Part 5: The Causality Of Timeline and Worldline

 

The third day of the Finolist Academy's field trip. And Erika had a departure ticket to Jitfon tomorrow, forthwith, after the train reached Veizralia's last site.

The current time was an evening where we only returned after snorkelling and diving activities. Giving a sick accuse had prevented me from enrolling, consequently avoided the struggle of explaining. With my cinched dress like this, I could never fit into a diving suit.

"Is this same as yesterday?"

"Nope," I said, pinking coal tongs. "I made and remade newfangled one today." I flipped a few slices of same fish and made convinced it didn't overcook. Otherwise, their fats would be too melodious for lifting off and could break easily against stroke. A gleam appeared in front of the orange sun, flourished all meats and vegetables at once.  I poured a bottle of palm oil to diminish the intensity.

"How about this, Siqura?" said a young woman who volunteered to compound the starch mixture. She had on her school uniform gown an apron that had traced of resin coal. Plucked the cloth clung on her neck, she applied it to the bead-shaped sweats on the side face. Alarming smoke entered her lungs, she coughed and sprung.

"Add more water." I tasted the mixture inside the coconut bowl while withdrew from the grill. "It should veil the carioly's slices. But make sure it's sticky and moist."

It was the name of the squid species, known as a martial predator with three stances represented by the colour of its head. I didn't sure if it existed in the other worlds but surely had in my world. We used a carioly for enchanting combat-scrolls due to the smell, invoking the meaning of adaptability. Indeed. Magic activation was initiated from emotion management, not brain reasoning. And as we stressed this part, we felt like losing oxygen and probably going to faint.

I never learnt the making of scrolls but surely sounded interesting to learn later for the exam.

She nodded then retired to the table furnished by a pack of flours, eggs, peppers, and other cooking ingredients. It was messy and a lot of utensil in an unorganized manner. Conceivably, I should push that kitchen knife further central.

"I never saw or heard anything before." The first young woman held a cleaned plate, peeking into the grilling. "What it's called?"

"Didn't sure." Placed the kitchen knife on a safe spot, I shook the tongs a little and practised the same tool to arrange cracker coal. "I simply mingled everything together."

"Hah?" Her smile contracted with smoke wandering into her teary eyes. "Would my stomach be fine tonight?"

"Not good?" I said by forsaking any doubt. It had been goodly times of playful sessions as I compounded and colligated detailed of otherworldly knowledge. I had been showing off my handful skill lately.

"But the interest here is the taste. You will be a great chef one day. Absolutely, I would come to your restaurant at the moment your first star cultivated."

"Thank you..." I placed various cooked sea-meats such as fishes, squids, and prawns into the plate. "Have a kick."

"A kick? I look forward to the kick."

That last joking student ambling to the table was the last in the line. I could unwind a bit until I barbecued another seasoning raw fusion of vegetables and meats that came with a different recipe I torn apart in the next five minutes, three, actually it was 54 seconds. But this was nothing compared to working in the busy hour inside the restaurant.

"Look at her, she's become attractive just because of cuisine. Cooking plus woman equals a bride potential." Thlesy said at the table near but intentionally let it reached my attention.

The academy rented this section which stationed along the shore for {BBQ Party}. I didn't know what those words suggesting. But, basically, the teachers asked me to roast some meats.

And then I received renura lu, a new recipe protruded in my mind...spontaneously.

"Leave her alone." Erika appeared munching something. "Isn't like watching a grown child exited from the house and followed a man who she fell in love?"

"0.001% of human slave traffic has come from a scam marriage," Onyeka said while hands continued chomp as if about to eat the plate itself, the finished-plates began climbing toward the palm tree. Her eyes glowed high at the fibrous meat with her wolf-like teeth. How big her stomach was?

Erika and Thlesy grabbed hands together and leaned at the same time away from Onyeka's statistic statement.

But quickly Thlesy realized how it was beyond. "W-Wait a minute! That's just below of impossible chance."

"Don't scare us like that!" Erika raised her arm. "Scam marriage is not even a marriage."

"You're welcome." Onyeka snatched both of their plates.

"Aaah! I save best for last." x2 "Hungry girl is scary."

"Siqura." The young woman was examining inside one box. "We're about to miss ingredients soon, probably fishes and some others."

"Is it done?" Halvenzo gripped a fork and a spoon one per hand without a plate. She had been anticipating for the jiggle squid that we had to buy when she fished all carioly out of the ocean. Twenty of the pieces were placed side by side on the deep burning net-like wires.

"It would." The young woman said, carefully put distance on the crisp of fire splitter and flying ashes that grumbling along under the grilling waves.

"Me too. How about me too?" Benseling had similar tableware utensils, pressing against Halvenzo.

"Don't cut the line. I'm here first."

"Eh. Don't be like that. Share with me too."

"No. All are mine. There are a lot of other things to pick, don't come near of any mellow and flourish carioly —"

"— Got one." Benseling pierced his fork into the barely baked carioly, its sweat still hissed at the coal below.

"Ah, don't steal. Go away."

"The fastest gets the prize." Certainly, Benseling ignored her, added more wet slices into his mouth.

Quickly they fought and seized everything until none were left.

I stood next to the icebox, checking carioly stock. "I would take some," I said to the young woman as she tried to calm them down.

"Mmhmmgmhm."

"Hmhmghmmhg."

"Ghmahm?"

"Mhgmhgmhmghahgmghmhg!"

Their mouths ballooned bigger than the capacity, tried to talk, Halvenzo chocked, Benseling was laughing in the full mouth which then groaned in agony too. A carioly meat had a soft and fragile texture but that because of its water inside that needed to dry under fire. The flesh was quite tough and stiff even after a hundred bites.

I entered the hotel and proceeded to the freezer restaurant where the staffs allowed us to preserve some there.

At the front of the restaurant, came out two girls heaving the boxes.

"Seriously, that girl." The young woman was a president of Ainari fan club. She tapped her foot, dropped the box on the floor to fix her back for a second. "Why I have to be hand-helpers?

