Birds sang through the woods as they flew from nest to nest, their chirps echoing gently through the trees.
Towering trunks loomed high above, casting shifting shadows onto the vibrant wildlife below. The forest breathed with life—until the peace was shattered by deep, thunderous rumbles. These were not the usual territorial skirmishes between monsters.
No... this time, the rumbles grew heavier, shaking the entire forest floor.
The reason for that was...
Me
BOOM!
I was currently running through the giant trees surrounding me. Taking care of my surroundings and scanning for any roots or low branches that might trip me. Reason for my superstitious attention was that the forest floor, blanketed in damp leaves from a recent downpour, was a treacherous, slippery mess.
Now, why was I running?
I was being hunted.
Why, you ask?
Well for one, Damascus, my so-called mentor, decided that the best way to "train" me was to be chased by a beast. Not a sparring session. Not endurance drills. No.
He thought I'd learn best while running for my life from a giant creature that towered over a normal elephant.
ROAR!
"Aaaaaahhhh!"
Knocking down the trees with terrifying speed was a monstrous red beast, its coat speckled with white like a deer. It had the snarling head of a sabretooth tiger, and the lean, powerful body of a wolf. Its joints were studded with protruding bone spikes, each one honed like a weapon. As if the fangs and claws weren't enough.
It wildly stormed after me through the forest, not stopping at any obstacles, be it a rock or a tree. It's pursuit was relentless.
"Come on Liicht! If you don't quicken up, you're going to be skewered!"
"Yooouuuu Baaassttaarrrdddd"
Damascus's voice rang out as he soared overhead, leaping effortlessly from branch to branch, keeping pace with ease.
He was the very reason why I was being chased.
He broadly claimed that life and death would be the only way for me to improve.
I kept running around, searching for some way to escape from that thing. Maybe if I had been older and stronger, then I would have understood his approach.
But this? Throwing a 12 year old child into a situation like this?
I was only at the Tiro II Rank in terms of physical class. Making it a miracle that the beast hadn't caught up to me.
And although I had reached Thaumus III Rank in magical capacity, it meant little. I still couldn't cast a single spell. I didn't even know how to channel Pure Mana yet.
It had only been some hours since we stepped out of the cave and I was now already seeing my Guardian Angel descend from heaven.
My lungs burned. Saliva gathered uselessly in my mouth as my throat dried up like cracked earth.
"Hahh....Please...h ah....."
Then the moment I had been dreading came.... I slipped.
The wet leaf cover was my downfall.
As if sensing the moment of weakness, the beast lunged forward with renewed vigor and as I turned in despair, all I saw were it's claws outstretched towards me with bloodshot eyes.
'FUCK!'
My last thoughts would be about slipping on wet leaves...
Suddenly, a gust of wind struck both me and the beast, blowing me away, till I slammed into the trunk of a nearby tree.
For a moment, I lost any ability to breath, as the air was knocked out of my lungs.
Looking weakly upwards, I couldn't really process what I was seeing.
Damascus stood on the giant head of the beast, his spear thrust downward, having pierced straight through its thick hide. The sheer force had collapsed the monster's ribcage from the inside out, and a pool of blood now spreading beneath it.
"That's enough for now...I got a gist of what you can do..."
Still slumped against the tree, I was wheezing, as exhaustion filled every limb and every crease of my body.
"..."
I stared at Damascus with half-open eyes and I hoped he could see that I had put every ounce of hate that was left within me into it.
"Tsk, okay! Let's see how long you can play the silence card."
He picked his spear back up from the now mangled carcass and walked over to me, picking me up by my collar, as if I were a misbehaving pet. With my feet dangling in the air, the thought of fighting back was impossible.
That man could kill me with only the flick of a finger.
As he dragged me along, I realized something.
No footprints were left by Damascus, not even the leaves were rustling as he stepped on them.
Nonetheless, as I had already near no energy I simply tried to calm down and catch my breath.
-----
"Urgh..."
Damascus dropped me after some time back onto the ground like a bag. We were close to a river, as I could hear it's currents running down their path.
He then turned around, sat down on a nearby rock and took out a book and started reading it.
"This is where we will be sleeping tonight Liicht. If you don't like it, go cry to daddy."
"My name is Wendel..."
Damascus always seemed to ignore me when I talked to him. Even when telling him that my name wasn't Liicht, he didn't care.
But that was fine.
This gave me a chance to look at something equally important to training my body. Which was to learn on how to use Pure Mana.
I concentrated and reached inward, recalling the sensation I felt the first time I encountered the Arcane.
