Breakthrough!

Chapter XIII

Breakthrough!

The faint noise originated ahead, spurring him to run faster. In the darkness, he could discern a dim figure on his path, but it was the wrong shape to be Skia. A flash of steel described an arc from the ground, hitting the shadow with a muffled sound, similar to beating a wet rag or a futon to remove dust, which was what had guided him. Enji reasoned that Skia must be lying on the ground, defending herself against one of the tripods standing over her. Enji uttered a scream that served as both his encouragement and vocalization of his fear as he charged the monster with the spear.

The creature froze and looked at whoever had uttered the yell. Its eyes shone faintly in the darkness, and that was what Enji used to guide him. The spear went through the center eye and came out of the other side of the head with a wet sound. The tripod let out such a shriek that Enji thought his ears would burst, and the overpowering stench from its blood almost made him puke. He didn’t bother to pull the spear out of the monster; Skia’s was his priority.

Enji kneeled beside the shape on the ground, who faintly panted. “Skia, can you move?” Receiving no answer, he decided to carry her to safety on his back. Enji has an uncle who, according to some family members, has a few screws loose. Whenever his family stayed in Hokkaido at his uncle’s farm, he would “train” Enji to be a track and field runner. One of his training routines involved making Enji run from the field to the barn, with a heavy sack on his back. Enji believed that his uncle was taking advantage of him by making him carry the day’s harvest of potatoes to the barn. But he was glad of that training, since it made his legs strong.

Skia wasn’t as heavy as he thought she would be and was able to trot at a steady pace. He soon saw the dark silhouette of what must be the wall ahead of him. But something seemed odd; the wall looked taller than he had imagined it. When he reached the first trees, he realized his mistake; he had been running toward the forest instead of the mansion’s walls.

Enji laid Skia against a tree. He wanted to check her condition, but he had no light; he had left the phone in his room. Raising his face, he looked up. The sky was as black as tar. He leaned next to her. “At least she’s breathing,” he muttered after placing his ear close to her lips.

He stood, placing his back against the tree, and moved his head until an equal amount of darkness could be seen at each side. “So... the mansion’s wall should be that way.” He pointed his arm perpendicular to the tree’s wall. “Why are there no lights?”

“They... extinguished all lights so they... can see us.” She spoke with difficulty. “They don’t... want to hit us by mistake.”

“Are you alright?”

“Don’t... worry. You don’t have... to suffer me anymore, worm.”

“Don’t say that! I’ll carry you to the mansion!”

“I’m done for. I... had lost too much... blood.”

“Can you regenerate? Galakei told me you people are able.”

“With enough rest and blo...”

“Skia? Skia!!” He leaned and placed his ear close to her nose. He sighed in relief; she was still alive. Did she imply that they need blood to regenerate? Enji frisked around her waist, searching for a blade; he was sure that he had seen her carry one. Her sword was in the field, and he had left his in the back of the carriage when he began pushing because it was on the way.

He found her knife; it was on her back in a sheath attached to her belt. He made a cut in his left forearm, and by touch, he found and opened her mouth and began squeezing some of his blood into it. At that moment, she partially regained consciousness and buried her fangs into his arm. More blood spurted, and she eagerly sucked it. Enji flinched in pain but endured until she stopped drinking.

“Why?” she asked faintly after a minute or so.

“I won’t let you die.” Enji sat behind her, supporting her against his chest.

Skia looked around her and reckoned the direction to the mansion’s walls. She grabbed his hand and pointed it toward the darkness. “They... need a signal... to locate our position.”

Enji was well aware of his limitations. “I can’t cast magic.”

“Did you... feel the [sug]... back...” Skia’s speech became slurred.

“Skia! Skia!” he gently shook her.

“It’s your... fault, worm. We fall... into deep slumber... after drinking... blood to re...generate.”

“Skia!”

“Use my [sug].” She raised her hand and touched him on his cheek.

Again, like in the workshop, he felt the electrical current and the warm flow through him. Encouraged, he chanted the flame spell as he originally learned. He didn’t want to make any mistakes. His casting succeeded; it was initially a faint spark, which then grew in intensity. He had finally used magic! He felt a burning sensation on his finger, but he didn’t care. The flame extinguished itself after a few moments.

Enji lay her against the tree, then crouched with his back to her and pulled her arms around his neck. When he had Skia on his back, he grabbed her thighs and rose with her. Her ‘sug’ still flowed through him due to the contact of their bodies. Enji cast the little flame again, raising his hand high so those on the wall could see it.

It worked. Lit torches appeared, indicating the location of the gate. This was followed by a barrage of fireballs that began taking out the monsters lying on the path to the mansion. Seeing that, Enji didn’t wait any longer; he sprinted toward the gate with the vampire girl on his back. His hand hurt like hell, but he was not about to let the flame go out. It began to rain. He remembered some saying: Yeah! “When it rains, it pours.”

The distance to the gate was over fifty meters, a distance he could have traversed without any problem. However, his tiredness from pushing the carriage, compounded by the girl’s weight and the falling rain, slowed him down. Initially, when he had felt the girl’s softness against his back, not to mention her smell, arousal came to him; nonetheless, the strain made him soon forget all that. He ran without thinking; if he had lingered over the dangers that lay ahead, he would have faltered and collapsed.

His recollection of the time during their escape was a little fuzzy. He remembered intense pain and discomfort. Unable to breathe and blinded by the downpour. His feet flip-flopped through the puddles in such abandon that it could have made a kid playing in the mud envious. At some point, he thought he saw a different kind of monster spying on him from the shadows. He didn’t care what it was. The gate was his priority. It loomed in the darkness, framed by burning torches. He saw figures moving and heard voices he couldn’t discern.

