PART 4: BLACK HOLES
I couldn't nod compliancy how Exos Beluna was shown effective to Ainari — she was expressing the properties of ores to me ahead of time. Significantly, after saved her from the undead, she felt indebted a life in me.
In short, gradually hanged down on her eyelids, her magic immunity held the threshold until it burst at once for its supreme sensation to enter. She fell. To sleep.
Honestly, this didn't work. Each of her affection gave me a petty chill into my overworked back, right on the centre backbone. I softened fingers on my strained-nape, considering how her annoyance had any distinctive than before. It was more like her real continuation that tormented me, mentally and physically.
Relocating her head before she drowned inside the overflowed mushroom soup, my hand flicked the bowl firmly onto the chair. I tugged a tissue twice from the box and scrubbed Ainari's drowse face for a white blot of spicy-pepper smell. Grabbed her by legs and neck, I elevated and furbished her uneven spine on the levelled mattress assuming the hotel maid tidied up during daylight of our faraway.
After threw a freshwater on the stain spot right at the surface of the indulgent carpet, I pressed the dried cloth within two seconds and whereupon I released all liquid out from it with a beastmen-strong twist. I turned my head up.
From the top of the smoothness bed, Ainari's chest raised and lowered in a balanced ratio of her breath. She deadly had a dream of a happy life.
I heaved a large sigh as levitated my upper body into the chair. It wasn't tiredness I sighing approximately but a prognostication about what would Ainari do after awaken of her from the dream. Having all my free time in my hand, I decided to continue preparation for the final exam. Magic exam.
My father had mastered one of the highest insane spells, Hauspi Fyolin. Not even a missile or rocket could beat in speed, force attack, and wind defence. Normally, one needed to pass several spells of the corresponding type before they could fetch the highest tier. Notwithstanding so, my father anyhow exploited the magic system and overcame his brain to adapt with ridiculous exactness magic circles, copious complex calculation variables, and I didn't sure how much he had to weight-lift his brain so it wouldn't backfire and explode. It could. If the casting failed. And he didn't merely subdue those overwhelmed-hurdles but also skilled. Highly skilled. Indeterminately out-through-roof-high mastery of not spelling the name anymore.
Such an accomplishment would be illogical and madcap. No human could accept before-mentioned lucky skip not one tier but several of them.
If I remembered correctly, there were six tiers of the spells that a practician needed to pass in flying magic: Bavolin(First Tier), Eagelin(Second Tier), Trafelin(Third Tier), Salvolin(Fifth Tier), Genlin(Eight Tier), and Hauspi Fyolin(Tenth Tier).
Currently, I tried to upgrade my aptitude from Eagelin into Trafelin. It would provide me with a speed of a bullet or basically car and I could perform a fast dash and a sharp turn. It would help me if I had to run or something. But most people preferred to use Eagelin, since the Third Tier was all about a job because it required a lot of patience for upgrading spell tier. Also a license and probably two years of training. No matter what it was, First and Second Tiers were harmless thus no need license or permission.
When the spell commonly utilised a bunch, the terms would be merged into one word. The last {lin} deviated from Fyolin; aerial, floaty, or a weightless object. The reason of Tenth Tier of Flying Magic didn't mix into Haulin because the spell wasn't possible to cast by anyone. Twelve casters exactly required for the spell to be activated on one target and it wasn't something to be cast every day or every year.
Yet, my father achieved alone and I didn't know-how. I regretted I didn't spend recognition when he tried to teach me before. He did. And now he had departed, I couldn't digest how he discovered the secret and what.
Overall, there were three stages: Basic Tier(1-3), Advance Tier(4-6) for expert, Super Tier(7-8) for one of the thousand lucks. Nine and eight tiers didn't exist, therefore, required multiple casters. Except for my father and some rare fortunate people. After that, two more invisible tiers that classified as Unique Tier(11) for the unexplainable miracle that sometimes chanced in the world and Ultimate Tier(12) that refer only to prophets. Anything further would be outside human's capability.
In high school, people learnt common magic from Second Tier. But occasionally, someone able reached the Third Tier such as Erika the Job of Haiye, a powerful fire caster; and Ainari the Job of Ingle; a fast mana arrow caster.
The third Tier was all about {Job} spells. People learned their careers in university or college. If there was a person who able to learn before that intended age, they would earn a title to determine the impossible which greatly helped them in a lot of things.
I grabbed the sandglass from my pocket and lifted above my head toward the lamp; it cracked a bit and had a low brightness than before. "What spell that interfere with time?"
Closing my eyes and peering into my memory of my father, I fell to sleep after training to maintain Annom.
After a few hours, our four teachers brought the whole school trip to hiking activity on the mountain after rode using the cable car to three of four portions of the mountain's tall.
Unfortunately, I with my group was held the furthest back so the gratitude for Ainari. She couldn't handle her stamina management. Despite out of breath, she continued talking to me about the snow that started to appear. From the far distance, we saw some students had finished the hiking at the peak, rewarding themselves in hot foods and hot glasses of milk.
I needed a hot to warm my body.
White cloudy snows blazed the brown solid surface, our leg dived by a half melvi. The frosty wind had made us more arduous to breathe. We lost oxygen. We lost quickly. I couldn't feel my face or my stomach. Added by Ainari's strangeness seeking a way toward my personal zone, my lungs were stabbed by the sound of desperate heartbeats and Ainari's prattles.
No thought for anything else other than myself. Hah, air.
My scarf and gloves didn't stop me from coldness. It was comfortable with them having all suitable attires for themselves. What Ainari showed was more because of her fault for not training her body properly. Someone should give her advice to not use her wings when in the gym class, but she wasn't fairy now.
I thought, cursing my dress for not allowed extra clothes.
Unfortunately, the dress answered my wish in very irrationally. At the moment of notice, my cursed dress wildly transformed; wolf furs bloomed around the neckband and the sleeves, tickling my nose. Almost snorted. The bear furs spread toward my chest, on the other hand, my pant grew thicker and rougher. Heat slowly accumulated as I saw smoke coming beneath my chin and out of my hand.
I didn't know how and I didn't care. I patted my chest, conveying my highest gratefulness.
