A white void filled with countless clouds of dust. Complete silence and a voiceless scream echoing in the distance. Kai’s eyes widened with shock as realization hit him. Back here again… He inhaled sharply as he slowly turned, trying to figure out which part of the nightmare he ended up in. It’s the beginning, that means I have some time. Clenching his fists, he didn’t hesitate to start running in a random direction. His feet didn’t leave any footsteps, nor did the clouds change when he dashed through them. However, at the same time, he let out a low grunt as the seemingly fluffy entity sent a sharp, needle-like pain throughout his entire body. Gritting his teeth, he marched on and picked up the pace despite the unimaginable pain.
His breathing quickly turned ragged, however, he didn’t care about exhaustion or discomfort or any damage that he suffered, all he cared about was running as far away as possible.
The void shook, and the clouds behind him began dispersing each time it did so. A cold shiver ran down his spine however as much as his soul told him to, he didn’t dare look back. With a racing heart and weakening limbs, he kept on running and running, the weird entity behind him seemingly never able to catch up. It’s toying with me again! He yelled inwardly, clenching his fists, unable to contain his anger. Bastard!
Despite all that, he advanced, and the surroundings began to change as he did. The white void slowly turned into a night, countless stars shining upon the black canvas. Kai’s steps halted slightly as he inhaled sharply, his mouth agape as he watched the new environment with widened eyes.
Countless corpses of similarly dressed men and women littered the ground, crimson rivers forming from their blood. He gulped and closed his eyes, refusing to look anymore as he began running again. It’s an illusion, it’s not real! It’s not real! However, no matter how many times he told himself that, the awful feeling rooted deep within his psyche refused to listen. The battlefield he ran through was much too familiar to him. He ran and ran, stumbling upon corpses and rocks, hurting himself in the process as he stubbornly refused to watch the massacre, even with the fearful entity close on his chase.
It’s not real! He screamed with shut eyes. However, as he bit his lower lip, the temperature suddenly changed, and he was surrounded by a frozen hellscape. Buildings as tall as the trees from the Dark Forest surrounded him, accompanied by lamp posts, shops, and everything the modern world encompassed. However, everything was covered in a thick layer of ice, including the ground, which Kai instantly slipped on.
Falling, he closed his eyes and the world changed once again, this time to a veritable hellscape. There were no signs of human activity. The earth, albeit covered in molten lava, fire, ash, and dust, seemed at peace. A shocked sigh escaped Kai’s body, his pupils widening. His entire body trembled as he watched the unfamiliarly familiar sights burn away into nothingness. A tear ran down his cheek, which landed in the ocean of lava, immediately changing the surroundings to the surface of a calm ocean. The sky, as blue as it could ever be gave the water a similar color.
He advanced, briefly forgetting about why he was running in the first place, and simply enjoyed the rippling of the ocean as he stepped upon it. Just like a rock thrown into a pond, his presence left behind ripples that met and destroyed one another until none remained complete. Biting his lip, he kneeled and touched the water, however, a thunderous boom echoed in the area just as he did so, followed by a quick bolt of lighting which transformed the tranquility into a disastrous storm. Waves crashed against his body, sending him flying everywhere, which slowly turned red, becoming more and more aggressive.
Bloody water forced its way into his lungs, depriving him of oxygen. Holding his hands to his neck, he tried swimming, he tried running, he tried getting away, however, the unforgiving tides refused to let him go.
Before he could even get a proper footing, a huge wave brought him to the bottom of the ocean, where he gave away his last breath of air, which slowly floated to the surface and scattered into the bloody wind.
“Interesting…” an ancient, archaic voice echoed within the storm, followed by a light chuckle which slowly faded away…
…
Kai’s eyes snapped open, his widened pupils staring at the ceiling as sweat trickled down his blazing skin. The clothes he wore stuck to his body, revealing his pale skin as they became see-through. A puddle formed under him, permeating his bed sheets. The chandelier’s light blinded his hazy vision, which slowly returned to normal as he blinked rapidly. Tears fell on his cheeks, and his chest heaved heavily as he tried to calm down his rapid breathing. He slowly stood up, leaning against the bed frame, and held a hand close to his heart, which threatened to jump out of his chest.
Onyx rushed to his side, licking his face and trying to get him to calm down by placing his head on Kai’s lap. The boy pats the Obborik’s fluffy head as he inhales deeply and exhales slowly, helping him gradually calm down. A few minutes passed, and the sound of ragged breathing became less and less present as Kai managed to get his nerves under control. Onyx let out a low yelp, licking his face and jumping onto his lap, curling up like a cat and doing his best to fit despite almost crushing Kai due to his weight.
“Arggh… get off of me you… fatass!” He groaned and did his best to put the beast off of him, however, the effort turned out to be fruitless as Onyx’s weight turned out to be too much, even for Kai’s current strength. “C’mon boy get off, I’m fine now.” The Obborik’s ears twitched, and his tail wagged rapidly back and forth as he removed himself from Kai’s bed, and only placed his head back on his lap.
Letting out a light chuckle, Kai ruffled Onyx’s fluff and let out a large sigh. His lips smacked as they parted, and a quiet, raspy voice escaped his body as he said, “Thank you…”. Closing his eyes, he sighed once again and slowly got up, looking back at the bed and then at his clothes. I don’t remember the entire dream, but it must have been pretty bad… His legs trembled slightly as he walked toward the shower, not bothering to get any extra clothes as he hurried to get the sweat and dirt off of his body.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
…
Aina and Elizabeth sat on a sofa in the living room, and in front of them, placed on the coffee table, two cups of warm coffee emanated an intoxicating, alluring smell. Kai stood opposite them, on a couch and read and commented on his findings, which he wrote in the journal. “There’s nothing much to add compared to last week. I tried to fuse the two techniques countless times but failed each time. My understanding of how they work is too shallow.”
