In front of me is the dead father of the daughter I wished to save. To my right is said daughter trembling on the ground as the scorpions approach. I look down at my torso, blood is spilling out. My limbs won't work as intended. I remember what the old man told me about the poison of a thunder scorpion. It instantly paralyzes you and causes hallucinations. The symptoms progress until you reach an eventual death.

Time feels like it's moving slowly. This is the effect of focus magic, and the poison is amplifying it.

I move mana to my palms in order to cast recovery magic on myself... then I stop. Recover magic makes some poisons worse, this one is an example. You can only survive if you take the antidote an hour before you cast recovery magic. I am in a predicament, now aren't I? I can't fight if I can't heal myself, and if I heal myself I will die.

'You can't fight? are you sure about that?'

I see Cassius standing above me. He looks just like he did when he was nine, before the incident.

I blink, he is gone.

I blink, he returns.

I obviously can't fight, I can move my hands and feet barely, but that's it.

'Push yourself, Octavia, you can fight. If you can make yourself stand, you can do anything. You have magic Octavia.'

Even if I can stand, what then? I can't even cast attack magic, I'm just born this way... I know I am.

'Are you sure about that? Magic is not discriminatory, all beings are capable of all spells. That is the fundamental rule of magic.'

Then why can't I cast it?

‘You know why. I know after all.’

Yet, I can’t answer the question.

‘It’s because you’ve been hurt.’

That doesn’t make sense. Cassius has been hurt just as much as I have, yet his attack magic is more potent than before the incident.

‘You process pain differently Octavia. From that incident, he gained rage which fueled his spells. You on the other hand lost your confidence. You lost your will to fight. Can you even imagine yourself saving someone?’

I… I can’t. Someone like me who has never taken action in my life. I can’t possibly imagine saving someone. Let alone killing something.

Even now, as the scorpions draw ever closer fighting back is barely within my mind.

‘Why do you think the old man teaches you attack spells Octavia? Why does Theophania look at you with such pride, why did Marcus and Julius come to respect you? Why did Claudia treat you like her successor? Why did I treat you like an equal?’

Ah, it would make sense that he talks like this even in my hallucinations. Unlike what you’d expect from a pure-hearted kid, he was always a weirdly logical realist. But logic games won’t work here, I know from my heart exactly what I am.

‘Are you calling me a liar?’

No! I just… think you are under a false impression.

‘Nobody knew you better than me, Octavia. And besides, when have I ever been wrong?’

Never…

Ah, damn it. Hearing it from his mouth is deluding me into thinking it might actually be possible. This is the worst thing that could have happened. Why did I have to hallucinate him of all people?

Can I really do it?

‘Yes.’

Me?

‘Yes.’

I can save her?

‘You can.’

Then I’ll do it. If I have amazing people that believe in me, it must be true. I can do it, all I have to do is move my shaky limbs.

The scorpions stop moving, and they stare at me. It doesn’t hurt, but it doesn’t feel normal either. It is like my body desperately wants to ragdoll, and the only thing that is preventing this from happening is me putting every single ounce of focus and motivation I have into ensuring that I remain standing.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

I experiment and cast physical enhancement on myself. That causes a searing pain to rush through my body, but it works. I have enough belief in my footing to raise my right arm and point it at the scorpion to my right. It was when I started building mana up in my hand that the scorpions made their moves once more.

If I am going to believe in others, I must believe in myself. I can do this. Cassius told me, fire magic needs fuel. I imagine both a violent and unstable vapor, as well as a spark to light it. The scorching flames ripped through the scorpion I targeted.

Even I was in awe of the potency of my attack, but I only had that luxury for a few moments. The other scorpion leaped at me. Startled, I lost my footing and fell down at the feet of the girl. I put up a mana barrier, but it quickly cracked under the weight and strength of my foes' attacks.

I latch my weak arms onto the girl and try to scramble out of the way, but I am too weak. However, I have another trick up my sleeves. I had seen it hundreds of times when I used to watch Cassius practice for combat.

