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I met quite the unusual girl the other day. However, our first impressions of each other weren’t in the best conditions. I was hired via an adventuring quest to hunt and kill one of the undead adventurers, then carry its corpse back to the family members to bury properly. I had done that, meeting the family members outside the entrance of the dungeon to hand them over their relative’s body.

But then I heard the sound of stones slamming against the walls. The noise echoed all the way to where I stood at the entrance. That wasn’t the doing of the undead. It was an accelerated stone. It was Displacement Magic, which meant adventurers were still inside.

Would they be okay? I intended to ignore it, since it wasn’t my business. I had already completed my job, so I could just leave and grab a bite to eat. But then something started eating at me from the inside.

The slamming noises stopped. Any sort of magic use stopped. It worried me. Why was I concerned for a bunch of strangers? Before I could decide what to do, my feet were already in a sprint. It would eat me alive knowing I let people die. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night.

I ran back in the dungeon, blowing away any undead in my way with a Flame Wave spell or a Flame Spear. I had to hurry.

I could hear it. Not the sounds of spells being casted or yells, but sobbing. Loud sobbings. That of a man and a young girl seemed to be bawling their eyes out. I could make it. I could save them. Just wait a bit longer, please!

I ran as fast as my legs could go. Even as smoke from my spells blew in my face, causing me to cough horribly, I still ran without halting.

I slid around the corner of a corridor to an open area… and I saw them. The adventurers. Two of them were already knocked out of the battle. Only what looked to be three mages, two men and a gorgeous girl. I looked closer from around the corner. Was that a Water Mage robe she was wearing? Why didn’t she cast any spells of the sort?

I shook my head and fed magic energy to my fingers. I didn’t have my staff on me, so I had to make due with my own hands. As soon as I jumped out of the corner, I saw a horde of undead congregating around the doorway. And then the dungeon master finally came into view. He looked strong, very strong. I wasn’t sure if I could beat him. But I didn’t have to.

I steeled my resolve, then continued to cast a spell. “Cautery!” I yelled with as much power as my lungs would enable me to. Magic energy seeped out of my hands and formed a giant fireball that burnt everything in its path to a crisp.

When I looked again, the dungeon master was long gone. He was blown far away, and so I used the chance to get everyone out. In this area, I couldn’t beat him. Not with all these monsters around.

I was so glad it worked, and that everyone was safe. I could go to sleep smiling like a child if I wanted to. Everyone was in good spirits too, especially that girl. When I looked at her the second we stepped out of the dungeon, her face was pale as a sheet of paper, and her fingers twitched irregularly.

Ah, I finally understood. She had run out of magic energy. No wonder she couldn’t cast spells. Despite all that, she invited me to go out to eat with everyone. And of course, I happily obliged. My stomach was growling louder than the undead inside of that dungeon.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

X X X

That girl’s name happened to be Charliette. Startling too, was that she wasn’t a Water Mage, but a Displacement Mage. What a truly weird girl. I mean, it’s dangerous to dress up as someone you’re not. That’s like dressing up as a healer but then saying you’re a knight when a patient comes for help. Very strange indeed.

A series of events came up to the point where I was now her teacher in Offensive Magic. I didn’t offer to teach, she was just so assertive in how she spoke. Even the simplest of favors she asked for felt like urgent demands. Maybe it was just because of me. I was always told by people that I was very soft-spoken. Even my own mother made a habit of yelling at me, telling me “Speak up!” or “I can’t hear you!” I loved Mother, and I knew she was doing it for my well being. In this world, a louder, more authoritative voice usually wins out from a quieter one like mine. That was probably why I felt obligated to teach Charliette.

I wasn’t against teaching. I found it endearing how motivated she sounded to learn Offensive Magic exclusively from me. She could have very well found another Expert Rank Offensive Mage and hired them to teach her. But no, she chose me. I’ll try my very best to teach her well.

That was what I thought, and I intended to stay true to those words. But then it came to light that Charliette’s magic energy reserves were way lower than the average person. Spells like Waterwark and Disperse, which were relatively cheap spells in regards to energy consumption to the average person, completely drain her. The only spells she seemed to be able to do were Accelerate and Stasis, both of which were some of the cheapest, if not the cheapest spells out of any other ones.

So I was stumped. What should I do? She had trusted me as her teacher, I couldn’t let her down. As I pondered our situation, I stared out the window of our inn. It overlooked the grassy fields that we had walked on only hours ago to practice magic. Sitting on the grassy hill was a man reading from a book. No, he was writing something in it.

Soon after the man had finished writing in his book, a bright light emitted from the page, but just as quickly dimmed. Much like that book, my brain lit up with inspiration and a flood of memories.

That was a tome. That could solve this issue. If Charliette could use Accelerate on the pen to write spells into it, it could effectively pre package magic energy for later use of that specific spell. That was the power these tomes had, and most people didn’t know about it. To be fair, the only reason I knew it was because of a friend.

I told her about it, and her face lit up. She practically pounced on me like a clingy cat, yelling at me again with the loudest voice I’d ever heard. Louder than Mother.

I wish it were that easy, though. Tomes were extremely expensive, and none of us had enough money to afford it. Thus, Charliette deemed it necessary to go adventuring to save up cash.

And that was where I was now, in my little room at an inn, strapping my boots on and tidying up the wrinkles on my magic robe. Before I left, I sat down and closed my eyes. I grabbed a necklace that sat on my counter and squeezed it tight in my hands.

“Please, I hope we'll all come home safe and sound,” I whispered. I wasn’t praying to any god, nor was I religious. But just by saying that while clasping my hands over this necklace comforted me. I knew that Mother would be watching over us, and I knew she’d hear me in my darkest hours.

I put on the necklace and grabbed my staff.

“Hey! Master Lio! Are you ready?” That boisterous voice once again made its presence known as it echoed throughout the building. It made me smile.

“Coming!”