“I see,” Aina said, taking a sip from her cup. “How much have you progressed?”
“I’ve almost reached the medium core level, however, it feels like it’s taking an eternity. The amount of mana absorbed decreases as I advance. At this rate, the most I’ll be able to get is one star without actually taking an eternity to advance.”
“Hmm, according to the data you’ve written down you should be able to reach the one-star rank in one to two months, after which progress will almost completely stagnate,” Elizabeth said after snatching the notebook from Kai’s hands.
“That’s right, I’m not sure how I can advance afterward.”
“I think the problem is that the mana quality is too poor here, even with the barrier filtering it from the outside,” Aina said after thinking for a good minute.
“Mana quality? Is that why when I first stepped foot here my mana veins almost exploded?”
“Yes, that’s precisely why. To begin with, mana quality differs depending on where you are on the continent. In the Vampire Kingdom, mana is so scarce and poor in quality it’s considered poison to some, but in Evicario and the Dwarven Mountain range it is passable.” Aina explained, manifesting a pen out of thin air and grabbing the notebook from Elizabeth. “In Aravia the mana quality is considerably better, but I cannot vouch for the other parts of the continent. The Dark Forest and The Great Forest both have great amounts of pure mana, however everything else is beyond my scope. I haven’t explored the rest personally, nor have others before me as it’s simply too dangerous.”
“Not even the high-ranking court mages?” Kai asked, feeling a bit puzzled.
“Well, they don’t exactly care for such matters. This brings me to another thing. The barrier that protects my residence also filters the mana from outside and siphons it inside, making it easier for us to train and cast spells using it. It’s about twice as pure as the one outside, however, it’s not that big of an improvement compared to the facilities in the Magic Academy and Royal Palaces.”
“Even two times isn’t a lot? Then what is considered a lot?”
“Well… Five times is the minimum in the Magic Academy and ten times in the Evicario Royal Palace, so you can discern how pure the mana in those places must be.”
Kai’s mouth turned agape upon hearing that, and he fidgeted with his fingers as he thought about Arthur’s proposal. Going to the Magic Academy would mean that I get to train faster in a better environment… but also means losing my freedom. He grits his teeth, weighing the pros and cons, however in the end he lets out a sigh and lays back on the sofa.
“Not an easy decision to make now, is it?” Elizabeth asked, sipping from her coffee. “Though I would suggest going out to gain experience first. Most of the people in that academy are stuck up and don’t know hardship. Spoiled brats, hmph.”
Aina nodded in agreement, however, her lips parted after a brief moment of contemplation. “That’s true, however, the kids in special classes are mostly comprised of commoners or low-ranking nobles. Not to mention Kai’s situation… I think he’s already gone through a lot.”
Silence descended upon the three, and Kai let out a light chuckle to diffuse the situation. “It’s alright, I’m not sure which path to take but I’ll decide when Sverik leaves, I still have some time until then.”
“That’s right, don’t be hasty in decision-making,” Aina said as she crossed her legs. “Speaking of, I think Euphy wants to take you hunting outside to see how well you do against wild animals, I’m not sure when though.”
“Next week,” Elizabeth added, “I’ll be accompanying them just in case.”
“Ah- That’s great!” Kai leaned forward, a dumb smile plastered on his face. “I’m so tired of getting my ass kicked by her!”
“So you want to get your ass kicked by the savage animals then?” Elizabeth chuckled, covering her mouth with one hand. Aina quickly followed suit, and Kai’s face immediately turned as red as a tomato.
“Hey! It won’t be like that, I’m telling you, plus I’ll take Onyx with me, let’s see who dares fight me then!”
“Well, the snake you brought back when you first arrived dared to…” Aina said with a wide smile. “Though that’s a pretty rare common occurrence you should be fine now, they’re pretty weak.
“That one doesn’t count. Speaking of, what did you do with the scales and everything?”
“Oh! I almost forgot about that. Well, we ate the meat… a long time ago. As for the scales, well I asked Old Nick to make you an armor out of it… And I think he’s already done with making it, well probably has been for a few months now. Oh Goddess he must be so annoyed… you should go fetch it with Euphridia later.”
“Huh, why don’t you go get it?”
“I don’t need him yelling at me, I’ve had enough of his complaints over these past few centuries, it’s time to pass on the torch.”
“The torch of… his yelling?”
Aina turned to Kai, looking at him straight in the eyes, and said in a very serious tone. “Yes.”
“Arrgh, fine. I’ll go pick it up once the sun goes down, until then I’ll keep meditating.” Kai got up after saying that and rushed to his room, the growling of his stomach echoing in the hallway. “I’ll go eat first, then meditate!”
The two women looked at each other and let out a hearty laugh before their expressions turned serious once again.
“Euphridia said Kai is having nightmares,” Aina said in a concerned voice.
“I know, she also told me. They seem-.” Elizabeth said, however, she couldn’t even finish her sentence before Aina interrupted her.
“They’re messing with him, did you notice he seems… different?”
“Ugh, I was about to say that.” Elly rolled her eyes and pouted.
“Haha, sorry, sorry.” Aina chuckled. “But I do wonder what could be going on with him, or what his nightmares may mean.”
Elizabeth sighed and fell into contemplative silence, however in the end only shrugged and leaned against the sofa. “They’re his demons to fight, we can’t do anything about it.”
“You’re right, but we can still help him-”
“Maybe he doesn’t want help, if he did he would have told us already. Let’s let him be for the time being and wait.”
Aina nodded and leaned back as well, picking up a book from nearby and flipped through its pages, filling the silence with its song.