[82] A Mage's Battle (3)
Sensing a killing intent, Ethella turned her head. From the darkness in the void, a shadow shot out at tremendous speed and struck her jaw.
"A fist?"
Then dozens of shadowed fists came raining in. Ethella hunched and shielded her vital points with both arms. Even as dull impacts echoed through the mountain, she stood as if rooted to the spot, refusing to fall.
"Oh? Still holding on, are you?"
Had it been anyone else, their bones would have shattered. But the eyes visible between Ethella's guard remained clear.
"I'll give you credit for endurance, but let's finish this."
Shadowed hands appeared from all directions and seized the dazed Ethella. As the dark power gripping her wrists and ankles applied force, her limbs were stretched outward. Her large glasses were cracked and askew, and blood dripped from her lips.
Arkein cast Poison Cutter. It was a triple-mix spell—far more difficult than a fusion—and it laced the spinning darkness with venom.
A blade-sharp magic tore through the air. Realizing it was an instant-death technique, Ethella sliced the shadows with all her strength, drew in a huge breath, and shouted.
Aaaaaaaaah!
A high-frequency roar surged, flattening brush and shredding Arkein's darkness like smoke.
It was the Pama's Shout, a monk's technique.
Karsis Yung, ancestor of the Karsis monastic order, had long taught that awakenings that rouse the human spirit come roaring in with great clamor. The Pama's Shout produces a tremendous noise to shatter wicked magics—the same principle as a guilty man flinching at thunder.
Arkein trembled, buried under the clamor. His skin prickled and his hair stood on end. To think a woman barely in her mid-twenties could wield the Pama's Shout—something he'd encountered only a few times in a life of one hundred and thirty years.
"Heh heh heh, that's why I can't leave this place."
The greatest talents hone a single ability to its limit, sharpening their mind like a fine blade.
How entertaining.
Some will die, some will survive.
Through countless acts of destruction, creation, and recreation, magic advances.
"Indeed. Quite so."
Arkein cast Poison Cutter again. Deciding he had to strike now or lose his chance, Ethella severed the darkness holding her ankles and teleported. As the flash curved away, the Poison Cutter pierced the trailing afterimage of light.
"Fwoo."
Arkein whistled. The humiliation of retreat is greater the stronger the human—yet the ability to withdraw without hesitation is also crucial in battle.
Arkein moved to where Ethella had been standing. She hadn't fully evaded; spots of blood stained the ground. If poison had begun to take hold, she wouldn't have been able to flee far.
"That tomboy's going to have a rough time."
Meeting a worthy opponent for the first time in forty years cheered Arkein. He had just seen a genius who combined Jonar's Spirit Zone, martial arts that can sever the power of darkness, and a monk's exalted spirit—a trinity of skills.
"She's an officially certified sixth-rank mage, wasn't she?"
Her rank was high for her age, certainly. But geniuses stand outside social norms. Had she not been bound by duties as a teacher or seeker, Ethella's true rank would likely have been far higher.
"Mirhi Alpheas? That brat gets respected?"
Arkein raised his head with mocking sorrow. As the mind-control faded, the bent trees straightened and the darkened sky was revealed.
"Aren't you ashamed, Alpheas? To be respected by someone superior to you. What a tragic reality."
Lamenting his pupil's incompetence, Arkein walked slowly. The darkness blanketing the forest showed him the path he should take.
* * *
"Damn it! Where on earth are you?"
Sade grew increasingly anxious. Alpheas wasn't in the lodgings where he was sure she'd be. And if she hadn't been captured by an enemy, only one place remained.
"Master!"
He burst into the principal's office. But Alpheas was nowhere to be seen there either.
Sade didn't give up and inspected the books on the shelves. He knew Alpheas had long ago carved out a private space in this room.
"There must be a mechanism. I can't check every book."
His hurried gaze caught on one volume. Wedged among the stodgy old magic tomes was a book titled Seeing Darkness. Sade, who knew something of his master's past, was certain this was a direct channel to Alpheas's memories.
He tugged at the top of the book and a heavy mechanism turned, splitting the bookshelf open left and right. Beyond the wall was a tunnel with stairs descending down.
When Sade went down the steps, the tilted book swung back and the shelves closed. Opening an iron door revealed a small room lit by a crystal lamp. On worn shelves lay a number of items so antique one could have mistaken the place for a curiosity shop.
A portrait of a woman hung on the wall. She wasn't breathtakingly beautiful, but her expression was gentle and composed.
"Is that her…?"
Sade stared at the portrait as if spellbound. Alpheas's words had been true. Her eyes seemed to have a pull, a charm that drew one in.
"Who's there?"
Sade jumped and turned. Alpheas was crouched in a corner chair, one hand braced on her knee. Her face was twisted with anger and dismay—utterly unlike her usual look.
