Chapter 10: A sudden scream, even more enemies?!

Chapter 10: A sudden scream, even more enemies?!

AAAHHHHHHHH!

“Shizori?!”

“Sis?!”

“I’ll run ahead!” I said as I took off.

Was leaving her alone a mistake?! Please let her be okay...

I ran as fast as I could, without hesitation, I slammed through the door.

“Shizori!”

She stood there on the bed, trembling, tearing up.

“A... Alex, help me!”

I looked at her dumbfounded.

“Are you stuck on the bed or something?”

“N... no! Save me before it attacks me, please!”

“What exactly is attacking you? I don’t see anyone else.”

Akari arrived with Sarah, both breathless.

“R... rats!”

Both Akari and Sarah heard that, freaked out, and jumped onto me.

“All of you, CALM DOWN!”

They hung onto me for dear life.

“How am I supposed to do anything like this?!”

“Just do something!” Akari screamed into my ear.

I walked over to the bed.

“Then stay on the bed so I can take care of this.”

They jumped off me, and all 3 of them huddled up together, terrified.

There are monsters, demons, and whatnot... yet they are scared of a RAT?!

I sighed deeply.

“So where is that rat?”

“I last saw it run into that closet.” Shizori pointed to an old big closet in the back of the room.

I made my way over to it and grabbed both door knobs.

“3... 2... 1...” I ripped the doors open.

“Just some crates?”

Squeek. Squeek.

“Oh, I hear it.”

The girls screamed in unison.

A small white mouse peeked out of one of the crates.

I caught the mouse, held it up by its tail, and turned towards the girls.

“Look at how cute it is, no need to be so scared of it.”

“A... Alex...?” Shizori said.

“Yes?”

“That’s n... not the rat.”

“What are you talking about?”

Akari pointed at me.

“Huh? What are you trying to...”

GRRRRR!

“Ehm, what was that growl just now?”

“B... behind you!” All three of them shouted.

I slowly turned my head around.

Big glowing red eyes stared at me from behind the crates.

“No way you call that a RAT?!”

It jumped onto me, I tried to block it with my arm, but it bit into it.

I fell backwards onto my back, wrestling the rat.

“OPEN the WINDOW!” I shouted.

Shizori rushed over and opened the window.

I kicked the rat off of me through the window.

Rolling over, I stood up, a bleeding bite mark on my arm.

“Calling that just a rat is quite an understatement!”

She ran over to me, holding her hands above the wound.

“Heal.”

The blood disappeared and the wound closed.

“When did you learn that?”

“It’s weird, since that deal with that god, I’ve been having a way easier time learning lower ranked spells.”

She looked at her palms.

Akari and Sarah sat down on the bed.

“So either the god gave you something like a blessing OR he awakened your latent potential.”

“But how would that impact my ability to learn new skills?”

“It’s weird, since it’s not like you are just able to use the skills, you still have to learn them...”

“And it has only affected lower ranked skills.”

“Only one way to find out for sure, ask the god who did it.” A wide grin appeared on my face.

So many puzzle pieces that don’t fit just yet.

Well, no point in overthinking it right now!

“Do you think he’ll show himself again?”

“I bet he will sooner or later, and if he doesn’t, we’ll just have to find him.”

“Did you hit your head too hard while falling?” Akari scoffed.

“No? Why do you think so?” My eyes narrowed at her.

“Because it seems like you are still dreaming.”

I clapped my hands. “Oh, you are so funny, Akari, I’m about to pass out from laughing too much.”

HUH?!

She glared at me.

“Let’s be nice, both of you!” Shizori ordered us.

Akari turned away and pouted.

“How far did you get with the cleanse skill?” I asked Shizori.

She twiddled her thumbs. “I think I can use it, but I’m not sure...”

“Good, so then let’s get to it and try if it works against these collars.”

I moved the collar up and down a little.

“Not going to lie, it’s getting quite itchy.”

Her head tilted down and she kept twiddling her thumbs.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared... what if it doesn’t work or it goes wrong?”

“Shizori...”

I walked up to her, grabbing her hands and pulling them closer.

“Hmmm?” She looked up at me, our eyes locked, and her cheeks flushed.

“Do you trust me?”

“I do, but still... I’m also worried.”

I moved closer, whispering in her ear.

“I’m scared just as much as you are, but you are the only one who can save us all right now.”

“Fine...”

We sat down on chairs, facing each other.

Akari and Sarah watched from the bed.

Shizori gripped her staff and aimed it at the collar.

“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, let’s get this collar off.” I smiled at her.

She closed her eyes, focusing, eyebrows furrowed, concentrating the flow of her mana into the tip of the staff.

Slowly... gather the mana in 1 spot... just like the book described it. She thought.

The magic circles on the collar lit up.

Not enough... I still need more mana... otherwise it might...

“You got this, Shizori.”

Her expression relaxed, and a smile tugged at her lips.

He really is such a weirdo, but that’s exactly why I have to...!

She opened her eyes, the tip of her staff radiated a bright yellow glow.

“Cleanse!”

A purple mist escaped the collar.

The engraved magic circle turned yellow before the glow faded, and the collar opened, dropping to the floor.

“I did it!” She jumped up, hands raised high, big eyes with a big wide smile.

“You really did, good job, Shizori.”

I scratched the spot where the collar sat. “Feels so gooooood.”

Sarah’s eyes widened and her mouth opened wide.

Akari held her chin.

“Come here, Sarah, you’re next.”

Her eyes teared up as she stepped closer.

I got up and walked over to Akari so that Sarah could sit down.

“See, I knew from the beginning that she could do it.”

“Hmm, magic is really fascinating...” Akari muttered while she looked over at Shizori, who’s taking off Sarah’s collar.

“You are really interested in magic, aren’t you?”

She nodded. “There are so many different types of magic, so many skills, and so many applications for each of those skills...”

“True.”

“... like have you seen how useful magic is in daily life? It can even be used to imbue gear or items.”

“Then there’s also combat magic or military magic, with dozens of subgroups...”

Her face flushed. “Sorry, I almost got carried away.”

So that’s how she can be when it’s about something she’s interested in, huh? How...

“...Cute.” I blurted out, my palm slapped over my mouth.

“C...cu...cute?!” Her cheeks turned an even brighter red. “Stop teasing me!”

I looked away, my cheeks bright red and my mouth covered.

Shizori, holding Sarah by her hand, walked over to us.

“What are you two up to?” Her eyes narrowed at us.

“Nothing!” We shouted synchronously.

Staaaaaare.

“Suspicious...”

Sarah walked in front of Shizori, holding up the collar.

“It’s off!” She smiled happily.

Akari hugged her tight.

“I’m so happy.”

“So next we should go down to the basement and remove all the collars.”

“Shizori, how are you holding up?”

“I’m fine, it doesn’t take that much mana.” She smiled.