Chapter Five

The morning comes quickly and for the second day in a row, I miss the sunset. With the hospitalized villagers having recovered practically overnight, I’m not needed anymore in the ward and so I am free to sleep in. Unfortunately, the doctor also has more free time, and she’s taking great delight in waking me up.

“Get up boy, daylight’s wasting and we don’t have enough herbs to compensate for your lazy lifestyle,” she tells me. I wonder if she’s intent on not using my name still, or if she’s just suppressing the memory of when she thanked me.

Unfortunately, she’s right and I can only afford to laze around for so long. The necklace I’m wearing makes my problem more manageable but I’m still losing mana at a steady pace. With a swallowed expletive I rise from the bed. Trying to orient myself because I barely remember falling asleep, but apparently, the doctor put me right back in the same bed I was nursed on. Fitting.

My clothes have fallen to the ground but luckily this tent does have a groundsheet, so they’re protected from the worst. I don’t have many possessions from home and my clothes are the bulk of it, so it’d be nice to keep them for a while longer. That said, I’ve been sweating like crazy in them and you can only wear clothing for so many days in a row before the smell starts to ward off evil spirits. And me. But the doctor saves me once again. Albeit in her signature uncaring way, dropping a fresh set of clothes straight on top of me. I mumble a word of thanks as I dress myself, the fabric being much smoother than I expected. This hardy folk still had an eye for comfort it seems.

“I had Tony prepare some more meat for you, we both know you’ll need it,” she says as she walks outside, “We’re preparing a lot of it to keep long term, can’t have you running out.

Then she’s outside of the tent and I can’t even respond. As annoying as the old lady is, she’s incredibly competent and just a very kind soul. Although she’s dead set on making sure no one finds out it seems. I yawn as I finally get out of bed, heading straight for the tent’s opening. Outside there I find Tony once again, locked in a conversation with Viktor. The doctor has seemingly vanished already, probably off the to village for gods know what reason. So I head to the butcher to get myself some breakfast. Viktor sees me first and gives me a studying look, then nods approvingly.

“I see my clothes fit you well,” he says. My eyes narrow, I should have known that they wouldn’t have clothes of this quality just laying around in my size and of course, Viktor uses silky smooth fabric. Well, thanks to us sharing the same build I get to share in his luxury.

Tony is as exuberant as always, slapping me on the back as he hands me a plate filled with meat. My breakfast is heavy but his strength even more so, I stagger with every hit. Savoring every bite I make sure to once again contain the mana released from it. The effort is quickly becoming second nature, although it’s still straining to keep in check. With plenty of tree stumps around, I sit down on nature’s seat, taking the time to eat my meal while simultaneously going through some mental exercises. These are second nature to me by now, my childish routine has long since saddled me with unease if I skipped them. Well, there were worse ways to spend the morning as a mage. The peace that comes over me as I finish feels almost foreign, I’ve been so busy with one thing or another for what feels like a lifetime. In reality, it was only two days, but those two days had me in mortal peril too many times to count, not to mention the impromptu assistant work and my medical condition.

I truly haven’t just sat down and relaxed since coming to this world, unfortunately, it also lets my mind wander and I don’t like what it finds. The emptiness of existence felt crushing enough as a mere university student, now that I’ve found myself in a different universe entirely? Well, crushing doesn’t come close to describing what I feel. I lack any direction forwards, although I know I’d prefer to get away from the castle, rather than move closer to it.

A sigh leaks from my lips, the bleak-looking future feeling all-encompassing.

“What’s got you all down now boy?” the familiar voice of the doctor sounds in my ears. She always pops up at the weirdest moments, it’s a real gift.

“It’s… I don’t know what to do now,” I reveal, “I got the bear meat to fix my issue for the short term, and I haven’t gotten the faintest idea about any long-term solution, so I just feel adrift in the meantime.” Another sigh punctuates my words.

The old lady sits down next to me, thinking about my words in silence.

“The Academy,” she eventually states out loud. The word conjures up some especially boring lectures from back home.

“I can’t say I particularly want to be a student again I’ll admit,” I state somberly. She scoffs at my troubles, however.

“You don’t particularly want to bleed to death either, I imagine. The Royal Academy of Magical Arts, as it’s technically called, has the greatest library on this continent. If you can find a clue about your situation anywhere, it’ll be there.” Then she stands up and begins to walk away.

“If you decide to attend, I’ll write you a letter of recommendation. That should let you take the exam at least,” she casually says as she heads off. What is up with her and dramatic exits, and how is she so incredibly fast? She must be like ninety, this isn’t the pace most near-centurions have. But her words bounce around in my head regardless, because it’s true that I want to stop leaking mana. The fear that I’ll just run out someday is ever looming and none is too kind.