I forget that this dress was made by star grade runes. Of course, it might have an explanation in the alchemy world. If I returned to Veizralia and asked that blacksmith, perhaps he would say this dress had been processed through high secretive family traditional alchemical techniques. Although, the dress didn't change in appearance. Grey with green outlines.
Ainari who advancing beside me flatted down. Her butt swam into the snow, her eyes blinking at me. "Why you don't change just now?" She grew tired, focus on getting more air than expelling at my smart dress.
I ignored her and continued exercising like before. Erika, Thlesy, and Onyeka were ahead of me so they didn't see Ainari behind.
Several steps completed, a sudden hesitation turned me around. Ainari didn't budge from the location, they began to realize my and Ainari's lateness.
"We're so close," Erika said, watching students surrounded a nourishment tent. She then looked at every one of us. "Nice dress, Siqura — wait, where is Ainari?"
"Ah. You're right." Thlesy hawked through the misty atmosphere. "Do you see her, Siqura? She seems can't leave you alone since then."
Apparently, Ainari was so far away that the gelid clouds around the forestland steep had obscure what down of the mountain. We couldn't see any building other than countless batter of snows.
I stepped down and pushed through it as everyone followed me unwillingly. We had been waking earlier before the sun and hiking for about three hours. The cable cars didn't build all the way to the top because of unstable terrain. Or from what I assumed.
"Ainari!" yelled Thlesy.
"Ainari!" Erika screamed into the trees. "Say something if you're inside!" She knocked on the trunk part.
"I found her." Onyeka pointed behind one of the trees. "Over here."
I left the place where I last saw her; she had crawled into there when the wind was about to blow her off the mountain. Ainari leaned down behind a tree, intelligently used it as a cover. What I suspected from a model student.
When we surrounded her, she slowly opened her eyes, moving toward me intently. I squeezed my eyes shut. "You're late," she said heavily. "Very late."
"What happen to you?" Thlesy crouched and raised Ainari from been entombed under snow cover.
"We need to draw her up fast," Erika said, ducking into high snow-terrain toward her.
Erika and Thlesy grabbed each of Ainari's arms and decided to put her over their necks. But Ainari had no power on her own to stand, three of them sank back spontaneously. Onyeka then rushed and aided them. Still couldn't as they were exhausted. We're, including me.
Thlesy jumped with snow piles swaggered out and rubbed her body to have a frustrate heat. "We need to alert all teachers." Her shoulders upraised, her neck rotated left and right in hurry. She stretched her arms and shook again.
If this magic world, we could cast Eagelin spells to get out or Erika could produce fire with Frusen Haiye. My spigen was too small to support such little spells and I had no time to learn other beneficial spells either. All my time was stolen by my part-time stupid joke spells! Absurd.
"W-Why you look angry?" Thlesy said, realized I stomped my leg. However so, due to how Ainari treated me, they never disgusted by my selfishness to desert Ainari.
Onyeka and Erika were about to travelling back toward the top for our teachers.
But they held when I drove toward Ainari and hauled both her arms over my shoulders. Gripped both her thighs, my both hands raised her into my back. My left leg was weakened by unexpected discomfort, Thlesy hastened to catch me.
"I'm fine." I bounced Ainari once to secure her position atop.
"You're a good-hearted, you know?" Thlesy sighed a relief. She was a leader of our abrupt group.
"Um..."
"Even after what Ainari did to you, you're still attending her."
"I..." I reminded myself why I assisted her. "I don't understand what are you expressing about."
"It's okay because I did."
* * *
Alphion Abyss.
All denizens-bones were almost deteriorated by pismires and duskiness. Some survived, depending on protection from well geometry constructed areas. But for a century, all conjured into mummies in a caged box for slaves. Lost age.
With an insane number of levels and depth, it well said the civilization had built multiple-level cities until they reached all the way to the core of the earth. People who lived in the lowest level were the aristocracy while the highest floor for helots. It might have to do with the circumstance of the earth's surface at that era.
And so, because of the distance depth of this Alphion Civilization, it was called as Alphion Abyss.
The entrance was at the peak where excavators entered and searched many more shreds of evidence about this ancient culture. Also, typical treasures were locked in ten unknown-material plates stacked around the depository, almost in each level. So far, only seven levels they had explored. Whether the number was good or bad, it was actually quite smaller for comparison to the overkilled-height of the mountain. It was quite intriguing reports: instant kill traps activated around pathways, moving walls shifted automatically in mazes, and doors sometimes opened out of now where it leading to the impossible exit.
The one who discovered this amazing civilization was the one only Avicenna during his travel when searching for inspiration. That was why the island named after him. There was a theory that Avicenna was able to make such a powerful formula of that elixir because of this Alphion discovery.
The mysterious technology what gave the meaning to the Alphion Abyss. It wasn't a maze. It was a whole different world.
"Here," Thlesy offered me hot milk and the other one for the resting Ainari. There was a hot blanket on top her eyes abusively wet and smoky.
"Urgh. My head." Her hand rummaged around blindly for the cup.
But Thlesy raised it higher. "Get up or the cup will spilt. Stop playing a sick. Go apologies to Siqura."
"Sorry, Siqura," groaned Ainari while searching for the paper cup blindly.
Halvenzo was our Sehergic(Healing Magic) teacher. Nothing to worry as what proclaimed by Halvenzo because Ainari had a warmblood and her chest was very high resistance against thick air. As we're further away from the earth's surface, it became harder to breathe with low oxygen around. However, I assumed Ainari as the fairy had used to fly at higher environment condition. She lost wings but not adaptability in a high elevation.
Therefore, she had TRICKED me to LIFT her up toward the peak of the mountain. But to prevent anyone from found it, she was stupidly playing sick after Halvenzo said that.
I slurped the hot milk as I watched the entrance of Alphion Abyss, intently to calm down. Many excavators moving in and out. Some of them were not. Excavator.
In this area, lavish-tents were built around to give various supports for people exploring the Alphion Abyss.
We rested for several minutes.
The snow started clearing out of hindrance, the area began enlarging, more tents appeared moving from what I couldn't perceive before. People out from the tents with excavation tool, not pickaxe and glowing stone but also portable ladders, ropes, knives, lock picked needles, and other safety measurements were shoved into the backpacks.
Funny though, the steam world which full of wastelands appeared more prepared than them.
