What had happened? Had someone attacked me? No, people shouldn’t be able to notice me, let alone try to harm me. But what if they could? What if I was visible all along, just invisible in mirrors and reflections?

Damn it, whose idea was it to believe in the fact that mirrors were to be trusted!?

It was mine, damn!

No, calm down, Lylie. Bear the pain and take a deep breath. You’ve been through worse, so bear through it and take a deep breath.

I tried inhaling through my palms, only to realise I could not do so in my current state. Instead, I focused on my soul to find what I needed. And there it was, a thin and ethereal string near where my heart would be.

I closed my eyes and pulled on it with my mind, something I could instinctively do when I first discovered it. It took a moment, but the pain eased and soon disappeared under the influence of the string.

“That was a bad idea, Lylie,” I said.

Today marked the first time I’d tried to use magic as a soul. Definitely not a clever move on my part. I sighed and opened my eyes, noticing the protruding string to the left of my chest. I watched as its severed ends mended themselves, stretching towards the red lump beside my bed.

The string radiated comfort. It had something to do with connecting my soul and body, considering how the past ruptures had gone. I let out a weak chuckle and waited for it to repair itself.

Time must have passed during my inaction, as the ants below stopped scurrying around my room and gathered on the red lump, forming the silhouette of a person.

My silhouette, in particular.

The rupture was still identical to how it always goes. First, the recurring nightmare. Second, the crumbling of my body. Third, the ejection of my soul. And fourth, the reparation of the string and the reformation of my body.

Then comes relief due to me reverting to a person. Those were the natural cycle of the rupture. How pitiful of me. I held back my laughter and stared as my limbs reformed themselves.

No more were the ants around the room. Only the person knocked unconscious on the ground and the mess remained. Soon enough, a notion tugged at the back of my mind as the last strands of the string connected my soul and body.

It was time for me to wake up.

***

“God, finally.” I embraced the coldness of the marble floor and let out a tired grunt. No more was the sensation of missing body parts. As far as I could tell, the sense of jam-packed insects all over my room was gone. It was over.

My muscles protested as I tried to move, begging me to just lie down and wait until they recovered. I chuckled under my breath and manifested my mana tendrils.

Seconds later, a distinct combination of patterns and circles appeared on my bare back—another second-tier spell, Detect. There was no need to overcharge it this time, so I inserted the required ten units of mana and let it do its magic.

A ticklish wave rippled through my body.

Heart, check.

Torso, check.

Head, check.

Arms, check.

Legs, check.

Privates… okay, dear God. Scared me there, check.

The casting circle dissipated once it did its job. No wonder, circles created purely from mana are for onetime use only. I drew and cast another Detect, making sure everything was in place. Yeah, nothing was missing except for my own serenity.

Everything was spinning, fuck. A loud groan resounded as my body throbbed in pain.

“I’d die sooner or later if this keeps happening.” I pursed my lips and spread my limbs, enjoying the coldness of winter.

How many times has this occurred, again? Nine, ten, or eleven perhaps? I’m not particularly aware of the reason and principles behind it, but these ruptures are definitely not common for the average person.

I furrowed my eyebrows and thought back to the past. When did it start to occur, actually? If I recall correctly, it started soon after I opened the workshop… so when did it all go south? A sharp pain interrupted my thoughts, as if something had pierced through my brain. It hurt to the point of me yelping in a high-pitched tone.

What in the world happened?

I scowled and pushed myself off the floor, ignoring the muscle aches and throbbing. Moving my body was the solution when in distress, but I couldn’t help but freeze when I finally got on my feet.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Beside me was a wooden bed, its bedding covered with a plain blue case and splattered messily. Beside the bed was a desk and chair made out of mahogany. On the desk was an electric lamp in the shape of a candle, and some tools I used during alchemy.

And below them… were smashed reagent bottles and blueprints covered in ink and chemicals.

I stared.

It took me a while to return to reality. I felt a pang of anger and gritted my teeth, forcing myself not to kick the broken bottles. What could I even do? The culprit was none other than myself, after all.

The Float spell I had cast earlier was left alone when something damaged my soul. It probably ran out of mana, causing everything to crash onto the floor without protection.

“Calm down, Lylie. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Inhale…and exhale.” I pinched the bridge of my nose and manifested my mana tendrils. Another Float spell floated in my palm as I overcharged it with twenty units of mana. “These couldn’t be used anymore, I guess.”

Fluids, papers, and broken glass threw themselves into the trash bin as per my will, while articles of clothing levitated into my palm. They had been stripped off me earlier, leaving me buck-naked except for the gloves I wore before sleeping, somehow.

A glance over them revealed the lack of substantial traces. Like always, not even a drop of blood or ant corpses remained, only splatters of ink here and there.

