hour after eating slowly and stiffly, a hundred servant wisps came and dished out everything that was on the table. They would clean everything up until the Hall became pristine and spotless, then they will retreat back into walls like an ebbing tide of water. Where they receded to, was a question left an unanswered for the decade long of my stay here, making it part of Yenoa''s seven mysteries, the Tap Water Source.
"Ladies, your attention, if you may." The head mistress spoke up and walked down the red carpeted aisle. Her heels made eerie flops in every step, echoing uncontested against the walls of the Great Hall. This just shows how nice the students here, not daring to even breath loudly when the principal asked for attention.
She stopped after reaching the middle of the Hall, and turned around slowly, making sure all eyes were on her. Too bad, that was impossible. My eyes were non existing after all.
"Ladies, I am sure you all are well aware. Yenoa Academy was built a mere ten years ago, and thus, had never produced promising graduates as of yet..." She continued on about school pride and expectations.
I did not bother listening because my stomach was too full. Even for me, two bed-sized worth of meat was just too much. I definitely overdid it. But I was stressed recently, and eating had always been a habit for stress relief...
The Headmistress passionately talked about something, while I resisted the urge to burp... Ah, that would not be very proper would it? I snicker at the thought.
"Miss Areintol, mind to share your thoughts?"
What a perfect timing. The Headmistress snapped me to attention without bothering to hide her reprimanding tone.
"Agree..." Ra''in whispered in a hushed tone. "...For the glory of..."
I did as told, and lip synced whatever Ra''in said with a margin of one second delay.
Headmistress continued to stare me down after my little commentary. But then again, how could that ever be effective to someone who literally cannot read the mood. I just smiled impishly in return. After a few more bouts of silence, she moved along and continued her speech.
Ah, what would I do without a Ra''in on my side?
Ra''in audibly sighed in great relief, so I gave her a thumbs up under the table. She pinched my wrist, hard, without batting an eyelid.
I sent her a silent snicker and thanks in my mind. I believed my thumbs up amazingly delivered the message.
The Headmistress''s speech doesn''t seem like it would stop anytime soon, so I focused my attention away to something much more entertaining. For example... ehm, actually, there was none. Everything was too silent. Between the principal''s conceited address or my schoolmate''s full attention, I was torn on which was worse.
While contemplating how to relieve stress from boredom, my ears perked up with an intriguing sound.
It started with a hum, then, slowly, turned into a steady buzz that spread like a wildfire in our courtyard.
Grand Teleportation, an area of effect instead of physical contact to teleport multiple targets. This one also traverses longer distances than regular teleport in exchange of numerous mana stones. As for what kind of people had both ability and resources to cast this...
At that moment, an instructor rushed to the Headmistress and whispered in hushed tone. "They are here." The Headmistress nodded once, and faced her students once again.
"Ladies, as I had said..." Unfortunately, the Headmistress only talked on. It was a very roundabout way of saying we were having visitors, they were now at our courtyard, and therefore we must watch our discipline and must act accordingly. She said this with a ten page long essay kind of speech. She sure loved talking.
After her long winded blabbering, we all neatly filed from the Great Hall in two lines by levels and by height.
First were the cute level 1s, a good two feet smaller than me who bubbly went through the Great Door. They were guided by instructors in both sides.
"Finally..." Lanna silently whispered at my back, sending chills down my spine. Her amused vengeance was seeping out of her so vividly I could only shudder. Right, I forgot about that.
Ra''in tugged my sleeves. "Vitaly."
I sighed inwardly. "I know, I know."
After this brief exchange of mutual understanding, the three of us parted ways... our heights were not exactly identical.
Ra''in was at the fore front of level tens. With a height rivalling my shoulder, Ra''in could pass as a thirteen year old if she dare claimed so. In our batch, she was everyone''s beloved little sister. Except me I guess, I call her mom, just for the kicks.
About twenty people after her, was me. I was not tall, nor too short at about 5''4". I was just glad I was not near Ra''in at this moment.
Lanna, in far contrast, was lonely at the far back. Her height was a good 6''2". It was not really that abnormally high, but in a school without Y chromosome, she was an indisputable giant, a fact that Lanna detested. Her height was her sore spot. There was a time when a newbie called her ''Walking Mountain'', a title that was actually cool in my sincere opinion, what happened the next day was, well, the kid was no more. She withdrawn from school due to unforeseeable circumstances. I never knew what happened, nor did ever get the guts to ask. It was Yenoa''s third mystery, the Spirited Aways.
Ra''in, me, then Lanna. In that order we filed out towards the courtyard like preschoolers. No one minded of course, neither do I. It was nice being young after all.
In a bird''s eye view, the courtyard was occupied by a crowd assembled in a four sectioned, semi-circular fashion. Teenagers around seventeens, oozing with youthful atmosphere... I really am old, aren''t I?
I dismissed depression aside, and focused on eavesdropping conversations... This was definitely a legit habit. It was all for the sake of gathering information.
"Ohhh, that girl is really cute."
"Amazing, their aura is no joke. This is like watching heaven open."
"I wonder how much-"
Yes, they were full of youthful energy all right. Most of the guys were noisy to the point of dirtying my ears, while majority of the crowd''s female population was unreservedly glaring towards our direction. Yep, yep, it was the spring season of their lives. I felt so out of place. My body was undoubtedly seventeen years old, but adding my age from previous life would make me... No, no, that was invalid, right? Yes, I am Vitaly, seventeen, ready for action!
...How degradingly embarassing.
Lovelife or whatever, everyone here were basically big kids in my eyes. Kids nonetheless...
I sighed in annoyance. Everyone''s lively atmosphere was distorting my morale to highs and lows... I would not think about this anymore.
Yenoa students assembled orderly in an open corner. All levels formed different lines, by height still, where level 1s were in the far right and level 10s were in the far left.
From where I stood, I could feel Ra''in''s discomfort from countless eyes looking at her. She was, after all, at the front lines, facing the rest of the curious crowd. I always felt lucky everytime I remember her misery.
Stolen story; please report.
I resolved to give her a deserving warm hug later on.
"Attention!"
A booming voice suddenly broke the exuberantly youthful mood. The crowd immediately stood upright and halted their chattering.
"First of all, let me introduce myself. I am Illuso V¨¢derdart, 4th High Deputy of the League of Nations."
Surprised gasps immediately followed. A big shot came to town.
The League was lead by three people. The West, Middle, and East continental representatives. Each had twelve under them called High Deputies, who figure heads varying fields. This Illuso guy for example, manages Education. In my head, I call him Secretary of Education of the Western Continent.
When the surprised murmurs calmed down, he continued. "Let me keep this short. I am here today to oversee the first verification test of the five schools built by the alliance in the Western Continent. As such, I expect high evaluation from each of the students."
Harsh. Talk about pressure. His tone was light, but his word''s implications drowned everyone''s excitement from moments ago. Many immediately went rigid at his ''high expectation''.
He then proceeded in explaining what the test would be. "There is no better test than an actual experience. Hence, the verification test... will be a hands on battle!"
Battle. Competitions. Tournaments.
I shivered. It was a word I connotate to what happened ten years ago. An event I arduously buried to the deep recesses of my mind. Yet, now, I was about to ''battle'' again? I felt excitement rush to me, making me shiver in dread.
This dread was a complicated feeling, but not foreign. This was just like the past, before I met Pina, where everyday was struggle against whatever was inside me coiling my morals.
Not good.
My breathing started becoming raspy, so I took a deep breath, and slowly let it out with my mouth. I focused on just doing this, drowning the noise around me, drowning the panic building up, drowning the excitement surging out of my control.
-
"And so, begin!!!!"
"Eh?"
I was startled. Everyone around me began to move. I was the only one standing stupidly. "Eh?" Letting out a stupid sound, shock shut my brain train and kept my feet rooted to the ground.
"Vitaly? What are you doing?! Let''s go!" Ra''in shook me back.
"Ehm, I don''t know?"
"Huh?!"
"Uh, I wasn''t listening so..." I played with my finger and innocently smiled like the helpless person that I was.
"What?!"
"So- sorry. Explain for me please? Please~"
"ANNOYING!!"
Ah, she snapped.
She stomped away, not caring to look back despite my wails. When the referee gets angry, the athlete have no choice but to back down and accept their judgement, or else... it just gets worse.
Having no choice, I dejectedly searched for Lanna, my ever dear friend, assured she would spare me her wisdom in the this test.
In just moments, I easily found her among the throng of crowd. However, she was at the opposite side... Fast! Frustrated, I began my journey against the linebackers.
Then stopped.
Lanna was stalking someone eerily. Her steps sure and discreet.
I paled. Now I know why Ra''in got so angry. Whatever her plan was... Lanna was in action!
I hurried my pace, evading constant stampede or elbow strikes. The target of the vengeful princess do not owe me anything, instead, he would owe me, of less trauma by least.
Thinking about this, the whole thing was very comical. With a sadistic evil lord Lanna, the damsel unnamed poor soul, the fairy godmother Ra''in, and I, the white and shining blind knight in robe, Vitaly. I usually would laugh this off, but role playing was entertaining too. So, I earnestly, and very amusedly, went for a rescue mission.
The damsel clung like a leech to the evil lord, while the said evil emitted black rays of disgust to the damsel, to no avail. The fairy god mother pitied the happy damsel and, therefore, sent the knight for rescue. Upon arrival, the knight received a plea of help from the evil lord. Torn on who to help, the happy damsel or disgusted evil lord, the knight ended up laughing her ass off, greatly pissing off the fairy god mother.
In short, the situation was, the damsel was smitten to the evil lord, the fairy god mother was glaring at the knight in robe, who ended up having fun at the evil lord''s increasing reverie.
"Lanna, introduce us?" I said, altogether forgetting anything related to ''rescuing'' a happy damsel.
"Tsk, here, Gorban."
Short!
"Oh well, I am Vitaly, pleased to meet you, Sir Gorban." I said, silently feeding the guy''s happy ego with a ''Sir''.
Ra''in joined the introductions with a sigh. "Ra''in Yang, pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Vitaly and Ra''in? I am Gorban, first son to the House Kissinger of the Northwestern Territories. The pleasure is mine." He bowed ninety degrees with an ever present smile in his voice, not even blinking even though I omitted my last name, which usually signified low status. My evaluation of him ranked up in an instant. More importantly, if he can irritate Lanna, then he had real chance in getting her hand for marriage. This princess was stricter to herself more than anyone, so her attitude rarely becomes impolite like she does to me and Ra''in.
Ra''in noticed this too and forcibly dragged me away to leave the two, leaving Gorban to his own luck. He was in for a real gamble. If he failed subduing the evil lord with a smitten smile, he would really need the luck of winning a lottery in order to save his poor soul. My hands are clean.
After gaining distance from the spring covered damsel and evil lord, I apologized to Ra''in.
"Ehm, sorry." I said.
"What for?"
"Well, you were really worried for the guy but I totally forgot?"
"You..." Ra''in paused for a bit before pinching my arm, hard. "Can you hear yourself?"
"Okay, okay, then, sorry for being so carefree?"
She sighed audibly. I had no idea why. "You are really hopeless."
"Why?"
She sighed again. "Nevermind, instead, you do not know what is happening for the test, right?"
"Yes! Please enlighten me, mother Ra''in."
I received a head chop. "First, the test would be a hands on battle." I nodded grimly.
"For that, you would have to be in a group of five." I sighed in relief. If Ra''in and Lanna was on my team, then I had nothing to fear.
"However, the group cannot have more than one coming from the same school. That was why Lanna ran to this side and grouped up with Gorban so she could ensure he cannot escape... Anyway, in other words, the group of five must have one on each school present." The statement threw cold water at my fearlessness.
"Hey, you will be just fine." Ra''in noticed the change in my expressions and chuckled. "Any group, with you in it, can even climb to the skies if you so wanted!"
"What the hell?"
"Don''t cuss!"
"Sorry, mom."
"Haaa." She shook her head with a ''what to do with you?'' attitude, making me smile. This was why I call her mom. Ra''in was such a caring worry wart.
"Thank you. I''ll be fine now." I said with a resolute smile.
"Good. Then, I would find a group too. I would see you later."
"Okay mom, but... don''t replace dad, okay?"
I received a knuckle.
Hmm? I forgot to ask what happens after forming a group...
Oh well, I''d just my teammates.
-
After a few more moments of forever alone strolling, the crowd had began to thin out. The groups of five were going into the forest. What for, I had no idea.
I started worrying. What if the population of the five schools were not divisible by five? What then? Would the remainders get expelled for being such a failure of society?
I''m overthinking it... I think.
Instead of guessing, I let me hearing spread again. ''Collecting information'' on what group still needing a Yenoa Academy student.
One, two, five, ten... A lot. I happily went towards the nearest group, completely not thinking why I never used this method from the start...
However, to my great dismay, they panickedly distanced themselves away from me. Not only the first group, so was the second, and third... It just breaks the heart.
What exactly was wrong with me?!?!
Should I show off a bit? Fireworks or something?
I froze. No, not that, never that. That brings bad bad bad memories.
...Then, what else could I do? I need a group to pass the test and graduate so I could fulfill my promise to Pina. That was why I really wanted to get this done despite my personal problems of not liking ''battles''...
"Excuse me." A voice called out to me, making me jump.
"Yes?"
"If you would like, do you want to join with me?" A low baritone said. It was guy taller than Lanna, with swords at his waist, left hand hovering over both.
"Yes!" I agreed without much thinking.
"Me too!"
"Ah, me also!"
"Can I join too?!"
Shout outs immediately surrounded us, surprising me. Crowd gathered, wanting to join our little group, seriously pissing me off. These same people I tried to join just before, now broke away from their groups to join ours...
Annoying!
"Scram." One cold word from santoryuu, and the crowd dispersed in fright.
"Nice, can I learn that?" I asked in wonder.
"From what academy are you?" He ignored my question.
"Yenoa, you?"
