The Mirror of Fear.

Asimil didn't see it coming with his eyes; he felt it with his soul.

It was a horrifying sensation, as if a cold, rigid, lifeless body had enveloped him in an embrace. The air around him became tense and heavy. Death was centimeters away from Asimil.

The assassin's blade was millimeters from his torso, a line of black steel ready to shatter his existence.

An icicle, carved with perfect precision, slammed into the shadow's blade. The sound of the impact wasn't metallic, but an explosion of frost.

Asimil collapsed backward, landing seated on the ground. His lungs burned as he tried to recover a breath that terror had stolen. There, before him, reality twisted: his own shadow lay still on the ground, but rising from it like a tumor of darkness was that figure. It wore a brown cloak that seemed to absorb light, hiding its body, but as it moved, the fabric revealed a fleshless jaw, a whitish bone reminiscent of a human skeleton. It wasn't a monster; it was something that shouldn't exist.

"I-I can't move…" Asimil whispered, his hands buried in the dirt, gripped by panic. "It's the desynchronization… the problem Bodkin talked about… my body won't respond…"

"Get up, Asimil!" Noelia shouted.

She was a few meters away, hands extended. The air around her began to spin in a cold whirlwind; her hair and clothes flapped violently as the mana system processed the formation of a new icicle. The mass of ice grew in her hands, glowing with a bluish light.

The shadow, seeing its first attempt thwarted, hurled a sphere of transparent darkness at Noelia. She responded by firing her ice projectile. Both magics collided at the center, canceling each other out in an explosion of grey and white particles that clouded their vision for an instant.

Seeing itself outmatched by Noelia's technique, the shadow turned its skeletal head toward the easier target: Asimil, still on the ground, trembling. The assassin lunged in a final thrust, but just before the steel touched the boy's throat, a blade of real metal interposed itself.

Bodkin appeared in a blink, blocking the attack with his sword.

"Are you alright, kid?" asked Bodkin, maintaining the struggle against the shadow. His voice was firm, that of a hero protecting his apprentice.

The shadow hissed, a sound like corrupted radio static, and finding itself cornered between the Adept and the ice expert, it decided to retreat. It melted into the darkness of the trees, moving between shadows with a speed that defied visual tracking, until it vanished completely.

The silence that followed was more terrifying than the combat. Bodkin sheathed his sword with elegance and extended a hand to help Asimil up. The boy took it, his gaze still lost.

However, the danger wasn't over yet; it had only changed form.
Noelia approached with quick steps. Her face was contorted by a fury Asimil had never seen. Before he could articulate a word of thanks, Noelia's hand struck his right cheek.

The slap echoed through the clearing. Asimil was left in shock, his face turned aside, skin burning. Even Bodkin took a step back, surprised by Noelia's violence.

"W-why…?" Asimil managed to say, touching the affected area.

"You're a complete useless fool!" Noelia screamed. Her emerald eyes vibrated with rage. "You almost got killed just standing there, paralyzed like an idiot. How is it possible you did nothing?"

"It was the desynchronization…" Asimil tried to defend himself, his voice broken. "My body wouldn't react to my commands…"

"You're lying!" she yelled, stepping closer. "That wasn't desynchronization. Your mana flow was stable. What you felt was fear, Asimil. You stood still because you were afraid to die, and because of that fear, you almost forced me to watch you get deleted!"

Asimil fell silent. Noelia's words hurt more than the slap. Deep in his heart, in that unconscious part that still remembered school and dark hallways, he knew she was right. It wasn't a failure of his mana. It was him. He had broken under the pressure of reality.

Noelia said nothing more. She turned her back and walked toward the front of the cart, positioning herself like a statue of ice, without looking back.

Bodkin sighed and put a hand on Asimil's shoulder, a gesture of silent support as they both watched the girl's rigid back. Asimil hung his head, feeling smaller than ever. In his mind, a question repeated: "Why does she have to be like this with me? Why does she hate me so much for being afraid?"

Suddenly, a small movement in his tunic pulled him from his thoughts. Biteus poked its head out, its large yellow eyes filled with concern. The little animal stretched its neck and gently licked the cheek that was still red from the blow.

Asimil closed his eyes and stroked his companion's head, letting out a sigh of resignation. In this world of perfect magic, it seemed that being human was the greatest mistake of all.