Azrie

I really like this chapter, I hope everyone can enjoy it just as much. Thanks for the continued support in spite of my inconsistent schedule. o/

I started looking at the ever-flowing mana, and moving it by “will-power”. It was a truly strange process thinking about it objectively, it felt like controlling another part of the body, but if I had to explain it to someone, I truly would not be able to find a better word for it. But there it was, being slowly moved according to my desires. I never really fiddled with it too much, so I didn’t really know of its possibilities. It was kind of something that existed for me, another aspect of life, nothing worth investigating, I kind of regret it now. 

First I licked my finger to truly see if there was no wind blowing well… It honestly didn’t really matter, but I could feel one side of my finger get cold, so there was wind, a small and almost unperceivable breeze. I proceeded to wrap my finger around in mana, it felt tingly. But ultimately the wind wasn’t stopped. Mana couldn’t really influence the physical state of an object. 

I sighed in defeat. I wanted to have fun and not watch some boring dummy get ignited into flames. Well… I guess I didn’t really have a different option. Hmm… What could I do? Igniting it into fire would be nice, but neutral magic would also be nice. I wonder. 

I looked back at the people behind me, some of them were restlessly tapping their foot on the ground and crossing their arms. The king was looking impatient as well. Others looked with interest waiting on me to do something. I looked back at the dummy and got to thinking. 

“Well… I guess I will do that…” I muttered as I exhaled, I would normally say the name of the spells out-loud since it allowed me to focus. But it would be better if they didn’t know its name. The old man recognized some of them by name, it's probably better to not say it at all. 

After a single second, I ran into a huge problem, which also made me facepalm at my stupidity. I didn’t know how magic worked, well, how it actually worked. I needed to say the spell name to do the spell, quite literally. I normally wouldn’t be so stubborn but I felt too stupid at that moment… So… one says the spell name and it happens. There are chants. Chants normally relate to what the spell look or does, magic requires a being’s mana to activate and take its shape. 

So, basically, by saying the name or chanting. My mana does what it's supposed to do, sort of... Yeah... That kind of sounds set in stone once thinking about it. So mana takes a shape or form and it does that, that’s why aptitudes are a thing, and that’s why I can only use neutral magic for the most part. I am getting somewhere, now I wonder about... 

I looked back at the flowing mana in the air, it kind of looked like a transparent film. At least that’s what it looked like to me. I recalled the spell I wanted to use. Which in this case it was 'fissure', I recalled how mana looked when using that spell. I tried manipulating the ambient mana. 

First making it into a ball around the target, then removing all of the mana inside said ball. Effectively making that space devoid of mana, or mana less space. At least that’s how I think it went. It looked kind of weird, almost as if there was an invisible orb blocking the path of mana, just going around it instead, kind of like wind. After quickly thinking about it, I tried making it collapse, but nothing happened. The space remained empty of mana even when I was no longer trying to do anything to it. I tilted my head in confusion.

As I doubted why nothing was happening I felt a tap on my shoulder. Glancing back, it was the king. He was frowning. 

“You better do something soon…” 

“I just… did…” I technically did something. 

He smiled. “Well… Do something noticeable then.“ He was an odd person. He left after saying that and went back to watching. People were really getting impatient. 

I sighed and stopped wondering about the mystery that I had just created. I decided to use the same fire I used on Dan’s dummy. Condensing fire into a little “droplet” like shape at the tip of my finger. People soon concentrated on the unfamiliar ember at the tip of my finger, with a smile, I let it go; drifting across the air and into the dummy. Striking the dummy and⁠… nothing…

I instantly tilted my head.  "That's not supposed to happen..."

The king rushed to my at lightning-fast speed and started shaking me. “Are you making a mockery out of me!?” 

I was confused. “Well… That... I don't know, the spell kind of just… dissipated…” 

The king was fuming, and some people started laughing. 

“So much for a replacement…” 

“What a waste of time.” 

“Kids are just kids, I don’t know what I was expecting.” 

