《Project Pegasus》
Volume 1.1: Table of Contents
VOLUME 1.1: THE STORY OF HIIRO
ARC 1: That Forest with a Lonely Girl.
Chapter 0.5: The Story of Haruka.
Chapter 1: That Girl with a Scarlet Hair.
Chapter 2: What Makes a Genius, Genius?
Chapter 3: An Instinct That Got Passed Through the Years.
Chapter 4: The Inauthentic Dasein.
Chapter 5: Programming and Magic.
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
ARC 2: That Castle with a Headless King.
Chapter 5.5: The Story of Emily.
Chapter 6: The Castle of Vladik.
Chapter 7:A Certain Smile.
Chapter 8: lozhnoye Serdtse.
Chapter 9: The Authentic Dasein.
Chapter 10: That Weird Weapon from Khina.
Chapter 11: The Forbidden Spell.
Chapter 12: A New Beginning, a New Goal.
ARC 3: That Lab with a Crazy Doctor.
Chapter 12.5: The story of Aria.
Chapter 13: Execute Project: Zero.
Chapter 14: Project A.D.A.
Chapter 15: The Flame that Burns Light.
Chapter 16: Original Martial Arts.
Chapter 17: Friends.
Final Chapter: That Sky that Rains Fire.
V 1.1 Chapter 0.5: The Story of Haruka.
It was April 4, 2016 when all of it started. I never would have thought that a certain rejection would change the state of our peaceful lives.
"Hiiro, I love you!"
"Yosh, this time, definitely, I''m going to do it."
Opening the door, I saw Hiiro Akira, my childhood friend, standing outside the house gate. He was probably waiting for a while.
"Good morning, Haruka. Did you sleep well?" he greeted with his usual smile.
"Good morning. Sorry, I got a little too excited that I couldn''t sleep."
"Well, I think that''s normal since this will be our first day of senior high, but please try to take care of your body more," Hiiro responded.
"S-sorry."
Well, there''s actually a different reason why I couldn''t sleep.
Afterward, we made our way towards our new school, the Fukuoka High School in Fukuoka, Japan. I was nervous. It was not the usual walk together, because, after school, I plan to confess my feelings to him.
It''s already been six years since I met him.
During my elementary days, due to my father''s job, I often transferred schools. Because of this, I became a loner who couldn''t fit into the class. I was a shy and timid girl back then, but, Hiiro saved me. He was the very first friend that I got. He showed me the wonders of having companions. My once black and white life became full of colors. Eventually, I fell in love with him.
Reaching the school, we met a fancy looking middle-age guy. According to him, he was a butler, but something felt eerie about the man as he gave Hiiro a letter.
***
Lunch came, Hiiro and I were sitting in the cafeteria eating. As usual, the place was filled with people. Some with their friends. Some eating alone.
"Oi oi, eat your vegetables," Hiiro complained while pointing to my boxed lunch which he prepared for me. "Eating nothing but meat is bad for your health."
"S-shut up. I''m a growing girl. I only need meat in my life."
"Oh really?" Hiiro said, frowning as he put his right hand in his face. "Next time I cook your boxed lunch I''m going to only use vegetables."
"Please, have mercy on me."
A few minutes later, we finished eating. It was delicious as always.
"Haruka, go back to the classroom first. I''m going to meet someone," Hiiro said.
"O-okay."
However, I didn''t do what he told me. I followed him.
"As a childhood friend, there''s no way I''m missing this. This is the first day of school and you''re already meeting with an unknown person. It''s my job to make sure this person won''t bring you trouble."
Behind the school building, Hiiro was standing waiting for that someone. Meanwhile, I was hiding at a distance but not so far away that I couldn''t hear him speak. I was nervous while looking at him. It was not the first time some unknown person gave a letter to Hiiro. Usually, those letters were some sort of recruitment to something, because people treated Hiiro as a genius. But the nervousness was not because of that. In some cases, those letters were love letters coming from girls who wanted to confess to him. Although Hiiro usually turned them down it was still nerve-racking.
"Please, don''t be a confession," I pleaded as I clasped my hands tight.
A few minutes later, a girl whose beauty was comparable to a princess stepped in fidgety and blushing.
"That girl. She looks familiar."
Sakura Nakahara, the daughter of the school''s chairman and also one of the richest students in the area. Her family owned a lot of big companies. Their annual incomes amount to millions or possibly billions. Her great-grandfather was also the school''s founder. Compared to me, I was just a pebble. My parents were not that rich, but we can''t categorize ourselves as poor either. We were somewhere around the middle.
"That expression of her, don''t tell me she''s going to..."
No.
"Hello, you said in a letter that there''s something you want to tell me," Hiiro spoke in a polite tone.
"Y-yes. It''s just that, I just want to tell you my feelings," Sakura stuttered.
Please, don''t
"T-this is really hard for me to say since it''s my first time," Sakura added. "B-but, I still need to say it."
Please... Don''t say it.
"Hiiro, I love you! Please, go out with me!" Sakura shouted while bowing.
My mind went blank. The sounds around me seemed to fade into a ceaseless roar. I ran away towards the female restroom while trying to hide the tears in my eyes.
"This is so unfair," I cried sitting in the toilet. "There''s no way I can win against her. She''s beautiful. She''s rich. She''s smart. She''s the perfect girlfriend. This is so unfair."
Shutting myself for two hours inside the comfort room cubicle, I missed two classes in the afternoon.
***
After class, Hiiro went to our room and talked to me. A worried look marred his face.
"Are you okay? Are you sick?" Hiiro asked, restless. "I heard you missed two of your classes. Is something wrong?"
"I... I''m okay. Remember when I said I couldn''t sleep well last night? I just felt a little tired so I rested for a bit."
"Are you sure?" Hiiro replied.
"Yes. Don''t worry... By the way, Hiiro. Congratulations on having a cute girlfriend," I said while showing a forced smile.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
"Y-you were listening!?" Hiiro was startled.
"Yes, I was. Congrats. Sakura is cute and smart and---"
"I rejected her," Hiiro interrupted.
There was a bit of silence before I could reply.
"Huh? Why would you reject a perfect girl like her!?"
Even though I looked angry, deep inside, I was actually happy.
"Well, it turns out that she only liked me because I was a genius," Hiiro replied.
I see. It''s because of that. She''s just a girl who only looks at the outside of people.
People always call Hiiro a genius. He has good grades, athletic and sociable. But in reality, he''s not. He''s just a hard worker. A very hard worker. All of his grades and his athletic abilities are just built from years of hard work. He just wants to make his parents proud of him. This is also one of the reasons why I fell in love with him.
"I see. Too bad. I guess you''re going to stay single your whole life," I teased him while laughing.
Guess my confession''s still going to happen.
"S-shut up," Hiiro responded, blushing. "Even I have someone I like."
Hearing that, I was dumbfounded for a second.
"Heh... I wonder who it is."
"S-shut up. I won''t tell you," Hiiro replied. "Anyway, I''m going to talk to the teacher regarding clubs so I will be late. Can you wait for me outside the school?"
"O-okay"
I see. I guess I still lost the war.
Waiting for Hiiro outside the school, a girl with the butler this morning suddenly walked towards me.
"Hello there, friend of Hiiro," the girl talked. It was Sakura. Her mood was somewhat not good with the evidence of her angry and annoyed aura.
"H-hello."
Waah. Her beauty''s so blinding. I wonder who the girl Hiiro likes. She''s probably prettier than her.
"D-do you want something from me?"
Talking to her is really hard.
"I have a request, you see," she replied. "I want to make Hiiro''s life a living hell---"
However, before she could finish her sentence, I interrupted her with a strong slap to her face.
"There''s no way I''ll betray Hiiro, you bitch. If you don''t have anything to say anymore, then scram!"
"Wow. I did not expect that slap," Sakura replied looking angry. "You are really different from your father, Tatsumi Nishizawa."
"H-how do know the name of my father!?"
"Hoh. Now I got your attention," Sakura responded. "He is actually working in one of our companies you see." Suddenly, she walked towards me and looked me in the eyes. "I heard your father is working very hard because your mother is in a hospital with a deadly disease. Now I wonder what would happen if we suddenly fire him."
"P-please, don''t."
"Now listen to me you little insect," Sakura snarled. "With my family connections, not only we can fire your father, but we can also make sure that no one will accept him again in any work. So if you do not want that, then follow my orders," Sakura said while pointing her fingers to my chest. "Are we clear?"
"Y-yes."
***
Three days later, I was waiting for Hiiro behind the school. Suddenly, I was attacked by seven students. Seeing that, Hiiro rushed to my side while punching two of them. However, the other five quickly surrounded us.
A fight ensued.
The obvious choice would''ve been to grab me and escape. However, every time Hiiro put someone down, the others would quickly surround us while the others got up. Hiiro had no choice but to fight. I already knew that Hiiro would win because in middle school he was actually the founder and captain of the Kali Club. However, that was exactly what Sakura wants. But I couldn''t stop him. Sakura''s threat was holding me by the neck.
That day, those seven students were hospitalized... And Hiiro, he was suspended for a month.
Going home, I never stopped apologizing to him.
***
The day Hiiro came back was also the start of his worst nightmare.
The story that I was attacked by seven students and saved by him never happened. It was reversed. The last month that he was not here, that was the story the people believed.
He was not the savior.
He became the attacker.
He tried explaining but they never believed him."Liar... Molester... Attacking someone just because they rejected you..."Those were the words that came from the people''s mouth.
After class, I went to Hiiro and I told him everything. The attack on me was a setup. During the time he was suspended, Sakura spread false rumours with me lying to strengthen it; I was blackmailed to do it.
"I''m sorry, Hiiro. I''m sorry," I cried while kneeling in front of him.
"It''s okay, Haruka. It''s not your fault. The news will die down soon anyway," he replied, as he hugged me.
But it didn''t. Instead, he was subjected to bullying from our previous ''friends''.
It started with name-calling...
...Then having his desk written with insults...
...And then, the missing shoes and gym clothes.
It finally reached the point where people were physically harming him. I know he could win if he fought back, but being suspended twice was out of the question. Even worse, the rumors would be solidified if he did that. He had to endure it because he didn''t want to let his parents down.
It was a month of torture. But, that one month was too long for me. I just couldn''t take it anymore.
"Stop it already!!!"
And then I confessed the wrongdoings of Sakura. I shouted until I couldn''t shout anymore. I just wanted one thing: to fix the things I destroyed.
But...
They never believed me. Instead, they started bullying me too. Naturally, Hiiro protected me, however, there were times where he couldn''t be with me. There''s also the fact that we''re in a different class.
Across those bullying, I noticed something. The more people bully me, the less they bully Hiiro. That why on the next time Hiiro saved me, I shouted at him.
"Stop doing this already!!!"
I''m sorry.
"Don''t you realized you''re only making things worse?"
I''m sorry.
"Everything is all your fault!!!"
I''m sorry.
"If you didn''t reject Sakura, none of this would''ve happened."
I''m sorry.
"Don''t ever talk to me again!!!"
I''m sorry, Hiiro. I didn''t mean it. I just want to protect you.
That''s right. I just have to take all of the bullies'' attention to me. That way, they would stop hurting Hiiro. It''s okay if I''m the only one who gets hurts. Because this is all my fault. Because I made this happen. I''m already used to this. I can endure this by myself.
However, I was wrong.
On the day of my confession, my father got fired from work. He tried and tried, but no one ever hired him again. They were afraid. They were afraid of what the Nakahara Company, the largest company in the area, would do.
And eventually, on July, 8 2016, my mother died.
It was traumatic. Losing someone I loved so much. But, the nightmare doesn''t end there.
Because of my mother''s death, my father, he became a drunkard. He drank and drank until he couldn''t think straight. Then, he would beat me up, saying "It was your fault!" and "You should be the one who died instead!"
"Ha... Ha... Ha... HAHAHAHA! I can''t take this anymore."
There''s no way I can take that. My father, whom I Idolized since I was young. My Hero beating me while saying those things to me.
"There''s no way I can take this."
***
It was the 11th of August 2016 when I had decided to end everything.
"Stop!!!" Hiiro shouted. "Stop!!!"
I was standing at the edge of our school building''s rooftop. The wind was chilling. The coldness trickling at the pores of my skin.
"Stop!!! Haruka, Stop!!!"
It was Hiiro.
"Hiiro?" I cried looking at him. "Why? You should hate me now. Everything is all my fault. Everything is because of me. I even pushed you even though you just want to help me. Why? Just why do you care for me despite all of that?"
"There''s no way I would hate you!" Hiiro replied.
"Why?! Tell me why?!"
"Because I love you!" Hiiro shouted. "There''s no way I would hate someone I love!"
"Hiiro..." Looking at him, I was still crying. It was the happiest moment of my life since that nightmare.
"I..."
Me too...
Because I love it when I got low on the exams, you never told me that I''m stupid but instead you offered to teach me yourself because you know I couldn''t study well due to my club activities.
But I can''t say it.
"I..."
I love how even though I always complain about the vegetables in my lunch boxes, you''re still cooking for me because you know my parents are too busy and I don''t know how to cook.
But I can''t say it.
"I..."
I love the times when I''m having a bad day and I want to shout all of my problems, you''re always there to listen to me attentively without any complaints.
But I can''t say it.
"I..."
I love your soft whispers, telling me "Are you okay? Don''t push yourself too hard, okay?" when I''m super tired but I still show an "I''m okay fa?ade" to everyone and you''re still the first one to notice.
But I can''t say it.
Yes... I can''t say it.
Because I''m not worthy to be with you.
Because I don''t deserve your love.
That''s why.
"I''m sorry, Hiiro," I said in a sad tone as I leaped backward.
Ahhh. Now I''m starting to regret this. I shouldn''t have jumped.
Because... I really want to tell you about my feelings.
"Hiiro, I love you."
V1.1 Chapter 1: That Girl with a Scarlet Hair.
What does it mean to be human? Aristotle once said that the ability to speak and reason separates us from other living beings such as animals and plants. It''s what constitutes our humanity. It''s what makes us human. However, what if there exists another being capable of rational thought? What, then, is the difference between that and a human?
-Hiiro-
Listening through the silence of the night, I was standing on the rooftop of our school. We had just finished our student council work so I was taking a break.
"Haruka..."
Today is already your 3rd year death anniversary yet I still can''t forget you.
"Even though I''ve already transferred to a different country, I still couldn''t escape our sad memory."
I miss you so much.
"I''m sorry, I couldn''t protect you at that time."
I''m sorry, I''m so weak.
Looking up, I saw an object burning while flying. I had mistaken it as a wishing star.
"PLEASE, LET ME SEE HER AGAIN!!!"
Suddenly, a loud sound exploded almost deafening my ear. It came from the burning object which also produced a blinding light. As my vision slowly returned, I saw...
A freaking airplane falling towards me.
***
"Aaahhh!"
Waking up, I was suddenly in a different place.
It was dark, as trees nearly covered all the rays coming from the sun. A foul smell, like that of a dead creature, filled the air, irritating my nose to no end. Eerie sounds of wild animals nearby drowned the area with a spine-chilling ambiance.
"Where the hell am I? Where is the plane? Agh..." The surroundings looked oddly familiar. It felt like deja vu. Yet, my head twinged each time I tried to remember it.
"What is this place? This is so creepy."
Shit. Is this the afterlife?
Standing up, I got a glimpse of my right hand touching the earth. It was cold. But, I noticed... something.
"AHHHHHHHHH---"
There was no flesh.
"Fuck!!" I repeatedly shouted. "What is this? What the fuck is happening?! What the hell is this?!"
Somehow I could, feel my heart beating faster like always. However, as my fleshless hand made contact with my chest, I felt something was wrong. My fingers slid through the intervals of my ribs; even my heart is gone.
"H-hya!"
My screams filled the area, frightening the birds nested on top of the trees.
Suddenly, I felt a slight touch on my right shoulder. "Uhm..."
My body froze. I slowly moved my gaze and saw a hand wrapped in white bandages. "Ahhh!" Immediately, I smacked the hand and moved away.
"Sorry," an apology repeatedly came from a mysterious, bowing person.
"Haru...ka??? No, it can''t be you. Who the hell are you!?"
Standing in front was a girl with long, unkempt hair with a scarlet color, with a lengthy fringe lightly covering her eyes. She was wearing a black robe enveloping her entire body from shoulder to below her knee. Her fairly pale skinned body was trembling while looking at me hesitantly with her eyes, blue as the sky. Slowly, she walked towards me, her right arm holding a staff with a crystal on top, while the other hand clasped her right wrist.
"Uhm..." She uttered while raising her left hand.
"D-don''t come any closer," I shouted, startling her. "I''m warning you. Answer my questions. Where am I?! What did you do to me?!"
The girl''s eyes became teary. Tightening the grip on her staff, she replied softly while quivering, "Uhm... M-my name is Emily Scarlet. And uhm... Uhm... I''m a necromancer, and I reanimated you from the dead."
This voice...
"Stop this nonsense, what do you mean reanimated!? What did you do to me!? Bring me back to normal!"
The girl''s eyes were close to crying. "S-sorry. I don''t know how to-"
"What do you mean you don''t know? Return me back this-"
I stopped mid-sentence because past behind her, I saw a monster, about to pounce on her, its unsuspecting victim. My body acted on impulse and ran towards her. The last thing I remember was its right paw hitting me with full force and a loud crash echoing all over the place. When I quickly came back to my senses, I found my body smashed into pieces. My bones were all over the place.
"Ahhhh," even without lungs, I screamed out in horror. "M-my body... My body is..."
"I''m sorry, I couldn''t protect you..." the girl spoke in an apologetic tone while writing something in the air. Afterward, she raised her scepter and looked at the monster.
"What are you doing? Get away before that thing kills you!"
"Phantom Bullet," pointing her scepter, she shouted at the monster, and some sort of a green ball of light appeared from her staff and proceeded to pierce its head.
That scene made my jaw literally drop from my skull. It was like watching a 3D fantasy movie, totally unbelievable, yet it all happened in front of me. After that, she wrote another peculiar symbol in the air and whispered a chant. This time, my bony parts were all magically glued back into place.
"Wha... what''s happening? Who are you? What did you do to that monster?"
"I''m sorry," she apologized further with small teardrops falling from her eye.
"I''m sorry," My bony hands clapped. "I didn''t mean to scare you before." And with that, she somehow calmed down. Looking at her, I became considerate as I asked her with a smoother voice, "Umm... Could you please properly explain everything?"
"Uhm. M-my name is Emily Scarlet," she stammered, softly while holding her scepter with her two hands placed on her chest. "I am a necromancer... and uhh, umm... I have the ability to revive a dead person using magic. It''s called reanimation. Uhm... I''ve been trying to practice this for weeks, and I happen to find your corpse here in this forest so I tried to reanimate you."
Emily Scarlet... Wait a minute? Reanimation? Magic?
Looking at her, I asked, "But, how did I get here? Is this still earth? And more importantly, how did I die?"Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
"I''m sorry, I don''t know," she spoke with a low voice while looking at her feet. "I just found your corpse while I was looking for food. And I don''t know where is Earth."
Is it the truth? Or is she just deceiving me? I know I can''t trust her just yet.
"Uhm," the girl interrupted as she took a peek at me from the fringe of her hair.
"Oh, I''m sorry. My name''s Hiiro... Hiiro Akira," I replied offering a handshake.
Emily, slowly while shivering, shook my fragile hand. "Uhm, t-thank you for saving me."
"No problem. When I saw that thing earlier, my body just moved on its own. Come to think of it, what is that thing?"
After shaking my hands, she went back to holding her scepter with her two hands. "I-it''s a bear," she replied in a low voice while looking down.
"Huh!? That is definitely not a bear!"
"I''m sorry," she apologized while tightening her grip on her scepter.
"Forgive me, I didn''t mean to yell at you. But, is that really a bear?"
"Y-yes, it''s one of the larger ones," she answered, softly.
Larger ones? The way she''s saying it means like it''s normal to see that huge thing. What''s happening? And I still don''t know where this place is.
"Uhm... Hiiro..." she murmured. "W-would it be alright if you could become my friend?"
A friend? Is she planning something?
"I-is it a no?" she asked while looking down.
"Ahm, sure, why not?"
I don''t know what''s she planning but my guts are telling me to agree.
"Thank you," she replied softly while smiling. A bit of silence filled the place since we both didn''t know what to say next.
"I, uhh... I think we should go somewhere safe before something else appears again."
"I-I see. Y-you''re right," she responded while looking down, hiding her blushing face. "We should go to my house."
For now, I''ll follow her. I still don''t trust her yet, but in situations like this, I think it''s better to be with someone than go solo, especially in a dangerous place like this.
We then walked away from the forest. On the road, I noticed the commonality of the environment from Earth. The trees, the sky, the birds, everything could also be found on Earth. I would believe that I was still on my world if not for the fact that I just saw a giant bear and magic from before. Meanwhile, Emily tried to keep her distance from me while traveling. However, I can feel that she was not scared of me, but rather just shy.
***
It was already nightfall when we have arrived at a small and worn-out house that looked similar to a witch''s hut. Amazing, for I always thought necromancers lived in cemeteries. A tall tree stood in between the river and the building, with its leaves withering from its branches. The nauseating smell of dead animals engulfs the whole area.
How can I be irritated by this smell when I don''t even have a nose?
These thoughts quickly traveled through my mind. A non-existent yet beating ''heart'', an imaginary nose that could smell. Everything seemed impossible, yet this is real.
In the first place, how can I even move? Without muscles and tendons, this should be impossible.
After opening the door, Emily spoke with a soft, slow voice while bowing, "W-welcome to my home."
The interior of the house looked like it was made of wood which has seen better days. There was a table in the middle with two chairs on adjacent sides. On the left side of the house, there was a fireplace. On the right side, there seemed to be a collection of books. On the remaining side at the back, there was a door. Not far from that backdoor, there was a ladder going up.
"So this is a necromancer''s house. By the layout of the first floor, perhaps that''s her bedroom," I whispered while examining the place. "Where am I? I doubt there''s a place like this in the Philippines."
"Uhm," Emily softly interjected after she put down her scepter beside the chair. "What do you want to eat?"
"Uhm... I''m a skeleton though. Can I eat?" I asked after switching my gaze unto her.
"I see. Y-you''re right." She looked down and walked towards into the kitchen door.
Moments later, she came back and brought a plate with food, but it looked like those were leftovers from a previous meal.
Somehow it looks delicious; I want to taste it. But, I guess it''s impossible since I don''t even have a tongue. Or maybe I can since I could smell without a nose? Then again, I don''t have a stomach.
"Uhm?" she interrupted my thinking.
"I''m sorry. Please, don''t mind me. Go on and eat. I know you''ve been tired from that walk."
And with that, Emily started to chow it down.
"I''m sorry if I made you sad," I apologized while looking at her.
Emily chewed, swallowed down whatever was in her mouth and then talked. "I-it''s okay. I''m also sorry since I forgot you''re still a skeleton."
"Still? Wait, does that mean I can have my normal body back?"
"I don''t know," she replied, softly while looking down. She seemed to be avoiding eye contact. "The book said you''re supposed to come back the way you were before you died. Were you born as a skeleton?"
"No, I''m 100% human."
"Y-you came from the country of humans?" She looked at me with a terrified look while tightly gripping her left wrist.
Country of humans? What does she mean? Also, what happened to her? She seems scared when I told her I was a human.
"Don''t worry, I''m not affiliated with the country of humans. I was a traveling merchant when I was alive."
"I-I see. I''m sorry," she replied still looking down.
"It''s okay."
This is weird.
"Anyway, can I ask you a question? Where are we exactly?"
"We''re currently inside a forest in the boundary of Khina, the country of humans and Razzia, the country of demons," she replied, softly.
"Country of demons?" I whispered.
There''s something weird with me.
We continued our conversation. It was filled with random topics and some jokes. As more and more words came out from our mouths, I finally understood the strangeness that I felt. The strangeness as to why I felt comfortable talking to a stranger, talking to a person in an unfamiliar world.
Somehow... talking to her... I am reminded of Haruka. It''s like I''m talking to Haruka.
After that, Emily continued talking about herself. I''ve found out that her mother was killed by humans less than a year ago and she''s been living here in solitude since then.
Judging from her story, I doubt I''m still on Earth. And this doesn''t seem to be a dream. This is reality. But why did she tell me about her past? Are you even supposed to say these things to a person you just met? She''s too trusting...
Anyway, the talk turned serious all of a sudden. I need to think of a new topic somehow.
"By the way, are you not having a hard time with your long hair?"
"I''m sorry," she shrieked while hurriedly grabbing her hair to cover her face.
"Sorry, I didn''t mean anything bad. I just thought that maybe you find it hard seeing since your hair is long and it mostly covers your eyes."
"My mom... When my mother was alive, she usually took care of my hair," she replied while looking down. "But now I''m alone I haven''t had a chance to cut it."
Crap, I made her sad. I have to fix this somehow.
"Uhm, you know... If it''s ok with you. I can cut your hair for you."
"B-but..." she responded.
"Oh, you don''t have to worry. I''m actually pretty skilled. When I was still in my hometown, my mother owned a beauty parlor and sometimes I helped her on her job, especially at days where there were a lot of customers."
"N-no," Emily stuttered. "I''m not doubting your skills. I just don''t want to bother you with this."
"Oh, don''t worry. You''re not bothering me at all."
"I''m sorry, but I can''t..." she answered, softly.
"Just think of it like a gift for reincarnating me."
"But you already saved me before," she replied, softly.
"Okay then. Just talk to me if you want me to cut it."
Well, I don''t really want to force her into doing it. I don''t want her hating me after all.
"Okay, thank you very much," she responded, bowing.
"Well. Anyway, since it''s already late, I think we should get some sleep."
"Okay," Emily replied, softly while looking below. "But there''s only one bed."
"Let''s sleep together then," I said, as a joke.
"O-okay. I-I think that''s only normal since the bed is for two people," she stuttered while blushing.
"Wait, wait, wait, I''m just joking you know. Even though I''m just all bones, I''m still a man. You can''t just let me sleep beside you."
"I see." Emily looked down in disappointment.
Please, don''t do that. Why are you even shy when someone wants to cut your hair but you''re okay when someone says they want to sleep together with you? Isn''t that supposed to be the opposite?
"Ahhh... Okay, okay, okay. Just this once, okay? After this, no more sleeping together."
"Okay." She smiled.
I hope nothing happens.
***
Time passed, and I still couldn''t sleep. A sudden thought flashed in my mind.
"Come to think of it, do I even need sleep?"
"Mother... where are you? Mother..." Curious, I looked at Emily; she seems to be having a nightmare.
"Mother..." With her tears falling, I held her hands.
I see. She was longing for her mother. I wonder if that''s the reason why she wanted to sleep with me...
"This girl... Did she reanimate me because she''s just lonely? Because she really just wants a friend?"
Curious, I moved her hair that was covering her face to the side so I could take a good look at it.
"This... This can''t be... Ha... Ha..."
Immediately, I ran down the stairs, tripping as I went straight outside the house.
"That face," I said while kneeling and having my hands touching my forehead. "There''s no way I''ll mistake that face. That''s definitely Haruka."
"Ha... Ha... Ha... Hahaha." I cried while laughing continuously. "Haru---"
However, I was suddenly interrupted by the image of my parents in my mind which made me paused a bit.
"No. She can''t be Haruka..."
That''s right. Haruka... is already dead. It''s already been three years since she died.
"And she doesn''t seem to know me when I said my name to her."
That''s right. She''s just a girl who looks like her.
Slapping my cheeks, I refreshed my mind.
"I need to return to my world. My parents are probably worried sick right now."
But how? How can I return?
Thinking for a bit, I thought of an idea.
...Wait, a minute. That''s it. If this theory is right, then it was magic that transported me to this world. Then that means that there should be magic that would turn me human again and transport me back to my world.
"That''s right, I just have to learn magic."
V1.1 Chapter 2: What Makes a Genius, Genius?
"If others can do it, then you can do it too." A quote I usually hear from my elders. But, is it really true? People have different sets of talents, resources and even personalities. What a person can do depends on these three. But if all of us are different then can we really say that we can do what others can do? No, that is wrong. Some people are blessed with good things while others only have a few. Sometimes, hard work is not enough to get what you really want. There''s always someone better out there, someone who can do magnificent things with minimal effort. Someone... who''s called a genius.
Morning came. After breakfast, I immediately asked Emily to teach me magic.
"H-Hiiro? Why do you want to learn magic?" she inquired with a puzzled look.
"It''s just that... When I saw you use magic before, I thought you looked cool."
"C-cool? I''m not really..." she murmured while averting her gaze by looking down.
"And I thought that if I learn magic... I can fight beside you and protect you."
She stared at me as if verifying the gravity in my words. "Hiiro..." she smiled. "Alright, I''ll teach you magic."
I''m sorry for lying to you, Emily, but I need to do this.
***
Under the dying tree, we''ve decided to take the lessons near the house. Attentively, I listened to her while she discussed the basics of magic.
Life energy determines when a living being would die. Having a little of it means it would die early, and vice versa.
However, when a living being dies before all of its life energy is depleted, the remaining life energy will then fuse with the surrounding energy, creating mana.
This mana is what mages use to create certain phenomenon like shooting fireballs, controlling animals and other things. This event is called magic.
"Then... How can I use magic?"
"Y-you just need to learn how to control mana. There are two ways to do this," she replied while holdingher scepter with both of her hands. "You can either write aruneor use amagic tool. The first one is much harder since you need to write the runes manually. The second one requires writing lesser symbols, some don''t even need one since it''s already programmed inside the magic tool. For low to mid-tier spells, if you practice enough you''ll eventually learn to cast it without an incantation. However, for using high-tier spells, without a good magic tool, you will need an incantation."
"Hmm. I see. I see. That kind of makes sense to me now." I murmured, remembering how she did all those things in the forest. "Then, how do I write a rune?"
"I''m sorry," she apologized, with a low-pitched voice while gazing to me with a concerned look. "I can''t teach you how to write a rune today."
"Hmm? Then what am I going to do today?"
"I''m sorry, but you first need to meditate," she answered, softly.
Based on what she said, in order to control mana, one needs a huge amount of concentration. Since I don''t need to eat nor drink, I meditated for three days straight. Emily continued to watch me even at night. She also seemed to be stitching something during my meditation.
***
Suddenly, I found myself at the rooftop of a building, looking at a girl standing at the side ready to jump.
"Stop!!!" I shouted. "Haruka, Stop!!!"
"I''m sorry," the girl replied, jumping backward.
Soon, a bunch of words echoed all over the place.
Murderer... Killer... It''s your fault... She died because of you...
The atmosphere became dark as if I''m the only one present there.
"Stop..." I retorted. However, the voices continued to ring in my ears. "Please, stop..." I said these words continuously while kneeling and covering my ears. "Please, stop!!!"
The ocean of voices finally ceased. I raised my head and saw a woman with short black hair, standing in front of me.
"Wake up, Hiiro," she spoke. It was Haruka. "Wake up, Hiiro."
***
"H-Hiiro... Wake up... Hiiro..."
Hearing a familiar voice, I opened my eyes. "Emily? What is it? Did I do something wrong?"
"N-nothing. It''s just that. You seem to be in pain while meditating. Are you okay?" she asked while holding her scepter with her 2 hands."
