Chapter 11: Pain

Chapter 11: Pain

MIKO

„Come on, try to hit me. “I yelled at Kayla, grinning with my whole face. I knew very well that she was against the idea of attacking me, let alone that I would fight back.

“That’s unfair. I don’t want to fight you!”

She has been crying for the last ten minutes that she will not do anything to me. But I was sure that she would do it eventually.

“I promise you. I won’t fight back. This is the best way to practice, and I’m the only moving target you’ll get.”

Initially, I was going to ask Elliot to fight Kayla because he was closer to her level. That was no insult to Elliot, but if we are honest, he was a little rusty, and Kayla was in her full bloom, getting better every day.

And my training plan was pretty good as well, building on her talent for wind magic and trying to strengthen her physical abilities on top of that. Ideally, she would end up with a set of skills that would allow her to dodge attacks and easily run away from any danger if needed. Of course, this two-week boot camp won’t be enough, but we definitely build a great fundament.

Kayla sighed, and I noticed her eyes turning red as I looked at her face. I also began to channel the mana in my body. She wasn’t a real threat, but she had poor control over her attacks, so getting hit by one of her wind spells could actually be painful.

So far, most of the attacks she's shown while practicing had no more power than a slap in the face. Still, every once in a while, she'd accidentally formed some sort of air blade that cut through wood as smooth as butter, so you know, I don't really feel like getting hit by something like that.

"Don't destroy the gym. I don't know if Lilith would pay for that."

She definitely wouldn't. I know that. Even if our guild had insurance for such cases, she would force Kayla to pay.

"I'm only destroying you!"

Aaaah, critical hit. The cringe hurt my defenses. I grabbed my T-Shirt around my chest and started to tumble slightly.

She started laughing. “Does this count as a hit?”

“Yes, you’ve almost won.”

“Yeah,” she raised her hands to the sky and suddenly dropped them to shoot a spell at me.

Sneaky, I thought, smiling as I dodged her attack.

You might think that wind magic is pretty unfair since it’s invisible, but it wasn’t. As a mage, you can usually see mana, and this wind leaves a glimmer, similar to the air on a scorching hot day.

I don't try to say that it's easy to dodge. When a skilled mage uses wind magic, it is no less powerful than any other element. It is easily as powerful as firing a gun or even worse than that.

Right now, Kayla wasn't skilled at all, but her clumsy movements combined with the varying amount of mana she put into her attacks made her quite unpredictable.

Thanks to my reflexes, I easily dodged every single of her attempts to hit me.

I must admit that she does pretty well; although she doesn’t hit a single attack, she keeps her cool and doesn’t despair. Instead, she keeps trying, but since I keep my distance, she doesn’t get close enough to get me into any trouble.

Distance seemed to be the keyword because she also realized that she needed to get closer, so she started running at me. I was shocked at how much faster she had become after just ten training days. It seemed like she had finally learned how to run seriously.

Of course, compared to me, she was still very slow.

Huh? Again, she surprised me, this time because she started channeling mana into her legs. Was she planning to boost her speed with magic? We did not practice that a single time, but it was worth trying.

I stopped running and started awaiting her next move.

And so, her attack began. She didn’t run at me but shot herself with wind magic coming from her legs in my direction. It resembled the kick I used to slam Elliot into the wall. The most significant difference was that she literally threw herself at me.

The speed she reached was high enough to close distance, and because of that, dodging became more difficult... I had to counterattack if I didn’t want to tank her next attack completely.

I let myself drop to the ground, so she flew over me. When she was roughly positioned above me, she shot another spell that I blocked by using wind magic as well.

Unfortunately, I launched her several meters into the air with our combined spells.

I quickly turned around and tried to soften her fall with some wind beneath her, but I was shocked to see her foot twist badly as she tried to land. I also heard a loud pop that sounded like a torn ligament.

To my surprise, she didn’t scream but moaned and rolled around instead, hitting the floor with her fists. I ran to her and saw her biting her lip with tears in her eyes. A slight feeling of panic rose inside me. Of course, I knew that she wouldn’t die or anything like that, but it was very hard for me to see her in pain.

I hated it.

“Should I use ice magic to cool it?”

“No!” she screamed at me.

Maybe the best call since I am a total beginner at using it.

“Just heal it yourself. With your skill, it should be easy.” I suggested.

“I can’t!”

I thought so. Using magic needs a fair amount of focus and concentration.

