Part Thirty-Nine

So, I just checked my Status, only to discover that it hasn’t changed all that much. The only difference since the last time I checked it, is that Dual Sword Aura is Rank D now. I guess it has only been one day. Jeez, it feel like its been a lot longer since that fight with the Orc General.

The last day had been extremely busy. I’d nearly died, had participated in a defensive battle and weathered a night assault. Then, I’d gone back into the forest and nearly died a second time. I. Hate. This. Dungeon.

One thing just kind of led to another, with no breaks in-between. Add in that someone tried to assassinate me and the resulting fallout from that, and it was no wonder I was shocked that my Status hadn’t changed much.

Okay, where are they? I’ve been looking for awhile now, but they’re nowhere in sight. They could be debriefing, which I don’t particularly want to intrude on. Guess I’ll wait ‘til later to talk to them.

Alicia and Cameron were nowhere to be found. I’d already checked all of the places we normally frequented, so they were probably somewhere I couldn’t go to at the moment. This was assuming that they were back in the first place, of course. They could’ve run into trouble like I did, or some other setback could’ve occurred.

Regardless, I had some time on my hands and nothing to do with it. So, I decided to get some extra practice in. I began to head towards one of the more desolate corners of the fort. I just wanted some peace and quiet to help me focus.

“Michael!”

Guess that’s out of the question. Oh boy. What does she want?

“Please, please wait for me! I-I need your help!”

Kalia came running up to me from out of nowhere, shouting and causing a general ruckus. She uh, she looked panicked. There were tears at the edges of her eyes and she’d clearly been running for awhile.

“You’ve gotta come with me right away!”

“Wait, wait, WAIT! You’re going to need to explain what’s going on if you want my help.” She stopped trying to drag me away to parts unknown.

“It’s the others. They’re, they’re! Please!”

She was hysterical and her pleas were nearly incoherent because of it, but I somehow managed to piece together what she wanted. And I knew it wouldn’t be anything good.

***

Well, shit.

The scent of blood hung heavy in the air. Dozens of mercenaries were injured, with at least a fifth of them close to death. The NPCs were trying their best, but they simply didn’t have the ability to save everyone. That's what Kalia was trying to do.

“So you just need me to carve the glyphs?”

“Yes. I won’t have enough mana to do both, and Ritual glyphs need to be carved with mana. It’s one of the things that makes them so potent.”

“And it won’t matter that we use different types of magic?”

“No. You’re just going to channel mana into this dagger and use it to carve this block. Just copy it straight from the Grimoire, I’ll do the rest.”

She’d calmed down immediately once we’d gotten back to the infirmary. There was no trace of the hysterics she’d been in just moments ago. It was like she was two completely different people.

Things were relatively calm at the moment, as the NPCs had apparently sedated most of the mercenaries to keep them from worsening their wounds. This led to an eerie quiet hanging over us, made all the worse by the room’s atmosphere. I’d swear that we were about to perform some sort of satanic rite, rather than a spell to heal the others.

Let’s just get on with it. Someone had brought what looked to be a cinderblock into the room, which was what I was going to engrave. I approached the block with the dagger she’d given me in hand and sat down by the open Grimoire.

According to it, I would need to engrave twenty-three different glyphs. For comparison, [Rot] only required four glyphs to cast, so hopefully the effect would be worth the effort. Though then again, [Miasmic Cloud] required a single glyph to cast, so I’m not certain that there’s actually a correlation there.

“One more thing. You’ll need to focus your mana towards the tip of the blade or you won’t be able to actually carve the block.”

Great, more pressure. Haah, let’s get this over with.

I’d never actually tried to feed mana into a blade before, but it was surprisingly easy. This was because the Dagger I was using was actually designed for this exact purpose and was thus better at conducting mana than regular blades would be.

And as for concentrating my mana, well that was easy at first. But as soon as it the tip hit the block, it felt like trying to balance a ball on the back of my hand. Not super difficult at first, but harder as time went by. With each successive movement, it became harder and harder to control. I barely managed to finish the first glyph before my control slipped and the mana dispersed.