I halted my legs and hid as I sensed who she meant by {that girl}. This wasn't something rare for me to heed.

"Just because she's good at throwing random stuff in the pot she then fitted a model student? How long did she deem I spent on the kitchen to bleeding my untouched and fragile fingers? Poor nails... She didn't even go to cooking class what she's thinking to be outstanding than everyone else?"

"Calm down." That was a young woman who had tasted my food and my first friend other than my group. Skayla. "I'm sure you are greater than her. Grant her some light."

"Hmph." She sprucely swung her head, the black ribbon on her neck loosed a little.

"Although you ate almost half of the pot anyway. She had the skill surely, but your time would attain handy in the future. Don't lose faith because of today. Or yesterday."

"Hah?" She gritted, scowling as tried to claw with her eyes. "I rather believe she put something shady inside. Maybe she had a poison vial in the pocket or her bag."

"We already subsided by then, valid?"

"Mayhap, some secret spice from the black market. Wait? That's nasty. I have to warn everyone."

"That's...big accuse. And there's no proof."

"Proof? Are you skipping the Kingdom's Betrayer? What likely better than such?!" She pointed her finger at the party. "What will happen if she betrayed all of us and execute the same treachery as her father? Perish me if the such unconvinced."

"I'm sure it's a misunderstanding. Ahaha..." Skayla grabbed back her task, her white dress's edge met the ground, she huffed the box up once before moved forward. "Let's go before they finished eating. I'm sure these what t-they waiting."

I stepped back as Skayla was about to converge me.

"How about your family?"

Skayla hiccuped, the content in the box shivering. She strengthened her hands to stop from the ingredients settling down.

"About how her irresponsible father unveiled a private Kingdom's secret weapon to the third party that breeding the Third World War? Wasn't your father fighting in that cause and —"

"— end it!" Skayla closed her ears, crouched, the box tumbled.

Yet, the fan club president headed on. "I wasted each of my kin because of mankind's greed war! How would I, stop? I wouldn't. Never would until she sank into the lake of despair. Serve her abyss. Alphion Abyss."

I felt I heard something I shouldn't.

The stocks were wrapped in three huge plastic sacks, crumbled to the floor out of the box, one unwrapped, and one potato with uneven surface slickly rolled and bounced into my shoe.

I had no choice when Skayla saw me, grasped my name, and popularised into the empty hallway. Most people either outside or inside their room, bathing. Sun was slowly drowning and barely lasted on the surface, but night stones already out and shone at the sides as bright as a steam bulb.

Bent over my flexible thighs, I picked the starchy-potato, moved with eyes drooling on the floor, and lowered knees into the box; Skayla was watching me as I gathering all escaping-potatoes and fastening into the sack. I resealed the box with the used smarmy-tape.

Ordinarily, I ran straight behind the school to ease my pondering heart near Helaria Tree. That what I really wished, inclined...yearned the most at the current moment. But at least, I would flee.

Nevertheless, I was here.

Because of Skayla. I couldn't let her in harm and regretting to be my friend since this was opposite of my goal which to reduce badness against rumours of my father. I lost the reason when Benseling told me how I had to work for the kingdom, however, I didn't give up.

Her name? That president Ainari's fan club? I forget. Naturally, she was one of the top minions of Ainari and also the one always with her when they did something immoral to me. Why I ought to remember someone like that?

"What?" that young woman who I forget her name said. "B-Because of you, my grandfather, my father and mother, and... and my five brothers had died in that stupid war. How could you hell alive and smirk as it was nothing? Your father, your mother, your whole family should just damned in the hell your father bringing to us!"

I knew I required to speak something. Except my stuttering induced me to the coward side, my voice didn't smooth out as I intended too. So, I overawed myself from sputtering nonsense. One day of talking seemed not enough to wipe out confidence other than a broken speech.

It seemed fine when I asked menu orders from the customers or asked my day in from my bosses, or mentioned to my co-workers about table 6 needed another coffee.

Perhaps, I should just suicide as I considered before. It signified easier to desist the suffering if my life was all about suffering. But, I guessed if I scared, it meant I wanted still alive.

Without expanding further the suffering, I clutched the box in one hand and other attempted to draw Skayla's arm out of the circumstance.

However, Skayla tugged her arm off, peering at the light stone resided in the floor while retaining her hand folded to her chest. She gave a soft horizontal head shaking. She had a conflict in her chest. And I knew that depressing well.

I reached the BBQ party and placed among other emptied boxes. "Teacher Enosis. We oblige to buy more."

"We overlook something?" Enosis in the middle covered her face from the black smokes had set down the tongs and stepped into her handbag.

"Carioly," I said.

"No carioly at all?" Halvenzo shoved her eyes into Benseling. "You eat too much."

"Hm. Yum." Benseling smooched his fingers. "Thank you, for your nice compensation."

"When you owned me? I shall not give you a pass. Throw it all, you hungry bastard. Throw it all."

"All?" Benseling slapped his belly and opened large his jaws. "Take your hand out. Haaa..."

"Aaaaa! Don't throw it here!" Halvenzo ran as Benseling threatened her.

Enosis cried before reanimated herself like a miniature flame born on the overcooked onion's excess. "To regain their love, buy two boxes of carioly."

"Stop even it's joking," x2 they heard and complained at same speed and volume. Then stared at each other in challenging expression.

I immediately took the envelope and prepared to leave.

"Receipt! Don't forget — ah, Siqura." Enosis faced among members of my group. "Two boxes are too heavy. Have one —"

"— I can hoist all alone."

"I will!" Ainari got up in flash.

I wanted to deny but Skayla and the other young woman already came out of the hotel. Directed my shoes toward the hotel, I pushed them into it.

Enosis and others shouted something about we still had carioly. But I didn't care.

Moving through inside, I left the hotel by front.

 

* * *

 

"Hold, Siqura," Ainari yelled, stomping behind.

I continued walking, enduring, facing the ground ahead.

"You're too fast."