Then again, what comes after that? Even if I manage to plug the hole and live a normal life. I struggle to find motivation, it was like this before and I guess multidimensional travel doesn’t change a person. I enjoyed helping the doctor, that much is true, but I don’t think I want to be one myself either. Returning home would be a goal for many people, but while my life back there wasn’t so bad, it isn’t exactly worth trying to cross-dimensional boundaries.

Images flash through my head, of my inability to understand the commander, and of that damnable eye in their basement. Perhaps that should be my goal. The disgust I felt at the time is burned into my memory, and with the knowledge of their activities, I can hardly turn a blind eye. All the thoughts are frying my brain and giving me no answers I let loose a frustrated scream.

“What’re you thinking so hard about? Tell Tony,” the giant butcher says, standing behind me out of nowhere. This whole village is just a ninja hideout isn’t it?

I’m not about to reveal everything but I could use the help of a native in this regard.

“Say, Tony,” I start, he grins, “what do you know about the castle deep in the forest?” I eventually ask, there’s a chance this is a very dangerous question but I can’t keep going in circles on my own. His face slips into a frown and my worries shoot up.

“The castle of those Order bastards? Damn leeches. What’s there to know?”

I raise an eyebrow at his hostile attitude, the Tony I know is a gentle giant.

“Well, what do you mean ‘Order’ for starters. But also, what are they doing here?”

Tony grumbles a little but sits down next to me.

“It’s the Order you know? The big one, a bunch of fellas called ‘The Order of Sight’,” he sighs and a chill goes down my spine at the name, “supposedly they and their god saved us, humans, from extinction in the last Hellwar. But if they did, these lot don’t mimic the attitude. They’re more preoccupied with taking outrageous amounts of grain under the name of taxes while offering barely any support against the beasts in the area. I’d bet that the bear we ate yesterday was something they knew about but couldn’t be arsed to kill.”

The venom in his words is clear but they explain his attitude quite well. There was a lot of unnerving information in there, both about them and about this hellwar. Was it just a bad war? The mention of a god interfering sounds like religious hogwash to me, or to be more polite, like a mundane reality turned mythical by time. Then again, I was just shifted between dimensions and placed next to a giant eye creature, in the basement of a religious group called the Order of Sight. If that isn’t ominous I don’t know what is.

“Hellwar?” I question.

He looks at me like I’m a dunce, this must be another bit of information that’s regarded as common knowledge.

“You don’t even know about the Hellwar?” he lets out. Face a mask of confusion. “What kind of rock did you live under?”

“One that taught me enough magic to kill a bear, now explain,” I bite back in annoyance. Tony takes no offense to my outburst, he just laughs again.

“True true, whoever taught you did their job well and gave me a good meal. I’ll explain as if you were from a different world then,” he jovially says. My face stiffens but I force myself to relax.

“So, long long ago, like all good stories, the world we live in was inhabited by just us humans. Just us and the plants and animals of the age. No gods or monsters, and certainly no demons,” he takes a breath and collects his thoughts for a second, I listen with rapt attention, “then one day the sky split open, and out came a god-” I scoff but Tony doesn’t let that stop him, “this god was not all-mighty, but to us primitive humans they might as well have been. As we were without magic at the time. Now, here’s where the legends kind of split up, some say that this god breathed mana into our world and taught us magic. Others say that it wasn’t the god, but that the hole simply unleashed mana from wherever this god came from. But our main religion states that the other side of the rift wasn’t where the god was from, but that it was simply passing through a place so mana rich that it filled the air and the hole just let it flood into our world.”

My breath catches at the mention of mana-filled air, but I don’t interrupt Tony again.

“This god decided to help us adapt to our new mana enriched world, and blessed us with its power. According to this legend, alongside the god were a group of Angels, the exact number differs depending on the version, people that looked just like humans but had the innate power to control immense amounts of mana. Blessed with the ability to understand any living creature. They taught us to make use of this new energy that came down from their world, a place that we tend to call Heaven.”

I can feel my left eye twitching a little at this name because the place sounds far too familiar and I don’t like the implication. But Tony isn’t done yet.

“With our new knowledge and skills, humans entered an era of unprecedented wealth and prosperity, until it all went wrong. Because humans aren’t Angels, and Angels aren’t humans. Our world was nowhere near as mana rich as Heaven, and while this was no issue for us since the god blessed us with the ability to create mana and store it in our bodies. Unfortunately, the Angels were not similarly blessed, and they needed mana from outside sources to sustain themselves. Slowly they became more and more jealous of mankind, and they sought to gain our power for their own. They went to their god to have them bless their kind, but he did not reply. In their rage, they sought a different entity to fulfill their wishes. A demon god.”

