A Capture

While my footsteps splashed through the shallow puddles left in the sidewalk, I gave a humorless laugh. Karsis… is this what you meant when you said I’d accomplish my ‘ultimate goal’, and return to my world? You’re a twisted one, that’s for sure. With a sigh, I tossed the stained dark blue suit off into the side of the road, leaving just the looser undershirt. Though, whether I liked it or not, I always knew that I would have to leave Martha at some point. With how things stand now, this is how it should be.

Lifting the Spirit Compass from my right pocket, I pried open the intricate metal casing, exposing the dull pink orb in the middle. Wrapping my fingers tight around the naked core, I crushed it with little difficulty. As a result of the orb being shattered into little pieces, a powerful wave of smoky pink energy rolled outwards from where I was standing, spilling over the buildings and small brick walls surrounding the street. Watching the fragments turn to dust and dissipate into the air, I nodded in satisfaction. There. No magic-user in the area would miss such a large burst of magic. Those kingdom troops will find me in no time, so all I have to do now is wait.

Hobbling over to a nearby alley between two apartment buildings, I slumped up against the damp concrete. Though the roofs of the apartments provided a little bit of shelter against the rain, it still wasn’t enough to fully cover the alley, allowing for small puddles to form on the cracked ground. Ironically, a large metal dumpster piled with black plastic bags of trash was situated directly adjacent to where I was sitting, and I gave a mocking laugh. Right back to square one, huh?

As I didn’t have any real way to keep track of the time, I wasn’t really sure how many minutes had passed since I decided to hide out in that alleyway, but it was enough time for the storm to die down. A stray gust of wind breezed through the tight space, and I shuddered as it chilled my already-damp clothes. Raising my head to the darkened sky, I knew that at the very least it was starting to get late, since the Oasis’ party had lasted until late afternoon before Aberon’s attack, and I gauged it had been a few hours since then. Rubbing my moist sleeves, I curled my body up and tried to conserve body heat, before closing my eyes halfway.

Isn’t this taking a little too long? I recalled what I had heard in my half-dazed state, before I faded into total unconsciousness. Back then… was Aberon telling the truth when he said that most bounty hunters had already given up on the search for me? And, if that’s the case, can the same be said about the kingdom’s troops? Are any of them even still here?

However, in the midst of these gloomy thoughts, something that I had forgotten about in the heat of the moment came back to my mind. Digging around in my pocket, I brought out the thin transparent vial that held the swirling orange mist. It was still warm to the touch, and so I heated my chilled fingers up on the glass for a few seconds, before attempting to undo the string wrapped around the top of the vial. After a few tries, I successfully used my nails to pull apart the small knot holding the top together, tossing both the string and the thin black gauze underneath it aside. With my hands still shaking a little because of the cold, I pulled open the cork that plugged the entrance of the vial, which gave way with a soft pop.

“Hey, Kin.” With a sigh, I tilted the vial sideways so that the glowing orange mist came tumbling out. “I’ve messed up big-time, but you can come out now.”

But instead of forming into a cohesive shape, the mist just rolled out onto the ground, the ground underneath it giving a hiss as the heat started to evaporate the dampness. At the moment, it seemed more like a liquid than a gas, and it congealed into a misty sort of blob onto the concrete. Furrowing my brow, I held out my hand. Kin’s not appearing. Does he need a bit of life force to start returning to normal?

Reaching down towards the blob, I tapped a finger into it, expecting some sort of reaction to occur. The moment I made contact, though, the blob started to froth and steam, parts of it starting to harden and flake off into the air.

“Hey, wait –” Before I could even understand what was going on, the orange liquid had already almost finished evaporating into the air. In a single desperate movement, I frantically swept my hand above the rising orange smoke, but recoiled once the heat burnt my palm, allowing the rest to seep through my fingers. Then, there was nothing left of Kin but the tiny dry circle where his heat had warmed the ground, but that too was already being covered by a new layer of moisture. He was long gone before I had even opened the vial.