Kalia had her eyes closed, so she didn’t notice that, but the way she was clutching her staff led me to believe that she either knew or was just incredibly antsy. Though it could’ve been both.

I went back to it while gritting my teeth. In order to finish this properly, I had to draw each glyph into the next one, sort of like cursive. The connected glyphs would circle around the block, until finally reaching the starting point, where I would create a small notch for Kaila’s staff to fit into.

I sat in complete silence, except for the faint sound of stone being scrapped away. By the fifth glyph, I’d gotten the hang of it and no longer struggled to maintain that delicate balance. By the tenth, my arm was starting to tire, but my right hand was much steadier, so I couldn’t really switch.

By the eighteenth, my mana was starting to flag. I’d spent much of the day in constant combat, so I hadn’t had much left over to begin with. The only reason I’d gotten this far was that it took very little mana to actually do the engraving. But I would run out soon. The only question is whether I could finish before then.

Just as I finished the twenty-second glyph, I felt the thread of my mana slip away. I wasn’t out, but I was damn near close. Fuck it! I’m not going to fail when I’m this fucking close! Just a little more damnit!

Biting my lip hard enough to draw blood, I drew out the last dregs of mana within me, along with a bit of something else. It suddenly felt as if I had a much larger amount of mana to work with, enough so that I could easily finish the engraving.

And finish it I did, though I wasn’t even able to speak before my consciousness cut out.

[Kalia’s POV]

A thud alerted her to the change in the room. Michael had slumped to the ground without a word. She’d ordinarily check on him, but she noticed that the engraving had been completed and all notions of helping him flew out of her head. Besides, he’d be healed by the spell anyway.

As she stood over the stone, she had to admit that he’d pushed himself to help her. He’d probably fainted because he’d used to much mana at once, but he’d somehow still completed the engraving. He’d even added the small notch for her staff that she’d asked for.

She’d actually expected him to give out near the twentieth glyph. Engraving seemed easy at first, but grew harder over time as it slowly wore at your mana reserves. That he’d managed to finish was a testament to either his resiliency, or his stubbornness. Or maybe both.

Actually casting the Ritual was simple. All she had to do was insert her staff into the notch and use it to channel mana into the engraving. The rest happened naturally.

*Woosh*

A wave of mana emanated from the stone and filled the room with a calming air. [Soothing Aura] did just that, it soothed the bodies and minds of those within its effects. It alleviated pain and healed all kinds of injuries. As far as magic went, the spell was utterly broken.

The only real downsides to it were the time it took to set-up and that each completed stone was one-use only. The stone would disintegrate once the effects ended. But that left more than enough time for everyone to be healed, even those with grievous wounds. Granted, they wouldn’t be completely healed, but it was still better than dying. Also, unlike [Mend] and [Heal], [Soothing Aura] didn’t replenish lost blood, so those who were severely injured would be anemic for a time.

I, I did it. I did it! Ahahah, I did it! I. Did. It! Phew, okay that’s enough. Let’s not get carried away here. But still, I did it! Hehehhehehehheheh.

In her euphoria, she hadn’t noticed that her face was flushed and her eyes had glazed over.

[Protag’s POV]

I woke up in one of the infirmary beds. I’d apparently passed out after using too much mana at once. Or at least, that’s what the NPC told me. But I’d never passed out from over-drawing mana before. I usually suffered from severe exhaustion or muscular pains, so this was rather odd. But since I was currently fine, I put it out of my mind.

Looks like Kalia’s spell worked. Everyone looks much better and there less of an air of tragedy in here. Maybe that’s why I feel so good right now. It’s like I got a full night's sleep and then some. Magic sure is something.

Now as for the mage in question, she was currently nowhere to be seen. The remaining mercenaries were helping the NPCs to care for those not fully healed yet, but I couldn’t spot Kalia. It certainly didn’t seem like her to just leave, so I got a little worried.

“Don’t worry about her Michael. I sent her back to her room to get some sleep. She needed the rest after that.”

“Erm, Braddock? You ah, you look, different.”

“Heh, you don’t pull punches, do you? Yeah, I look like something that dragged out from under a rock. Feel like one too.”