Harsh comments coming from almost everyone. The only people that didn’t say anything were the grandma and Dan’s sister. The king let go of me as he furiously shook me. Letting me hit the ground. I would’ve normally been mad, but I was too confused. I looked back at the dummy with curiosity. The mana gap was still there, but it was slightly shaking. 

“What the…” 

“I was wrong about you.” The king coldly said as he turned around. I guess he thought that was meant for him and not the raging unstable void that the dummy was in. It started to shake violently and become more and more unstable. 

BOOOM! 

My vision turned pure white and my ears were deafened by a tremendous blast sound. The flooring beneath me shook, the walls trembled and dust was sent flying everywhere. I felt a constant deafening ring in my ears, I was laying against a wall, or rather... the floor. I felt so disoriented, I tried getting up but to no avail, I would fall back down seeing I had no sense of balance. A few moments went by and my vision finally cleared, everything was full of smoke, the dummy was missing, there was a huge crater in its place. The only thing left were small spots of burning fire and the charred ground. 

“... Interesting…” I murmured in a bit of a surprise as I struggled to get up, I would’ve never expected that to happen. I can only guess it was something akin to a dust explosion but with mana. However, I didn’t really understand how it happened or why. But it was still interesting nonetheless. I looked back. The only person standing was the grandma, she had buried her sword into the ground for support. She also held Dan’s sister on her other hand, Seeing her in such position, I had to say. She was very strong. 

"Something to research about I guess..." I said as I tried to hide my excitement. 

Everyone else was covered in dust. Some of them were painfully grabbing their ears. Others were simply not moving. I saw a huge pile of dust slowly but firmly stand up. It looked like a big fur mantle. After looking at it stand up, I noticed it was the king. He was slack-jawed as he looked around. He looked at the groaning people, he looked where the dummy was, and then he locked gazes with me. 

He hurriedly stood before me. “What did you do?!” He was mad again, for whatever reason. 

“I don’t know, I guess it was an experiment, that was half a success?” I said with slight doubt, I didn’t really know if it could be called an experiment or if it was really successful. But I would say it was a success since it caused destruction. It gains my seal of approval. 

The king grit his teeth, as he was about to shout some more. He was interrupted by loud voices. People were shouting at each other for whatever reason. I didn’t really pay attention, but I think the only reason for their shouting was because they couldn’t hear. The king looked back with some annoyance and turned around. He dug into his coat and pulled out a silver bell that had some blue crystals embedded in it. He started shaking it but no sound came out, he started restlessly tapping his foot on the ground. After a few minutes, a lot of the floating dust cleared. The disaster became even more apparent. Pieces of the ground were missing, among other things. As I inspected the messed up surroundings, I started hearing some hurried and fast footsteps. 

Looking back in the direction of the sound, it was a team of castle servants. They started carrying people that weren’t moving back into the castle, as well as just cleaning the entire disaster in general. Once they arrived the king looked back at me with mixed emotions.

“The dummy was the target, not them…” He quietly informed me. 

“Well… The dummy is also gone. So, there is that.” 

He sighed as he lazily wiped his forehead. “Alright… Since you can at least hit your targets, I guess you are welcome aboard the council of court mages.”  

"Yay..." I paused. “Didn’t you named it something different last time?” I mean, I could be wrong, but I swear he used a different name or slightly different at least. 

“Bah!” He waved his hand in dismissal. “Just don’t attack people and we will be in good terms.” Well… That kind of sounded hypocritical, but I just nodded instead of saying something else. 

As soon as I nodded he sighed in relief, after that, he left my side and started muttering things to himself as he bit his finger. I could see the frustration on his rugged forehead. I guess nothing went like he was planning. 

I saw a pile of rubble start moving and collapse, Fenri came out of it and started shaking himself off all the dust. He gave me a death-glare once he was done, he was expecting something from me. 