“Damn it!” Bitterly flinging the vial into the opposite wall of the alley, it shattered on contact. Tiny fragments of glass rebounded back at me, cutting into my bare skin, but I couldn’t be bothered to defend myself. Tiny droplets of red oozing out from the small cuts on my arms, I rested my head on my knees and closed my eyes.

But before the hollow, empty feeling could return to my body, a bright flash of white light emerged from somewhere outside the alley. Barely lifting my head up, I saw that one or two shadowed figures had appeared in the middle of the street through the corner of my eye. After looking left and right, one of the figures gave a shout of surprise, pointing in my direction. As the figure quickly approached me, his companion spoke excitedly into some kind of communication device, and in the next few seconds there were many subsequent flashes of light. Filing into the cramped alleyway, I stayed in the same curled-up position as a dozen robed figures pointed their crystal-studded staffs at me.

“Are you the man named Donnelius Conqaide?”

Tilting my head upwards just a little, I gave a curt nod. “Congratulations. You finally found me.”

A dark-skinned man in a slightly differently-colored robe, seemingly the leader of this small squadron, stepped up from amongst the crowd of mages. As if he was slightly nervous, he tentatively approached me, while still trying to maintain an intimidating stance. His eyes flickered up and down my battered clothes and bloody arms, before steeling himself. “I now r-repeat, Donnelius Conqaide! In the name of the five kingdoms, our rulers have unanimously decided that you are a threat to the prosperity of human civilization. You are to be put to death, by the hands of the Royal Infantry!”

“You’re going straight to ‘death’?” I turned my disinterested eyes away from the man. “Aren’t you harsh. Can’t we just talk this out peacefully?”

Though the man’s eyes wavered a bit, his hands tightened around his thick wooden staff. “Negotiation is not an option for you, Conqaide!”

“It just seems like a waste to me,” I said, turning my eyes to the man’s vibrantly colored robes. “What are you, an Anysman? Elkardian? Whatever the case, if you bring me back alive, wouldn’t your damned kingdom gain a powerful asset? I’m willing to cooperate, but just agree to take me the hell out of this world first.”

At this, some of the mages lowered their staffs by a little, and a few scattered whispers issued from within the crowd. Nonetheless, the man standing in front of me rammed his staff into the cracked concrete. “Do not be fooled by his devious words! This is Donnelius Conqaide, a man who absolutely cannot be trusted!”

‘Do not be fooled’? Is that what I sounded like when I first arrived here? Giving a dry laugh, I raised my hands up at the man. “Look, I’ve given up on the whole clichéd ‘supervillain prick’ thing. Just bring me back to my world, and I promise I won’t attack any of you guys. I’m out of magic, anyway.”

“And what means do you have to prove your honesty? The promises of filth like you mean nothing!” Holding his staff up to my head, the man raised an arm in the air, signaling the rest of the troops. “All soldiers, prepare for Conqaide’s execution!”

Even though some looked reluctant, the mages raised their staffs up to me again. As a purple energy began crackling from each of the staff’s tips, I gave a deep sigh. Then I guess that’s that, huh? They’re just going to execute me on the spot, without any chance of negotiation. Lowering my arms again, I buried my head in them. The hollow feeling in my chest was intense enough that I didn’t feel even the smallest sense of fear or alarm, just the same overpowering acceptance as before. Oh well. The things I’ve done in the past deserve more than a measly execution, so I guess I shouldn’t be too disappointed about this. It was bound to happen sooner or later, anyway.

“Hold on just a second, everyone.”

Just a second before I was impaled by bolts of purple energy, a voice rang out from behind the crowd of mages. Looking up in surprise, I saw a well-dressed figure placing his slender hand on the leader’s shoulder, to which he quickly nodded his acknowledgement. Waving a hand, the crackling purple energy dissipated from around the mages’ staffs.

Finally moving out of my crouched position, I stood up to face the man in shock. “Karsis? The hell you doing here? Why are you –”

Holding an index finger up to his lips, Karsis gave me a thin smile, before turning to address the crowd of mages. “You kingdom elites are always too hasty in your decision-making. Did you say that you wanted verification for Conqaide’s words?”

Looking around a little hesitantly, the leader dipped his head in a small nod. “That is correct, yes. Knowing the background of a man like him, it is impossible for his promises to be trusted.”