“Well, perhaps it was a good thing. Having a dead ant would equal having a part of me missing.”

—Whoosh~

A stream of chilly wind stroked my bare body, causing me to curse under my breath. The walls of this room were specifically constructed using a material that adapts to the weather. Coldness would coax them to release gentle warmth, while heat would induce them to drop some degrees.

What part of them had broken again this time—no, wait.

No, don’t tell me it’s what I think it is.

I swivelled left, staring at the full moon beyond the night snow with wide eyes. No, the moon wasn’t important here. It was the mouse-sized gap in the corner of the window!

I had accidentally set off a series of motions just yesterday, and it had launched one of my works to fly through the window. It brought the curtain and a piece of glass down with it, to my annoyance. Yet all I did was harden some soil to temporarily patch the gap!

You should have done a better job, idiot!

I dashed towards the window and scanned the road, searching for anyone who might have seen the earlier commotion. As expected, the hardened patch of soil around the window was gone, probably overpowered by snow.

The buildings across only had their gate lights turned on, their occupants still deep in slumber. Both the streetlamp and the moonlight illuminated the snow-covered asphalt road, free of any obstacles.

What a relief.

I put a palm to my face and desperately stifled my laughter. If someone witnessed what had happened, perhaps my life as I knew it would crumble in an instant. How laughable.

Now that I think of it, it would be impossible for someone to notice the rupture. My room is located on the third floor. Who in their right mind could notice the gap and even try to peer into it? Not to mention how they would be forced to pinpoint their sight on the mouse-sized hole.

I purposefully darkened the glass so that people wouldn’t gawk in, after all. And even if someone did notice the crack, they would still have to leap tall enough to see the red ants throughout the room, all while looking through the single tiny hole in the window.

I’m sure no one was free enough to go through all that trouble, right?

I ruffled my hair and let out a chuckle. I need to weave some new curtains, and quickly.

Yet something tugged at the back of my head when I was about to walk away. The corners of my eyes twitched as I turned around and glared at the winter road. Even an additional look was insufficient for me to find anything.

So, I manifested my mana tendrils, drawing another casting circle in the middle of my forehead. Farsight, a convenient spell for its relatively low second-tier ranking. I inserted twenty units of mana, overcharging it while blinking repeatedly.

A warm current advanced from the back of my head, spreading through my spine and causing my eyes to itch. It took me a couple of blinks to get used to the restricting sensation around my eyes.

If seen from another angle, one would witness my iris glowing faint yellow. A closer look would reveal the constricting and expanding of my pupils.

The edge of my vision darkened, allowing the centre of my sight to magnify anything I saw. This spell in particular required me to concentrate, lest my vision shake and blur.

Something tugged at the back of my mind once more.

I must have missed something beyond these windows. On the road were three cars parked in front of my neighbours’ porches. Was there anything else on the road? No, not even some animal or car trails, only the piling snow. Were any of my neighbours still awake? A quick glance around their rooms showed me that their lights were unturned. What about the sidewalk? Lamp posts, mailboxes, bicycles, trees, nothing else—wait, what’s that? Is that a snowman? No, what in the world is that?

My eyebrows furrowed as I squinted to see the anomaly. Across the road, the snow piled up to my neighbours’ fences. Yet some of the snow mounds appeared…strange. They overlapped with one another to the point where some of them covered a frozen tree. Wait, it moved! What was that?! Did some monster break into the city, but—wait, no. Is that a person?

I blinked and rubbed my eyes, almost causing Farsight to dissipate. No matter how I looked at it, she was definitely a person. She was dressed entirely in white—coat, hat, earmuffs, gloves, and even boots. Perhaps that was why I hadn’t noticed her earlier?

She stood amidst the snow, both hands deep in her pockets, staring straight at me. I furrowed my eyebrows and scowled at her, silently urging her to move on with her night.

Her face crumpled as she muttered something. Farsight was still in effect, and I stared at her mouth. Moments like these were why I appreciated the years of training I had as a descendant of a wealthy family.

Syllable by syllable, I read her lips and repeated her words aloud. “What…a…per…?”

Pervert? What a pervert?

Her face twisted in disgust, and she strode away, kicking snow off the sidewalk. What did she mean? What did she see?

A chunk of snow entered the mouse-sized gap and stuck to my bare chest, causing me to swat it away reflexively. The realisation struck as I looked down.

So, this was what she saw.

I put a hand over my mouth, trying hard not to laugh out of shame. It wasn’t a big problem for one or two people to see me naked. Wait, shouldn’t I be embarrassed by this?

Whatever.

I shook my head and wore my clothes. I should continue to search for the cure to the ruptures. But for now, let’s just make some new curtains.