I sped up and up against her as trying to blow her shadow that about to disappear under hidden street light inside bushes. Alone. From me.

"Seriously, Siqura! Stop. Now! This instant."

I surrendered once the sun dissolved from my sight. "Ah. Sorry," I said to her after she succeeded cut me. "I just think about buying you a new stuffed animal to make up for that doll."

"Hah, what?" Her face's tone drained down by a green vibe from the street lights.

There was no street pole like I saw in other worlds. Therefore, I feared if she went missing somewhere from how this island had green plants, green constructions, and green more. There were no signboards to locate our position.

"What — why —"

"— What animals do you like?" I didn't allow her to think more. Funny how my social awkward didn't cause any stuttering issue. Was it because of Ainari?

She developed answer of a cat or something but I muffled my ears about this point, roasted a fake smile upon my face, and added a few nods occasionally to go along with it.

How long did that young woman go to the kitchen and bleeding her fingers?

I raised my palm and observed the old red-scratches all over. It was the texture of metal wrought scrub poking into my skin when I brushed the kitchen utensils that rusted by its age. Instead of assigned to the workshop or bought a new one, the boss requested me to wipe all if I required to work there.

Of course, without a salary yet. She claimed it as interview checking.

<Darn! It was a lie.>

I had a position later as plate washer and plate wasn't what I washed. Clothing, chairs, and even whole chophouse. Alone. For no reason. What she was planning?

<Am I washer machine now? Hah?!>

The monthly money I earned, I realized it wasn't hovering enough to pay the debt's fee continuation. So the old cutting wound on my index fingers was because I began to learn how to cook.

The boss was unhelpful and the chefs all about pride and lecturing money. Though after got constant ill-treatment, by the utmost of my emptied invigoration, one old woman who about to receive pension called my name from the side among many self-fish cooks. She taught me the meaning of kitchen works. The boss gave me another insane interview afterwards which supposed to mock me and a reason to fire me out.

However, I got the position anyway because the old woman had found another restaurant who needed a skilled and efficient cook. Through there, I began obtaining experience from all kind of cooking's technique, starting from choosing a great ingredient, cutting into prep boxes, or how the size of the pot we lacked.

At my wrist, a chain of pressured-ovals docked hard into the skin was about to fading. This transpired when I ended into the jail because I was accused to sneakily rob a few coins from the new working place every single day. Benseling discovered perfect evidence that claimed it the real one. But the thief dragged me along by saying I was his partner.

They interrogated me. Without food and water. But they forced me to be the prison's cook since I had the accomplishment — or free slave. So to prevent me from stealing a bite, they embedded a metal coat around my mouth.

I was powerless. I was hopeless. No less than no one to give hand for a Kingdom's Betrayer. It was a cruel world and I had been born inside it.

But after they noticed that I had no relationship with the thief, it drove me about five months before someone accepted into their restaurant and I had to restudy cooking from the offset. However, my mother was the most apprehended the sad of all. She had to work alone when I was inside a jail. And even I had the skill, I couldn't use it at home. Because no one trusted us and I had no money to buy the ingredient. We survived on the thin line starting that very day.

<That DAMNED DAY!>

Stop this.

<This is not me.>

Days after days. Months after months. Years after years.

All of sudden, I had a powerful relic armour, an ability to manipulate mana, an advantage to leap across alternate dimensions, and a ticket to return into time. Who could blame me if I desired to eliminate one or two persons after what chanced? Or robbed a bank? Or built one big plan to overthrown the kingdom? Or... Or...

Haah... But I didn't because I felt something wrong with it. It didn't suit me. And positively sure, I didn't live like that.

I tried <not> to be a drama queen but it was torturing for having peacefully days with confrontation and hatred from anybody. Among all these worlds I had or really been living, wouldn't it make sense to have a perfect peaceful fantasy world too?

It was my wish. To live as a normal human being. A normal life. A normal routine. A normal...<what is normal?>

I dropped my tenacious-hand and rounded my head at the pulsating noise. My heart gushed fright before aware. Multiple red magic circles overshadowed the clear night sky, it fragmented my rising voice bit by bit.

With mana wings on the back, the robed person cast an instant killing spell, Finela.

Veizralia's second superweapon after the secret of Napalm spell disclosed out. The king had demonstrated this new spell to scare all people who seek the Fourth World War with the biggest Veizralia Kingdom's power.

Hence, why the spell was cast in this alchemy world, not many but one caster at the highest casting speed? Something was wrong in this scene. Did I actually still in the magic world? And all of this occurred in unmapped part on the earth? With new spigen? Like my father's instant Phoenix spell? What was it? What I missed?

Time slowed not by thought but by rolling heartbeat, haunting my spooky-skin with hairs, the scenery burned bright and alright, flashed nought but ashes. Heated ashes rained beautifully from the spot.

The same feeling as I had when that undead on the hotel shot me. I escaped from its flame through this motionless overpowering disaster exploded in my brain. My dress switched glowing red to show some hidden effect was taken completed into me.

I combated the pulling fever of time phasing barrier. I rushed, I dashed, and eventually, I pushed able at the statue-talking Ainari as far as I could.

My thought transformed into the ice of block, the expanding-eyes studied the aftershock. The cold heat gradually elevated even higher into the blazing light, my frozen thought suddenly melted. It lighted my mind toward failure.

With something faster than a sniper, a laser-type spell was fired two seconds long and penetrated Ainari's chest a big crisis. No blood found in her crispy brown flesh. Transparent sprinkles spiralled out.

<What is this? What the hell is this? Hurt! Hot!>

I stepped back as air entered into my nose and reproduced an accident of internal baked oven. My chest, my lungs. It burned as hot as ignited metal net.

Another laser came by and crushed Ainari's head along my reaching arm. The street hollered again, lights flicked inside bushes. Everything went bleak and outbreak. I dropped once from the air, my waist bone cracked, my head smashed into the stone ground and ringing.

