Chapter 9: Fractured Will

9.0

Three days passed since John returned from Kershent Village. Aside from him getting up from his bed now and then to get some food, send a reply letter to the Harvests, or to attend that one class he had in the morning today, he did nothing but slept to his heart’s content.

Well, it was not that he was that much of a slacker that he’d waste his time sleeping. If not for Scywell and the rest were still in Registoria to follow up on the investigation on the lich and the shapeshifter since yesterday, he would not be bored as he is now.

Not to mention, his schedule to learn magic from Evie got postponed because she had to attend to important matters. She did say that she would return sometime today, so John had put off the thought of forcing himself to do anything tiring to save energy to train with Evie when she returned.

He also hadn’t got the time to clarify things with Angeline, about their shared dance in Ball of Paragons—she had left for Registoria when he woke up from his deep slumber since Kerhsent Village—she left him a note, but he had to find the right time to bring the topic up.

So…

He lazed around on his bed, feeling somewhat irritated at his lack of activity.

John could have used his time wisely and browsed the library for some reading material regarding the topic of demons. But when he remembered how gruesome it was to find a crumb of useful info due to the empire’s restriction on information regarding demons, he might as well wait a few more hours and ask Evie when she came back.

“Ugghh… Am I going to rot away like this?” he groaned as he watched the ceiling with his arms spread.

He turned his head at the messy table that he had not touched since he sent out that letter to Mera.

“Might as well tidy it now,” he let out a tired sigh before sat up straight and moved to tidy it.

After he finished tidying up that messy table of his, John got out of his room and headed to the training grounds that was behind east wing. He grabbed a sword and moved to the closest wooden dummy that no one was using and launched a few strikes at it.

An upwards slash, a downwards strike, followed up a hilt attack at the dummy’s head. After he was done, John continued with the different strokes of attacks with the sword he had on hand.

Though he may no longer be a part of the Elven Tribe, he still wanted to keep the many skills that he picked up back when he was in A’vetheas. Just because he was banished, it did not mean he had abandoned all sense of self, he would work hard to maintain the skillset that he already own, and to improve on them as he lived on.

Just because I am no longer…

Crack!

John had unintentionally used too much force on his double handed strike, the dummy let out an unpleasant noise as its torso split into two.

“Shit…” he cursed himself for not holding back on the sidewards slash he unleashed. This move was meant to deal a fatal blow on an opponent, but if one used too much force, it would leave the user vulnerable to counter attacks.

He lowered the two handed sword and shook his head for his poor sword strike. It has been a while that he practiced his sword skills, this much was expected, but John was still disappointed at the excessive force he used.

If it were up to him, John would have used knives, daggers, and short swords alike. Long swords, bastard swords, or double handed swords like the one he was wielding now was never his preference due to how clunky it was to carry them around—that and his modest height was best suited for shorter weapons.

But were he to be more proficient in wielding his weapons, he might have been able to hold himself against the shapeshifter back in Kershent Village. Those blades that the monster had formed with just his malleable arms, still flashed in his mind as he recalled them.

If my reaction speed was a little faster back then…

Looking at the dummy he broke John sighed as he moved to a nearby rack to grab another to replace the broken one.

A voice called to him as he positioned the new dummy in the old one’s place, “You never fail to pique my interest, John. That was some powerful move you executed earlier,” it was the same soft tone that the dragon girl used when she spoke to him, only that it sounded slightly more muffled than he last heard from her.

Thinking that it was Evie who came back, John got excited and turned to the voice behind him.

“Oh…” a disappointed moan left his mouth as his face stiffened to see who it was.

It was succubus girl that he met in the pub the other day.

How is she using Evie’s voice? Voice changing magic? No, wait, I think it’s Alluring Voice…

John can’t help but feel a thorn when the succubus who he was staring down mimicked Evie’s voice just to get his attention.

Succubus were a race that was meant to charm men and women alike—mostly men often than not—and as such, they were born with many skills that would aid them in charming their person of interest. And one of those skills was Alluring Voice, with this, they are able to let out a voice that mimicked to the individual’s ideal of what a perfect voice would be.