"Yes. I''m sorry if I made you worry."
"I-it''s okay... Anyway, I think we can now proceed to the next step," she replied.
"Really? Then, I can finally..."
"Yes, I''ll teach you---" But before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly fell down.
"Emily!!!" Fortunately, I managed to catch her before she hit the ground. "You''re burning hot!"
Her voice was very hoarse from the fever. "Hiiro... I''m okay," she coughed feeling the pain in her throat. "We... we can still continue your training."
"No, you need to rest. I think you''ve been watching me for the past three days without sleep."
She repeatedly resisted at first, telling me to continue practice but I managed to convince her to take a rest. I then quickly carried her back to her house and nursed her.
So even necromancers can get sick. I don''t get her. Why would you do this thing to someone you''ve just met? Why? Just because I saved you that one time? It just doesn''t make sense. To the point of sacrificing your own health for me, why are you doing this, Emily? Are you really not Haruka?
***
The next day, after Emily became well again, she continued with her lectures. She taught me how to write a basic Fireball rune.
"By the way, Emily, why elemental magic? Not necromancy?"
"Because you said you want to learn magic," she replied, softly while looking down.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Magic? Of course, I want to learn magic. But isn''t it easier to teach me necromancy instead? Since you''re a necromancer and... Hmm... Come to think of it...
"Emily, you''re a necromancer right? How come you know elemental magic? And you seem adept at it too..."
There was a slight pause before she answered. "My mother... was a genius when it came to magic. She was the one who taught me how to use elemental magic," Emily replied with a sad look.
It seems she can''t get over on what happened to her mother. I wanted to cheer her up, but I guess if she doesn''t want to talk it out, it''s better not to push the matter. This way, we can keep up with the learning.
"Hiiro, let''s begin with rune writing," she spoke with renewed determination.
"Okay."
That''s right. Emily had a family here. She was born in this world. That''s why she can''t be Haruka.
"Before we proceed to incantation, you first need to master writing a rune." Emily sat on the ground and wrote something, then spoke with her usual soft voice. "You can write a rune on anything: the ground, the trees or even in the air." After she completed writing, the rune on the ground glowed. "Today, you will write a rune on the ground until you can make it glow like this one."
Excited, I started writing one... two... three runes. I kept writing and writing, hoping for it to work, however, none of them even flickered.
"Emily, can you help me with this? I can''t seem to get it."
"Let me see..." Emily inspected my scribbling. "I see. Y-you wrote this part wrong. A-also, this line should be connected here. You should make a circle here."
"But... I did put a circle there."
"But Hiiro, this is not a circle," she insisted pointing at where the circle broke off.
"O-Oh. I-I see. Sorry. Thanks."
Ahhrrrggg, this is really hard. Art is my worst skill. Even my penmanship is bad. Who needs drawing when you can just edit photos on the computer? Who needs writing when you have a keyboard? Sadly, they don''t have computers in this world. Ahhrrrggg, I wish these are all numbers!
"Calm down Hiiro. All you need is to adapt..." I repeated to myself going back to my concentration. "...Okay, let''s do this again."
"Uhm, Hiiro, who were you talking to?" Emily asked. Perhaps she thought I was talking to some spirit.
"Myself. I''m talking to myself."
"I-I see," she replied softly.
I know, I''ll just imagine them like computer codes.
"Let''s try that." Calmly, I imagined myself writing computer codes in a paper. After the rune is finished, it still didn''t glow.
Tch, as if imagining this as a code will help me improve my drawing.
"Ahm, Emily, can I practice my penmanship and drawing skills first? I don''t think I can write a good rune with my current self."
"Okay, Hiiro, if that''s what you want." Emily blushed for some reason. "T-then, I guess, I should help you."
"Thank you." We then spent the whole day on the table trying to improve my drawing skills.
***
A week had passed, but with the help from Emily, the rune I wrote on the ground eventually glowed.
"Yes, finally, I can write a decent rune."
"Hiiro. You finally did it!" Instantly, she jumped forward and held my right hand.
"Uhhm..."
Realizing what she just did, she separated from me. "I''m sorry," she apologized, blushing while repeatedly bowing her head. "I-I got carried away."
"I-it''s okay. I don''t mind," I assured while inspecting the rune to keep me distracted.
"H-Hiiro, please wait here," she spoke, softly while her forefingers touching each other. "There''s something I want to give you."
She then ran back at the house. A few moments later, she came back carrying which seemed to be a gray robe.
"This... this is for you," she quickly said. "I made a robe for you since you don''t have clothes right now."
"Emily..."
"Sorry. Did you not like it?" she asked, looking down.
"N-no. I like it very much." Immediately, I put on the robe. "How do I look?"
"You look good," she replied with a joyful smile.
There was none, but if I had eyes, I was sure, I would cry.
"Thank you, Haruka..." I blurted accidentally.
When I looked at Emily she made a confused face.
"Uhm... Hiiro? Who''s Haruka?" she asked.
"I''m sorry. It''s just that, you look similar to someone I know that I mistake her as you."
"I-I see," she replied looking down with a sad look.
"A-anyway. I really thank you for this robe. I''ll definitely treasure this."
"I''m happy..." She said softly still looking down, but I can somehow notice her blushing face.
"Emily..."
Her reaction just now. It only proves that she''s not Haruka.
"Uhm. Emily, what do we do next?"
"I-I''m sorry," she apologized, softly while averting her gaze on me. "Then, let''s go back to training. Since you are now ready to use magic, we can now go to something more advanced."
"Advanced?"
"Y-yes. This time, you will write the rune in the air," she added. "Even though you can still cast a spell on runes written on a solid surface, in an actual battle, it''s impractical to do."
I see. She''s right. In a battle, people tend to move constantly while fighting. Casting a spell on a solid surface each time will make it predictable.
"Writing in the air is harder than writing on a solid surface," she added. "You need a great amount of concentration and imagination for it since you can''t see the runes until you complete it."
Perhaps that''s what the meditation is for.
"Now, I will show you again how to cast a fireball." Emily wrote a rune. "Oh, Goddess of fire, descend and lend me thy strength... Fireball!" after the chant, a fireball appeared, made its way into the river and burst into a jet of steam. "Now, Hiiro, it''s your turn. You just need to imagine there''s a wall in front of you."
-First Try-
There''s a wall in front of me. There''s a wall in front of me. There''s a wall in front of me.
Raising my fingers, I wrote the rune in the air. "O, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength... Fireball!!!" However, nothing happened.
I worked through my rune once more, but it produced the same results.
-Sixth Try-
"H-Hiiro, y-you need to concentrate more," Emily stuttered while shouting. "You also need to imagine the rune you''re writing and not just the wall itself. You need to picture it. The symbols, shapes, lines... everything."
Calm down Hiiro, you can do this. First, imagine the wall. It''s in front of you. It''s hard and smooth. Now, start writing. Imagine every shapes and symbols and write them all on that wall. They should be properly placed and perfectly connected. Concentrate on the image...
The rune appeared in front of me, and this time, it finally glowed. "O, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength... Fireball!" Unfortunately, my hand exploded into flames.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."
In a quick response, Emily cast some sort of water magic to put out the fire.
"Hiiro, you did it," she congratulated.
"But... I failed."
"No, you almost did it. You just wrote the rune too slow; the fireball wasn''t released on time. You just need to hasten your writing," she added while looking at me with sparkling eyes...
"Gotcha."
However, the results remained the same for about five times.
This is harder than I thought. I need to move my hand faster. Okay, let''s do this again.
-Twelfth Try-
"O, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength... Fireball!" This time, the fireball exploded in my legs. Emily then cast the water magic again to put out the fire.
"You''re almost there, Hiiro," Emily shouted. "This time your incantation was way too fast. You need to time both the writing and the incantation."
Future results stayed the same.
-After so Many Tries...-
I am covered in smoke. My bones are charred black, but I''m glad they didn''t break. I guess I need to take a bath later. However, I refuse to let go of my training. I''ll try it again one more time.
"Oh, Goddess of fire. Descend and lend me thy strength. Fireball!!!" Unfortunately, I still failed.
Hours passed, I tried and tried, each having a different result. However, all of those were failures, and a lot of times, I almost hit Emily.
I need to be careful.
"O, Goddess of Fire, descend and lend me thy strength. Fireball!" A fireball burst forth from my hand and hit the river.
"Yes... Finally, I''ve done it!"
"Yey," she shouted, running towards me. "You did it, Hiiro. You did it."
"Thank you, Emily. I wouldn''t have been able to do it if you weren''t here."
"N-no, it was because of your own talent that you did it," she said while looking down hiding her blushing face. "But still, I never thought you would be this good. It took me at least one month just to cast a fireball."
"Really? I guess because I''ve meditated for a long time."
"You''re a genius, Hiiro," she added.
There was a bit of silence before I could respond to her. I saw the face of a certain girl.
I already know you''re not Haruka, yet why? Why do I still see her in you?
"Hiiro?" she asked.
"Sorry. I just remembered someone."
"I''m sorry you have to write runes to cast magic," she apologized while looking down. "I don''t have any other magic tool for you to use and my scepter had been programmed to be only usable by me so..."
"Naah. It''s okay," I replied while patting her head. "It''s also good that I learned the basics. So, thank you for teaching me."
"N-no," she replied while looking down, blushing. "I just taught you what I know."
"By the way, do you know any magic for traveling to other places? Or maybe to other dimensions?"
"If it''s traveling to other places, there''s teleportation magic, but I don''t know how to use it," she replied. "About traveling to other dimensions... This is the first time I heard about it so I don''t know. Sorry."
"It''s okay. Thank you for answering."
It seems it won''t be easy going back to earth. I also need to regain my flesh back but since Emily also doesn''t know why I became a skeleton instead of returning to being human, I guess I''ll worry about it later. I need to focus on one problem first.
V 1.1 Chapter 3: An Instinct That Got Passed Through the Years.
Many years of evolution had already passed and yet a certain instinct still remains especially to us males. A certain instinct that automatically activates every time we see a helpless, crying girl. A certain instinct that eventually transforms into a desire of wanting to help that girl: a desire to become her hero.
Weeks passed, Emily taught me the four basic elemental spells: Fireball which shoots a ball of fire towards the enemy, Water Whip which creates a lasso made of water, Earth Wall which summons a wall of earth to a location of my choosing, and Air Slash which produces blades made of wind to slice anything in its path. I also learned to cast those using minimal words for their incantation. As part of my training, we¡¯ve decided to hunt for food in the forest.
¡°Air Slash,¡± I shouted after I wrote the rune. Blades of wind soon hit a deer-like creature wandering in the direction of the spell. Its blood gushed out from the huge cut inflicted on its body. Forcibly, the beast tried to run away, but its injury made it too hard for it to even walk. It let out one final cry before falling down. The closing of its eyes signals its life withering away.
¡°G-good job, Hiro,¡± Emily softly spoke.
We went to the creature to confirm if it¡¯s dead. Walking towards it, we noticed the movement of nearby bushes. Emily and I quickly guarded ourselves. It could be a dangerous beast ready to attack us. Quietly, we waited, but what came out surprised us. It was not a monster but two beautiful women wearing robes.
¡°Lookie here, it''s the faker Emily,¡± the blonde woman proudly said.
She was accompanied by a pigtailed woman with blue hair.
¡°We¡¯re here looking for food and what do we find? It¡¯s Little Red Faker. What are you doing in the middle of the forest anyway?¡± The blonde woman added.
¡°Who are you two?¡± I asked, glaring at them. At least that was what I would I looked like if I had eyes.
They glanced at me for a second before switching their sight back to Emily.
¡°Wow. Looks like this faker finally managed to summon a skeleton,¡± the blonde woman spoke. Looking at Emily, she was trembling, a sheep hiding from a wolf.
¡°Let¡¯s go, Emily,¡± I said, grabbing her hands.
If things are to continue, it might eventually escalate into a fight, the way Emily is fairing right now, it¡¯s clearly two against one. And even if it is a one versus one, I doubt my skill as a newbie mage will win.
Avoiding harm is not cowardice, it¡¯s a necessity for survival.
¡°What? So you''re going to run away again?¡± the blonde woman shouted. ¡°Run back to your house like a loser you are.¡±
Avoiding harm is not cowardice, it¡¯s a necessity for survival.
Looking at Emily, she stayed silent, but her grip on her scepter was clearly tightening.
Avoiding harm is not cowardice, it¡¯s a necessity for survival.
The blonde girl continued raining Emily with insults.
¡°So you¡¯re just turning tail again, even after getting your mother killed?¡± the blonde woman shouted.
Those words stopped me for a bit. Looking at Emily, she finally broke into tears.
¡°I...I¡¯m sorry,¡± Emily spoke in a soft voice which I barely heard.
Avoiding harm is not cowardice, it¡¯s a necessity for survival.
Somehow, I found my hand moving unconsciously.
Avoiding harm is not cowardice, it¡¯s a necessity for survival.
Avoiding harm is not cowardice, it¡¯s a necessity for survival.
¡°Fireball..!¡±
A ball of flame soon appeared on the rune I wrote and shot itself towards the blonde woman. But she immediately blocked it.
¡°Shut the fuck up!¡±
Why did I do that? It doesn¡¯t make any sense. The best possible answer is to avoid provocation and go home. Then why? I¡¯m just putting both of us into harm.
¡°Huh? What are you talking about,¡± the blonde woman annoyingly replied. ¡°You¡¯re just a familiar.¡± Raising her scepter, I guarded myself. ¡°Dispel,¡± she yelled.
I tried to use Earth Wall to block the incoming energy, yet the spell just passed through and hit me. However, nothing happened.
¡°You...¡± The blonde woman was bedazzled. ¡°What are you?¡±
¡°Mistress,¡± the girl with twin tails guarded her companion with her arm. ¡°He¡¯s probably a Lich.¡±
A Lich?You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
¡°Tch, you¡¯re right,¡± the blonde woman spoke with her eyebrows tilted towards the center of her face. ¡°There¡¯s no way this faker can summon a skeleton,¡± she added pointing towards Emily. ¡°A stupid faker, hiring a lich to fool me; this is unforgivable,¡± the blonde woman replied, switching her glare towards me. ¡°Hey lich, you will pay for this humiliation!¡± The blonde woman raised her scepter and began chanting. ¡°Summon: Giga Skeleton!¡±
The earth trembles as a crack appeared on the ground. Suddenly, a giant fleshless hand emerged from the seemingly bottomless pit. Slowly, it climbed up, like a zombie surfacing from its grave. The place turned dark with the monster standing in front of me, blocking all light coming from what little the sun could offer, and from the looks of it, it was five times my height in comparison.
¡°Rejoice commoner, for you are about to see my power. My name is Thea Skyheart, a pure-blooded necromancer. Tremble before me!¡± the blonde girl said while cackling maniacally.
***
The giant skeleton uprooted a tree nearby and tried to smack me with it.
¡°Shit,¡± I cursed, tumbling with Emily away from where we stood. A strong gust of wind soon whooshed towards us from the tree. ¡°Emily, get a hold of yourself!¡±
But she didn¡¯t budge, so I tried to move her away from the giant and provoked the blonde necromancer.
¡°You bitch!¡± I shouted while running away from the goliath. ¡°I¡¯m your opponent right now!¡±
The huge skeleton let out a deafening roar while gazing upon me. It then tried to crush me under its foot, but luckily, I fell over between the gaps of its toes. But, its step made a shockwave that nearly knocked me off my balance.
¡°Fireball,¡± I shouted as the ball of flame appeared in front of me to hit the foot of the giant. However, it was unscathed.
This is just stupid. Why am I even trying to fight this thing?
I tried circling the giant and cast fireball, again and again, each having the same result. The giant was just too sturdy.
¡°Huh? Is that it?¡± Thea shouted annoyingly. ¡°I thought a Lich is supposed to be strong but you¡¯re so weak. You can¡¯t even fight a mid-tier familiar.¡±
It¡¯s no use. There¡¯s no way a basic spell can just damage this thing.
It tried to hit me again with the tree in its hand. ¡°Earth Wall,¡± I cast a barrier of rock in front of me, but the giant was too strong and broke through the defense. The resulting blow propelled me towards the nearby trees. I then quickly got up and assessed myself for damage, and noticed the cracks in my bones, but luckily, I was still able to fight. Good thing that Earth Wall softened up the colossus¡¯s attack.
¡°What''s wrong Lich?¡± Thea yelled. ¡°I¡¯m not even trying to join the fight and you¡¯re already losing. Don¡¯t tell me your just all talk.¡±
¡°Dammit,¡± I said, punching the ground.
¡°Hiiro!¡± A scream echoed throughout the forest. ¡°Stop this! Why are you doing this?¡± It was Emily.
Why? I also want to know why. We should¡¯ve walked away from them. Why am I even doing this? This is just stupid.
As I looked at her, she was looking back at me with tears dropping from her eyes.
¡°Please¡ stop,¡± Emily cried. ¡°Please, stop this.¡±
Staring at her, I saw the face of a familiar girl.
¡°Ha¡ ruka.¡±
¡°Hiiro¡ If I ever find myself in trouble again¡ Will you come to save me just like before?¡± A voice echoed inside my mind. A message from a familiar memory.
¡°Stupid. Of course, I will. Who do you think I am?¡±
¡°Please, stop! Why are you doing this?¡± Emily shouted while looking at me with her wet eyes.
¡°Because you¡¯re crying!!!¡±
Suddenly, the giant raised its hand holding a tree and tried to smack me again. The tree barely hit me since I tumbled away from it. But some parts of its twigs lightly scraped me.
Thinking while avoiding the colossus¡¯s rampage, I re-examined my enemy from every corner possible. Bit by bit, I devised a plan to defeat it.
Using a mental image of a skeleton as a basis, I¡¯ve found one weakness I could exploit: the intervals of its spine. Judging the distance, though, it is nearly impossible for me to hit it.
I could try running up the goliath¡¯s arm after it reaches the ground. However, gravity alone would make it an impossible feat.
I need to think outside the box. Using my basic spells there has to be something I can do...
¡°Earth Wall!¡±
Writing the rune at my foot, I cast the spell just below me. As the earth wall appeared, it quickly propelled me upwards, reaching heights not possible with a normal jump. With equal height with the giant¡¯s ribs, there¡¯s only one thing I need to do: to ¡°move forward.¡± However, there is a problem. I can¡¯t move that much while airborne, which means I am defenseless in my position. The giant knew; he attempted to swat me out with the tree.
Everything about you is different.
¡°Fireball!¡±
With every action, comes an equal and opposite reaction. I used my spell to force the direction of my flight to the right. With this, I avoided contact with its blow. However, the tree lightly grazed my middle finger.
The way you happily eat vegetables during a meal.
It¡¯s different.
¡°Water Whip!¡±
A lasso made of water then appeared and bounded the giant¡¯s shoulder bone, just in the way I imagined. With the other end in my hand, I swung towards the giant¡¯s spine.
The fact that you even know how to cook.
It¡¯s different.
Consecutively, I wrote multiple runes on the spaces of its ribs while the giant tried to remove me from his spine.
And the way you always laugh to my humorless jokes.
It¡¯s different
¡°Be cut in half! AIR SLASH!!!... AIR SLASH!!!... AIR SLASH!!!... AIR SLASH!!!...¡±
The force of the spells pushed the giant backward, which also redirected me in the opposite direction due to the placement of my water whip; I soon find myself in the ground.
¡°Yet why¡¡±
Why do I still see her in you?
But, things didn¡¯t go according to plan. Looking up the giant, it was still standing as if nothing had happened. I have failed¡
...Or not. A few seconds later the upper half of the giant broke and fell down. Suddenly, a different memory resurfaced.
¡°H-Hiiro? Why do you want to learn magic?¡± Another voice coming from a memory from a month ago.
¡°I thought that if I learn magic¡ I can fight beside you and protect you.¡±
¡°I see. I guess it¡¯s not a lie after all,¡± I said with a soft voice. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll stick with you for a while.¡±
¡°Pathetic,¡± Thea said looking at me as if I was a bug. ¡°Wasting 15 minutes just to kill a mid-tier familiar. You are weak. Just another loser.¡± She added raising her scepter. ¡°Die¡ weakling.¡±
¡°Shit.¡± I tried to move but I have used all of my energy against the giant. ¡°Am I going to die?¡±
¡°Phantom Bullet,¡± Thea shouted.
Looking down, I readied myself for my end¡ But I only heard a loud thud. Looking up once more, I saw a wall of earth standing between me and Thea.
¡°I am not the same as before,¡± a voice of a woman shouted. It was Emily.
V 1.1 Chapter 4: The Inauthentic Dasein.
An authentic Dasein is constantly aware of its existence as its OWN; to be defined by itself and not by others. While the inauthentic Dasein lives lacking in awareness and allows oneself to be socially constructed by others. Thus, authenticity is lost.
- Martin Heidegger (Being and Time)
---Emily---
¡°I am not the same as before!!!¡±
¡°Huh?!¡± Thea uttered in disgust, switching her gaze towards me. ¡°Hahahaha,¡± she laughed as she put her palm in her face. ¡°What¡¯s this? A loser trying to defend another loser. Interesting. This is interesting,¡± she continued laughing. ¡°Then let¡¯s put you to the test. I¡¯ll use these hands of mine to see if you are worthy of me!!! Sophia,¡± Thea warned her twin-tailed companion. ¡°Don¡¯t interfere. She¡¯s mine.¡±
Carrying Hiiro, I put him under a tree, and walked back to where I was.
¡°T-the ¡®me¡¯ right now is different,¡± I uttered in a soft voice. ¡°I am stronger!¡±
¡°Huh? What are you even talking about?¡± Thea replied pointing her scepter to me. ¡°Phantom Bullet!¡±
Immediately, I cast Phantom Shield, and as the Phantom Bullet reached the barrier, it dissipated into the air. Then, I ran to the right side so Hiiro won¡¯t be in the path of Thea¡¯s spell.
¡°Phantom Bullet!¡± Repeatedly, Thea cast the spell. Each time, I countered by casting Phantom Shield to repel her attacks. ¡°You faker,¡± Thea screamed. ¡°Is that the only thing you can do? You said you¡¯re stronger but the only thing you¡¯re doing is casting that annoying shield over and over again.¡±
Her offensive strikes continuously blasted through. However, I couldn''t fight back. My mind is telling me to go for the attack, but every time I tried casting an offensive spell, my hands would shake and my mind would go blank. My mouth wouldn¡¯t open
¡°Hahahaha,¡± Thea laughed. ¡°It''s useless! From here on, consider your path a one-way road! Just put your tail between your legs and get your ass back where you came from! Screw your ¡®I¡¯m not the same as before¡¯ bullshit. You''re still the weak faker like you used to be.¡±
Her attacks are getting stronger and stronger.
¡°You¡¯re trying to act like a mighty animal... but insects are insects,¡± Thea shouted, ¡°This is revenge for destroying the village, for killing my family. Die! Die! Die! ¡±
¡°Fly,¡± I put my scepter between my legs, then cast the spell. Soon, my foot slowly parted from the ground. My body was hovering above the trees.
¡°Phantom Hands,¡± Thea yelled. Hands made of shadows appeared beneath Thea and tried to grab me from below. But I dodged them. Soon, more hands appeared on the ground and tried to grab me again.
¡°Stop running away you filthy trash,¡± Thea strongly said. ¡°I¡¯m going to put you back to where you belong.¡±
A Phantom Hand soon got a hold of my foot. It pulled my body fast into the ground. A dozen more Phantom Hands held me preventing my escape...
...But that was a trap. It was a Water clone I made earlier. As the clone melted back into its watery form, I positioned myself behind Thea.
¡°In¡ Infer¡ In¡¡± But, my hand was shaking too much. The rune I wrote then disappeared. A Phantom Hand soon grabbed me and pinned me hard to a tree. Thea sensed my presence.
¡°Any last words, pretend necromancer?¡± Thea uttered. ¡°Phantom Bullet.¡± As the ball of energy comes close, I looked down, waiting for my end.
¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ Mother...¡±
But the spell didn¡¯t hit me. What appeared in front of me was a wall of ice that blocked the spell.
¡°Ar...ia...¡±
***
---Hiiro---
Watching from where Emily put me, stood a girl as pale as snow. Her long black hair gives off a mysterious feeling which was further enhanced by the violet pupils on her right eye while the other was tightly closed. She was carrying a scythe that could also be used as a spear. Combined with her black robe and her emotionless expression, she looked like a grim reaper.
¡°Tch,¡± Thea uttered.
¡°Stop this. You¡¯ve had enough,¡± the black haired girl spoke.
¡°So?¡± Thea replied. ¡°What¡¯re you going to do?¡±
¡°If the worst comes, then I have no choice but to use my curse on you,¡± the black haired girl responded placing her right hand on her chest.
¡°Tsk. Let¡¯s go, Sophia,¡± Thea said as the two of them went away. The black haired girl then carried Emily and walked towards me.
¡°Who are you?¡±
¡°H-Hiiro, she¡¯s my-¡± Emily interjected.
¡°Forgive me,¡± the girl with black hair apologized after facing to me. ¡°My name is Aria Silvermoon. Emily¡¯s sister.¡±
¡°Sister?¡±
¡°Well, we¡¯re not actually related by blood,¡± the girl responded. ¡°But we treat each other like sisters.¡±
¡°I see. My name is...¡±
¡°Hiiro Akira, am I right?¡± Aria interjected. ¡°Emily and I met when you were still meditating. She also told me about you.¡±
¡°I¡ I see.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s go home. There¡¯s something you need to know,¡± Aria added.
***
On our way back home, Emily was silent. I tried talking to her, but she ignored me as if she didn¡¯t hear a thing. She never responded to any of my words.
Arriving at her house, I realized something.
Why does Emily live far from other necromancers? Why is she living in this secluded house, all by herself?This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
¡°Come, Hiiro,¡± Aria spoke. Entering the door, Emily suddenly hugged me.
¡°Emily?¡±
I was confused, however, when I looked at her, she was crying. Seeing this, made my heart twinge. Gently, I hugged her back to give comfort.
¡°If you want someone to talk to, I¡¯m here to listen.¡± Looking into Emily¡¯s eyes, I patted her head, ¡°I''m your friend right?¡± I asked while trying to crack a smile with my bony face. ¡°You''re not alone anymore.¡±
The three of us went to the table and sat in the chairs. Emily seemed hesitant to speak.
¡°Should I speak to him?¡± Aria suggested holding Emily¡¯s hand.
¡°N-No,¡± Emily softly replied. ¡°I-I¡¯ll tell him¡±
Emily looked at me; she then braced herself and told me everything.
***
Night came, and I couldn¡¯t sleep. Technically, I don¡¯t need it. But to conserve my humanity, since there¡¯s still a chance that I would turn back to human again, I do it.
There were a lot of things going on inside my mind, and it kept bothering me ever since Emily and I talked to each other. Since she was sleeping, I decided to go outside the house. Aria also went home not long ago.
Darkness covered the sky as the clouds concealed the light coming from the stars and the moon. Climbing up to the roof of the house, my favorite place to pass time, the deafening silence struck me. It was perfect for reflecting the things I heard from Emily this morning.
It¡¯s been a long time since I went to the roof...
¡°So, Emily is not a full-blooded necromancer.¡±
In order for someone to become a full-blooded necromancer, one of its parents must also be a full-blooded necromancer, so that the child would inherit the immortality. However, Emily is just a normal human. She was abandoned by her real parents. A woman found her in front of her house and decided to adopt her. But, adopting a human was a taboo in the village, so her foster mother hid her away.
As a human, she was inferior in terms of necromancy than the real necromancers. Because of this, she was bullied. There were only two friends she had. Aria¡ and the other was Thea.
Soon, the humans attacked the village. Emily saw the death of her mother in one of the encounters. Enraged, Emily released her uncontrolled magic, destroying a part of the village and killing both enemies and some necromancers, including Thea¡¯s parents. Eventually, her mother¡¯s secret was revealed, and Emily was banished from the village to live in the forest.
Days passed, Emily found a book and read a spell that could bring back a person to life. She tried to learn a forbidden spell called reanimation so she could revive her mother. With the book¡¯s help, she also learned how to use some necromancy using mana. However, when she checked her grave, her mother¡¯s remains went missing.
However, that was not the only thing in my mind.
¡°Pathetic... You are weak¡ Just another loser...¡± A voice from a recent memory.
¡°She died because you¡¯re too weak¡ What kind of genius are you? You can¡¯t even protect the one you love¡ You killed her¡ You murderer¡¡± A memory from a long time ago.
¡°I¡¯m sorry¡ Hiiro.¡±
¡°Dammit,¡± I said, gripping my right hand while gritting my teeth.
***
Morning came, and the light from the sun woke me up. I fell asleep on the roof.
Climbing down, after I opened the door of the house, I saw Emily standing with a determined look.
¡°Please, cut my hair,¡± she pleaded.
The Japanese woman has long been associated with long, meticulously kept hair. ¡°A woman¡¯s hair is her life. Cutting it is akin to carving out her heart.¡± This exaggerates, the purpose of the great importance given to hair as a symbol of womanhood. Thus, a woman of high status cutting her hair, such as to disguise herself to escape villains after her life, is a dramatic, perhaps even desperate act.
When done out of volition, however, represents one¡¯s resolve to make a dramatic break with her own past: to divide time between ¡°the old me¡± and ¡°the current me.¡±
This was what I told Emily when we were training magic.
***
¡°Are you sure you want to keep your bangs this long?¡± I asked while lifting her fringe.
¡°N-no, it¡¯s okay. I-I can¡¯t show my whole face since I¡¯ll be too embarrassed to do it,¡± she replied while making a downward gaze.
¡°Why? You¡¯re actually cute you know.¡±
¡°Hawawawa,¡± she reddens like a tomato while covering her face with her fringe.
¡°Is there something wrong?¡±
¡°S-sorry. I-I¡¯m fine,¡± she replied with a very faint voice.
She¡¯s probably embarrassed by being called cute. I¡¯m not lying though. She really is cute.
¡°H-Hiiro. Y-you know¡I always wanted to look for my mother,¡± Emily said with her hands trembling. ¡°But, I was so scared of leaving this place. I was always thinking, ¡®what if I fail¡¯ or ¡®what if I couldn¡¯t find her.¡¯ But when you said to me that I¡¯m not alone, that you are my friend, I was happy. I know looking for her should be my problem alone, but I also know that I can¡¯t do it by myself,¡± she added. ¡°Hiiro¡ W-would you help me look for my mother?¡±
Moving in front of her, I knelt with my right leg, looked her in the eye and said, ¡°Of course. I will.¡±
There¡¯s no way I can leave this girl alone.
***
The next day we went to a nearby village to ask for information about Emily¡¯s mother. Looking at the place, the houses were designed like those in the Earth¡¯s Middle Ages. Most were made of bricks with a chimney on top. However, the males wore black pants, shoes and clothes beneath their long sleeves. On the other hand, the females wore a tightly laced corset over a bodice or chemisette and paired them with a skirt adorned with numerous embroideries and trims. Their attires were far from the clothing of the Medieval Ages.
I¡¯ve seen this type of clothing before. These are clothing from the Victorian period. What¡¯s going on? I thought I was in the Medieval Ages.