Crumbled into the ball, I pressed my screaming chest, attempted to tear the tightness in my throat as well as unexplainable pain. I couldn't breathe. Help. The oxygen might die because of the spell. And the heat it generated dried liquid in my body into a fossil lizard.

<What is this? What the hell is this? I couldn't think.>

Not for long as the dress was shaking, my body quickly cooled down under an unknown process. But the thirst never. I couldn't utter anything than unspoken wailing. The dizziness from the solid head impact didn't rid this stress. I wholly swallowed and consumed by it.

As my index finger had one more move to touch the sandglass, someone picked it. I rotated my neck but my head fell. The base felt heavy.

"What you think?" It was the voice of the undead but in human overt, wearing behind my hazy sight a beach-style shirt.

"Probably timekeeper's spigen." The woman had black full-cloak that looked like a robe was something wizard always wore, built as suitable in both fleeing-combat and defence situation. Especially, short casting battle.

"Timekeeper?"

"A magician who uses time-type spells. It's a forbidden act due to high risk and unreasonable cost to the caster."

"Oh? Is that what King Dyfolt talking to you about new magic?"

"Of course. Why do you think I gain an advantage against timekeeper? Seemed worthy giving fake rumour to that girl."

Did she spread the rumour to Erika so the Variety of Life book and the sandglass could meet and destroy each other? Wait? What?

The wizard lowered to the ground and rummaged my secretive pocket. "Hm? Still alive?" She talked in Veizralish but there was accent as I heard all the time from Erika. She was from Jitfon. And they specialized in large mana-storage spigen and throwing an annoying barrage of weak spells.

"W...ater..." I asked with limited strength and dehydrated-lips.

She loitered at my knife spigen. "Mm... Two spigen, really? Name?"

"Siqura... Selvona..." My mind was too lazy, too tired, and too asleep. I shouldn't have told my name for, "Wate...r..."

"Hey. Turn her into an undead. Good to have another magic user who can use two spigen without burst her chest."

"Are you sure?" he said in smile, "We might end making more enemy before undead conquest." The man put his body down and shoved his hand toward my chest.

"Is not you are a new king in this world? One or two betrayers is normal. Besides, there is no other magician than me. Right, dull king?"

"Hey? You make fun of me, aren't you?"

"I'm a queen."

"Hey, don't run! Just make her undead by yourself."

"No... Why I have to do something troublesome?"

"Dammit, this woman. Always loaded boring stuff at me."

My eyes were still blurry from the laser effect but I felt like watching Benseling and Halvenzo. They had several differences but the interaction between them exactly the same, where Benseling was the woman and Halvenzo was the man. The shifted gender.

I grabbed him at the wrist but he stopped at his own.

"The pain will go. Plus, it's not bad to become immortal undead."

"No..." I said.

"Sorry but you have no choice, lady." The black liquid gathered out of his skin, and as if with its soul, it became a liquid drop on his fingertip, I noticed it grumbled and lively agitated as it was feasting the date when it entered into my body.

<No. No no no no!> I couldn't let that happen. I knew how dark magic functioned. And I never readied to pay such price.

At the corner of my eyes, I spotted the sandglass in his other hand. He didn't suspect anything. By the wish I made at this range, the sandglass reacted and exploded a white light, I escaped.

However, nothing expectation had formed that efficiently.

A tactile stone-ground at my back warped in quick succession into crystal-sand. Some blew away and twitched my eyeballs. Watery waves wheezed at far into my left ear, faintly I saw palm trees along constructions. Hotels? And the grilling coals burner with the spiky smokes. And the Finolist students stood, horrifying at me. And Halvenzo dropped the carioly plate, shouting something I barely heard.

The ringing was still in my ear.

<Why I don't return into the train? A day before the first day of the school trip? Why? Why?>

Ainari delayed with the reflection of the thundering sky as if first saw the undead. I couldn't recognise well. Halvenzo alarmed at the elixir directly pouring into my holed-chest which I didn't sure when. The pain slightly reduced. But around chaos halted as it was before, everyone stopped talking and simply looking at me with the blocked evening sun shaded their faces.

Then I should have to know what it meant when the wizard learned time magic. I didn't travel alone. I travelled with <her!>.

She floated there ten melvi, only in split-second ago discharged Finela the Superweapon spell as soon as my body went to the rewinding state. It could be one thing. She progressed a little earlier than me and fired that spell as soon as I recovered my future memory.

I raised my arm and hauled my eyes, two steps. The sandglass had a lot of crack from big to small. The fainthearted-glow flickered slowly under the transparent as its prime age was about to end. Was it broken? Or the wizard locked the time flow? Because when I tried to fly through time again, the light flickered fast then went static with nothing befell.

"Too bad," she was laughing cheerily, unsteady fine holding her wand. "Your time travel is bullshit! I don't know how, but if you died here, there is no second chance. Opposite of me, I could rewind as much as I could."

<Narcissist.>

Halvenzo pushed the elixir's lips into my mouth to rush my development, the blurry in my eyes instant faded, my hearing calmed, the voice of scattered students gradually flooded in. However, none of these events changed how the bright red lines in my dress or the speed of heartbeat in my chest continued rushing. I was blinking and thinking, everything flapping and bouncing around at nothing.

An explainable emotion which also made me wanted to laugh like a villain. Even I hid it, my mouth just went forward against my will. Was this a drug? Did the dress drug me? A malicious dress?

But because it was a second time, I managed to resist and peek the most important topic, Ainari. What the wizard wanted was her. If I could bring her to a safe location away from any people, I could fight that wizard as much as I wanted to. Of course, I didn't want. But this dress was really cursed I couldn't stop thinking other than be a wild mad magician.

"Oh. You want to fight." The wizard readjusted her position, her right hand raised and the left hand that gripping on the magic wand was baiting behind.

Evana had taught me one or two a martial art specifically made for battlemage. But there was no way two or three days of exploring could deliver inept me a grandmaster.

It was just the stance looked close combat magic. Something I was weak for because I used staff before. And there would be a lot misdirection going on to buy some of the time for powerful spells. To give an illustration, it was like dancing with guns at a short distance.

