"What is this…? The wind suddenly started to blow so hard…”

Jake was forced by circumstances to look back, even though his plans previously involved being away from there for quite some time now. The sudden change of events in the scenario of that massacre promised, in short, to have acquired ways a little different than expected.

“Hmm… Maybe watching this isn’t such a bad idea?” He thought, considering which would be the best place. “I just have to be careful that I may end up getting hit by something. It would be a wise decision to step back a little further.”

Without wasting any more time, he walked with sure steps towards the tree about 8 or 9 meters away, hiding there to watch the spectacle that unfolded. He didn't want to be at the heart of it all when things turned more aggressive — and he knew they would.

“Huh… So this is Magic? Although, from the way that guy acted, it seems to be something bigger than average… Is this girl really that strong?”

From afar, Jake watched as the girl with an empty look was circled by an intense spiral current of magical wind, spreading earth, leaves and even water from the nearby river in the form of droplets, humidifying the already too wet air of that forest.

'Can you see the wind?' — a popular question of choice from the most religious in their desperate arguments to try and spread their faith to an atheist, being nothing more than a simple fallacy in foundation, but in this case, it could be said with certainty that the answer was “yes”.

And the reason for that was the fact that pale green lights were used to physically represent the gale. That enabled him to fully understand what the exact magnitude of the cyclone was.

“She didn't show these abilities until she was faced with the death of her comrades, not to mention the fact that her mind doesn't seem to be in the best place right now either… Is this just a reaction to panic, as in an instinctive attempt to escape death?”

If that were indeed the case, it would be a good lesson on how to deal with the folks in that fantasy world.

“People activate their adrenergic systems when faced with danger, increasing pain tolerance and allowing greater use of muscle capacity and, consequently, strength. I should have expected it to be the same with Magic.”

His lack of Heart and Reality prevented him from expressing any kind of emotional response to what was happening, but on a purely rational level, Jake could say that he found himself interested enough in the new ability displayed by the blonde girl, armed with his own reasons to think otherwise if the question regarding self-preservation ever came up.

“It will definitely be worth keeping an eye on. At worst, I might learn something new about this world, and at best…”

His vision sharpened, focusing on the center of the area that promised to become a bloodbath, whichever way it took.

“… Something that will benefit me will eventually happen… Let’s just pray that I be correct when it comes to the fine details.”

Whatever the end result of the fight proves to be, the former student already had plans in place on how to proceed. It was just a matter of waiting for the previously calculated results to announce themselves.

And that was something only time would tell.

… … …

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Beautiful… Splendid… SIMPLY SPECTACULAR…!”

The leader and his hooded band huddled together in a coordinated huddle, where everyone could perfectly see her from their fixed point. The hooded gazes didn't leave her for even a second, a fact visible however much those eyes couldn't be truly seen.

The air currents moved their hoods, which were held collectively by left hands, as if they were all appendages of a single mind. Their black robes hardly distinguished men from women — a fact that was completely irrelevant in the face of cruel reality.

“Come on, Heroine! March with your gracious and perfect steps, full of the grace of the light that accompanies you! Carry the determination of your comrades in your chest, bringing the blood of each one of them in your hands and memories!”

Her gait was slow and smooth; its results, brutal and cruel. With so much calm and gentleness, she destroyed every bit of life in her surroundings with thousands of sharp, almost invisible blades. It was a storm — at first, a calm wind, harmless and even somewhat welcoming in the eyes of many…

“Attack her…! We can't let this brat take what rightfully belongs to us!" He ordered, altering his tone. “Go! Go already! I want that child’s dead corpse… On the floor like these other two!”

… But in the end, a phenomenon of terrifying proportions, which destroyed entire cities and claimed lives as if they were the mere toys of an overly bored child.

“This is where your journey comes to a halt… Heroine…!”

The five cultists ran to meet her, all brandishing the cursed blades that promised to make her bleed until there was no more life in her apparently so fragile form.

The movements were superhuman. They were leaping between tree trunks, almost desperate to reach her and put an end to it — to that true force of nature, controlled by nothing but chance, with the addition of perhaps a little too much of pure spite.

Two took the lead, quickly raising their blades in the classic stabbing gesture. They jumped from the trunks at speeds far beyond any visual calculation, surpassing all limits of what would be considered logical.

“In the end, your efforts will come to naught, little girl…! AHAHAHAHA!” The leader laughed and cheered, still tap dancing over Laysha's insides.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

But what were they, mere human beings with a little more tenacity and power, compared to that?

To a Hurricane?

She pointed her right palm forward, and without any further lapse of time, everything exploded into a breeze.

… … …

“This… It’s even more than I imagined when the idea to retreat a bit came up…”

Jake held on to the wooden log with all his might, keeping both eyes firmly shut to avoid being hit by the large clouds of dust kicked up by the blast and using his coat sleeve to keep bits of sand and leaves from getting into his nose.

It wasn't much, but he certainly saw every fraction of what happened. Before, nothing but the heavy calm, for suddenly, the noisiest phenomenon he has ever witnessed in his life.

"Apparently I didn't go deaf, which in itself is a good thing already, but that sudden change in atmospheric pressure made me wonder what would happen."

For a few milliseconds, he felt as if he was being enveloped by a bubble of water — a sensation that unforgivably deprived him of the most important senses — only to then come the thud of being pushed unidirectionally with all intensity by something without form; the palm of a god.