“Um… I am sorry?” I didn’t really know if it was right to apologize. He just growled at me, which I guess I deserved. He still came to my side for whatever reason, he got close to my hand and tried to bite it off. Well, he did bite it, but it didn’t really hurt. As soon as he realized I wasn’t bothered by it he stopped. I don’t know how much force he was using in the bite. With a slight feeling of defeat, he decided to quietly lay on the ground. 

I kept quietly observing my surroundings to see what was happening, the king was still indulged in his thoughts and frustrations. The servants were clearly confused about what had happened but they were too busy doing their jobs to question the king. It was an all-around bad situation. "I guess, what I did was bad?" I quietly asked myself, I didn't really know if it was bad or not. As I continued to think I felt a chill run down my spine, a sense of coldness and insecurity overwhelmed me. 

Fenri started shaking, his ears perked up, and he stood up in a hurry, looking at me with wide-open eyes. Something was amiss, I could just tell by his expression; instead of his relaxed dog-like state, his fur was spiked and he seemed very alert, but I could also sense that he was worried rather than startled. He started pulling my sleeve with full-force which made my panic grow.

“W-What’s wrong?” He barked. Something was definitely wrong, I got that, but what could make him like that? Was it… “Kuro?” He started hurriedly nodding. I felt my heart compress and my head became pained. 

“I-Is he in danger?” Fenri started to hurriedly bark, that was a yes… My heart started to ache and throb. I firmly looked at Fenri. “Take me there…”  After I said those words he started running back into the castle. 

I started running behind him as fast as I could. 

“Where are you going?” The king ran into me. 

I frowned. “I have something really important to attend to.” 

“Is that so? We are not done here…” He coldly dismissed it and stepped further in front of me, essentially blocking my path like an insurmountable pillar. I could tell, he didn’t want me to leave.

I started boiling, Fenri realized I wasn’t with him and he came back, being fully hostile to the king. I wasn’t going to let a person get in my way. The king in front of me, was my enemy. He needed to die if necessary, I might’ve done a promise, but I also have priorities. “Move…” With those cold words, the king started sweating and sheepishly moved aside. 

Fenri instantly realized that it was done and continued the lead. I followed through the spiral-castle ramp corridor. Soon enough we were in the entrance and rushing through the garden, I didn't even know how long we had been running for. There was a door, but it didn’t seem like it was going to move. Fenri tried opening it but nothing happened. I kicked it with full strength. Surprisingly, the hinges gave in and it struck the ground making a thunderous sound. 

I rushed into what appeared to be a forge. I saw the dwarf, who had an agape mouth. I looked around some more, there I saw a pair of boots and a skirt. Fenri and I rushed to her side. It was Kuro and she was heavily panting. Something was extremely wrong. My hands started trembling, I didn’t entirely know what to do. I was… lost...

“Kuro, Kuro… Kuro!” I started calling out to her but she wouldn’t respond. Fenri started howling and restlessly tapping her, we both didn’t know what to do. “I am sorry for being so useless…” I said full of regret as tears started to build on my eyes. 

“So, that’s what happened…” An understanding voice came from behind. I looked back at it, it was the king. “I decided to follow you to see what it could be.” I started getting mad, I didn’t even want this person near Kuro right now. “Wow. Calm down. I know what she has.” He hurriedly added.

“What is it?” I impatiently asked. 

“First let’s make a deal.” Deal? Nice joke.

“Alright, here is your deal. Tell me what she has and I won't kill you.” He frowned but didn’t say anything, I already knew how strong he was, but unfortunately for him. I was stronger. He muttered for a second. 

“What she has, is mana exhaustion. She doesn’t have enough mana.” I looked back at her with trouble, I didn’t notice it before, but what he said was true. The problem was, one needed to completely refill their mana to not die. I knew about how much mana she had, it was quite a lot, even for me.

I dropped my shoulders and collected myself. It was something that I could fix. I closed my eyes and started feeling my internal mana. My heart started beating faster and I started to panic. “Not enough…” 

The king was turning around and getting ready to leave. 

“Wait!” He turned back to me. “What’s the deal for saving her?” 

