We made the contract!

“So you knew? … Since when?”
“From the beginning, I knew about you.”
“Then why did you accept me as a subordinate on your farm?” I asked, bewildered.
“I always believed in new beginnings. I thought there would be a reason why you are trying to change your life and try to hide from your past.”
“…”
“You are young, probably didn’t fully understand your life until deserting. I considered that.”

That hit me deeply… He was a good person, but to welcome someone who was part of the Mora Empire… Even more so in view of his history.

“Still, it wasn’t easy. I admit that I thought you wouldn’t last long there. After all, deserters are quickly found and punished, which was not the case for you.”
“And so you still didn’t send me away…” I looked around. “You’re weird. I don’t understand that.”
“Look, I know you didn’t hurt my family directly. I know you’re a foreigner. It’s not like I’m going to do this for anyone. That’s an act of compassion only for those who want to start over.”
“Did you really think I could start over? Why put so much trust in me?”
“Well, to this day you have always done what I asked.”
“Sure, because you have the contract-like Ability.” I showed my wrist, where a B letter tattoo was. “If I don’t fulfill what was agreed, I will suffer consequences.”
“Heh! Heh! Heh! Is that right?” he said, smiling. “I didn’t ask you to save me now, just before, did I?”

I kept quiet.

“Why did you save me before? If you’re talking about abilities, why is your main Ability the Air?”
“How so? What do you mean? I just have a natural affinity for it,” I said.
“Listen, I don’t know how the teachings about the art of Ability control in Mora work. But I was raised with the philosophy that the abilities you master reflect who you are, what you want. If you dominate the Air, you want freedom, joy, and happiness. So I ask you, somewhere inside you, is that what you want?”
“…” I was thoughtful, unable to answer.
“You don’t have to answer me that…”
“You…” Are you really right about this?

I have heard this idea before. It is contrary to what the Mora Empire teaches. However, I feel tempted to believe it now.

“You apparently still do not fully understand yourself, and we have no time to know which path you will choose, whether you will change or remain on the same path as before,” he continued to speak, raising his hand with the scroll. “I will ask for the following: we will make a last contract. You will try to save my daughter from this terrible technique, and anyone else you can. In return, I will give you something that might help you one day: an artifact map, something the Empire has long sought, the sword Fragarach.”

The Fragarach sword?

The Fragarach sword was one of thirteen sacred artifacts, created by the great Magus Wanderer Artisan more than two hundred years ago. Besides them, there are twenty more sacred relics. He created or blessed all these things at different times and places for different peoples, totaling thirty-three creations.

These creations were made for different purposes and from various raw materials, including ancient weapons with relevant history. Of all thirty-three known weapons, thirty-two have been used at some point. Certain requirements are needed to use them, such as contracts, curses, stages, and specific Ability domains.

Mora’s Empire currently has twenty-seven of the thirty-three items in its possession.

He held my hands, crying. “Please! If you have any consideration for me, do it, help me!”

…

“Alright, I got it.”

We made the contract.
I started gathering energy.
I put my hands together and crossed all my fingers.

“Infusion!” I said.

NOTE: Infusion, as the name already suggests, is a technique that concentrates the aura of your energy within your body.

“The moment I jump, the tornado will start to disintegrate from the bottom up.”
“Okay,” he said.
“Goodbye!” I said.
He shook his head, saying goodbye with conviction.

I jumped straight toward the sky with a super jump, rotated my body, and, surrounded by the air that now adhered to me inside the tornado, shot up to the summit quickly.

When I approached the clouds where the summit ended, I raised my arms and bent them eastward, tilting the tornado’s summit east, and then was thrown over the clouds at high speed in the night sky without control. I aligned my body and stopped spinning to keep it steady, like a soaring bird, as the energy I emanated made me look like a meteor crossing the sky.

With open arms hovering, pumping me with energy from the concentrated Air Ability accumulated in my legs, projecting me forward, losing altitude gradually…

That feeling was incredible, wonderful, yet my smile soon faded with the memory of Mr. Bricius’ last words before I left.

“Tell my daughter that I wish her a long and happy life, and that I love her.”

This feeling…

I felt something wet touching my face… There were tears from my eyes, which vanished in the air.

Emotions? Oh, I see, this is because of the feelings he overflowed into his soul and came to me? I see, it’s a wonderful thing. I had already forgotten this feeling.

I looked down, descending to the height of the clouds, and after losing a bit more altitude, finally saw the land at just under a kilometer high. From there, I could see I was already advancing with the technique that was killing everything it touched.

I promise Mr. Bricius, I will do everything possible to save your daughter from this, and from what is to come. However, I am not aware of whether there is a return for me.

There may be no fresh start for me in the future. And who knows, this feeling is probably the last time I’ll be able to witness and contemplate that feeling.