21 - Hidekazu
Naoji knelt on the ground, ivory ink leaking from his fingers and onto the old beams of Hidekazu's dorm room floor. Though Hidekazu's Ryuugo had improved over the last half a year, he still couldn't read more than a handful of the calligraphic kigou forming the enchanted spiral.
Death centred the spell. The symbol was repeated at least another dozen times in the sequence that just kept growing and growing, like that one note in a mournful song that stuck with you and wouldn't let go. Hidekazu couldn't find a reason to justify so many uses of the kigou.
"Is it almost done?" Hidekazu said when Naoji paused for the first time.
"You'll have to complete the last two kigou." Naoji pointed to the outermost edge of the spiral. "Write 'ascension' there. Do you know it?"
Hidekazu