“Better learn Magic quickly. Doing things like that seems to be quite necessary in this world.”

His eyes, in the short time they saw, showed a great horizontally rotating cyclone — like a drill — that erupted through all the space before her, tearing everything apart.

… … …

“Ridiculous… Absurd… PREPOSTEROUS!”

The leader stomped the ground before him in rage, filled by indignation at the scene of destruction played out before his eyes.

Whole trees severed from their roots, all completely devoid of leaves, the river beside him having become nothing more than a loamy course of mud. Not even the blood of his last victim or what was left of the corpse was spared from being immediately dried up and blown about by the almighty gale.

“This… THIS IS INADMISSIBLE…!” He exclaimed, in childish and exaggerated gestures of anger. “YOU BUNCH OF INCOMPETENTS! GET UP AND GET HER! KILL HER!”

Several seconds passed, but there was no response. Only he was left to grieve the sudden loss.

"You…"

His still unseen eyes focused on the catatonic girl's figure still surrounded by the breeze, although noticeably weaker compared to before she launched her attack.

"You you you you! YOU…!"

He acted like a child who didn't get what he wanted, grabbing his own head and stomping aimlessly on the ground, hoping for any kind of favor it would do him. The man spent several seconds acting in such a way, before deciding to take a final drastic action.

“Even with all my preparation… All the hours and hours spent in this beautiful play that I acted with so much love… You… A character who didn't even train her speech to know what your role was… YOU MANAGED TO RUIN EVERYTHING!”

She again raised her fist, and the air around her hand changed shape, taking on the appearance of a greenish spearhead and uneven surface.

“Everything I created… Ruined like this… Well, at least I still have the ring… THOUGH THE SHOW IS DEAD…!”

The hooded man was crying profusely, not even seeming to care that an attack was being aimed in his direction. In apparent mourning, he knelt, gritting his teeth at the death of those he so recently called mere incompetents.

“My adventure… My efforts… I just wanted to play a little bit at being an adventurer… Just like you guys…”

And that's when the wind projectile hit him, exploding in an impact much more controlled than the first, though still powerful enough to send him flying several meters before crashing headlong into a tree.

… That didn't mean he had died, however.

“ AHAHAHAHAHA…”

A huge leak of blood was pouring from the top of his head, running down all the way to the chin. Like a baby, the man with now visible features looked at the girl's figure with grimaces of the deepest insanity.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

He was an old man, full of wrinkles and other marks left by time. His face was gaunt and as pale as his exposed hands denounced it to be. The colorless strands shared the same shade as the eyes — a dull silver gray. The smile on those brittle-skinned lips could only be described as “deeply disturbing”.

He was mortally wounded, but he didn't care.

“Girl, girl… It was an interesting meeting this one we had, but now…”

He took a knife from a compartment within the robes. It had the same design as those used by the others, but instead of being red like blood, it carried the color of the night's shadows in the form of the deepest black.

He looked at her one last time, determined to end it.

“BUT NOW IT’S TIME TO GO HOME…!”

And then he stabbed himself in the chest.

The gesture turned his body into darkness, dissipating like burnt-tire smoke. In a matter of seconds, there was nothing left but her and all the destruction she was responsible for on that patch of woods.

The girl continued to stare, still impassive and without any emotion, perhaps not even understanding what was happening. Her eyes then blinked...

… And her body fell limp.

… … …

"I knew it. Now it is my time to act.”

In the end, everything went as planned.

“Time to finally come out from behind this tree.” Jake spoke, letting nothing hear him for the first time in a while.

In slow steps, he walked towards the clearing enlarged by the destruction generated by that girl. Looking at her state at the time, any stranger would never guess that she was responsible for that.

“Huh… She is indeed unconscious.”

Jake knelt before the young woman, studying her form. There wasn't a single cut anywhere on her visible skin, in the patches not hidden by the chainmail armor.

His coldly analytical eyes focused on the fair skin of the young lady who looked no older than 16 — and that was a gamble placed with a little too much generosity.

“I will take care of this girl.” Jake spoke to himself. “I will act as her emotional support in the face of the loss of her friends.”

He lifted her body, carrying her into his arms. The girl turned out to be much lighter than previously theorized by him.

“Enille, isn’t it?”

With a certain care, he reclined her head against a stone in the vicinity of the course of the river, which was gradually cleaning itself of the earthly impurity thrown into it, leading the dirt further in its path.

“You will take me wherever you are going.”

He wasn't there to save her. The intentions concocted by the Boy From Another World’s mind were clear, and all converged in a single aspect.

“I don't know what this world's policy is towards foreigners, so it's best to assume that people would see me as an unreliable stranger or even a threat, but that won't happen if I have someone they already know by my side, and especially if that person is indebted to me in some way.”

Jake was going to use that girl as a free pass to somewhere that wasn't a bunch of trees clumped together.

“I'll do my best to make sure you survive, Enille… And you'll be very grateful for that.”

It was cold, but he didn't care… He didn't have the means for that anymore.

He got to his feet, brushing the dust off his clothes and looking at the mark that would paint him as the “fine gentleman” he was — his coat, used as a comfortable surface for Enille's body to rest on.

“Okay… Time to go hunting for some corpses. I need to get one of those cursed knives.”