The skill, in of itself was not harmful. In fact, it is no surprise that many skillful singers in history had pints of succubus blood in their lineage. But John’s gut churned when she kept using that skill of hers and spoke in a much more endearing tone…

“Awww, have you forgotten me, Johnny? I am Prishine, you know,” Prishine beamed a smile, lowered her body in such an angle that her cleavage came into his full view.

It changed from Ephinelyth’s voice to Raina Valindra Eridi’s.

John’s face became as cold as steel and spoke to Prishine in a low voice, “Can you stop that? It is annoying.”

“Stop, what?”

Prishine placed a finger sensually on her lips and looked at John as though she haven’t got a clue to what he was saying. Although her voice no longer resembled Raina’s nor Evie’s, and was now very sweet and full of care, John had not budged a single bit.

That’s the voice from the maid in my—

John hardened his fists and looked the succubus in her eye, “Enough with the voice manipulation, Prishine. I know what your normal voice sounds. The more you use your voice magic to charm me, the more you irritate me.”

The moment John said those words out loud, he felt scorns so heavy that they were degrees away from being killing intent directed to him from his back.

These looks were directed at him as if he disrespected the Immortal Emperor himself. He wanted to look back and single out the people who glared at him, figure out what were their intentions for such hostility. But, instead of taking his cold words for what they were, Prishine brimmed her face and cheered like a little girl.

“I knew it! You remembered me! I was so afraid that I didn’t leave an impression on you, that I had to make you notice me somehow.”

With just that, the scorns John felt disappeared.

What is going on?

He tried to look behind him to see what was happening but Prishine got closer before he could react.

“Hey, don’t get close—"

“So…” Prishine brushed her arm against his “Where did you learn that brilliant strike? I have been around the empire a long time, but I have never seen someone use their sword like you did earlier, one strike and ‘boom!’ goes the dummy. Now I see why the hero asked you for your help on his mission in Kershent Village the other day.”

“The mission? How’d you know about that?”

Prishine let out a smug grin, “Do you really want to know? If you are that desperate, maybe you can come to my room tonight and—”

Sensing what she was about to suggest, John backed off without an ounce of hesitation, “Ah, no thanks. Goodbye.”

“Aww come on, don’t leave me, I’ll tell you~” Prishine grabbed his free arm and prevented him John from leaving.

John made a face but halted his footsteps regardless, “So, what is it? How’d you know?”

“It’s the talk of the school now, don’t you know? I just want to come by today and say my hellos to the one and only John Sarvod.”

And now you have. Can you please leave now, I really don’t want to speak to you. John thought to himself cynically, he shrugged his shoulders at Prishine who was speaking slowly as she flaunt her feminine wiles on him, hoping that he would take interest in her scantily dressed body.

Prishine continued, “But it seems that he isn’t interested in me so I have to use this roundabout way to have a conversation with him.”

“Who knows, maybe if you stop behaving like a harlot, I’ll be nicer,” John looked away, took the chance and looked behind him. Much to his surprise, there was a group of people, males and females, that were no doubt waiting for Prishine. “And can you tell them to…”

“Ah-ah~ Don’t get distracted by my friends, I just wanted to speak to you,” Prishine placed her two hands on his cheeks and turned him towards her.

John did not take kindly to that, his brows scrunched into a grimace, one that accurately displayed his feelings for having touched by Prishine who only wanted to tempt him.

“Don’t touch me as you please, bitch—” John tried to stop but the words already left his mouth.

Seeing that John was not having it, Prishine immediately let go him, “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to go that far.”

“…”

“Aww, don’t leave me hanging~ I’ll let you in on my secret on how I know about that mission you went with the hero.” She leaned close to his ear and spoke in a soft, sensual voice, “You see, I have many connections in Moxnet, nothing that happens around me escape my ears. I know virtually everything that happens in Dezarith.”

“Everything? You might want to dial down how presumptuous you can be.”

At his words, Prishine broke into a smile as though John complimented her, “You’ll be surprised, John~ Many things are interconnected if you look close enough. And as a token of apology for what happened earlier, if you ever need to know about anything, be it the academy’s exam, or how to get in good graces with the academy’s president, I’ll tell you what you need~ Just. For. You.”

Prishine removed herself from him, blew John a kiss before she turned to where her group of merry—hostile—friends were.