"So we only need Kazaow, Jiztden, and Asakura" He totally ignored me again and started to walk off on his own. I revised my initial evaluation.
This guy was a big A. But, I would persevere. No one wanted me so I''ll bear being around this A for a bit until the test finishes. Yep, for graduation, for my promise with Pina. Banzai.
Tsk, still, annoying.
He doesn''t look like he would introduce himself, so I wouldn''t either. That''s why, from now on, I would call him Jerky.
Jerky kept strolling, searching for good teammates. Since he chose me, then I trust in his judging abilities. That was how confident I was to my own capabilities. With haughty nose, I followed Jerky without uttering a single word.
In about an hour, the group was finally complete.
Introductions finally came, a good one hour delayed. The newest member started.
"I am Iris Marmalade from Kazaow Academy , a ranger. I am very confident with my bow, but I also use daggers for melee. I also know how to cook, can identify herbs, and build temporary shelter when necessary."
Iris was a petite girl with a quiver of arrows and an uber long bow strapped at her back. She was quite confident, and definitely better than Jerky.
"The name''s Seirs of the Trigan tribe from Jiztden Academy. I use glaives."
Seirs was a guy with an air of dominance. His few, and relatively trivial words, were mysteriously awe-inspiring. It was puzzling.
"Then me next. From Asakura, my name is Jasper Zedd , a druid. Right now I can only summon familiars, but I am almost finished achieving transformiguration."
"Transformiguration!" I exclaimed. That thing was a legend mentioned only in fantasy books. "Seriously?!"
He laughed. "Haha, yes, though I cannot prove that until I achieve it."
I nodded deeply, and sighed "I would have asked you to show me if you managed, but, since I am blind, there is now way you could."
"So you really are..."
"Disappointed? Ha! Don''t worry, I don''t need eyes to target and cast my spells. My name is Vitaly from Yenoa, a mage specializing in support magic. Pleased to meet you, everyone."
"Ohhh." There was a satisfying collective gasp of awe.
Not many practice support magic because it was hard to learn, after all, destroying things does not require a lot of control in contrast to restoration spells like healing, my specialty, where the slightest mistake could very well spell death.
... Though I think, I was bragging too much. But I don''t want to get kicked out of the group after all this time so I would push this trump card shamelessly.
"... My name is Yulan Dreik of the Ygila Academy. I practice two-swords style." Jerky introduced himself.
?Iris Marmalade [ee-ris mahr-mah-leyd] -Ranger
?Seirs [seers] -Fighter
?Jasper Zedd [jahs-per zed-d] -Druid
?Vitaly [vee-tah-li] - Mage
?Yulan Dreik [you-lahn dreyk] - Zoro
Everyone seemed be normal at least, with no major perks that causes friction, so I guess everything would be fine later on... I really hope so.
And that concludes the RPG-esque introductions. The group unanimously proceeded towards the forest without much further ado...
...Postscript: I still don''t know why everyone kept going into the forest.
Asking my team might get me booted because I was an irresponsible person for not listening...
So I would keep this secret deep in my heart and hope I could cope on whatever this ''battle'' meant to be.
---
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V2 Chapter XI
***
Entering the forest, our little group steadily headed southwest using me as the GPS. As to why they knew I could function as one, a simple ''this is my backyard'' statement was interpreted that way.
It was a very quiet stroll. Besides practical questions about wildlife and geography, no other conversation took place.
That wasn''t because no one wanted to talk, but because they all were too tense for idle chatter.
Their senses were on high alert, evident in the constant snap of their heads or twitch of hands to their weapons at every little flap from a bird''s wing or leaves moved by the wind. The four kept a careful eye everywhere, surveying for the minute changes in their immediate environment. It was no secret to them that this forest was very much rich of danger, and their wariness were not misplaced.
However, my group was too diligent for their own good. Being on constant edge was both physically and mentally exhausting, something which would not to make this trip any less dangerous... but the opposite. In other words, they were scaring themselves and their fear was almost palpable. These four need to relax a bit.
If any monsters were near, then it would be licking its lips by now. This tense mood was their kind of prey.
That was when I realized, these four were still green behind the ears.
The five schools might had been the gathering of elites, but the students were still kids that did not go beyond the fence. There might had been mock battles here and there, but not an unorganized, and completely independent movement in a foreign soil like we were currently in. Hence, their nervousness.
In such situations, what does a veteran like me do?
Nothing, of course.
This test was necessary for them. They had to learn. And first hand experience cannot be mimicked with guided hands of spoonfeeding schools. Danger had to be experienced not taught. I would testify to this. I had too much under my belt to prove it.
Anyhow, acting like a boss right now would just be interpreted in the wrong light.
Just like only people who had been stupid can call the other stupid, my words had no legitimacy anymore than a barking dog. Even I would raise a brow to a blind healer giving survival tips. The most helpless speaking big, that sounds funny even to me.
So, I''ll just go with the flow and imagine popcorn while watching a live action movie.
After a few hundred meters of silent trek, my senses picked up something. There was slight rhythmic vibration on the ground, source was still a couple hundred meters away. Judging from the rate and force of that vibration and the noise it was making, something was moving bipedally ...and it was a ton heavy, heading in our direction.
As for my group, they were still completely oblivious to the abomination approaching. In less than a minute, a confrontation will occur.
I did not warn them, of course.
It was part of learning and definitely not for my personal entertainment.
Iris was the first to notice. "Halt! Something is approaching from the rear!"
The other three snapped to attention at once and peered over.
"What is that?" Jasper murmured. I could imagine him squinting his eyes as his neck craned to look further.
"What do you see?" I asked.
"Huge. Around five meters tall, running towards us in two legs... This is bad!" He immediately withdrew back and started casting a spell with his wand. Mana started to hum around him and balling on his fist before spreading like a cobweb beneath his feet, tracing a magic circle of three meter diameter.
The rest of were not idle either. Yulan started barking orders as he placed himself in the vanguard together with Seirs, who had been in his battle stance for a while. Iris climbed a nearby tree and settled on a thick branch covered with foliage and loaded her bow, ready to fire. As for me I stayed at the back, giving our vanguard their space to fight without worries of friendly fire.
Amazingly, in five seconds, we were in position. I guess being called elite was not out of conceit.
"Vitaly, information." Yulan commanded steely while keeping his attention locked on the incoming target.
"Yes. The only five meter tall creature on two legs in these parts are those. I call them mountain trolls. Their skin is thick and hard. Hitting it would be like hitting tree trunks. Additionally, they can regenerate a full limb in a month. Their strength and agility are also far superior than humans. Fortunately, they are dumb. They fight recklessly without even trying to cover their vital parts. In a scale of 1 to 10, mountain trolls are 3 in difficulty. 1 is the weakest by the way." I replied like I was Siri being questioned.
"This is just 3...?" Jasper asked dumbfounded.
"Yes." I replied flatly.
I wasn''t exaggerating. Trolls were physically strong, sure, but without the instinct that most monsters here display, trolls were quite the underdog. You just need a proper position, accuracy, and with the proper weapon its thin neck were paper.
The only reason they were not extinct just yet was because of their rigorous reproduction rate. They were always on heat all year round. How I knew that, would always be a secret.
...Well, either way, with a healer in the background, my group should especially be fine.
Should be.
But my group''s luck was on a roll. It just so happen that this troll was fresh from hibernation. And it was armed to boot.
Iris opened the bout by letting her arrows whistle past, perfectly landing at the troll''s forehead... in vain. Her arrow made a ''thonk'' sound and comically bounced off, like a stick against steel.
...Didn''t I just say this monster were durable at the most part? Bone covered part especially?
She probably didn''t hear me...?
Either way, that arrow only made the troll angry. It sped up its sprint and screeched in rage. When the troll reached striking distance, its relatively skinny arms madly thrashed a lengthy femur as tall as me, disfiguring everything in its way. Tree trunks bent, dirt flew, and Yulan and Seirs got tangled in flurries of blows, making them hop a deadly dance.
Seirs drawn his glaive from an interspacial amulet, a necklace with round and metallic pendant. A two metre long pole tipped with sharp, single-edged blade came out imposingly. I cannot see how it looked, but by suave way it cut the wind, it must be pretty impressive looking.
Yulan also unsheathed his sword, just one, and used the scabbard like an extended arm to manuever his way against the troll''s raging strikes.
Individually, both were amazing
Together, they sucked big time.
I don''t need eyes to tell, just hearing both of their constant annoyed grunts was enough indication.
Iris at the far back was not making much progress either. Our vanguard''s frantic steps were too irregular for Iris to intervene. Shooting now might hit undesirable targets.
As for the magicians, Jasper was still casting while I was standing beside him without popcorn. Should I help?
Nah, it hasn''t even been a minute since the fight started.
While thinking that, another troll approached. Distance was hundred metres, and seems like it wasn''t alone.
Two, three... No, five.
A party?
Plus this one upfront, a total of six.
Versus our five?
This would get dangerous.
The sudden increase in difficulty was too steep for this group.
I decided to help, subtly.
Sending my mana to the ground, I let it travel towards the incoming trolls. Urging the roots beneath them to sprout and shackle the trolls down and buy us time. Compared to the size and weight of the trolls, roots were far from a threat. However, this was the very reason roots were effective in slowing them down. Making trolls trip again and again was a child''s task. Well, them falling for the same trick again and again was the most contributing factor. Anyway, this effectively delayed them, buying us time to finish the first one.
After moments, after tripping more than ten times, the trolls were so pissed off and they started hitting the ground madly while screeching deafeningly. Their combined annoyed shrieks were loud enough for Yulan and the others to hear.
The four momentarily froze, and the troll before us didn''t miss its chance. It struck Seirs, aiming for his head. To which Seirs barely blocked with two hands raising his glaive.
"Ku-" Upon contact, blood spluttered from his mouth and he was sent to his knees. Seirs'' raised arms visibly crooked, right radius sliding past his elbow while both his shoulders instantly dislocated. He knelt helplessly on the ground like a broken foll.
The troll howled in joy as it proudly thumped its chest, showing off dominance.
"You-!" Yulan unfroze and grabbed his chance, striking the troll''s exposed neck from behind. With a swift and deadly slice, a head plopped off followed by spurt of blood.
"Vitaly!"
"Yes!" I took my cue and sprinted towards Seirs.
"Iris! What was that sound?" Yulan questioned agitatedly.
"I still cannot see them from here." Iris answered after climbing to the tree tops.
They had further discussions, but I didn''t listen. I concentrated on Seirs and assessed his injuries by spreading my mana. Fractured and dislocated, bones, torn muscles, bleeding, and fatigue. I was surprised he wasn''t screaming.
These injuries was bad enough for me to use ''that''.
"Seirs, do not reject me."
He paused briefly before giving a curt nod before tightly closing his eyes.
I started by sending a unique mana around his head to dull senses, my version of anaesthesia, then placed my palms at his back surrounding his whole body with a combination of light and water elemental mana.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
I first invaded the skin, then to his bloodstream, fully spreading my mana internally. Normally this was impossible. His immune system would automatically reject me out. After all, I pretty much could kill him with a snap of the wrong vessel. This was why I needed his permission. His simple acknowledgement would shut down his defensive reflex, a mystery I had no explanation for.
In any case, this method, with skill, was the fastest and most efficient way of healing.
After sending a bulk of my mana in, I could ''sense'' him. Every breath he took and lost, every beat of his heart, every piercing pain assaulting him... I synchronized myself to him.
Using my mana, I aided his own cells in regeneration while guiding what to where. I disintegrated the splintered bones flowing in his bloodstream, then urged the left overs to contribute in patching his fractured bones. After bones comes the flesh, which was easier. I only need to empower cells and they knew what to do. Basically, just charging their batteries so they can do their business.
Then I would repeat the process again and again, depending on severity, ensuring nothing got misplaced and everything was working properly. In Seirs'' case, around three times of repeat would do.
"Haa, done!" I sighed and cheered. The whole thing happened in less than a minute.
This was my pride, an original magic, ?Restoration?.
Seirs silently looked at me, then nodded once. "Thank you."
"If you are done, then help us here!" Yulan commanded.
It seemed the five trolls had arrived, and Yulan was engaging them.
Right, I can''t heal people up and trip trolls at the same time.
Thankfully, there were additional five allies in the fray, encircling me and Seirs. My guess was, they were Jasper''s earth golems. At around two metres tall, they towered over me. However, the trolls they were holding back was twice bigger. I was trapped in the middle of melee.
Then, I again noticed Seirs looking my way again. "I will be fine."
"...Understood." He hesitated for a bit then nodded once and joined the fight.
Meanwhile, I surrounded myself in an egg-shaped stitched mana inspired from thread working. My version of barrier, ?Egg Nogg?.
It was another original magic of mine, so I took the liberty of naming it. Though a little silly-sounding, no one minded so I went ahead and registered it as is.
Regular barriers were just compressed mana, shielding casters from magic, but mine defended against both physical and magical attack. This was what Lanna kept trying to break over the decade, in vain.
So I stood like a good girl, while the others desperately fought for survival.
I was being cold, but I had confidence in my ability to raise them from the dead... -ish.
Besides, they don''t really need my help. Yulan and Seirs were becoming better and better with their collaboration. Jasper was excellent at multi-tasking, controlling those five golems at the same while concealing himself in the woods. Iris occassionally fired arrows, but this time, her shots were in sync with the golems'' slow movement in pounding the trolls, all the while keeping a vigilant eye in our vicinity.
Five trolls became four, then three. At that time, the four of them finally became a team, and without further ado, demolished the trolls.
When the last troll fell, there was a significant pause among us. Just breathing heavily while hands still tightly gripping their weapons.
"Did we get all of them...?" Jasper reluctantly whispered as he came out to the clearing.
"Yes." Yulan replied and he unceremoniously flopped to the ground.
His words and action lifted everyone''s tension. A sigh of relief escaped from Seirs while Jasper dropped to the ground, his golems disintegrated after.