At the side of the entrance, there was a wooden house that functioned to get a name for every person who passed by. They gave five hours maximum for visitors so that if the time exceeded, a search party would work inside and save them. Only excavators could choose how long they wanted to explore inside, depending on permission they could get.
Many campfires sites were hooked for people who wanted staying a night or two. There was one more huge building next to the cliff that stored foods and equipment of such. Other than those two, all buildings were replaced with tents or simple roofed shelter without walls to give camping like feeling.
Unfortunately, we had to return at the end of the day. We had a schedule for cooking activity after exploration but only that.
Rest time was over, we wrote our name on the visitor list once a clock was hit an eight. We should out around noon.
Shadows consumed us, we wandered inside darkness for ten seconds before blueish light transpired visible at the corner.
"Welcome to the Alphion Abyss." The guide began explaining the overall map, restricted areas, and safety precaution to stay in the group.
But Halvenzo joined in the middle and cut the guide's words discourteously in a split half. "Let's warm our bodies to prevent the unwanted situation." She started a Gym class, we obeyed without question. "You, move your hips more. If not, your string would break and snap your bones. Come on, everybody. Push everything to limit! One two, go. One two, go."
"I forget how annoying she was," said Thlesy, singing with one ugly beat.
"Alright, enough~" Benseling grabbed her in the waist and hoisted her out the way from the guide.
"Naaaah! Don't stop me! Youngster these days don't understand how dangerous the cave can be. Don't be lazy."
"Oh, so dark. And haunted. Ha-ha-ha. Cool~"
"Hah!" Halvenzo startled at the sound of howling bats, she squirmed from the grip of a royal knight on his shoulder.
"This is fun right, Halvenzo." Benseling was slackly laughing, he moved inside despite receiving hatred. "We will go ahead. I leave them to you two." He referred to the other two teachers: a real Gym teacher and an Economy teacher. Benseling taught Literature both magical and ancient languages and he was very good at that. I had {A} plus in his exam and an attribute that allowed me to understand magic circles deeper. And he was my second favourite teacher.
They vanished inside with Halvenzo's last scream. Her overboard energy would survive with the pendulum clock Benseling.
"Huu... That's very an interesting parent you have." The guide awkwardly attempted a gag. He then proceeded with the explanation when no one laughing.
"Where should we go first?" Thlesy checked the map on the lit wall.
"Let's go to the lowest level." Erika smiled, it made Thlesy huffed.
"Are you sure?" Thlesy gave the biggest smile to us. "There might be traps and snakes around."
I turned toward Onyeka.
"Why you look at me like that?" Onyeka felt my stare, her hand continued waving in the circle. "Do you attracted by my charm? Uhuhu."
"No... I thought you are going to dance now."
"Should I, dance?" Onyeka dropped her arm, wore the first-step stance.
"No... I think it's not a time for your charm. Look, they are going now."
Onyeka walked where I pointed and began descending from the stairs. Made sure no one here, I cast my magic, Hitsan Annom here and decorated it next to the glowing stone for concealment purpose. Hopefully, it would be useful later on.
We used stairs and went to the tenth floors. Our plan was to visiting each floor and slowly advancing up. There wasn't much light other than the glowing stones filled the space, not too bright. Some area were well lit but many intentionally left in blank.
"Wow." Erika looked down from the platform, her voice bounced around the dirt of the caves. It connected with the ceiling like the tallest pillar. Not one but many as if an opened-mouth with elastic saliva. And every pillar had numerous emptied-windows calculated for ten floors. Down there, there were several roads on the scooped layout.
I reeled her away from the guardrails. "Y-You're going to fall."
"This..." Erika pressed her chest, she appeared about to fly.
"Hey!" Heeey... Heey... Hey... H... It echoed. Thlesy put again her tunneling palms into her big mouth. "Erika is exhibitionist." Exhibitionist... Exhibi... Ex...
"W-Wowo! I'm not, hah! What the problem with sleeping naked — ah." Erika crouched and covered her face. That last word was growing bigger and higher until it shook the ceiling a lot. It calmed down after a few seconds. But it felt like an eternity. Imagine if any student was here.
Around the level, there was no open hole or anything similar around. Which meant, the air here ought to be consolidated and overpriced. Yet, we could purchase as much air as we yearned it like we at the foot of the mountain, surrounded by sturdy trees. There was nothing strange about breathing here. Even the upside-down underground city during eject season in the steam world had a bit gravity sickness and harsh air conditional. How this place sustained air movement for centuries?
We accessed the stairs from the platform — not the one to upper level but — we moved down onto the ground.
Anything we saw was dirt sculptures with a brown hot surface. Dirt post lights, dirt doors, dirt stairs — I didn't know what I was seeing. Everything felt half-made. Along with these structures, electrical was established inside, making some part appeared dimly sprouting out. It couldn't be perceived as the cable system was dried and hidden. Yet, my hand fondled the aura emitted by the electric. The movement darzah — the smallest entity — crept beneath the ground and toward the towering pillars. It was alive. I wondered where the generator stored.
Since other students went from the first level and slowly descended, there was no one here other than hollowness; a huge monster mouth shaped-landscape had created hundred bat's sonic vibe, an eerie of some sort; occasionally, water dropped somewhere, travelled until here, it messed up the accuracy of the sound base; especially, I picked up rotating gear sound that reminded me about that undead secret factory.
Delusion. I didn't want to imagine what it was like living in darkness for a long and a long time.
I looked at a massive mineshaft for some sort of transportation like abnormal-size mining cart.
Other than that, there was nothing more I could relate. It was a coldness, hardness, and desolation world for this level. Perhaps, there was more lively than it was used to. But I couldn't see the reason. When I scouted and attempted to picture who living here, all I could see was a group of helots, was forced to do some mining.
Did this mean we not yet in the truth of the Alphion Civilization?
"Oh! What is this?" Erika ran after looking a small door beside that passageway. It was opened currently. "Hey, guys! I could see outside."
Thlesy and Onyeka looked at each other and proceeded inside. Ainari sighed and tossed back a stone she found beside the road. I followed her soon.
There was a control room based on mechanical kinds of stuff lying around; most of them compiled in an assortment of buttons. There was a large opportunity for daylight to invade inside along the one side. Thlesy and Onyeka watched outside with Erika pointed above where she mentioned about watching ant-tiny people on the surface. I saw a flood of them visiting this Alphion Abyss, the edge of the gigantic hole.