I had to find a way for a long distance. I would not hold even a second. The elixir worked some sort like a painkiller but the healing for the hole in my chest didn't stay forever.

A close-combat was all about a short casting. That was why Evana forced me to use the knife instead of staff when I gave the other suggestion. She rejected straight away and stole my lucky knife behind my back. I didn't sure whether to mad at her or relief. If it was staff, people would view strange at me and I might have to store it in the hotel's room.

"Go." Rather of hyper eureka emotional, my voice came out as monotone and pale. When I turned down, my dress had switched all outlines into pitched black. It changed. What this new effect do? What? My chest regenerated. And the torn part lit up in green slowly reconstructed by itself toward tiny things. This... What was this?

It looked like the size of sand on my palm then it flew back into the dress in about ten seconds, my dress was new as on the first day.

"Nanocells?" The wizard said. "I should have killed you instead. I knew that man couldn't be helped."

<Nanocells?> I heard the term nanomachines or nanites in fantasy fiction all the time. They were written to mimic the mana formula with some kind mechanical method. Thlesy seemed to like those novels. But cells? That sounded impossible. It was like, necromancy or other dark magic that interfered with the human body's nature.

"But..." Erika heard me then uttered hesitation.

The wizard's leg on the back dashed, red First Tier circles produced.

"Go now." I pushed Erika to the side and ran toward the wizard before she started. "{Sicrony}." I shoved the knife to back, blue First Tier circles bloomed. Everything around me — distraction — suddenly disappeared, I sharply stared at the strange shift in the wizard's eyes movement.

She thrust the wand into my face, I scarcely dodged. "{: Angon Hun}!" Her wand revolted the spell which not what I expected.

That spell would create strong stun or shockwave output that worked only if the target and the spigen were in range. Hence, it was very productive at this distance. I had no way out.

Notwithstanding, I was an evoker. "{: Mana Firino}" The blue shield appeared in the front my head rather than my knife had put her in surprise rogue. I manipulated the spell so it would kindly follow the attack instead of having me struggling moving my knife.

The wand shot a bite or large lemon-yellowish spark that could blind my vision, but all effect hit my two-points mana shield. I also designed the spell to automatically toss away the moment it lost 50% of mana. Therefore, the mana shield by itself moved to left while I readied to cast next spell. This was the secret tactic that I considered for the exam.

<This red mana...>

Even the blinding spark had dismissed afar, the normal effect of Angon Hun supposed to be as tiny as a needle. But now, it created very bizarre white and loud noise, blanked me to my surrounding for a second even though I perfectly crushed it with Mana Firino.

Due to probably infinity possibility of magic, rather attack me, she cast Mana Firino too for precaution and stepped back after saw how my mana shield moved without my knife. I also retreated because of the same reason but toward the red mana's output. It was a ridiculous danger.

But, I didn't suspend and wait, my focus mind hopped toward the table, I grabbed and threw flour bags and my dolls simultaneously. Two spells were cast at the same time. Folum to explode the flour bag and Shulonro with my father image on the dolls to make her life hard. "Berserk," I commanded all the dolls.

With the dust of white spinning around, I saw red lightning continued battling against my amazing dolls. She tried to build a gap while dodged out from the vapour. Not a chance. I added more flour to air, expanded to the whole area with another noisy Folum. She trapped in the unseen mass.

I grabbed Ainari's hand, she let her body followed by dread.

As we entered into the hotel from the back, Benseling came out from the staff room. "Hm? Oh, Siqura. What are you going — hah? Is it a storm?"

Chairs flew inside at the notice and passed over the rumbling stairs. The vacation mood from these people halted and yelped toward the noise. The wizard stepped in while lifting two stuffed-dolls with their heads chopped off.

"Nice trick." She said, pointing the wand at dolls with laser-type spell and toasted them into nothing.

"Sorry asking you this," Benseling said, wearing transmuter gloves. "But take Ainari to nearest esegua station."

The wizard really wanted her dead. Did Ainari or Aligent's Goldsmith had more than just a secret connection between king?

"And make sure to protect her with your life, no matter how hated you're for this."

If I was my old self, I would say no straight away. Perhaps, I would do but not willingly.

"Go now."

We left Benseling. Ainari remained in her obedient self.

 

* * *

 

In short, Benseling died. Because it exercised five seconds to mark the wizard was heeding me, shooting mana arrows.

My body became hard to move. I hoisted the knee up and up to the air, then let it down to the road. But, I experienced slowpoke. I touched my face. My nose, it didn't breath.

I inhaled air, my lungs expanded. But when I stopped, it didn't fly as respiration worked in living. This might have to do with the dress again. Because I couldn't feel even wind or pain in my legs. And sometimes, I didn't see where the running person in front of me coming. The conscious of the world clocked down.

The dress returned to the default green when I was about to drop. And I realized how desperate to not breathing. My lungs cramped so much, and my brain was hurt to think straight, and whatever the dress did it prevented from my body circulating by its own.

The wizard started to piss off, began switching to multiple laser-type spells, from weak to the strong. But due to the evoker training, I started to feel more of mana flow, I could dodge before they came. Plus, the sun already descended, it was easier to confirm the strike source.

Still not too easy when the laser-type had precise and fastest speed. The steam world had a laser rifle. But when I tried to search my memory, I only got it a requirement for a lot of steasis. Geonstruct — steam technology — wasn't enough. Something missing. About laser. I knew but I couldn't fetch it.

Blueprint: A laser was a light that amplified with a void.

Alchemy: A laser was a transmutation from aether into seven fragment light as colours in the rainbow, then transferred other colours into green while gradually raised its aether source.

Rune Art: A laser was a pathway that designed so the main orb could travel into the runes at far. Commonly used for monster invasion, building huge construction, and grant heroes their personal magic orbs.

Magic: A laser was a heat magic that burn at high temperature and fired straight without time for its flame.