“…But you should try it.” I knew I was pushing her while she whimpered in agony.

“I can’t heal myself; it doesn’t work.” She said, breathing deeply in and out.

Damn

I needed to get her some help.

“Call Hannah… My cell phone is over there on the bench.” She pointed hastily in its direction and slowly tried to sit up.

I ran over, unlocked her phone, and searched for Hannah's number to call her.

“Kayla? What’s up?”

“It’s me, Miko. Please come to the gym… Kayla twisted her ankle and can’t heal herself.”

I heard some rumbling on her site, “Give me a second. I’m coming right away.”

When I turned back to Kayla, I saw her lying on the floor again. Both her hands were pressed onto her face.

I approached her and cautiously asked, “How are you?”

“I feel sick.”

Oh no, she’s going to throw up. That’s one of my biggest weaknesses because if she does, I will too. Just thinking about it made me gag.

I started focusing on my breathing, in and out, in and out.

“…What’s wrong?” Kayla asked, looking up at me, confused.

“I feel sick.”

She chuckled, “You’re weird.”

Both of us managed to keep the insides of our stomachs where they belonged, and Hannah arrived at the gym.

She immediately squatted down at Kayla’s feet and began to heal her. I also looked at her ankle for the first time and watched the swelling disappear by the second.

I was relieved. It wasn’t easy for me.... mainly because it was partly my fault that she got hurt.

“Miko, are you alright?” Kayla asked me with a concerned expression.

Just then, I noticed a few tears running down my cheeks. That was somewhat embarrassing. I quickly wiped them away and smiled, “I’m good. Do you feel better?”

“I’m fine. Magic is definitely something convenient.”

“Do you want to try standing up?” Hannah asked and held out her hand to her.

I quickly did the same, so we both helped her get up.

She tried carefully shifting her weight onto her foot just to look up and smile at us a moment later.

“It’s just a bit numb, but no more pain.”

“Awesome,” Hannah said and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you so much,” I said before Kayla could do so.

“Don’t mention it. What actually happened?”

“We were having a training fight, and I kind of threw Kayla up in the air, and yeah, she had problems landing.” I wasn’t really proud of it, but I would not let myself get hit for her sake despite feeling guilty.

“You’re both crazy. Imagine if she landed on her neck. I don’t know if anyone here can heal a broken spine.”

She was right. I was careless and put Kayla’s health at risk. I had to promise myself that something like that would never happen again.

“It was my fault; I attacked Miko pretty recklessly, and she just avoided it.”

I laughed at her description, “You literally threw yourself at me.”

“Get a room ...” Hannah said, looking at us with an awkward smile.

“You had to see it…” I said, pouting.

“By the way, you can’t heal yourself at all?” Hannah asked, turning her head to Kayla.

“Exactly. I tried it several times, but it won’t work.”

“This is nothing special. Often, a healer’s body becomes immune to their own healing magic. In return, your natural healing should be better in general than that of normal people. Healing not working properly can also happen if a person is repeatedly healed by the same person. The potency of the magic would diminish over time.”

That was actually the first time I ever heard about that, maybe because healers are rare in general. If they are in danger, they get protected as they are the most important person in this world. So, they rarely had to heal themselves.

“Oh, maybe that’s why I never catch a cold,” Kayla said in amazement.

“Do you guys have healing potions?”

“I don’t think so. Our leader is kind of stingy and doesn’t want to spend the money.” I explained, scratching my head.

“How much longer will you be here?”

“We wanted to return home in four days, but we can extend our stay if needed.”

“I suggest I show you how to make healing potions, at least ones strong enough to heal a twisted ankle.” Hannah winked at me with a big smile.

“Are they made from the bodily fluids of healers?” Kaylas asked with a shocked expression.

“Ugh, that’s disgusting,” Hannah replied, “but yeah, that’s a possibility, but no, we just put healing magic in some liquid.”

“Can we put it in a Coke?” I asked. Imagine your wounds being healed while you enjoy a soft drink. I bet that would be a hit if you sold it.

“That could work, yes,” Hannah confirmed with a smirk.

“Do you guys mind if we sit down somewhere?” Kayla asked, so we walked over to a bench and did just that.

“So, how do you create these potions?”

“Someone uses healing magic, and instead of letting it flow into another person, you absorb it into a bottle of liquid.”

It sounded easier than it probably was. Kayla just looked confused as hell.

“But you would need an injured person whenever you want to create a potion…”

Now it was Hannah’s turn to look confused.