A golden, translucent window shimmered came into existence before me.
}————{ Arcane }————{
Name: Wendel E. Maelstrom
Age: 12
Mage: Thaumus III
[Progression]: 23%
Physical: Tiro II
[Progression]: 64%
Core Capacity: 100%
Blessing: Purity
Gift: Absorption, Inner Circulation, Pure Body, God's Language: Arcanum, Arcane Creation
[Arcane Vision]: Unseen
…
..
.
}————{ End }————{
Damascus didn't even glance up. He couldn't see the window.
It was for my eyes alone.
Looking over it, two major changes stood out.
First, the Progression Rate of my Physical Rank had jumped to 64% from the original 57%.
'So that bastards training does have some merit...'
Although it wasn't much to look at as one improved faster in the lower ones ranks, it still meant something to me.
Second, another new information had popped up.
'Arcane Vision: Unseen...'
I tilted my head a slight bit as i read the words. I then tapped onto the window but it shattered like glass.
'Hmmmmm, maybe it is something not so impo-'
Then, suddenly several images popped up in my mind.
I saw the same white figure which I had seen during the trial, but one thing was different. This time instead of being entirely white, it seemed to have some facial structure as well as clothing.
There was still no face, but one could see the outlines—his eye sockets, the curve of his jaw.
He wore a one-shouldered kimono, black as night. On it were several white lotus flowers which marred the black fabric.
And then—I saw it.
A magic circle unlike the static typical ones I'd seen. It pulsed with symbols from the Arcanum Alphabet, constantly shifting like clockwork. Letters rotated within concentric rings—some clockwise, others counterclockwise—forming layers of complexity that made traditional magic circles look like child's scribbles.
'Wow...'
The overall structure of the circles were different from your typical formulas
It seemed like a the insides of a clock that kept changing as the time progressed, something of near perfection.
However, the same way like the images appeared, they disappeared as quicky.
Although, the memories still remained.
'Why did they show me again that man... Is he really my predecessor?'
Also the fact that I couldn't see his face and only recognize its outlines was awkward to me.
I looked towards Damascus, only to see him still reading his book, as if not worried that something could hurt him.
I then again went back into my memories and thought about these Arcane Magic Circles and realized something.
Their structure was complex but it seemed there were layers to them, as if each additional circle made it harder to create them.
'Let's try to concentrate...'
Closing my eyes, I thought of the golden translucent energy that danced around the 'God Of Purity'.
The cold as well as the sudden warmth that I had felt back then appeared again, giving me slight goosebumps.
Slowly, that heat rose. A comforting heat that spread from my chest to my fingertips, as if the Mana itself sought to protect me.
I let it guide me.
Drawing symbols in the air, I traced a circle. At first, nothing happened. But then—a pull, like something was being drawn from deep inside me.
I slowly tried to draw some of the characters of Arcanum in a circular formation.
I slowly thought of how I suffered before my death in the original world.
The pain of my past life
The loss
The injustice
My death
And this second chance
This strange, magical world
Ever so slowly I realised that I wasn't only Ely anymore but also Wendel....
'Maybe I can.....'
XIU!
A sharp, high-pitched sound pierced the air—gone as quickly as it came.
Opening my eyes in shock, I saw something that I didn't expect
Crck!
Boom!
Brchk!
In a straight line, trees continued to tumble down each after the other. Redwood trunks, thick as houses, split and crashed like dominoes.
Then the next thing I spotted was how even Damascus looked at me. He still had his book in his hands in spite the fact that I had just felled several trees. Damascus expression was still unreadable.
"...."
Goosebumps came over me.
However only then did I realise...
In front of my stretched out hands, floated a single Magical circle with Arcane characters written inside of it which slowly dissipated altogether. Golden particles gave in to the wind and drifted down the forest like stardust.
I had done that?
I myself couldn't believe it.
But the more I thought, I came to the conclusion that I had used Pure Magic just now.
But something was wrong.
My surroundings had gotten dimmer. Instead of having the sun pouring its light down on me like moments ago, everything was slowly getting darker, as if it had already become evening.
'No that can't be, just now we were still in the middle of the day'
I vehemently denied the possibility just to realise, that Damascus also had lit a campfire without me noticing.
My body trembled violently. I realized—I had spent nearly an entire day casting that one spell.
Looking down, I saw that my body shivered uncontrollably and as the magical formula disappeared, I became more and more tired.
Slowly embracing the exhaustion over my body, I closed my eyes and I slept.7