Unlike Earth, there was something more different about the people living in that place: they had horns. Once, I talked to a merchant with spiral horns like that of a goat¡¯s.
Is this the appearance of demons in this world?
Walking, I noticed a poster posted on a wall of a building. Apparently, it was a wanted poster.
¡°Black Wolf Ciel... Wanted for abducting the princess of Gapan.¡±
¡°Gapan?¡±
¡°I-it¡¯s the country of the elves,¡± Emily replied.
Country of the elves? So they also exist in this world.
¡°Wait a minute¡ I can read this? Also, these letters look oddly familiar.¡±
Time passed, I was looking at the demon kids holding hand in hand with their parents.
¡°I hope they¡¯re just fine. It¡¯s been so long since I last saw them,¡± I said, looking down at my hand. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, father, mother. I will definitely find a way to go back to Earth.¡±
¡°Kyaaa,¡± Emily screamed. When I looked at her I noticed a man running away from her, holding her bag.
¡°Water Whip!!!¡±
A lasso made of water shot towards the man. I then grabbed the other end and pulled him back. Running towards him, I grabbed Emily¡¯s bag. People who seemed to be policemen soon appeared and apprehended the thief. After that incident, Emily and I asked for more information regarding the remains of her mother. However, the day finished with us getting nothing.
Weeks passed, and I kept on practicing magic. Emily and I scheduled to look for her mother¡¯s remains every four days. We went to different villages near our place. At first, I thought that looking for her mother would be hard, considering that her flesh should¡¯ve been decayed. But Emily said that a necromancer¡¯s body would never rot.
It¡¯s already been almost a month and we still haven¡¯t found any lead.
It was nighttime. Lying down on the roof once more, I reflected on the things that happened...
¡°It¡¯s a good thing that I¡¯m progressing in magic, but, I¡¯m still too weak.¡±
Come to think of it, when I was alive I used to climb to our roof to code programs with my laptop.
¡°Though my mother would always scold me for doing that since the neighbors would call her saying there''s a ghost in the roof.¡±
I really miss programming.
As I looked at the sky, I thought of something. ¡°Hmm. Come to think of it. Rune writing is quite similar to programming.¡±
Instead of words just like in coding, rune writing uses symbols but the idea behind it works the same way. Each of these symbols from a rune corresponds to a function or attribute of a spell. An example would be a certain symbol on a fireball rune, which literally means to produce a small fire.
¡°I wonder if I can incorporate programming in a rune, like a loop for example. Hmmm... I¡¯ll experiment with it later.¡±
In computer programming, using a loop means repeating a certain function until it meets a condition. In layman''s terms, it is to repeat an action until you order it to stop.
V 1.1 Chapter 5: Programming and Magic.
Math can explain almost everything in nature: from familiar things such as how clouds drift and how waves move to things like the expansion of the universe and the effects of the elementary particles. Since the beginning of time, we have communicated with nature using the language called math.
The next day, I asked Emily if I can borrow a book about rune writing.
While reading the books I noticed something.
¡°I knew it! This is Russian.¡±
¡°How is this even possible? I never even studied reading nor writing Russian.¡±
Quickly, I looked for a pen and paper. After that, I wrote something on the paper.
¡°And I can even write like normal.¡±
Unfortunately, my penmanship is the same as back in my world: it¡¯s still bad.
¡°Now that I think about it, why can I perfectly understand Emily? If I''m really in another world, shouldn¡¯t I be unable to converse with her? I mean, it¡¯s such a big coincidence for the two of us know the same language. No, that¡¯s not it. I just didn¡¯t notice it, but I¡¯m conversing with her using this world¡¯s language. I just didn¡¯t notice because it seems so natural. Is there some kind of auto translate in this word?¡±
However, contrary to what I can read, Emily is not talking in Russian. Rather, in a language, I knew nothing about.
Anyway, I¡¯ll worry about this later. I have to master rune writing.
Hours later, I¡¯ve finished reading half of the book.
¡°Okay, I kinda get how runes work now in a deeper sense.¡±
Though there are still things I don¡¯t understand.
¡°I¡¯ll stop for a little bit.¡±
Maybe I should read some history books to kill time
¡°It¡¯s a little late but, I also need to learn about this world. I¡¯ve been too preoccupied with my training that I know nothing except magic.¡±
Afterward, I grabbed a different book. ¡°Hmm, this looks very old.¡±
¡°Septem... war¡ Eteria¡ the Demons ... Humans¡ they¡ spell. The purpose¡ from another¡ weird weapons¡¡±
¡°This book is too old. The pages are tattered, and some text were faded out. I can¡¯t get any information from this¡±.
Walking towards the shelf, I grabbed another book, however, it was the same as before.
Moments later...
¡°Ahhrrg, all books related to history are too old... Well, at least I learned a few things: One, this world is called Eteria; and two, there was once a war between the humans and demons. Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t find a decent map.¡±
Also, what¡¯s the date today? I first thought this is Medieval Age due to the design of Emily¡¯s house yet why do the demons have clothes similar to the 19th century?
¡°Tsk. I¡¯ll worry about this later. My priority right now is to master rune writing. I need to get stronger.¡±
***
Night time, I went to the forest to experiment with magic.
I need to do this alone since this can be dangerous. Who knows what I might cast with this¡
¡°For now, I¡¯ll try using Fireball for the base.¡±
Too bad though, the book didn¡¯t explain how the writing of Fireball works. Let¡¯s try with trial and error.
Every time I cast a Fireball, I altered one part of its rune, then observed the change. It took me a lot of casts to do it but I was able to study it. The rune seems complicated at first, however, it can be easily divided into three different steps: produce fire, compress that fire into a sphere and shoot that fireball with force. With the right symbols in the rune, a mage can simulate these methods and create a fireball.
My aim in this experiment is to repeat the first and second steps before I can shoot the fireball, producing multiple spells at once.
¡°Now it''s time to put what I learned this morning to use...¡±
The whole night, I experimented with the rune, however, I couldn¡¯t make it work.
***
Morning came, I continued training with Emily. She taught me a new spell called Water Mine. It¡¯s a spell that produces a trap anywhere that caster places it, and when an enemy steps on it, it will explode and ensnare the enemy for a few seconds.
¡°Water Mine!!!¡±
A water sphere appeared in front of me. After Emily threw a rock at it, the mine quickly exploded.
¡°H-Hiiro, you... you did it,¡± Emily shouted while running towards me.
¡°Y-yeah¡ I did it.¡±
¡°Hiiro, you¡¯re amazing,¡± Emily said looking at me with sparkling eyes. ¡°To cast Water Mine after only a day of training.¡±Stolen story; please report.
¡°Well... I¡¯ve been practicing rune writing after all. That may be it.¡±
I didn¡¯t expect it to be this easy. Seems researching more about rune writing paid off.
***
It¡¯s been weeks since I started doing this, I hope I can make the ¡°loop magic¡± work now.
After writing the rune I shouted, ¡°Execute Loop Program: Fireball!¡± Suddenly, a large number of fireball runes appeared in front of me.
¡°I... I did it! Yes! Finally! ¡± Jumping up and down, I was too preoccupied that I forgot something. ¡°Shit!!!¡±
Suddenly, the runes activated at the same time and blasted multiple fireballs in the forest. It exhausted my mana, which blacked me out.
***
¡°Hiiro¡ Hiiro¡ Hiiro.¡± It was a familiar voice.
¡°Emily?¡± Waking up, I saw the forest, replaced by a giant crater. ¡°What is this?¡±
¡°Hiiro.¡± Emily hugged me, tightly. ¡°I... I thought you were gone.¡± She began to cry.
¡°Emily...¡±
¡°Please, don¡¯t leave me,¡± Her tears kept flowing. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be alone anymore.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry. But I¡¯m okay now. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡±
She then looked at me. ¡°Hiiro,¡± she murmured and hugged me tighter. I hugged her back.
Still, I can¡¯t believe I did this with just a fireball spell. I need to create the code for the ¡°condition¡± fast so I can control its power.
What I mean by the condition is the thing that will stop the fireball from casting infinitely.
The two of us stood.
¡°H-Hiiro, what happened here?¡± Emily softly spoke while distancing herself and held her scepter with both of her hands.
¡°I...¡±
Should I tell her?
¡°I was trying to experiment a certain magic.¡±
After that, I explained the concept of loop magic to her.
¡°Please, Hiiro. Let me watch,¡± she spoke. ¡°I want to see this magic.¡±
¡°You can¡¯t, Emily. It¡¯s too dangerous---¡±
¡°Please let me help you complete this magic,¡± she interrupted while looking in my eyes then quickly looked down to avoid eye contact. ¡°Y-you¡¯ve been helping me a lot these past few days and¡ And I want to help you too.¡±
¡°But...¡±
¡°Please, Hiiro,¡± she pleaded as she grabbed my hand. ¡°I can help you with my knowledge about magic.¡±
She¡¯s right. With her knowledge, I can probably master loop magic faster. She can also point out my mistakes and suggest things the book didn¡¯t tackle.
¡°Okay, Emily. But you need to keep your distance as much as possible when I¡¯m using this magic.¡±
¡°O-okay,¡± she replied.
***
Days passed by, Emily and I started working together. With her help, I was able to answer some questions I have that the book didn¡¯t answer.
Seems like experience is still the best teacher after all.
¡°Emily, keep your distance. I¡¯m going to cast it again.¡±
¡°O-okay,¡± she replied, softly.
After I wrote the rune I shouted, ¡°Execute Loop Program: Fireball!¡± The rune in front of me soon glowed. ¡°Set X to 10.¡± After that, the rune multiplied to 10. ¡°FIRE!!!¡±
The ten runes soon shot a fireball each at the same place. With the smoke subsiding, what appeared before us was a tree completely charred down to its root.
¡°H-Hiiro. You finally did it!¡± Emily shouted while running towards me.
¡°Yes. Finally.¡± Looking at her I said, ¡°thank you, Emily. This is all because of your help.¡±
¡°N-no,¡± she blushed. ¡°I-it''s because of hardwork that you did it.¡±
¡°Then¡ Let¡¯s just say it''s because of the two of us.¡±
¡°Y-yes,¡± she replied. After that, we decided to go home.
***
As we were nearing the house, we noticed someone familiar standing in front of the door. It was Aria.
¡°Emily,¡± Aria shouted while running towards us. ¡°We need¡ to get away... quickly.¡±
¡°A-Aria?¡± Emily asked. ¡°W-what are you doing here?¡±
¡°You look exhausted. Did you run going here?¡±
¡°There¡¯s no time... to explain. We¡¯re in danger... right now,¡± Aria spoke while catching her breath. ¡°We have to move away as fast as possible.¡±
¡°Where are we going?¡±
¡°The Castle of Vladik,¡± she replied. ¡°Home of the previous King of Veter, King Arthur.¡±
After that, we quickly packed our things and like a deer escaping from lions we couldn¡¯t even see, we ran.
***
Night came, we decided to take a break from all that running. Aria then explained to us that the Village of the Necromancers was attacked once again by humans. Her father then instructed her to go to Emily and escape to the Castle of Vladik with us. Resting through the night, Aria and I stayed awake to act as a guard while Emily slept. Since I didn¡¯t really need to sleep, I asked Aria to take a rest as well since I can already manage it alone but she insisted otherwise.
¡°Hiiro, thank you for always being there with Emily,¡± Aria spoke, still emotionless.
¡°N-no. You don¡¯t have to thank me.¡±
¡°Hiiro¡ Did Emily tell you? Emily actually met you longer ago than you realized,¡± Aria answered.
What?
¡°Longer ago? What do you mean?¡±
She then told me the story of Emily and me before I was reanimated.
After Emily found the book about reanimation, she went to the forest to look for a corpse to use for practice; she found mine. She treated it as if it was alive and created an imaginary friend with my remains. Talking with it helped ease her depression. That¡¯s how a dead person has saved a lonely girl.
Loneliness, huh. I too had also experienced it. However, we followed a different approach. While she sought to escape from it by being friends with an inanimate object, I embraced it by distancing myself from other people. Getting attached to someone will only bring you pain. At least that was what I believed before meeting Haruka.
¡°After your reanimation, Emily must¡¯ve wanted to continue being friends with you,¡± Aria said.
¡°I see¡ That¡¯s why she shows me all those kinds of emotions.¡±
Wait, a minute¡ If Emily found and befriended my remains before, then how long was I dead? Emily said that my reanimation stopped midway that¡¯s why it didn¡¯t restore my body. If that is true, then does that mean I was already a skeleton when she found me? That¡¯d mean I was already at the dry decay state when she took me in.
¡°Hiiro?¡± Aria asked. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±
¡°Sorry, I was just thinking about something.¡± Looking at Aria, I asked, ¡°by the way, can I ask you a question? When you saved us from Thea, you were using ice magic, right? Do necromancers also know magic aside from necromancy?¡±
¡°That¡ that was not ice magic," she replied while looking down. Her aura seemed to have changed. "That was a curse."
A curse?
¡°Among the necromancers I know, except the five original necromancers, only me and Emily knows a different ability other than necromancy,¡± she added, still looking down. ¡°That is because both Emily and I are not full-blooded necromancers.¡±
¡°Then¡ You¡¯re also a human?¡±
¡°No¡ I¡¯m neither a human nor a demon. I¡¯m a monster,¡± Aria replied.
She remained silent afterward. Even though I had a lot of question I didn¡¯t ask any further. It seemed Aria had secrets she didn¡¯t want to talk about.
A monster, huh. How many years has it been since I last heard that word...
Morning came, and we continued our travel. Fortunately, we didn¡¯t meet any trouble along the way. We have reached our destination safe and clear.
¡°We are here,¡± Aria spoke stopping us in front of a huge castle. ¡°The home of the previous King of North Western Demon Country, the Castle of Vladik.¡±
V 1.1 Chapter 5.5: The Story of Emily.
Born in the City of Vampires in Molniya Kingdom, I lived there together with my mother. My life consisted of me mastering Elemental Magic through my mother¡¯s guidance.
After reaching 12, my mother decided that we would live in the Village of the Necromancers in Veter Kingdom. She said she was being called there. That was also the first time I learned that she was a necromancer. However, I was just a Human. At a young age, I had already known that I was adopted. Nevertheless, I still loved her, and would always treat her as my mother. As a precaution though, she told me to hide this secret and pretend that I¡¯m a necromancer. She also cast a spell that would make my hair scarlet since her hair is also red.
Arriving at the place, we were quickly surrounded by people; they were the residents of the village. Almost all of them wear robes with some carrying a scepter just like what my mother made for me. It seemed my mother is popular. They were calling her a bunch of names and praises. But what stood the most was the word ¡®1st Generation Necromancer.¡¯ Though I had no idea what that means.
Since I was at the right age, the Village Elders enrolled me to their Necromancy School. My mother rejected the idea at first, however, she couldn¡¯t go against the laws of the village; she had no choice but to comply. Because of this, my mother advised me to never use Elemental Magic in public.
Because of my background with magic, I learned Necromancy quickly. There were only a few differences between the two but I soon grasp the idea of it. I scored high in written tests of all of my subjects. Because of this, I became popular. I was so happy; I could make my mother proud.
However, everything changed when I reached senior high. Before reaching 16, the Immortal Blood within a necromancer still hasn¡¯t matured. That was why only after reaching this age, the teachers would permit us to use necromancy in action. Casting necromancy costs the Life Energy of the caster. A mature necromancer won¡¯t have a problem doing it due to their unlimited Life Energy. However, I was just a human. After casting a few spells, I would always collapse. At first, my teachers and friends would always console me telling maybe I still haven¡¯t matured yet. But I already knew that it was impossible for me. Because I was just a Human.
After countless of collapses¡
After limitless failed tests¡
After innumerable losing spars¡
The trust of my teachers and friends eventually faded. Everyone called me a failure. Everyone except Aria and Thea. Among the numerous insults and bullying. The two of them protected me. We became friends. We became sisters. It gave me peace among the bullying that happened to me. However, there was something I couldn¡¯t tell them. That is, I was just a Human.
However, it didn¡¯t last long.
***
It was a school day when we heard a sudden explosion. Everyone panicked. It was a scene no one had expected. The teachers gave their all calming down everyone, but deep down they were also afraid. News then reached us. We were under attack by humans.
The teachers advised us to escape to the shelter which we did. Upon escaping I saw a student getting attacked in the field: it was Aria. Multiple enemy soldiers were also there, each carrying a gun ready to fire at her. My mind went blank, I immediately flew towards her and cast an earth barrier.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
¡°Aria, are you okay?¡±
¡°Emily?¡± she replied, with her eyes wide.
Soon more soldier came. The students behind us shivered. We could die at any second. The number of soldiers were too many.
Suddenly, they threw grenades at us.
¡°Emily, never ever cast Elemental Magic in public.¡± A certain memory.
I¡¯m sorry, mother.
"Hurricane!!!¡±
A whirlwind appeared and sucked all of their grenades. It then exploded in the sky. But, the soldiers didn¡¯t give up. They then prepared their guns, ready to fire at us.
¡°Terra shield.¡±
As gunshots started raining towards us, a wall of earth appeared blocking everything. The sounds of bullets everywhere were enough to slightly deafen anyone near the vicinity.
¡°Hurry up and get away! I¡¯ll protect all of you!¡±
Gunshots after gunshots were heard everywhere. I know that my shield would not last forever. Occasionally, I hear explosions coming from my shield. They were throwing grenades.
¡°Emily, I¡¯ll help!¡± It was Aria.
¡°Aria?¡±
She then raised her scythe and shot black lightning into the sky. Multiple bolts of black lightning soon came down freezing the soldiers as it hit. It was Aria¡¯s cursed lightning. I already knew her secret. It was the secret of us, three sisters.
However, she didn¡¯t know mine. I felt depressed. What kind of friend was I? She told me her precious secret, but I never told her mine. That, I was just a Human. She must¡¯ve felt sad because of that.
¡°Aria, I¡¯m so-¡± But I was stopped. Aria suddenly hugged me.
¡°Thank you, Emily, for saving me,¡± she said.
¡°Ar¡ia? You are¡ not angry?¡±
¡°Why would I get angry from someone who saved me?¡± she replied.
¡°Aria.¡±
¡°Emily, Thea is still missing. We must find her before she is killed by humans.¡± Aria announced.
¡°Okay, I¡¯ll fly and look her from the sky. Aria, look for her on the ground.¡±
¡°Okay,¡± she responded.
We then separated.
***
While flying, I saw my mother fighting an army, alone. They were everywhere, soldiers, tanks and mysterious flying humans surrounded by metal.
My mind went blank. I quickly landed and dashed towards her.
¡°Mother!!!¡± I shouted.
¡°Emily?! Look out!¡± She screamed, looking at me in horror.
While running, I didn¡¯t notice a missile flying towards my direction. I was too preoccupied looking at her.
¡°Emily!!!¡± Mother flew towards me before casting a barrier and hugging me. However, the explosion was too strong, the shield was shattered.
***
The smoke cleared, I saw mother lying on the ground, badly wounded, her bleeding wouldn''t stop.
¡°Mother! Mother! Please be okay. Please, don''t die.¡± Tears dropped everywhere, crying like a baby, creating a small pond on the ground. ¡°Please, please, don¡¯t leave me. Mother!¡±
¡°Emily,¡± she muttered as she caressed my face. ¡°I-I¡¯m glad you''re okay.¡±
¡°Mother...¡±
¡°I''m so happy... to be your mother. I-I never regret everything I did.¡± Her eyes closed; she stopped breathing.
¡°Mother, mother, wake up. Mother!!!¡± Fear, sorrow, anger, negative emotions came surging from deep within me. I released a strong magic; I couldn''t contain nor control it.
¡°Ahhhhhhh!!!¡± Empowered by emotions, a large explosion occurred.
The amount of mana I had used was too much, I blacked out.
That was the first time I had killed.
V 1.1 Chapter 6: Castle of Vladik.
Dullahan, also referred to as the Headless Horseman, is a type of spirit originating from Irish folklore. This sinister being appears as a man or a woman riding upon a black horse, but the rider has no head upon their shoulders. Typically, the Dullahan carries its head under its arm; the head appears dead and rotten with a demonic grin spread across its face.
- http://monster.wikia.com/wiki/Dullahan
¡°We are here,¡± Aria spoke stopping us in front of a huge castle. ¡°The home of the previous Ruler of Veter Kingdom; the Castle of Vladik.¡±
¡°It¡¯s huge.¡± Emily¡¯s eyes brightened up while examining the walls.
The castle sat at the top of a cliff with magnificence. Fortified by walls, it was only accessible by a two bridge. Enclosed by a stone wall, a large building was installed at the middle supported by four giant pillars.
¡°This is so cool.¡± The feeling was like a child going to his first time trip to a park. ¡°This is so amazing.¡±
¡°Hiiro, is there something wrong?¡± Emily spoke.
¡°Nothing. It''s just that... my family always takes me to the amusement park when I was a child, but this is the first time I have seen a real castle.¡±
¡°Hiiro, what¡¯s an amusement park?¡± Emily and Aria asked with puzzled looks in their eyes.
¡°O-Oh. Sorry, it''s¡¡±
After that, I explained to them what an amusement park is.
¡°Amazing, I want to go to this amusement park you said,¡± Emily replied, happily while holding her scepter with both of her hands...
¡°W-well¡ I¡¯ll bring you there someday.¡±
We walked towards the castle until we made it to the bridge where Aria then shouted, ¡°I am Aria Silvermoon, daughter of the necromancer named Oliver Silvermoon! The girl beside me is also a necromancer named Emily Scarlet! Beside her is a Skeleton Knight named Hiiro Akira! Our village was attacked, so we fled and came to this castle!¡±
A few minutes later, the barrier disappeared. We then crossed the drawn bridge towards two massive wooden doors. The air was chilling, my bones felt a bit more brittle. Yet, it wasn¡¯t painful, rather, it felt good
Ahh. This is so amazing.
It was like that time I was walking from the chairs to the stage when I graduated middle school.
As we reached the doors, they opened, allowing us to pass through. We then traveled a few more meters until we reached the door of the main castle.
As I stepped inside, I felt the coldness of the marble floor through my bony feet. My excitement came back while looking into the crystalline tiles. Looking around the hall I noticed portraits of a headless knight riding a horse with a flaming head. He was also holding a round object that seemed to be a human head. There were also a lot of sculptures of him, each in a different position and angle.
A man then came to us wearing a white tunic with a sword latched in his waist.
¡°A pleasant day to you three,¡± the man spoke while bowing. ¡°My name is Satrillo Stradivarius. Please, come with me. The King wants to meet you.¡±
***
The man took us to the throne room. In front, there he was, sitting in some sort of royal throne---the same being we saw in the portraits and statues. The detached head stared down at us from its lap.
¡°It¡¯s a real live Dullahan..!¡± I shouted in my mind.
Aria bowed gesturing us to do the same. ¡°King Arthur, Your Highness. I am the one called Aria. We came here from the village of the necromancers.¡±
As soon as Aria was done with her introduction, a servant came to King Arthur. It was a woman with gray, long hair tied in a ponytail. Her black, silken corset armor brought forth the glamour of a beautiful fighter. This was magnified by a white cloth for her skirt with one side opened, revealing her smooth legs, combined with a pair of black high-heeled boots. A collar in her neck and a golden bracelet in each of her hands further emphasized that she was not just a woman but also a warrior. She then lifted the detached head and whispered something in its ear.
King Arthur then stood up in a fit of rage. ¡°How dare you?! You may be a daughter of Oliver, but to bring a human in my castle, this is unacceptable!¡± Everyone was startled, especially the three of us. We knew he was pertaining to Emily. ¡°Guards, surround them!¡± We were then encircled by demons each armed with a sword and wearing silver armor.
¡°Emily, stand behind me.¡± Immediately, I steeled myself in front of Emily, protecting her in case they attacked us.
¡°S-sorry¡ This was because of me...¡± Emily apologized.
This is bad. With all these guards, we won¡¯t stand a chance if we retaliate. What now?
¡°Your Highness, please, allow me to explain everything,¡± Aria pleaded.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°I don¡¯t want to hear your excuses,¡± King Arthur shouted, pointing his sword at us. ¡°Your insolence will never be forgiven!¡±
¡°At least, please read this letter.¡± Aria handed out a wax-sealed letter that came from her pocket. One guard cautiously took the letter from Aria. After ensuring that it wasn¡¯t dangerous, they gave it to King Arthur, who began to read its contents.
¡°I see... So you¡¯re the adopted daughter of Marina.¡± He then looked at Emily. ¡°Necromancer, what is your name?¡±
¡°E-Emily. Emily Scarlet, Your Highness,¡± Emily stuttered, looking at King Arthur.
¡°Tell me. Why do you wish to live here?¡±
¡°B-Because...¡± Emily looked down. As I noticed her shaking, I held her hands to ease her anxiety. ¡°Because I am looking for my mother.¡±
¡°Hoh...¡± King Arthur smiled. ¡°In that case, you first need to pass the trial.¡±
¡°Trial?¡± Emily asked.
¡°Yes. Three days from now, there will be a three-way battle between you and three of my warriors,¡± King Arthur explained. ¡°To make everything fair, each of you will draw from a box. You will battle the one whose name was written on the ball you draw.¡± King Arthur paused. ¡°However, it seems there¡¯s only two of you.¡±
Maybe King Arthur thinks I¡¯m a familiar. Well, he¡¯s not technically wrong.
¡°I will fight for the position of the third person, Your Highness,¡± I shouted.
¡°Hiiro?¡± Emily and Aria stammered. Everyone around us whispered.
¡°You? A skeleton?¡± King Arthur paused for a bit. ¡°Hahaha, you amuse me, bony lad,¡± he laughed ¡°Very well, I approve you as one of the fighters.¡±
¡°Hiiro, are you sure?¡± Aria grabbed my hand and whispered, ¡°I thought you only know basic elemental spells?¡±
¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure,¡± I whispered back. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me.¡±
¡°Very well. Emily, will you accept the trial?¡± King Arthur asked.
¡°I-I accept the trial,¡± Emily replied, softly.
We each drew a ball, and each had a name engraved on it: I got ¡°Lucie Dreizehn¡±, Emily got ¡°Satrillo Stradivarius¡± and Aria got ¡°Robyn Accalia¡±.
So Emily will fight that butler we met earlier. Based on the reaction of that girl who came to Dullahan, Aria will fight her. As for me, I don''t have a clue who my opponent is.
Looking around, I saw a girl winking at me. It was a girl who looked like a princess with blonde hair curling from the tips of the hairs beside her eyes. Her pink dress and doll shoes surrounded her with an aura of innocence as a pink rose headpiece further magnified it.
My instinct is telling me that there''s a big probability it¡¯s her¡ Wait a minute, it¡¯s a Hime-kei!
¡°Now it¡¯s decided, I look forward to your battles,¡± King Arthur announced.
***
King Arthur then instructed his guards to show us to our room. However, there were only two beds in it.
Wait a minute, something¡¯s definitely wrong with this...
Before the guards could walk away, I ran up to them. ¡°Wait, wait, wait... At least give me a separate room, I¡¯m a guy you know!¡±
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter since you¡¯re a skeleton. Don¡¯t worry,¡± the guard said winking at me and shoved away my hand.
Don¡¯t give me that ¡°if you know what I mean¡± look! Really guys? Really?
¡°H-Hiiro, what are you doing there?¡± Emily asked, softly. ¡®We need to rest since we traveled quite far. We also need to plan our strategy tomorrow.¡±
¡°Coming,¡± I replied stepping inside the room.
¡°Hiiro, you can sleep in the other one. Since the bed is big enough, I will sleep beside Emily,¡± Aria requested with a poker face.
As I lay down, I glanced at Aria, who shot an emotionless look towards me. ¡°If you do anything perverted, I¡¯ll make sure to grind your bones.¡± She was not letting a sound but I could read her lips.
Even if I want to do something, I can¡¯t. Not with this body of mine.
***
After we woke up, the guards came to our room and instructed us to follow them. They then took us to a large hall. Estimating its size, it was capable of holding at least two hundred people. A number of monsters: goblins, demons and much more filled the room; it was like a gathering of them. The guards then instructed us to sit beside one of the tables and wait for further instructions. Moments later, King Arthur came in front and had a speech.
¡°Good morning, my dear servants...¡± After his wonderful speech, we ate the meals served to us by King Arthur¡¯s maids.
This is sad. Eating is impossible for me since I have no stomach.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, Hiiro?¡± Emily asked.
¡°Oh, nothing. Anyway, come to think of it, yesterday, they were just trying to kill us but now it seems everything turned around completely.¡±
¡°Y-you¡¯re right,¡± Emily replied, softly.
¡°I don¡¯t know what father wrote in that letter but it seemed to have calmed the King yesterday,¡± Aria added.
¡°Now, I¡¯m curious.¡± My eyes turned to King Arthur.
***
After eating, we then went back and talked about our strategy.
¡°Ok, so based on our lineup, Hiiro will go first, I will go second and Emily will go last. Hiiro, how many spells do you know so far?¡± Aria asked.
¡°So far, I know six spells. I can use Fireball, Water Mine, Water Whip, Earth Wall, Air Slash and Loop Magic.¡±
¡°This is a bit of a problem¡ Are you sure you can fight with only those spells?¡± Aria held her chin.
¡°Yes, don¡¯t worry about me. I have a plan.¡±
¡°By the way, what is this Loop Magic you were saying earlier?¡± Aria asked looking at me. ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve heard of it.¡±
I explained to her how the Loop Magic works.
¡°I see, I see. That¡¯s quite a peculiar spell you¡¯ve invented,¡± Aria nodded. ¡°But have you mastered it now? You told me that you only perfected casting it once.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll¡ try to master it before the match.¡±
¡°I-it¡¯s okay,¡± Emily spoke, softly while looking at Aria. ¡°I know that Hiiro¡ that Hiiro can do it. I believe in him. Also, learning all those in just two and a half months is already an achievement.¡±
¡°Then, I will also believe in him,¡± Aria added.
After three hours of strategizing, the three of us trained; I created combos so I could use my spells effectively in battle, while I kept on practicing casting Loop Magic.
This continued on for three days.
***
Three days were all over, and the day of the trial came. The guards went to our room and instructed us to follow them to the arena. We then sat in chairs provided for us at the side of the ring. King Arthur then made his opening speech.
Looking at Emily, I noticed her shaking hands.
¡°What should I do?¡± Emily murmured, continuously.
¡°It¡¯s okay Emily.¡± Holding her hands, I assured her. ¡°We can do this. I believe in you.¡±
¡°Hiiro.¡± The shaking of her hands slowly disappeared. ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°To start with the trial, at Round One, we have Hiiro Akira against Lucie Dreizehn!¡±
And thus, I stepped towards the arena to begin my fight.
V 1.1 Chapter 7: A Certain Smile.
I''ve been called a genius by many. My teachers, my classmates, the people at the park, my father''s friends, and the likes. Every time they speak to me, all I get are non-stop praises. But most of them, talk behind my back.
You might think I''m happy, but I''m sick of it. I''m sick of all the fake smiles everybody shows to gain my trust. I''m sick of all the fake compliments just to appease me. Everything they''ve done, they did it just because they want something from me. Just because I have talent, they want to be my friend. I''m sick of all these fake people, fake friends, fake everything. I''m sick of it all.
That is... until I met her.
