Nil gazed at their teammates with concern as they arrived back at the hall. What would they think about their outburst?

The others gasped as they saw them. Ray rushed to them and grabbed their shoulders. “Are you okay? Where did all the blood come from?” He glared at Durai with suspicion. “We need to go fetch Professor Corwyn.”

Nil stepped back, distancing themself from Ray as they looked away in shame. “It’s fine, Ray. I’m not hurt.”

Kai, Nova and Max got closer and started fussing over Nil as well.

“I don’t believe you,” Nova said gravely. “Something definitely happened while you were in there.”

Kai stared at Nil’s wing with a frown, but he didn’t say anything. Meanwhile, Max grabbed their hands and closed his eyes. When Nil tried to pull away, he held on.

“Stop,” he said. “I’m trying to do something.”

Nil felt mana flowing into them from the point where Max’s hands were touching them. It felt different than normal mana, though—it was fuzzier, less orderly. Instead of coalescing around their heart, it spread across their body, filling it with a strange warmth. Gradually, the buzz of pain Nil had been feeling dissipated. They looked down at their arms, and the blood was gone.

As Max let go of them, Kai grabbed him and started shaking him excitedly. “You know healing magic?” he squealed.

Max awkwardly pulled back from Kai, and sighed. “I got it with the Tactician class. I’m not sure how healing is related to strategy, though.”

“It must be a support class,” Ray said. “The skill I got is a bit… weird.”

Nova scratched her head. “I got a stealth skill.”

Kai chipped in excitedly. “Oh, I got a cool skill!” he said. “I can taunt enemies so they will attack me instead of you guys!”

“Why do you say your skill is weird?” Nova asked Ray.

He let out a nervous chuckle. “Well… It’ll be better to just show you.”

He crouched down and jumped, easily going over ten meters up into the air. He seemed to linger there, at the height of the jump, for longer than should’ve been physically possible. Then, he crashed back down, prompting the others to back away from the spot where he was going to fall. He landed on his feet, having taken no visible damage.

“Woah,” Nova said with wide eyes. “That’s rad.”

Kai turned to Nil with an animated smile. “What did you get, Nil?”

“Well…” They pointed to the wing sprouting from their back.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Kai responded. “Can you fly with it or something?”

Nil rested their chin on their hand. “I don’t know, actually.”

They could definitely fly when they were still a Seraph, but they only had one wing now; it didn’t feel like enough. The truth was, they had been trying not to think about it in the first place.

They focused on it now, closing their eyes. The wing was like a new limb that had been implanted in them. It felt wrong to move it, but they tried anyway, spreading it to its maximum size. They cautiously started flapping it, and their feet left the ground. However, they fell with a grunt as soon as they rose, landing on their wingless side.

“I don’t think it’s going to work without the other one,” they said, defeated.

Kai laughed and helped them up. “Well, you’ll probably get it after you level up again,” he said.

“Maybe…” Nil responded. They weren’t sure it was going to be that easy.

One more thing that had been bothering them was the color of the feathers. In their memories, they had bright white wings, purer than snow. This one was dark, like a raven’s.

“So you didn’t get anything useful?” Nova asked bluntly.

Nil glanced at their hands. “I’m not sure…” they said. If the skill gave them access to a fraction of the power they’d had…

They waved their hand lightly, and a burst of flames shot from it, almost hitting one of the bystanders. Nil had a visceral reaction and immediately bent down, grabbing their stomach, feeling like they were about to vomit. The images of all the people they had burned with the same ability flashed through their head.

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to use this skill…” they said.

Ray patted their back gently. “It’s alright, Nil.”

“Well,” Max said, “I think it’s about time we head out. Did all of you remember to put your things in your catalysts?”

Kai nodded enthusiastically. “I want to see what the outside looks like already! We’ve been stuck here for a whole month!”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“I wonder if it’ll look similar to Earth,” Nova said.

Ray shrugged. “I hope not; it would be more exciting if everything looked different.” He chuckled.

“I wonder if the sky will be a different color or something,” Kai said.

Max sighed. “The sky in our pocket dimensions is as blue as Earth’s, so I doubt that. Why is that the first thing that comes to your mind, anyway?”

Nova turned to Nil. “Are you sure you’re well enough to walk around? We could stay for a bit longer, if you want.”

“I’m fine, I promise,” Nil said, trying their hardest to prevent their legs from shaking.

As the group started walking toward the exit, Nil was stopped by Durai. “Remember our deal,” he said. “Contact Corwyn through the device when you come to a decision.”

Nil nodded weakly and rushed after the others. The five of them stood before the Academy’s colossal gate, which had remained closed for as long as they had been there. As the first ones to go through the ceremony, they would get the chance to open it before anyone else.

“I’m nervous,” Ray said with a smile.

Nova fidgeted with her hair. “It is a bit nerve-wracking.”

“I agree,” Max said. “I’m worried this won’t be any better than Earth after all.”