Ainari seemed uninterested, she passed over me to the far behind of the other door. A symbol with one slant and five long loops dragged out of it. It gave an illusion of one wing drew on the door. She gave one touch.
Out of sudden, one black brightness exploded at the outside but the shockwave discharged until here, shook the ground and excited the ceiling. Eventually, the crushed rocks shelled out and dived straight on her head. I sped up, jumped toward her, and pushed her body through the door.
I looked behind in a hurry when it started to dark.
"Siqura! Ainari!" Erika yelled, about to be squashed by a lump of big rocks.
"No!" I urged. "Get back!"
Erika stopped without grasping why I warned her. Thlesy tugged her out in the last moment before all rocks untidily and unobtrusively somehow bricked the whole door until no light able to penetrate through. With her last voice came, the final piece shut the rest of the gap.
"Erika!" I rushed closer, applied force from this side. No sound from the other side, neither the handful of rocks budged. I reached for my spigen, my hand halted. Ainari was somewhere here in complete dark and she would know about my secret magic.
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With undead around looking for her, separated with them would be more of the risk. I used Fodem with the addition of strength and twice the maximum effect. The rocks stirred but it gave a chance for the ceiling to throw more heavyweights on the door, I stepped back. I made the worst.
From the way it appeared, the control room actually collapsed because that spell didn't give me even a crack toward the room's window.
With no light post saved by Alphion or glowing jewel planted by the excavators, we surely blocked inside unexplored areas. I cast Annom to give visibility and revelation about the given misfortune in the place. Bit by bit, Ainari's face merged on the floor with painful facial.
"A-Are...you okay?" I said, giving a small glance over Ainari ankles. Her arms and legs were fine too.
"Dammit..." Grumbling, she patted her head in uneasy personality. She rolled her head around aimlessly and then we caught another underground city. "Is this even a real city?"
We assumed the last was a city. But after watched this, we knew by heart that was only its entrance or part of this level.
There was a dimly red road straightened until the tallest grim bone-hands clock tower. There were five giant tickling blade spears cornered at four intersections of the roof and the middle spear was the biggest spook. It constructed as some sort of punishment for this dark city. The road had skeletons sprouted whole body cruelly. In fact, it could be many more beneath like beaten-fruits in a gelatin slime.
"Hm?" Ainari turned hastily. "What was that, Siqura?"
I shuddered upon hearing my name on her mouth without disdainfulness or malevolence message. On my palm, there were five various-size magic circles motioned like a clock. Some in the inverse direction. There up above, hovering magical ball of pure white radiation moulded to save mana usage for a long duration. Once those magic circles left, I would lose control of the effect. Subsequently, I suppressed my mental constraint to discard the weight. It was for precaution if I needed to turn off the light but didn't want to waste fresh mana point later.
"It's nothing..."
"Don't play a stupid game now." Ainari got up, didn't even hide her irritation about our current situation. After all, the city had no light at all. Thanks for Annom, some cold-buildings sneaked out of the shadow to wish for its light too.
I squeezed my tired eyes. "It's magic." I pushed the answer she wanted to hear most. I wondered because of magic, I felt sleepy quicker than usual. After all, I practised magic a lot last night. Once said, using magic exercised the brain as jogging did with the physical body. Tired mind begot hasty decision.
"This is the worst premise ever." Ainari glanced, modest. "But thanks...for saving me again. I, all, but a bad person to you, yet you still protect me. So, let me treat you caffular. After we escape from this nightmare."
This pattern, I remembered it. Trying to be calm, I raised my stare toward her.
"What...?" Ainari jerked to back. "I'm just...to apologize."
"Um."
"Oh-ho. Someone does homework." Ainari was laughing but her hand had looped into my arm to the point of touching her double watermelons. I realized how beautiful Ainari from a close look, I squinted toward her chest unconsciously. "N-Now. Let's go out from here," she said in quivering hands.
My eyes rapidly danced in confusing as she mustered her load onto me. I pinched my lips together. Why she was too close? Something was wrong with my bully doing this to me. I eagerly put my ear over her rustling intake to detect lies as poisonous as Snakeman's venom.
No conclusion for consideration rate, I hurried forward with frowning.
"Wait. Walk, patiently."
I peeked at her face. "A-Are you, perhaps, no good with darkness?"
"Ghost? Ghost is unreal."
"I never...said ghost."
"You did.
"No..."
"Yes, you did."
"Um...okay."
Ainari jumped away from me. "Hmph. Go away, leave this young lady out alone. Maybe you will be satisfied. Yeah, I'm scared of ghost. Do you have a problem?"
< As I said, it...> I lost my concern, I didn't sure how to pursue her, therefore I walked away just as she suggested.
"Dammit, Siqura!" Ainari gripped my hand. "Why you leave me alone?"
"Eh...um...I'm sorry. You told me to go away."
"Hah. You are really good for nothing. How honest you can be? I know what I did is wrong. But if the victims don't give an effort to fight back, it's their fault. You know that? That's why the more foolish you are, the more I want to see your face in tear and fright. So, stop playing like an innocent — there again! You look on the floor for a second time. It's very rude."
Why this pattern continued?
"So...do I have to leave you as a way to fight back?"
"How about we sign a treaty paper for now?" Ainari grabbed my arms more willingly than before. So strong that I could feel through my cursed dress that included with thin armour plate her fingers knocked into my blood vessel. My arm metamorphosed into steel and unheated.
Either way, I still felt something off about taking my revenge by omitting her alone. Erika would without a doubt hate me for life.
Without an answer, I cast Notera Annom and put variables into the light that I placed earlier at on the first level. Magic circles and so on motioned, one firefly-orb materialized in the air from the mana.
The distance it covered was quite great in quality as well, so even there were nine levels between us, precisely that it could reach Hitsan Annom but not the sky. The name of Home Light really brought out the homely feeling as travellers of years missing returned to the village. They used Notera Annom to find spell cast by the villages. This the reason for the Hitsan Annom creation. Without this spell, Notera Annom would have a long time before it could locate an object without searching for a wrong target. It was First Tier and it happened all the time.