I was enraptured in his tale, and luckily for me, Tony only stopped to gather his thoughts for just a moment.

“The Angels enacted a forbidden ritual to summon this demon god, intent on having him bless their souls with the power to create mana. All to survive our world. Their plan did not slip by the god’s sight but he did not have it in him to smite down his servants. And while the god was struggling with the idea of slaying his own, even if it meant thwarting the summoning of a demon god, the ritual succeeded.

And mirroring the way a hole appeared in the sky, a giant earthquake ripped open the earth, an enormous rift opening and devouring a mountain range. It was the start of the Hellwar. A brutal affair with the existence of mankind hanging in the balance. From the earthen rift emerged demons, magicless creatures that corrupted everything they touched. They were hellbent on taking over this world for their own. The god was enraged at this and killed his Angels on the spot, but it was too late to stop the invasion. Mankind rallied behind a single banner and fought with the invaders. While we paid a deadly price for every kilometer of land, we slowly drove them back to their rift. We were not prepared for what came next, however. The hole that god descended from closed soon after they came through, but this rift had been open all this time. We had no real way of closing it ourselves either. And from this gaping hole in the earth, a demon god finally emerged to bring doom to us all. It was then that our god stepped in, the two divinities waging their battle, spells, and miracles slinging back and forth between the two entities. They were evenly matched but we humans were still winning ground from the demons. And after a long time of fighting, we cornered the demon god at his rift. Then he unleashed a secret weapon; the Angels that our god had slain for their transgressions came back to fight us. It was our turn to lose ground, that was just how powerful these Angels were.

When it became clear we had become unable to win against them, our god chose to sacrifice itself. It closed the hole, banishing the demon god back to Hell, but in exchange, it suffered from incredible wounds and was forced to rest. Supposedly it’s still recovering from the damage it suffered at the hands of the demon god. Unfortunately, it didn’t get all the demons. So the Order of Sight, the church of the god, is devoted to defeating demons wherever they’re found. To prevent them from ever opening another rift,” so Tony finishes his retelling of the tale.

“But well, this is a children’s tale. Those order bastards aren’t anywhere near as saintly as the story says. Bunch of pricks,” he grumbles.

This has certainly given me plenty to think about, but one question still nags at me.

“Did they ever open another rift? You make it sound like it was a real possibility they would.” Tony’s face darkens.

“Yes. One thing we know is true is that there are still demons out there, and they’re always trying to sacrifice people to make gates. Small holes to allow more demons through.”

I think back to the bloody eye I found myself next to, almost as if taken through a hole.

“They’ve taken over the church…” I mutter quietly.

“What was that?” Tony asks.

“It’s nothing, don’t worry about it,” I say, trying to stay calm. If demons actually infiltrated or even took over the church, then that would be disastrous. But the story fits. It even explains why I couldn’t understand that bigshot knight. I was always taught how communication happens through the soul, and that what we say in words gets understood by the soul. But if these demons don’t have souls then it stands to reason that I can’t understand them. It’s pretty clear from this story that I am what they so painfully embarrassingly refer to as an Angel. Although I have no idea where this supposedly godly entity came from. But the rest matches up, the language, the mana. My eyes widen as I realize I’ve made my choice.

“Hey Tony, do you know where the doctor is?” I ask the butcher.

“She’s probably at my store, helping to prepare the meat for your journey,” he states as a matter of fact. It catches me by surprise.

“My what?” I say dumbly. He’s just as confused by my reaction.

“Your journey? You’re heading off towards the Academy, yea?”

That crafty old… She knew full well that I was going to go there. I wonder if she also figured out my… heritage.

“Thanks!” I yell at Tony as I sprint towards the butcher’s store.

Running as fast as I can I get to the village in no time at all. I’m weaving through the streets, dodging villagers and pets that walk along. When I reach my destination I’m completely out of breath. I dash through the door to find the doctor packing a backpack with magically preserved meat. A freshly written letter is drying next to her. She turns to me and shows no surprise.

“I’m almost done packing. You have a long road ahead of you, luckily for you, the traveling merchant should arrive at noon. You can leave with him in the morning. He doesn’t tend to stay long.”

Out of breath and completely outplayed by this old doctor, I just laugh out loud. Although I feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders, and not even my world, I can’t help but feel ready to take it all on. And now that I have a new destination in mind, I’m no longer feeling adrift. The old lady shakes her head at my antics, but then her face turns serious.

“We have to talk about you though, Angel.”