I was dreaming right now.
I knew right away because it was only a moment ago when I was in my room, practicing the new spells that I had received from the Voice.
When I opened my eyes, I was in a completely different place.
The first thing I thought was that everything around me was really white.
The grass under my feet and the sky above my head was all white.
My black hair which had grown down to my waist, stood out like a drop of black ink on a white canvas. My clothes were also black, and the style was something I had never worn before. It was a long gown almost like a dress, with thick banding over my wrists and waist. Back on earth… I think I saw something similar in a history book on Asia.
I was standing there, like I had forgotten what I came to do.
‘I knew a moment ago, but I can’t seem to remember now…’’
“You’re the one who kept asking me to cross swords with you, so why did you come without your sword?”
I turned around towards the voice. It was a deep voice that held almost no emotion.
‘An angel..?’
The man in front of me had long white hair and was wearing a white gown similar to my own. He looked like he belonged to this world. As if it was made for him.
The only part of him that wasn’t white was his black pupils. They were dark and cold, just like his expression. If I didn’t have this unexplainable feeling of closeness, I would have mistaken him for my enemy.
“…It’s a bit soon, but I’ll give it to you now.”
In front of the white man, a sword suddenly appeared. As if it was made in his own image, it was a radiant white sword.
It was a sword I had seen before.
’Why is this here…?’
”You don’t like it?”
I looked back up to meet his eyes. For some reason, I didn’t want to hurt him.
”I- I like it. Thank you.”
”…”
I reached over to grab the sword from him, but he didn’t let go.
”Who are you?”
Flinch
The world around me started to turn black. Like ink was being spilled from the top to the bottom. It started with the sky and bled into the grass. I could feel magic in the air, but I couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of spell it was.
For a moment I could see the man’s eyes shake in realization of something.
“You need to go back.”
I sprung up on my bed. There were three books spread open next to me, and when I looked at my desk I could see Rene and Faye fast asleep. Faye helped when the voice used command magic on me, but when I got back to my room it was still fast asleep.
‘I feel like I dreamed something important… but I can’t remember.’
It was a morning like any other.
***
“Has anyone heard back from Sixth?”
”No…”
”No.”
”It’s been a week since we lost contact. Could it be…”
”Nonsense. Even if the boy is an irregular, there’s no way a mage that just reached the 1st circle can defeat a master.”
“Then how can we explain this situation?”
”My magic marks her last location in the dark forest. Her mana was completely cut off in a single moment by something… or someone.”
Tap tap tap tap tap tap tap
The man in the white mask tapped his finger on the table.
Everyone else fell silent, awaiting the man to speak.
“It’s the mad mage’s doing.”
”!!!”
”But the mad mage hasn’t come out of seclusion in the past 50 years. Why now?”
”The boy must have sparked something.”
The room fell silent. Everyone knew the risks of getting the mad mage involved was more trouble than they expected.
Whooosh
Suddenly one of the members at the table disappeared from the room.
Whooosh
A few moments later, they reappeared.
“I found her. She’s…in Askua.”
Sixth- No, Miriam was found in Askua. The country on the other side of the world from Sonia.
***
“I think she’s finally given up on you.”
“?”
“I’m talking about Ria! It’s been a week since she last came to see you. This is why I’ve been telling you to treat her better!”
“…”
I wasn’t sure exactly where the Voice sent her, but I hoped it was far far away.
“More importantly, Peter’s taking a while isn’t he?”
I changed the subject, and thankfully Kale played along.
“Yeah, whoever’s in there must be pretty important.”
Kale and I were waiting outside of Peter’s office. When we arrived at the building, Peter was already talking to someone else. We both sensed that a serious conversation was taking place, so we quietly waited outside.
Creak
“We’ll see you then in 3 days.”
“Ha… alright.”
Peter had dark circles under his eyes, and his voice had no spirit.
The man who came out of the door was wearing a navy uniform. He seemed to be in his 30s and he had blonde hair and blue eyes. His face was stern, and gave the impression of a military man.
As he left the building, he made eye contact with Kale and I. I could tell there was no reason for it other than to remember our faces.
“Why did the Administration stop by?”
“Ha… it’s about the clean up job.”
“They promised they would ask a different guild this time!”
“I know, and that’s what I said but they couldn’t find another.”
“Bullsh*! I know it's because they're getting paid to get them out of it. They’re making us do it since they know we can’t say no.”