No second had passed and the spell only made to alive, it already determined my target's characteristics. The magic effect which Hitsan Annom and the identification in form of mana brightness which zero. Matched the entity with these two clues, it circled in suspending period until in moved closer to the Notera Annom about two melvi.
"Since when you learn magic?" Ainari had no thought to leave my arm any soon, we followed the tiny light with a scrunch each of her shoe-step. We took an earth path beside the road since we couldn't put our feet on that buried skeletons-road.
"I don't remember." It wasn't like she believed me.
"Come on, Siqura. Give me an interesting story to accompany us in this sadistic city."
That was a heavy blame to give for the old city but I couldn't say the other. Between a scale tall of the crumbled buildings, we spot once in a while device that looked like a mummy coffin with shape and space resembled human adult. There were needles made by an ocean of animal sharp teeth, some huge and some as tiny as an ant-hairy.
Ainari gave a pouting look as I didn't respond.
We soon encountered an arc-thinned board where should be the human head there. Above it, a giant blade in two pillars at the side waited. The rope suddenly snapped by its time, the blade dashed down and clanked in the soundless city, I and Ainari bumped unseen trash and fell over.
We turned around at nothing. But not long before nothing. From nothing, inflated black anatomy. A homunculus viscous figure formed a jaws-full grin. Wide side to side, it dumped its body over us, I pushed Ainari as I ducked to back. She fainted.
This unusual homunculus gave a screech across its glossy bright-white jaws as sharp as an iron maiden.
I hoisted Ainari to my back then ran.
The homunculus of course chased us with that frozen grin. Like a painted inanimate doll. But its limps agitated. Too indefatigable vitality. We shook.
"Hah... Uwah... Hah..." I sped up my legs but the thud from the homunculus made me think it already got me, slowing me down due to false illusion. "If you are nice, say now!" Why I even asked?
As my right-hand bent, the magic circle disrupted a bit, thus making Annom appeared and disappeared. When I gripped the knife's hilt, the light began flickering fast.
Pointed spigen in front me, I shouted, "{Sicrony: Frusen Earth}." The spell collected soil-dust from the air into a mud ball or a pebble but I modified one magic circle so it dug the ingredient from the ground instead.
Because it would take time for First Tier, I cast at a long distance. I jumped over my trap once arrived, many dirt gathered around the edge, the homunculus bolted toward us and plopped straight like a distracted child had eyes on the butterfly on the sky, not realizing walking into the cliff.
I spread my palm over the hole, the Annom lit down to the homunculus attempting to climb but futile. It created with a black matter substance, easily blended in the darkness. I wondered what would happen to us if I was not hurried. Or had no magic.
I might be getting used to this ever since the undead underground base. Ainari pretty much whited out.
"Do you have the last words?" I recited a line from a novel went off by the title, {I'm not an idiot!} by Emuin Moaleno. When the protagonist buried the person alive, it turned out making the victim stronger after getting bite by a mystical creature. That when his friend asked the question and he gave an answer which on the title.
I cast a same previous spell without Welno, the remaining soil nurtured in a swelled ball, I dropped it right into the hole without hearing its answer.
The air relinquished out immediately, I had a long breath for my present to escape from whatever that was. What wandering-homunculus doing here alone in this dark city? Chains, iron balls, handcuffs, whips...only these items were found everywhere. It seemed as this city was made for that one reason. Plus, with that scary homunculus, I wondered if it was used as a torture device too.
But since I couldn't get the feel, I thought because I used to see undead before. I meant it was obvious weird for someone like strong Ainari was knocked out easily from that attempt. Although I wanted to see more how Ainari panicked, I forced myself for a way out. Erika and the two might out there looking for us.
I continued my journey in this city, having Notera Annom as my guide. Ainari remained in a blank face on my back, a soul about to hop out of her mouth. Seriously, it wasn't like she got hurt or something. I never knew Ainari was this weak. Why I always lost then?
Ah. Strong magic and her strong minions. She had no magic and her minions weren't around. Was this her true self then?
Passing over the same emptied-bellied building, Notera Annom stopped when my feet turned the other way. Near the way out stairs on the other side of the city, there was a room lit up and a shadow of a person. Because I proceeded there, the Notera tailed behind me to control the distance.
I crouched, picking Ercient stood in the middle. He held a book.
The book had a flying ghost-like bald head wearing a white blanket. Also eye-holes. And the way it detailed that simple front cover was too realistic for me to deny that it might a real soul trapped inside. It was just that picture didn't move but popped one or two inches out almost. Having that single image as concentration, the book's skin seemed like bloody breathed and twitched.
But nonetheless, it was a misunderstanding of compelling art.
English words decorated at the front, {Summoning} with subtitle {Book Volume 4}.
Ercient hit his cane, a transmutation outraged.
A dark energetic spiralling eyeball appearance where the centre had a bit powdered salt-white bloomed like the spiral galaxy. Wind all blew aloud and seethed, Ercient's eyes narrowed, pebbles and dust off ceiling were dragging into that energy, and the floor here shook more often than another side.
A black hole.
Whatever the reason, the book that represented by Ercient's alchemy calculation had created a similar effect of the strongest spell ever known in magic society.
Voi'u'ast spell.
It had a bit strange of pronouncing with strong {uuu} in the middle while short and awkward representation. It was all due to origin. A dark magic spell caused by Elven extremists. Demon and human ritual.
Voi'u'ast meant absolute destruction. It might not enough to explain the complexity of Elven's dictionary. The word was adopted as the highest possible destruction like the end of the world.
When activated, it spawned one tony-seed of a void element that gradually absorbed energy nearby until it became super barbarous as massive as a nation. A spell that could wipe half — no, entire fully charted-map of elven population. Furthermore, it could be cast by one person, added a point of how dangerous it could be. Since it was void element also known as infinity with uncounted possibilities too, it had no weakness discovered yet. Rare but hard to master. Only a few void-element spells were forbidden.
If not for a first magician in inomen who made the spigen for me and us to use magic, the world had already begone forever by now. Due to his understanding of how the spell was designed, he had able to cast a spell to reverse the effect before it became unstoppable. How he did was kept as a secret to make sure no one would try that deed again in Veizralia.