“Leave that part to me. I am an oracle, after all.” Stepping past the ring of mages, Karsis nodded once to me. “Conqaide, restate your claims to us, please.”

“Uh, yeah, okay.” Exhaling, I steadied myself with the alley wall, standing upright. “As long as you are willing to take me out of this world, I swear that I will not attack any of you without being provoked, and will voluntarily accept whatever your kingdom deems fit of me.”

“Hm, I see. Yes, Conqaide is being fully truthful in his words.” Removing the ring he had created with his index and thumb from his eye, Karsis stroked his dark goatee in approval, before looking back to the golden-robed mages. “What do you think? As a fellow Elkardian, I do believe Conqaide would be a powerful ace up our sleeve, if nothing else. It would certainly improve the situation concerning our recent border skirmishes with Blumon in the west.”

After staring hard at Karsis and I for several seconds, the dark-skinned man furrowed his brows at last, retracting his staff. “Very well. Soldiers!”

Before I even had a chance to react, two armored mages from either side burst through the ring, roughly forcing my hands behind my back. I felt the dull snap of a thick anti-magic cuff secure itself around my wrists, before something quickly slammed into my head. With that, my consciousness abruptly faded away, and everything went black.

###

When I came to again, I had to take a few seconds to adjust to my surroundings. The place I was held in was quite dark, though a jagged ray of light pierced through from the triangular-shaped entrance. It took me a bit of time to realize that I was being kept within a rectangular metal cage, which was situated within a flimsily-constructed tent. What am I doing here?

Blinking hard, I tried to shake off the ringing ache in my head. It felt like something had struck my forehead into a bruised state, but I found that I couldn’t reach up to touch it, since my hands were cuffed tightly behind my back. Looking around the tent a little more, I saw a man wearing an orange robe lined with gold, observing me atop a wooden crate of supplies. Just outside of the entrance were two more robed soldiers, both carrying spears at their sides and guarding the tent. As the familiar colors of their robes reached my eyes, the events of the past several hours flooded back to me.

With a sigh, I propped down against the cool metal bars, rolling the stiffness out of my shoulders. Casting my eyes upwards, I saw that small spots of light were hitting the tent’s fabric, but it wasn’t enough to give the inside of the tent good illumination. Judging from the light, the night has already passed, so it’s been a minimum of a few hours since I passed out. Squinting up against the bright light of the entrance, I made out a few yellowed knolls, with the darkened silhouettes of the city’s buildings and skyscrapers in the distance. I recognized the view from when Chris had driven us all the way out here to attend the arm-wrestling tournament those few weeks ago, so I determined that the city was still in walking distance, though it would take a little while.

“Hey, guard!” I called out, and the man sitting above the crate glanced at me. “Your mages should easily be able to transport us all back, so what are we still doing here?”

But the man just looked away, and continued polishing his glistening spear. Irritated, I called out again. “This is how you treat your guests? First you beat me up, then you throw me in a cage, and now you refuse to speak to me? Considering I’m about to turn the tide in your petty little wars, I think I at least deserve to know what’s going on right now.”

Putting aside his spear with a bothered expression, the man spoke without looking me in the eye. “His Majesty is conferring with his courts to decide what to do with you. His answer will decide whether we execute you here or bring you back to our kingdom, so for now we stay here and await further instructions.”

“Talk about inhospitable. I thought Karsis already proved that I was telling the truth, and yet you guys still decide to treat me like this,” I groaned, but the guard had already set his spear aside and was on his way out the tent. I’m not even good enough for casual conversation, huh? Rolling onto my side, I tried to stretch my legs out a bit.

So, this is how it all ends up. I’m lying here awaiting my fate, the Oasis is trashed, Connor is in critical condition, and Kin is… I narrowed my eyes as I turned my head away. But it wasn’t like I could escape from the thoughts inside me head, so turning away did me little good. Even supposing the Elkardian royal family decides to spare me, what then? It’s not like I’ll have any freedom to do as I please. Closing my eyes, images of the various stunning landscapes and towns of my world flashed into my mind, and I frowned.