What is her deal? And her friends…

John’s spine shivered when he caught one of Prishine’s friends looking at him eyes that were filled with raw hatred, only for the person to quickly put up a friendly facade when she realized that John was looking.

I should keep my distance from her… Nothing good will come from knowing someone as ‘loose’ as she is.

Keeping that in his mind, John resumed his training with the new dummy.

Though the sun shone so brightly above the training grounds behind East Wing, just being bathed in its rays were enough to lift one’s spirits, John felt empty after speaking to Prishine.

Calling her a bitch might be a bit too heavy… I should watch myself when I talk to her next time, that is if I have no choice.

His tried swinging the long sword, executing the moves that he vaguely remembered, but whenever he was about to strike the dummy, his strength waned.

Was it because the effects of her Alluring Voice reminded him of something he thought he had gotten out of his mind? Or was it because being reminded of how the Elven Princess…

“Ahhh, it doesn’t matter,” he swatted the air in front of him and dismissed that thought before he overthink. “That is from a lifetime ago.”

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I belong to the Harvest family now. They cherish me more than A’vetheas ever did.

Hours passed before John stopped his practice, it had been a while since he used a long sword, his back was now completely sore and ached with the slightest shift in angle. Not to mention, his clothes were sticking onto his clammy skin due to all the sweat he produced earlier.

“I think I overdid it…” he muttered to himself as he moved to return the weapon and dummies to where he retrieved them from.

The evening had already came to an end, and there were still no signs that Evie was back. In fact, while he practiced on his own, it seemed that everyone was busy, many people came here only to use their weapons on the dummies a few times before they abruptly left for something else. Even the academy staff was seen hurrying somewhere.

Of course, being the inquisitive lad that John was, he quickly got to the nearest teleport point and teleported to the main building where he suspected where the people gathered.

A sea of people.

That was the exact sentence that entered his mind when he saw the immense crowd at the large hall. It seems that all Moxnet students have gathered in anticipation of something huge.

He got closer to the crowd but kept a good distance to not get swallowed into the ocean of people.

“What are we doing here Bran?” said someone. “I haven’t heard anything about this.”

“They are giving us a sneak peak on the first official event when school starts. You know, the one after we are back from our one-week break. The information they give are just to let us think and prepare according to what would happen then.”

“Oh? Is that so? Do you know anything about it?” the other person squealed with great enthusiasm.

“Bah, all I know it is a pain, and there will be more testing, that’s how Moxnet works. My father did say, ‘Whatever you do, stay alive,’ whatever that means. It’s not like he is willing to tell me anything if I asked further,” said Bran with a shrug.

“Your father?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, he is now in the board of directors of Moxnet Academy, didn’t I tell you that already?”

“T-the board of directors!?” the other person gasped in surprise. “Since when? You never mentioned it before!”

“Shhh. Don’t go shouting that when everyone is here. It’s a fairly recent thing, this is just between you and me okay?”

“Is that how you gotten into North Wing instead of East Wing? I know you mentioned you said you have connections in the academy, but I never thought it was something as big as that. You could have gotten familiar with the hero if you chose East...” the girl said in a low, uncertain tone.

“Nah, I just want to peaceful school life. All that competitive stuff in East Wing isn’t for me. And you’ve seen how crazy people were at the tournament during the first day, they killed each other just to secure their spot in East Wing. Sure it might have been one round where people actually died… But I don’t really want to get mixed in with that.”

“That is reasonable.”

“Besides, it doesn’t make sense if I am in East Wing, you aren’t there…”

John listened to their conversation closely, although what Bran mentioned about the East Wing contradicted his own experience, it only made John curious to what kind of people led someone like Bran thought this way.

Could he be talking about people like Prishine? I admit that I was a little rude when I talked to her but if she wasn’t such a—

Bran continued, “Just take that Sarvod kid for example, just because he gotten in good graces with the hero, he thinks he is practically above everyone. You know someone is brown nosing himself when you don’t see him making friends with anyone else but the hero.”

What?

“Sarvod? Who’s that?”

“Oh you know, he is one of those scummy types who got scouted by the vice president of the academy and now thinks he is some big shot. It’s the guy that always sticks around the hero’s party, I think he has blue eyes and black hair? Or it was blue hair and black eyes? Something like that. In any case, word out there is that he danced with the Angeline Grisst and went on a mission with the hero in Kershent.”