“What?”

“Kayla… you know that you can cast healing magic at any time, just as you do with your wind magic?”

“No.”

“Yes, of course. How do you think you’re going to teach healing magic to an entire class of mages?”

“I don’t know, with a lot of injured?”

“You sound like an idiot.”

I would have loved to join their conversation, but I had nothing to say. I never went to a traditional magic school, had a single lesson in healing magic, and never discussed anything like that with any healer.

“How do you use healing magic?” Hannah asked.

“I imagine how I treat the injury of my patient and just let it flow.”

Hannah held a hand over her mouth, visibly shaking as she suppressed a laugh.

“You know how that sounds? Like you can do anything with magic that you can imagine.”

“Yes, that’s what I believe,” Kayla said confidently, maybe because I taught her that.

Hannah sighed. “I heard of mages like you. You do everything through intuition and nothing like you are supposed to do. Still, somehow it works, sometimes even better than it actually should…”

“That sounds like her,” I said, smiling at Kayla.

“Can you guys stop? I still don’t know if those are compliments or insults...”

I started petting her head, “Would I ever insult you?”

She sulked. “I don’t think so...”

“Did someone ever tell you how cute you are together?”

I smirked, “That’s normal, isn’t it? When you put cute and cute together, you get cute. Am I right?”

My eyes wandered to Kayla, whose face was buried in her hands.

“At least one of you understood what I was trying to say,” Hannah said with a big grin.

“Will you continue your training?”

“I planned to let her shoot a few more spells until her mana ran out. It would be a waste if she didn’t do that.”

“How long will that take?”

“What do you think, Kayla?”

“About an hour, maybe one and a half.” She answered, showing us her face again.

“You know... uhm, since it’s Saturday... maybe you’d like to join Alex and me tonight. We planned to go out for a drink in a town near the school campus.”

“A drink, like alcohol?” I asked.

“Yes, yes.”

“I don’t know. What do you think?” I looked at Kayla, and her expression had already answered my question. Her eyes were shining her mouth was opened and formed into a happy smile.

“We want to take a cab. What do you think about leaving around 7 p.m.?”

“Sounds good.” I wasn’t sure what to expect from the night, but I was optimistic that we could have fun.

???

“Did you know about that?”

“No, I never asked her.”

“Come on. You can’t tell me you randomly find a witch like that in your city.”

“Can’t I get lucky once in a while?”

“With all due respect, since when do you rely on luck?”

“I don’t know, but I can’t deny that she was just in the right place at the right time.”

“Can you imagine what she can become if you manage to keep her alive for a few years?”

“Don’t talk like she could die at any time.”

“Well, it was your plan to send her to a deadly dungeon with a bunch of rookies.”

“You can’t call Miko a rookie.”

“She’s just a kid. I can’t believe you trust her that much.”

“This girl is everything to me. Of course, I trust her.”

“And if you lose her, well, you’ve already got the next prodigy lined up.”

“You know how they say quality over quantity?

“Your arrogance makes me sick.”

“Don’t get too angry. Think about your heart; you are not the youngest anymore.”

“If I get problems, just send me your healer. Who knows, maybe she can even make me younger?”

“That won’t be cheap.”

“I bet... You’re building yourself a pretty exciting guild.”

“Oh, come on, your hundreds of students are way better. You even got one that spies on my girls for you.”

“She’s not spying. I just asked her for the information she got from talking to them. It’s her free will to spend time together.”

“Surely.”

“Sadly, I need to end our call now.”

“All right, it’s been a pleasure.”

I didn’t even have to hang up. I couldn’t stand talking to this woman anymore. Even without that incident a few years ago, I would have wanted her locked up somewhere she could never use magic again. I can’t tell what it is, but hearing her voice or how she acts terrifies me.

The conversation we had a few days ago after the conference at the Guild of Sami was also very short. She ended up answering none of my questions. But one thing is clear: Lilith knows much more about the world of magic than anyone I have ever met.

I need to offer these girls to study here. Maybe, just maybe, I can prevent them from dying one day, fighting solely for the benefit of that greedy witch.

But I’m confident I don’t even have to try because everyone who falls under her spell will stay with her.

A knock on my door snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Come in.”

My secretary entered my office, closing the door behind her.

“The two students you called because of the field trip are here. Do you want me to send them in?”

Calling it a field trip sounds terribly understated.

“Yes, please bring them in.”