All talked about lasers. But it didn't help me to fight against it. A weakness was somewhere. I could feel it.

I pulled Ainari into the hiding shop. Broken. No one was near.

The wizard on the air fired the spell into the most bothering buildings. "Come out. Don't hide." She began killing random esegua with one spell. Their chests holed, killed them instantly.

Could we really sheltering in esegua station if alchemy couldn't save us?

Think and think hard. What I missed in these equations?

Ah. Coming. Renura lu was coming. My memory began to make its appearance, rather receiving, I felt I regained another lost memory's piece. Two actually.

Alxience(Alien Technology): A laser was an energy that released by multiple nanocells at once and at three levels of frequency.

Science: A laser was a device that emitted light through a process of optical amplification.

Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Acronym for a laser in the science world.

Because of these two memories, I was able to pinpoint about the laser variations: energy pulse which a blaster beam and light which a laser point.

<I see... Nanocells...> Not now.

A blaster beam was from an alien world. And a high laser was from the science world. At once, they were quite same but the process of making or even the method of defeating was different.

I peeked to the sky, paid concentration, and listened to the sound. It was strange since if magic, I would know.

However, among all lasers I knew in these seven memories, there was one only had the same principal. It was a scientific laser. Basically, a light. Then what I needed was simple. A mirror.

As I recalled back the science experiment class that arguing about a laser, the teacher had said a mirror wasn't fully free absorption. That was why, when the laser continually lit on the mirror, it would either broke or burn through.

With my alchemical observation, that laser had passed over the strongest laser ever existed in the science world. At the same density as an alien blaster. So that was why I got sick after I stood next to Ainari who got fired by it. It was radiation. Alien world and steam world had a fabulous idea of what radiation could mean to the after disaster world.

How about transmutation? There was no reason or goal for this world to do such research. Science? Rune art? Geonstruct? Not even magic.

"Why," I turned toward Ainari, "she wanted to kill you? Did you have something or know something?"

Ainari shrugged, looking away at the magazine's cover with the index finger on the lips. She covered her pocket but with regret later, trying to bring her hand away from the secret. It was too late. After I glared at her for some time, she then reluctant grabbed it out.

<This?>

On her palm was a rectangle shape.

<Blueprint card...>

"King ask me to smith this." Ainari closed her eyes from the magazine. "And probably because of this."

"Can you make another one?"

"I'm the only inherit a royal goldsmith's blood. Perhaps, my sister too... Wait? Did she tried to kill both of us?"

If the undead and the wizard killed her...then it started to make sense. To stop production of this blueprint card.

"Are you the only Veizralia's goldsmith of this card?"

"Card?" She shook at the laser noise outside. Small realization-flame caused by the laser shone her face. "Well, the king would surely not asking me if I not capable."

On the dawn-orange card, there was a picture of glass ball in simplifying iconic futuristic or digital art; and a blueprint text below mentioned the function with two English words, {Globe Mirror}. I rotated it around and noticed tiny sentence at the corner, {Made by Aligent's Goldsmith,} also in English.

"Ainari..." I gulped. "Do you know what is blueprint tech?"

"I know blueprint. But how I could learn from {tech}? Is it design? Or sketching techniques?"

<She didn't know.> I closed my eyes. Returning glance into the card, I attempted to recall my memory from blueprint world. How to active this was quite simple. Nevertheless, based on the scientific theory, it required a strong and full-control of brainwave to be able to use the card. Although, it wasn't strange to find alchemy in my world as alien parts in the steam world. But what I dumbfounded about was how blueprint world had every technology described in each world?

No. Rune world also included in the expectation. However, that was because many heroes summoned from multiple different worlds. It made sense to have a drone rune or a fireball rune. Both were created by heroes based on their home-worlds.

Now that I had a way to fight against that wizard, all I had to do was bringing back the cursed dress code colour, and hopefully, it would strengthen my brainwave to active this blueprint card. Blueprint card, nanocells, and transmutation, I had bad memories. My brain hurt so much when I handled these things. The similar feeling when I handled multiple spells at once.

I stood out. Ainari held my arm. I looked back.

"W-What are you doing? Do you know how to use it?"

"You don't?"

"I only acted upon the king's order."

"But I do," I said with diffident. This was my first time using it.

The wizard noticed me out from the hiding spot, she stopped grinding Finela spell. No esegua was coming anymore. "Stop wasting my time. Where the girl?"

I pointed blueprint card toward her. <Come on, cursed piece of bad luck cloth. You give me hard time before. So give me the full control now.> The dress didn't turn red or black. <Now. Give me, the strength. Or dexterity.> Nothing happened. "Why?!!!"

One laser flew and crushed the blueprint card my last plan, Ainari out of nowhere pushed my mid-body. Did it hit her? Unconsciously, hawked over, the shot slightly missed into the back. She was saved.

"Got you." Without resting, the wizard created the next spell and aimed toward Ainari.

"W-W-Why you out from there?!" I slammed my eyes toward her and my knife spigen. "Damn!" I raised from the ground and prepared my own spell. <I had to with everything I had.> "{Sicrony}!"

The wizard finished the activation, the incoming-spell drummed the whole ground with spilling radiation smoke, turned split second into daylight. I wouldn't have time.

<Now it — what — begin — the — process of recreating the blueprint.> My thought cut in separation as the dress formed gradually into the black glow. I took the breath consciously and constantly.

A laser beam size of a grain, but, was burning destructively and roaring quicker as tried to cut through the substance gas-state air. They wrapped into particles around became bigger by growing distance, finalized as the size of a ball. It penetrated my head more than intended. However, all of the understanding appeared in my brain like a super waltzing computer.

"{Sicrony Sicrony}" I added two more fast activations. Three of part First Tier magic circles overlapped each other, making the line thicker. Many glyph symbols advanced in real-time, I couldn't picture how quick my brain processing and mining relevant fact from this info <dumb> trashes. My chest pumped and slackened rock due to having multiple emotional reactions to materialize the spells. Many mana was wasted. However, the excess was put back into the knife spigen through energy absorption.

