Book 2: Chapter 13

“Vecarn D. Calliat,” Cyil repeated, remembering the name and the slight kindness the man had shown him. Cyil kept his head bowed and only stood up from the ground after Vecarn was gone.

When Cyil stood up he felt a slicing pain where his balls should have been. The crazy turn of events provided him adrenaline to mask the pain, but now that things had calmed down the pain resurfaced with a vengeance. Cyil almost fell back to the ground but he gritted his teeth and furiously began to move away from Gale Saints Academy.

Cyil didn’t know where he was and Mahoj’s memories were of no help, so Cyil just kept moving along as fast as he could.

Each step he took was the sum of mustered strength and willpower. Sometimes, Cyil would even enter a state of empty-mindedness, marching like an undead devoid of pain and emotions. Cyil didn’t know how far he walked, but he kept off of the main roads and had long since taken off his glaring uniform jacket, discarding it in a thick underbrush.

By the time night fell, Cyil slightly relaxed, thinking that no one should be looking for him now, and this caused his whole body to collapse on the ground. He had long since overdrawn his physical limit, and it was only with his strong mind and willpower, thanks to his soul’s strength, that allowed him to continue on for so long.

As Cyil laid on the grassy plains he didn’t know it, but he had already broken through to become a rank 1 warrior, taking his first step towards increasing his chances of survival.

The fluffy and cool grass felt like the coziest bed in the world and Cyil was tempted to sleep but he forced himself to stay awake and meditate.

“I can’t move an inch of my body. I’ll just meditate her for a bit then continue on.”

Cyil quickly began meditating and the refreshing water particles alleviated his tired body. Cyil became so absorbed in meditating that the peaceful night passed by in a flash. Incidentally, Cyil also broke through to become a Rank 2 level 3 mage. Before, he had been close to breaking through and the chaotic events that ensued plus his breaking through to become a rank 1 warrior accelerated his growth, breaching that final barrier. As Cyil was pushed to the limits, both his mind and body, as if hearing Cyil’s call, increased in strength to accommodate for the pressure. This was a benefit from being in a life-or-death situation that many would wish to happen but could not easily gain. No one would willingly put themselves in such a situation after all, because you could really die and that would be the end.

Cyil was still comfortably meditating and taking pleasure in being able to absorb more water particles than before when a cold shadow blocked the morning sun sitting on his face.

Cyil cracked open one of his eyes and saw a girl looming over him.

As the girl saw Cyil open his eye, she shrieked! “Ah! You’re alive!” The girl quickly stumbled backwards and fell on her butt.

Cyil slowly got up and looked at the girl still sitting on the ground. Cyil could feel that the girl was just a normal person and not a mage so he was more relaxed.

Cyil walked over to the girl who covered her eyes and screamed, “GET BACK! YOU PERVERT!”

“Pervert?” Cyil couldn’t help but look down to see that Headmaster Oscar was ‘kind’ enough to apply medicine to his wound but did not give him new pants.

Cyil quickly covered his privates and said, “no, it’s not what you think. That, was just a wound from. From, a magical beast!”

Still the girl was already scrambling to her feet and about to run off, all the while covering her eyes. “Stay away! Don’t you dare chase me!”

Cyil frowned and moved to grab the girl’s hand. When Cyil moved, he felt as if he was a feather and his powerful calves propelled further than before. The girl shrieked as her arm was caught by Cyil and she bit Cyil’s arm.

“ARgh,” Cyil grunted, but didn’t let go.

Seeing that her attack had failed, the girl raised her knee to kick at Cyil’s privates. Cyil frowned and easily dodged her knee.

“Stop stop, I don’t mean you any harm. I just want to ask some questions.” Cyil said again, and let go of the girl’s arm.

Cyil moved a few paces back and stared at the girl who peeked between her covered eyes and said, “cover up your, that place!”

“Okay,” Cyil complied and pulled down his shirt, using it as an apron of sorts to cover the gaping hole between his legs. “Done.”

The girl was watching through the gap between her fingers and when Cyil was done she put down her hand. Now, Cyil could finally see that the girl was pretty, her face tanned and hair cascading like silky waterfalls. She looked to be around 15 and was no longer a girl but a young woman.

When the girl didn’t say anything, Cyil said, “Hi, my name is Cyil. What is your name? Where am I?”

The girl squinted her eyes, “Celestine. Why were you sleeping on our farmland?”

“I was wounded by a magical beast and stumbled onto your land where I fainted. I apologize if I caused any inconvenience.” Cyil ignored the fact that the lady called Celestine didn’t answer his questions and answered politely, his lies forming naturally.

“Right.” Celestine crossed her arms, not convinced. What magical beast? She had never heard of one in all her years of living here. “I suggest you be on your way, before my papa finds you.”

“Right,” Cyil mimicked Celestine and crossed his arms. “Can you tell me where I am and where the closest town is?” Cyil glanced at Celestine who widened her eyes. Cyil then added, “That would help me get out of your way quicker.”