I probably shouldn’t be bogging myself down with all these depressing thoughts. At least I’ll be opening a new page in my life as I return to my world, where I’ll have full control over my magic again. Thinking a little more optimistically would probably do me some good. Shaking my head, I pushed all my other gloomy thoughts aside. They’ll be better off without me here on this world, so I should look forward to what’s to come. Even if I won’t be able to roam around like before, at least I’ll still be able to experience all the best parts of my world. I can use as much magic as I please, and I regain some of my former dignity as a magic caster. I might even visit accursed Onimus, just to take a look around the Scrappers’ demolished base for old times’ sake.

And, the food! I can’t wait to return to the peerless tastes of Highland Premium Mutton and Avian Roast! Not to mention the bars and alcohol, chugging down kegs of Sun Mead, Ruby Syrup and Dragon’s Blood. A smile crept across my face as I almost began salivating at the mere thought. Especially Dragon’s Blood, I definitely have to introduce it to Martha. Sure, she might find it a little repulsive at first, but it’s an acquired –

The realization came like a punch to the gut, and my breath caught. Martha wouldn’t be there with me.

Slumping down to the steel bars, my eyes were unfocused as I stared off at nothing, taken completely by surprise at how much the realization had stung. I had known that fact from the beginning, and had left Martha alone without a second thought, but in reality… I had grown so used to her presence that I never once actually considered what it actually meant to live a life without her. And now that it was finally starting to dawn on me, a feeling of desperation began to creep into my chest, making it hard for me to breathe. No, this doesn’t make sense. If Martha is staying here on this world, then… who am I supposed to come home to? Who else am I supposed to talk to every day, and exchange all my cynical insults to? My eyes felt like they were burning, but I couldn’t move a finger from where I was collapsed.

But then, all of a sudden, a pang of clarity burst through my mind and I was thinking clearly again. Pushing myself back upright, I gave a shaky breath. No, what am I getting so worked up for? The girl named Martha is nothing more than a friend that I made in a measly two months. To begin with, I’ve been completely fine without any close acquaintances my whole life before these two months. To top it off, friends are something I can easily make in my new world. It didn’t take much effort to make so many friends at the Oasis, so what would be the difference making friends over in the magical world? I can’t forget; I’m the high-level magic caster Donnelius Conqaide. I can’t allow events that occurred across a meager two months to affect my future.

Now that my mind was finally clear, I managed to calm my breathing, and the constricting pain in my chest was thankfully gone as well. The harsh sun above me began to darken, and as I peered through a small hole in the tarp, found that overcast clouds were beginning to cover the sky. Before long, a small bead of water dripped to the ground, making a little wet circle in the ground. To this, I glanced upwards with a frown. Are these shabby tents not even waterproof? A second followed by a third drop splashed onto the ground, but something didn’t seem right.

That’s strange. The rain kept right on falling, but I couldn’t hear the sound of rainfall hitting the tarp, and I took a heavy breath. There’s no sound of a storm whatsoever, so…

Why is rain still running down my face?

And just like that, the pain flooded back into my body, stronger than ever before. It felt like the inside of my body was filled with acid, and the pain had nowhere to exit but from my eyes. Clenching my teeth, I couldn’t even use my hands to wipe away the tears as I knelt over the ground. Why? Why can’t I stop these useless goddamn tears? It defies common sense! Martha is just some weak human that I knew for a couple of weeks! It’s not… After a few minutes of heavy breathing, the spontaneous outburst died down at last, and I curled my body back up against the steel cage. It’s not supposed to hurt this much, dammit!

Though I was no longer wracked with the same aching sobs as before, the inside of my throat still felt like it was swelling in pain, while tiny streaks of tears continued to leak from the corner of my eyes. Curling up tighter so that I wouldn’t have to face the world, I tried to drift off to sleep in hopes that I would feel better once I awoke. But every time I closed my eyes, the image of Martha’s tearful face would emerge in my mind, causing my eyelids to snap back open immediately. Cursing myself, I lifted my right shoulder to wipe of some of my tears. Just when was it that I became this weak?