Iris jumped down from the tree and surveyed the area. Previously, there was no clearing here just trees and bushes, but after the troll''s reckless bull dozer way of fighting, the relatively thin trees were logged one after another. Thus, creating this patch in the forest that exposed us in the sun.
"That was... amazing." Iris said as she gazed at the corpses around us. There were three headless trolls from Yulan and Seirs'' efforts, two were battered lumps of flesh from the golem''s surreal strength, and one with half an arrow piercing the brain through its eyes.
"True." I agreed as I headed towards Yulan. "Let me heal you."
". Thank you." He said, surprising me. So he could appreciate people?
"It''s my job." I replied while scratching my face. I guess I was being too judgemental with my first impressions.
Holding his arm and letting my mana surround him, I assessed that his injuries were not severe. Just minor scratches, bruises, and scrapes here and there. I don''t need ?Restoration? for these, so I just used regular healing spell that accelerated regeneration process.
After him, I went back to Seirs and started the process all over again.
After making sure everyone was patched up, we all stood up and readied to go.
"So, what''s next?" I asked.
"What do you think?" Yulan asked back.
"Eh?"
"Tell us honestly, do we have a chance to finish this test?"
"Huh?" I said dumbly. What could I say? I had no idea what he was talking about.
"Vitaly... If these trolls are a 3 in difficulty, then what are our chances of making it to the other side without dying? If an 8 or 9 shows up..." Iris added a helpful hint.
Though what ''other side meant'', I had no idea, I tossed the thought aside for now and seriously considered our survival rate. "Well, if we keep up our teamwork, then yes. Besides, anything higher than 5s are rare, so it should be fine."
"Teamwork? That''s an unusual word... More importantly, you say rare, but still, you have seen some before. The possibility of them appearing are there. It would not be wise to ignore that." Yulan surmised to which everyone nodded in.
"That is true. But those monsters usually hate people and would not go near them. The proof is... me. I am still here, right? That was because they let me be."
"...Then how do know they are strong?" Iris chimed in doubtingly.
"... Just the other day, two of them fought. A red striped, black tiger against a gryphon. I may be blind, but as a mage, I could sense their mana all the way from the academy. These beasts were not only physically formidable, but also magically capable. The ruined area spanning of hundreds of meters is enough evidence to me."
"How do you know what they were? You just said you are blind... or are you lying about that too?" Iris said almost mockingly.
"Iris." Yulan warned.
But I wasn''t offended. My name is Vitaly, the most level-headed person in the world! Definitely. Teenage sarcasm have no effect on my mental health! Definitely...!
"Yes, I am blind, but my friends aren''t. Do I have to explain more clearly?" I replied sweetly with a matching smile, a finishing move, courtesy to my best friends Lanna and Ra''in.
"... I apologize." Iris backed down with a bow of her head.
"Well, as long as you understand. I wouldn''t lie about this. It also concerns my life, after all."
"Yes, sorry. I was not thinking clearly."
I nodded, signalling an end to this topic.
"... With that, what does everyone think? Should we press forward?" Yulan took the topic back on track.
"Yes. With you guys, it shouldn''t be too hard." I agreed with lip service added.
"... I will have to agree. I cannot fail this test." Jasper seconded. It''s probably a misinterpretation, but I thought I heard despair in his voice. Either way, I understand his sentiments.
"I agree." Seirs briefly nodded.
"I have no choice then. Take me as well. I sincerely hope for everyone''s success." Iris added with naked dread in her tone.
"It is decided. We continue forward. Vitaly, where is West?" Yulan asked.
I paused then turned slightly left. Pointing at the skies, I answered. "There."
"...Then let us go."
With only half an hour break, our little group once again started our trek. This time straight to the west, unlike our previous southwest.
Yulan led with renewed confidence.
Jasper was behind him with grim determination.
Seirs went on without a word.
I followed along cluelessly.
And Iris walked beside me.
"Vitaly, are you certain, absolutely certain, that those monsters would not go near us?" Iris fearfully whispered beside me.
I smiled comfortingly, "Yes."
She nodded once, then lagged behind me, securing the group''s rear.
While the group was having tense thoughts, I only walked with confidence.
Ranked 8?
Ranked 9?
Those things would never get near us.
Everyday, every morning, a certain human-looking girl would scour the entire forest in search for them. And without exception, whoever got found never saw the next day.
Only idiots, trolls for example, would get near that human ever again.
.
.
.
Though, I''d gladly welcome challengers any dawn.
***
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V2 Chapter XII
***
We continued our trek westward. Again, the group was silent. However, this silence was somewhat lighter than the last and yet, at the same time, heavier. Their postures were still that stiff, ready to pounce stance. However, it was somehow more lax than before our troll encounter. Hands still constantly twitched to their weapons, only to loosen up midway like a halfhearted tension. It was confusing.
Then, Jasper hinted why.
He suddenly swerved in our right to a nearby bush and gagged profusely. He made sounds of vomiting, but, fortunately, nothing came out. Throng of leaves shook along his shivering shoulders, producing vibrations in the air like those of an incoming bee army.
After Jasper was Iris. Taking the left corner, she knelt and vomited in a protruding roots. Unfortunately, it seemed she ate breakfast healthily.
"What''s wrong with you two?" I asked, bewildered. Was an epidemic spreading or something?
Seirs noticeably flinched with my words, while Yulan slowly faced towards me. "...Vitaly, how many lives have you taken by now to be so oblivious?"
I paused, finally understanding the situation. "I''ve lost count."
My honest and unhesitating response caught him off guard. "...How- ...Why-?" He asked in broken disbelief.
Well, why indeed?
...Why else people kill? It will always be about selfish reasons. Whether it be for survival or vendetta, everything boiled down to the will in doing so.
I just smiled in response to Yulan''s bewilderment. Or tried to. My selfish reasons don''t need to be voiced out. Those things were better left buried in some recesses I would never bother to keep tabs in.
They were too ugly to look at.
Ignoring the stares of both Yulan and Seirs, I went to Iris and held her shoulder. I let my morphine-like mana travel through her. Of course, I did so reservedly, just a slight poke, enough to distract her mind from its current state. It helped, somehow, as Iris'' heaving immediately slowed to a stop.
I did the same thing to Jasper, then did I face the two pairs of eyes observing me. "There is a lake directly ahead, an hour away. We should hurry and wash blood off your clothes. Currently, the smell of blood should be concentrated on the carcasses behind us so we are fine, but it is better to be safe than sorry."
I quickly went ahead without waiting for response. Those two pairs of eyes was too uncomfortable to bear. Uncomfortable not because of the assumptions they were probably constructing with faces I could not see, but uncomfortable because their eyes felt like a flash light, illuminating things better left in the dark. I don''t to think about things I rather forget.
I want to keep my thoughts shallow, trivializing everything to popcorns and rainbows. Because if I stray deeper, I was afraid I might not be able to pull myself back up.
This is me.
This is my curse.
And I would never be free.
"I''m sorry..." Iris'' quiet murmur pulled me out of my melancholy.
When I went ahead, the other four silently trailed behind. Both Yulan and Seirs were mutually silent, not that they were talkative to begin with. Jasper followed sluggishly with a hand clutching his belly and the other fisted against his mouth. Meanwhile, Iris was furthest behind, furiously swiping her mouth nonstop.
"It''s fine. It''s only natural..." I said back, feeling hypocritical. I just thought they were sick, and now I called it natural, how irresponsible and annoying of me.
She did not reply, and silence once again dawned our group. Should we just call ourselves TEAM SILENT? Though, I was the main culprit this time.
Not soon enough, trees gradually thinned down until a wide clearing of calm and steady waters replaced them. Spanning five hundred meters in diameter, the lake formed an unnaturally perfect circle gridded by a sandy bank of identically foreign in nature like the lake''s eerie perfection. Right in the center of this unnatural lake stood a gazebo. The structure had four marble pillars interconnected with rails of similar material. The pillars supported a tall roof of ceramic shingles that steeped down to four pointed corners, each decorated with a hanging chime caressed by the wind and produced relaxingly light tinkles.
"What is this...?" Seirs whispered in disbelief.
He was not alone. The other three stopped in their tracks upon seeing the lake that scream it doesn''t belong. I would be surprised too if I were them. In our three hours walk, not a single trail was present. Human presence was extremely scarce if any, and now, a gazebo stood in what seemed like a man-made lake. To add more mystery atop of that, five people were currently in that gazebo chatting and eating leisurely.
"Ahem. Welcome to Lake Ra''ta''na, the proud creation of bored people." I announced with pride.
The four only stared at me, stunned speechless, I would say.
I ignored the four for a bit and concentrated to the more pressing issue. Facing the gazebo, I smiled as I spoke with a voice dripping of sarcasm. "Hello, you five. Is the lake to your liking?" I made the wind directly convey my words to the hundreds meter away gazebo, grabbing the five''s merry attention.
One of them turned to me and cocked her head coquettishly. "Oh my, oh my? I was certain no one in their right mind would wish to be grouped with you after my little prank, but... Hm, I assume freaks are not limited to Yenoa Academy?" Her demeaning voice was not loud enough for the four behind me to hear, but this girl knew that I could anyway. And that was just perfect for her.
Her name was Lorein, the typical high school queen with looks and wealth to back her ego. More importantly, she made it her habit to find trouble for me. If she couldn''t find something, then she would make something. Why all the effort, I don''t know. I just know she had enough passion for that habit to make it last a decade. I did part her with few life lessons, but... she never really knew how to quit.
When I was seven, she loved bad mouthing me. At eight, it got worsened to trippings. At nine, it escalated to ''accidentally'' drenching me with ice cold water in a winter day. I could have died from hypothermia if I wasn''t normal by that! And that wasn''t the last. It was cute initially, but after so many times in years of constant annoyance, I just had enough.
I publicly challenged her to duel, a challenge she could not refuse lest she didn''t a damn to her pride. After all, I was only a blind girl and a healer to boot, refusing meant being below a coward. With these conditions considered, she gladly accepted, and, without further ado, I made her wet her robe, evident with the soaked earth beneath her boots.
After that, the bullying stopped. Oh, no, she didn''t give up. She just became more discreet and her creativity leveled up. So the cycle of harassment and payback went in circles of no end. Like I said, she just doesn''t know when to learn a lesson despite how many times I generously ''taught'' her.
Ah, I was digressing.
Anyhow, I only smiled at her charlatan behavior before slowly freezing a portion of the lake. She lovingly flinched and retreated back in small, faltering steps. I guess this brought back memories? "Oh my, oh my. What to do? I seemed to have frozen the lake..." I said in similarly sickeningly sweet voice.
"You- you monster!" Someone from her group screeched. It was a male, well, four of her group of five was male. Lorein was the only flower... Boy''s Over Flowers? How ambitious.
"Lorein, am I?"
"..." She hesitated. We had been in this drill numerous times, and she knew how the conversation should progress. She starts as the almighty, but I would always have the last laugh.
"Lorein, what was the ''little'' prank all about." I took a step on the icy lake.
She shuddered for a moment before finally answering. "...I made an illusion of blood to trail your every step."
...Now, that made sense. No wonder everyone else was scurrying away from me back then. I probably looked creepy as hell, like a messenger of hell.
On another note, I silently praised Lorein for her cunning resourcefulness. That time, the ground was still charged with buzzing mana from the earlier ?Grand Teleportation?. There was no way I could have sensed a magic casted on that super charged ground. To start with, illusion magic, by nature, were stealthily faint and hard to detect. Even if it was indirectly connected to me, given the circumstances, my obliviousness was only a given. This prank of hers was definitely quite ingenious in design, very commendable. Seriously though, if Lorein only applied this kind of enthusiasm to her studies...
Anyway, I continued our rehearsed conversation. "And what will you say after the inconvenience I went through?"
"...I''m sorry." Lorein begrudgingly apologized. She must be dying inside about now.
"And then?" I coaxed, not satisfied despite her slight whimpers.
"I would not do it again."
"Well done." I stepped back, back to the ground, before unfreezing the lake. The temperature have slightly dropped a few Celsius from my recent display, and my companions behind me were slightly shivering. Or was that from fear? Either way, with a last look towards her, I bade a farewell advice. "Lorein, you better not tell anyone you are eating inside that gazebo. If your sister finds out... well, good luck!"
"Um..." Iris spoke up, making me turn to her.
"Yes?"
"Is it really fine to wash here?"
"It''s clean water, no worries."
She hesitated a bit then spoke, not looking towards me. "The lake is really beautiful. I thought it would not be wise to sully it with blood and my... mess."
"Eh, even if you drop a bleeding troll down there, the lake won''t get dirty at all. Right now, you should be seeing a spotlessly clean lake without a single leaf despite being in the middle of a forest, no? It is an eternally clean lake. It was made that way."
They momentarily froze, only to breath again when Yulan sighed loudly along with a head shake, breaking the tension. "Vitaly, I have so many questions as is, but it seemed it will only increase with time".
"Precisely." Seirs agreed, to which everyone else nodded with.
I shrugged, "You can just ask me later". Gently kneeling down, I scooped water from the lake with both hands and drank it heartily. It tasted sweet with slight tang of orange. The temperature was perfect too, cold but not numbing cold. These two combined, the lake water was a heaven''s touch in a forest overloaded with danger.
The four behind me also followed suit. Yulan and Seirs took to themselves to wash away from us. Even temporarily, their blood soaked clothes would make its vicinity undrinkable. Iris was also slightly away, piously rinsing her mouth. To my right was Jasper, meekly drinking water in similar fashion with me, scoop and sip.
By this time, I completely disregarded Lorein''s stares of piercing daggers. Eh, her punishment for that ''little prank'' would come later.
"Are you feeling better?" I asked Jasper and started a conversion.
"Somewhat, though, I do not think I should eat in a while... just in case." His last words were a whisper lighter than the wind. I was slightly happy he doesn''t want to follow Iris'' footsteps. That time, with my heightened sense of smell, I unwillingly identified the ingredients of her breakfast, plus the nasty gastric juices that made the whole set a mumbo jumbo against my nose. It was disconcerting experience to say the least, though I definitely understand the situation. I mean, the first time I killed something, my first act was to puke gloriously too. Mm, but that was long time ago.