Celestine gave Cyil a look then said, “Fine. We are just outside of Leydford city right now. If you head down the main road then you’ll reach Leydford city in two hours or so. Now that you know, please be on your way.”

Cyil didn’t like Celestine’s attitude but she didn’t attack him so he smiled, thanked her and began to walk away. The pain Cyil felt was less than yesterday, but it was still aggravating and hindered his normal gait.

Celestine noticed this and she couldn’t help but to feel bad for the boy. He looked to be only 13, was dirty, had unkempt hair and even had such a horrible injury. As Cyil hobbled down the hill, Celestine sighed, thinking she was doing something stupid, and called out, “Wait! Wait a bit.”

Celestine ran and caught up to Cyil. She said, “You look like you haven’t had a meal in days. Why don’t you come to our house for a meal before going to Leydford. It’s a long walk there and...and take it as an apology for calling you a pervert.”

When Cyil heard Celestine’s sincere words, he smiled but said, “That’s fine. I should be on my way.” Cyil had an idea of what he was going to do next. Cyil decided that he would join the war against the Dark Ones. Not only would no one care about his identity, but he would be able to hide there. The war at the border was far away from where he currently was so he should be safe from Headmaster Oscar or anyone else that may target him. Besides, Cyil remembered from Mahoj’s memories that to join the Mage’s association you need to either serve 5 years in the army, be a rank 5 or higher mage, or have powerful connections. Cyil didn’t know if he would be a rank 5 mage in 5 years times but he knew that by joining the army he could train his physical strength and raise his warrior ranking, just like how Baccaus had wanted.

Cyil never forgot his Grandpa’s emphasis on training the body and he planned on following through. Cyil didn’t know the proper way of training your body, so he opted for the army, where training was mandatory and required...

As Cyil declined Celestine’s offer, he continued to cooly walk off, but at that moment his stomach protested his stupidity. A beastial growl erupted from Cyil’s stomach, making his stomach hurt.

When Celestine heard the sound, she laughed and said, “Comon! It’ll be a warm, big meal. My papa eats a lot so I always make plenty.”

Cyil was about to decline again but his stomach churned, telling him to eat. Cyil thought back to the last time he ate and decided a meal wouldn’t hurt. He didn’t have any money anyways and didn’t know when his next meal would be.

“Then I won’t hold back,” Cyil smiled and followed Celestine along to her house.

As the two walked back, Cyil asked Celestine a lot of questions which she now answered with a smile. Cyil had never truly in the sense explored Nakrul, outside of Fayburn, so he wanted to know everything there was to know. Celestine did not usually leave the farmland she had with her father, but she would oftentimes go into Leydford city with her father to sell their products so she knew more than Cyil. For a time, Cyil reverted back to his innocent, cheery-self and Celestine could talk to someone else aside from her father.

The walk took 10 minutes and when they entered the plain wooden hut, Cyil could smell the aroma of the different foods polluting the air. Cyil loved it and his stomach did, too. That was when Cyil recognized how hungry he was and his mouth started to drool.

Celestine stared at the drool dripping out of Cyil’s mouth and wondered how long it had been since Cyil ate. Although not eating for a period of time was fine for Cyil, he was reaching an unhealthy limit and he still needed to eat. Only mages that were rank 5 or higher could sustain themselves based solely off of elemental particles. By then their body would be able to absorb enough elemental particles to ‘feed’ them. Physical users/warriors were also capable of going longer periods of times without eating compared to normal humans, but this would be counterproductive because consuming nutritious foods was one of the best way for warriors to level up.

In any case, Celestine was not a bad host and told Cyil to help himself to the plates on the table as she continued to add more dishes onto the table.

Cyil stayed true to his words and was definitely not polite as he gorged himself with the food that tasted celestial. Although there was no meat, these various dishes tasted amazing and quickly filled him up. Cyil heard that food tasted two times better if you’re hungry compared to when you’re not and he had truly experienced that sensation now.

When Cyil finished eating, he felt warm and comfortable; the pain from his groin area had even seem to lessen. Then seeing as Celestine was still hard at work preparing more dishes, Cyil offered to help, asking, “Are these new dishes for you father?”

Celestine nodded and said, “Papa eats a lot of food and always likes to eat these specific dishes so I’ve grown accustomed to making them at light speed!” Then Celestine quickly remembered something and said in a rushed tone, “Cyil, you don’t need to help me. You should go before papa comes back and sees you.”

Cyil laughed at Celestine’s enthusiasm and couldn’t believe she would be smiling and laughing with a stranger; Cyil did not think he would be able to do that and just enjoyed the moment. He also wasn’t sure about her worrying tone and decided the least he could do was help Celestine wash the dishes.

At that moment, the door to the hut swung open and a fat lumbering man walked into the room. He reeked of alcohol and cheap stinky perfume. The man looked at the few plates of food on the table and yelled:

“Celestine, you stupid cunt! I decide to come home earlier today and you decide to laze around?!”