Infestation VI / Fever Aflame

For the first time in several days, I managed to feel at ease during my classes. Even though I wasn’t close with any of my peers, the idea that some of them might secretly want me dead was a terrifying thought, and one that had weighed on me more than I realized. Now that most of their names had been cleared, however, the invisible pressure was lifted, and I could go about my day without feeling tense at all times.

In fact, I’d felt so good today that I decided to pass the time by relaxing in one of the school’s courtyards rather than holing up in my room. Our group wouldn’t be meeting to discuss our next steps until tonight, so I had some time to kill after classes ended.

Normally, I’d be passing it with Shina or, more recently, Akio, but the latter was busy, and as for the former…

“What do you mean I fell asleep here last night? Why didn’t you wake me up? I had Counter-magic homework I needed to finish!”

… she was a little irritated with me, so I wanted to give her some space. I didn’t expect her to still be mad at me, but I was planning on apologizing during dinner anyway.

“Speaking of dinner, I should probably head that way soon,” I muttered to myself, guessing the time by the sun’s position.

Just as I hopped to my feet, I heard a familiar voice.

“I have never been to the northern storage area. That one is situated on the hill, correct?”

“Yup. It’s super awkwardly shaped and annoying as hell to navigate, but I’ve been there enough to know my way around. Just follow me,” a voice I didn’t recognize replied.

I spun to face the source of the sound, and I spotted three individuals carrying crates through a hallway running against the courtyard. They looked heavy, and the person walking in the middle was carrying two of them.

I wasn’t sure if I’d have the courage to approach them if they were all strangers, but since at least one was an acquaintance, I had no reason not to offer my assistance.

“Hey, Kerne, do you guys want some help? Those look heavy,” I called out to them as I approached.

Three heads peeked past their respective handfuls to look at me.

“Anita?” To my surprise, I recognized another face among the three.

“Oh, Everett. Hi again,” she replied.

“You know this guy, Ani?” the third person, sporting messy, fiery red hair, asked.

“I told you, remember? I made friends with the Inheritor in my class a few days ago, and I met her boyfriend too.”

“Ah, you’re right. I didn’t recognize him at first, but that’s Leo—er, ‘Everett’, you said? Nice to meet you, Everett. I’m Raplin. Don’t know if Ani got the chance to brag about me, but I’m her darling boyfriend. If you wanna help, I’m sure Kerne would be happy to offload his second crate.”

Kerne lowered his arms slightly, and I reached up to lift a box off the stack. As I suspected, the container weighed quite a bit. “What’s in here?”

“Old alchemical apparatuses,” Kerne answered. “A professor asked Raplin to transport these to the storage facilities on the north edge of campus. He is a close acquaintance of mine, so I offered to assist in the endeavor.”

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout this, since it’s my responsibility and all. Especially since it’s almost mealtime. I can’t thank the three of you enough,” Raplin said.

“It’s no problem. I’m not familiar with the route, so I’ll follow your lead.” Kerne and Anita nodded in tune with my reply, and Raplin smiled at our graciousness before continuing the trek.

From where we were, our journey took almost ten minutes of pushing against the flow of students flooding toward the cafeteria in the opposite direction. Eventually, we stepped through a large archway bordering the vast stone wall that surrounded the school grounds, marking the entrance of our destination. As we entered the chamber, however, I grew to realize this storehouse was more expansive than I’d expected.

A few steps in, Raplin pressed a hand to a neatly inscribed sigil on the wall and sent a surge of mana into it. In response, a series of magical lamps illuminated the passageway before us in sequence. I had seen professors light up their classrooms this way before, so that aspect didn’t shock me, but what did was the area itself. It looked more like a network of ominous catacombs than something that belonged in the academy.

“What… is this place?”

“This is where the professors throw their real old stuff. It’s honestly more like an archive than a storage area. The junk in here goes back centuries, and they keep adding more rooms whenever the old ones fill up, so at some point, it culminated into this mess,” Raplin explained.

It didn’t take long for me to understand what he’d meant. Rather than consisting of just one or two rooms, the structure unfolded into a labyrinthian complex of winding corridors and erratic changes in elevation. It appeared to be built over an area where the hill was uneven, so staircases going up and down served as periodic interruptions as we navigated the many twists and turns that separated each individual room.

The layout wasn’t so complicated it would be impossible to memorize, but this being my first trip, I grew lost after only the second or third intersection. Luckily, Raplin seemed at home in these halls, and he proceeded without pause.

Then, after what felt like forever, he stopped in front of a door labelled “Alchemy 4”. Lowering his crate to the ground, he pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, unlocked it, and continued inside.

“Phew. Finally. I wouldn’t have helped if you told me it was gonna be this far away, Raplin.” Anita was the first to speak as she plopped her box onto the ground.

“Sorry, Ani. I told you not to join me, though. You were the one to insist.”

“The traversal indeed took longer than I expected,” Kerne added, his cadence as rigid as ever. “Thank you, Everett. I would not have been able to handle both of these myself.”

I nodded to him as I set my own box down in the mostly barren room. “Does ‘Alchemy 4’ mean there are three other alchemy rooms already?” I mused, unsure if Raplin would even know the answer.

Rummaging through one of the boxes, he replied, “Yep. Once the other ones got too packed, they just came in and tacked a new room onto the end. Seems like a waste of time, but what do I know?”

“We should return, posthaste. Food is likely being served as we speak.” We were all tired, but Kerne was right; we should get back as soon as possible.

“Good point,” Raplin agreed. “Thanks again for helping me, guys. Oh, and one more thing, Kerne.”

“What is i—”

A pale blue light erupted from the confines of the crate.

Huh? That can’t…

“You shouldn’t pry so goddamn much!”

As a purple ooze blasted forward at Kerne, still crystallizing into its deadly form, I leapt straight into action, my intimate familiarity with that glow allowing my muscles to act before my mind caught up.

“Kerne!” I slammed my body into his to push it aside, before kicking backward to dodge the incoming strike myself.

Or that had been my plan, at least.

Shit!

By the time I pulled back, a set of razored talons had already solidified, digging themselves deep into my left shoulder.

But that would’ve been Kerne’s heart if I hadn’t stepped in!

Spurred on by that thought, I seized the winged arm of the still-manifesting monstrosity and ripped its claws out of my body. I crouched slightly and held out my right hand, a moment away from conjuring my sword and slaughtering the beast before its form could be completed.

But a single moment was too much to ask for.

“Lyosti!”

Far too late, I realized the position I was in. In this tight, cramped room with only one exit, it was simply impossible to evade the glacial tide crashing toward me.

Suddenly, a flash of white light enveloped my vision.

Crrrshhk!

The sounds of ice creaking and shattering reverberated around the tiny chamber, emanating from beyond the figure now standing before me. As their head turned to face me, I finally managed to make out the frame of their shield, which had repelled the attack.

“There’s not enough room here to fight! Retreat!” Kerne shouted, his voice betraying how shaken he was.

“Got it!”

I leapt in the direction of the exit, my gaze remaining locked onto Raplin. He seemed keen on making up for the failure of his first strike.

“Lyosves!”

Before his projectile could make contact, I plunged out into the hall, with Kerne following only a step behind.

In a cruel twist of fate, it appeared our investigation had borne fruit.