Anyway, for a little while, we stayed by the banks of the lake. Nothing noteworthy happened-actually, there was one. Both Yulan and Seirs shamelessly stripped down their clothes, all but their boxers. Unfortunately, I was blind and can''t tell the difference between a naked body versus a clothed one. To me, either way resulted into a series of high tech information called vibration, not very sexy at all, albeit boring.
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As for Iris, she had long retreated to the forest line. Any decent woman would. Of course, I was the exception. Anyway, there was one prime example of indecent woman here, and she was called Lorein, the woman who brazenly ogled guys even though there was a good two hundred fifty meter distance separating them. Even with bad view, she would not shy away at craning her neck an inch further. She was that dedicated.
Well, to cut the lake-part story short, nothing happened. No, I wasn''t bitter, but there really was nothing worth detailing. I just taught a little brat, took a drink, and so we went.
After drying up with fire and wind magic happily supplied by certain indecent mage, we once again headed westward with renewed optimism strangely brought by a certain someone''s shamelessness. The wonders of her nature never ceased to amaze me.
-
Slowly, twilight descended unto the forest. In the sky, the sun that once radiated heat above our heads were now slipping away, retreating beyond the mountain ranges which towered overhead. Around us, the vitality of the day was abandoning us in the hands of solemn facade of the dark night.
No bird sang to lift the spirits, cicadas became the eerie backdrop.
No critters came astray, they all scurried for shelter away.
No winds gave comfort, for they came to bite with cold.
This was the nightlife. What was known under the blazing sun were null under the serene moon. Everything changes.
Really, the shift from day to night had always been very interesting! However, my group had different opinion.
They only grew wary as the light that guided their way dimmed by the minute.
"We have to camp for the night and start preparing now before the sun completely set down." Iris spoke calmly to which everyone agreed in.
We quickly searched for a good place to camp out. Later on, we unanimously voted in camping at a base of a hill, where a stack boulders pooled a fresh water dripping from somewhere. Well, it was a running water at least.
Tasks were then divided out. Yulan and Jasper were paired to collect firewood as well as dinner. As a druid, Jasper was quite proficient in searching for hiding meat, while Yulan would do the hunt. Seirs and Iris stayed back. Iris were to make a small lodging out of scratch, while Seirs would provide the scratch. That was to say, Seirs would be the supplier while Iris was the construction worker.
As for me, I was the CEO.
Well, kidding aside, I was left at making fire through magic, something I volunteered doing.
Still, it only took a zap, and fist-sized fireball appeared. My task was done in one second while the others barely started. I felt a little guilty doing nothing while everyone worked, so I volunteered to gather more needles and dry leaves to make the bedding.
"Will you be fine? I mean, I understand you can take care of yourself, but..."
"How can you search for things you cannot see." Seirs exasperatedly completed what Iris was fumbling to say.
"Oh? Don''t worry, blind people have few tricks up their sleeves."
"Tricks up your sleeves...?" Iris got confused and repeated my words with a big question mark by the end.
I guess not all idioms transcend worlds. "I meant that, I have my own ways. I wouldn''t even try doing it if I wasn''t confident. So, I will be going~"
I slowly turned away from her, waiting for objections, but since there was none, I continued on my merry way, scouting the area while I was at it.
-
I walked without haste, occasionally kicking random twigs and rocks out of boredom, or jumping to some high branch and pick fruits to eat on the way.
It was already night, and the darkness that scared most people had no effect on me. I lived on it in every waking hours after all, literally... and metaphorically.
Ten years.
School life was almost over. I planned to visit Pina in the north right after, but... what after? I could always be a medic in the military, or serve some noble family as a healer. I also could stay with Pina, I know she wouldn''t refuse. There were so many options for me, but all choices seemed a little too lacking? I did say I wanted a simple life, but I am not so sure what that meant anymore.
Food, shelter, friends, and income? Those somehow sound too... boring?
Well, at the very least, I knew I was starting to become hypocritical.
Boring? Hah!
It seemed ten years of peace was starting to dull my fears. I can''t become too complacent. I bear a curse capable of destroying innumerable lives. Ten years ago... it seemed I was starting to forget what I did ten years ago...
Then what? What was I supposed to do with this life when everything felt so wrong? I was missing out on something, and I had no idea what that is.
CRACK*
I punched a nearby tree in frustration. The tree shook and groaned as it tilted backward. My fist bore a hole on its trunk, several inches deep, while hints of its roots protruded upward. Still, I wasn''t satisfied and gave another blow, much harder this time.
THUD*
The poor tree tried to resist the force for moments, until, no longer capable, it slowly fell with a crackling groan and toppled small shrubs quietly sitting behind it.
The noise echoed and scared few nocturnal creatures away, while some others got attracted and came closer with cautious curiosity leading their way.
Just about time.
I was getting hungry. Today''s lunch was only berries, fruits, and some herbs we got along the way. It was far from my usual diet, especially after using ?Restoration?. That spell consumes a lot of my mana, and depleted mana meant depleted satiety, while depleted satiety meant going killing spree. It was a ridiculously dreadful chain of events.
Thankfully, wolves came to relieve my hunger. About six of them came creeping around me, while a few more stayed in place, waiting for orders. Though I call them wolves, they were actually slightly different than those of their namesake. These ''wolves'' didn''t have a single fur, their skin just a slick hide that provides no insulation. In return, their movement were swifter that barely rustled leaves. They also don''t howl, but hiss instead. I only called them wolves because of their pack-like coordination and their hierarchy topped by an alpha. Though, I guess I should give them a different name since they were not exactly the same? Oh well.
I didn''t wait for them to finish observing me, and I struck first. Grabbing the nearest wolf, I instantly roasted it well-done. Seeing this, the pack unanimously pounced. I responded by kicking, not very creative, but it would do. I don''t want to kill unnecessarily, there were other predators who would gladly finish the job.
Anyway, the wolf flew a short distance, slamming against the fallen tree I just toppled. Repeating some kick and punch, until the whole pack was bruised and bleeding, the rest finally retreated back to the wilderness leaving their one well-done companion.
It was getting late, so I hurried with my meal. Iris and the rest would probably get worried if I stayed any later.
Doki*
As I was about to head back, a faint pulse caught my attention. It sounded like a heartbeat, but, strange, there shouldn''t be anymore ''wolves'' in hundred meters.
Curious, I turned to head in the direction of that pulse. It was towards the tree I just toppled over. The earth that was previously occupied by the roots were now empty and hollow, forming a small cavity in the ground. And the pulse came from there...
I took a step closer and knelt before it. Hesitating a little over what the hell was I doing, my curiosity eventually won, so my hands probed forward. I dug out the earth and pebbles out, as well remnants of roots that obstructed my digging. I didn''t want to be forceful and accidentally kill whatever was making the faint doki doki sound, thus I toiled slowly and carefully, inch by inch. Until, finally, my fingers felt something other than dirt and miscellaneous objects. My fingers felt a smooth and soft surface. It felt fragile against my touch, so I proceeded more gently.
Soon enough, I had fully dug it out. Or should I say, ''him''.
Disoriented, I picked him up and dusted dirt off of his naked body. With no idea what the hell just happened, I carried him back to our little camp. My mind was no longer working.
"Vitaly!" When I neared the camp, Iris screamed and immediately rushed towards me. "We were getting worried and was starting to prepare a search party for you! Where had you gone and-" Her machine gun rant froze after seeing me completely.
Three guys were right behind and peeked at what made her freeze, consequently freezing them on the spot all the same.
"Vi- Vitaly, I thought you gone to collect more bedding. I never thought you would bed someone while you''re at it-" I didn''t let Yulan finish and squarely kicked his face.
"Any more stupid comments?" I asked, finally waking up from my little trip away from reality.
The remaining three only shook their heads. All our gaze never left my arms, or more specifically, the baby in my arms. It was a few months old human baby, a ''he'' human baby. I could tell that much after groping all of his anatomy.
"What do I do with this?" I whispered helplessly.
"I... am not a woman." Jasper started, to which Seirs and Yulan immediately hopped into his ''I''ve-got-nothing-to-do-with-this'' wagon with desperate nods.
"I... am not that endowed, so take care of him." Iris also backoff with arms across her chest.
"This had nothing to do with your breasts! That thing doesn''t work that way!" I nearly screamed at the top of lungs.
"How- how indecent!"
"Shut up. You started it!"
"But- but- but-"
We bickered for a bit more. At the further back, Jasper was sitting on log, his hands covering his face while his back faced us. Yulan and Seirs walked in tandem at getting away...
"Uwaa~"
Without warning, the baby suddenly cried, making all of us jump.
I was aghast. I haven''t handled a newborn for decades! I barely remembered how to hold one... So I immediately passed him to Iris.
Her reactions were slow, and in the next second, the baby was cradled in her arms. Shocked, she almost threw him away. Fortunately, she caught herself and awkwardly held the baby with shaking arms. "Vi- Vitaly, please~" Her pleading voice shook with sobs. Droplets of tears were also sliding down her cheeks.
But I was too cold-hearted. I instantly stepped a few distance back. "No, thank you."
"I can''t do this. I can''t do this. I can''t do this!!!"
"Well, neither do I- Ah!" I became negligent and accidentally tripped on the uneven ground. My flailing hands tried hard to reached something, and it did. It was Iris, and she gripped my wrist with vengeance. "A-ahaha..."
I could only laugh miserably. Was this heaven''s answer in my quest of search for the meaning of my life? To be a babysitter? Seriously...!?
----
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V2 Chapter XIII
[Warning] May contain graphic scenes... specifically bloody ones.
---
"Why... why do I have to..." I whimpered. I don''t want this.
Yulan sighed as he threw another twig to feed the dying fire. "Vitaly, for the hundredth time, please stop whining and just accept your responsibility.
"Yes, he is your responsibility from now on." Iris stabbed that remark for the millionth time.
I really wanted to retort back, but everytime I spoke too loud, the kid would cry like the end of the world. It was torture. Kids were cute to strangers, but a babysitter knows of their horns. Cutesy babies were the greatest pretentious evil!
"Ugh..." I could only groan my dissatisfaction while being careful not to wake the sleeping demon. I don''t hate kids, but I do hate taking care of them. They were simple too demanding.
Well, he did nothing but sleep, cry, and eye the berries in Iris'' belt pocket. Besides that, he would do nothing else, a sloth so to speak. I was a little jealous.
But... this kid, after all, was found buried underneath tree roots! Yet, it was still alive and now peacefully sleeping in my arms. Seriously, by any means, I don''t wanna hold him at all. Who knows, he might suddenly wake to a murderous doll like Chukie. That would be too scary even for me.
"Can you surmise again how you... how you found him?" Seirs disturbed my disturbing thoughts.
I sighed and adjusted the baby in my arms. Holding a kid was the best way to make arms go stiff and sore. It''s the worse. With my right arm finally free, I happily scratched my itchy neck and began my little summary.
"Like I said, I was on my way back. Then a wolf-like animal pounced on me. I kicked it first, then rosated it immediately. It died right after, so I intended to head back here before I got attacked the second time. That''s when I heard something crying... very human child-like crying. I got curious so I took a look. And found this." I ended my impromptu lies pointing to my left arm.
"...That doesn''t make sense. Where did he come from? And why is he covered in dirt? ...And you said you are support magician, yet, nevermind freezing a lake, you can even roast a beast faster than a blink?" Yulan questioned.
I shrugged. "Magic, I can explain. Babies, I am completely pure and innocent."
"...Ugh." Was all he said, then leaned back while pinching the bridge of his nose.
"More importantly, isn''t there a more pressing matter? What do we feed him? Just for your information, just having breasts doesn''t equate to food for infants!" They all cringed back, but I ain''t backing down from of silly awkwardness. "Berry extract would fill him now, but that can''t last the night-"
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaa~ hic huk uwaaaaa aaa aaaaa aaa~"
Ah~ Annoying!!
So noisy, my hearing was too good to bear this kind of torturous screaming! I could just foresee it now. If I stay too close to this brat, then not only sight, but even my hearing would disappear! I''d become invalid through and through!
Ah~ I want to cry.
I raised him directly to my face. "Shut up."
"Hic- hic..." And shut up he did.
"Vitaly... that is cruel." Jasper reacted.
"And what about my ears?"
"Just bear with it. You''re an adult. You can do that much, can you not?"
"No, I can''t." I hissed. "I am blind so I rely on my ears, and that made my hearing way more sensitive than normal, you know. I can hear his heart beat even in this instant, you know. That''s how good my hearing is. And you want me to bear with his screamin''?! How about I scream at your ears and tell you to bear with it?!!"
And so I snapped.
Jasper immediately tried to placate me, but I was too far gone.
Since I lost my eyes, my tear glands'' autonomic functions were disconnected for some reason. I tried repairing it by magic, but I can''t seem to find any problems with the wiring of responsible nerves. Everything should be working properly, yet I can''t control my tears at all. In other words, once provoked, I could only bawl my eyes out.
Eh, like right now.
They all panicked and tried soothing me to a stop. Well, I can''t. I could only sob as tears gushed out. Anyway, using their frantic concern, I figured I might as well use the this opening to craftily pass the kid away from my arms.
Jasper voluntarily took him, only to be screamed at by the baby. Same thing happened to Iris and the other two. Once they touched the screaming machine, the volume would only level up.
What, did it imprint on me already? I shivered. No, thank you.
"A-anyway, we really cannot proceed with an infant at hand. We should surrender him to the instructors immediately." Yulan supplied.
"Th-that''s right!"
"Agreed."
Jasper and Seirs seconded.
"...But we cannot do so ''immediately'', not with the sun down. It is too dangerous to travel back now." The idea was instantly shot down by Iris.
In the end, the child went back to my arms and it was decided that we would head back to the Academy by dawn. He would had to be satisfied being fed berries for now.