"Where am I?" Catching my breath, I woke up lying on a bed, looking at the ceiling.
"Hiiro!" A girl suddenly hugged me, it was a familiar voice.
As I looked to my left, immediately, I recognized her.
"Ha... Haruka? Y-you''re alive?"
Looking around, I saw medical equipment that looked strangely familiar.
"What''s going on?"
"Hiiro!" Haruka cried while hugging me. "Thank goodness. Thank goodness you finally woke up."
"Ha... ruka? What''s going on? Why am I in the hospital? A-and... why are you alive?"
"It''s because of you," Haruka cried. "It''s because you saved me. When I was about to jump on the rooftop you quickly rushed towards me. I was saved but you fell in the end. I''m sorry... I''m sorry Hiiro."
"I''m glad... I''m glad you''re alive," I replied tightening my hug on her.
"Hiiro," Haruka said wiping her teary eyes. "I''m sorry. When I said sorry to your confession I was actually lying."
"Lying?"
"Yes. The truth is I like you. No, I love you. I''ve always loved you," Haruka said with her moist eyes.
"L-love?"
"Yes," she shouted. "I love you."
Wait, wait, and wait. What just happened? Is this really a confession?! This is real, right?
"Hiiro." Her eyes were sparkling.
"Y-yes?"
Ahhhrrg. She''s too cute. I can''t stand this at all.
"Hiiro..." she said, softly. "Can I... can I kiss you?"
"M-mnn"
It was like a charmed snake tamed by a flute. My hands slowly touched her face, caressing it while watching my hands slipping into her skin. It was as smooth as polished marble with her complexion as white as snow. Her lips were so pink, they shone as if tempting me to kiss her. Little by little, our lips were slowly meeting. For each second that passed, I could feel my heart beating faster.
She was so adorable right now, however...
"Hiiro," A mysterious voice echoed, a faint but familiar voice, stopping me from what I was doing.
"What is it, Hiiro?" Haruka asked.
"Hiiro," the same voice echoed again.
What is this voice?
"Haruka, can you hear something?"
"I don''t. Hiiro, what are you talking about?" she replied with a dissatisfied look.
"Hiiro," The mysterious voice was not coming from Haruka, yet, it felt familiar.
"Hiiro, let us continue. Please," Haruka attempted to hug me.
Something''s wrong.
"Hiiro," The voice was getting stronger, louder.
"Hiiro!" The faint voice then turned into a shout.
"Hiiro!" Realizing something, I pushed the girl in front of me.
"Who are you?" I asked not the voice but the one in front of me. "You are not Haruka."
"Heh. I never thought you could break my spell," Suddenly, the place literally cracked right in front of my eyes.
Space is breaking? No, this is not reality.
As the illusion shattered, I found myself back in the arena.
***
"You will pay!" Clenching my fist, anger arose inside of me. "For toying with my feelings, I will never forgive you!!!"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
This is not good. I need to calm down.
"Hiiro!!!" a girl shouted.
"Ha...ruka?" Looking at her, her face slowly changed. It was Emily. She then smiled out of relief.
Emily...
As my anger subsided, I opened my hand and looked at it.
Hiiro, remember why you''re here, the reason why you''re fighting. Remember your goal: ''I will go back to my world.''
"Thank you, Emily, for bringing me back to my senses. Don''t worry, I''ll win this fight."
"Hey, are you finished now?" the girl in front of me pouted as if she got jealous for praising Emily. "You should''ve thanked me instead for that wonderful dream!"
My stares then switched to the girl in the arena.
"Hello, I am Lucie Dreizehn, a succubus. Good job breaking my illusion, Hiiro. I''m impressed," she curted.
Curious, I stared at her.
She is really dressed in a hime-kei. How is this possible? That fashion is from Japan...
Calming myself, I slapped my bony face with my two hands,
Hiiro, you need to concentrate. Anyway, based on my knowledge, a succubus mostly fights at close range. This is a gamble, but I bet she doesn''t know I''m a mage since normally, skeleton knights fight in close combat to distract their opponent while the master casts a spell.
Fighting a close combat specialist, I''m at a disadvantage, however, I have a plan.
"I''m going to defeat you, succubus," I shouted while pointing at her and looking directly at her eyes.
"Oh, really. I''d love to see you try, Hii¡ªro <3," she replied rushing at me at high speed. "Boy, can you even endure my punch <3?"
Preparing my counter, I waited for her to get close but not too much. As she met the required distance, I smiled. "Gotcha." Immediately, I cast a spell to block her attack. "Earth Wall!"
"Elemental magic?!" Her eyes widened.
After casting, I backed away. She then crashed into the wall, destroying it. However, it was within my calculations; I knew the wall would easily break---after all, it was a basic spell. What I was looking for was not blocking her attack but the dust it would produce. Since she was not expecting it, a lot found its way into her eyes and blinded her.
"Ahh, my eyes!" Immediately, I ran in circles around her while writing a rune, preparing to cast fireball.
"Execute Loop Program: Fireball!" I shouted while dashing around her. "Continuous Casting, FIRE!!!"
Continuous Casting is a type of loop magic where the spell will keep activating until I order it to stop.
Using a spell will give away my position since she can just follow where the spell came from. I need to change my position each time I attack.
"Sorry, I know this is cowardly but my experience (as a gamer) is telling me not to fight a stronger enemy head-on."
She then rushed in to attack me but missed. Immediately, I barraged her continuously with Fireball and repeated what I was doing before. She couldn''t fight back. Each time she attacked me, she would always miss. Even though her eyes have recovered, the explosions from the fireballs produced a lot of smoke which I used as a smokescreen, limiting her vision once more.
"Ahh... You pesky skeleton," she shouted while punching the ground, producing a shockwave. The blast stopped my movements and dispersed the smoke around her. "Hahaha. I can see you now~!" She then charged towards me.
However, I had a counter for it.
"Water Whip!!" The spell grabbed her hands.
Simultaneously, I threw her upward and cast Air Slash at her. The force blew her away and she landed on the opposite side of the arena.
"Execute Loop Program: Fireball... Set X to 10... Fire!!!" A number of spheres made of fire then shoot at her, producing suffocating smoke with each strike.
She then stood, her once adorable clothes all tattered. "How... dare you..." She stomped the ground and a rock about the size of my head flew upward to her face''s level. She then slapped the rock, and it came flying towards me with great force.
"Uggh!!!" The rock hit me; it was moving too fast, I couldn''t dodge. She then immediately dashed towards me one more time. Again, it was also within my calculations. After she crashed, I knew she would rush at me in a straight line so I cast Water Mines beforehand. It''d leave her immobile if she ever steps on it, and it did.
"W-what is this?!"
"This is the end!" I didn''t hesitate for I knew she could break out of it anytime, so I cast my trump card: "Execute Loop Program: Fireball... Set X to infinity... " Suddenly, fireball runes kept appearing, surrounding her from above. "Fire!!!" The fireball runes blasted her all at the same time, but it took all of my mana---it was a one-time spell.
***
Draining her energy by attacking continuously then trapping her to deliver a finishing blow. That was my plan.
"Did it work?"
"I can''t believe... you''re this strong," she spoke, wounded and swaying, she could barely stand. "You took... a months'' worth... of my Lust Energy you know."
...Why? Was my spell not enough?
"I only plan on playing with you at first but... I hate losing you know. You even ripped my favorite clothes!" Suddenly, a strong gale then appeared on the stage; it was coming from her. "Behold my real form!"
A dark light then surrounded her. It was like a transformation sequence from a magical girl anime. As the light disappeared; I saw her flying while flapping her wings. Her headpiece was then removed as a pair of horns emerged from her head, curving front into a 90 degree angle; her pointed tail made her more seductive while waving in the air; her dress was replaced with a one piece black bikini with two big holes in the waist turning her once innocent aura into a woman filled with lust as her doll shoes changed into a pair of high heels further increasing her charm.
"This is bad."
Her transformation was within my calculations. However, I knew my magic alone was not enough to fight it. My plan was to finish the duel before she could change.
She landed on the ground. It seems some of her strength was restored. She then pointed her right hand at me like a gun and a dark light gathered at the tip of her index finger, forming a ball. It was small at first then it grew larger as the seconds passed. "Tch, I can only gather this much power but I think it''s enough."
"Oi, oi, oi, that''s overkill!" My body was too exhausted to even move. I''m totally glued to the ground, no matter how much I tried to move my joints.
"This is punishment," she shouted. "Try to dodge this, Hii¡ªro <3. Luxuria Blast!!!"
"Dammit."
The spell hit me and I was blown away.
Right... This... is reality. Plot armors don''t exist...
With my vision getting blurry, I looked at my opponent for one last time as I slowly lost my consciousness.
***
Seeing Emily''s face close up, I woke up lying in her lap.
Wait... Isn''t this? This is the famous lap pillow!
"I-I''m sorry. A-am I a bother?" Emily stuttered, softly but fast. "M-my mom always does this to me when I''m tired s-so I thought..."
"Emily, it''s okay," I assured her.
"Hiiro," she spoke looking at me from above.
"I''m sorry, I lost."
"It''s okay, you did your best." She smiled.
Ahh, this smile. Why is it so beautiful? It''s different from the illusion I saw in the fight. This is her genuine smile. A smile that is not a fake. A smile just like Haruka''s.
The pain in my body slowly disappeared.
Suddenly, the host announced the 2nd round: "Now, at Round Two, we have Aria Silvermoon against Robyn Accalia!"
And so, Round Two commenced.
V 1.1 Chapter 8: lozhnoye Serdtse.
Is there really such a thing? Real friends, who last forever?
- Kodaka Hasegawa (Haganai)
Emily and I were seated beside the arena, and we could clearly hear the two combatants talking.
¡°Aria, we finally meet again,¡± her opponent said while glaring at Aria. ¡°After all these years, I can finally have my revenge.¡±
¡°My apologies, but I can¡¯t seem to remember who you are,¡± Aria replied, emotionless.
¡°So you even forgot about me,¡± the girl spoke while looking down. She then angrily snarled at Aria. ¡°I will never forgive you!!!¡±
¡°The battle between Aria Silvermoon and Robyn Accalia, now begins!¡± The gong was hit, signaling the start of the battle.
***
Robyn immediately dashed around the stage, attempting to confuse Aria.
She¡¯s fast.
Moving like those characters fighting in an anime, I almost can¡¯t see her. Meanwhile, Aria was observing her surroundings carefully.
Robyn then charged towards her, however, Aria immediately used her scythe and cast a spell. ¡°Phantom Shield.¡±
The shield didn¡¯t break, however, the force from Robyn¡¯s attack was too strong, and Aria was knocked back a little. Robyn dashed around again and attacked simultaneously. Aria couldn¡¯t do anything but defend herself---Robyn was just too fast.
¡°Aria...¡± Emily¡¯s hands were clamped together.
This is bad. Defending alone is not enough, her magic will eventually diminish but Aria¡¯s opponent is too fast, she can¡¯t even counter attack.
¡°You can¡¯t defend forever you know!¡± Robyn attacked again, breaking Aria¡®s shield. The force accumulated was too much, the spell couldn¡¯t keep up. Aria was thrown quite far. ¡°Hahahaha!!!¡± Robyn laughed maniacally.
¡°Aria!!!¡± Emily screamed.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, Aria? Stop using Necromancy and use your Curse!¡± Robyn shouted.
Curse?
¡°What are you talking about?¡± Aria asked while looking at Robyn. ¡°Who are you?!¡±
¡°You still don¡¯t remember me? I know I changed my surname but my face never changed.¡± Robyn replied while looking at her right hand. She then switched her gaze towards Aria. ¡°Let me refresh your memory for a bit, little miss cry baby.¡±
¡°I-It can¡¯t be. R-Robby?¡± Aria, stuttered.
¡°At last, you remembered me. I will never forgive you for forgetting and leaving me back there!¡± Robyn roared her despair.
¡°N-no, you¡¯re wrong. I have never forgotten you!¡± Aria responded while raising her left hand.
¡°Shut up!¡± Robyn shouted. ¡°If you didn¡¯t forget me then why didn¡¯t you recognize me?¡±
¡°T-That¡¯s because... That¡¯s because you¡¯re wearing a girl¡¯s clothes right now!¡± Aria yelled.
¡ Huh?
¡°You¡¯re a guy right?!¡± Aria questioned. ¡°Why?¡±
My eyes then switched to Robyn¡¯s skirt.
What?
¡°Why are you wearing a skirt?¡±
¡°EHHHHHH!!!¡± Everyone was shocked.
No. No. No. No.
Please, no.
¡°W-w-w-what are you talking about?¡± Robyn blushed.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, Robyn. I didn¡¯t know,¡± Dullahan spoke.
¡°Why Robyn, why?¡± a disappointed random demon shouted.
¡°It¡¯s okay Robyn, we still accept you,¡± however, a bunch of random males cheered in unison.
It¡¯s a trap!!!
¡°Noooo,¡± Robyn shrilled. ¡°You guys are ALL WRONG!¡±
¡°It¡¯s okay as long as there¡¯s love,¡± the butler shouted.
¡°Shut up, you perverted butler!¡± Robyn rebutted towards the butler beside King Arthur. ¡°I was never a man. I am always a girl!¡±
¡°Ehhh?!¡± Aria¡¯s eyes widened.
¡°Really?!¡± Everyone¡¯s doubts were instantly clarified.
¡°Yes, I... am... telling... the truth,¡± Robyn defended herself.
¡°I can testify she¡¯s a girl. I used my ¡®magic¡¯~¡± Lucie confirmed.
¡°We believe you, Robyn!¡± a lot of her fans cheered in unison.
¡°Yeah, we do!¡± another bunch of random males shouted simultaneously.
¡°Just shut up,¡± Robyn angrily glared at Aria. ¡°You will pay for this humiliation!¡±
¡°I-I¡¯m sorry Robby,¡± Aria apologized. ¡°I-I didn¡¯t know.¡±
¡°Shut up!¡± Robyn dashed at Aria and grabbed her. ¡°I will never forgive you.¡± She then threw her in the middle of the arena. ¡°Why?!¡± and struck Aria with a series of attacks in every direction possible. ¡°Why?!¡± Aria cast Phantom Shield again ¡°Why did you leave me?!¡± However, Robyn was moving too fast. ¡°I was alone!¡± Aria couldn¡¯t keep up, she could only defend herself.
This is bad, Aria is losing
Once more, the shield broke, Aria was hit and was thrown into the wall of the arena creating some cracks.
¡°Aria,¡± Emily murmured after standing.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Aria apologized, barely standing. She was wounded all over the place.
¡°If you won¡¯t fight me seriously then I might as well end this.¡± Robyn removed her boots and her bracelets. ¡°We don¡¯t need you in this castle!¡±
Something¡¯s happening to her. The aura around her is changing. I don¡¯t like this feeling.
Robyn transformed; her arms and feet turned like that of a clawed beast. With the addition of a tail and fangs, her appearance changed similar to a wolf. It was further amplified by her new long ears and her right eye turning that of a wolf. She then stood in all fours while glaring at Aria.
Did she become... a werewolf?
¡°Die!¡± After preparing her stance, Robyn leapt at Aria attempting to claw her; she was faster than before.
¡°Aria!¡± Emily shouted.
However, Aria was not hurt. For some reason, a wall of ice appeared and blocked Robyn¡¯s attack. She then fell to the ground and immediately moved back.Stolen novel; please report.
¡°Finally,¡± Robyn spoke.
Aria then grabbed her necklace and took it off. Throwing her necklace, a strong gust of wind suddenly appeared, which was coming from her. ¡°Ahhh,¡± she shouted, holding her left shoulder with her right hand and the other shoulder with her left hand. Her left eye finally opened as some sort of magic rune soon appeared in her iris. A dark light then surrounded her, accompanied by smoke, and the chilling gust soon formed a tornado from where she was standing.
¡°Aria,¡± Emily murmured. ¡°Please, don¡¯t.¡±
What¡¯s happening to her?
Suddenly, black lightning was shot from Aria¡¯s place directed to Robyn, however, she dodged it. A large chunk of ice soon appeared to where the lightning hit.
Ice magic?
The tornado subsided; Aria came forth. However, her appearance changed. Standing was a woman filled with dark aura holding a scythe. With fangs and bat wings in her shoulders, I knew that she was not the same girl I talked to three days ago. The left part of her once beautiful face was covered by a black mark, with the iris of her left eye turned red.
Is this... really Aria?
¡°Finally, I¡¯ve been waiting for this,¡± Robyn chuckled. ¡°Artificial Vampire.¡±
Wait, a minute. Did I just hear ¡°Artificial Vampire¡±?
¡°Aria,¡± Emily whispered, still worried while looking at her sister.
To ease her worries, I held her hand. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Emily. Believe in Aria.¡±
***
Meanwhile, in the arena, no one was making a move. It seemed the two of them were waiting for something. They were just looking at each other.
Suddenly, they both dashed into the middle of the arena. It was too fast. With just a blink of an eye, they reached the middle. Aria tried to slash Robyn but she countered with her claws. Her palm was as sturdy as steel. Throwing their attacks, the shock waves produced from it was too strong, it made small earthquakes. The two of them then began attacking each other nonstop. My eyes couldn¡¯t keep up.
This is too intense.
They continued until Aria finally landed an attack on Robyn, knocking her away but she wasn¡¯t wounded. She then created black lightning in her hands and blasted Robyn from afar.
Robyn blocked it with her hands and she, too, was unscathed. However, a chunk of ice appeared just below her.
¡°Emily, is that ice magic?¡±
¡°No,¡± Emily replied. ¡°It¡¯s lightning¡ Cursed Lightning.¡±
¡°Cursed Lightning??¡±
¡°Curses are a different type of magic,¡± Emily explained while looking at the combatants. ¡°Instead of mana, which came from the combination of Life Energy and Positive Energy, curses use anti-mana which is made from the combination of Life Energy and Negative Energy that came from negative emotions.¡±
¡°Negative emotions?¡±
¡°Yes. Because of this, Aria¡¯s lightning behaves differently than the usual Lightning Magic,¡± Emily added. ¡°Instead of lightning that burns, she can produce lightning that freezes anything it hits.¡±
Curses, judging from her explanation. It¡¯s a type of magic that bends even the Laws of Physics.
¡°How is this even possible?¡±
Emily and I were talking to each other when we heard a crash.
¡°Aria!¡± Emily shouted. It was Aria who crashed into the side of the arena.
¡°You¡¯ve been using your curse to slow me down,¡± Robyn said. ¡°Too bad I am protected by chi. It may have worked before, but not anymore.¡±
¡°Wait, did she just said chi?¡±
¡°Werewolves are known to be physically strong because they can perfectly utilize the usage of their chi energy in both their offense and defense,¡± Emily explained. ¡°This also protected them from certain types of magic and curses. Robyn is probably using her chi to strengthen her skin to withstand Aria¡¯s blade and to increase her body temperature against Aria¡¯s Cursed Lightning.¡± Emily added. ¡°My mother once said in the previous war, there was a powerful werewolf that annihilated an entire army of humans all by himself.¡±
¡°You lost,¡± Robyn spoke while walking towards Aria. ¡°You¡¯re exhausted now and your Cursed Lightning does not affect me anymore.¡± However, as Robyn came closer and closer to Aria, she suddenly fell on her knees. ¡°W-what just happened?¡±
¡°It seems you forgot something, Robby,¡± Aria spoke. ¡°You were too focused on my vampire part that you forgot that I¡¯m also a necromancer.¡±
¡°I-It can¡¯t be,¡± Robyn said. ¡°This is...¡±
¡°I¡¯ve been using Life Drain while we were fighting,¡± Aria revealed. ¡°True, using your Chi Defense, you can nullify my Cursed Lightning.¡± Aria then stood. ¡°However, it would also leave you vulnerable to necromancy.¡±
¡°No!!!¡± Robyn punched the ground. ¡°This can¡¯t be happening!¡±
¡°Robby, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Aria apologized. ¡°From that day until now, I always regret what I did when I left you in that lab and I don¡¯t know if you will ever forgive me.¡±
¡°However, it is not true when you said that I forgot you. It¡¯s impossible. How can I forget you?¡± Aria then picked up her scythe. ¡°Since before, when I thought you were a guy...¡± She smiled at Robyn.
¡°...You were my first love.¡±
Pointing her scythe to Robyn, she shouted, ¡°Phantom Bullet!!!¡±
¡°I... lost.¡± A green beam of light then struck Robyn.
After the explosion, Robyn was seen lying on the ground, unconscious.
¡°The winner of the second match, Aria Silvermoon,¡± after the host finished announcing the winner, Aria fell down.
¡°Aria,¡± Emily and I shouted.
¡°Guards, quickly bring them to the recovery room,¡± Dullahan ordered. The guards then quickly but carefully carried Aria and Robyn. Lucie then runs to the arena and picked up a glittering object.
¡°Hiiro, please go to Aria¡¯s side,¡± Emily pleaded.
¡°Emily? How about you?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be alright,¡± she replied with downcast eyes. ¡°Actually, I also want to go to her right now, but, I have an upcoming match so I can¡¯t.¡± She then looked at me in the eye. ¡°Please, Hiiro, take care of her; please look after my sister.¡±
¡°Okay, I¡¯ll go,¡± I said to Emily as I chased the guards carrying the two previous combatants. I looked back at her and made a thumbs up. ¡°Emily, good luck with your fight.¡±
¡°Yes, I will do my best,¡± she smiled. It was the first time I saw her with a fake smile.
***
The guards guided me to where Aria¡¯s room is located. There, Lucie was standing beside the door.
¡°Hello, Hiiro <3,¡± Lucie greeted me. ¡°Aria is currently being treated right now, so you can¡¯t go in.¡±
¡°I see.¡±
There was a bit of silence before Lucie spoke.
¡°Sorry about Robyn¡¯s behavior,¡± Lucie began talking. ¡°She¡¯s always been that way ever since we saved her from that lab.¡±
¡°That lab? Lucie, can you please tell me what happened between Robyn and Aria?¡±
¡°Hmm. Well based on the records we¡¯ve gathered, seven years ago, a group of terrorists called The Shadow Purgatory kidnapped two human children,¡± Lucie explained turning towards me. ¡°They were the first test subjects of a certain experiment called Project: AD¡ Project: Artificial Demons, that is.¡±
Project: Artificial Demons? From the name alone, I can tell, this is some inhumane experiment.
¡°Wait, by two children you mean¡ª?¡±
¡°Yes, those two were Robyn and Aria,¡± she replied. ¡°As the name implies, Project: AD aimed to create Artificial Demons by transferring a demon¡¯s part into a human.¡±
Wait a minute, is she talking about organ transplant?
¡°The humans did a lot of cruel experiments to them. Firstly, Robyn¡¯s limbs were cut and changed into that of a werewolf¡¯s while Aria... had a more bizarre experiment,¡± she continued. ¡°Her heart was changed into that of a vampire. Right now, the blood flowing through her veins is not hers.¡±
They even perform a heart transplant?
¡°After two years of experiment, the two of them decided to escape, however, the other child was caught. As you heard, that child was Robyn. Out of anger, the humans then punished her by performing even more extreme experiments on her.¡±
¡°That is¡ too cruel.¡±
¡°Hiiro,¡± Lucie spoke, giving me a necklace. ¡°From what I know, this is a magic tool responsible for sealing Aria¡¯s vampire part. Please, do give it to her.¡±
¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°Now Hiiro, what are you going to do~?¡± Lucie asked, walking away. Noticing the doctors leaving Aria¡¯s room, I decided to go in.
***
As I entered, I saw Aria sitting on top of the bed. It seemed, her room was separated from Robyn. Her face was still covered by black marks with bat wings still sticking from her shoulders.
¡°Why are you here?¡± Aria asked, however, this time I could feel a little bit of emotion added in her words. ¡°You should go and watch Emily.¡±
¡°True, I am worried about Emily¡¯s fight.¡± Aria looked gloomy. ¡°However, I am also worried about you.¡±
¡°Huh? Worried? You, for me? You¡¯ve got to be kidding me,¡± Aria shouted. ¡°We¡¯re just acquaintances who happened to know the same person! How can you be worried about someone like me?!¡±
¡°Well, I¡¯m telling the truth.¡±
¡°Shut up,¡± Aria whispered, looking at me with crying eyes. ¡°Shut up!¡± she shouted as she suddenly stood and grabbed my shoulders. ¡°Look at me! Look at me, I tell you! I am a monster, an abomination; neither a human, a vampire nor a necromancer. I am just a test subject, a rejected experiment. I am nothing but trash.¡±
¡°You are Emily¡¯s beautiful sister,¡± I shouted back, stopping her from talking any more nonsense. She then let go of me and back for a bit. ¡°I don¡¯t care what your past is, what you look or what you are.¡± Looking at her eyes, I walked towards her. ¡°There¡¯s only one thing I know; you are not a bad person. You saved us a bunch of times: you became Emily¡¯s family when her mother died; you supported her when she was alone; you helped us when we escaped the village when we¡¯re in danger; now you fought very hard for our sake,¡± I said grabbing both of her shoulders.
¡°Hiiro,¡± Aria mumbled.
¡°Don¡¯t call yourself things you are not. You are Aria, Emily¡¯s sister, and friend. You are not trash; you are beautiful.¡±
She blushed.
Realizing this, I let go of her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry... I got carried away.¡±
¡°It¡¯s okay, Hiiro,¡± Aria spoke
¡°You know, they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that beauty is a very subjective word. Well, that¡¯s true, since, with my eyes, I can say you¡¯re very beautiful. If others tell you¡¯re ugly, then I¡¯ll say otherwise.¡±
¡°Hiiro¡¡± Aria said.
¡°You see, a certain philosopher once said that the ability to speak and reason separates us from other living beings such as animals and plants. It¡¯s what constitutes our humanity. It¡¯s what makes us human. What¡¯s wrong with being a little different from others? To me, you''re still a genuine human.
¡°Hiiro¡ Thank you.¡± Aria bowed.
Today, I got to know Aria¡¯s past, however, there was one thing that was bothering me the whole time.
Heart transplant. If you think about it, this is impossible considering the technology of the early 19th century. Or... is it because of magic that humans have this possibility? I don¡¯t know what to feel right now.
V 1.1 Chapter 9: The Authentic Dasein.
I¡¯ve been called a failure by many. My master, my teammates, the people at the plaza, my mother¡¯s friends, and the likes. Every time they speak to me, all I get are non-stop protests. Most of them say it right in my face.
You might think I¡¯m sad, but I''m okay. As long as I¡¯m doing my best, I know one day everything will be fine. I¡¯m used to all the bad things they did to me; I¡¯m used to all of the non-stop failures I had just because I have no talent. Be it physical or necromancy, I¡¯m always last. But it¡¯s okay, I¡¯m used to all the bitter complaints towards my mother; I¡¯m used to all the insults I get from other people; I¡¯m used to all of these because it¡¯s true.
That is¡ until I lost her.
---Emily---
Hiiro, please take care of Aria.
¡°Greetings, Emily Ojou-sama,¡± the butler greeted while bowing.
¡°G-good morning.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve read Oliver-sama¡¯s letter to the King. It seemed Marina-sama has adopted such a peculiar child.¡±
¡°Y-you know my mother?¡±
¡°Yes, Marina-sama and I met 50 years ago in Gapan,¡± the butler replied. ¡°I would like to offer my condolences for her loss.¡±
¡°The battle between Emily Scarlet and Satrillo Stradivarius, now begins!¡± The gong was hit, signaling the start of the battle.
However, none of us decided to attack.
¡°Please Satrillo, do you know where my mother¡¯s remains are?¡±
Satrillo looked at King Arthur and spoke, ¡°Your Highness, can I have a request? Can Emily Ojou-sama and I talk it out for a bit?¡±
¡°Your request is approved,¡± King Arthur replied. ¡°There¡¯s no time limit in this battle anyway.¡±
Satrillo then looked back. ¡°I¡¯m truly sorry Emily Ojou-sama, I don¡¯t know where Marina-sama¡¯s remains are right now.¡±
¡°I see.¡± Looking down, I replied. ¡°Then, how did you know my mother?¡±
¡°Before I met Marina-sama, I was a dying treant,¡± he answered.
¡°A treant?¡±
¡°Yes, when Marina-sama found me in the forest, she used her magic to help me,¡± he added. ¡°I then decided to serve her with my life as thanks.¡±
¡°Mother...¡±
¡°Judging from that young skeleton earlier, I can say that you were the one who taught him Elemental Magic, yes?¡± he asked.
¡°Y-yes, I did.¡±
¡°I see, so you¡¯re just like your mother, both of you use necromancy and elemental magic.¡±
¡°Why are you telling me this?¡±
¡°My apologies, Emily ojou-sama.¡± Satrillo bowed. ¡°I just thought that it¡¯s quite unfair that I know a lot about you, my opponent, but you know nothing of me¡ That¡¯s why I¡¯ll show you first my power.¡±
As he flicked his fingers, his skin suddenly changed. It became darker, rougher and harder. His skin turned into bark; he became a wooden man.
¡°My intense training with Marina-sama turned my body into this,¡± Satrillo spoke drawing his sword. It was a long, single-edged blade. ¡°This sword came from the country of elves, my home. We call this a katana...¡± Finally, from his back, eight wooden tails sprouted out.
¡°Let me introduce myself again...¡± Satrillo bowed. ¡°My name is Satrillo Stradivarius; a treant, a master swordsman and a user of Wood Manipulation Magic.¡±
***
Standing, I was looking at him, waiting for an attack. Suddenly, his eight tails moved towards me, attempting to pierce my body.
Long range? And he didn¡¯t even write a rune.
Quickly, I wrote an earth rune. ¡°Terra Shield.¡± However, the wall was destroyed by his attack.
Good thing I jumped. He just destroyed mid-tier earth magic.
Suddenly, he appeared in front of me.
What?
He then slashed me with his sword; I blocked it using my scepter, yet my body was thrown away. However, I received no damage since I used Wind Magic to prevent myself from colliding with the wall.
First, I need to blind him.
¡°Sandstorm!!!¡± Suddenly, a tornado appeared carrying clouds of sand with it. Visibility became zero, however, using Terra Sense, I could sense him. ¡°Phantom Hands!!!¡± Ghost hands then appeared below him and grabbed his feet, immobilizing him. Controlling the sandstorm with my hands, I compressed and concentrated it to his position increasing the spell¡¯s speed and power.
¡°In¡ Infer¡ In...¡±
¡°Faker!¡±
A word suddenly came to my mind. The rune I wrote disappeared.
Suddenly, I sensed something below me. ¡°Fly!!!¡± It was his tail, coming from the ground, and tried to attack me.
That was close.
¡°Lady Emily, you¡¯re not the only one who can see in a sandstorm, you know.¡± He then swung his sword; the force dispersed the sand and destroyed the ghosts. ¡°You might be confused, but we treants can use Wood Manipulation Magic without writing a rune,¡± he spoke. ¡°Our body is something akin to a magic tool.¡±
That¡¯s amazing.
Flying around, I was dodging Satrillo¡¯s attacks from below.
This is bad. I can only fly for a limited time. I need to disarm him.
¡°Water Whip!!!¡± The whip went and attempted to grab his sword, however, he stopped it with his tail.