However, the elven nation where a lot of powerful magicians lived at that time had gone to the other side of the black hole. There might be a conspiracy behind it but at that time until the present, inomen were the top food chain when came to magic because of that accident.
And somehow, Ercient recreated the same accident with his transmuter.
The black hole vanished as Ercient intentionally prevented it, the effect not what I expected. A humanoid got up from the ground, homunculus. The common and should be would be a black figure with white eyes. However, not even had eyes, it replaced with scary white teeth came from that thin lips. And it grinned soundless a lot.
"Who are you?" Ercient closed the book and asked that homunculus.
The grin shut but opened back. It didn't say a word.
"Ah, damn." He sighed almost tried to throw the book away. "I don't understand. What the hell that professor wanted to tell me? What the hell with this book? Dark alchemy? I don't hell get it. Ah, why the hell Aether Alchemist have to do this?" Complaining, Ercient tapped the book to his forehead a couple of times. "Is it undead? Is it a hidden motive?" He appeared in the middle solving the mystery. "Go away and don't come to the surface."
The homunculus stepped out, I made sure my palm sealed. It then passed over me and skipped into the dark city. As for Ercient, he returned restudy the book, testing alchemy technique presented in the book.
I guessed I didn't have to worry about anything. I never could anyway. I retreated and ascended into the stairs.
A slow smile developed across my face when I saw Erika, Thlesy, and Onyeka yelled my name and Ainari's. Lightness entered my chest, I weakly dropped when Erika screamed toward me.
* * *
"Can you get up?" Halvenzo took a sound of my heartbeat with drumming tool alike. A coin shape object placed on my chest, when a beat created, the object signalled a light. "How your body? Any pain?"
I sensed a piece of bad news from her tone. "I'm fine..."
"Are you sure? No light head, weak muscle, hot body..."
"Just my head. My skull, my brain actually. It hurt bad deep inside."
If it was magic that causing this, then why I never heard it before? But the pain occurred only when I cast a spell then manipulated it. Evana might know the reason but I couldn't tell that to Halvenzo.
"When since last time you eat? A real meal."
"Yesterday?"
"There you go. A youthful is prime time. Take care of your body well and have breakfast each morning is important or you will get pain again. Here this, when I was still a high school girl..."
I stood and smiled. "I feel healthy for some reason. Thank you for your help."
"Siqura! Where are you going? I'm not done examining you. Back to the seat."
"Don't worry, teacher. It's just no breakfast, right? I will get some now."
It wasn't easy. Halvenzo ran and gripped my arm with both hands, hit me with how young should act. I had to accept the second lecture in this school trip but Benseling flipped the canopy and shoved head down inside.
"Hey, you!" Halvenzo pointed her index finger as if it tried to stab Benseling's eyeballs. "Don't come in when I examine a female patient. How many times I told to you?"
"Eeh... But I love to be a doctor too. Let me take your heartbeat rate. Come on, don't be shy." Benseling's opening-and-closing hands crooked to front.
"Stop, you. Don't come close. I will call esagua!"
"
I nodded as a thank, when I already at the outside of the tent, I heard a loud smack.
Afterwards, I joined the camping area where we had a cooking camp before descended from the mountain.
"Here, Siqura!" Thlesy waved at me as many students grouped in their own tables.
"What the teacher said?" It was Ainari who proceed to my well being.
"I forget to eat breakfast." I didn't believe that. Just counted how many times I skipped the breakfast without fainted before, that advice might be directed to someone who not used to overlook a meal.
"Okay students. Pay attention." Our Economy teacher.
Be a magician required a lot of management resource or the cost would be skyrocketed easily. And in her class, she taught how to reduce this cost whether how to save mana point for a better spell or building her own garden instead of buying from the grocery. She was my first favourite teacher as many of her advice applied to my lifestyle during my debt years.
I picked the apron on the table and put on myself.
That teacher, Enosis, was Jlien in the magic world. It was easier to understand her race as a human plant. And as the overall race personality, they were quite simple, harmless happy, and always seemed to show shine-smile to anyone easily misunderstood. They also were great at producing forest and vegetable product.
Erika and Onyeka came out of the storage house and had two hand-size baskets with common ingredients.
"Everything is ready?" Enosis raised her arm, displayed the best bright to us, it was the best class compare to Halvenzo as Ethereal with the prettiest race ever. But because of her personality, everything ruined. She also supposed to have a silver white hair but because of this dimension flipped weird, she had a normal black long hair.
And it happened again. Halvenzo and Benseling stepped out from the clinic tent; Halvenzo rushed to the front and raised her hand in the same manner. "A youth is something that comes from the heart, not a word. Show me, your resolve in your cooking. Raise your voice and..."
"
"Well," Erika said, "it's better to have one in a while a noisy person."
"What are you talking about? She is clearly a disaster early detection. What happen she called a thunder for real and gave us a bad luck miss that fried us to chicken nuggets?"
Halvenzo started budging the clueless Enosis to side and began invading her short cooking class.
"Maybe you right." Erika felt suspicious when Halvenzo talking about music out of sudden. Something like, a careful choosing ingredient was the same as making a note in the piano sheet.
But a saviour was with us. Benseling lifted her up over his shoulder, "Oh, no! My button had dropped somewhere in Alphion Abyss. We have to turn back!"
"Naaaaaah! Don't bring me along. Go by yourself. I need to make sure these girls didn't end like me."
"They will fine at the hand of Enosis's grace." Benseling without sweat was passing through us and returning to the entrance of the mentioned place.
Any attempt to escape was impossible for Halvenzo. After all, Benseling was Dragiry in the magic world. One with not powerful wings but also strong and intelligent. Thus very stubborn and prideful, preferred to take charge in almost everything as if all people weren't human at all. Even among themselves, they still fought over who should have the king's position and so on.
However, Benseling's cool, take a bit of life at a time was indeed rare.
"Give applause for a heartwarming speech from our teacher Halvenzo."
All students agreed for once, having no annoyance here.
"Here we go." Enosis rolled out a banner. "Today, we will have one of three menus: stew, salad, and juice; sandwich, soup, and tea; and with rice, steak, french fries, and oxygenated drink."
"Hah?" Most students uttered an astonished tone.
* * *
"Uh! What is that?" Other student pulled their oval-sights over our table.