Kai stepped forward and began pushing the door. “Fortune favors the bold!”

As it creaked open, a cold breeze came in and brushed against Nil’s skin. If they remembered correctly, Owl’s Crown, the city they were in, was built high up on the mountains dividing the western and eastern halves of the continent; it made sense for it to be cold.

White light poured in from the crack that formed as the door opened, and Nil raised an arm to cover their eyes. Once it was fully open, and their eyes were more accustomed to the sight, they took a good look at the outside and their mouth parted by itself in amazement. The others were having similar reactions.

“It’s so pretty,” Nova said.

Ray nodded. “I’m not disappointed, that’s for sure.”

The sky was white as light itself, so covered in clouds that the divisions between them fused with one another, and it was virtually indistinguishable from one giant cloud. Flakes fell down softly, eventually reaching the ground to cover it with a fine layer of snow. The Academy was overlooking the entire city from above, so you could see the rustic stone buildings stretching out from below, covering the valley that housed the town. Snowy peaks surrounded it no matter which way you looked.

At a loss for words, the group walked up to the railing that separated them from a deathly fall. There were long, spiraling staircases on either side which let you descend into the heart of the city, but Nil and the rest were too dazed by the landscape to think about anything else.

“Oh, man,” Kai said, his smile stretching up to his ears. “Where should we go first?” He started bouncing with excitement like a kid.

Max’s eyes lingered on the city as he opened his mouth to respond. “For now, let’s just take a walk.” He headed for the stairs to their left, and the others were quick to follow him. All but Nil, who stood there, still staring and holding onto the railing.

Suddenly, something cold hit them on the side of the head, pulling them out of their reverie.

“What are you doing, Nil?” Ray said, laughing as he crouched down, ready to make another snowball. “Come with us!”

Nil smiled momentarily as they looked at Ray, but it soon turned into a gloomy expression, and they lowered their gaze. “You should go without me,” they said.

“What do you mean?” Ray said, walking up to Nil and grabbing their shoulder. “C’mon, let’s go.”

Nil looked away, closing their eyes. They couldn’t keep it up any longer. It hurt to break away from the group, but it had to be done.

“There’s something I must do,” they said. “By myself.”

Whether that thing was to accept the quest or to find someone willing to end their life, they weren’t sure. Either way, they couldn’t force these people to accompany them.

Ray opened his mouth to protest, but he was interrupted by a voice coming from the stairs.

“Oh!” it said. “You must belong to the latest batch of graduates from the Academy! I have a request for you… Won’t you hear me out?” The voice belonged to an old man, who sounded like he was out of breath.

He supported himself with the railing, breathing in and out heavily, clearly exhausted by the climb.

“Do you need our help with something?” Kai asked.

The man nodded. “My daughter is in danger!” he exclaimed with a shaky voice.

“What?” Ray said. “And you come to us for help? Aren’t there more qualified adventurers available?”

The man shook his head, teary-eyed. “I… I asked for help at the guild, but they all turned me down because I can’t offer a reward.”

“What a bunch of bastards,” Nova said, sighing. “Don’t worry, we’ll help you out. Do you know where she could be?”

The man nodded energetically. “Thank you! She… she likes going to a nearby cave to pass the time. I’m always telling her it’s dangerous, that there could be monsters inside, but she never listens, saying she can handle a slime or two. She left to visit it again two days ago, and she hasn’t come back since.”

“Sounds like a fine mission to start our journey with,” Nova said before turning to the others. “Right, guys?”

Kai, Ray and Max all nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm, but Nil stayed silent.

Nova frowned at them. “Don’t tell me you aren’t coming, because I’ll drag you along myself if I need to.”

“I…” Nil said. They bit their lip, unable to form a response.

At that moment, another person arrived at the scene.

“What’s with this gathering?” Asha said, walking up to the group.

Kai smiled and waved hello to her. “We’re going to help this old man find his daughter!” he said.

“Oh, really?” Asha said, chuckling. “Sounds fun. I’ll tag along, then; I’m dying to try out my new skill.”

Kai excitedly walked over to her. “What class did you get?”

“Spellsword,” she said, prompting a lively gasp from Kai.

“That’s so cool!” he said.

Asha laughed. “I think so too,” she said. “In any case, if someone is missing, we shouldn’t linger here.” She turned to the man. “Can you tell us where to go?”

The man quickly nodded. “I’ll take you to the closest city gate, and I’ll give you directions on how to reach the cave from there.”

Everyone but Nil followed him back toward the stairs. Before reaching them, Ray turned around and called out to Nil. “Don’t be an idiot!” he said. “Come with us. You can decide whether to stick around or not afterward.”

Nil sighed, a faint smile showing on their face. They nodded and caught up with the rest as they began their descent.

Saving someone was more urgent than dealing with their issues. They still needed to go through with the separation after it was over, but… for the moment, they allowed themself to forget about it. Even if it was destined not to last.