“No, um. You look like a trope. Like one of those grizzled army veterans from a world war two movie. You know, with the eyepatch and all.”

Not only did he have several scars along his left cheek, but he was wearing an eyepatch. Add that to his general vibe and all I could think was that he’d look at home smoking a cigar and drinking some brandy. And yes, I know that’s ridiculous.

“Er? How am I supposed to respond to that?”

“You shouldn’t. If you respond to every little thing that comes out of his mouth, it’ll just tire you out. You have to learn to fight your battles when it comes to him.”

“Now that’s just mean Alicia. And completely untrue. And hurtful. Also, when the heck did you get here?”

“Just now, duh. Can we hold off on the bantering right now? I’m too tired to bother.”

I had to push down the urge to check for marks behind her ears. Alicia not wanting to banter was like me not wanting to fight. It upset the balance of the universe. Wait a minute, wasn’t I denying that I was a battle junkie?

“Alright then. Can’t say I’m too eager either.”

We both sighed in near unison. It appeared that neither assignment had gone as easily as it could’ve. If something happened with Finnél’s group, then I’ll know someone’s trying to sabotage us. Just wish I knew why.

“By the way, what happened here? There’s too many people injured to just be from the missions. Did something happen at the fort?”

“Yeah. A large flock of aerial monsters attacked. There were apparently thousands of them. The mages held most of them off, but you can see what happened for yourself.”

That’s probably why the monster count went down so much. But still, another large-scale attack? This is getting serious. We need something to turn things around and fast, or no one’s going to survive.

“Oh, Michael? Kalia told me what happened in the forest and I’d like to thank you. You didn’t have to go out of your way to help her like that. Know that if you ever need something from me, I’ll help to the best of my abilities, meager as they may be.”

“Everything?”

“Everything. Even what happened with Mark.”

Oh boy. Wait, if Kalia told him her version of events, then why is he being so cordial with me?

“By the way, leading someone into having a misunderstanding isn’t something that will endear you to others. I understand why you did what you did, but some may not. I’ll try to keep her from talking, but…”

Braddock excused himself after telling me that, ostensibly to check up on the rest of his crew. I certainly hoped they would be okay after what happened to Mark. I didn’t personally know any of them aside from Braddock and Kalia, but I couldn’t imagine they were bad people. If they were to actually hate me,, it wouldn’t end well. For anyone.

Well damn! I never expected someone to figure it out so quickly or easily. How did he do that? Am I that easy to read? Well even though I say that, he’s probably only figured out the surface reasons. Not my true motives. Also, I’m really thankful he whispered that to me. I don’t want Alicia learning about that.

“So what kind of nonsense did you get up to?”

“I thought we weren’t bantering right now?”

“And we aren’t. I’m just wondering what mess caused Braddock to lose an eye and to make you look like you need a nap.”

“Well, I’ve got a story for you, if you’ve got a story for me.”

“Hmm, alright. But let me get Cameron and we’ll meet you in your room in ten.”

“Why my room?”

“Because I said so!” she yelled as she scampered away.

Really, you’re just going to run off like that? Haaah, yep. Why do I bother? It’s a mystery alright.

[Sávos’s POV]

A short distance from Michael, two sets of eyes were observing him from the shadows. Both sets were filled with irritation. However, the source of said irritation was very different.

“Sávos, I am most displeased. You assured me that that rat would die and yet he continues to live. How could that be?”

“….”

“Hmm, perhaps you are not as reliable as I have believed. I suppose I should have a talk with the Elders upon our return.”

“…!”

That was bad. If Finnél reported that he had failed, then there was a significant chance that Sávos could be punished, possibly with death. House Valec’s Elders didn’t take failure very well, especially a human’s failure, a fact he was very familiar with. He’d already been stripped of all the prestige he’d built up once. He was not keen to suffer the same fate.

“But perhaps this was merely a mistake. If that is indeed the case, then I suppose I could overlook it this one time.”

“Thank you Young Master.”

Finnél walked away without replying, as if he’d said all he needed to. And in a way, he had. A fire had been lit within Sávos, one that was even more destructive than his master's.