Fly magic¡¯s time was up. Slowly, I landed on the ground. Satrillo used this opportunity to attack. He appeared in front of me and slashed my body.
¡°Ahck!!!¡± However, that was a trick. After the body melted into the ground, I cast another spell.
¡°Water Prison!!¡± Casting a spell, I landed far behind him.
¡°A water clone?¡± Satrillo asked as the water from the clone enveloped him.
¡°Water Whip!!!¡±
The whip successfully grabbed his sword and threw it outside the arena. However...
¡°It seems you forgot something, Emily Ojou-sama,¡± he said, slashing the spell.
¡°It¡ it can¡¯t be¡± Looking at him, he was holding a wooden sword.
¡°You forgot that I can use Wood Manipulation Magic; I can manipulate all kinds of wood, even my own body,¡± Satrillo explained. ¡°That also includes reshaping them into anything I want.¡±
¡°T-this is actually my first encounter with this magic.¡±
¡°Is that so? My apologies then,¡± he replied.
Suddenly, another sword appeared in his left hand.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
¡°Dual wield?¡±
***
---Hiiro---
Troubled by this feeling inside me, I was walking left and right inside the recovery room.
Emily...
¡°Hiiro, you¡¯re worried about Emily¡¯s fight, right?¡± Aria spoke while looking at me. Her form was back to normal due to me having given her back her necklace a few minutes ago.
¡°Yes, to be honest, I feel uneasy right now. It feels like something bad is happening to the arena.¡±
¡°Then, maybe you should go and see her,¡± she added.
¡°But¡ I can¡¯t just leave you alone.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± She stood up to console me. ¡°I¡¯m okay now.¡± However, she still fell down. Good thing I caught her.
¡°Don¡¯t push yourself, you can¡¯t even stand.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m okay,¡± Aria replied while I assisted her to bed. ¡°It seems my energy still hasn¡¯t fully recovered but I¡¯m okay.¡±
¡°Are you sure?¡±
¡°Yes. Actually, I¡¯m also worried about Emily right now. I¡ I have a feeling that something¡¯s troubling her and she couldn¡¯t fight well,¡± she responded. ¡°Please, go to my sister.¡±
Looking at her eyes, I couldn''t say no. ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll go see her. We¡¯ll visit you soon.¡±
¡°Okay. I will wait for you two,¡± Aria replied. ¡°Also tell her I¡¯m okay and she doesn''t have to worry about me.¡±
¡°Okay¡±
***
---Emily---
Catching my breath, I¡¯ve been dodging all of Satrillo¡¯s attacks for a while now.
He¡¯s too strong.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, Emily Ojou-sama?¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re going to surrender now?¡±
¡°I-I will not give up!¡± I shouted, writing a rune. ¡°I call thee from the land of the giants, Summon: Earth Golem!!!¡± Suddenly, an earthquake occurred as a huge golem came out from the ground; before lumbering forward and attacking Satrillo.
Using Fireball, I attacked Satrillo while he was being distracted by the golem. However, he blocked all of my attacks with his swords and tails. Suddenly, he appeared in front of me and slashed me with his sword. However, being a water clone it merely melted back into the earth as it fell, my real body being on top of the golem.
¡°Hoh. So you¡¯re the type of person who uses the same spell.¡± Satrillo leapt away from the clone
¡°Hurricane!¡± While writing another rune, a giant tornado appeared and sucked him inside. ¡°Combust in the gale... Firestorm!¡±
I¡¯m not the same as before¡ I am stronger¡ I can do this.
Writing another rune, I instructed my golem to punch him into the ground.
¡°Life Drain!¡±
Using life drain requires the user to touch the target, however, it will also activate if I use my familiar.
While draining my opponent, I jumped down from the golem and wrote another rune.
¡°I summon the flames from the pits of hell. Help me create this destructive spell. Annihilation comes to all my enemies. From the ground, burn all of their bodies!"
¡°Faker!!¡± A voice in my mind stopped me for a bit.
¡°I¡ I am not a faker!!!¡± Satrillo then slashed the Golem¡¯s hands, destroying it. However, I already managed to finish my rune in time and cast it on point blank range. ¡°Inferno!!!¡± It was the strongest fire spell I know.
***
---Hiiro---
¡°I finally made it.¡±
Gazing in the arena, I saw a giant golem punching the ground. Looking at it carefully, I saw Emily jumping from above.
She landed near the golem¡¯s fist, just before it was destroyed by something. ¡°Inferno!!!¡± she shouted, followed by a huge explosion engulfs the arena, away from her position. She then jumped back while catching her breath.
As the explosion subsided, a silhouette of a human appeared, standing. The smokes then disappeared as a wooden man with eight wooden tails come into view, his top clothes scorched by the fire.
¡°A wooden, eight-tailed mannequin?¡± I asked, looking at him. ¡°Damn those abs, he¡¯s so macho!¡±
The man then spoke, ¡°Too bad, Emily Ojou-sama.¡±
Ojou-sama?
¡°My body became sturdy from training with Marina-sama for 40 years,¡± he added. ¡°That also includes her using Fire Magic every fight.¡±
Marina-sama?
¡°No, this¡ This can¡¯t be.¡± Emily fell on her knees.
¡°EMILY!!!¡± As loud as I can, I shouted at her.
¡°Hii...ro?¡± She looked at me.
¡°Aria said you don¡¯t have to worry about her. She said she¡¯s okay and you don¡¯t have to worry so just fight seriously.¡±
¡°Sorry, Hiiro.¡± She apologized while looking down. ¡°I¡ I don¡¯t think I can win.¡±
¡°Why? Don¡¯t lose hope! You can do it!¡±
"I can¡¯t!! It¡¯s because¡¡± Emily said, softly. ¡°It¡¯s because I¡¯m just a faker!!! Thea is right. I¡¯m just a pretend necromancer!¡± Emily added still looking down. ¡°It¡¯s no use, I¡¯ve already used my strongest fire spell. I¡¯m useless¡ Sorry for dragging you and Aria into this. I just put Aria¡¯s win to shame.¡±
¡°You¡¯re not a faker! You¡¯re authentic! Stop letting others dictate what you really are! You are real.¡±
Doubt them, question them, suspect them, and take a good long look into their hearts. Humans are the kind of beings that can¡¯t put their pain into words. But Emily is different. She¡¯s real. A shy but honest girl. All her of actions, her words, her gestures, all of it feel so real. That¡¯s why¡ I¡¯m unable to hate her. Because she¡¯s not a fake. Yes. Just like her. Just like Haruka.
¡°You can do this! I believe in you!¡±
¡°Hiiro¡ You¡¯re right¡¡± Emily spoke as she stood. ¡°I am real. I should not let other people mention my ¡®self¡¯. If I can be changed by a few words, then that wouldn''t be my ¡®self¡¯. I am real. I am authentic. Thank you, Hiiro.¡±
¡°Emily Ojou-sama, are you finished now?¡± the macho mannequin said.
¡°Yes, Satrillo, I¡¯m ready,¡± Emily replied.
Wait a minute. That¡¯s Satrillo?
Satrillo then dashed, more like teleported to Emily. However, Emily defended with a Barrier. ¡°Hoh, you¡¯re using a different strategy now,¡± Satrillo spoke.
¡°Flame Burst!¡± Suddenly, flames blasted in a circle with Emily at the center. Satrillo jumped away. ¡°Water Whip! Water Whip! Water Whip!¡± A large number of whips then appeared from the runes.
But, Satrillo slashed everything using his swords and tails.
¡°Oh, spirits who are unable to rest, help me with this quest,¡± Emily chanted. ¡°Summon: Purgatory!!!¡± Suddenly, a portal appeared behind her and call forth a lot of ghost-like creatures which struck Satrillo. ¡°I AM A NECROMANCER!¡±
***
---Emily---
Satrillo is amazing. Each of the ghosts has life drain, however, it seems he¡¯s not affected by it.
While the ghosts distracted Satrillo, I ran around the arena and wrote a rune. ¡°Hurricane!!¡± A tornado then sucked Satrillo with the ghosts. He was having a hard time fighting with them inside the tornado. ¡°Firestorm!!¡± The tornado was filled with fire; the place was so bright and hot, I could hardly see what¡¯s happening in the arena. However, he just slashed everything like nothing happened. He fell to the ground and continuously attacked me using his tails from afar, yet I dodged them all. He then blinked in front of me and tried to slash me, however, he was stopped.
¡°What?!¡± Satrillo asked.
It was a Water Mine I planted while running.
Hiiro, I used to always cry and give up¡ I made many wrong turns¡ But you¡ You helped me find the right path¡
Jumping away from Satrillo, I plunged my scepter to the ground then wrote several runes using both of my hands. ¡°Water Prison, Phantom Lock, Hurricane, Sandstorm...¡± As fast as I can, I cast a number of immobility spells.
I saw you struggle while learning magic. Until the time you succeeded in creating a new type of magic... I know... Because I¡¯m always watching you¡
¡°I summon the flames from the pits of hell. Help me create this destructive spell. Annihilation comes to all my enemies. From the ground, burn all of their bodies¡¡± ¡°
I want to walk beside you all the time¡ I just want to be with you¡ You¡¯ve changed me! Your words are what saved me!
¡°Execute Loop Program: Inferno!!! Set X to infinity¡¡± Several runes then appeared around Satrillo.
¡°Demonic Barrier!¡± Dullahan shouted realizing what I was casting so as to protect the people outside the arena.
Thank you, Hiiro.
¡°Fire!!!¡±
The explosion was too strong; the shock waves almost destroyed multiple barriers that I cast to protect myself. While the smoke was dispersing, a silhouette of a man was seen standing.
¡°It¡ it can¡¯t be.¡±
However, as the smoke finally cleared, the man fell down, unconscious. ¡°The winner of the final match, Emily Scarlet,¡± the host announced.
¡°I¡ I¡¯ve finally won...¡±
***
---Hiiro---
¡°Emily, you did it!¡± Immediately, I ran to her. She then smiled at me and collapsed, but, I caught her. ¡°Good job, Emily.¡± King Arthur then instructed the guards to carry Emily and Satrillo to the recovery room, however, I requested that I would carry her.
On the way, Emily woke up. ¡°Where¡ Where am I?¡± Emily asked.
¡°Good morning, the fight is done and you won,¡± I spoke carrying her princess style.
¡°H-H-Hiiro, w-w-why are you carrying me?¡± She blushed.
¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m carrying you to the recovery room. You can¡¯t stand with all your mana drained right now, yes?¡±
¡°I hate you,¡± she said, pouting. ¡°After I told you to take care of Aria, you left her.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry. I was worried about you.¡±
¡°But... I¡¯m also happy that you came and see me,¡± she smiled. ¡°T-thank you, Hiiro.¡±
¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± She was blushing when we saw the guards smirking in front of us.
Oh yeah, I totally forgot about them.
***
---A certain Treant---
¡°Master Satrillo, you let her catch you, right?¡± a succubus spoke. ¡°There¡¯s no way you would fall from that trap.¡±
¡°Well, the King did say to hold back. After all, he was planning to keep them after he read that letter.¡±
¡°Yeah, I think he¡¯s just bored and organized a trial anyway~¡± the succubus laughed.
¡°Ahahaha. Unfortunately, Robyn couldn¡¯t control her anger.¡±
¡°Well, it was a five-year grudge all poured out in that battle,¡± the succubus replied. ¡°By the way, Master, the lottery too was rigged, right? I mean there¡¯s no way they would be paired with the three strongest generals of this castle by some random chance.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know. I think you should ask the King himself. Still, Lady Marina¡¯s daughter is amazing, and also very beautiful.¡±
V 1.1 Chapter 10: That Weird Weapon from Khina.
People ask, "if you fell for two people at the same time, who would you choose?"
But, falling in love with two people, is it really possible?
Yes, it is. For starters, it means you''re human. The feeling, in and of itself, isn''t bad or dangerous ¡ª but the actions you take can be. I only know that love starts as a feeling, but at some point, it turns into a decision.
Then, if you ask me the question, "who should I choose?" I will answer, "I will choose the latter." Why? Because to me, you don''t really love the first one if you also love another one.
At least that''s what I used to believe.
Petrified, I couldn''t move. A giant bear-like monster stared at me from above with his glaring, red eyes.
As he lifted up his claw... I knew it was my end.
"Ahhh..." Catapulting my upper body, I found myself in a bed. "That dream again."
What does it even mean?
Turning to my left, I saw Emily in the other bed, still sleeping.
In front of me, rays coming from the sun hit the floor; it was already morning. I then went to the veranda looking at the bright sky.
"I couldn''t do anything..."
I need to get stronger.
"I need to learn more magic. I need to train more."
An hour later, Emily woke up. "H-Hiiro," she squinted her eyes examining me from the window. "Why are you outside?"
"Nothing, I''m just thinking... Good morning."
"G-good morning," she greeted back.
Suddenly, we heard someone knocking at the door. "Y-you may enter," Emily spoke.
It was one of the guards. "My apologies for waking you up, Master Hiiro, Lady Emily."
The guard told us that Dullahan has organized a party as a commemoration of our acceptance in the castle; it was scheduled this coming lunch. He then gave Emily a gift and told us to prepare for the upcoming feast.
"We have prepared a dress for you, Lady Emily," the guard addressed. "The King requested that you should wear it for the party. There are also clothes for Master Hiiro."
"T-thank you," Emily replied looking at the clothes. She seemed to be very interested in it.
"If you don''t have any question I''ll excuse myself now," the guard said before he left.
After that, I went outside, so that Emily could change.
Moments later...
"H-Hiiro, I''m done changing."
When I opened the door, time froze as a beautiful princess stood bashfully in front of me. Her long, blue dress gracefully complemented her short, red hair. Staring at the masterpiece in front of me, it was the first time I saw someone this pretty. Her allure blocked all the voice that would come out from my mouth; I was speechless.
"Hiiro, please d-don''t stare that much." Emily blushed covering her body with her hands.
"I-I''m sorry..." I apologized, switching my gaze off her. "Emily, you''re so beautiful in that outfit."
"R-really?" She looked down and covered her face with her fringed.
"Yes, yes you are."
Afterward, we both went to the Great Hall after I changed clothes.
***
In the forefront of the Great Hall, King Arthur was having a speech, welcoming us as the new members of the castle. Emily and I were seated at the front facing King Arthur with a vacant seat beside me. Of course, it was for Aria. Satrillo said she would catch up later from the recovery room.
After King Arthur''s talk, the Great Hall was filled with waves of laughter and merrymaking coming from every direction. One by one, each of them walked towards me and Emily, offered a handshake and congratulated us on our victory. The fanfare grew louder as King Arthur announced the arrival of the food, which signaled the feast. Different demons happily chatting with each other, some dancing with the music produced with musical instruments were present in the hall.
The melody turned serene; I looked at Emily who seemed to be deep in her thoughts. Placing myself in front of her, I bowed down like a knight.
"Would you like to dance, Milady?"
She then held her hands and placed it on her chest. "Hiiro? But, I... I don''t know how to dance," she replied softly.
"Shall I teach you then?"
She hesitated for a bit, then agreed, "Y-yes." She slowly grabbed my hands, and we walked towards the middle.
"Just follow my lead," I told her.
"O-okay," she responded.
Holding her left hand with my right hand, I placed the other around her waist. We danced through the melody of the song. Each of our steps swayed with the notes with Emily carefully following everything I said to her.
"You''re doing well."
"T-thank you," she replied.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
However, when I gazed at her face again, I became captivated by the beauty of the girl I was dancing with. A face of Haruka slowly fading as we swayed on the dance floor gradually changing to the blushing face of Emily.
A strange warmth erupted from deep within me as we moved around. However, it was not bad; it was a pleasant feeling slowly engulfing my body.
What... is this?
Everything around me blurred, my senses concentrated on one spot; time stopped. Something paranormal, rather, something magical happened, but I knew that it was not caused by curse nor magic. It was different from the time I was seduced by a succubus. Her rosy lips that could heal someone if she smiled. Her bright twinkling eyes that could give anyone who looked directly peace. Her soft but soothing voice that gave off a refreshing feeling. Everything was real.
Seconds passed, I felt my heartbeat increasing, even if my heart was no longer there. Slowly, I raised my hands and attempted to touch her face. But, I was interrupted by the sudden stop of the music.
"Hi...iro?" she asked, looking at me.
"I-I''m sorry."
The song was finished. Everybody stopped dancing. We then walked towards the tables.
"I''m sorry, Emily. I''m not feeling well right now."
"Hiiro, are you okay?" she asked.
"Yes, I think I need to go to back to our room and rest."
"I''ll go with you," she hurriedly replied.
"It''s okay, you should wait for Aria."
"O-okay," she agreed.
After that, I asked for permission from King Arthur. I left for my room, and the party continued.
***
---Emily---
"Hiiro..."
Moments after Hiiro left, I was sitting beside a table when Aria arrived.
"Emily?" she asked, her eyes tight and worried. "Where is Hiiro?"
"He... He''s resting in our room." Looking down, I couldn''t'' look at her.
"What''s wrong? Are you okay? Did something happened?"
Aria and I had a conversation. I told her everything that happened; from the dress scene in the room unto the moment, Hiiro almost touched my face while we were dancing.
"Aria, what should I do?" I asked, blushing. "I can''t help but be happy every time I see him. But, every time he comes close, I always feel overly conscious of myself. I... I don''t know what to do. I want to see him, talk to him. But at the same time; I want to hide, I want to go away. Aria... please, help me."
"It''s love~?" Lucie entered the conversation. We then switch our gaze at her.
"Love?" I asked.
"Yes," Lucie replied. "It seems you''re in love with the boy~"
"Emily, is this true?" Aria asked, quickly turning her eyes to me.
"I... I don''t know."
I''m... in love with Hiiro? I don''t know. I want to know. What is love? What does it mean by falling in love with someone?
"Well, that''s just me saying my thoughts," Lucie spoke. "I could be wrong though. I know you''re confused right now, but you''re the only one who can answer that question."
"Me?"
"However..." Lucie paused. "Never mind that part. Anyway, I advise you to properly sort out your feelings or both you and Hiiro will get hurt."
"Thank you... Lucie."
***
---Hiiro---
Time passed, I was lying on the bed, staring deeply at the ceiling.
After I stood, I went out of the room. There, I saw Satrillo walking.
"Satrillo?"
"Hiiro? Why are you here?" he asked while walking towards me. "The party is not yet finished."
But, I couldn''t answer. I just looked down.
"Are you okay?" he asked putting his hand on my shoulder.
"I''m fine." I looked at him. "Sorry Satrillo, it''s just that... there''s a lot of things going on right now."
"I can listen if you want," he replied. "Maybe I can help you." He smiled.
"It''s okay. It seems you''re busy at the moment."
"It''s okay. I''m actually done patrolling the area," he replied. "I also want to help you for being always there for Emily ojou-sama."
We then went inside the room, sat on the bed and had a discussion.
"Suppose... there was a boy who was depressed by the loss of the girl he loves to the point that he would do anything just to see her again. Then, suddenly, he met a girl who looks exactly like her, but different, became friends until he noticed his feelings suddenly changing. How... How can you tell if the feelings are real or not?"
"Real?" he asked. "What do you mean?"
"It''s because... the boy doesn''t know if he really loves her or he just wants to love her because of his feelings from the previous girl."
There was a bit of silence.
"Well, Hiiro," Satrillo spoke. "The boy is the only one who can answer that since he''s the only one who can feel those emotions."
"His emotions?"
"Yes. To me, it seems the boy is unsure if he still has some lingering emotions on the previous girl." Satrillo added. "Since, he wouldn''t have problems like these if he does."
My emotions.
"Well, Hiiro, here is my advice for the boy," Satrillo said. "Properly sort out their feelings so the two of them will never get hurt someday."
"Satrillo... Thank you."
"You''re welcome. It''s the least I can do for you," he replied while patting my shoulder. "But, is that the only thing you want to ask?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, to me, it seems that''s not the only thing in your mind," he answered.
Satrillo, your perception is really good.
"Don''t be shy. You can tell it to me. Maybe I can also help," he added.
After that, I told him about how I was so powerless in the trial and how I want to be stronger.
"Hiiro, you don''t need to think too much about that. Lucie is a very powerful succubus herself," Satrillo spoke. "Normally, a mage with a few months of experience is not enough to beat her. It''s actually impressive that you can even damage her."
"I... I already know that. It''s just that, I can''t shake off this feeling. I want to become stronger."
It''s like if I don''t become stronger, I might lose someone important to me again.
"Hmm... Hiiro, I don''t know if you know this but I can somehow feel a strong sealing magic in you. Although it''s very strong, I can somehow sense the sealing magic breaking."
"Sealing magic? What do you mean?"
"It''s like your mana capacity is being limited by something. I don''t know the reason why, but I think what mana you have right now is just a small percentage of what you really should have," he replied. "Hiiro, can you remember anything related to this manner?"
"I... don''t. This is the first time I heard this."
"I see," he replied. "Anyway, let''s put that aside for now. I think I can help you become stronger."
He then told me that the time it takes for me to cast my magic was too slow. Usually, a mage would use a magic tool to reduce that, and since I wasn''t using anything, he suggested that by having one, it could greatly help me both in practice and an actual fight.
"But Satrillo-san, I don''t have a magic tool."
"Well, I did say I can help you," he replied. "Follow me."
Satrillo took me to an underground passage. The way looked very similar to a pathway to a dungeon.
"Satrillo-san, where are you taking me?"
Silence filled the area as we walked down. "Just follow me," he replied. Chills touched my bones; I could feel the cold air coming from my feet. Mice were running on the floor, and a bunch of cobwebs litter the floor and ceiling.
"Satrillo, can I ask you another question? Why are you addressing Emily as ojou-sama?"
"Hmmm... You see, Hiiro, ''ojou-sama'' is a language from my country, where I was born. It''s a formal word which means young lady."
Yes, I also know its meaning, since I was born from Japan. But why does he know that language? Do all people from the country of elves use Japanese too?
"Actually my last name is not really Stradivarius," Satrillo added. "Marina-sama was the one who gave me that name. My last name is actually Hayashi."
What?
After long walks, we arrived in front of a wooden door. He opened it, and a large room appeared in front of my eyes. It was filled with weaponry: swords, wands, bows...
"This room is an underground storage for weapons used in the last war," Satrillo spoke. "There were actually a lot of mages who fought back then so this place is filled with magic tools. We might find you something useful here."
"This is amazing."
Mesmerized by what I saw, I looked around and examined each of the racks.
"There''s so many of them."
However, I paused when I saw a drawing of a familiar object fixed onto the wall.
"No, this can''t be possible," I whispered.
"Did the portrait caught your attention?" Satrillo spoke. "This was one of those weird weapons the humans used in the war 70 years ago. If I remember correctly they called this a ''tank''."
No, this is not just an ordinary tank.
Back in my world, I played a lot of tank battle simulation, and there was this one tank which I loved the most.
"E 50 Ausf. M..."
It was a German tank designed in World War II.
V 1.1 Chapter 11: The Forbidden Spell.
I hate liars, hypocrites, and people who take advantage of people who care about them. But more than these, I hate murderers more. I¡¯m not really a fan of gore movies and I think they are disgusting, I do love horror though. I just don¡¯t understand how people get pleasure by killing someone. Life is a precious thing, even though people act like shits. But there¡¯s still one more thing I hate the most, ever since that time with Haruka. That is¡ endangering other people¡¯s lives because of me.
¡°E 50 Ausf. M.¡± These words were written at the bottom of the portrait.
¡°Hiiro,¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°Are you curious about that picture?¡±
¡°Y-yes.¡±
He then narrated about events of the previous war.
Decades ago, Razzia found a new source of power, called curses. Unlike magic which uses mana, curses utilized the energy that came from the negative emotions of living beings. Lucie¡¯s usage of lust energy is an example. Unlike magic, curses have superior attack power and doesn¡¯t require incantations and runes. Also in special cases, some curses have special abilities that are normally impossible to do. Like Aria¡¯s Cursed Lightning for example.
With this newfound power, the Demon King decided to conquer all of Eteria starting from the Khina. After years of fighting, the Demons almost won the war, their enemy left with only a few cities standing. In their desperate moments, the humans sacrificed a large number of powerful mages, including the prince next to the throne, to create a spell that would call for ¡®heroes¡¯ from another world; five were summoned. These heroes were blessed with great power which they used to win their many battles, and soon the humans regained hope. However, it was not enough to defeat Razzia; it could only buy them time. The humans knew that magic alone was not enough to defeat the demons, so they developed a new source of power...
...Satrillo called it ¡°nuclear energy¡±.
¡°Sat...rillo?¡± My eyes stared at him; my body trembled. ¡°What¡ do you mean¡ by nuclear energy?¡±
He then explained the process of nuclear fission.
This¡ This can¡¯t be. No... This is impossible.
¡°Written reports from the Razzia¡¯s spies said that the idea came from the summoned heroes.¡±
¡°Satrillo, you said that this happened 70 years ago, right?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± he replied. ¡°To be exact, the first nuclear power plant was built in 1951. The tanks appeared a few years before that time.¡±
Did he just say 1951? Wait, a minute. Calendars already existed?
¡°Satrillo?¡± Instantly, I asked him ¡°What is the date today?¡±
¡°Hiiro? You seem a little bit off right now,¡± he responded. ¡°Anyway, today is May 20, 2019.¡±
When the plane crashed into me, the date was August 11, 2018.
No. This can¡¯t be. Does this mean I¡¯ve been dead for nine months?
¡°Hiiro?¡± Satrillo asked; ¡°Is there something wrong? You¡¯re acting weird.¡±
¡°N-nothing. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just a bit shocked from what I just heard.¡±
¡°Shocked?¡± he whispered. ¡°By the way, Hiiro, may I ask you something? How did you meet Emily-ojousama?¡± he asked. ¡°This has been bothering me for quite a while since I met you. Actually, when I saw you fight in the arena, I thought you were a Lich.¡±
¡°A Lich?¡±
Satrillo explained to me what Lich was. When a mage with powerful magic dies, there¡¯s a rare chance of them coming back to life. The negative energy from the mage¡¯s regrets or anger to their killer could combine with their mana cursing them to be reborn as an immortal. This was also how the demons discovered curses.
¡°When I saw you cast elemental magic in your battle with Lucie, I immediately assumed you were a Lich,¡± he added. ¡°There¡¯s also the fact that skeleton knights summoned by necromancers would never have a will of their own. However, you seem to be self-aware and in control of your own actions.¡±
¡°But I can only feel a short amount of anti-mana from you. Hiiro. What are you? How did you meet Emily-Ojousama?¡± He added while touching his katana.
This killing intent. What should I do? He¡¯s suspicious of me. Do I tell him the truth? That Emily used a forbidden spell to reincarnate me? He did serve her mother. Maybe he can help me return to my human body.
¡°Emily¡ reanimated me from the dead.¡± I stated.
As these words came out of my mouth, Satrillo¡¯s behavior suddenly changed; his body froze, his face turned pale and his mouth slightly opened. ¡°Hiiro. P-please, tell me you''re joking,¡± he faltered. ¡°N-no, this is just not possible. I can still talk to Emily-Ojousama. There¡¯s no way this is possible.¡±
¡°Satrillo? What do you mean?¡± I queried.
¡°Hiiro, do you know that reanimation is forbidden? Do you know the reasons why?¡± he quickly grabbed my shoulders.
¡°I-I don¡¯t know the reason but I know it¡¯s forbidden.¡±
¡°When necromancers use reanimation. They use all of their life energy and give it to their target,¡± he explained.
¡°All of her life energy? Does this mean...¡±
¡°Emily will die,¡± he added.
As he said that word, a nightmare suddenly flashed in me.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, Hiiro¡±
The day Haruka jumped from the rooftop of our school.
***
---Emily---
¡°By the way, Aria,¡± Lucie spoke. ¡°I heard from the king that the scouts already found the new secret lab of Dr. Albert.¡±
¡°Dr. Albert?¡± Aria asked.
¡°Yes,¡± Lucie replied. ¡°They found the man who kidnapped you and Robyn seven years ago.¡±
¡°Aria¡¡± My eyes turned to Aria who seemed to be looking down while touching her chest.
¡°Oopsie, I¡¯m sorry, Aria,¡± Lucie bowed, apologizing. ¡°I just realized that this is not the right time to be talking about this.¡±
¡°It¡¯s... okay... Lucie.¡± Aria let out a hoarse voice. ¡°Please, continue with the information,¡± she pleaded.
Lucie stared at Aria. ¡°The king is planning for an attack mission a few weeks from now,¡± she spoke. ¡°So far, we are still having a meeting on how many troops should be sent.¡±
¡°Anyway, I already told Robyn about this.¡± Aria looked at Lucie. ¡°It seems she wants to join the mission.¡±
¡°Robyn...¡± Aria whispered.
¡°What about you, Aria? Are you also going to join the mission?¡± Lucie asked.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°I¡ I don¡¯t know,¡± Aria responded, still looking down.
¡°Well, it¡¯s still early so you have plenty of time to think about it,¡± Lucie added.
¡°Thank you, Lucie,¡± Aria said.
¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Aria responded. ¡°Well, it seems the king is calling me. I need to go now, Aria, Emily. Bye-bye. Enjoy the party.¡±
¡°Yes, Thank you,¡± Aria and I replied.
Time passed, Aria was still sitting near the table. She was deep in her thoughts and kept refusing the food I offered to her. The party that was supposed to be filled with smiles was replaced by the melancholy of a girl wearing a black robe.
¡°Aria.¡±
¡°I¡¯m okay, Emily,¡± Aria replied. ¡°I¡ I¡¯ll just go out for a bit. I want to be alone right now.¡±
She then asked for permission from King Arthur to go out of the hall.
***
---Hiiro---
After my talk with Satrillo, I went to our room and sat on top of my bed, thinking about everything he just said. ¡°Emily... will die?¡± I whispered, looking at my hands.
Moments later, the door opened, and I caught a glimpse of Emily entering. Everything happened so fast that I never noticed my shouts vibrating throughout the room. When I returned to my senses, I was holding my cheek bone while looking at her red and swelling hand. With the continuous drop of tears from her face, I couldn¡¯t speak.
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she apologized and ran outside leaving me still standing on my spot.
¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± Shouting these words, I continuously punched the wall close to the door, almost breaking my right hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry!¡± I wanted to cry but I couldn''t, for I had no eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Emily.¡±
I just¡ I just don¡¯t want others to die because of me. I just don¡¯t want the past to repeat itself.
Staring at my fractured hand, I thought, if I could feel anything, it would stung every time I would try to move it. But, her slap was still more painful. It twinged not on my face, but on my heart. ¡°I need to find her quick. I must apologize to her.¡± Immediately, I went out to look for her.
Running around, I explored the interior of the castle, but I couldn¡¯t find her. ¡°Please, Emily, where are you?¡±
The walk took time until I saw Aria entering from the castle gate.
¡°Aria!¡± I screamed. Running towards her and panting afterward, I quickly asked if she had seen Emily.
¡°Emily? I just passed her. She went outside,¡± she replied. ¡°Hiiro, what going on? She was crying.¡±
¡°I...¡±
¡°Hiiro, whatever it is, please talk to her,¡± she pleaded. ¡°I¡ I don¡¯t want to see her cry again. She already suffered too much from the past.¡±
¡°Yes, I will. Thank you, Aria.¡±
Before I had the chance to ran, Aria stopped me. ¡°Wait, Hiiro, I¡¯ll help you look for her.¡±
Aria and I decided to split up so we could quickly find Emily. The entire area outside the castle was massive, but I looked everywhere until I was worn out.