My mind continued like uninterrupted water flow as it coming down from the rainbow of creativity.

The laser beam went into my created spell and blasted straight through my upper left shoulder. Strangely, I didn't feel pain. When I thought about having a breath, I realized I didn't breath again.

I budged a bit my shoulder so it didn't hit the beam.

This my new spell had built a ball or a globe with a blue mirror inside. There was a hole at the front where the laser could enter. It didn't have time to reflect. Simply because the reflection 99.99999% wasn't enough. The mirror would still absorb the heat.

However, this was mana. And through the method of alchemy conversion, I needed to convert and made 100% reflection with reference of blueprintic rules.

The globe rotated in anti-clockwise, the pushing laser was flickering and reducing dramatically. Eventually, it was stoppable by the magic effect, the globe gradually became brighter into red absorbed every radiation out of the space. I hotly brought my other hand to the spigen as it was about to lost control. This was why I hated small spigen.

Bent my knee, I hardened my legs against hot air tornado. The knife's blade also flashed a heat, some portion already melted but not poured down.

Magic circles on the ground surrounded around the point of my gravity as I needed to maintain the centre control.

The wizard realized what happened, she moved her wand to the side of the energetic reflector sphere.

Science suggested light was particles. In alchemy that particle named in Alobic was {Nirle}, translated as light, pure aura, or aliveness. It was a part that aid in beauty looking and energetic motion.

It was impossible to absorb or bend light without a mirror or two different densities. If I transmuted nirle's ions arrangement into magnesium, it would be possible to pull the laser with magnetic forces.

The truth was, I didn't know what I was considering about. But deep somewhere in my brain or my heart, I understood what it meant if not all. What the matter was the result of defeating the Finela spell.

While continued pointing forward, I reached the transmuter from the severed hand of the esegua. Ainari helped me took the glove off him in disgusting expression and gave into my palm. I tossed it into the mirror globe, let the magic handled the transmuter. I wasn't guaranteed in transmutation but not anymore with the magic.

One new magic circle merged. It converted the laser into iron dust that gathered at that one spot, no matter how far the wizard directed the wand. Therefore, the wizard had been forced to stop the laser from been overcharged her wand. It smoked red and white.

I saw an opportunity and reconverted all magnesium dust into nirle at that instant. All light appeared and bounced into the 100% reflection mirror ball. Despite so, the energy inside those nirle particles would be tired if I left for too long.

So, I rotated the mirror globe in clockwise but used another mana for some alchemy and science to raise the energy level and produced strong and speedy particles.

The wizard produced Mana Firino as I opened the mirror globe's doorway. Surprisingly, a red laser had been filtered into green and beamed straight, split into five, curved into one, and split again about ten times before pierced through the mana shield. Each split would formulate a light that fried terrifically everything. She had flown away instead of preparing another mana shield. My laser hit her one of wings, burned and consumed.

Having riven wing, she impatiently dangled on the good one to readjust her orientation and shot me Mana Ingle so I wouldn't run closer. But because of the emotional effect caused by the cursed dress, I didn't have any dismay or dubious. Nor confidence or courage. It was completely cold continuance other than the wizard's panic wince. Like a bird with one wing.

The wand got me by its target, but due to unstable flying manoeuvre, she missed the second chance.

Landed on the ground then rolled back, she promptly cast an instant Finela spell without hesitation.

I gripped her hand. We hastily announced the word of repeater magic at the same time: I did to discard her mid-casting spell and put her in knockback state while she did to prevent so.

"{Besfan}..." "{Besfan}!"

Regardless of how fast she was, she couldn't beat my calculation timing. The backfire effect from Tenth Tier smacked her skull like a giant hammer; I even heard the thud strong sound. Her eyes abruptly out. I stabbed my knife into her chest, she caught it.

<Still in conscious? How?> I said, watching her head raising without single blood except her forehead bent awkwardly inside. <This is backfire of Tenth Tier.> How she could endure and stand?

"This? Nothing," she said, beginning next activation when I lost track of the wand. Her other hand still gripped on the knife, halted my development.

"{Besfan}..." I said at the correct timing and she had another demolish punishment.

With Evana's idea, the blunt weapon wasn't able to bleed or tear her dress. However, the mana vampiric seemed working. My depleted spigen quickly filled with redness at the bottom of the hilt as soon as the blade part touched her dress.

"{Besfan}!" she yelled and stared at the magic effect of my spigen.

Nothing happened, of course.

"{Besfan} {Besfan} {Besfan} {Besfan} {Besfan} {Besfan}!" she looked at me.

"It's not a spell." As I said that, the mana container created a crackling sound. When I tried to inspect it, she smashed her head into mine.

I didn't feel the pain but the force was too strong for my body alone to handle. My vision sprung me up, I saw the white moon on the air. My body swung down to the ground, bumping away at 54.4 melvi — I calculated almost accurately considering I used half of my height as a base. But then again, did my height here and in the magic world were identical?

As I slid across the road, I got up and by the time I reopened my eyes, the wizard already achieved casting the Finela spell while the mana storage in my spigen cracked and released the first taste of red mana.

The cursed dress broke the suspension, the tickled and desperation in the lungs overwhelmed. My eyes hurt for not blinking too long. And my ears burned in sharp needles due to hearing the beam explosion for too much and close. My focus was gone, my fear and panic returned.

In exchange the cursed dress formed in the red model, I saw the slowness again. That was some trigger involved.

<What I should? What I should do?> My brain didn't work as before. Simply became mindful or mindless didn't give me any good idea. And the instant death spell was about to finish by one-word speed.

The aura was sprinting out from my spigen, spattering into the air. But because it was mana, the movement a bit slow — slower at my current state.

And then I remembered how fast the spigen recharged if I let it stood near the mana fountain or Helaria Tree, <this was it,> I thought.

The wizard tardily and stressed pulling the down lip to resound {Fi} sound.