He smiled. “A peer to peer contract.” I tilted my head not knowing what it was. “Basically, we make a contract as equals and we agree on the conditions. We both will be bound to said conditions.” I swallowed my saliva. 

“Will I be unharmed? More importantly... Will she be unharmed?” 

“Yes and yes. Don’t worry about that, so, what do you say?” 

“Fine…” I swallowed my pride. “Please save her.” 

He nodded with a smile and picked her up doing a princess carry. I felt so powerless, I struggled to not let my emotions get to me, my lips quivered. I regretted everything, but then… Something flashed in my mind, a memory. I started hurriedly wiping my face and tried my best to calm myself. 

“Can I come with you?” 

He tilted his head. “Sure, why though?” 

“I don’t want her to get appraised or anything removed from her.” 

He smiled. “I can do that.” 

I lifted my brow. “Can you? What if you don’t comply? Do I get to kill you before the contract?”

He laughed. “Even if I don’t comply. You won’t know about it.” 

“I will know, so, can I go?” I asked with a slight hopeful tone.

He sighed. “Do whatever.” 

I accompanied the king, so did Fenri. He took her to a kind of nursery, which also had the people from the explosion. I wasn't very welcome there, as the few people that were awake looked at me with hostility, the king talked to the doctor and explained my weird demands. Well, it wasn’t a doctor. It was an alchemist. 

Kuro was laid on a bed and I sat next to her as I waited. The alchemist brought a few mana potions and started making her swallow it, if it was normal liquid it could’ve been dangerous. But potions permeated in the insides of people rather than being actual liquids, so the choking danger wasn’t there. 

One potion nothing, two, three, four… Ten… The alchemist stopped. “I will need to check her status… This is weird…” Before I could react he touched her with a stone, fortunately, she still had the gauntlet on. “Inspection blocked…” He muttered in shock, he looked back at me. “I am sorry, but if that happens. Then there is nothing I can do…” I felt panic overwhelm me, he probably thought she died, which made convincing him harder. 

I knew why potions weren’t working, but there had to be some type of dumb reason I could think of… “Um… She has a special constitution… Her mana is below average and for some reason her body barely absorbs potions. Please keep doing it…” I came up with a nonsensical explanation that would hopefully convince him.

“But⁠—” 

“Keep doing it.” The king coldly said and gave me a quick smile. I guess that was his way of getting me on his side. 

The alchemist dryly swallowed and kept bringing potions. It took around sixty potions until she stopped panting. The alchemist looked at the king with a troubled face. “The potions will be paid for… right?” The king wordlessly nodded. 

The king looked at me with a smile. “Take your friend to a private room. Also, take this.” He pulled a robe out of nowhere and placed it over my head. “Please use the robe starting from now. The contract can wait.” 

I sheepishly nodded. “Thank you… Also, I am sorry... for threatening... as well as the potions..." He laughed and did a wave of dismissal as I sheepishly apologized to him, it wasn't my style but he had done what I couldn't. I felt slightly bad for threatening the king, also I probably had gone overboard on hostility. I had to at least listen to what the king said. I wore the robe. It was black and had golden accents and patterns near the edges of the fabric, it had patterns on the hood, sleeves, and on the hemline that I could step on if I was not careful. It was pretty and very comfortable. 

“Looks good on you.” The king commented and left. I tilted my head, he had become a completely different person. After I completely collected myself in relief I got ready to move Kuro to another room. I breathed in and out, and at last, I lifted Kuro with a bit of a struggle, she was hard to carry since her body was the same size as mine. I ended up carrying her on my back, making her hug my neck and grabbing her thighs in between my arms. I also had to carry her since the staff seemed busy dealing with my victims. 

I exited the room with the help of Fenri. The dwarf had been waiting outside and guided us to a private room near the top of the castle. He was somewhat impressed because I declined his help with carrying Kuro, he also said something about me not being able to carry her for that long. I just ignored him and did it.  I left her on a bed and waited for her to wake up. 

I waited… and waited… Eventually, all the built-up fatigue got to me and I fell asleep. 

Azrie

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