Also, apparently, the test of ''going to the other side'' had no time limit, so the return trip plan would not affect our diplomas. Therefore, I can say goodbye to the kid by dawn without worries..
This was for the better.
I had a bad feeling about this kid to start with. What kind of babies survive despite being buried six feet under? Not to mention, he wasn''t exactly alive the whole time. His heart beat resounded only when I was about to leave. Before that, I was absolutely sure that there was nothing alive beside insects and vegetation around me.
These facts, I didn''t tell anyone because that would lead to further questioning, and it was beyond annoying to explain echolocation. However, not telling doesn''t mean I forgot and was not disturbed by the kid''s untold, suspicious background.
I meant, why then? Why there? Why me?
Therefore, it was only obvious to abandon ship and get the kid a good distance away from me. I don''t want to get entangled with things I can''t explain, like ''him''. His kind of mystery always spelled trouble for me.
-
That night, when it was supposed to be eerily quiet like a forest during night should, a particular spot in this forest was making a racket that echoed far and wide. It was like a festival was being held with all the varying sounds that seem to be trying to outvoice the other. Not the fun kind of noisy festivals, but a gut-wrenching , bloody festival where the scene could be rated PG with all the censored things flying about.
Hm, in one word, war.
Yep, our campsite became a war zone.
A series of events led to this PG, but the bottom line cause was actually quite innocent, a baby crying.
-
At first, the little kid was very obedient. He would sleep nicely after feeding him berry extracts and was not very demanding beyond that.
And so, we quietly scheduled shifts of who would remain in watch while others slept. It was agreed as Seirs, Jasper, Iris, and Yulan would successively keep watch for about two hours each. Yulan and Seirs, as our vanguard, was prioritized in getting the most sleep, while Jasper''s and Iris'' was the worst because stamina was not exactly what a mage needed to conserve and an archer should just climb a tree for a shooting spree.
And obviously, I was exempted because it would be too stupid for a blind to watch the vicinity. Therefore, I could sleep all night long, a privileged for the weak.
However, that was just me being optimistic. How could I possibly sleep with a baby at arms? Every two hours he would wake up to get a meal of berries.
And then I fell asleep...
The baby woke up and found his nanny being cheap with berries.
His solution: Become a screaming machine.
Result: Attracted unwanted attention.
Wailing was not a funny a way of saying you''re hungry especially in the middle of a sleeping forest.
With his loud cries, I immediately woke up and tried to shut him up with berries. He drank the extracts, but he didn''t calm down and continued crying. Then my robe became warm, wet, and smelled urine. He peed. On my robe. And cried.
I forgot, babies do pee, don''t they?
Before I could even get angry, I heard leaves rustle, closing in our camp. Jasper, who just woke up to swap with Seirs as the watcher, also felt the incoming tremors through the trap spells he scattered in our vicinity.
And the kid still won''t stop crying.
"Vitaly... I believe... something- many things are coming."
I sighed. "Yes, wake everyone up."
Within moments, everyone was on their feet. Albeit disoriented, at least they were awake.
And the guests arrived.
Not trolls, but the kinda-wolves. Their numbers... ten times ours? Nope, more. I didn''t bother counting. More importantly, I could tell their bloodlust was aimed towards me. It seemed they remembered me and came for revenge, and they even howled to call more comrades... So our little predicament became a big predicament. Baby Screamer called them, while I had them multiply. We were such a good combo.
A fight broke out.
-
Just like that, the previously arranged watch shifts became essentially useless as everyone lost their chance to sleep. The kinda-wolves poured down on us in waves. Every time a ten or so of them died, they will retreat and reassemble their lines.
If it was the hastily made group hours ago, then this group would''ve been screwed. However, Team Silent was no longer just a silent group. We had leveled up. The exhaustion from earlier fight, stress of accomplishing this test, noise that came every two hours, sleep deprivation, a diet of berries, all while trying to rest in a bed of needles, I could easily assume their irritation had long climbed through the roof as evidenced by insta kills to all that got too close to our little camp.
There were no longer hesitation in their steps. They moved with assertiveness. No dilly dallying, just a ''go and get it over with'' attitude.
When something pounced at them, it was retaliated with a bang of not holding back, not even bothering to avoid getting injuries.
At some point, past midnight, Iris even started laughing evilly. Gone was the girl who was puking not even a full day ago.
Oh, and they did get injuries all night long .
Once, Iris got circled and her shoulder bitten, a row of thumb-long fangs mangled her deltoid muscle. Jasper covered her retreat as she came to me so I could patch her up, then she went back to the melee. She had long abandoned her bow, ran out of arrows, and had her bloody daggers equipped instead.
Jasper, despite being one of the so-called pacifist druids, was actually quite vicious. There were no golems this time, his mana could not keep up. Instead, he worked in tandem with Iris by using maliciously aimed support. Dirt to the eyes or nose, and if that wasn''t applicable, then simply scatter embers from our campfire that made the mobs hop. His quick, witty, and unnerving accuracy made me believe he would get along well with Lorein. It was a scary combination.
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Meanwhile, Yulan and Seirs were the masochists at the fore front. Even with bitten calf or oddly limp shoulders, they would not stop harassing hostiles. Only after the wave of mobs were annihilated would they go to me and get patched. I guess retreating during fight was not exactly an option for them. Because of one of them falls, then the whole formation would crumble. Neither Iris nor Jasper could replace one of them, and neither Yulan nor Seirs could withstand a mob of twenty alone.
My contribution was quick healing. Three minutes and they were all scratch-free.
Yulan-Seirs combo upfront, dancing unbelievably well against an onslaught of fangs and claws. Over the numerous waves, carcasses had began to form a mountain around them, but the two didn''t care in the slightest and even used fallen corpses creatively, as foothold, meat shield, projectile weapon, high-ground advantage, whatever worked. That can''t possibly had been easy.
Iris-Jasper pair took the middle role. They usually dealt killing blows deterred by the Yulan-Seirs pair. Additionally, they also kept their space corpse-free, shoving the bodies to the side that served as their barricade tp prevent being surrounded. Their situation sounded like they had an easy time, but not really. With their low damage output, Iris could only rely on critical hits like piercing through the eyes or cutting wind pipe, while Jasper never got to last hit at all and focused solely in supporting Iris. Their''s was a battle of attrition, instantaneous reaction, random insight, and largely by luck.
As for me, I hid in my ?Egg Nogg? barrier with the baby who was watching the gore with unnerving concentration. I didn''t pay him much attention as I tried to help the others. Ranged-healing was weaker than contact-healing, but emergency situations called for desperate measures. I healed them from afar, doing my best to repair wounds with speed over quality. For any injuries, I prioritized halting the bleeding over decreasing pain. Still, even with all my best saving up my mana, I cannot overdo it. I knew that mana management would especially be my dire concern in a prolonged fight. Any RPG players know what I meant.
And this deadlock lasted until breaking dawn...
-
With the sun slowly rising from the east, the shift from night to day also occurred naturally. The kinda-wolves retreated. Their eyes was not built to stand under too much light of the coming sun, and they could only growl and whimper dejectedly before disappearing through the woods.
With them gone, our group of five and half was left standing in the aftermath of a ground zero. It was a corpse party laid bare, a scene undoubtedly unpleasant to the eye. Every step came with sticky sound of bloodsoaked mud and scattered matter. It reminded of a certain event, making me grimace at remembrance.
I disabled my barrier as I went to the heaving Iris. Her calf still have a huge scrape which peeled a painful length of skin dangled with gruesome elasticity, an hour long wound from some dying wolf''s last revenge.
"After you heal everyone, we should go. I really do not want to stay in this place any moment longer." Yulan whispered lightly. His hoarse voice carried the weight of an exhausted men.
I merely nodded. My mana had long went beyond the safe limit, and my mind was turning hazy. But I had to hold on. Three of them badly need my help. I had to do this much.
After stopping any bleeding and reducing pain, I walked away from Iris and went towards Yulan. He was sprawled on his back without care where he landed, chest rapidly rose and fell in an alarming rate. I knelt and wordlessly grabbed his hand and started the healing process. Forcing the urge to vomit blood, I steadily poured my mana to him and hastily increased his regeneration.
Then, Seirs. My head was wobbly, but I still stood up and went towards him. I was aware that I was being risky, especially with my empty bowels, but I couldn''t just leave him be. Seirs have the best natural regeneration among the four, but he have lost too much blood. His peed was slower than Yulan, making him an easy target before.
Unlike others, Seirs was standing. Be it posture or breathing, there was no sign that he was heavily fatigued and injured. The deep gnash on his back did not seem to affect him at all.
"Seirs..." I called.
"..." I only received silence.
When I got two meters away from him, he suddenly flicked his arm and leveled a thrust of his glaive towards me.
Surprised, I automatically side-stepped while my right hand slapped the pole to the opposite direction.
He swiftly reacted and used my force to throw his body to me with a stance ready to deliver a low blow.
What''s his problem!?
Pissed, irritated, and impatient, I also took a step forward and danced away from his rhythm and countered with my elbow against his jaw.
Seirs consequently collapsed, and I supported his falling weight on my shoulder. I groaned. With a kid in my arms and a grown man on my shoulder, I was starting to empathize with Atlas for carrying the world.
It sucked. And my migraine was getting worse, my stomach was gurgling, and I was starting to feel the need to murder people. Badly.
Thankfully, Yulan came and lifted Seirs off, placing him to the ground. Iris also came to take the baby away. The little brat didn''t cry, fortunately, or I might have eaten him alive.
Briefly finishing to patch the sleeping beauty, I immediately roasted some remains and ate without words. Contrary to my expectations of the other''s horrified expressions, they actually also sat down and shared the meal with me. Yulan ravaged a leg while Iris struggled with a rib. Hunger and exhaustion completely rid their reservations among these gores.
As for Jasper, he had been silently meditating for a while now. He was slightly hovering midair in a yoga position. This was the standard way for mages to refill their mana. I could sense that he was also healing himself in the process. Well, druids were the common healers of this world so that was not unexpected. I was one of the uncommon ones. After his cuts have closed, he also joined us in our breakfast.
Seirs, the sleeping beauty, woke up not too long after our little bout. Seeing three of us eating, his stomach grumbled in anticipation. When I roasted something beside him, he just stared at it for moments before finally indulging himself. No man of empty stomach could resist the charm of a burning meat. It seemed he completely forgot what he did, and I wasn''t in the mood to lecture about PTSD.
-
It has been a long day, but we can''t even take a break. A troll, being a troll, was attracted by the smell of blood. I didn''t even spare it a glance as Iris handed me the kid, and an arrow whistled past followed by the thud of a falling ton. Iris had really become a full fledged adventurer compared to yesterday.
Because of the trespassing troll, the group was reminded that we really should start hurrying up and find us some fresh water to wash away the filth we carried or simply head straight to the academy, and rid us of the plague called babies.
Along the way back, everyone''s exasperated mood was so thick it was almost palpable. There were occasional encounter with trolls, even gnolls and whatnots, no one really bothered asking for information of what those were. We simply plowed straight through regardless of malice coming our way. Still, it was quite admirable how the four still maintained rationality despite the heavy stress on both their mind and body. Considering their age and experience, I thought at least one of them would have collapsed already or just snap in one way or another.
I guess, a healthy breakfast makes for a healthy day.
-
Then, it happened.
At first, my skin just tingled. I had no idea why, so I ignored it. Then, I got goosebumps. Hair in arms and back sharply rose so suddenly. Danger.
"Don''t tell me..."
"...Vitaly?"
I breathed deeply, but I can''t seem to exhale? The direction of this danger... was from the Academy. This would not be good... "Iris, what''s the color of the sky?"
"Huh? It is blue, why?"
"The east... look at the eastern sky."
"It.Is.Blue.Why." There was sharp drop in her voice, but I ignored it.
"Vitaly, if you have something to say, then say it. No one have the patience for your riddles." Yulan hissed.
"... I am not sure." I didn''t even no know why I asked for the sky.
"Then what are we exactly waiting for?!" I momentarily felt his glare before he sighed and went forward, ignoring me. The whole group moved onward along with him.
"Vitaly, what''s wrong?" Jasper grabbed my back, and guided me forward.
"Like I said, I''m not sure, but..."
"But?"
"...But something seemed to be happening in the Academy. It feels... dreadful."
"Then is it not all the more reason to go back? If something really happened, we would need instructions." He reasoned.
I only nodded.
I had never been a reliant person in this lifetime. All my achievements were from my own efforts, and that made me very independent. That''s why, I felt no need to receive instructions in case something did happen. However, these four were not me. They were already at their limits as is, and I would not selfishly act like a paranoid and increase their anxiety.
I could only nod and follow.
---
A/N
I''m not sure... am I overdoing the descriptions with gore and all? Midway, I was hesitating whether to add more details or hold back. I ended doing both... I hope it''s not overdone. Or should I just label this fic mature?
And I want to ask, what do you think of me trying a different POV besides MC. Just to add description of color and what characters look like, a blind MC is too restricting... T_T
and as always, thanks for reading!
___
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V2 Chapter XIV
***
The South. Once a large expanse of land colored with lush, rolling green forests, crystalline rivers that dug valleys between lifeless canyons, or the seemingly endless grains of gold that dune and dipped in the continent''s largest desert.
It was a vast land that had sheltered life for countless generation.
That was until roughly twenty years ago, when a large scale drought began to redraw an increasing portion of the map with blinding color of the golden sand and brought ruin to the generations of balance.
Starting from continental tip that shares borders with the southern seas, drought had spread to adjacent lands that left no vegetation alive.
Animals were forced to flee their homes due to lack of water and too much heat, and they began to venture further north in search of new habitats. However, such sudden immigration offset the established ecosystem in their destination. Competition drastically heightened over hastily dwindling resources, resulting to cascades of effects that complicated survival to become harsher than ever. And yet, the drought only pushed further north, west, and east, leaving lifeless lands in its wake.