¡°Shit.¡±
The sky has turned dark and it would be nightfall soon, but, I couldn¡¯t give up.
Despite my fist having cracked when I punched the wall, and my feet exhausted from too much running, I managed to find her, standing beneath the shade of an autumn tree. She was facing the other way.
¡°Ha...ruka.¡±
I was too tired. My visions dimming, steps slowing, I forced myself to walk towards the girl wearing a black robe.
¡°Haruka¡ I¡ I¡¯m sorry.¡± Everything turned black, and I collapsed.
***
Waking up, I found myself lying in Emily¡¯s lap; she was crying.
Slowly, I raised my left hand towards her face, wiping the falling tears. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I made you cry again.¡±
¡°Hiiro.¡± Tightly, she grabbed my hand. With her forehead touching my fingers; tears filling her eyes. ¡°Hiiro, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry.¡±
¡°No, Emily,¡± I said, standing. ¡°I¡¯m the one who should apologize. I couldn¡¯t control my emotions and I¡ I did that you. I¡¯m really sorry.¡±
¡°But...¡± Shifting her gaze down, she saw my broken fist. ¡°Hiiro, what happened to your right hand?¡± she asked, but I couldn¡¯t respond.
Avoiding eye contact, I kept myself silent. ¡°I¡¯ll heal you right now.¡± She immediately grabbed her scepter and started casting a spell, but I stopped her.
¡°Please, Emily you don¡¯t need to exhaust your life force on me.¡±
¡°Y-you don¡¯t have to worry, Hiiro,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯ll use my mana.¡± She then cast a spell to fix my broken hand.
Turning my back, I pleaded, ¡°Emily, please; cancel the reanimation spell. I¡ I don¡¯t want you to die because of me.¡±
¡°I can¡¯t,¡± she responded with a soft voice.
Hearing these words I faced her. ¡°Emi--¡± But before I could say her name, a guard appeared and interrupted us.
¡°Master Hiiro, Lady Emily,¡± he shouted. ¡°King Arthur wants to see you two in the throne room. Please, go there immediately.¡±
***
At the throne room, King Arthur sat in front with Satrillo, Lucie, and Robyn standing beside him.
¡°Emily, answer me.¡± King Arthur slowly spoke, looking at us with glaring eyes. ¡°Did you really use reanimation?¡±
My gaze turned to Satrillo. ¡°My apologies, Hiiro,¡± he spoke. ¡°I had to tell this to the King since this is a serious matter.¡±
¡°Answer me!!!¡± King Arthur¡¯s loud voice echoed through the entire room.
With her trembling hands, Emily answered while looking down. ¡°Y-yes, Your Highness.¡±
There was a bit of silence before King Arthur let out another word; his face became sullen.
¡°Tell me, Emily,¡± he said with a soft and slow voice. ¡°Where did you learn this spell and how did you survive?¡±
Survive?
¡°I-I learned reanimation from a book I picked up in the forest,¡± Emily quivered; her hands were shaking. Immediately, I held her right palm. It was the only thing I could do.
¡°Where is this book right now?¡± King Arthur slowly asked.
¡°I-it¡¯s in our room,¡± Emily answered.
King Arthur commanded his guards to search for the book. The throne room became quiet after that.
¡°Y-your Highness...¡± Looking at King Arthur, my voice stuttered. ¡°Can I ask something? What do you mean---¡±
¡°Allow me to explain...¡± Satrillo interjected. He explained the process of reanimation.
In order to perform reanimation, the necromancer must offer their life force to their target. In other words, for reanimation to be successful the necromancer must first die. Emily being alive contradicted that one requirement of the spell. She shouldn¡¯t be breathing right now.
The guards returned, one of them held a worn-out book in his hands. He walked towards King Arthur and handed him the book. Reading its pages, King Arthur¡¯s expressions suddenly changed. He had the same eyes as when I told Satrillo about Emily reanimating me.
¡°No, this penmanship. It can¡¯t be...¡± He looked at Robyn and called out her name. ¡°Go to the Village of the Necromancers right now and look for Oliver. I need him to explain this to me!¡±
¡°Yes, Your Highness,¡± Robyn replied and walked out of the room.
¡°Your Highness,¡± Satrillo spoke. ¡°May I ask the matter?¡±
¡°The reanimation spell on this book had been altered,¡± King Arthur responded. ¡°It seems Oliver is trying to resurrect a necromancer.¡±
¡°A necromancer?¡±
Satrillo looked at me. ¡°In order to reanimate someone, the target must have a soul. However, due to the contract of the necromancers to the Demon King, if they die, their souls would vanish.¡±
¡°Then, that means...¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Satrillo responded. ¡°It is impossible to reanimate a full-blooded necromancer.¡±
Hearing this, Emily fell on her knees. ¡°I-I can¡¯t reanimate mother?¡±
Shit, I forgot Emily is here.
¡°Then, for what reason did I learn necromancy. For what reason do I have to live!!!¡± Emily shouted.
¡°Satrillo, take Emily back to her room, immediately,¡± King Arthur commanded. Satrillo then went to the king and whispered something, but I couldn''t hear them since they were too far from me.
As the three of us walked towards the door, King Arthur called me, ¡°Hiiro, please stay. I need to talk to you.¡±
As the door closed, King Arthur began to talk. ¡°I never thought the reason why she¡¯s looking for Marina is so she could reanimate her.¡±
¡°Your Highness!¡± I shouted. ¡°Please, tell Emily to cancel the reanimation spell she cast on me.¡±
King Arthur looked at me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Hiiro,¡± he apologized. ¡°But that is impossible right now. Reanimation is a one-time spell; the caster is supposed to die after using it. There is no known way of canceling it.¡±
¡°No... This can¡¯t be.¡±
¡°However, Oliver might know something about this,¡± he added and coughed after. ¡°Anyway, Hiiro, I know this is too sudden, considering what just happened, but I want to ask you something. This is important so please don''t lie to me.¡±
King Arthur flicked his finger, and a number of guards entered the room, each carrying a weapon. ¡°Are you a spy from Khina?¡±
¡°Y-Your Highness, w-what do you mean by a spy?¡±
¡°Tell us the truth, Hiiro,¡± he insisted. The guards raised their weapons and aimed it towards me. ¡°We can tell if you¡¯re lying using Lucie¡¯s curse.¡±
What¡¯s happening? Spy? Me? But I never even went to Khina.
¡°Hiiro, we¡¯re waiting for your answer,¡± King Arthur demanded.
Since I had no choice, I told them everything. How I came from another world. How a plane crashed into me. How I don¡¯t have a memory of anything that happened before I died. And how Emily and I met.
¡°I have never once set foot in Khina Your Highness.¡±
¡°Are you really sure, Hiiro?¡± Lucie spoke.
¡°Lucie? What do you mean?¡±
¡°Based on the information that we have gathered from Aria.¡± Lucie walked towards me. ¡°The humans who attacked the Village of the Necromancers were shouting ¡®Glory to the Summoned Heroes!¡¯ Which means that the humans already tried to duplicate the summoning magic they used in the previous war. Don¡¯t you think they¡¯re planning to start another world war?¡±
¡°Another... world war?¡±
¡°Yes.¡± Lucie placed her right palm on my forehead. ¡°Sweet dreams, Hiiro~ I hope that when you wake up, we¡¯re still allies.¡±
Again, my vision slowly fades, and the sounds become muffled. As my sight completely vanished, my skeleton body fell to the ground.
V 1.1 Chapter 12: A New Beginning, a New Goal.
What is sleep? There¡¯s this common belief that when asleep, the brain shuts off, the body lies down and nothing happens. But that¡¯s really not what¡¯s happening. Instead, scientists believe that sleep, is in fact, sewing our memories together. When you sleep, your brain will extract from experiences the gist of what happened. It extracts the gist and kind of forgets all those details that are not so important. It will discover the rules of our lives. It will take a large number of experiences and take them all together and figure out what the rules are that explains how our worlds work. And dreaming, in fact, is probably part of this entire process.
¡°Where am I?¡± Suspended in a world full of flashing lights, a number of rectangular screens floated around, showing events very familiar to me. ¡°Are these...¡±
¡°These are all your memories, Hiiro.¡±
A sound coming from a woman resounded throughout the place, speaking with a seductive voice. Soon, a silhouette of a girl appeared in front of me, slowly gaining its color and form.
¡°Hello, Hiiro~¡±
It was Lucie.
As we toured the place, she explained what was happening. A person¡¯s dreams also contained their own memories. This is the reason why people sometimes have dreams about their past. Using Lucie¡¯s ability to tap into these dreams, she could use my memories to ascertain if I was telling the truth.
We stopped in front of a particular screen, showing a recent memory of before I died. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside, Hiiro~,¡± she chuckled.
As she touched it with her hands, the screen sucked us inside.
Just after entering, we saw a man standing while looking at his hands forming a fist; it was the ¡®me¡¯ of the past.
¡°Hoho,¡± Lucie giggled. ¡°You¡¯re actually quite handsome in your human form.¡±
As the man shouted, the place was suddenly filled with blinding lights mixed with a deafening sound coming from the sky.
It was the same plane that killed me¡ Or so I thought.
Mere seconds before it crashed into ¡°me,¡± ¡°I¡± suddenly vanished into thin air. Lucie and I soon followed. The next scene brought the two of us in a forest.
¡°Wait... a minute, the plane did not crash into me?¡±
We observed the man panicking and running all around the place.
¡°Hiiro, you look kinda funny here,¡± she chuckled. Covering my eyes with my hands, I was too embarrassed to look at myself. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Hiiro. He, or you, are going somewhere.¡±
We followed the man until we reached a village.
¡°No way.¡±
The two of us were standing right in front of a village. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion coming from inside. Curious, the man entered the village. In the middle, there was a woman wearing a robe, casting elemental magic and necromancy in every direction.
¡°That girl is Lady Marina, Emily¡¯s mother,¡± Lucie spoke in a serious tone.
Looking around, I couldn''t believe everything that was happening.
Dead bodies of necromancers were scattered all over the place. Those who were still alive tended to the injured while evacuating. ¡°It seems Lady Marina is buying time for them to escape.¡±
Emily¡¯s mother was fighting humans wearing military uniforms, its design seemed to be a modernized version of German clothing used in World War II back on earth, and they even carried firearms of high caliber.
Multiple tanks were simultaneously firing at her, however, Marina blocked it all with barrier magic.
But the tanks and the soldiers were not the only ones there.
A weapon not existing in the reality of my world was hovering above the tanks. It looked like a mechanized exoskeleton which only covered the limbs of the pilot. Strange metal-like objects were also floating behind it.
The body of the pilot seems vulnerable at first, having only a suit as protection, but when Emily¡¯s mother tried to attack it with a spell, some sort of shield dispersed it.
¡°W-what is that?¡± Lucie stuttered, looking at the exoskeleton with her eyes opened wide. ¡°H-Hiiro, do humans in your world have that kind of weapon? Please, explain to me what that is.¡±
¡°Shit, I don¡¯t want to die.¡± The human ¡®me¡¯ fell on his butt; trembling, he dashed towards the forest.
Lucie wanted to examine the weapon further, but we had no choice but to follow my other self. It was a scene from my memory, after all, so we could only observe the things that I once saw.
He was running while looking down at full speed. ¡°Shit. Shit. Shit. Shi...t.¡± The scenario he just saw, with the addition of the eerie atmosphere of the forest, just made his fear even worse¡
He stumbled into a bear-like monster, which proceeded to mutilate him.
***
After that, we returned to the real world. ¡°That¡¯s¡ That¡¯s how I died?¡±
¡°Lucie, tell me what you saw.¡± It was King Arthur who commanded Lucie sitting on his throne with his head placed on his lap. He was looking at her who seemed to be dumbfounded.
¡°Your Highness,¡± Lucie spoke while looking down. ¡°We need to start preparing for an upcoming war.¡±
After that, Lucie explained everything: How I was innocent and was telling the truth; what happened in the village; and the strange weapon we encountered. She was shouting as if she was complaining; she hastily narrated it.
¡°Please, Your Highness. If we don¡¯t prepare now, everyone will die,¡± Lucie begged.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, Lucie,¡± King Arthur apologized, looking at her. ¡°But with little evidence, we can¡¯t just decide on this. What if those were not from Khina, but just terrorists impersonating the humans?¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
¡°But your Highness. They already summoned...¡± Before Lucie finished her sentence, King Arthur shouted at her.
¡°We can¡¯t go to war!¡± Shocked by King Arthur¡¯s sudden change of tone, everyone looked at him.
Silence filled every corner of the room.
¡°We have too little information about Khina and the power they possess. We can¡¯t repeat what happened in the past; it will only cause more bloodshed. You should know this, Lucie, since you¡¯re the one who experienced it the most.¡±
King Arthur continued in a somewhat calmer voice. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will raise this concern to the Demon Council at our upcoming meeting next week. Until then, we can only gather more information.¡±
¡°Yes, Your Highness.¡± After she bowed in front of King Arthur, Lucie went out with a look of disappointment in her eyes. King Arthur then commanded the guards to leave.
King Arthur sighed, his two hands clasped together as his body bent forward. ¡°You may not know this, Hiiro, but among my three generals, Lucie hates Humans the most.¡±
Based on what she said, in the last war, the country of humans attacked and killed the entire Dreizen clan, with Lucie being the sole survivor.
Maybe she wants a war to start so she can finally have her revenge.
All this time she was just holding herself, hiding her real emotions in a gleeful facade. The scene we saw in my memories might have destroyed the illusion she planted on herself.
I can¡¯t imagine how hard it was for her to help a human, like Emily; or me, a former one. But why would she do that?
¡°Hiiro,¡± King Arthur called out to me. ¡°Do you know what was the last weapon you saw in your memories?¡±
¡°I¡ I¡¯m sorry, Your Highness.¡±
After that, I described the current weaponry of Earth. That mecha flying above those tanks were not present in our reality, but rather in the fictional world of anime. But, I couldn¡¯t properly explain its concept to him. Though, he managed to grasp it when I compared it to a ¡®novel¡¯.
¡°Hiiro,¡± King Arthur looked at me. ¡°Please return here tomorrow with Emily and Aria, we need to plan our raid on Dr. Albert¡¯s lab, and to decide on Emily¡¯s punishment for breaking a taboo.¡±
¡°I¡¯m¡ joining the attack?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± he answered. ¡°We want the knowledge you possess about the weapons from your world. It may be different from what¡¯s here, but we might still need you regardless. Also, before you go back to your room, please promise me. Protect Emily with your life. She¡¯s very important to us.¡±
¡°I promise, Your Highness.¡± After our conversation, I went out of the room. Opening the door, I saw Lucie standing in front of me. ¡°Lucie?¡±
¡°So you heard the truth,¡± she spoke, with a serious look. Her flirty personality was gone as if I was talking to a different person.
¡°I¡¯m really sorry,¡± I apologized, bowing; I couldn¡¯t look at her.
¡°Why are you apologizing?¡± she asked. ¡°You''re not even from this world.¡±
¡°Even so, I was still once a human. I¡¯m also apologizing on Emily¡¯s behalf.¡±
There was a bit of silence.
¡°Lift your head, Hiiro,¡± she said, touching my shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s okay. After days of watching you and Emily, you made me realize that there are still good humans out there. Also, I should be the one apologizing instead.¡± She bowed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for deceiving the three of you.¡±
¡°No, Lucie. For everything that you¡¯ve done for us, thank you.¡±
¡°But, I never really helped you,¡± she denied.
¡°Yes, you did. Our conversation before I talked to Aria in the recovery room, it helped me voice what I needed to tell her. And today, even though there¡¯s a possibility of me being a spy, you still told me you hoped we¡¯re still allies. Even though... even though you have a grudge against humans you still helped us.¡±
¡°That¡ That¡¯s not true, Hiiro. I helped you because the King gave a royal order to me,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m just following him since it¡¯s something that nobody should ever disobey.¡±
¡°Royal order? To help me?
No, considering what King Arthur just said, is it for Emily?
¡°Lucie, please tell me. Who really is Emily?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t answer that one,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m forbidden to tell you anything regarding that, but I have a feeling that you¡¯ll find out eventually.¡±
She turned her back and waved her hands while walking away. ¡°Goodbye, Hiiro <3.¡±
Speaking with a seductive voice, was it her real emotions? Or just another facade?
I don¡¯t know. But there¡¯s one thing that I¡¯m sure of.
I¡¯m glad I met her.
After that, I went to our room.
***
As I entered, I saw Emily and Aria sitting on top of their bed. Aria noticed, and walked towards me.
¡°I¡¯ll leave you two for now,¡± she whispered and went outside.
¡°Uhh¡ Emily... I...¡± But, I couldn''t speak what I wanted to say. With her eyes swelling red, Emily stood and hugged me.
¡°Hiiro.¡± Crying, her embrace became tighter. ¡°What am I going to do now? I¡ I can¡¯t reanimate mother.¡±
¡°No! There¡¯s still hope,¡± I replied, hugging her back. ¡°Remember what King Arthur said? Someone tried to reanimate a necromancer by altering the spell.¡±
Holding her shoulders, I distanced myself so I could see her eyes. ¡°Emily, even if there¡¯s just less than one percent chance of attaining your goal, I will still follow you. Even if you lose all of your hopes, I¡¯ll be there for you. And if you lose all of your reason to live, I will run to you and be that reason. I¡¯ll stay by your side forever.¡±
There was a bit of silence until I noticed her blushing; I then let go of her and turned around. ¡°I¡ I¡¯m sorry. I just¡ It¡¯s just the words came out and I couldn''t control myself. ¡±
¡°Hiiro, thank you,¡± she spoke. I tried to look at her but she placed her hands on my shoulders stopping me. ¡°Don¡¯t look!¡± She shouted. ¡°P-please, don''t look.¡±
¡°Emily, let¡¯s start from the beginning. Let¡¯s look for your mother¡¯s remains together.¡±
¡°Yes,¡± she replied, softly.
This time, for sure, I will protect you.
After that, we stayed in that position in silence for a few minutes, until Aria finally came back in.
***
The next morning, our group together, with King Arthur¡¯s officers held a meeting in the throne room.
Robyn was not present that time since she was still in the village, but King Arthur said that he would inform her when she returns.
The raid on Dr. Albert¡¯s lab will be conducted months from now, and our primary goal is to gather information from the inside: about Dr. Albert¡¯s research, the Shadow Purgatory and Khina; then destroy the lab after.
There will be two teams consisting of five soldiers each. We need to bring as little as possible since the enemies might discover us if we came with an army.
Lucie and Aria will lead the first team. They will be the lookout and will act as a backup if ever something bad happens. Our strategy is to use Lucie¡¯s memory reading ability to scout the guards and to visualize the map of the lab. One of King Arthur¡¯s soldiers, Victor, will then pass that information to the soldiers inside through telepathy, while Aria will serve as the lookout and protection for Lucie.
The other team will be headed by me and Robyn. She will use her Enhanced Senses so we could easily infiltrate the inside.
However, there is one problem.
And that is the Razzia¡¯s lack of knowledge of human technology. This is why I am needed for this operation. As for Emily...
¡°As punishment for breaking a taboo, you will you stay in your room until they have finished the mission,¡± King Arthur announced.
She had no choice but to agree, but I guess it¡¯s okay.
If we think about it, the punishment is very light compared to the taboo she just broke.
Who really is Emily? And what is her purpose for Razzia?
After the meeting, Emily and Aria returned to our room, while I asked King Arthur for permission to go to the library.
Based on what I saw in my memories, Necromancy and Elemental Magic do not seem to affect the exoskeleton. And if my theory is correct, then it should be the same for other kinds of magic or even curses.
I need to be stronger. I need to create a new type of magic that will work against that monster.
Then I thought of something crazy. Whatever material that machine is made of, it is still a machine, which means it should have a computer somewhere to control or regulate itself.
If computers do not exist in Razzia, then I just have to create one. I will hack and destroy those monsters.
¡°For the sake of Emily and me, I have to get stronger.¡±
This is my new goal.
V 1.1 Chapter 12.5: The story of Aria.
Seven years ago...
Waking up, I found myself in an unfamiliar tight room, confined with nothing but a bed beside me. In front, there was a number of iron bars tightly engraved preventing my escape. ¡°Where am I? Mama? Papa? Where are you? Help me! ¡± I shouted with all of my voice.
¡°Shut up!!!¡± A loud shout coming from outside; it was from a man.
¡°Help me, please. I¡¯m scared. I don¡¯t know this place. Please, help me.¡± I kept screaming at him, hoping he would help me. But, his response was not what I wanted.
¡°Shut up, you stupid kid!!!¡± He let out a deafening voice.
¡°Waaaah.¡± Repeatedly, I cried.
¡°If you don¡¯t shut up I¡¯ll cut your tongue!¡± he screamed, walking towards me carrying a knife.
Scared, I ran towards the corner of the room. ¡°Mama¡ Papa¡¡± All I can do is mop while hugging my knees. ¡°Help me. I don¡¯t want this place.¡±
Suddenly, I heard another voice. ¡°Oi, little miss crybaby.¡± At first, I ignored it, but he spoke again. ¡°Oi, I¡¯m talking to you.¡±
¡°A-are you talking about me?¡±
¡°Yes. Who else is crying right now? What¡¯s your name?¡±
¡°A-Aria. Aria Li.¡±
¡°My name¡¯s Robyn. Robyn L¨¢ng.¡±
After that, we talked to each other. He was on the adjacent cell. He said that he was just playing outside their house when two men approached him and offered him candies. However, after he walked to them, one of the man covered him with a large sack then carried him until they reached this place.
¡°They probably kidnapped you too,¡± he spoke.
¡°That¡ That''s not true¡ Waaaah¡ I want my papa and mama.¡±
¡°Ahhh. Will you please shut up?¡± he shouted. ¡°Crying won¡¯t help you, you know.¡±
¡°But¡ But...¡±
¡°Geez. This is why I hate crybabies,¡± he said in a loud voice.
¡°W-what are they going to do with us? I¡ I¡¯m scared. What if the bad guys hurt me? Am I going to see my mama and papa again?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, ok,¡± he replied. ¡°They still haven¡¯t touched me ever since I arrived here.¡±
¡°I¡ I¡¯m scared. What if... What if they cut my tongue... like what the guy said earlier? What if they kill me?¡±
¡°Ahhh. Alright. Alright. I¡¯ll protect you, ok? So please... please stop crying!!!¡± he shouted.
¡°Y-you will protect me?¡±
¡°Well, I¡¯m quite strong you know,¡± he responded.
Robyn and I continued with our conversation. We talked and talked from morning till dawn. It was the only thing we could do in that tight room separated by a wall. Speaking to him eased my loneliness; he was the only friend I had that time. This lasted for days.
One morning, two individuals, a male, and a female wearing a white coat came.
¡°Good morning to you two.¡± The man greeted us.
¡°W-who are you?¡±
They ordered the guard to free us from the cells. That was the first time I saw Robyn in person. With his boyish nature, short hair and clothes combined with his voice, I assumed he was male.
The man in a coat spoke to us; his name was Albert, and the female is named Agatha, his wife. The two of them were surgeons. They requested us to participate in an experiment. Its objective was to strengthen the human body using the DNA of demons. During that time, I had no idea what they were talking about, but their reason convinced the child mind of me and Robyn. They wanted to do it for their daughter who had a weak constitution and on the verge of dying. The country¡¯s law, however, forbids the usage of humans for this type of experiment so they had no choice but to abduct us. They also promised they would return us to our parents once the experiment is finished. Robyn and I thought that by helping them, we could save the life of their daughter; we agreed. It was for a heroic deed, we thought. After that conversation, they took us to a mansion.
***
¡°It¡¯s so big...¡±
My family and I lived in the streets of Mohe. During those times, we searched the trashes of restaurants in hope for something to eat. At night, we slept in the outskirts of the city. I never had the chance to step inside a house, let alone a mansion.
¡°This will be your new house for the experiment.¡± Dr. Albert smiled.
Robyn and I had a separate room. Doctor Albert said it was necessary. It would help them with the observation since there would be lesser factors to consider. Since then, Robyn and I rarely met with each other. Most of the time, I was alone in my room, and would only go out during an experiment.
Routinely, they would inject me with some sort of liquid. They told me that it was a concentration of DNA from demons, though I had no idea what they are talking about. However, months passed, but all the experiments failed. My body rejected the liquid. Usually, my stomach pained, followed by vomiting with traces of blood in most cases.
¡°I miss my mama. I miss my papa. Waaah.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry, Aria. If only the experiment was a success.¡± It was Dr. Agatha who was comforting me after a failed experiment.
¡°I want to go home, doctor¡± My hand held Dr. Agatha¡¯s palm. ¡°When will the experiment end?¡±
¡°I¡ I¡¯m sorry,¡± she apologized. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±
¡°Doctor¡ Do you think my mama and papa also miss me? I really miss them.¡±
Talking with the doctor, I told her my life with my family. Even though we were poor, we were happy. We would always smile and didn¡¯t worry about not eating in a day as long as we have each other.
¡°You really love your parents,¡± Dr. Agatha spoke.
¡°Yeah. I really love them.¡± I talked to her about my siblings, my parents; all the members of my family.
¡°Aria, follow me,¡± Dr. Agatha requested.
She took me in a room. Opening the door, I saw a child lying on the bed. She got up in a sitting position.
¡°Good morning, mother,¡± the girl spoke, softly.
¡°Aria, this is Ada, my daughter.¡±
After every experiment, Dr. Agatha would bring me to Ada. Sometimes, Robyn would also be there. The three of us shared stories and laugh with each other¡¯s jokes; we became best friends. Doctor Agatha would also come and play with us if she wasn¡¯t busy; she became like a mother to me and Robyn. However, these blissful moments soon ended.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
A year passed, the experiment was far from success. The two doctor¡¯s expressions turned gloomy every time I saw them in the lab. One day, while having our usual conversation with Robyn and Ada, I went to the bathroom since my bladder was at its limit. Going back to our room, I saw Dr. Agatha crying as Dr. Albert spoke to her with a sad face. What I heard shook me. It seemed Ada had only a few months left to live. My mind went blank; I didn¡¯t know what to do. I ran towards Ada¡¯s rooms. They asked me if there was something wrong, however, I couldn¡¯t speak.
A week after that incident, it was time for a new experiment. However, Dr. Agatha was not present in the lab.
¡°D-doctor? Where is Dr. Agatha?¡±
¡°Agatha¡ is busy right now,¡± Dr. Albert replied. Soon, four people entered the room. They were wearing the same coat as Dr. Albert. He then asked me to take a pill. ¡°Please, take this. This will be the last stage of the experiment. If it fails we will return you back to your parents.¡± After I took the pill, I felt sleepy. ¡°Good night, Aria,¡± Dr. Albert talked to me as I closed my eyes.
After I woke up, the laboratory was destroyed.
***
¡°W-what happened?¡±
¡°The experiment was a success.¡± The voice was coming from behind; it was Dr. Albert.
Soon, a car stopped behind him. The driver came out and opened the door on the backseat of the vehicle. A man in a white suit sat there smoking his cigar. ¡°Good morning, Dr. Albert,¡± the man smirked. ¡°Is she the one? Where is the other girl?¡± With the sudden blow of a strong gale, the foul scent of the smoke found itself onto my nose; it was like the smell of the city.
¡°S-sir.¡± Dr. Albert stuttered as drops of sweat fell from his face. Looking everywhere, he was avoiding eye contact with the man. ¡°T-the other girl is on the house.¡±
Soon, two huge men in black suits came out from the other side of the car and accompanied the man in a white suit as he got out. Directing my gaze at them, I noticed something. They had pistols tucked on their pants. But, it was not the first time I saw something like that. Living in the streets for so long, seeing a gun was normal for people like me. And most of the time, a person having that meant bad news.
¡°Aria, I¡¯m really sorry.¡± Dr. Albert looked down. ¡°It¡¯s the only way.¡±
The two huge men ran and attempted to grab me. ¡°W-who are you?¡± But I squirmed. ¡°Don''t¡ Don¡¯t touch me.¡± With great force, I released a deafening shout; the two men were thrown away. Everyone was stunned. ¡°Wha¡ I¡ I...¡± Suddenly, electricity came flowing out of my hands. ¡°Wha¡ N-nooo!!!¡± I shouted and produced a powerful shockwave that blasted everything surrounding me, creating ice everywhere. ¡°Mama, Papa, help me!!!¡± However, the electricity just got stronger; I couldn¡¯t control it. A current managed to find its way into the man¡¯s car, freezing it. As the wind got stronger, the coldness of the place spread everywhere. The sounds of the electricity resonated around me, dancing with blinding light. ¡°I¡ I don¡¯t want this¡¡± Tears fell from my eyes, with bits of sparks freezing into solid ice. ¡°Mama... Papa... Please, help me...¡±
¡°Hahaha,¡± the man in a white laughed. ¡°This is amazing. Truly amazing.¡±
The man in white then pulled out a gun and pointed it at me.
¡°S-sir. Please, don''t kill her,¡± Dr. Albert pleaded.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. This is just a tranquilizer,¡± the man in white replied. ¡°A very strong tranquilizer.¡±
He pulled the trigger, and a loud bang echoed throughout the place. The electricity flowing from me slowly stopped. When I touched my stomach, blood flowed from my hands. ¡°Ma...ma...¡± My vision turned blurry. Everything turned dim as I fell down.
***
When I woke up, I found myself lying on the ground. ¡°Aria, can you hear me?¡± It was a shout from a woman. ¡°Aria, please answer me.¡±
¡°D-doctor Agatha? Doctor Agatha!¡± Immediately, I ran towards her, but I bumped into something; there seemed to be a transparent wall between us. ¡°I¡¯m scared. Please, help me. Please, I want to go home. I don¡¯t want it here.¡± I cried while repeatedly pounding the glass.
¡°Aria, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay.¡± However, it seemed she was scared to look at me.
¡°Doctor?¡±
¡°Aria, I¡¯m really sorry.¡± She looked down. ¡°I¡ don¡¯t have the power to help you right now.¡±
¡°Doctor? What are you talking?¡±
¡°I¡ I¡¯m really sorry,¡± she replied.
Slowly, I stepped backward. ¡°No, you¡¯re lying.¡±
¡°Aria,¡± she said. ¡°Please, believe me.¡±
¡°Nooo!!! You¡¯re lying. You¡¯re just like Dr. Albert. You just want to hurt me.¡±
¡°Please, Aria,¡± she pleaded. ¡°I tried everything I can to stop Albert. I didn¡¯t want this to happen to you.¡±
¡°Get away from me!!!¡± My body released a strong surge of electricity towards Dr. Agatha, however, it was blocked by the wall separating us.
¡°I¡ I¡¯m sorry.¡± She looked down while going out of the room.
Feeling betrayed, I sat at the corner of the cage, crying. ¡°Robby¡ where are you? You said you would protect me.¡±
Moments later, Dr. Albert came with a bunch of people wearing a white coat. ¡°Hello Aria,¡± Dr. Albert spoke. ¡°How¡¯s your wound.¡± But, I was silent. He then faced the people who accompanied him. ¡°Please, leave us for a while.¡± After the others went out he began to speak again. However, I never responded.