He crossed the finish line, breaking the ribbon tape. Cameras flashed, and the roar and applause of the public welcomed the victorious runner. He had won the marathon! Falling to the ground, he lost consciousness.

***

Enji felt as though something was constricting his chest, making it difficult to breathe as he slowly emerged from sleep. He blinked several times, unable to dispel the fog in front of him. Hugh... Aah... He had difficulty forming coherent thoughts. Rain... run... applause? Was I dreaming? Blinking again, his eyes focused on an unfamiliar ceiling. Whatever he had dreamed was lost to oblivion. His head felt like cotton candy. A ticklish sensation came from his chin. He wanted to scratch it, but couldn’t move his right arm. Enji forced his head down to where a big cat wriggled its ear on his chin while napping on his chest.

He tried to move his other hand, but the result was the same. The effort of doing so woke the black cat.

A pair of big green gems appeared in front of his eyes.

“...Enji? Are you alright? Enji...” The sound grew louder in his head.

He slowly recognized the voice and the owner of the face gawking at him.

“Silma?”

“Oh, I thank Sil, you are alive!” Silma hugged him.

“What happened? Where am I?”

“Don’t you remember? A horde of [Gleths] attacked a carriage, and we fought them—”

“Gleths?” Enji recalled the tripod monsters that attacked Eitheas’s farm. Then a face came to mind. “Skia!” He tried to get up, but it wasn’t Silma’s weight that impeded him; he was strapped to the bed with belts around his chest, arms, and waist.

“Don’t struggle! You are injured, and I can’t heal you until my magic returns.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your hand is burned, and you broke your other arm when you fell with Skia on your back.”

“Did Skia...?” he didn’t dare to finish his question, fearing the worst.

“She’s recuperating in her room.”

“Ah! was all he managed to utter after feeling relieved.

“I exceeded myself in casting too many fireballs, and it completely drained me. The other person who could heal you is the Mage, but she is still bedridden. By tomorrow, I should have recuperated some of my stamina. Meanwhile, Ulua gave you a potion to calm the pain and make you sleep.”

“No wonder I’m groggy. Why am I tied?”

“You were struggling too much in your sleep. Did you have nightmares?

“I don’t remember.” The fuzzy recollection of a bipedal creature studying him from the shadows came to his mind—crazy dream.

“Rest now. I’ll wake you later so that you can eat something.” She patted his chest and sat back in the chair next to the bed, where she had been when Enji woke up. He figured that she must have been by his side the whole time, which made him feel warm inside. Slowly, he closed his eyes.

***

Galakei chanted a long spell, and two concentric circles appeared around Enji’s arm. They moved up and down the length of the forearm, independently of each other, apparently doing their magic. He still had some minor pain, and the discomfort hadn’t completely gone away after the spell finished.

Galakei had called for him when he woke up; that’s why he was in her room. The other person present was the head maid, Ulua.

“You’ll be able to move normally; nonetheless, the bone will still be soft, thus refrain from lifting heavy objects, and no sword training, and for your burned hand, you’ll probably be going to shed some of the skin as it heals.” Galakei leaned back on her pillows. Ulua promptly came to help her get comfortable.

“Thank you.” Enji flexed the arm where Galakei had mended the broken bone. It felt heavy and numb, but otherwise, okay to him. However, his burned hand was still wrapped in bandages, and it itched.

“I’m glad we were able to save those people. I was prepared to go and cast a wide area annihilation spell, but I was stopped.” Galakei looked at Ulua.

“Of course, I stopped you, you stupid woman! You shall remain in bed until I say so!” Ulua stared at her with both fists on her hips.

“Understood,” Galakei uttered in a meek voice, puckering her cheeks and lifting the sheets to cover her face. Enji was left flabbergasted, not because Galakei acted humbly to Ulua but because she showed a very girly side of herself. “Anyway, I heard you used magic.” She recovered her usual self.

Enji lifted the bandaged hand in front of his face. “I cast the little flame because Skia lent me her ‘sug.’”

“Lent her [sug]?”

Enji explained the experiment he conducted in the workshop and how he replicated it at the edge of the forest.

“Hmm..., that’s interesting. Everyone can use the [sug] from an early age, so using someone else’s [sug] is unheard of. Let’s see. Take my hand!” She pushed forth her hand.

Enji obeyed. He lightly gripped her slim hand; he was afraid of breaking the apparently frail bones of her fingers. It didn’t happen; she was more robust than she looked. He felt the electric current flowing through him; this time, it felt stronger, and when the heat in the pit of his stomach became unbearable, he released her hand.

“What did you feel?” Galakei’s red eyes sparkled like those of a predator that had found its prey. Not only was Galakei a great mage, she was also a researcher of magical phenomena, and Enji’s uniqueness awakened her appetite for knowledge.

Enji didn’t know how to explain electricity, but he tried his best. “Have you ever walked on a carpeted floor and gotten shocked when touching something? I felt the same, but it was stronger and continuous.”

Galakei’s eyes were wide open. Finally, coming out of her perplexity, she spoke, “That’s an interesting way of describing the [sug]. Ulua, bring my writing utensils! Enji, grab a chair, we are going to get to the depths of this!”

“Yes...” I hope this doesn’t take long. I’m hungry. Thinking calmly, he concluded: Is this a step forward for me using magic?