"You're right." The next student took a smell-glance. "What is this? This is very delicious good."
Apparently, I received a renura lu that didn't disappear; four dishes from rune world: Mozart Yizurn, Tozert Bhices, Leezery Filteak, Moow Soup. All very stood out and unique.
"Can we have one?" the girl said. "Come on, please."
"Eh...ah...um..." I picked their bowl.
"Go ahead," Erika said, scooping Moow Soup from the pot into the bowl.
"Be rejoice." Thlesy as the representative head of our group pressed her uprise-chest. "It's one of Siqura's best specialities. Not something you can eat every day."
That one spark led to numerous hungry students, spread toward teachers. Erika, Thlesy, Onyeka, and Ainari, all of them were too busy commenting how good it tasted.
Having found a way to escape, I searched for Benseling. It was hard to share limited foods from our table supply to them. But I had my fill.
"Oh, my?" Enosis rubbed her cheek that in the middle of munching Leezery Filteak. Of course, there was no filteak here, I used lamb steak instead. "This is not something you can get from five-stars restaurant."
Not that worthy of praise. The rare of cooking was simply something they never tried as it was from a different world. These kind rich dishes were common in rune world.
"Too bad." Benseling appeared out of nowhere behind me, pressed me hard on my head. He loved doing that sneaky move. My brain skipped one sound awareness to highschool's horde around the table from having too much impetus; I breached the impact by squeezed-eyebrows.
"Stop it," I said, pushed the arm. "I need to go somewhere, can I have the carmath pass again?"
In split second, Benseling pulled out the ticket with expire date today. "Anytime."
"You know?"
"I always know my target," Benseling said, laughing in leeway. "Want my escort?"
"You're going to follow me anyway."
"Hahaha. You're right. It's an order from the king."
What the king so scared about to the extent have a man monitoring my private life 24 hours a day? Kingdom's Betrayer? What? Like pulled a bomb from my pocket and dynamited in the middle of the city?
Since he didn't help me inside the ore mine, he might be ditching his post once in a while.
"If you don't want my escort, I don't mind."
I looked at the ground, readied to embark.
"Siqura!" Erika waved at me. "What are you doing with that pervert?"
"Hm?" Benseling pointed at himself also stopped from descended off the mountain. "Is she talking about me?"
"Your inner thought has been exposed out," I said out of irritating.
"What? How?"
"If you don't hurry," Erika lifted the pot, "everything would be gone. No, you know. I will save you. Come over here."
"Seriously, run away from that pervert." Thlesy waved in a unison with Erika like seaweeds on stormy water deep. "The main chef in the hour not in the party is no party at all."
They did again, seeking attention from everyone. Each student around the table turned and fondled they eyes on my body as if I was a desolate frog who just found a way home. Was this a different point of view?
Ainari sighed, she got up and pulled my clueless into the table, ditching Benseling alone. After I sat, students flocked into me and asked me how I made the recipe with limited ingredients, tips and tricks, methods, even how long I had been cooking.
The more they asked for my help, the more my heart raced through my head. Before I knew, they got my heart by the very tip. I forget about Erika, Ainari, Thlesy, and Onyeka for about ten hours.
The night came quickly afterwards. But at least, I able to make use of the carmath pass and went to buy something.
The cooking camp had made my life a bit meaningful since students started to realize my existence here. I had been greeted more than I never had before. My neck and shoulder hurt so much from bowing and turning my arm, I took a drink of water glass to wet my dried-lips. My stomach hurt from eating too much.
Never thought, having friends was the best feeling ever. Although I didn't sure if that was really right, indeed they asked me to have a review study after the school trip for the final exam.
My mouth was running too much, I exposed a lot of my knowledge that I had from other worlds, I became an expert in some subjects. However, I knew that intelligent wouldn't hold for long. But I did anyway, talking about other worlds but hiding in theory, story, and common facts.
During that none stoppable chatters, I felt something leaving from my chest. I didn't sure what. But the more it occurred, the more I felt gone? Vanish? No. I felt I disappeared from the world for about one second. And this feeling growing stronger, the more I used my knowledge about other worlds.
Until to the point from feeling, I began to sense and then saw. A thread...a scroll. With blueprint on it. The scroll in pink appeared out from my chest, moving toward the sky. It wasn't for long and perhaps, in an instant. But after witnessed another strange phenomenon, I stopped talking and accused myself from the buffet restaurant into my room.
Four of them sat on the bed, already exchanged to the sleepwear. We all planed to have a night in my high-class suite. On top of the bed laid stack of cards.
"Look, our new Siqura is at least don't forget home." Thlesy was holding five cards: three spades and two hearts. "Why not just go sleep with them never return?"
"We're not jealous at all," Ainari said, turned her head away.
Onyeka followed her behaviour. "Not jealous."
But only, Erika gave me smile. "Have fun on a school trip?"
"I...I think?"
It did. I had more fun than I expected. I might be showing off my knowledge. But, I knew what it meant to be betrayed. So, I some sort related to how they felt currently.
"I'm sorry, okay?" I managed to say it without stuttering or hesitation. My speaking became more fluently and cutely. Talking to a lot of people changed me a bit. I became more open to them.
"Hm." Thlesy put down the cards as they all did. "Execute the plan." She didn't realize much about my change.
"Aye, captain." Erika rolled out of the bed and turned off the lights. Blackout blanked the whole room in one blip.
"It's the event we have been waiting for." Thlesy unsealed the lid from the box, the light appeared out as torchlight. "A ghost storytime. Hahaha!" She gave an eerie laughing, they looked at me as this was my punishment from taking a long time with my new friends.
But it ended very quickly.
Erika told a story about a woman who couldn't die, always raised from the grave. She gave me a lot of hints as the woman was monster, falling love with a man who felt disgusted toward her. After a long of attempting to kill that woman, the man finally gave up and accepted her. The story ended with the man locked the woman in a thick coffin, nailed and chained, bolted and glued, he buried the woman alive in an inhabitant island after drugged the woman into a sleeping pill.
Ainari owned the highest scream, Erika described how the woman cried to the man, begging and so on, mentioned how the woman spent in that coffin with bugs and insects, Erika continued moving forward without single remorse. She was a horror fan. But instead scary, she preferred a horror novel with a brutal scene that wasn't able to make anyone had a blink night.