“Hey, have you been crying? What an unsightly expression for a great mage.”

My heart gave a jolt as a familiar voice echoed from behind me, and I instantly straightened up. As I turned to look, a weak laugh of disbelief spilled from my lips.

“Never would have imagined you’d look so happy seeing little old me,” Kin chuckled, as he ruffled the blazing fur around his neck. “Come on, now. Don’t tell me you really thought I had been killed?”

“But, that’s not –” His sudden appearance was enough to stun me into temporarily forgetting my sorrows, and I shook my head incredulously. “Kin, you were…”

“You’re wearing a pretty pathetic expression right now, master,” Kin snickered at me from the other side of the cage. “Judging from your dumbfounded reaction, it looks like my decoy was pretty convincing.”

“Decoy?”

“Yeah, that other blue-haired stalker turned out to be pretty powerful. Tried to fight ‘im, but I was blown apart in an instant,” Kin said with a weary sigh. “I worked so hard to store up all that magic power, and I ended up barely escaping with my life by splitting most of that power away from my real body in the form of a decoy. I packed enough spiritual energy into that split that the Spirit Compass ended up reconnecting to the decoy rather than my true self after my form was blown apart, which is the only reason I’m still here right now.”

“In other words…” Swallowing, I was still hardly able to believe my eyes. But for once, a fresh feeling of relief was filling my body instead of dread, and some of the heaviness started to lift off my shoulders. “That vial never had any life in it to begin with?”

“That’s right. Damn stalker was stupid enough to capture my decoy before he figured something was off.” Spreading open one of his paws, a tiny flame flickered above it before fading away, and Kin shook his head. “Unfortunately, that also means I hardly have any power left.”

“You’re really still alive, then.” Lowering my head, I buried my face in the fabric of my ripped shirt. “You really aren’t…”

“Hey, hey! Are you crying again? I told you it doesn’t fit you!” Somewhat flustered, Kin bobbed around in the air erratically, waving his paws around at me. “Man, aren’t you embarrassed? Stop it!”

“Yeah, you’re right. I really have gone soft.” Using the sleeve of my shoulder to wipe my eyes again, I cleared my throat with a smile. “I trust that you’ve come here for a reason other than comforting me out of the kindness of your heart?”

“Why do you think I’m here? I waited till those guards started taking their lunch break,” Kin said, before tilting his head in the direction of my glowing blue cuffs. “Those are Manalite suppressing cuffs, right? You’re nothing more than an ordinary human with those things on you, so I’m here to bust you out of this place myself.”

“Bust me out?” Breathing outwards, I looked down at the ground. “What if I told you it was my own choice to get captured?”

“What are you talking about? Don’t say idiotic things you don’t mean.”

“No, I do mean it. You’d understand if you saw what I did at the Oasis.” I flicked my chin up in the direction of the city in the distance. “I just lost control to my anger, and couldn’t tell friend from foe. I even… almost raised a hand against Martha. I’m too dangerous to run around freely in this world, where I have a chance of turning into that at any moment.”

“You think running away to another world is going to change that fact?” Kin slammed a paw against one of the metal bars, which vibrated lightly with a humming sound. “Right now, you need to be out there protecting Martha!”

“Protect her?” Retracting back to my crouched position, I pressed my forehead against my knees in frustration. “Weren’t you listening? I’m probably a bigger threat to her than anything else in this world.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Kin snapped. “I’m trying to say that Martha might be in danger right now, and as it stands, I don’t have enough strength to protect her for you!”

“Right now?” I froze. “What are you talking about?”

“That’s part of the reason I even came here! Of course, under the impression that you wanted to break out.” Rubbing his forehead with a paw, Kin jabbed his other hand at the city in the distance. “The point is, even though it’s just a hunch, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“A hunch about what?”

“I didn’t catch whatever happened at the Oasis’ party, but I couldn’t possibly miss the hordes of people flooding out from there. I tried to circle back to check on you, and… well, you know. All I found there was the stalker’s body, and Martha by herself. I guessed the details of the current situation, and followed her back to the apartment to make sure she wouldn’t do anything drastic. Through the night, she didn’t do anything noteworthy, but…” Kin paused, and I thought that he might have shot me a quick look of mild disapproval, though it could have just been my imagination. “The girl looked like she was in a considerable amount of pain.”