I use magic to build up dense wind under my feet and propel myself forward at fast speeds. Though I had managed to cast spells I couldn’t use before, I was still inconsistent. The spell worked in my right leg but failed in my left.

I was able to avoid the attack from the remaining scorpion, but I was launched to my left and slammed into a tree. The girl took the brunt of the blow, but I was still deeply hurt by this. I had a hole in my torso after all.

The scorpion moves on to its next attack. It launches bolts of arcing lightning at me while it lunges in my direction. Could I block it?

I layer barrier after barrier. I cast mana enhancement as I build them. In doing so I blocked both the body and the lightning bolts. When I have time to prepare barriers, they can handle attacks from monsters on this level.

I cast slip, and lock-joint on the scorpion, freezing it in place. I try to finish it off with a fire attack, but that spell fails.

I cast it again.

And again.

And again.

Each time I fail.

But it frees itself before I can deliver the finishing blow. Once it breaks through the last barrier, I am forced into a decision. I have just enough time to cast one more spell. I can either build another barrier and try to buy more time, or I can try one last attack spell.

If I drag this on any further I might run out of mana.

What would Cassius do? It is obvious what he would do. He would believe in himself and take this perfect opportunity for a counterattack.

For the last spell I would bet my life on, I went with wind. Building up air pressure in my hand, I shape it into the shape of a fine blade. I don’t have enough time for casting mana enhancement, so I just shove every last bit of mana in my body into casting the most powerful spell imaginable.

The scorpion’s month and I were now just a meter apart at most. Its pinchers approached my neck and it appeared to be preparing lightning. My hand was pointed at it’s throat.

My spell was faster.

With a loud boom, the trees all around were uprooted, and dirt and stone flew into the air. The scorpion's head separated from its body and propelled hundreds of meters into the sky.

Fire and flames spread rapidly, fueled by the air. Smoke billowed and clouds began to form, covering the once-bright scene with darkness.

I paid no mind to the dead monsters before me and relaxed my body. My skin turned cold and I lost consciousness in the arms of the girl I just rescued.

…

When I awoke I had bandages on my body and was covered by a blanket. There were two women at the side of my bed, one older, and one younger. The older one, who I thought of as my mother was relieved. The younger one was remorseful and depressed.

“After you passed out, the old man found you and gave you the medicine and healing you needed. You’ve been asleep for a day.”

“I see, thank you for telling me mater.”

“Of course.”

I look at the girl next. She is a year or two older than me. I look at her and she seems like she is about to say something, I wait and listen. However, instead of speaking, she gets up out of her chair and runs out of the room.

Theophania is about to go after her, but I stop her. My legs are still unsteady, but I am able to get up and walk. I already have one of my favorite dresses on. Theophania must have been the one to dress me and bandage my wounds.

I followed her out to the garden. She insisted I went back to bed at first, but I reassured her about my condition. I sat down next to her as she stared at the pond.

“I’m so sorry… I am so so sorry. Because of me, pater got killed, you almost did too…” She cried.

“It’s not your fault.”

“If you two didn’t come back for me, you both would be…”

I grab her head and pull it into my chest. I gave her the same hug Theophania would always reassure me with. The power of human contact is truly amazing, she cried even harder than before, showing she was getting further in touch with her emotions.

“We both made that choice ourselves. None of this was your fault. None of it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok… everything will be alright.”

“But now I’m all alone. I have no one left. Pater was the only one…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You have me. I promise you aren’t alone.”

She looked up into my eyes after I said this. All I gave in response to this was a smile. Once she calmed down, she went to the guest room for some rest. I doubt she slept much last night after all. I continued to sit by the garden until the old man came. I spoke first upon his arrival.

“Hey old man…”

“Yes?”

“I did it. For the first time in my life, I saved somebody I wanted to save. Even if someone died in the process.”

“You are right. I knew you could do it.”

He patted my head and gave me a smile.

I want to do better next time so that nobody dies. But for now, I feel like I did a good thing.