“There’s only one guy that danced with Angeline Grisst, I was too focused on our dance, I didn’t get a good look at him…. Oh look! They’ve finally posted the—” before the girl could finished her sentence, she was pushed by an overly zealous crowd of students. One after another, the students rushed to the center where an oversized billboard was brought by an academy staff.

First there was pushing among the students, then loud shouting, soon the pushing turned into shoves and people started to fall to the ground. It was though each and everyone became consumed by the prospect of gaining a slight upper hand in the upcoming event that they no longer cared for their fellow students.

“What are they doing…?” John said to himself as he watched the sight unfold before him.

Aren’t they behaving just like the undead back then? Is that why Scywell said it was normal for people to behave like this?

When John first learned about Dezarith Empire—from Miros who kindly took his time and explained the outside world to John—he was told that people who lived inside the Great Walls of Dezarith Empire were very different from village people like the Harvest family.

Instead of expecting them to be courteous and friendly, it was common knowledge that they were self-interested and more cutthroat than the average person he met in Purefold Town. Granted, it was not all who acted cruel and unkind, but it was common knowledge that people from the empire’s capital, Registoria, were brought up in an environment that valued strong competition.

John understood competition was a necessity if a nation needed to improve itself, without it, competitors would have no one to compete with, and it would lead to stagnation in a country’s development. It was no surprise that Dezarith Empire, the most advanced nation known to the world have its people to be brought up in an environment that encourages such a behavior.

But he had to wonder if such ambitions were excessive.

From what he could infer, the billboard that would give hints to what event was to happen on the first week of official schooling was here to stay.

The reckless tug of war that was happening before him…

People pushing one another, shoving their way through, each man for himself. All that, to just beat others to the important information that is made public, in a place like the academy, albeit a top tier school, but it was still just a school nonetheless.

It felt odd.

It felt like he’d been through pointless struggles like this in his past. Working so hard, for things that did not matter in life. Afterall, what good is succeeding in one’s life, when said success is achieved through unpleasant means? Moreover, who were these people trying to prove their worth to…?

“Stand back,” someone said to him before he moved in front of John. It was Bran, the very person who criticized him earlier. “Cover your ears if you don’t want to be affected by my magic, these people are driving me up a wall...”

Wasn’t he talking crap about me earlier? Then why…

“Hey, I don’t think you understand my magic, I’m warning you because you aren’t rushing in like those blockheads… Ah whatever, do as you please.”.

A moment later, something erupted from Bran’s body in a bolt of white lightning.

Boom!

The bright ray zapped upwards, a loud noise followed. Up high where the chandelier was hung, floated an avatar that bore the exact facial features as Bran, who summoned it to existence.

The glowing avatar then spoke the way Bran did, his voice, his posture, was the complete image of Bran. “Of law and order, heed my ordain, [Serenity of Impasse]!”

It was no doubt that Bran was a user of avatar magic, a magic where one projected his or consciousness into an ethereal body made of mana. Avatar users were rare in existence, even back in A’vetheas where elves have high proficiency for powerful magic such as avatar magic, only the Elven Queen knew how to use it correctly.

An energy sphere started to grow from Bran’s avatar’s hand, reaching its maximum size of ten meters in no time, the sphere exploded into a torrent of sparks raining down on the people below.

And then, everyone stopped.

The moment the sparks that came from the avatar’s sphere hit them, the crowd ceased all movement and became unusually calm.

John, who had his hands on his ears was thankfully unaffected by the spell. Having seen what Bran did to everyone else who was affected by that rain of sparks, he cannot help but to stare at the avatar in awe.

It was not that Bran was able to use an avatar that impressed him rather, it was the magic itself. [Serenity of Impasse] was a spell that could only be cast successfully by someone who bore personal convictions that were immutable regardless of their environment. It was a utility magic that is accessible to many, but only those who had an unflinching will are able to successfully cast it.

It was most known for its uses in battles when everyone is plagued with fear and doubt, a single successful casting of [Serenity of Impasse] is able to bolster each soldier’s morale and general well-being. But with enough charisma and will, one is able to use it to temporary subdue the unrest and chaos of the general people until greater reasoning returned to them.

Which was exactly what Bran did.