Then Erika looked at me. "How was it? It's a legend story I picked up earlier this morning."
I was a magician. There was nothing scary than dark magic. But since the woman was easily killed by having buried inside the inescapable coffin, why I would too? It was more of objection I could only speak of.
"Okay...I guess."
"Don't work on her, huh?" Thlesy pointed at Ainari. "You next. Give the scariest —"
"— Noooooo!" Ainari yelled out of sudden and covered her ears. "No more. Let's stop this immediately."
"Is this a joke? You seemed to have fun about our plan to scare Siqura out of her fear a while ago."
"Don't remember. Don't care anymore. I don't want this."
"How about you, Onyeka?" Erika pushed the responsibility to her.
"Want to know?" She gave a mystery giggle like this was one last chance to back off.
* * *
It took us a whole Onyeka's story to sense something out of the place. Erika wasn't with us.
"If..." Thlesy turned at the bathroom, "...she isn't there."
"I will look out for her." I got up.
Thlesy patted Ainari who crying on her chest, closing her ears, and resisting against horror all the way to the end.
"How you feel?" Onyeka boosted her perfect-judgement giggle. "Can you go to the bathroom at night alone?"
"I feel fine —"
"— I'm not." Onyeka's laps grumbled, shyly rubbed her hands. She went into Thlesy's comfort too.
"Hey, hey! How the storyteller got scared from their own story? Ainari! Stop being such as childish!" Thlesy tried pushing Ainari off her chest while at the same time having Onyeka sucked her thumb like a cute baby on her other arm.
I sneaked behind, carefully shut the door, escaped from them. Rolled my eyes to the side, I established the time current was around late-night. Erika could be anyway but did she knew she had pyjama? I looked at a cold jacket that I bought for my mother. She always complained about how cold the morning was after had to walk home alone from a late night at a factory.
Without anticipating, I quickly stole a cast for Notera Annom as I walked to the stairs. Two people, man and woman, descended from it, discussing the museum where Benseling asked me to join if I didn't leave with my group. They talked about the rare new painting of phoenix bird, The Rocket Phoenix.
I closed my palm, blocking mana into the magic circles, the pathfinder firefly melted. I stepped up, reopened my hand once they quieted. The Notera pulled me toward the roof.
"Besfan," I stirred my hand back and forward, the magic circles disappeared.
My eyes picked up a few collections of various plants: coloured-flowers and green leaves, decorated along the edge. Almost all buildings had this little overboard garden. The roof-floor had been unfolded a real grass bed through the handmade dirt. Essentially, it wasn't a real ground spot but creativity management except for the grass.
As I walked a bit further through the archway, I saw a garden swing with two tendrils had already climbed to the peak and bloomed yellow flowers as a victory. Someone on the garden swing.
A longing gaze drew across Erika's black red irises as the colour of Reedum.
Most of the time, it was hard to confirm the tone but the more I paid attention to the hair, the more I realized it had emerald-green strands hidden inside among other black strands. The moonlight today had shone gently over her — neither short nor long — hair, introducing me a new angle about herself.
I witnessed a true Erika unexplored side after a long time of best friend relationship and as a closed cousin. It was an extravagant gem to me.
Her posture reduced to stoop, a cold wind burned through her hair, forcing herself to clutch arms into her chest. Using a low voice, she had spoken something to her suffering heart.
It appeared to me, Erika had hidden a secret and felt guilty about it. I wondered it was my talent to see someone's inner thought from one observation.
"Erika."
Mumbling, Erika rubbed her laps as she quickly washed her face over her loose sleeve. "S-Siqura? It's late night. We're better returning to the room."
Again and again. She did again. Every time I attempted to talk her without others around, she dodged me without a word from mine. She seemed okay with Ainari, Thlesy, and Onyeka. So why she looked more painful to watch when they and other students not here?
She passed over me, not even altering my old face that existed in her memory a while ago. Did she hate me?
Before out of reach she had begone, I tossed the jacket with Bavolin, flung it toward Erika's back shoulders. Of course, magic circles merged around me, especially with no wall but safety railing, blue radiance invoked a surprise.
However, I did it anyway, because if there was someone ever saw me doing magic, I had never need to have this sandglass broke the flow of time and someone would stop the undead at that time. No. I confirmed my theory already. I didn't break the time. I changed only its meaning.
I peeked slightly. Would Erika run away along into her problem? Or go at me to understand what with the outstanding magical light, eventually allowed me to take a glance for her diary in her troubling chest?
Erika stopped breathless, turning toward the roof-door and toward me. Gradually, Erika's pacing shortened, she stood like a yesteryear-tree. The indecision built on Erika reminded me of Ainari's word.
Ainari might a truth for me, I had to fight for my freedom and justice. But I discovered at now, even I looked disgusting and weakling to her mind, it didn't give her every right to destroy and invade my life and one apologize, everything erased as it never happened...who the hell are
Somehow, I wondered what made me seemed inclining to forgive Ainari and became a friend after went to Alphion Abyss. Or the number of friends I received in a blink of eyes today? Or how Benseling acted friendly with me but still showed of faking through the king's order?
I took a deep breath. Having Erika on my side, it helped me to stay insane. And I couldn't lose composure for one or two things Erika didn't ready to tell me. I didn't have the right. Indeed. No right.
Strolling toward her, I dragged her hand softly up at the level of my chest. I placed one item I bought today that required me asking for another ticket from Benseling.
"You shouldn't be walking out with such thin wear. You would likely find yourself sick if you not careful."
"Siqura..." She looked surprised at the dolphin chain. "How you know?"
"I always know my cousin." I recited the line that Benseling used on me.
But then, that face was an act. Because, her facial reduced in depression, at some point appeared mad and stressful.
"I see you tomorrow, Erika." I raised my head to give her time to be alone. "I will be here for you. Anytime."
"I... I..." Erika fired a tear, "I'm sorry," and bolted toward the door.
Why she apologized? I looked at my hand, the teardrop had remained on my index finger.
I returned to my room, all of them fell to sleep. Erika wrapped into a blanket of the furthest spot of the bed, tightly into it upon hearing my footstep, giving aura to not talk to her. I accepted her decision, slept for tomorrow last day.
Somehow, I felt it was another worst day.