I Reincarnated as an NPC Witch

Illusions

She didn't receive any words nor answers from the individual. Suddenly, vertical black strips started appearing around her. Then, it spins all around them. She looks around, her companions were still awake. They are looking at her, she can tell they are quite intrigued and confused why she's talking to this thing. Although even they seem to talk, seeing their mouths move in familiar ways, she can't hear them. She looks back at the individual in front of her. Before she can even ask another question, a sudden blinding light emerges from nowhere. She closed her eyes due to its brightness. As she shuts her eyes close, she didn't realize her consciousness was knocked out.

Abigail opens her eyes slowly, with her eyelids flickering sometimes with the sun rays hitting her eye. She covers it by putting her hand overhead. She looks around her surrounding. She's somewhere foresty again, she doesn't know where yet, but she's there. She can feel the ground that she's sitting on and a hard object that she's leaning on. She fixed herself and blinks her eyes a few times to fix her vision as well. She looks around again, she can the canopy of trees just above her. She spotted her friends as well, they were still laying on the comfort of the tree trunks. She slowly stands and turns her head to her companions. She starts walking around, checking if they are okay. She sees no evidence of them being involved in what happened earlier. They also seem in the forest they spent the night on before they went into that hell of a city. For Abigail, they went back in time, but she's not sure if everything that happened earlier will happen again. She hopes.

"Oh, you're already awake." She turns her head, seeing a smiling and completely calm Lavena. A much different one before where her beautiful pink hair was a mess and her face was completely soaked with her tears. "Good morning." She greeted her, "I see the other aren't though." The pink lady giggles, "It's fine. It's been a long trek. Rest is something important for us adventurers. Although with the workload we are having, it's not something that we can have immediately. We even need to work for our rest. Also, Keeana scouted for us last night, so she deserves it." Lavena kneels in front of the fire and puts it out. "Fill your stomach now before the others wake up. We will take off as soon as everybody is all ready. Knowing them, they won't be eating for a while. Since Keeana found a city just some distance away, it won't take us hours. I can't blame them, newly cooked food is something you don't want to take for granted. Warm food, especially soup, is just something special for us. I know you can understand that because you already have tried served food and packed food for travels. Both are tasty, sure. But, nothing beats a homely, warm, freshly-cooked homemade dish on a table."

Abigail sits beside her, "What's the place called?" Lavena looks at her, "Endale. We've been there before, it's actually a very long time ago. I hope they haven't forgotten us. I wonder how's Eric doing there." The witch rubs her palms and looks at her, "How do you describe the people there?" Lavena thinks, "Well, it has a fair amount of highly intelligent individuals. Mostly in these northern west cities are welcoming with different species. Well, not with Lesser Untamo. Which, I hope we just passed by. You know why.” Abigail giggles, “Are you sure that city is safe?”

Lavena looks at her, intrigued, “Why are you questioning my previous knowledge with that city.” The witch shrugs, “Just like you said, previous knowledge. Lavena, people change. I don’t know, maybe something corrupted them?” Abigail totally ignored what the individual just said to her. She’s trying to poke them some memory about what just happened earlier. Lavena snickers and shrugs, “You have a point. But, they will not suddenly change on hating magical things and practitioners. They have some there. That will be quite strange.” Abigail looks at her, looking if she meant something with the last one without blowing what she’s planning. She seems not surprised nor showing anything that she knows something happened earlier. Lavena grabs some of the packed food and the conversation ended there. Abigail walks away and back to her own tree place where she further thinks of what happened. As per Lavena’s request, she got some food for her sustenance.

“They were right or he was right. If he is the Dark Wizard.” She whispered to herself as she munch some bread. “I know you are that person. Even if you don’t speak about nor deny it in your all-so mighty and deep words, you are that person. You know everything that’s happening here. You know that we are trapped here, you know the sinister things happening behind this magical world.” She continues to mumble to herself. She was glad that no one is noticing it nor questioning why she’s whispering to herself. “But, what did you do to us? The world around us earlier? How did you able to stop that corrupted thing from attacking and possibly harming me?” She looks at the ground, further thinking deeper and diving into all of her memories. “Are you hiding something from all of us? Do you mean something more when you said you are powerful than I think you are?”