Bran’s avatar then floated from the celling to the billboard and cast two advanced spells in sucession.

“[Mind’s Absolution], [Voice of Plenty].”

What is he doing?

Bran’s avatar moved to the billboard and started to read the contents in a poised tone, “Attention to all Moxnet students. As many of you might or might not know, the academy will be having its first widescale activity that would promote coordination and essential skills to become a top tier citizen of Dezarith Empire. As our Immortal Emperor has often said, through trials and tribulations one is able to discover our true selves, and as such, Moxnet Academy had taken his Highness’ word to heart and prepared this event. The full details are to be disclosed when students have returned after their one-week break, but to those who wish to gain leverage and prepare themselves, information would be given in a form of a riddle—” Bran stopped in surprise, “A riddle?”

Ignoring his own comment, Bran continued reading with his avatar, “Students are advised to discuss this with their friends, and especially with people who live under the same wing as them, this will prove to be helpful when the inevitable formation of groups happen. The riddle is as such:

The darkest of nights, a place where dead souls part not from this world, amidst the slumber of the three pillars, a frontier of perseverance is but a necessity.

Under such circumstances, passage of time is a falsetto of hope.

Relics of old, hidden and buried from all prying eyes, will once again be in the right hands of the empire. Uncover their secrets, and one will be granted safety in exchange.

Further details will be given when the activity starts. Best of luck to all you students.”

Upon finished reading the announcement on the billboard, the avatar flickered and disappeared in thin air.

And thus, ended the calm atmosphere that Bran had created with his magic. As soon as Bran’s glowing avatar vanished, everyone who was affected by [Serenity of Impasse] returned to themselves, only this time, they have stopped their relentless pushing and shoving, it was though Bran’s magic sedated them and returned them to sensible citizens.

After hearing Bran’s avatar read to them what was written on the billboard, many have lost interest in the billboard, and was instead more curious to the riddle.

That was some performance.

John stopped thinking to himself when his eyes caught the sight of a collapsed Bran before him, crawling weakly by the ground as he tried to get to his feet.

“Hey, are you okay?” John quickly got down helped Bran, he placed one of Bran’s arms over his shoulders and lifted Bran to his feet.

“Oh hey, that guy from earlier… So you did what I told you to, ahaha…” Bran gave a weak chuckle, his face was as white as chalk. “I shouldn’t have used my powers for just that riddle… But someone had to intervene these idiots. I-if I hadn’t done that back there, someone might have gotten real hurt. Oh crap, this is bad…I can’t even feel my legs now,” Bran said lightheartedly, placing not a single care about his wellbeing.

“You should really take your own advice,” John commented as he tried to keep Bran from slipping. Though he was impressed at how powerful Bran’s magic was, it looked like that little display of power costed everything from the guy himself.

“Can you still stand?”

Bran shook his head, “S-stand? Buddy, I might collapse anytime soon. Angels… This might have been a bad idea a-after all,” Bran’s lips started turning pale as his eyes started to close.

This guy… What is he thinking? He burnt his body’s constitution just for that?

If it were mana fatigue, one would have had their energy sapped but still retain their ability to move for a certain period of time, even if it were in extreme mana fatigue cases, one would not be left in a condition that even getting on their two legs was a giant hurdle. From the way Bran’s liveliness and strength got sapped away after using his avatar magic, it was a clear case of broken mana flow.

Each and every living thing generated and contained their fair share of mana, but to use mana in the form of magic, one had to direct their inner mana pool and successfully expel it and form it into magic. While broken mana flow did not affect one’s health nor their lifespan, it definitely would cause complications when one tried to access their inner mana pool. Unfortunately, it was not a problem that can be fixed nor correctable with magic, if one had such a problem, they could only hope for their bodies to adapt to it and alter such a problem on its own.

In Bran’s case, the guy’s magic was undeniably powerful even with broken mana flow, he was still able to do high tiered magic but it came at the expense of Bran’s own constitution.

And Bran had willingly traded his well-being in order to help a few people who were all so adamant in trying to gain an upper hand on others, people with so much competition that Bran did not want to deal with.

He tried to help them, when he got nothing from it.

Given that no one recognized nor cared that Bran was the one who did the announcement for everyone’s sake, it was impossible that fame and recognition was what the guy was aiming for.