What was strange though, was how lands that did not receive rainfall for mere years soon cracked with audible dryness then soon crumbled to golden dust, as if something else entirely was causing the drought more than just a natural order of balance.
By this time, numerous southern nations were highly aware of this disaster spreading and it worried them a great deal. However, the phenomenon was as mysterious of the world''s laws itself. As much as they had little idea why no rain fell for the past decade, present science also had little clue as to why the dry earth was crumbling into dust.
Studies were conducted about the matter, but it bore no significant discoveries as questions only increased instead. One of the scholars commented how their findings were "as if life is being eaten away". The idea was seconded by many, for the absence of water was causing so much destruction as if life was just basic need for this disaster.
Thus, the mysterious phenomenon was came to be known as, ''World Eater'', a term that would linger in history far longer than expectations.
-
After twenty years, the largest desert of the south had nearly doubled in size, enough to engulf the most celebrated city of the continent, Manara the city of dreams.
However, its inhabitants did not mind at all.
Under the cover of crackling dark clouds that spewed blue webs of lightning flashes, the city of Manara was absolutely still. Not a single fire flickered inside the homes nor any signs of movements besides the rap of wind against the rattling roofs could be observed in the streets, creating a tragically desolate scene no different than a dead city''s.
However, Manara is not a dead city. Every home housed a number of men, just that, these men were neither dead nor alive. They were exactly the League of Nation''s troops that did not return, animated from the dead to serve a single purpose, to be puppets of their animator.
At the center of the city, right where the infamous Coliseum, Hominium, once stood, a towering infrastructure stood with domineering aloofness. Made of glossy black material, the slim tower blended well with the night but also became blindingly bright as it reflected every flash of lightning. This structure was extremely slim, no wider than five meters in diameter, and yet it stood hundreds of meters high, even a craning neck from the ground up would not see its roof. It defied logic in architecture alone.
Meanwhile, at the top of that tower, a lone figure stood overlooking the still city down below, watching the darkness that covered every home. Dark clouds fogged its way under him, but he was not bothered in the least of it obscuring his vision. Even the constant flares of brightness that the tower rappedly gave off was of no concern. With his glowing golden eyes, he peered down low from the high up with piercing clarity that surpasses imagination. Yet his gaze was self-mocking.
He was conflicted.
Not for what he did to this city, he was pretty proud of that, but of his current perspective.
He hated them, those beings that overbearingly looked down from up high, as if their mere vantage point gave them the right to be superior. So what?
And yet, here I am. How preposterous.
His self-reprimanding thoughts drew dry chuckles that reverberated in the strangely quiet platform.
The tower he stood on, was not exactly a tower. It resembled one, but one great different was the roof, or the lack of thereof. Rather than a tower, the term ''column'' would be more suitable.
On the platform he stood on, runes upon runes were intricately drawn to form prism of colors arching into a magic circle. They gave off a surreal glow, and the circle of light hummed into a singsong of power, one that gave chill to an unworthy that drew near.
The display of beautifully dancing lights contrasted greatly against the maelstrom of darkness that of its surrounding. And the man standing by the edge only made the image stranger. With his ragged golden eyes, and tattered robe flapped harshly with the wind, occasionally hinting fleshless skeleton underneath, the ''man'' dealt horror unto any beholder''s eyes.
He sighed momentarily then turned his back from the edge and proceeded towards the platform''s center. There, floating serenely, was a crystal clear cube, bound by the dazzling magic circle beneath it. The cube floated in fiery defiance, evident with the constant billows of smoke or streaks of fire aiming for the dark robed man.
Nonetheless, the man ignored the spiteful attempt of harming him and casually turned the cube. With its six sides, different images were flashing. One of them showed a place not of this world, another showed a scene of the past, one more that of a future''s. However, there was one unlike the others. The image in this side was faint and gritting, like a long lost memory that refused to be remembered. It was too blurred to make anything out of the cascading colors it was showing.
The man looked at that particular side of the cube, which, even after a decade, had always remained as a stubborn fog he could not clear. It was supposed to keep watch over ''her'', the woman who would tear the sky asunder and make his long wish come true.
"Milord." A voice whispered by.
The man did not bother to face the new arrival as he spoke, ''Do tell.''
"We have found ''her''."
This rather short rapport lacked the respect as one would expect from a mere servant to his lord, but the news was so critical the dark robed man did not stop to fancy propriety.
''Are you absolutely certain? Where is she?'' His voice resounded in the servant''s mind with impatience, excitement, glee, doubt, and hinted with fear.
The servant was confused but instantly judged to contain his curiosity in fright of what this inquisitive nature of his always brought. "Yes, she is northwest from here, a several thousand kilometers away into what the humans call Yenoa Academy."
The dark robed man did not waste more time and hastily manipulated the crystal cube to move its ''eyes'' to his servant''s reported location.
With thunder in his mind and titanic quakes in his heart, the man''s bony fingers slightly trembled as it twiddled his proud creation. Then, he stopped.
His heart trembled once more as he spotted a group in the middle of a forest battling hordes of mutant beings. His eyes decidedly glanced away from the bloodbath as it focused on the woman standing behind, against the cliff.
In his eyes, he saw a woman surrounded by a ring of golden light. She was definitely as much as the goddess he imagined. No, even more. With a breathtaking face molded by her divine soul, a figure of abundant praise meant to step over creation, hair braided into a bundled dark waves of dreams and fantasies, she was absolutely perfect in all aspects of his judgement.
Pity, her eyes were stolen. He thought. No matter, I will gift mine in loyalty.
Despite the bones without of skin, a revering twinkle in his eyes were enough to give an impression of a ''smile''. The servant behind him had never seen his master this elated, but his fear only increased. It was all he could do but maintain his wavering silence on what the near future had in devise for him.
''You had done well.'' The bony figure spoke in the servant''s mind, startling the latter. ''And as I had promised, I will set your sister free.''
The servant could not help but rejoice. "Thank you for your kindness!"
''However-" The bony man continued, leaving the servant in abated breath. ''-Let me warn you that once she sets out under the sun, she will be burnt to ashes.''
Isn''t that no different than imprisonment!!
The servant was enraged. It was like being shown heaven only to reach for it and find it as just another illusion in his hell.
But he kept the fury tightly clasped in his heart. Fighting the master never turned out good. His several nightmares brought by the ten years he had known him would prove testament to that. However, for the sake of his sister, he gambled in his master''s good impressions in chances for more information.
"May I ask, why it would be as such?" His voice trembled with conviction.
''Hmm, because a shard of that god''s soul was never meant to see the light.'' The man replied ruefully, finding joy in trampling his servant into trepidation. ''Enough of this. I must make haste for her sake... You continue the march north, finish securing the eastern borders, and start preparation for naval warfare.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The servant felt the sudden responsibilities weigh heavily on his back. "Yes, Milord."
''And before you go, let me remind you again. Sirius, I am watching you.''
He only nodded once, fully aware what his lord said... and did not say, before jumping away from the platform and landing on a winged beast then caressed its furred neck to spur it into flying in his wishes. As he absently did, Sirius chanted strings of curses in his head, swearing that someday, one day, he would ruin that pieces of bones into wishing to be grounded into dust, dead and irrevocably so.
Yes, and maybe he could start by ruining his plans of amassing an army, make the opposing nations win by rigging the war to tip in their favor. Or shatter that crystal cube and free the being sealed inside, make the bony man feel its wrath. Or better yet, kill that woman his lord viewed with disgusting reverence, make him feel the despair he remorselessly brought to the world that orphaned unknowing children like Sirius and his sister.
Sirius was quite sure that any of these would make those bones rattle with rage, and the thought brought placid joy to his soul.
Now, if only any of these could spare his sister from her gruesome fate...
***
I bit my lower lip to distract my mind. As we drew nearer to the Academy, my anxiety only increased along with amplifying dread I was sensing. I trudged forward with unwilling steps while my arms stiffly cradled the sleeping kid in protective embrace. He felt comfortingly warm, and I drowned myself in this comfort to counter the cold running down my spine.
The group progressed onward swifter than our initial experience. Cautious tension still filled us, but it seemed I was the only restless one instead. Oh the irony, they must be thinking the same line of thought I had when we just started, a thinking like how ridiculous I am being.
I inhaled a deep breath through my mouth and slowly let it out as a humorless chuckle.
True, I was being ridiculous. We soon arrived at the Academy, but there was nothing worth being scared over. The fifty meter tall rectangular wall still stood proudly, undamaged and defensively surrounding the five buildings of the Academy.
There was no gate leading in as usual. The walls was built to bar any form of foreign entry, but, at the same time, it was an all-welcoming entrance for known identities. Anything that had been inside could go in and out like there were no walls to begin with, while the unknown strays that tried to wander in were blocked without exception.
Besides this ID-ing process, the defensive system of the wall also had a mirror function. That was to say, everything done to the walls would be reflected back in equal force. Kick it, and you''ll get kicked back. It was quite impressive.
However, the most important of all about it was how the system could sustain itself autonomously. Borrowing strength from its environment, the mechanism was programmed to be kept alive by mana that were free flowing around it. The boundless energy scattered about were captured and conscripted to keep the whole system working. It was similar to how solar energy worked, except that not only sunlight, but the wind, the forest, and the underground were its infinite battery charger.
This defense mechanism was one of the Academy''s pride with all its perplexing glory. However, there were two major flaws that even a passerby would notice.
One was aerial vulnerability. As simple as that sounded, the whole area above the school was completely open. The system only covered the walls, and the walls don''t encompass the skies, so a simple arrow would hit the ground as long as it didn''t hit the fifty meter high walls. This led me to wonder what in the world was the creator''s priority, definitely not impregnable defense. With all the efforts in those walls, why was the sky left alone like an invitation? It was either they were being lazy, or there were other factors involved. The latter was obviously the reason but... why all the complications for a school.
Whatever the reason, it was probably connected to the second flaw which was, as long as a person knew how some sort of warping magic, then the walls were practically nonexistent. Teleport in and infiltration was done and over with. It was so obvious, I wondered why all the effort to make indestructible walls. Decoration? A statement? Bored?
Either way, whatever these mysteries implied, it was not my business... just that, with me being paranoid right now, the seemingly patch works in the Academy was making me edgy. It felt like I was missing something that was already plattered in front of me. This kind of feeling only increased my wariness, yet I could only ground my teeth because there really was nothing I could do but be endlessly suspicious. My stress level was increasing.
Passing through the walls, we entered the Academy. We were in the courtyard where the initial gathering of five schools took place. It was empty and lifeless, a great contrast compared to the previous lauding of youthful atmosphere. With all the students scattered in the western forest, it was only natural that no one would be strolling around here. But then again, I was being paranoid so this stillness just fueled my anxiety.
"We have to find an instructor. Surely, there are some that remained." Yulan took the initiative and strove towards the main building.
We all followed him silently. Our footfalls echoed strangely on the desolate courtyard. Even the fountain shooting water up did not feel noisy despite the area''s silence.
Suspicious. So suspicious.
I meant, it was already around nine o''clock. The level 10s might be in the forest, but lower leveled students of Yenoa Academy should have had stayed here and were having their daily lectures.
Should be, but even extending my hearing towards the eastern wall, my ears did not catch a single rustle of movement.
That was until sudden steps closed on us from south east. I swiftly faced it along with a backstep.
"Vitaly? What now-"
"Ssh!" I hissed.
The figure slowed down and closed on us with humane pace, very unlike its previously monstrous sprint. "You... what are you doing here!" Not a question but a severe reprimand.
I didn''t recognize his voice, but judging from his harsh, low baritone, the figure was undoubtedly a male no younger than forty.
"Sir Xanathos." Yulan bowed in reverence. "We had come back because-", he briefly pointed at my arms, "-we found... a child in the forest and concluded that we must inform instructors about it."
Yulan was very polite and humble in his speech. This Xanathos must be pretty high up in the social ladder.
Xanathos looked at my arms then suddenly moved to snatch the kid. I hesitated... but ultimately surrendered him.
It was for the best.
The kid immediately woke with a start and began wailing desperately. His frail arms reached out for me as he struggled futily in that person''s arms. My heart can''t help but twitched at the scene and thoughts of snatching him back quickly crossed my mind. However, I clenched my hands to a fist and steadfastly kept them rigidly clasped on my chest in numbing embrace. It was for the best.
"I will take care of him for the time being. Now, scram and finish your little test!"
"E-excuse me! What will happen to him now?" I asked, shocking myself. So I was actually concerned over a nameless stranger.
Xanathos looked my way. He did not say a word, and I couldn''t make out his thoughts without hearing his tone. Unable to see his face unexpectedly frustrated me this time more than being blind over the last few years. I thought I was over this regret and had already moved on...
"What is it?" I kept my irritation at bay and stood my ground. The guy was very unnerving as he kept his silence looking down on me.
His muscular and overbearingly huge build dwarfed my petite frame. Even though size never bothered me, what with all my morning jogs and eating early appetizers, this man actually made me feel small, frightened.
Then suddenly, he laughed. He laughed so loudly it made waves after waves of echoes to assault my ears. His attitude made me reel in annoyance, but something clicked inside my head.
I know this guy. Xanathos? That was a false name. But not only his name was false, his physique and his voice were also false. This guy...
There was one thing I recognized as true. The way he laughed was something etched into my memory. I could never forget that laughter every single time ''he'' succeeded in his experiments, or when he failed and saw me spasming in pain, or when evil thoughts bubbled in that demonic head.
Right, this guy. Oh, my dear, Master. "Wu-Wuen... Wuen Dreik...?"
I don''t want to believe this.
***
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V2 Chapter XV
Been a while... well, i''ll spare you guys from my ranting, i''ll leave that at japtem.com
***
-Somewhere South West-
A group of nine thousand men moved swiftly. They were like a flowing sand, a mass of countless black clothed beings sprinting at breakneck speed with ease. This army simply did not care over the terrain as they either gently swiveled away or simply plowed the way. It was not an act within human limit.