“… I see.” Squeezing my eyes shut, I breathed out through my nose. Sorry, Martha. Even though I had my reasons, I still… shouldn’t have left so abruptly.

“But that’s not the point. I didn’t reveal myself to her, and I was planning on leaving quietly the next morning to search for you. Luckily enough for me, I sensed a pretty impressive magical emission early in the morning, which was probably due to the mages at this camp spending a ridiculous amount of energy opening up the portal back to our world. I had a suspicion that to following it would lead to you, which turned out to be right on the money. But, when I left the apartment…” Kin narrowed his eyes. “I passed a robed man who didn’t look like he was with the Elkardian troops. And that man, though it might have been a coincidence, he looked me right in the eye, like he could really see me. Just looked at me, smiled, and… carried on walking. In the direction of Martha’s apartment.”

“Hey, what are you trying to say? I thought you were the one who told me not to say idiotic things,” I laughed nervously, shaking my head. “Are you concluding that a magic-user might be after Martha? That’s impossible! According to what you said, I had already been caught by the Elkardian troops for almost half a day before you supposedly saw this man, and they certainly would have broadcasted this news to all remaining bounty hunters! If this man knew I had already been captured by then, why the hell would he still have any incentive to attack her?”

“I told you, I don’t know any of that for a fact! I just know that that guy gave off an unpleasant aura, and that I had a bad feeling about him heading in the same direction as the apartment!” Kin crossed his arms, almost impatiently.

“And what if it turns out to be nothing? Do you think the Elkardian troops will be happy if I just disappeared out of the blue?”

“But there’s a chance that Martha could be in serious danger right now, isn’t there? Are you really going to sit around in this gloomy cage and do nothing while she could be hurt?”

For a while I just knelt there, opposing thoughts wrangling in my head. I should be over her by now! Logically, I should, but… Breaking my drawn-out pause, I breathed out, and gave a short nod to Kin. “Alright, fine. Do you have a plan to break me out of here?”

“This cage’s material is meant to suppress all use of Manalite, right? While your cuffs stop your body from releasing its stored potential strength as work energy.” Kin placed a flaming paw above one of the steel bars. “However, spiritual energy relies on absorbed life force to activate. It doesn’t utilize the Manalite in the atmosphere, nor does it have anything to do with your body’s potential strength like work energy does. In other words, it’s a power separate from your own that is granted to you, so it should still work even under this circumstance. As of now, I’m too weak to do anything on my own, but if you’re in control… it might be a different story.”

“If I’m in control? You don’t mean…” My eyes widened. “You said that you’d never grant your power to a human!”

Looking just a little embarrassed, Kin turned his snout away from me. “Look, you want the power or not?”

“Oh, um, yeah,” I said, nodding dumbly. As Kin floated through the bars of the cage to face me, I decided to call out once more. “Hey, Kin?”

“What is it?” He grumbled.

I gave him a thin smile. “I just wanted to say… thanks. For this, and… everything else.”

“Ah… damn, I hate it when people say these things! Just –” Uncomfortably glancing away, Kin forcefully planted his paw on my forehead. “Just shut it and accept the power!”

With a little flash of yellow light, Kin’s tiny body vanished, and I felt a little wave of energy flow through me. It wasn’t much, but I could definitely feel it, as my body was momentarily basked in a warm yellow light. Concentrating, I squeezed every last drop of this newfound energy into one spot, focusing everything into the very tips of my index finger. Then, a tiny beam of light no wider than a strand of hair sputtered from the very end of my finger, and I angled my finger back. The beam seared through half of the cuff, before fading away. Focusing the energy into my pinky this time, I stuck it around the other side of the cuff. Straining my neck, I struggled to look backwards in my bound position, trying to make sure I didn’t accidentally cut off my own hand. With a second little burst of energy, the beam reappeared, and thankfully cut through the other side of the cuff without making a mistake. The two sides of the cuff clattered to the ground, and I broke away from my strained position with a sigh, taking a couple deep breaths.