¡°Aria¡ I¡¯m really sorry,¡± he apologized. ¡°It¡¯s the only way. Ada¡ Ada is dying.¡±
Based on what he said, Ada¡¯s illness was getting severe. They had to put her in Cryostasis. However, it would only delay her death, and with Dr. Albert¡¯s limited resources, time would tell when would be her last breath. In order to save Ada¡¯s life, Dr. Albert sold his research to an international terrorist specialized in creating superhumans; the Shadow Purgatory. The man in the white suit before was one of the higher-ups. He was called Umbra. The experiment they did on the lab before was to transplant a vampire¡¯s heart into me, and since the operation was successful, they needed to transfer me to their secret base located in Razzia for the next experiment. Using their advanced technology, the group further slowed Ada¡¯s death. However, to completely save her life, Dr. Albert must complete a certain experiment which they would also use on Ada. They called this, Project: AD or Artificial Demons.
After Dr. Albert¡¯s talk, the people in white coats returned. They seemed to be talking about something, however, I couldn¡¯t hear them anymore. It seemed there was something blocking the sounds. Watching them, I was bewildered by Dr. Albert sudden change in behavior. He was begging them for something, but they didn¡¯t agree.
At first, I thought the experiment was just the same as from the mansion, but I was wrong. Project: AD was more severe. It was inhumane. Every week they tested one of my ability as an artificial vampire, regeneration. They would cut off one of my limbs and observed it grow just to cut it again a few hours later. Multiple times they would shoot me with guns. Other times they would pour acid on my body, or burn me with fire. They tested every form of torture they could think off. Everything was so painful that my body stopped feeling anything. The ratio of me dying in a single day was more than seven. The experiment lasted for months. Time passed, wings slowly grew from my back, and I could also feel my teeth changing.
¡°Aria, please answer me.¡± It was Dr. Agatha, looking at me from outside. She was not present in any experiment, but she would always see me after the guards brought me back to my cage. However, I never responded to her. All this time, I was at the corner of my cage, silently hugging my knees and would never talk. ¡°Aria, please, talk to me.¡± But, she was persistent, and would always come.
The only good thing the experiment did to me was that I stopped crying. However, my smile also never came back; I stopped caring for anything. My family, Robyn or Ada, nothing mattered anymore. Dying only to be brought back to life. That was my new purpose. I wanted to die, but I couldn¡¯t. Funny, for a child such as myself, my only wish was to end my life.
One day, the doctors brought me to a large hall. There was no one there except for me and another child. When I looked at him, I was petrified. His limbs were different; he had claws.
¡°Robby? Robby is that you?¡±
¡°Aria?¡± he asked. ¡°Nooo. Please, don¡¯t look at me.¡±
¡°What have they done to you?¡±
¡°Today, you two will kill each other,¡± a man announced. ¡°You can use the weapons located beside you.¡±
¡°Noo,¡± I shouted. ¡°I can¡¯t kill him. Please, anything but that.¡±
¡°You two will kill each other, or would you like another punishment?¡± the man asked.
¡°Aria.¡± Robyn looked at me. ¡°It seems... we don¡¯t have a choice.¡± Robyn jumped and dashed towards me, but I dodged.
¡°Robby, please stop this.¡±
¡°Good job, Aria.¡± He grabbed a sword.
¡°Robby¡ Please, don¡¯t do this.¡± He smiled. However, I did not expect his next move; he stabbed himself with the sword. ¡°N-nooo!!! Robby!!!¡± Soon, the guards approached us and separated Robyn from me. They brought me back to my cage. It was the first and the last time I saw him in that lab.
Midnight came, I couldn¡¯t sleep. A mysterious person entered the room where my cage was located. The door of my enclosure suddenly opened. ¡°Aria, are you ok?¡± It was Dr. Agatha, panting. She ran towards me, and tightly hugged me.
¡°Dr. Agatha? What¡¯s happening?¡±
¡°We¡¯re going to escape,¡± she answered. ¡°I¡ I can¡¯t stand this anymore. This¡ This is just too cruel.¡±
¡°But¡ How about Robby? And¡ And Ada? We can¡¯t leave them.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± she replied. ¡°Robby is safe right now. She didn¡¯t hit any vital parts.¡± Dr. Agatha gave me a piece of paper. ¡°This is a map of this lab. Follow this line and go here. Wait for me there. I¡¯ll go and get Robyn and Ada.¡±
We parted afterward. Carefully, I went to our meeting place. There were a lot of guards roaming the area, but with Dr. Agatha¡¯s map, I managed to avoid them. Until I finally reached the goal. There, I waited for them, but they never came. Time passed, the sirens suddenly activated. I knew that if I waited any longer, the guard would eventually caught me; I had no choice but to escape. Wasting no time, I ran as fast as I could, not knowing where it would take me. The only thing that was on my mind was to go as far as possible.
I didn¡¯t want to come back there. I didn¡¯t want to die again. I wanted to live.
Days passed, it was amazing surviving for so long without food or water. However, it only saddens me, for it meant that I was no longer human. Due to exhaustion, my vision was slowly blurring; I found myself walking with my eyes closed until I fell down.
When I woke up, I was lying on a bed in an unknown room. There, a man wearing a robe was standing. ¡°Good morning. How¡¯s your body?¡± he spoke. ¡°My name is Oliver. Oliver Silvermoon.¡±
V 1.1 Chapter 13: Execute Project: Zero.
In 2008, a worm found its way inside the servers of the Military Central Command of America, stealing confidential information and sending it back to its unknown creator. The CIA tried fighting the worm, however, it took them 14 months to destroy it. The hacker who created that worm is my father. I found that out three years ago when he forgot to turn off his computer. Incidentally, I was in my parents'' room, looking for a book about JAVA, one of the programming languages. Since then, my father became my mentor, both in programming and hacking.
"I can''t believe I''ll ever think the idea of hacking in this world." Looking around in the library, I was researching magic runes. "Now, if only I can understand the meaning behind every symbol in a rune then maybe I can program a computer."
The musty smell of books lingered everywhere. It made me remember the addicting smell of papers coming out from photocopying machines. It was like a drug to me. The place was filled with books ranging from old and new, and because the area was huge, it would probably take me days to find what I was looking for.
"Time''s my worst enemy. The way I am now, I will just hold back the team. I need to be stronger."
Four hours had already passed since I started. With Satrillo''s help, I found some books about magic runes, but they didn''t have very many details. Maybe because Razzia focused their studies on curses after its discovery. Suddenly, Emily entered.
"H-Hiiro," she spoke while looked down. "I-I was waiting for you, but it''s already night and... and..." Switching her gaze on me, I saw a teary-eyed Emily. "I thought you already left me." Small droplets of tears fell from her eyes. "I-I don''t want to be alone. I... I..."
"Emily." After seeing her eyes, I immediately walked towards her and hugged her. "I''m sorry. I made you cry again." I said, moving away so I could wipe her tear. "Didn''t I already promise that I will never leave you?"
"But... But..." she spoke with a strangled voice.
"It''s okay. You don''t have to worry, I won''t leave you."
After that, we had a conversation. Emily still didn''t know that I came from another world so I told her about it and the reason why I was at the library.
"T-then, please, let me help you." Emily stammered while blushing. "I won''t be able to join you on the raid, and you''ve already done so much for me. So just this once, p-please, let me be your strength."
There was a bit of silence as I stared at her.
"Okay. Let''s go look for it together."
After searching for hours, we found a lot of sources. It was already midnight so I asked Emily to sleep.
"Sleep tight, Haruka."
Reading the books, I learned basic and advanced knowledge about magic. However, there was still something missing.
If I want to create a computer then magic runes is not enough. I need something to process all the codes and another thing to store the data.
Fortunately, both of these exist in this castle. There''s only one thing I needed to do, create a magic tool.
Based on what I read, for a mage to cast spells faster, it uses a magic tool to store pre-constructed runes in its catalyst (memory). And when a mage voices the incantation (run the program), the tool will process the rune (code) and execute the spell. Luckily, there was someone I suspected to be an expert in this field, the living magic tool, Satrillo.
***
Once the sun rose, I went to find Satrillo so that I could ask his help with magic tools. In order to protect Emily, I told him that I needed to be stronger. He agreed and invited me again to the storeroom. We were having a conversation while climbing down the stairs.
"Satrillo-san, can I ask you something? What happened to the previous war?"
"Hmmm... Let''s see." He turned around to face me. "I was not born in Razzia so I can only provide you with what I know."
Even though Khina found greater power, it was not enough to win the war. This only resulted in years of stalemate between the two countries, killing thousands of lives, both civilian and not. To avoid more bloodshed, the two Kings decided to have a treaty ending the decade-long battle. The Upper Continent of Eteria once again gained peace.
"Based on what I heard, there used to be a summit occurring every year," Satrillo added. "There, the two countries traded resources and knowledge with each other. They also discussed things about maintaining peace and order."
"Used to? Why did they stop?"
Based on what he said, it was ten years ago when a huge explosion occurred while the summit was ongoing. The investigators suspected that it was a terrorist attack, however, they found zero evidence to support this claim. Since some footage of the CCTV found a demon lurking suspiciously in the venue, the humans suspected that it was their fault. However, the explosives found were modernized bomb made by humans. Thus, creating a crack between the citizens of the two countries. Right now, the two countries are not on bad terms with each other, but they are not on good terms either.
"Afterwards, Khina shut off all of its borders. Till this day, it still remains close," Satrillo added.
"Then how about the Kings? They want peace, right? Can''t they do nothing about this?"
"They can''t, Hiiro." Satrillo gazed at me with a serious look. "The explosion killed both the Demon and the Human Kings."Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
After that, we continued to talk about Razzia. According to him, there are five Kingdoms in Razzia. They are based on the Five Major Cursed Elements: Veter (Cursed Wind), ruled by the Lich King Emil; Pochva (Cursed Earth), governed by the Snake Queen Medusa; Molniya (Cursed Lightning) controlled by the Vampire Lord Vladimir; Voda (Cursed Water) lead by Lust Empress Cherry and Pozhar (Cursed Fire) which is currently vacant. The Castle of Vladik is located in Veter Kingdom.
The previous Demon King came from the Pozhar Kingdom and can only be replaced by a person with the same blood. However, all the royal family of the Demon King also died in the explosion 10 years ago.
Fortunately, when the people investigated the King''s chambers, they found out that the King had an illegitimate daughter. He hid the fact since she was born from a different race, which was a taboo at that time.
After that, we continued walking to the storeroom. Both of us never spoke a single word. The place was filled with silence; the only thing I could hear was the small droplets of water coming from above.
***
After we finally reached the storeroom, Satrillo instructed me what I needed.
First is the design. What I want is a portable device that I can effortlessly hide. It must look like an everyday accessory so no one will suspect it. Hackers work in secret after all. After minutes of brainstorming, there was only one object I could think of, and it was a ring. In this world, it is normal for people to die wearing one and not able to remove it, so wearing a ring is okay.
Second is the catalyst. In theory, if I''m going to make a computer, I need to have a memory able to store a large amount of data. Lucky for me, the castle has plenty of these. The only problem was that since the rings were too small, it could only use little catalysts. I can wear more rings, but I doubt it''s enough.
Then, I thought of another idea. The magic tool I want does not need to be small, rather it must not look suspicious. There was another thing that could fill this requirement, clothes. A skeleton wearing a robe is also normal in this world. But, since I like the idea of rings, I decided to use them both.
After I told Satrillo my ideas, he asked me to wait for a week so he could assemble the base of the magic tools; I gave him the robe Emily gifted to me. I wanted to treasure it like what I said before, and doing this would honor that gift. Seven days seemed to be long, considering I have roughly a few weeks till the raid. But, I still hadn''t master rune writing yet, so I decided to study at the library for a while. Occasionally, Emily and Satrillo visited and helped me with my research.
***
A week had passed, King Arthur went to the Demon Council meeting. By this time, I learned all the things I needed about rune writing. Not that I memorized everything, rather I understand them. The reason I liked math was that I didn''t need to remember everything; I only needed to understand how it was derived by recalling only a few formulas. Using that logic, I was able to learn Rune Writing as if it was just another Programming Language.
It was nighttime when Satrillo handed the magic tools to me; Robyn also arrived from her mission. Based on what Satrillo told me, it seemed the Village of the Necromancers had been entirely annihilated. Piles of necromancer and human corpses were everywhere, but among those bodies, two important people were missing, Oliver and the village Chieftain. However, she couldn''t find out who was the culprit for the attack since there were remains of "other" races seen in the village.
"The King suspects that it''s caused by the terrorist group connected to Dr. Albert," Satrillo spoke. "It''s the reason why we''re going to raid Dr. Albert lab, to look for evidence.
"But what happens if Dr. Albert is innocent? Or if the culprit is really Khina?"
"Then we have no choice but to start preparing for war," he replied.
After our conversation, I went to the library. There, I started applying everything I learned and programmed runes after runes in the magic tools. It took me about three weeks to finish the Alpha, but it was still not 100 percent complete.
***
Outside the castle, I was testing my program.
"Execute Project: Zero!" Bright lights flashed around me as the robe I was wearing enveloped my body, transforming to a robotic exoskeleton. The black suit covered everything from my skull to my feet. A one-way mirror was placed in front of my eyes allowing me to see. "The design is a bit plain, but I''ll fix that later. This is embarrassing. I look like some sort of hero from a children''s show."
Should I make some explosions every time I transform?
"No. No. No. That would be too weird."
"Hiiro? W-what is that?" A girl ran towards me; it was Emily who was watching nearby. "You''re Hiiro, right?"
"Yes, I am Hiiro. Sorry, I don''t have a name for this yet, though, I might just call it ''Zero." Slightly raising my hands, my gaze turned to my palms. "This suit should amplify my abilities, including speed, strength, and mana. It also borrows some energy from its surroundings so I don''t have to worry that much about using up all of my mana. It should also help me with my problem of casting a rune."
"Hiiro." It was Aria who also came. Satrillo and Lucie were also present. "Can you show us what it can do?"
Hmm. Let see. I don''t think a simple spell is enough to showcase this.
"Let''s try this one." Pointing my right hand towards a tree, I concentrated on a looped spell. "Ahm, you might want to move away for a moment. I still haven''t tested this so it might be dangerous..." After that, they took their distance. "Execute Loop Program: Fireball... Set X to 100." Suddenly, runes kept appearing in front of me. "Fire!!!" Shouting those words, multiple explosions occurred. However, it didn''t hit the tree, rather, it exploded in my position.
"Hiiro!!!" Everyone yelled as they ran towards me.
"Hiiro, please tell me you''re okay?" Emily begged while holding me. "Please..."
"Emily, I''m okay. The suit protected me from the explosion." Immediately, I stood to prove what I said. "See. I can even jump just fine."
"I hate you," Emily cried. "I was... too worried. That was... a powerful spell... I thought... you were gone," she stammered, her speech was interrupted by her sudden hiccups.
"I''m sorry."
Well, it''s okay I guess. It''s normal for programs to fail at first try. I''m just glad the defense mechanism worked fine. I need to finish this quickly, there''s only three days before the raid.
***
---A Certain Man Wearing a Black Hooded-Jacket---
"Dr. Albert, huh."
"Ne ne, Ciel onii-chan. Why are you looking at your phone?" Said the voice of a little girl with long ears.
"I just received the information for the next job. In three days, I''m going to infiltrate a certain lab."
"Don''t you mean ''we''? I''m also coming," the girl replied.
"It''s too dangerous for you. I''m going alone."
"I wanna join," The girl cried on the ground while repeatedly shouting these words.
"Shut up, you stupid kid. It''s final! You''re not coming. You wait for me from HQ"
"I am not a kid! I''m already 22 year''s old." the girl shouted back.
"Shut up, you brat! According to Elven Law, you''re still a kid."
Hearing those words, tears fell from her eyes. "Baka Onii-chan! I hate you! When I turn into an adult, I won''t talk to you even if you begged for me!" The girl screamed walking away while stomping her feet.
"Who cares? I''m probably dead when that time comes."
"That child''s really a handful." Voice of another woman speaking inside my head.
[Voice of the man] Now I regret saving her from assassins.
[Voice of the woman] Oh really? Your speech that time was marvelous though, ''I''m not a hero. I don''t save princesses. I''m a criminal. I steal them.''
[Voice of the man] S-shut up.
[Voice of the woman] By the way, how about that female necromancer? What her name again? Thea Skysomething? Is she joining this mission?
[Voice of the man] Huh? There''s no way I''ll letthat pervert join. This is a covert mission you know. It''s still too early forher.
V 1.1 Chapter 14: Project A.D.A.
A Displacement Sensor measures and detects changes (displacement) in a physical quantity. The Sensor can measure the height, width, and thickness of an object by determining the amount of displacement of that object.
¡°We are here,¡± an alluring voice coming from a woman. ¡°Skely, gather your team. We¡¯re having one last briefing for the mission,¡± she instructed to me.
¡°Roger, Lucie.¡±
¡°Call me Sexy Demon when we¡¯re in a mission,¡± she angrily shouted at me.
¡°S-sorry.¡±
Of all things, why Sexy Demon? The enemy can easily determine you¡¯re a succubus, you know.
[Lucie] Actually, Skely, we¡¯re already connected via Victor¡¯s telepathy. I can hear you loud and clear.
¡°I-I never said anything.¡±
[Victor] Sorry, Skely.
Engulfed by the void of silence, broken only by the songs of birds, we were surrounded by trees. It was a forest only a few kilometers away from Vladik. Not far from us, there stood a small wooden building, believed to be the lab of Dr. Albert. It was surrounded by barbwires with a number of guards stationed around it.
[Hiiro] We¡¯re raiding that house? But, it¡¯s too small for a lab.
[Lucie] Skely, don¡¯t let the appearance deceive you. Our spies have detected some sort of structure just below that building.
[Hiiro] An underground facility? How did the spies even find it?
[Lucie] There¡¯s no time to explain. Skely, do you remember everything you need to do?
[Hiiro] Yes.
Our plan was to use my magic to hack the security system of the lab and gather data from the inside. If my theory was correct, Dr. Albert should have a server storing information about Shadow Purgatory and the Human Kingdom. After that, my team would go inside to plant bombs all over the place. We would then detonate it after we escape.
¡°Execute Project: Zero.¡± Compared from before, the lights produced was reduced to a significant amount to avoid drawing too much attention while transforming. The design of the suit was also altered, having a dash of silver on both of my hands and legs. ¡°It still not finished yet, but I¡¯ll adjust the design later.¡±
If you ask me where I got the inspiration from, it was taken from Black Iron Man. However, it was far from being completed. There¡¯s still a lot of things I want to add to the suit. After the transformation, a female voice spoke inside Zero.
¡°Welcome back, Master Hiiro.¡± It was Emi, an AI I created to assist me while using the suit. Her name was taken from ¡®Emily¡¯ since I recorded her voice for this AI a day before we started this mission.
¡°Emi, scan the area for hidden cameras.¡±
[Emi] Scanning¡ Master, I¡¯ve found 50 CCTVs in the area.
¡°That¡¯s a lot of cameras. Looks like I don¡¯t have a choice.¡±
¡°Emi, Deploy: Invisibility Cloak.¡±
Slowly, the suit turned transparent, but it never showed what¡¯s inside. Zero, including me, completely disappeared.
In 2015, there was an article talking about a real-life invisibility cloak created by scientists. However, the product was not yet finished. For curiosity''s sake, I researched that technology for a whole day since it was a weekend. Using the information I got from that and combining it with magic, I was able to create a device able to bend light using metamaterials, rendering myself invincible. In my eyes were a pair of beam splitting lenses that would allow me to see.
¡°You know Skely, even though we¡¯ve already seen you do this a bunch of times, I¡¯m still amazed on how you¡¯re able to turn yourself invisible,¡± Lucie talked. ¡°Anyway, based on our intelligence report, there are 10 guards stationed across the area. It should be easy for you to invade. If you don¡¯t have any questions you can go now.¡±
¡°Roger.¡±
Quietly, I snuck towards the entrance. The cloak was not yet perfect. Even though the enemy couldn''t see Zero, they could still hear or feel it if they happen to step a little closer to me. Reaching the door, I stopped for a while. Suddenly opening the door would be too suspicious; I had no choice but to wait for someone to open it for me.
¡°Come to think of it. Some guards don''t even look like humans.¡± Waiting, luck found me. One guard opened the door and entered the warehouse so I followed him until I reached an elevator going underground.
Outside, Lucie used her Memory Reading on one of the guards to visualize the map of the lab. She could view the memory of someone at most 100 meters away from her. Victor then relayed to me what Lucie saw using telepathy. He was also using it as our way of communication. At most, he could maintain this state for about an hour depending on the distance.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
¡°Emi analyze the effectiveness of Victor¡¯s telepathy.¡±
[Emi] Analyzing¡ Master, based on our current distance, the telepathy will last for about 30 minutes.
¡°I knew it. I need a USB port, fast.¡±
***
---A Certain Man---
¡°Who¡¯re you? How did you get inside?¡± a goblin wearing a uniform shouted while pointing his gun at me. Three other monsters then surrounded me, each holding another gun.
¡°Shit, I¡¯ve been discovered.¡±
[Voice of a woman] What are going to do now?
[Voice of a man] Please¡ You already know what I¡¯ll do.
After I slowly raised my right hand in front of the guards, I made a tremulous grin. Those who witnessed it felt a terrifying sensation; it was like a looking at death itself. Immediately, they began to shoot me nonstop until their guns wouldn''t fire anymore. But, I just stood there like nothing happened. The sounds of the guns should¡¯ve also alerted the other guards, however, due to unknown reason, no one came.
¡°HAHAHAHAHA!¡± I let out a maniacal laugh while looking at the guards with my piercing gaze. ¡°Is that it? You can¡¯t even scratch me with those puny weapons of yours.¡±
I opened my palm which seemed to be holding something that couldn''t be seen. Making a fist, the guards felt a sudden pain in their chest.
¡°Die. You fucking small fries.¡±
After I opened my hands again, the guards fell on the ground in unison; all of them not breathing.
[Voice of a woman] This ¡®heart jam¡¯ of yours is always fascinating to see. Being able to kill them with nothing but your mind.
[Voice of a man] If you have time to talk, why don¡¯t you use that to swallow them with your shadow and hide the evidence?
[Voice of the woman] Okay. Okay. Geez, are all males in your world always this cranky?
***
---Hiiro---
¡°Nice, I¡¯m inside. Well, hacking the password of this computer is easy compared to a server owned by our government.
It¡¯s time.
¡°Emi, Summon: Flash Drive.¡±
When I discovered my father¡¯s secret, I got curious and asked him to teach me how he made the worm he used against America. Based on his explanation, the worm only needed to be stored in any flash drive. After an unsuspecting victim plugged it into a computer or any gadget with a USB port, the worm would travel to the main server where the gadget was connected. Once there, the worm would start sending information back to my father¡¯s computer via the internet.
By hacking the computer I found, I was able to connect Zero to the WIFI of the lab, granting me access to the internet. Based on what I found, the range of the WIFI should be at most everything inside the lab, which meant I could receive information as long as I stayed underground. Also, the worm would stop sending data if the power was cut. The suit also has a function that hides its IP (Internet Protocol) address so that my enemies won¡¯t be able to find me.
¡°Now, to disable the security system.¡±
Suddenly shutting down all CCTVs would be too suspicious. What I did was to rewind what the cameras saw for the past five minutes repeatedly. This way, even if someone looked at the footage they wouldn¡¯t see anyone walking through a CCTV. After that, I disabled all the traps and alarms inside and outside the building so that my team would be able to go in easily.
[Hiiro] Skely to Sexy Demon. The security system had been disabled. I repeat. The security system had been disabled. Team B can now enter the lab. Over.
[Lucie] Sexy Demon to Skely. Team B led by Wolf is entering the lab. I repeat. Team B is entering the lab. Over.
¡°Good. Everything¡¯s going according to plan. But, why do I feel uneasy?¡±
***
---Aria---
¡°By the way, Lightning. How¡¯s your current relationship with our Wolf,¡± Lucie talked as we gazed towards Team B running. ¡°She hadn¡¯t spoken anything throughout our journey. She wouldn''t even answer even if I asked her.¡±
¡°I¡ I don¡¯t know.¡±
¡°It¡¯s okay. I believe Wolf will open up to you someday and be back to your old happy days. I think she¡¯s just shy,¡± Lucie said while patting my head.
¡°Thank you, Sexy Demon.¡±
Lucie stared at me for a moment. ¡°By the way¡ How about Skely? Do you like him?¡±
¡°W-what are you talking about?¡±
¡°Hahaha. Sorry, I¡¯m just messing with you. You¡¯re kinda cute when you blush with your deadpan face,¡± Lucie giggled.
As Lucie laughed, we were suddenly interrupted by a soldier who seemed to be holding a person.
¡°Leader, we found someone lurking in the bushes,¡± the soldier reported.
¡°Is it an enemy?¡± Lucie asked.
¡°No, ma¡¯am. It¡¯s a little kid,¡± the soldier replied.
¡°I am not a kid,¡± the girl shouted. ¡°I¡¯m already 22 years old. I¡¯m an adult.¡±
¡°An elf?¡± Lucie carefully looked at the girl. Noticing her face, she realized something. ¡°It can¡¯t be. Your Highness? What are you doing here? Why is the missing princess of Gapan in this kind of place, Princess Arisa Kobayashi?¡±
***
---A Certain Doctor---
¡°Amazing, using magic to go inside my guard¡¯s shadow, then control him to get inside the lab, this guy is something... Hmm, where have I seen this?¡± I pondered while looking at the screen of my computer. ¡°Ah, now I remember. The ability to turn oneself into a different form of matter. This is not magic, this is the ability of a dragon.¡±
¡°Doctor Albert, we have detected an unauthorized person inside the facility,¡± a guard reported while panting from running.
¡°There¡¯s actually two of them. I¡¯ve been watching them all this time. One of them seems to be hacking our servers too¡¡± I replied, looking back at my computer. ¡°Heh. It seems a lot have also entered the lab. ¡±
¡°You heard the doctor,¡± the guard instructed his subordinate. ¡°Capture all the intruders. If they fight, kill them¡± He turned to me and bowed his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for our uselessness, doctor.¡±
¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s more fun this way. Also, I¡¯ve already completed everything that I need to do. At this moment, I don¡¯t even care if the lab gets destroyed. They will be the first one to see my greatest invention,¡± I added while gazing at a different screen showing a woman inside a cylindrical tank made of glass, and full of liquid. ¡°Ada, my daughter, the time has come,¡± I spoke, caressing the monitor of the computer. ¡°Still, the guy in a suit is amusing. To think he could turn himself completely invisible. Even Khina still hasn¡¯t reached this stage yet. Good thing I installed Air Displacement Sensors all over the lab, or else, I wouldn¡¯t be able to track him.¡±
***
---Hiiro---
¡°What... is this? This¡ This is sick. I can¡¯t believe someone would do this to their own daughter.¡±
At the title page of the article, it was written, ¡°Artificial Demon Android: Project A.D.A.¡±
V 1.1 Chapter 15: The Flame that Burns Light.
November 9, 2016:
After weeks of experimenting, all demon parts transplanted on Ada were rejected by her weak constitution. Her condition was getting worse for every experiment performed. Each day that passed by was like a weeks¡¯ worth of life removed from her. The necromancy to extend her life was not enough. I had no choice but to halt the experiment.
March 20, 2017:
It¡¯s already been three months. I had tried everything I could think of, yet, all of it failed to cure her. I was too late; Ada died. However, I must fulfill my promise to Agatha. Our daughter must live. I asked my friend to cast necromancy to preserve her body. Even if I sell my soul to the devil, I will revive her.
July 22, 2017:
After an endless wandering in Razzia, I met one of my colleagues from Khina. He told me about a top-secret project they made 10 years ago after the ¡®Legendary Hero¡¯ died, extracting the consciousness of a human being.
My hope was restored. If I can¡¯t transplant demon parts to Ada¡¯s body, then I just have to transfer her consciousness to a demon.
July 29, 2017:
Using the article he gave me, I began studying, researching this method. However, it didn¡¯t go according to plan. In order to preserve a person¡¯s consciousness, a demon¡¯s corpse was not enough. It required something mechanical. Thus, the project aimed at creating a modern Frankenstein was born, Artificial Demon Android or Project: A.D.A.
---Hiiro---
¡°I can¡¯t believe someone would do this to their own daughter.¡±
[Emi] Master, I am detecting a number of unidentified beings approaching us.
Eight guards entered the room each carrying a gun. Half of them wore something on their heads similar to NVD or Night Vision Goggles.
¡°We know you''re standing there,¡± a guard announced while pointing his sub-machine gun at me. ¡°Resistance is futile. Come with us or we will shoot you.¡±
How can they see me? Is it those goggles?
¡°Deactivate your invisibility now, and raise your hands,¡± the same guard from before shouted.
Tsk, I don¡¯t have a choice.
¡°Barrier.¡± Using magic I created a translucent shield made of mana. Seeing this the guards were alarmed and they repeatedly shot at me. However, the barrier blocked all of their bullets.
Zero has a built-in defense mechanism, but I need to be sure.
¡°Water Whip.¡± In combination with looping, a function I invented before, a number of runes appeared and created water whips enough to disarm all my opponents. Soon after, I cast fireball knocking out the guards.
While walking towards the door, I examined them to confirm something.
Thank God, they¡¯re still alive. I know this is a mission with our lives on the line but I can¡¯t just bring myself to kill someone.
¡°I¡¯m still not ready to do that.¡±
As I went out of the room, I saw a familiar girl with her head staring down on the left side of the corridor, gazing at her every step while plodding towards me.
¡°Wolf? What are you doing here?¡± However, she didn¡¯t respond. Waves of silence pervaded the entire place. ¡°Wolf?¡± Suddenly, she dashed towards me and punched me. It was too fast that I couldn''t react. It threw me to a considerable distance, producing cracks on the wall behind me. Good thing the defense mechanism of the suit worked or I might''ve died in that attack. Staring at the girl, a lot of questions arose in every part of my mind. ¡°What are you doing, Wolf?¡± It was Robyn, my partner in this mission.
***
---Aria---
¡°I¡¯m not Arisa! My name is Alice,¡± the elf shouted.
[Aria] Sexy Demon, are you really sure she is the abducted princess of the Elven Kingdom?
[Lucie] Yes. I¡¯ve seen her a lot of times when I went to Gapan for a mission. There¡¯s no mistake. She is princess Arisa.
[Aria] What are we going to do now?
[Lucie] We have no choice. We must protect her until we return to the castle. After that, it¡¯s up to the King¡¯s decision what we should do next.
¡°Ahhh. Put me down. I need to find Ciel onii-chan,¡± the princess shouted.
¡°I¡¯m sorry, princess. Please, you have to stay with us. We are currently in a very dangerous place.¡±
¡°Ahhhh. Put me down,¡± the princess squirmed continuously with annoyance. ¡°Put me down,¡± she shouted as black flames exploded from her body, blasting everyone near her. Everyone was dumbfounded. In that split second, all of us had seen complete darkness. After that, the princess ran away to the lab.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°Shit,¡± Lucie cursed. ¡°Yellow Goblin, follow the princess, quick. Make sure she¡¯s safe,¡± she ordered one of the soldiers.