<Sicrony: Ensen Spigen.> But my speed of the heartbeat from dressed my casting. All mana particles flowed and spiralled into the knife but only for that spell. I tossed the knife up into the air while raising both arms.

She stopped casting and her eyes blowing up. Slow, of course.

I dived down and down my arms as fastest as I blinked at the hardest as I pushed. The floating knife spigen cast eagelin to itself with one mana.

However, the red mana was different. The harmless Tier had become so serious that my heart fluttered with flame admiration. It was the speed of thunder as agile as my father's Phoenix spell.

Not just that, the knife crushed her wand in the mid-air into two chopsticks, put the wizard in blowback submission, then it flew straight into the underground, the hilt elastically shook back and forward four times before snapped and clanked off the wizard's head to the back. Her body dropped into the ground like dominos and completely inanimate.

The dress returned to normal, I regained my self. Breathing heavily and tiredly. Some trees had turned black from constantly exposed to the Finela heat. It was a deserted city. Street lights swallowed by fires around.

"Siqura Selvona... Huh?" she said while staring at the sky.

I raised arms, defending Ainari who too fool to look for cover. <Why she still here?> "Ainari. Go away." <I have nothing to protect you.>

"You know. Recreating Finela spell on one caster is hard. Really hard. Really really really really really hard. Really..." She laughed in unwillingly with a bit of crying. "And, today someone beat my only speciality."

"Ainari!" I turned around. "When..."

Ainari was there but a magic circle on active beneath. It was on me too. I couldn't move my legs. When the wizard cast the spell?

"Are you forget I'm timekeeper?" She sighed. "Sorry, Siqura. Our magic is simply too different. You are human. But I'm undead who live longer than you." She grabbed out a crystal. Red crystal... No. It was a red void. No, it...why they were same?

"Blueprint is amazing you know? They talk like its a cheap thing but red mana is actually a red void. Funny, isn't it? Only by one void, it could create even more possibilities than magic."

"Stop it!"

"Or time. Or death and life. Or...how about this?"

"No... no..."

Her fingertip glowing in red, it wrote on the air the spell components. Write Magic. It was eastern magic and also the oldest one from Mystic Magic. There were two terrific things about this: it could be cast even someone used a silent-type spell on the caster and it needed only two ancient verses for one Magic Tier.

Since my western magic was new, I couldn't beat this magic. Even I had spigen with me. Furthermore, the concept was intentionally different that Veizralia's magic system making it impossible to learn both magic at the same time. Which this woman could. Because she was undead.

Two lines completed, it automatically transformed into six magic circles. First Tier.

"Don't hate me." She finished Second Tier. "I'm only following order."

Third Tier.

"Who? Who? Stop it."

Fourth Tier.

"You met him at the central hospital, remember?"

Fifth Tier.

That man? That with hugely black aura?

Sixth Tier.

Ainari didn't put effort to shake off. Neither I could after tried with my cursed dress.

Seventh Tier.

My heartbeat raised up.

Eighth Tier.

"It's time."

Ninth Tier.

I tried to raise my leg but it was too strong. This wasn't Fodem. Because I just couldn't move. My body didn't pull toward the ground. It halted like a rock.

Tenth Tier.

I didn't see anything. It was a blind colour of redness. Orange. Mixed. Blaster cannon from alien reality. Big and loud.

"Where are you going suddenly disappeared like that?"

"She changed the future, so I have to stop it right? Anyway, what I should do with her? Kill her?"

"It doesn't matter now. Ercient already ate the bait. He will summon undead portal now. She is good as dead. We..."

"Is that how it works?" The wizard walked away. "Hah. Why not asking some alchemist...?"

"It has to do with World's laws interference."

The wizard and the undead man...left and I was alone with dead people around. She didn't kill me. Intentionally. I saw the same black hole appeared at the top of the mountain but I didn't pay attention to walking bones and black water raining down from there.

Rotated my body, I stepped one at a time toward Ainari. Sat there, I brought half-broken sandglass. It still had light and shape which meant hope.

<Take me to that time.> I said mentally toward the sandglass. "Take me to that time," I repeated if somehow it lost hearing. I continued muttering as I lifted Ainari's head.

Why it was hard for me to hate her? I could hate her minions. I could hate Benseling. I could hate my life. But I couldn't for her. As if this was an illusion or a dream that I knew the truth but unable to materialize it.

"Take me. Take me. Take me." I started to shorten the sentences as I heard the grumbling of an army coming toward me from behind. Including running away those citizens and people.

Along with the word, I began to feel a tick in my chest. It wasn't a normal heartbeat. It was something else.

One blueprint scroll appeared from her ashes. Magenta colour. Like pink bright passion fruit. But another blueprint scroll entered into her ashes. Purple colour. Like a ripping grape. The ashes gradually brought Ainari's body back to reality.

But again, one new pink scroll came out, turned to ashes. And replaced with a new purple scroll turned to her supermodel body. As a result, her body appeared and disappeared like a wheel.

<Darn. Damn. Darn. Damn. Darn.> And <darn!> I grabbed her body, her flesh, her bone, her ashes, then her bone, her flesh, her body, into my chest.

Soon, I saw the ascending pink scrolls and the descending purple scrolls fought each other to fix buildings. But purple scrolls always won. So I got Ainari on my arms.

I pressed my head. "What...?" Renura lu and I saw myself having a birthday party with Ainari, going to the city with her, and having a sleep night on her house. That was something you did to a friend. "I remember." <Why I became enemy with Ainari? Since when? What happened?> "Urgh!"

Someone kicked me away, my arms escaped from her corpse body.

I tried to stop and looked back but a completely naked skeleton with terrible rage merged out of nowhere. I didn't have the strength to move.

Not one but many undead ran and chasing all living including birds and trees. The same undead stepped over Ainari and grabbed into my neck, up to the air. Raised his arm in mad, before its hand stabbed into my chest, everything went dark.

Silent and hollow, I floated in the air. Not even any blueprint scroll flew. No echo. No sight other than darkness. And darkness alone.

This renura lu stopped me from living.