“…”
The cleaning job.
Kale and Peter told me about it before.
They said it was something they had to do last year, and hoped they would never have to again. The main reason why was because it took place in the Slums. Located off to the southwest of the marketplace and under a bridge, was a place where the homeless and poor lived.
Or at least that’s what was known to the public. In reality, the slums were much worse. The living conditions eventually created a land filled with trash and disease. It had reached a point a few years ago, when it started affecting the mana flow in the air. A disturbance in mana flow could cause a lot of different problems. The main one being that it can attract monsters.
“The nobles have started complaining about the smell again… and the administration is worried about the increase in monster sightings.”
“Ha…”
“Is the smell that bad?”
Kale looked at me with sad eyes.
“I washed 10 times every day for a week and still couldn’t get it off me.”
“I remember the smell would physically make my skin sting...”
“And everytime the wind blew even the slightest bit, I’d get hit with a smell that was 10 times worse. If I didn’t have all those magic items on me, I would have fainted.”
“Isn’t there a spell that can block smell?”
“We went in with magic items imbued with it. Unfortunately, the strongest we could get was a 2nd circle spell. Anything stronger would be a lot more expensive.”
If even a 2nd circle spell wasn’t enough to block the smell out, how bad is it without it…?
I felt a shiver down my spine.
“You went too last year?”
I looked at Peter.
“That’s right… The administration always asks for a minimum of 2 people per guild. But now that you’re here…”
He raised both his hands and gave me two thumbs up.
‘Should I have just said yes to the Voice?’
***
Three days later, Kale and I went to the meet up site for the clean up job. Every year, the administration asks 3 guilds for their help. So other than Kale and I, there would be more members from 2 other guilds.
As we got closer to the slums, the smell grew stronger and stronger.
“Hm…”
“You can’t already be having a hard time. This is nothing…”
Kale’s face was already going pale just from remembering the smell.
The meet up was being held in a shack temporarily built by the administration. It was made close to the entrance of the slums.
When we were 100 meters away, I was on the verge of throwing up. The stink went straight up my nose, and made my eyes water.
50 meters away, I could feel my skin stinging from the stink. Just like Peter told me, it was affecting me physically.
By the time I saw the shack, my legs were shaking uncontrollably. My face was red from holding my breath and I was on the brink of losing consciousness.
‘If smell could kill a person… this is what it would feel like…’
Kale and I entered the shack, and saw a group of people around a table. They were all wearing a metal mask over their nose and mouth.
“Wear this.”
The man standing closest to us threw two metal masks in our direction.
Although half his face was covered, I could tell from his blonde hair and blue eyes that he was the man I saw walk out of Peter’s office.
Once I put on the mask, I could breathe a little easier. The smell was still there, but it was no longer burning my lungs. The mask was imbued with 2nd circle magic.
“I’ll make this quick. For those of you who’ve been here last year, it’s the same procedure. You’ll take this magic item, and place it in these locations that I’ve marked with an X on the map. When you click this button, it’ll turn red. When the color returns to green, that means it’s done. You’ll be moving within your guilds, in case of a monster sighting.”
The blonde haired man held up a long metal device with a green button. On top of the big table in the middle of the room, there was a big map of the slums.
‘How many X’s are there?!’
I looked at the map to see over 100 X’s drawn in. That means each guild would have to cover over 30 spots…
I could already feel my spirits dying.
“You’ll be going in 15 minutes, so prepare what you’ll need.”
The blonde haired man ended the briefing by leaving the shack. I could tell he also wanted to leave the area as quickly as possible.
Looking around, I could get a closer look at the other two teams.
One of them was led by a big man with short buzzed hair. He had a big ax on his back, and gave me the image of a warrior. Next to him was a woman with short hair and glasses. She wasn't carrying any weapons, so I wondered if she was a mage.
The other group was led by a tall elf, who had long green hair and pale white skin. His face was so beautiful, I almost mistook him for a female. Next to him were 2 female elves who looked identical to each other. They were both carrying long bows on their backs.
From the moment I came into the shack, I noticed the tall elf was glaring at Kale.
“It’s been a while, Feno.”
Kale greeted him first, with a smile on his face.
“Don’t act like we’re friends.”
The elf responded with spite.
Kale chuckled at his response, and turned to me.
“I didn’t think I’d meet an old classmate here.”
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