Leading this army was a man in similar black clothes, unique only by the blazing insignia etched in both his shoulder plates that separated him from the rest of nine thousand.
Strictly by appearance, his was ideal. A stunning face, a robust build, a visage of a prince.
Its fault, by standard, however, was the presence of three horns adorning his head. Two protruded from his temples that curled forward, while the third jutted out of his forehead with a menacing glint. Another unusual trait was his abyssal eyes. It contained neither light nor color. His pair of eyes were the absence of those, it reflected nothing as it swallowed everything. It was black inside out.
This man lead the charge of nine thousand men in accordance to the command of his lord, his creator, his god. He was tasked to retrieve a goddess of destiny that brings salvation. Or so he was told. Truth or lies, orders from his lord were absolute regardless of reasons or costs, so he would take this goddess and present her to his god. That was all there was to it.
Exiting the forest, the tri-horned man felt the atmosphere change along their arrival on a new terrain, a wide valley where a river winded lonesomely without a scant of life to support nor did it have the ability to do so, for an empty river was a dead river.
Raising a hand, the army behind him immediately responded in rapt attention. They quickly stopped, the nine thousand individuals who were as disorganized as scattered birds immediately stopped upon their commander''s abrupt signal. The scale of minute gestures silencing an entire army at once... truly was anything but human.
-
Several kilometers away, a scout wearing magic enchanted lenses saw the sudden halt of the incoming army.
"They stopped... Damn, have we been discovered!?"
"How is that even possible! There''s still more than enough distance separating us! Even the best horse would take a day without rest to cover all that!"
"No good, my hands are shaking..."
"Yeah... what in the hell got my head to participate in my death? Huh, I should have just run away with chance when I had it."
A man of muscular body suddenly thumped his foot. "Calm down, men! We are just scouts, cut your complainings and just do as you''re told! Do it, get your payment, then we can say farewells on this godforsaken piece of hell. That''s what you should cram to that thick heads of yours!"
"As expected of boss!"
"I followed the right man!"
"Oooh, after this, I''m gonna be rich then I could live like how my ancestors did!"
"What did they do?"
"Lived off alcohol, and married five wives!"
"Oooooh!!!"
"These idiots..." The so-called boss looked at his men with disdain and frustration. Those lecherous and downright inappropriate imaginings leaking from their swollen eyes likely spelled their very death.
These scouts were not playing games. And scouts had always been a job with highest sacrifices. Especially when dealing with the enemy kilometers ahead of them. No one knew the horror of those golden eyed abominations more than those who had survived an encounter with one. The chance of dying was several times more likely than surviving. Which was why, survivors were akin to miracles.
The boss of this group of scouts was one such rare person. He knew very well that years of preparation could not guarantee survival, much less what these dilly dallyings that his squad was indulging.
In his mind, he had never considered his men''s well-being because since the beginning he would use them as pawn to bolster his own survival.
This was why encouragements were needed as he cannot have them fleeing on him when he needed them. He needed shields, and nothing worked better than sentinent meat. For this purpose, lies and encouragements were synonymous to being right.
"That''s right! If we finish this job, women and alcohol, you could live days drowning in them! Men, have courage to grab that paradise with your own hands! This, right here, is where to get it! What is life without these pleasures? What is life without risk to take it up yourself? Your hands are not trinkets, are they? Life is not without such meaning! Understand? If you''re a man, follow me! To a better tomorrow!"
"""To a better tomorrow!!!"""
The squad was too caught up with the hype, they cheered without really understanding their boss'' words.
No, they were too afraid of their task ahead to think any deeper. They needed courage, and their boss'' words was exactly just that. Their simple minds, cultivated from monotonous lives as peasants, were incapable of even considering dark schemes and the like. These men were taught by their parents of valuing obedience towards those in power, as was how their parents were taught by their parents. It was a passed down trait from generation to generation.
Their boss knew trait this very well. And he considered it perfectly normal. After all, a society where no one obeys was a society that knew chaos. Obedience gave order, and order gave power, and power, in turn, should help those who obeyed. For the greater good. This cycle, feeding off altruism, was the League of Nation''s founding belief. And so was every nation''s under their banner.
However, even a dragon could die from disease, a disease that eats the dragon from within. In human perspective, it was called corruption, a disease that ruins society from within.
***
-Western Lands, In a Forest Clearing-
"Milord! Movements are sighted southeast. Their number ranges to nine thousand. They are moving fast, arrival to First Field is estimated to be as early as sundown."
"So they took the bait." A man in loose, grey robe leaned back on his oaken chair and tightly closed his eyes as his left hand deeply massaged his numbing temples. The wrinkles and dark shadow beneath his eyes made him look older than his age of fifty, giving an image of a fragile old man in his troubled reverie.
"Milord..."
Eyes snapped open, and the cold and piercing glint it emitted were not to be trifled with. This man was no fragile old relic. He was Illuso, an archmage in youth, a feared soldier at his peak, a cunning politician past his prime, and now a formidable individual renowned for his numerous exploits. His influence spread far and wide in all manners of matters. The name Vad¨¦rdart was not of mere decoration.
"Signal the gathering."
"By your command." The attendant rushed off.
Standing up, with both his hands at his back, Illuso looked at the map laid on his table. It was the map of the western side of the continent. On it, a white pin blotched the location of Yenoa Academy. Another pin, blue in color and a cross in shape, occupied Illuso''s current encampment. There were also red pins, straight as needle, that made a beeline in a seemingly scattered locale, dotting the map like scattered blood. And what these pins indicated made Illuso''s blood run cold in accepted sacrifice.
Then, there was a black dot, not a stationary pin but a visible mana, floating off the map. It slowly moved east, away from the encirclement of red pins.
It made Illuso frown. This whole operation was for the sole purpose of erasing this ''black dot''. Bottomless resources were spent for this one night. Money and manpower aside, the operation even swallowed ten years of careful planning that had the whole alliance teetering to the brink of crumbling.
And now that black dot was slipping away from their carefully laid net? Was their bait not appealing enough? Then what was an army of nine thousand abomination rushing here for?
''Seems we are onto something else entirely. Should I pursue? Or gamble with my enemies'' urgency.''
Keeping a calm and collected mind, Illuso weighed his options. Scrutinizing details, the pros and cons of pursuit battled against the choice of gamble.
"Milord." A man called out from the tent.
"Report."
"Yes! A group of students is returning to the Academy."
"What!? ...And what are you still doing here? Stop them!"
"But Milord... It is not working."
"... What do you mean?"
"The illusion barrier is not affecting them. They went straight to the Academy regardless of our efforts of misleading them."
Illuso was stupefied. The illusion barrier was a joint incantation of twelve level 100 magicians specializing in this field. Level 100 was the highest tier of magicians known to public, and they number less than a thousand in the whole continent. A single level 100 can create an illusion barrier that could fool an entire city for a day. Making twelve of them participate in a single, simple illusion barrier just say the strength of that spell.
All for the sake of student safety.
Hearing that all this precaution as ''not working'', Illuso truly did not know whether to laugh or cry.
This operation was dangerous to say plainly, but majority the alliance''s participating nobles had no need of knowing that.
Illuso had been thoroughly forewarned by his superiors of not leaking even a single clue associating the five Academies in this heavily guarded plan of exterminating the suspected mastermind of the southern anomaly.
There was already more than enough tension between nobles and the Alliance because of the conscription of noble children, so if the plan of noble children in an unwarranted and dangerous plan gets out to unwanted ears, then civil war could very possibly erupt. And by then, every single one in the continent might as well turn into dolls with golden eyes.
Feeling his head aching with trouble, Illuso placed a hand on the table and steadied himself. "Explain, how was this possible?"
"Milord... this is mere conjecture but..."
"CUT THE CRAP AND SPEAK!!!"
Illuso snapped.
"Ah, uh, yes! It was sighted that the group of students had a newborn with them. Ibelievethat nullifyingthe barriermighthavesomething todowithit!!" The attendant was so frightened that he spoke so fast, his words were barely comprehensible. Added with his increasing pitch, he was almost yelling back.
However, Illuso did not mind. He did not notice. Because of what he just heard, Illuso felt like a puzzle was being solved in his mind. Bit by bit, scenarios after scenarios, until the light of enlightenment seemed to dawn down his face.
Maybe, that gamble was not as unreasonable as he once thought.
"I see." He murmured silently before a smile bloomed menacingly on his lips, making the attendant before him shudder in fear. "Bring the child to me!"
"By your command!"
***
"Wuen Dreik? Who? I don''t know what you''re talking about."
Right there, was bull$h!t.
This guy just won''t change for the better, would he? Playing dumb with me... even though my life was ruined because of that kind of damnable attitude...
Ah, wait, why not ride along his $h!t? I mean, if he wanted to play pretend, that''s definitely O.K. I don''t know him either. Out of sight, out of mind. Yeah, the old bull is dead. Period.
"Ah, please pardon my misunderstanding. I was confused for a moment..." I retracted.
"Well, since you mentioned it... the name Wuen Dreik sure does ring a bell..."
Again, the old bull is better off dead. Should I make sure of it?
Nah, I get the feeling the homicide attempt would only make him happy instead... I knew him too well for comfort.
"...Sire, since our objective has been fulfilled, we intend to resume the test." Yulan supplemented from the side.
"Eh, then get going. Oh, young miss, your name?"
Uwaa, how annoying. "...Vitaly, SIR."
"Last name?"
"I''m just an orphan, SIR." I loved emphasizing the sir. It soothed my popping veins.
"How can an orphan enter the prestigious Yenoa Academy?"
"My talent, SIR." I nearly couldn''t stop myself from spitting.
"Impossible."
"I am the living proof."
"..."
"..."
Fortunately, Yulan came to my rescue. "Sire, with your permission, may our group proceed onward?"
"...Fine fine, off you go. Vitaly, we''ll talk later."
"I look forward to it."
Holy sh!t, should I run away? But I want to graduate... I know my priorities, no matter what I wanted.
Regardless of my decision, our group once again headed to the western forest. I briefly nodded towards the crying kid behind me before turning away silently.
-
After a while, Iris came to my side. "What just happened?"
"What?"
"You and that man. You seem to know each other."
"Probably, I recognized his voice. And that''s it. I can''t see his face so I was probably wrong."
"...And you''re an orphan...?"
Talk about nosy. This girl wasn''t taught moderation.
"Yes, I am." I answered. It shouldn''t really matter.
"Iris, I believe that is enough. We are all entitled to our own private matters." Yulan reproached Iris.
"No- Well, I apologize. Just that... in a way, I understand. Being an orphan, that is. My circumstances are somehow similar... so, um, I undestand how hard it is. Haaa... what I meant to say is, Vitaly, if you are in need of help, do not hesitate to seek mine. I may not make a difference because I am but a girl without much to offer, but, at the very least, I can listen to your troubles... because I understand... how hard it could get... Apologies, I am not making much sense, am I?"
She tried to laugh off the awkwardness after her grand speech, but the message definitely came across. Her intent was clear, and her sincerity was moving me to tears. She had no idea how beautiful that sounded to my ears. To someone like me... "Thanks, Iris."
"Um, not at all."
"But..."
"?"
I inhaled then let my words flow out in one breath, "I''m afraid I can''t return the favor. I have way too much secret and all of them are not pretty. In other words, don''t get too close to me, you WILL regret it."
"..."
...Yeah. Well, now I''ve done it. The whole situation would become more awkward. And it''s my fault. I seriously have a screw lose. Just what the heck was I trying to do? Why am always like this? Too impulsive, don''t think before speaking, careless. This had always been the reason I got into trouble. I have to play it cool. No need to speak, just do what needs to be done, nothing more nothing less-
"...ly! Vitaly!"
"Ehm, yes?" Iris woke me from drowning in depression.
"It''s alright, it''s alright! It''s gonna be fine, so, uh, sorry... I didn''t mean to make you cry...!"
"Eh?" Lifting my hands over my face, it seemed I really had been crying again, and quite
excessively too. What am I doing? ...Playing the pitiful card... "Sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?!"
"For being troublesome?" I choked out a reply. Breathing was becoming harder over the second.
Suddenly, a piece of cloth was shoved over my face, not so gently, too.
And not really in position to refuse, I buried my face on the cloth and clenched my jaw shut to prevent myself from becoming noisy. I won''t embarrass myself anymore than playing damsel in distress. More importantly, I don''t even get why I''m crying...
"Uhh... There, there..." Someone patted my head, making my condition worse.
"Uuu..." Unintentionally, a whimper escaped from my shut mouth, then the patting on my head became somewhat more affectionate.
Stolen novel; please report.
"...there, there.." The murmuring was quite soothing too, inducing my tears to flow more freely than a waterfall...
"...! You...! Stop patting me! I''m not a kid, you bastard!"
"Oh... sorry." The hand immediately retracted... That made me feel a bit lonely, but it was for the best.
"Vitaly..." Suddenly, I got a hug. It was definitely Iris.
"What now!?" I shouted, trying to break free, but my arm was not moving as I wanted. Then, I finally noticed my body was shaking too much that I could barely stand.
"You are pushing yourself too much...! Can you not see, you are breaking yourself!"
What?
So there I was. Making a scene. It was embarrassing. It was awkward. It was uncomfortable. I didn''t want anything else in that moment than to find a hole and bury myself under. I was crying more than I ever had before. And becoming so helplessly weak disgusted me. I hated it. I wanted to escape.
"Sorry, guys. Let''s just keep moving forward. I''ll calm down somehow, so please, let''s get going. Everyone wants to graduate, right?"
"Vitaly!" Iris nearly screamed over my ears.
As I thought, she''s too nosy for anyone''s good.
"...Enough, Iris. Vitaly, can you truly cope with the group at your current state?"
"Of course, I don''t need eyes to see after all."
"..." There was no reply over my joke. Was that too generic?
Just when I was starting to fidget again because of the awkwardness, someone unexpected spoke up.
"Move forward." Seirs finalized.
There were a few more bouts of awkward pauses, but my insistence to move forward eventually won.