With my hands free at last, I stretched my arms, before holding out the palm of my right hand. The air above it shimmered white for a second, before Kin’s flickering body emerged from within, considerably smaller than before. Just concentrating those beams of heat had probably drained Kin of most of his remaining energy, which wasn’t much to begin with.

“You okay?” Holding his miniscule body up to my face, I saw him pant a few ragged breaths. Then, after a moment, Kin looked up at me and raised a tiny thumbs-up, along with an exhausted smirk.

“Nicely done. Your master dismisses you,” I said, giving the fox spirit a satisfied nod. “Go absorb some life force for yourself.”

Too tired to even speak, Kin nodded his head again, before his translucent body began to slowly curl in on itself. Then, with a near inaudible pop, his sickly form disappeared from above my palm. Taking a deep breath, I cracked my knuckles and turned my attention to the barred cage. Now then…

Since the anti-magic cuffs had been broken, I calmed my heart rate, feeling the sturdy power of work energy well up inside me. “Work Energy, Iron Arms: activate.”

Pulling my fist back, I prepared to launch a punch at the thick bars, before suddenly pulling back at the last second. That was close! What am I, an idiot? Placing both hands on the bars, I opted for the much quieter option of pulling the bars aside, so that none of the guards on break outside would be alarmed. Tensing my arms, I pulled with all my strength, my hands shaking from the effort. With some difficulty, the dense metal gave way, and I managed to open up a small gap in the cage. Shaking off my slightly sore wrists, I raised my leg to squeeze through the thin opening that I had created, when a figure stepped through the entrance of the tent.

“How are you doing, Conqaide? Here’s your lunch,” Karsis said warmly, as he appeared on the inside of the tent carrying a bowl filled with some kind of soup. Then, as he saw me with one foot outside the cage, he let out a breath of air, and set the bowl down on a nearby wooden crate. “Oh, dear. Well, this was to be expected.”

Pulling my body away from the cage, I tensed my body, slowly shifting into a fighting position. We were both still close enough to the cage that its effects should still be active, so none of us would be able to use Manalite-based magic. However, Karsis was a user of spirits, so he would very much have the advantage in a fight in this situation.

“Uh, is there some kind of peaceful conclusion that can be reached here?” I figured that stalling for time would be the best option, as my eyes darted around the tent to look for an escape path. “Preferably one where you let me go without a fight?”

“Why, but of course.”

“That’s what I thought. There’s no way you’d just –” I froze, my words trailing off. “Wait. What did you just say?”

“I said that I’d let you escape peacefully,” Karsis said, raising both his hands in the air. “I don’t possess a practical amount of Manalite, nor do I want to engage in a pointless fight any more than you do.”

“Huh? But, why?” I shook my head, pointing a finger at him. “And before! Why did you help me to convince those guards that I wanted a peaceful surrender?”

“It’s not like I’m on the side of the Royal Infantry, nor am I working directly for them. I’m a bounty hunter not bound by the kingdom’s royal jurisdiction, so I’m free to do as I please.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Why did you stop those soldiers from executing me? In the first place, is it even possible to use magic to tell whether a person is lying or not?”

“Who knows?” Giving a playful shrug, Karsis then shot me a sly grin. “As for why I did it, I believe I already told you before; I like you, Conqaide. Not only were you an interesting person to observe back in our old world, you were also able to pass the test I set for you. In doing so, I gained even more respect for you.”

“So, that’s it? You have no ulterior motives, and you’re just going to let me escape?”

“That’s the general idea.”

After a slight pause, I gave a slow, wary nod. “… Alright, then.”

I still didn’t fully understand Karsis’ reasoning, but if he was just going to allow me to sneak off without question, I wouldn’t hesitate to take this golden opportunity. Making my way past him, I pushed open the flaps of the tent’s entrance, before cautiously peeking out. First looking to the left, I determined that there were no guards that would be able to see me. Then I did the same for the right side, and surprisingly, also found no soldiers. The only thing I could see clearly was an enormous swirling circle of white light, hovering right in front of the mages’ central campfire.

