Awakening
1145 Words
Kai opened his eyes to see the spilled blood of everyone in the village.
His mother’s corpse lay by the side, and the dead bodies of the ones who killed her surrounded him. All of the villagers were a few meters away as well.
They too were dead.
“And now…” He cast his gaze on the riders who were already a minute away from the village entrance.
“… These ones too will die.”
~FSSSHUUU!~
The blanket that covered Kai was easily consumed by the energy that shrouded it.
The thin-layered fabric on his body also suffered the same fate, leaving his n***d body lying in the pool of blood.
‘Throughout the battle, I did my best to meditate and try, but it really seems like I can’t break through to the Second Circle…’
If he tried too much to rush it, he would end up with a Pseudo-Circle, and that would completely ruin his journey as a Mage.
A shaky foundation would inevitably cause the entire building to come crashing down.
Kai couldn’t have that.
‘Fortunately… or should I say unfortunately… there is another way…’
The blue energy that surrounded Kai’s body began to raise him from the pool of blood that he was drowning in.
‘If I control the Mana around me, I can use it to raise my body and get rid of the restrictions in my movement for the most part.’
However, even with that, Kai wasn’t very confident that it would be enough to survive the onslaught that was fast approaching.
Kai had seen the fight between his mother and the traitors—at least to a limited extent.
He already knew he couldn’t move like that.
‘I shouldn’t even try to. Right now, I can only focus on what I know best…’
And that was Magic.
‘The First Circle can only sustainably handle Spells in the First Tier.’
Even though it could, on rare occasions, successfully call upon Tier 2 Spells, they wouldn’t be as effective.
Hence, not sustainable.
However, for every general rule there exists an exception.
Mage had the duty to establish the rules in Magic, and also to seek out the exceptions to them.
And in Kai—no, Zephyr Claudius Philius’ case, he knew the remedy to the current limitations that ailed him
‘Black Magic…’
Magic was essentially the art of utilizing energy from the world by using one’s own internal energy to draw them.
The Circles represented how much authority a Mage had over the energy of the world—how much power they could draw from it.
By activating their Circle, a Mage called upon the Mana around them and used Spells to make that Mana do their bidding.
That bidding, affecting the natural state of the world, was Magic.
However, this was what could be defined as Conventional or Mainstream Magic.
There was another kind that existed.
… Black Magic.
“I have enough sacrifices already. Hundreds of corpses… they should be more than enough.”
Kai’s body floated above the sea of blood around him, prepared to do what had to be done.
“La Sheri alud smeid swiqid z dme awie soror….” He began to chant.
This was not the normal tongue.
It was an ancient one—the language of the fallen.
‘I never thought I would be doing this. Especially after I brought down their organization so many years ago…’
Black Magic was deemed evil because of its natural requirement for the lives of others.
Instead of drawing energy from the world around, Black Magic took it from the souls of the dead.
Energy from the soul was purer than what could be found around, and since all that power was clustered in a Soul, it was easier to control.
A Mage didn’t need five, seven, eight or nine Circles to use it.
They only needed one.
‘The fact that I have to resort to something so f*******n shows just how desperate I am. How weak I’ve become…’
Despite having these thoughts, Kai did not allow himself to be distracted .
The time of recompense had come.
“… Mack lahud awkfo candue vasdoit meduif…”
Kai’s eyes glowed bright purple as he focused on the men whose arrows now charged towards him as they neared his position.
It was too late, though.
The last words were already being spoken.
“… Sereth Adonai El!”
~VWUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMM!!!~
At that very instant, time stopped.
The arrows were now suspended in mid-air, and the warriors—some of whom had already broken past the gate—were frozen in place.
No one moved.
No one except the caster of the Spell himself.
“I’ve already used up a quarter of the Souls gathered for this Spell alone. What a waste…”
Time Magic really consumed too much Mana.
‘But thanks to it, I can finally cast a proper Spell.’ Kai’s gaze rested on the arrows that stood in the air, and an idea coursed through his mind.
A simple counter Spell, really.
“[Reversal].”
The arrows slowly began to turn as they all fell under his influence.
Their surface glowed blue, and they were pointed in the direction of the ones who shot them.
‘I’ll use [Homing] so the arrows know where to hit, apply [Enchant: Reinforce] to strengthen them, and [Enchant: Haste] to improve their speed.’ Kai thought, referring to the arrows.’
Once all his preparations were complete… he fired.
~WHOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHH!!!~
The arrows pierced the air, as if cutting space itself, as they flew at their targets.
Their glowing bodies hissed as smoke burst from them, becoming blurs right as they increased the momentum.
One after the other, the soldiers who were standing found their skulls shattered by the arrows that pierced through their heads.
Their brains were turned into mush as the arrows exited from the other side and found their next targets.
Blood sprayed out, but not before stopping mid-air due to the influence of the frozen time.
This process continued, but barely lasted for ten seconds—calculating how much time would have normally passed—before all the enemies were extinguished.
“And that’s a wrap.”
As soon as Kai said this, time returned to normal, and all his approaching adversaries collapsed.
As loud thuds echoed before Kai, he watched everything with a calm face.
Almost as if he wasn’t fazed at all.
The only expressive thing about his facade was his lair of glowing purple eyes.
However, those soon faded.
‘If I make use of the remaining Souls at my disposal, and use the ones I intend to harvest from these new ones, I should be able to do it…’ Kai looked at the corpse of his mother.
‘I should be able to preserve her life.’
- Writer
