Genometrics Concert Hall ~Mrgrgr!!!~

"What are you-!" Before I could finish, I find myself in a totally dark world. There's absolutely nothing here. I'm just floating around in the darkness. Exactly what is that scroll?

......................

......................

......................

Hours went by with me lying around doing nothing. I tried to figure out a way to leave the dimension but no good, I don't detect any change whatsoever in this world no matter what I do. Although this world is totally dark, for some reason I can see myself clearly. And that's the only way for me to tell the difference between closing and opening my eyes... this space is probably magical. Damn it, there's a better way to die than to starve in an empty place like this right?

......................

......................

......................

How long has it been since then? Has it been days, or maybe hours? I dunno, I have no way of telling the time in this place. I dunno if I'm even sane anymore... I guess that's it for me huh... I copied some scroll to learn awesome stuff and this is what I ended up in... oh well... in some ways, this place suits me. It's like my heart somehow, all empty.

Ahaha... death eh... fine by me... if it ends then it ends... I said, somewhat regretting the anticlimatic death I'm about to have. I don't understand why but tears are rolling down my cheeks. I thought I accepted it... so why am I crying? I don't understand this contradiction... the emotion is surging in me, as if telling me I cannot give up so easily. As if telling me that I am not as empty as I think I am. And along with them, the mana in me surges violently. It's a strength I never thought I had, the strength I could have only in my dreams. The strength I never knew what would I use it for if I ever attain it.

Please, listen and receive this song
That becomes the lazy wind of the dawn
Please, release the drifting and lost people,
whose sleeping lives are still in frozen dreams....

My tears fall on the ring. Suddenly the jewel on it shines bright, so bright that it pierces through the impenetrable darkness. I am swallowed by that light. I don't understand what the light means. But I do feel its warmth. It's a protective embrace, a healing one. It wipes my sadness away. It reminds me of that time... that episode of happiness.

The birds that are flying together with the sky go towards the sunlight
The white and shining wings
are announcing a hopeful tomorrow to the future

The light finally subsides, revealing a beautiful flower field. The world is like it is free of any kind of ugly things. I am sitting in the middle of it, all confused. And in front of me is a girl... someone I could never forget. After all, in her ring finger is the other half of the pair... w-why are you here...!?

"Honestly, you're a total mess, Aize. Come on, stand up already! You're pathetic!" Ilya says with her usual scolding expression, offering me her hand.

「Here goes day 1 of my training. As I washed myself alongside Rakan at the waterfall, we prepared for our first training session. He wants us to spar, apparently, it is the quickest way to train every aspect of my skills and body and also a quick way for him to assess how to train me. As we head over to an open field, I suddenly recalled I had an artifact that will help us in the training.」

"Wait a minute Rakan-san. Before we begin training, I have something to propose!"

「I took out a scroll, opened it and a huge bottle came out. I then proceed to explain how it works.」

"This is an artifact that teleports users into an another time-plane. In that place, the time space is a lot more faster than the current world. If I remember correctly from the last time I used it, one day here would equal a week there. It has a limit of 2 months inside the time-plane of usage, I have already used one. I propose we use the last month to train me. It will save me some time."

"Hmm... You're right, having a one month training in 4 days would be greatly time-saving. Alright, good thinking! Let's do it!"

「I nodded enthusiastically and recited a spell to teleport us inside. Rakan was mesmerized by how it looks like a resort.」

"...Shouldn't you be used to it with the kind of scenery you have?"
"Bwahahaha! This is a fantastic place!!"

「As soon as he said that, he suddenly grabbed me and threw me forward.」

"WOOOOAH"

「I tried to reposition myself, but the strength of the throw was too much!! I looked in front of me and suddenly see Rakan rushing at me. I waited for the right timing and when he got close to me, I used my defensive spell.」

"Shit!!! Flans Paries Aerialis Maxima!!"

「The blow was too strong, it sent me flying to the ground, but thanks to the spell, the impact wasn't too rough and I got out of it without a scratch. He then quickly proceeds to try and attack me, where I dodged and try to attack him.」

「The spar lasted for hours, until I ran out of breath, I was all beaten up while Rakan looked ok even after all the hits he received... He walks up to me.」

"Well kid, time for you to sleep, tomorrow, we keep it up again! Hahahaha!"

「He just waves his hands and walked away towards one of the houses here. I stayed there, laying in the sand, looking towards the sky. I can't help but grin.」

"...Hahaha....Hahahahaha.... THIS WILL BE FUN!!!"

「I yelled my enthusiasm, I couldn't contain my happiness for fighting against someone so strong. As soon as I calmed down, I headed towards my quarters to rest, preparing for another rough day. One month of rough training, strengthening me up for almost every ordeal that will come... I wonder how I will be after all of this...」

「As I looked out my window, I can't but wonder if Yula's safe...」

"Yula, be safe..."