-
The time should be around noon, with the sun in its highest place. My stomach had been acting up for awhile, but I ignored it for the time being.
My head was running wild with random thoughts. I began to miss Pina suddenly. I missed Lanna and Ra''in, too. The baby-no-name was also popping in my list.
Then, there was my life as a college student. It sucked to be in college, but it was fun, somewhat. I missed challenging the deadlines, cramming a book in a single night, and partying hard after passing my courses despite all my neglects. Eh, those were some really, stupidly, fleeting fun times.
Then, I also wondered what my siblings did after I died. Our parents were as good as dead, so I can''t really give a damn what they thought.
Anyhow, I was quite annoying as a person in that previous life, too. Is this destiny? Eh, I was starting to become pathetic again.
"You guys, sorry again. I don''t want this to become anymore awkward, so let me lighten things up. Just that, I have no idea how... suggestions?" I said out of the blue.
Right, my thoughts were running wild because the group was way too quiet for comfort. It was the perfect atmosphere to day dream. But day dreaming for hours after hours was not my thing. Even for a lazy at heart person, that was just too much.
"You say that now?" Iris butted.
Good, that''s one less silence, get. "Yes, I say it now, not before, not later."
"...Then, explain. Why are you so different?"
"Which way?"
"...All ways, but allow me enumerate the most disturbing instances. Diction, for example. Your word choices, and the way your arrange them? Yes, we speak the same language, yet I struggle understanding your meanings."
"Really? I understand you just fine, though. Maybe, the problem is you?"
"Of course not!" Oh, she yelled back.
"I have to side with Iris in this." Jasper chimed in.
"Same for me."
"...Me also."
With that, operation anyi-silence was success. Everyone was talking. Good bye to Group Silent... although the topic was my weirdness. Yup, I don''t mind.
"I was born this way, so I can''t really explain? Next question then!"
"...Really? Why do I bother asking..." Iris sighed to the side.
"Because you are curious and you know it."
"Ugh, see? I feel like I just missed something, like your words just now had underlying meaning... What is wrong with you?"
"No, no, no, miss Iris, you are simply thinking too deeply on this. I am not as weird as you think. Eh, well, I thought I fitted in at least."
"Fitted in?"
"You know, being normal, blending in with the crowd anonymously."
"You do not..."
"No at all..."
"You failed miserably..."
"Impossible..."
I was unanimously outvoted. "Why?! What did I do wrong?"
Iris looked at the skies and heaved a long sigh. "Can someone put it into words? My tongue is tying itself. I cannot seem to find words for my thoughts..."
"Allow me!" Jasper vibrantly volunteered. "For one, Vitaly, you are really very beautiful-"
"Ehm, thank you."
"-You stand out in a crowd as easily as a royalty! Your appearance aside, even your
countenace have the bearing that places you a cut above others. You are dazzling as well as intimidating, the kind everyone dreams to serve to their death!"
"Seriously... are you courting me? If so, flattering my appearance won''t work! I am blind after all." I joked.
"...There, right there, was Her Highness, Vitaly''s, royal arrogance. Behold and be damned..."
"Iris, why so bitter? Jealous?"
"Like hell I am!"
"It is not nice to cuss, miss Iris."
"Grr-" She just gritted her teeth, and it was amusing to hear. It seemed I found my new entertainment.
"But, truly, if you would allow me to marry you, I would definitely be happy."
...Jasper replied without a hint of bashfulness or insincerity.
"...Are you serious? Did say I am an orphan? Your parents would kill you, you know."
"Hah! The Zedds choose their brides not for ancestry, wealth, or influence. It is all for the sake of knowledge, talent, and future. You are all three with great promise in each, and probably more! I tell you, my grandmother would definitely clap my back and her last words would be ''well done''."
"What crazy family." I was shocked. So the truthseeker-ish-themed families exists outside fiction? That''s kinda cool.
He just laughed, and winked? Either way, my answer was, "No, thank you."
"-! Why?!" He asked in mocked pain. "Had I been inferior in comparison to the valiant and gallant dual wielder or was fierce stick wielder simply your preference-
"Do not call my glaive a mere stick." Seirs hissed, to which Jasper wholeheartedly ignored.
"-that must have been it, was it not? Please, somehow, what must a humble druid accomplish to capture the eyes-"
Smack.
"Shut up! My ears are bleeding, and my eyes are missing! So? Whose eyes you''re gonna capture? Go ask a troll, maybe she''ll entertain you. You have my blessings, condolences."
"Yes, go die on a creek somewhere, you creep." Iris agreed with colorful tongue. Kids do learn fast, don''t they?
"Hey... I was just helping you lighten the mood..."
"Sure, but please don''t treat me like a kid. I am not your average wooey girl next door ripe for cheesy entrance. I had long ago graduated from that. Anyway, marriage is for adults. Joking about it during an adventure where we could die any moment is pointless."
"...And she completely stopped making sense..." Iris once again sighed to the heavens.
Anyhow, we chatted and walked. Though, it was mainly me, Iris, and Jasper who did the talking. We talked about random things, but Iris and Jasper considerately avoided personal questions and the like so our chats remained light hearted and nothing heavy for the heart.
Yulan occasionally added a thing or two in the conversation, so did Seirs, but those two mainly focused on the road ahead. That was like carrying the burden of five in just two. I felt guilty so I tried to quiet down Iris and Jasper to get them working their share of work. But, Yulan and Seirs stopped me, not really explaining why they were being such masochist.
Maybe, it was the same reason why Jasper suddenly became so chatty? Or why Iris was so clingy? Given my damsel in distress moment, the answer was most probably yes.
Either way, I was grateful.
"You guys, thanks." I said as sincerely as I felt.
***
-Central Lands, In a Certain Village-
"Ha.Ha.Haaahaaahaa.Hahahahah!" A hysteric laughter.
"Monster!" A desperate howl.
"Well, thank you!"
In a place where blood was so thick one could lick it from an empty air, a girl in her early teens was laughing maniacally.
Stepping on the wound of a dying man, she briefly smiled down before suddenly putting weight on her legs and channeled that force to the sole of her foot, creating a slush crater in the once abdomen of a weeping man.
"Aaaarghhhh!" That man howled in pain, his eyes teared with blood and angst. "I... I curse you. Curse you. Curse you- YOU CURSE CURSE-"
A sharp sword flashed, and the man''s jaw fell on the ground.
"Ah? Ah... Ah ah ah ahhhkkhhhkhHHHkH!!!"
"My, oh my. How unsightly."
With a final step, a skull was squashed like a bug. Much like its neighbor.
"..."
"Haaaa... now you''re too quiet. Whatever. Hey, what''s next." She shouted gleefully
"...ait ...til h... ...rivesss." A bipedal snake responded with broken words. Clothed in leather shorts and sleeveless tunic, it looked like any other man if not for its scaly skin and slanted, glowing pupils that specially shone under the shroud of dark clouds.
"Hmm? Who''s coming~?"
"...rius."
"!!! Brother is?! My, oh my... My clothes are dirty!" She screeched a yell that made ears ring in pain.
Looking around frantically, she saw a robe that looked to be in relatively good condition. While sprinting towards it, the girl stripped all her clothing. She run naked on the blood soaked ground without care as she looted any usable garments that would look presentable in front of her brother.
With an over-sized robe on, a pointy wizard shoe, and a sash used as belt, the girl looked like a misshapen beggar that stole clothes from her neighbourhood. When she looked down at herself in a puddle of blood, a lightning flash revealed her sorry state. She grimaced in frustration but took no further action. How she looked now, a beggar, was a far cry better image than her former broken warrior set of armor that was stained in unpleasant scent and coloration.
"Hic, I loo~k disgusting! This is your fault! You~~!!!" She screamed at a dead man stripped off his robe, then kicked him, lifting the dead man couple meters off the ground. The girl jumped, tilted mid-air, then struck the body with enough force to send it flying towards the lizardman.
"..." The bipedal lizard merely side-stepped and gave a cold grunt.
"Hmph, boring~ boring~!" She whined then look upward apprehensively. "Seriously, when are you gonna move? Your beloved creations are dying like bugs, you know?"
"Ayala, don''t unnecessarily provoke them." A figure riding a mixed-breed bird swooped down and chided the girl complaining against the heavens.
"Big brother!" Ayala beamed innocently, greatly contrasting her grave surrounding.
"...rius." The lizardman moved forward and gave a curt bow.
Sirius nodded once then faced his sister with a guilty smile. Seeing the state of his sister, he was yet again reminded of what happened ten years ago...
"Ayala, someday, what do you want to do?" He asked, sentimentally.
"Mmm? Well, after cleaning up the rest of the continent, I''d like to see what the other continents looked like!"
"''Cleaning up''... you don''t have to do all that. Leave all the dirty things to me. You don''t like being dirty, do you?"
"But won''t I die if I don''t? The lord did say so."
"... For the time being, is there anything you wish to do?"
"Yes! I want to see a beach!"
Sirius finally smiled genuinely. "Then, do you want to head east with me? The lord has ordered me to subjugate the eastern coasts-"
"Beach and blood?! That''s perfect! Let''s go, let''s go, let''s go~ Ah! Let me prepare my things first. I''ll meet you here, alright? Don''t leave without me!"
He frowned for a bit, then ignored his sister''s hopping steps altogether. Facing the lizardman, he once again donned his stern mask as he gave out orders. "I will start the ritual, scout ahead and assure that no eyes are watching."
"I o..ey" The lizardman respectfully bowed, then vanished from sight.
Meanwhile, Sirius scanned his surrounding. It was nothing unusual. A small village, a dozen wooden houses, a hundred corpses, and the empty feeling that numbed his soul.
Without much ado, he mechanically placed a palm over crushed skulls and chanted short, foreign words he did not understand.
In a way, the ritual was his way of praying for the departed souls, a prayer filled with envy and hatred.
With every finished chant, a broken skull was reformed accompanied by an ethereal scream. It was a scream he heard way too often. It was of the pain of a soul forcefully bound where it did not belong.
One by one, dead bodies were reanimated with eyes glowing like the sun. Men and women and elderly and children. Sirius did not have preferences. All he needed was accomplish his job, nothing more.
"Mama!"
Suddenly, a little girl ran towards him and clung joyously to a corpse he just reanimated.
"Mama!" She cried and whimpered.
"Oh, hello there, young miss." Sirius greeted.
"?" The girl merely backed off, afraid of the unsettling, friendly stranger.
"What is this? Did I not just help your ''mother''? You can at least give me your name."
"...Ellie... Mama calls me Ellie."
Humored by the child''s naivety, Sirius told the cruel truth. "Then, Ellie, unfortunately, she is dead."
"?! Lies!"
"Heh." With lightning fast stroke, the girl''s ''mother'' had a two fingers piercing both closed eyelids.
"NOO!! St- stop!! Mama, mama!" She kicked his shin hard, but Sirius felt no pain.
Still, he pulled out his fingers and mercilessly flicked the dripping blood towards the crying child. "See for yourself, what has happened to your ''mother''."
Shaken, scared, confused, and angry, the little girl unconsciously followed where the stranger before her was pointing. There, to where her ''mother'' stood, was the ''monster'' she knew too well from the horror stories that the village elder had told every passing child.
With its gold eyes, the ''mother'' was no longer seen as a mother, just a monster.
Simply scared, the little girl did not utter a single more sound nor did she dare move. Seeing this, Sirius suddenly had an idea.
He smiled cruelly and ordered the puppet to move.
"...Ellie...?" A croaking voice whispered.
"...Mama?"
"Yes, Ellie, it''s Mama. Here, come." Opening its arms, the puppet embraced the little girl gently.
The confused girl soon forgot her ''mother''s'' golden eyes as her longing for warmth overtook her prejudice. "Mama!"
It was a heart-warming scene, at the surface that was. Knowing full well that this reunion was a farce, Sirius kept his smiling mask as he watched the two.
He continued the play and ushered ushered the little girl away from the village.
"Now, then, I should hurry the ''clean up''." With satisfied sigh, he continued increasing the number of puppets as he was expected to.
***
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Hiatus or Summary?
hello,
and yes, bad news to those who are waiting for the next chapter...
let me just say this briefly, my RL took a sudden turn which prevents me from writing further.
Not that I can''t write, more like, I keep writing something I shouldn''t write, (ie I am ruining the story and even I, the author, could tell that much) and until when I''ll be like this, I have no idea.
But all authors owe its reader with an end of the story, no matter how half-assed. Which is why, I am letting you, readers, chose:
Hiatus? But I seriously don''t know when I will get back to it...
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.or
Summary? I could at least put a brief timeline on what will happen, though without flair...
Either way, let me say thank you very much to all those who took patience in my slow updates...!
Really appreciated
I know this announcement is very, very disappointing (speaking from experience) but I don''t want to continue leaving it hanging like this...
I''ll check this thread again by Sunday, June 21st
Until then
P.S.
Other choice is, if someone is interested on continuing this story, I will give it to them.
PM me if you are
Official Hiatus Announcement (+small surprise)
"Against the Sky" is now officially on Hiatus.
Now, I want to apologize to those who wanted summary as to get a closure from this fiction. It''s kinda my policy, either this or that. I mean, if it''s hiatus then it WILL only be hiatus. No summaries in PMs or blackmarket either (yes, i was kidding).
As such, to apologize, I prepared a slight surprise... a bandaid! jk jk
A picture!!!
Yes, a picture of ViTaLy!!!
(Sorry, don''t know how to make spolier tag)
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.Ahahah, my camera is only a phone so please bear with low quality pic... I''ll hunt for some scanner soon so I could upload the WHOLE thing (yes, the pic above is only cropped) and hopefully get it coloured while I''m at it!!
And yes again. Pic above is only hand drawn... and since I havent held a pencil in a ''while'' thats why... the pic is... kinda
Again, hope it kinda helped bandaid the broken hopes of some people.
See you around!
PS: I covered her face for a reason...(beside cliffhanger) and that was because...
Oh well, let it be a cliffhanger lol