That’s… a little weird. I stuck my head back into the tent, confused. “Hey, where is everybody?”

“Urgent call to return a few minutes ago, from the Elkardian royalty. My best guess is that they want to relay their decision to the soldiers directly,” Karsis answered, currently helping himself to a spoonful of my soup.

“You mean, there’s no one here?”

“No one but me,” he said with a smirk. “They probably believed that they could rest easy as long as a powerful bounty hunter stayed behind to keep watch on you.”

I frowned. “Won’t Elkard be mad at you for letting me go? They’ll brand you as a traitor of your own country, won’t they?”

“Most likely.” Setting down his spoon, a devilish smile spread across Karsis’ face. “But that just makes things all the more interesting, wouldn’t you agree? My life has been getting rather dull as of late.”

Learning just to accept Karsis’ seemingly irrational decisions, I made my way out into the open sun, and rubbed my chafed wrists. Trudging through the yellow dirt, I reached the burnt-out campfire, turning my head up to look at the large churning oval. “If all the troops went back, then, is this thing…”

“The portal between our two worlds,” Karsis said, rubbing his goatee with a smile. “Ah, after you were sent here, it took so long for even those snobby upper-class mages to come up with a spell to create a stable portal like this. Even after all this time, it still takes the full strength of ten high-leveled magic casters to even open the portal up.”

Almost held in a trance, I held my hand up to the front of the portal, and felt the air in front of it practically hum with power. It was, without a doubt, the genuine thing. The thing that I had spent these past two months dreaming of, day in and day out, was right in front of my eyes, close enough to touch.

“How about it? This portal leads straight to the courtyard of the royal Elkardian palace,” Karsis said with a nod. “If you appeared there right at this moment and reclaimed all your power, I don’t doubt you’d be able to escape across the border to Blumon without a scratch.”

Mesmerized by the quiet pulse of the light, I unwittingly stepped forward, like a metal doll controlled by a potent magnet. Having said that, though, there was just one strand of my soul that was pulling me back. Small as it was, it was powerful enough that it just managed to keep me from walking right in. Bunching my right hand into a tight fist, I tore my sight away from the portal, facing back towards the view of the distant city.

“Oh?” Raising an eyebrow, Karsis stared at me with a look of amused surprise. “Do you not plan on returning?”

“Not… just yet.” Narrowing my eyes, Kin’s message replayed itself in my head, and a brief vision of Martha’s face flashed before me. “There’s something I still need to do.”

“Is that so?” Nodding his head, Karsis turned to the glowing white portal. “Well, I’ll be heading on back first. If you’re not going to return at this moment, then there’s no real point to me staying here.”

“Right.” Planting a firm step into the sandy dirt, I began to head towards the city in the distance, not daring to look back in fear that I wouldn’t be able to resist myself a second time.

“Oh, Conqaide? I nearly forgot about this.”

“What is it?”

Before I received an answer, something came hurtling out of the air from behind me. Instinctively shooting an arm out to catch it, something small and hard landed in the palm of my hand. Bringing it up to my line of sight, I drew in a small breath of shock as a soft ruby glow illuminated my face.

“I believe this is yours? The guards found it around your neck and confiscated it,” Karsis’ voice sounded from behind my back. “Though it’s not much Manalite, I hope it turns out useful.”

Wordlessly pulling the necklace over my neck, I clutched the ruby jewel in my right hand, before opening my mouth at last. “Thanks, Karsis. And… good luck with evading the Elkardian forces.”

“Of course, and the same to you. Only fate will tell if we will meet again.” Even though I was facing away, I could hear the smile in his voice. “Though, I must admit it has been an enjoyable time knowing you. And… keep an eye on Kin for me.”

“… Yeah. See you, Karsis.”

There was a brief pause, and then the portal behind me shone with a sudden flash of bright light, illuminating everything around me for a moment and then fading away just as quickly. I could tell Karsis had disappeared through the portal.

Now then… My hand tightened around the crystal, and I rolled my shoulders, making my way back to the darkened city skyline. Just wait here for me, portal. I’ll be right back.