***********

「One month has passed since my training started, of course, it would have only been four days in the real world, but this one month seemed to have passed by so slowly. The painful training, the new strength that I've acquired, the new spells, new strategies... No doubt, I've grown a lot in this one month.」

"Alright, how do we get out?"

「Rakan said impatiently.」

"Well, the bottle should disappear automatically and we'll also be sent out ri---"

「Before I could finish, we were instantly expelled outside of the bottle.」

"---ght imme.... Yeah, like this."
"What a nice artifact!! Sucks that you can't use it anymore hahaha"
"...."

「We headed back inside Rakan's house, he started asking me lots of question about what I will do and stuff. But, this dark presence that I'm feeling is really irking me. I walked to the scroll I saw a month ago, or should I say, four days ago. Rakan looked surprised and asked me:」

"Interested by that scroll aren't ya? That's the scroll of Magia Erebea."
"...Erebea... Sounds like Erebus..."
"Yep, the naming is derived from the god of darkness and chaos. That scroll was written by the Dark Evangel, Evangelina McDowell."
"The Dark Evangel... Say... Rakan-san, can I... Take this scroll?"
"What?! Well, I think you can handle it, knowing your crazy nature through that training we went. But I can't hand out this scroll to anyone."
"..."

「I really want it, I really want to learn it, this dark feeling, I'm really attracted to it, I want to open it, I want to see it, I want to feel it. Then, I suddenly remember, my last artifact, the scroll of mimic. An incredibly rare artifact that can copy any scroll without exception. I risked my life to get this, knowing one day, I would require it's usage. I took it out without hesitation and show it to Rakan and explained everything to him.」

"...You keep surprising me with your artifacts don't you? Alright, but don't do your training here, you might cause havoc and I don't want to lose my home"

「He said that while picking his nose, how lax can this guy be? After recomposing myself, I unravelled the scroll of mimic and it instantly copied the scroll of Magia Erebea. I quickly thanked Rakan for everything he has done and before I left, he told me I could train in the mountain fields near here. With his guidance and his parting gift, a bag of warding stones, I headed out towards the mountain fields.」

This guy is pretty hard to track down but I finally caught him. When Mart told me that the guy that had stolen a diamond was hiding in the Elysium continent, I thought that it would be hard to find him and it was. Even once I found him I had to camp out a couple of days to figure out his movements and when would be the best time to attack him. He has a couple of strong looking guards with him and I didn't want to risk making enemies with them so I decided to attack him when he was alone. The time to do so finally came when I found out where he lived and set up an ambush for him. A couple of well placed RSMs (Remote Sun Marbles) and a quick blow to the head was all it took to knock him out. I took the liberty to look around his place and found the diamond. It's pretty big. About the size of my fist. It would have fetched a nice price in the black market, but now it's under my control and will soon find it's way back to Mart. Ah, it looks like he's waking up. He wont go anywhere, though. He's tied up pretty nicely.

"...mnnmm...?"

"Bonjour, my good man. Had a nice nap?" He looks at me with a visibly shocked expression on his face.

"W-Who are you and what do you want?!"

"Me? Oh, I'm just a friend of the guy you stole a precious gem from. He sent me here to look for you and get it back. Now that I have it, I'm trying to figure out how to best dispose of you without getting my clothes dirty." I slowly take out my hunting dagger and move towards him. He looks scared. Good.

"P-please don't hurt me. You already have what you came for. I promise I'll never steal from anyone again, just please let me live."

"Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, I don't like it when people bother my friends. It makes me...blood thirsty. And now, you will satisfy that thirst!" I rush towards him, dagger in hand and aiming for his head, but I stop a centimeter from hitting his eye. While I didn't hit him, the guy makes a yelp sound and passes out.

"Nothing like a good scare to make the enemy go back to sleep."

Before I return to Carbo Oppidum and return the diamond to Mart, I think I'll turn this guy in to a guard station for a little bounty money. I'm pretty sure I saw a vendor who sold coffee beans a few streets back so I think I'll get some of that with the money.

As I walk out into the street carrying the guy like a recently killed deer, I look up at the blazing sun. I can feel my blood filling with energy. I remember what my grandfather once told me.

"Straha, in your veins runs the blood of great mages of light. Though you are not of pure decent, you still posses some of their power which is a rare thing among your lineage. Even a pure blood would often have trouble summoning their power so the fact that you can do it, even if it is only to a small extent, is worth praising. It is my dream that someday, with sufficient training, you will be able to use your powers to their full potential and bring back the long lost powers of light."

It's a shame that that dream was never fulfilled. Grandpa died only a few months after saying that. He gave me my Solar Rifle on his death bed, hoping that I would eventually unlock my power on my own. Had I been able to accomplish it, there would be no need for power cells or to depend on the sun's energy to power my weapon. I would be able to do it myself day or night, rain or shine. Maybe someday I'll be able to make gramps proud.

"I wonder how Desfel and his mistress are doing?" I ask myself.