Is he actually a nice person?

Despite what Bran’s unfavorable comments about him earlier and what Bran did was stupid and yield no significant benefit to Bran’s long term health—in John’s not so humble opinion. He could not help but respect Bran’s decision earlier to prevent anyone from getting hurt.

“Hold on to me for a bit,” John said lifting Bran upright.

“H-huh? What a-are you—?”

“[Heal],” John used his free hand and directed his blue healing aura towards Bran. When color returned to Bran’s pale face, John slowly let Bran to stand on his two feet, “That should help you a little bit.”

Blood returned to Bran’s face as he slowly came to a realization, “The [Heal] spell? Doesn’t that make you John Sarvod—”

“Bran! Bran!” the girl who spoke to Bran earlier came rushing with a face filled with concern.

“Oh, Matilda is here already, of course she knows I was involved earlier. It’s so hard to hide things from her…”

“Did you do it again!? I thought you said you still have to wait two more days before exerting yourself!” Matilda chastised. “What if you black out again!?”

Bran gave sheepish expression as he tried to comfort his friend, “It won’t happen, don’t worry, thanks to this guy here,” Bran nudged his chin at John.

“This, guy?” Matilda eyed John with suspicious eyes, doubtful of what John could do to help alleviate Bran’s situation more.

“Isn’t that right, Mr. Sarvod?” Bran nudged an elbow at John gently. “I see that your [Heal] spell is as genuine as they come. Your rumors… Well, not so much, don’t judge until you’ve seen something for yourself, huh?”

John shrugged at Bran’s previous comments about him, indicating that he was not bothered by them, “Don’t sweat it. More importantly, risking your own health just because a few people might get pushed or punched, isn’t that overkill? Your condition isn’t mana fatigue, it directly affects your body’s constitution, why push yourself?”

John’s sudden question caused Bran to open his eyes wide.

“You… Ahhh, I see. There is no need to hide from someone who uses the legendary [Heal] spell.” Bran gave a light chuckle and shook his head and admitted his defeat. “I was born with a weak body, a body that does not handle magic well, even producing a small flame causes migraine. My body may be weak but my magic potential is the direct opposite of that. I don’t like seeing people getting hurt because of others, I can’t help but use my magic to stop them before things get out of hand.”

“I was only pushed, there is no need to overreact,” Matilda said before delivering a slap on the back of Bran’s head. “Your own health is much more important than that!”

John opened his mouth and had a finger lifted in the air, he wanted to protest that Bran should be taking it easier for a long healthy life. But seeing how happy Bran was as Matilda scold him for his reckless bravery, John stopped himself and retracted his finger.

Bran had the determination to sacrifice his body even if it was something as small as preventing others from getting bruised. It mattered not if Bran disliked those people, he had helped them regardless because those were what he believed in.

If it’s me…

John believed that action and effort are things that one should be willing to do if it had the outcome he desired. That was not to say that he is cruel when it came to him offering his healing magic to others—in fact, he is more than generous to help those who really need it. But if the outcome was already predetermined like it was in A’vetheas, why bother putting up a stance for his inevitable exile.

“Just take care of yourself next time,” John said sarcastically, he reckoned that Bran was probably going to do something similar to this in the future. “It’s hard to help others when it really counts if you always use your magic on things like this.”

John then looked at the slowly dispersing crowd, shook his head when he saw that none of them learned from what Bran did.

“From the looks of it, your efforts were meaningless. Do you think they’ll appreciate it? Do you think all of that it is worth wasting your health for?”

“I just wanted them to stop, that alone, is enough reason for me to take action, how else would I use my magic?”

“Use them when there is no choice but to use it, every time you waste you magic on something like this, you could have been using it for more important matters, maybe even when lives are at stake. That’s what I would do,” John shrugged, he said his piece, whether if Bran understood, he shall leave it at that.

“Only use my magic when it really counts huh? I like the sound of that. Not bad at all, Sarvod, not bad at all.”

“If only you actually listened to me when I tell you that,” Matilda complained.

Bran raised his two hands in the air, “In my defense, you say to not use my magic, Matilda. You know I can’t do that.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll leave you two to argue, later.”

With that, John exchanged goodbyes with Bran and Matilda before they continued on with their day.