¡°Sexy Demon, what¡¯s happening? How can an elf use a cursed flame?¡± I asked, looking at Lucie with a paled face.
¡°I don¡¯t have time to explain! Esper, can you contact team B inside the lab?¡± Lucie asked.
Victor tried to use telepathy, however, no one answered her query.
¡°What¡¯s happening inside the lab?¡± Lucie pondered while walking left and right while her hands rubbed each other¡¯s skins. ¡°Team A proceed to plan B. We will go inside the lab for reinforcement. However, saving the princess is our top priority. If you find her contact us immediately.¡±
***
---A Certain Man---
[Voice of a woman] How many times had we seen this portrait again? We¡¯ve been walking for so long, yet we always end up in the exact same place.
[Voice of a man] Shut up, you stupid dragon.
[Voice of a woman] You¡¯re so bad at directions. You should¡¯ve brought Alice along.
[Voice of a man] As if I can bring that kid in a dangerous place like this.
[Voice of a woman] Oh really. How many dangerous situations did you get her in the past again, huh? Do you regret killing the guards now? You could¡¯ve just used your telepathy to get information. I always wonder how you even got your esper abilities. This is why simple-minded guys like you are so...
¡°Ahhhhhhhhh. Are you going to shut up or not?¡± I shouted.
[Voice of a man] I¡¯m trying to concentrate. Don¡¯t interrupt me,
[Voice of a woman] Heh¡ If you want me to shut up then use your power. Oh, right. You can¡¯t. Since we¡¯re basically one.
[Voice of a man] I swear. If I ever restore your body back, I will kill you.
[Voice of a woman] Heh. I want to see you try, young man.
Exploring the lab, I saw a weird looking door. My curiosity emerged and made me want to open it. After entering, I was greeted with a room full of light, enough to temporarily blind anyone unprepared. As my eyesight returned, I saw a girl standing while staring at me.
[Voice of a man] Oi Oro, there¡¯s something weird about that girl. I can¡¯t read her mind.
[Oro] Hmm. Come to think of it. This room is also weird. Ciel, we¡¯re not casting normal shadows in this place
[Ciel] I think they¡¯re using soft light to reduce the shadows in this room.
[Oro] Soft what?
[Ciel Soft light. It¡¯s a technique used in filming. Did they know we¡¯re coming?
[Oro] Tsk. I can¡¯t use my morphing ability with this quality of shadow.
[Ciel] I know, and it seems my telekinesis is not working with that girl. I¡¯ve been trying to move her, but I can¡¯t. This is a trap.
[Oro] If only Alice was here. Do you regret not bringing her now?
[Ciel] No. I can do this just fine.
***
---Dr. Albert ---
¡°Sorry kid. You underestimated the capabilities of our security system,¡± I whispered while looking at the monitor with the invisible person on screen.
¡°Most of our technology came from Khina who already reached Technological Singularity, but I¡¯ll still let you play it for a bit. Still, I would like to know how you created your perfect invisibility cloak. Will you please give it to me so I can study it?¡± Relaxing on my reclining chair, I gazed again at the monitor, cackling a maniacal laugh.
After that, I moved my eyes to a different computer. ¡°Now, let¡¯s watch this other guy.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve heard rumors about how you abducted the princess and attempted to murder the Elven Queen but to think that you would actually attack my lab¡ Investigations showed that you¡¯re able to use shadow magic, but I never expected that it was actually the Shadow Morphing Ability of a Dragon. Entertain me, oh most famous criminal of Gapan; Black Wolf, Ciel.¡±
***
---Hiiro---
I¡¯m at a disadvantage. I can¡¯t fight her in this narrow space. I need something spacious. My invisibility cloak is also useless with her enhanced senses. What¡¯s happening to Wolf? Why is she attacking me?
[Emi] Master, I am detecting a child-like figure in the direction you¡¯re going.
¡°What?¡± As I continued running, a girl with pointy ears stood in front of a door. Looking back, I saw Robyn threw a large boulder. ¡°Shit! Move out,¡± I shouted, but the girl didn¡¯t respond. Immediately, I pushed the girl to the ground, and the boulder went over us. After that, I ran while carrying the girl. ¡°I¡¯m sorry kid. It¡¯s dangerous here.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not a kid. I¡¯m a 22-year old elf,¡± she shouted while squirming.
¡°Please, stop moving.¡± Realizing something, my pace slowed for a second. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re an elf? This is my first time seeing an elf in this world.¡±
¡°This world? I think I¡¯ve heard that somewhere before,¡± the girl murmured.
¡°I¡¯m sorry for calling you a kid back there.¡±
¡°Onii-chan¡ Arigatou.¡± She smiled, hugging me tightly that I nearly let go of her.
¡°Don¡¯t move too much or you¡¯ll fall.¡±
¡°Gomenasai. This is the first time someone acknowledges my adult charms so I¡¯m just happy,¡± she replied with sparks in her eyes.
I didn¡¯t really say that last part, but, oh well.
¡°Ne ne onii-chan, why are we running away?¡± she asked.
¡°Shit. Emi, check the map for a wide space.¡±
[Emi] Scanning¡ Master, I found a large area which seems to be a testing ground for weapons.
¡°Emi, direct me there, right now.¡±
While dodging several of Robyn¡¯s attacks, Emi guided me to that room.
A few meters before I reached the place, Emi spoke.
[Emi] Master, it seemed the room is locked. Would you like me to hack and open the door?
¡°Yes please.¡± The door opened; I quickly jumped inside, but I was welcomed by a man flying fast and crushing towards the wall on my left.
¡°Ciel onii-chan,¡± the elf shouted. She broke free from me and ran towards the man.
¡°What just happened?¡± Looking to my right, I saw a missile ready to fire from a girl. Based on its trajectory, it aimed at the man and the elf. I tried running towards them so I could block it, but I was too far away. ¡°Dodge it,¡± I shouted while staring at them, slowly awaiting their doom.
Fortunately, the elf was alerted. ¡°Don¡¯t bully Ciel onii-chan,¡± she shouted as black flames came out from her right hand, going towards and blasting the missile. The area surrounding them, and the path the flame took towards the missile turned completely devoid of light after a few seconds it disappeared.
¡°Is this¡ a curse?¡±
Before, while conversing with Satrillo in the castle, he explained to me the difference between magic and curses. Magic, even though it seemed unreal, still followed the Laws of Physics. All fire magic still needs the Triangle of Fire to work, while most water magic turns the air around into liquid. It¡¯s also the same for other forms of magic. However, curses are different. It¡¯s a type of magic that even I would have a hard time mastering. Like how Lucie has an ability that goes beyond just creating hallucinations and reading the mind; or how I retained all of my senses despite not having the body part responsible for it; curses could distort the laws of physics. It seems fictitious at first, but this is the truth. It was the only explanation I could think of after seeing an impossible flame. A flame that does not produce, but rather consumes light.
V 1.1 Chapter 16: Original Martial Arts.
A Northwestern University psychologist estimated that the human brain has a memory capacity of 2.5 petabytes. That same amount would take 9000 micro SD card and would cost up to 1.5 million dollars. So if ever someone wants to buy your brain, tell them, ¡°it¡¯s worth one and a half million bucks.¡±
---Hiiro---
Suddenly a knife was thrown into me from the direction of the mysterious man, but the defense system of my suit automatically kicked in.
¡°Who are you?¡± he shouted, glaring at me with eyes above his face hidden by a mask. ¡°Why are you with Alice?¡±
¡°Stop it, Ciel onii-chan,¡± the elf screamed, steeling between us. ¡°This onii-chan saved me from that evil girl there.¡±
¡°Hello there, young ones,¡± a mature man about 50 years old greeted us when we looked at our enemies.
Swiftly, a knife was thrown at the old man, but it only passed through him.
¡°Tsk, a hologram,¡± the mysterious man clicked.
The old man was between the standing Android and Robyn who was on all fours transformed into her werewolf form.
¡°Do you really think I will show myself here?¡± the mature man laughed.
¡°What do you want?¡± the mysterious man asked.
¡°What do I want? Of course, I¡¯m going to monologue. I¡¯m a villain. Villains always do monologues.¡± The mature man replied, laughing.
¡°Stop this fucking nonsense. Explain to me what the hell is that girl over there,¡± the mysterious man yelled while pointing to a girl which looked like an android.
¡°Feisty one aren¡¯t you?¡± the mature man replied. ¡°Didn¡¯t I say I¡¯m here to monologue, err rather, I¡¯m going to explain things, I guess?¡± he added. ¡°Let me introduce myself first. My name is Dr. Albert Zhang, I was previously a surgeon from Khina.¡± He then looked at the female android.
Based on what he said, the girl is Ada, his daughter. When she died, he extracted her memories and transferred her to an android. However, since he lacked the resource he had only manage to extract about 1% of her memories. That¡¯s the reason why she¡¯s not very responsive.
¡°And this one here is Robyn. She¡¯s a human turned artificial werewolf. Her limbs came from Lycaon, the previous King of Moglia.¡± He then looked at me. ¡°You¡¯re probably wondering why she suddenly attacked you, Mr. Hacker. You see, after Aria¡¯s escape, we installed a microchip inside her brain that would allow us to control her. We can¡¯t have the ultimate lifeform we created, such as her, to go berserk on us. You know,¡± he added while laughing. ¡°Now, young ones, how about you introduce yourselves.¡±
¡°Fuck you,¡± the mysterious man shouted, but Dr. Albert just laughed.
¡°My name is Skely, and I¡¯m from Razzia.¡±
¡°You! What the hell are you doing?¡± the mysterious man yelled, but I didn¡¯t reply.
¡°You should do the same, you know,¡± Dr. Albert suggested. ¡°Please, introduce yourself now, so we could get into fighting.¡±
¡°Tsk, I am Ciel,¡± the mysterious man clicked.
¡°And I¡¯m Alice,¡± the elf yelled, raising her right hand.
¡°Alice? Arisa?¡± Dr. Albert chuckled. ¡°You¡¯re bad at hiding other people¡¯s names huh.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t bully Ciel onii-chan,¡± Alice interjected. ¡°I was the one who came up with that name.¡±
¡°I see. Then, how about your dragon?¡± Dr. Albert asked. ¡°Oh? Surprised? Didn¡¯t expect me to know about that? Oh well, even if you don¡¯t introduce her, I have a guess since there are only a few dragons who can use Shadow Morphing. Am I right, oh former ruler of Khazastan, Queen Ouroboros?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to know this much, Dr. Albert,¡± a sudden mysterious voice of a woman echoed.
¡°Of course, don¡¯t underestimate my connections. I even know why your people dethroned and banished you from the country of dragons.¡±
While Dr. Albert and Queen Ouroboros were talking to each other, Emi¡¯s voice popped out.
[Emi] Master, scanning complete.
¡°Good, how¡¯s the result?¡±
[Emi] Master, the android Ada is impossible to hack. Security is too strong for your current self.
¡°How about Robyn¡¯s controls?¡±
[Emi] Master, it is impossible for automatic hacking.
¡°I see. So I can only do manual hacking. Emi estimate the time for her to regain her controls?¡±
[Emi] Computing¡ Computing complete. Master, the earliest would be about 10 minutes.
¡°That¡¯s too long.¡±
[Voice of a man] You, who the hell are you talking to?
¡°A voice? No, is this telepathy?¡±
[Voice of a man] So you also know about telepathy? This is Ciel. I¡¯ve been listening to you ever since you introduced yourself. Why the fuck are you talking to yourself? Are you crazy?
[Hiiro] I¡¯m trying to hack Ada and Robyn.
[Ciel] Hacking? I never thought Razzia have someone capable of doing that. So? Can you do it?
[Hiiro] Sorry, but it¡¯s impossible to hack Ada, however, I can manually hack Robyn but it would take me about 10 minutes to do it.
[Ciel] Then why the hell didn¡¯t you just do it while Oro is talking with that bastard?
[Hiiro] I can¡¯t, he¡¯ll notice my movements. It will also leave me defenseless. That¡¯s why I tried automatic hacking at first. How about it? Can you protect me and buy about 10 minutes?The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
[Ciel] Huh? You expect me to fight with those two alone? It was hard just fighting with that fucking robot.
[Hiiro] How about that elf with you?
[Ciel] Are you fucking crazy? Do you expect a kid to fight with them?
[Hiiro] A kid? I thought she¡¯s already 22 year¡¯s old?
[Ciel] You¡¯re fucking clueless aren¡¯t you? Twenty-two is still considered a kid in Gapan? Do you really think she¡¯s a legal loli?
[Hiiro] Oh. I¡¯m sorry. We have no choice then. Let¡¯s fight them while we wait for reinforcements.
[Ciel] Tsk. Easier said than done. Oi, Oro we¡¯re done talking.
¡°I never thought you know this much about me, Dr. Albert. If only we aren¡¯t enemies we could be friends,¡± Oro said.
¡°We can still be friends you know. How about it? Want to join my revenge?¡± Dr. Albert replied.
¡°I¡¯m sorry but I have to decline,¡± Oro responded.
¡°That¡¯s too bad then,¡± Dr. Albert said, signaling his allies for battle. ¡°Give me a good fight.¡±
***
---Ciel---
¡°Ne ne Ciel onii-chan, you were losing to that Android earlier aren¡¯t you?¡± Alice asked.
¡°W-what? I was not.¡±
¡°You¡¯re right Alice. We were losing against that android,¡± Oro intervened.
¡°S-shut up, you stupid dragon¡±
¡°Ahem, this mature and beautiful elf shall help you with this fight,¡± Alice declared while puffing out her chest.
¡°N-no, I don¡¯t need your help.¡±
¡°Oh, really? Say that while looking directly into my eyes,¡± Alice said looking at my pupils.
¡°I¡ I¡ I give up. Ok. Ok, I need your help. Happy now?¡±
¡°Yatta. Same as always Ciel onii-chan?¡± Alice asked.
¡°Yeah, yeah, same as always.¡±
***
---Hiiro---
¡°I can¡¯t believe I would fight Robyn in this situation.¡±
Honestly, I predicted I¡¯ll fight her sooner or later but that¡¯s in sparring match and not like this.
¡°I¡¯m having second thoughts about my chances of winning.¡±
Since before I was concentrating in programming Zero, aside from hacking and sneaking, the only offensive spells I know are low to mid-tier magic, which have little to no effect against Robyn¡¯s resistance against such spells.
However, there was one spell that I learned from Satrillo that I can use. The spell he used when he fought Emily during the trial. The spell where he suddenly blinks; teleportation.
When Albert signaled the start of the battle, Robyn quickly leaped towards me attempting to claw me. However, I blocked her using my left hand against her wrist. Suddenly, she disappeared and reappeared to my left side. But that was part of my plan. Robyn didn¡¯t actually blink there. I made her go there using teleportation magic. Since she didn¡¯t expect that move, it left her in a defenseless state which I immediately used to punch her, throwing her far away from me.
Normally, my punches wouldn¡¯t even make a scratch on her enormous defense. However, using Zero, I¡¯ve increased my strength and agility to the point where I could somewhat damage her.
In an instant, I appeared in front of the standing Robyn using teleportation magic and kicked her. The force propelled her forward at an outstanding speed crashing into a wall.
As a mage, I am weak against close combat specialists. That was what I learned with my fight with Lucie. I could try fighting for a moment, however, in the long run, I won¡¯t last long. Especially when I¡¯m fighting against an agile opponent like Robyn. The spell I currently know is just too slow. That¡¯s why I decided to create a technique against such enemies. That is combining teleportation magic and my knowledge of Kali. I call this: Flash Kali.
However, there are still glaring weaknesses of this technique. One, I must touch or the opponent must touch me; or in this case my suit. It¡¯s impossible to teleport an enemy by just using a barrier.
Robyn dashed around the arena at a speed that I could barely keep track of. She then rushed in front of me and punched my stomach. Teleportation magic soon activated and she disappeared and reappeared just above me which I used to uppercut her. However, I was also thrown quite a bit.
The second weakness is that I can¡¯t teleport force. If there¡¯s an impact that I can¡¯t block, I will still take damage even though I already teleported the enemy. Thankfully, Zero¡¯s built-in defense mechanism allows me to sustain a certain amount of damage.
¡°Hoh. That¡¯s one peculiar martial arts you have there, Mr. Hacker. I¡¯m impressed.¡± It was Dr. Albert. He was watching our fight via his hologram.
The third weakness is that teleportation magic relies heavily on mana. Thankfully, using Zero again, I can borrow some mana from the environment. However, for this particular fight, I am fighting underground, which contains very little mana. I can only last a few more activations this time.
Robyn dashed around again, however, this time I could follow her movements. Zero¡¯s Movement Prediction Program is finally doing its work. When she decided to attack me, I countered with a punch and she disappeared again. Quickly, I elbowed my right which is the place where I teleported her. Then, I kicked her throwing her quite a bit. Soon, I followed by teleporting just behind her and kneed her upwards. As she was flying, I teleported just above her and kicked her towards a wall.
And the last weakness, although not a weakness for this particular fight, I can only teleport one person at a time.
Looking at Robyn, she just stood like nothing happened.
¡°Now, Robyn¡¯s stamina versus my mana, which will last longer.¡±
***
---Ciel---
¡°That guy is good. His opponent is blinking to different places but he seems to be able to react to it. Or is it the other way around?¡±
[Oro] Ciel, Alice, another missile is coming!
¡°On it, Black Fireball,¡± Alice shouted raising her right hand.
After that, the path of her fireball became devoid of light.
¡°Oro!¡±
[Oro] Shadow blades!
Soon, the shadows from Alice¡¯s fireball raised up and form into swords that attacked Ada. However, Ada just avoided them by using her thrusters. She then rushed towards us, attempting to attack.
¡°Alice, set up the trap!¡±
¡°Black Firewall,¡± she yelled.
Shortly after, a wall of black flames emerged and consumed the light surrounding it. However, Ada just passed through that wall.
¡°Not on my watch, Oro.¡±
[Oro] Shadow Prison!
Swiftly, shadows emerged from the wall of black flames and entangled Ada.
¡°Alice!¡±
¡°I summon the flames from the pits of hell. Help me create this destructive spell. Annihilation comes---¡± Alice chanted.
¡°Faster!!!¡±
¡°Mo,¡± Alice pouted. ¡°Black Inferno!!!¡±
An explosion occurred. Because it was created by Cursed Flame, the area where the explosion occurred was filled with darkness for a few seconds.
¡°Time to finish this. Oro!¡±
[Oro] Shadow Vortex!!!¡±
Darkness compressed at a certain point of the place consuming everything inside it before exploding again.
Seconds passed, as the smoke finally cleared, we saw, Ada still standing with just a scratch.
¡°Hahaha,¡± the hologram of Dr. Albert laughed. ¡°Amazing, truly amazing. With all that power, to sustain that damage. This project is a success. I thank you young Ciel for testing the fighting capabilities of my daughter. I can finally have my revenge on that wretched group.¡±
¡°How the fuck do we kill this thing!¡±
***
---Hiiro---
Time passed, Ciel¡¯s group and I had been fighting against Ada and Robyn. Ciel is having a hard time fighting Ada. None of their attacks seem to be not working. Same with my fight with Robyn. She¡¯s too resilient. She always got up every time I put her down
¡°This is bad, the mana around this place is almost used up.¡±
¡°Excuse me for a moment,¡± Dr. Albert interjected stopping the fight. ¡°I¡¯m just going to entertain an intruder in my room. I will be back after this.¡±
He then disappeared.
[Emi] Master, I¡¯m detecting a person running to this room.
¡°A person? Is it an enemy?¡±
[Emi] It is Aria, Master.
V 1.1 Chapter 17: Friends.
¡°You don¡¯t die for your friends, you live for them!¡±
- Natsu Dragneel (Fairy Tail)
---Hiiro---
¡°Ahh! It¡¯s the onee-chan who wants to catch me,¡± Alice shouted.
¡°Princess Arisa? What are you-? S-Skely? Why¡ Why are you fighting Wolf?¡± Aria asked, dumbfounded.
Shit. I can¡¯t explain properly while fighting. There¡¯s no choice.
Punching Robyn, she suddenly disappeared. What I did was that I teleported her away from the room. The limit of my teleportation magic was at most 200 meters depending on the amount of mana used. That seemed to be not that far considering her speed, however, since we were underground, I teleported her 200 meters above us. This should buy me some time enough to explain everything to Aria unless Robyn creates a shortcut. Using that spell nearly took all of my remaining mana, leaving just enough to barely do manual hacking.
¡°Skely? What did you do to Wolf?¡±
¡°Lightning, listen to me carefully. There¡¯s no time left.¡±
After that, I explained to her everything that happened. The reason why I¡¯m fighting Robyn. What I did when she disappeared. I also introduced the people fighting together with me? And of course, I also explained how Dr. Albert created Ada.
¡°N-no. This can¡¯t be. That girl¡ That girl is Ada? Please tell me you¡¯re joking,¡± Aria squirmed while covering her mouth with her hands.
¡°Lightning? Do you happen to know Ada?
¡°She¡¯s¡ She¡¯s our childhood friend,¡± Aria explained while holding her forehead with her hands. ¡°Please, Skely. Tell me you¡¯re just joking. I can¡¯t believe Dr. Albert will do that to her. Please, tell me---¡±
¡°Lightning!¡± I shouted while holding her shoulders, stopping her. ¡°Ada is already dead. What we¡¯re fighting is just a machine with her memories. She is not Ada. She is just a weapon.¡±
I¡¯m sorry for doing this to you but we don¡¯t have that much time.
¡°S¡ kely?¡± she asked.
¡°Listen to me. We need your help.¡±
After that, I told her that in order to save Robyn, I needed to hack her manually. And I needed her to fight her until I regain her controls.
¡°Please, I know you don¡¯t like that form, but we need your vampire form to fight her.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she apologized while looking down. ¡°I can¡¯t do it. That form is cursed. It¡¯s filled with anti-mana. I can only use it at most once every two months.¡±
¡°A curse? What will happen if you use it more than once?¡±
¡°I will go berserk and attack anyone I see. I¡¯m sorry. But it is too dangerous to use,¡± she replied.
Anti-mana. A type of energy that¡¯s made up of life energy and negative energy. I see. That form is the embodiment of her negative feelings; in her case, her hatred towards the people who kidnaped her. That¡¯s why she always acts almost emotionless. Because her emotions are sealed.
¡°That¡¯s why, please, let me fight her without using that form,¡± she suggested.
¡°You can¡¯t. That¡¯s too dangerous.¡±
¡°Please, that¡¯s the only way we can save Wolf,¡± Aria added holding my hands as she pleaded. ¡°I know I¡¯m being selfish, but, I have to do this.¡±
Thinking hard, it took me a few seconds before I could reply to her.
¡°I understand.¡±
¡°So? You guys ready to fight?¡± A voice of a man. It was Ciel.
After he said that, Robyn suddenly came from above us. Seem like my hunch was correct. She made a shortcut by destroying her footing.
¡°Tsk. Here goes the other one.¡± Ciel clicked
¡°Lightning, I believe in you.¡±
Please don¡¯t die.
¡°Execute Program: Manual Hacking.¡±
Then, I was surrounded by screens producing images similar to a computer. There was also screens containing a keyboard and a mouse.
¡°Now, time to hack.¡±
***
---Dr. Albert---
¡°So? Who is this beautiful lady who barged into my room?¡±
¡°Your evil acts end here now, Dr. Albert,¡± the beautiful lady threatened.
¡°Oh? And what are those evil acts you speak of? Aside from doing those things to Robyn and Aria that is.¡±
¡°Stop this nonsense. We know you¡¯re the one behind the attack on the Village of the Necromancers,¡± she shouted.
¡°Village of the Necromancers?¡± I laughed. ¡°There¡¯s no way I would attack the home of one of my friends.¡±
¡°Shut up,¡± she yelled. ¡°You and the Shadow Purgatory will pay greatly for your actions.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
¡°The Shadow Purgatory?¡± I chuckled. ¡°Sorry to tell you this but I already severed all of my ties from that wretched group.¡±
¡°You can¡¯t lie to me,¡± the beautiful girl screamed. ¡°I have the means to tell if you¡¯re lying. I¡¯m going to capture you.¡±
¡°Capture? Don¡¯t you think it''s rude capturing me without telling me your name?¡±
¡°Tsk,¡± she clicked. ¡°Just call me Sexy Demon. Now surrender quietly or---¡±
¡°Sexy Demon? I see. So you¡¯re a succubus. I remember Khina once annihilated a succubus clan in the previous war.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to kill you,¡± she shouted, rushing towards me. However, she was stopped by an invisible barrier I¡¯ve prepared beforehand.
¡°Feisty one, aren¡¯t you. To suddenly attack¡ I see now,¡± I laughed. ¡°To think there was a survivor from the Dreizehn clan. Beautiful lady, would you join me with my revenge?¡±
¡°There¡¯s no way I will join the likes of you,¡± she screamed while repeatedly pounding the barrier. ¡°Remove this wall this instant.¡±
¡°I think we can be friends,¡± I chuckled. ¡°You see, I also hate Khina, rather, the current ruler of the country of humans. If you join with me, I¡¯ll share you their little weakness. You can read memories, don¡¯t you? That¡¯s why you can tell if I¡¯m lying or not. Read my memory and decide later. Go on I won¡¯t bite.¡±
***
---Aria---
Suddenly, Robyn rushed towards Hiiro, but I quickly protected him with a Phantom Shield.
¡°Phantom Bullet!¡±
The spell quickly shot her, but she was unscratched. She then looked at me and prepared for an attack before dashing towards me. However, I cast Phantom Shield again deflecting her attack. She then jumped backward covering our distance.
¡°Robby.¡±
Robyn immediately dashed around the room, attempting to confuse me.
As usual, you¡¯re fast.
Moving swiftly, a normal person wouldn¡¯t be able to see her.
But, I can still follow your movements.
Robyn then charged towards me, however, I immediately used my scythe and cast a spell. ¡°Phantom shield.¡±
The shield didn¡¯t break, however, the force from her attack was too strong, and I was knocked back a little. Robyn dashed around again and attacked simultaneously. I couldn¡¯t do anything but defend myself--- She was just too fast.
¡°I know. I can¡¯t defend forever by doing this.¡±
Robyn attacked again, breaking my shield. The force accumulated was too much, the spell couldn¡¯t keep up, and I was thrown quite far.
She then stared at me as if mocking my very being.
¡°What¡¯s wrong, Aria? Stop using Necromancy and use your Curse!¡± A voice from a memory.
¡°No, I won¡¯t use that form against you again!¡±
She suddenly roared. It was as if she was telling me to shut up.
Robyn dashed again and grabbed me. She then threw me in the middle of the room and struck me with a series of attacks in every direction possible. Each time, she was roaring as she hit me with her attacks.
¡°Phantom shield!¡±
However, she was moving too fast. I couldn¡¯t keep up; I could only defend myself.
Once more, the shield broke, I was hit and was thrown into the wall of the room creating some cracks.
She then looked down on me.
¡°If you won¡¯t fight me seriously then I might as well end this!¡± A different memory resurfaced.
After preparing her stance, Robyn leaped at me while roaring, attempting to claw me; she was faster than before.
However, I was not hurt, for a wall of ice appeared and blocked her attack. She then fell to the ground and immediately moved back.
She continued roaring as if she was laughing.
As I grabbed my necklace, I closed my eyes and stopped for a bit. ¡°No!¡± Then, I opened my eyes and slowly let go of my necklace. ¡°I won¡¯t let hatred fight you again! I will fight you as myself, as a friend!¡±
***
Robyn dropped on all fours while roaring as if she was angry before leaping. Within an instant, she reached top speed. Our distance was twenty meters. Robyn could cover that distance within a second. But, I immediately defended with my scythe combined with a barrier. My feet slid backward because of the force, but I successfully stopped it by freezing my feet and the floor.
Using cursed lightning, I could freeze anything hit by it. However, compared to when I was in Vampire form. What I could use was just a percentage of its full strength.
But, this is enough.
¡°Black Lightning!¡±
Lighting shot from my scythe towards Robyn immediately freezing her. I then jumped backward preparing to slash her. However, she immediately broke free and blocked my attack by catching the blade with her hands.
¡°Life Drain!¡±
Saying that Robyn immediately let go and jumped backward.
¡°Black Lightning Field.¡±
Tugging my scythe to the floor, it then froze the ground and extended just enough so that it wouldn¡¯t affect Ciel¡¯s fight, but still limiting Robyn¡¯s speed.
¡°Black Lightning Body.¡±
Black lightning quickly enveloped my entire body. Doing this would increase my speed and strength. It would also allow me to fly. Though still not as strong as my vampire form, it was enough to fight Robyn since I didn''t have to win; I only had to buy some time.
After that, I flew around the room, leaving trails of ice everywhere, shooting Robyn with lightning, but she blocked them every time.
Robyn, after our fight, I vowed to myself that I would never enter that form again against you.
Rushing towards her, I attacked Robyn with my scythe, but she blocked it with her hands, upon which I immediately activated life drain.
I trained and trained every day mastering this technique. So that I could fight you without using that.
Robyn tried to jump away but I already froze her footing.
Using that form fills my mind with hatred. I see anyone as an opponent and attack them.
Robyn roared and punched me upwards which threw me, but I immediately regain my controls.
I don¡¯t want to fight you while thinking that way. Robyn, you are not my opponent.
Flying upwards to gain momentum, I immediately dived down using my scythe to attack.
¡°BLACK LIGHTNING DIVE!¡±
You are my best friend.
An explosion occurred destroying the ice from the ground and creating a mild quake.
As the smoke cleared, Robyn is still standing with me lying on the ground with a broken scythe. However¡
¡°Lightning, I¡¯ve successfully hacked Wolf¡¯s controls,¡± Hiiro shouted, running towards me.
Hearing that, my consciousness faded.
***
---Hiiro---
¡°Emi, hurry, scan Aria¡¯s body.¡±
[Emi] Scanning¡ Scan complete. Master, Aria is unconscious but she¡¯s still alive.
¡°Thank God.¡±
¡°Skely, take Lightning with you and escape this lab,¡± a voice behind me. It was Robyn
¡°What are you talking about? We can¡¯t just leave you---¡°
¡°And what can you do?!¡± she shouted. ¡°Aria is unconscious and you don¡¯t have enough mana left!¡±
Hearing that stopped me for a bit.
She¡¯s right. I only have mana left enough to maintain Zero. Fighting together, we¡¯ll just drag them down. This is not a fantasy world where I can magically get stronger through something like the power of friendship. This is the reality. Things like that don¡¯t exist.
¡°Ok. We¡¯ll go. But take care of yourself.¡±
Please don¡¯t die.
After that, I carried Aria and walked towards the door. But before I could go out, Robyn called out to me.
¡°Skely,¡± she shouted. ¡°Please tell Aria, I¡¯m sorry.¡±
¡°Will do.¡±
***
Time passed, I waited for them outside the building. However, the one who met with me was not them but an explosion coming from the lab. It was so intense that it produced large earthquakes. And Robyn? She and Lucie were nowhere to be found.