Abigail was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard someone talked behind her. “Hey, Crocus. Are you casting some weird spell there?” She turns her head, seeing Gallant crouching behind the tree she’s leaning on. She groans, “Yes,” she lied, “What do you need?” He laughs as he sits on the other side of the tree, just beside her. “What kind of spell is questioning someone’s power? I mean, if it can do something, I bet it’s something called ‘talking to yourself.’” She rolls her eyes, “You aren’t funny. That doesn’t even work. Go ask Edsel to teach you how to joke better.” She grunts and walks away from him. “Hey!” She turns to him again, he’s already behind her. That was fast. “And, also, it’s not very kind of you to eavesdrop on my thoughts.” He snickered, “You were thinking out loud, I can hear it without even going near to you. Besides, I don’t care what you are muttering about. I was just here because I noticed a wound that I didn’t even know was there. It’s quite large and I am surprised that it doesn’t hurt at all.”

He sat under the tree and pulls up the bottom of his trousers and showed her the big slice on his lower limb. It’s quite open, like a hole in a tree trunk. “If this isn’t that too big and a bit scary—I mean, alarming one, I won’t ask something from you. And, Catrina is still sleeping, so I will bother you instead.” Abigail was shocked at how it is looking. It’s like something really sliced it and pushes it open. Although, she’s noticing some details that don’t fit at all for a leg wound.

“How deep is it?” He shrugs, “I don’t know but it looks pretty, pretty deep.” Abigail sighs and sits in front of him. She pulls out her wand as she looks closer at the wound. She can see some of those strips or small squares that glitch and flicker sometimes. She looks at Gallant with a surprised face with some hint of concern. “What? Are you afraid of it? Pssh.” He giggles as Abigail shakes her head, both to disagree and shake off what she has seen and thinking. “No, I am not. I am just quite surprised by how deep it is. You didn’t even bleed! What kind of sorcery is this?” He laughs, “Well, you are the only one who can answer that. I am not magical at all.”

Abigail had an urge to touch it. She points her finger at it and tries to boop it. Before she can even reach the fleshy core of it, she was blocked by something. She tried again in other parts, she can feel a barrier blocking it as well. She was confused as she touches the other part of his leg that aren’t affected. It was normal, it felt like skin. “Hey, don’t take advantage of my vulnerability here.” She glares at him as he laughs. “I am just checking things. You don’t understand magic, right?” He rolls his eyes playfully, “Yeah, yeah. Go on, magical genius. Do your genius magic.” She ignored him as she tilts her head until she almost lean on his leg, just below the wound. She touches the middle of it again. To her surprise, she confirmed that there’s a weird barrier at the topmost layer of the wound as if there’s something there. “Do you feel anything?”

“Yeah, I feel something. Do you have magic in that finger? Because, weirdly, I am feeling something above my wound.” She glares at him again, “What? That’s a genuine answer because I am confused as well. I am not a jerk all of the time.” She rolls her eyes, “I am glad you know it.” He smirks, “The best jerks are the ones who are aware that they are!” He cackles.

Abigail takes a deep breath and exhales. She starts swishing her wand around, “I hope this works.” She whispered to herself before pointing it at the wound. A spray of magical dust shoots out from the tip. She’s not hopeful that this will work. She’s pretty suspicious if this has something to do about the electrical and nerdy side of this world rather than some magical and normal thing for this reality. She lowers her wand and lets the white magic dust land on his limb. It covered it for a while. “Just be patient, do you feel anything.” She looks at him as he shrugs, “No, not at all. Do you need to feel something when you cast me that spell to my wound?” She shakes her head, “Just asking. For how douchebag you are, these magical particles might have just bitten you instead of healing you of your wound.”

Gallant cackles, “Not a great counter for me. I guarantee this as my win.” She sighs, “But in all seriousness, can you tell how you discover this wound?” “Well, I was just folding the ends of my trouser because I am going to a nearby lake to wash off. I don’t want further moisture in my outfit. I discover a part of it. When I fully folded like half of my trouser, it revealed this beast.” Abigail puffs, “You didn’t really felt any pain at all? This will be painful. This just a pure flesh wound, it doesn’t even have evidence that it bleed.” He shook his head, “Nope, none at all. Maybe I am that strong that I am numb to the pain now.” Abigail shakes her head in disappointment, “Becoming numb to the pain is become dumb and unaware of what’s happening to your body.” He giggled, “But, on a serious note, I didn’t feel a thing at all. I just discovered that it was just there. I was like, ‘Oh! I have a wound. That’s not pretty.’”

The magical dust or small fog slowly subsides. It slowly revealed a healed wound. It seems like it didn’t appeared nor existed at all. Abigail was surprised even though she doesn’t even have to. Her confusion just became worst. She pokes it as it responds like a normal limb at all. It creates a dent when she pokes it and comes back when she releases. “Hey! Thanks.” Gallant unfolds his trouser and stands. She looks around, her mind was overwhelmed with curiosity. She snapped back into reality as she saw a familiar figure just in the distance, looking at her. “You…”