"Master! You're safe after all!"
"You… you know me, then."
Sade stopped as he approached. From Alpheas's words he could surmise the situation.
"You've lost your memory."
Like the other teachers, Alpheas had clearly been hit by Arkein's magic. Yet, as a certified fourth-rank mage, she'd taken measures before losing her memory completely and fled to this place.
Hearing Sade, Alpheas moved to a bronze mirror and examined herself with a serious expression.
"Hmm. Lost my memory, have I? I thought I'd suddenly jumped into the future again. Either way—my eighteen-year-old face turned into this old thing. Quite annoying."
Sade's eyes widened. If she thought she was eighteen, some forty years had been erased. If Alpheas weren't so rational, she might already have gone mad.
"So I've lost my memory… Well, that's almost a relief. At least my life wasn't stolen. But where is this? What happened to make me lose my memory?"
"A mage cast dark magic to harm you. You barely escaped."
Telling someone who'd lost their memory might only increase their anxiety, but Alpheas didn't seem to mind.
"Oh? How old am I now?"
"Um—sixty-three."
"Sixty-three, is it. Then what did I become?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, what magical achievements did I accomplish?"
"Oh—ah. As a person of excellent character, you currently serve as the head of the school."
Alpheas looked bewildered. A genius hailed as the light of the Mirhi family becoming a teacher was utterly at odds with her personality.
"So I'm a teacher, you say?"
"Yes. Everyone follows and respects you."
"Puahahahaha! Puahahahaha!"
Alpheas burst into manic laughter. At first she'd been irritated at suddenly aging, but after learning she'd lost her memory she stopped caring. In fact, the idea of hearing about her achievements from now on excited her.
"I suppose I've mellowed a bit. Head of the school, huh. So is this a royal palace? Has the prince taken the throne?"
Sade grew uneasy. No matter how rational Alpheas was, a forty-year gap couldn't be ignored.
"This is a private school—the Alpheas School of Magic that you founded."
"Private?"
Alpheas's features soured. For someone of her genius, she should at least be teaching royalty. A private school? What on earth had happened in those forty years?
"…What rank am I?"
"Huh? Ah, well…"
Sade hesitated. The records proved how extraordinary Alpheas had been in her youth. In the face of that, he lacked the courage to tell the blunt truth.
"Say it! What rank is it! I told you I'm sixty-three—so first rank? Second rank?"
Sade bowed as if guilty of a grave sin and spoke.
"Fourth rank…"
Alpheas staggered. The shock was too much for her aged body. She could not contain the rising fury and began thrashing about.
"What the hell did I do! Stupid fools! Worthless brats!"
She struck her head in self-reproach. If she had spent forty years sharpening the god-given talent she'd been given, she should at least be second rank. Not even third—and only fourth.
What on earth had happened? How recklessly had she lived to end up like this?
She needed to know the past. Everything, from one to ten. Resolved, Alpheas glared at Sade.
"You can dispel dark magic, right? You said you were my student, so you must've learned photon magic."
"Yes. I don't know how long it'll take, but with your help it should be possible. However…"
Sade suddenly realized something.
Perhaps this was not a curse but a blessing.
For forty years Alpheas had lived under the weight of guilt for mistakes made in her youth. If losing her memory could clear that past, the lifelong regrets would vanish.
"Master, do you really have to recover your memories?"
"What? What are you talking about? Of course I must recover them. They're my memories. If there was a problem, once it's corrected I can reach much higher realms even now."
"Master. This must be hard to accept. The light of the Mirhi family is now merely a fourth-rank school head. But for that very reason I want to stop you. Master, you made a grave mistake. You've suffered for forty years. Maybe it's time to be free. Perhaps this is a divine pardon."
Though returned to eighteen in mind, Alpheas still understood how past wounds could make life unbearable. If such things had happened, living on by accepting them was also an option.
Pacing the room lost in thought, Alpheas noticed the portrait on the wall and asked,
"Who is that woman? Isn't this my room?"
"This is your room, Master."
"Oh? I hung that painting? She's not even pretty—why are her eyes so dull? She looks somewhat lacking."
Sade's emotions welled. Knowing who that woman had been, he could not hold back his sorrow.
"Master, you mustn't say that. That woman was—"
Alpheas turned away from the painting with an irritated face. Nothing about this made sense.
"I'll recover my memories. This future diverges too much from my plans. I need to know what happened."
"Please, Master. Think it over. Life is—"
"Hey, you."
Alpheas cut Sade off, lifting an arrogant gaze. Sade realized there was not a trace of falsehood in his master's words. That look—that was Alpheas in her youth.
"You said you were my student?"
"Yes. It's an undeserved honor, and I'm always grateful."
"Then you're expelled as of today."
"What?"
Alpheas was sincere. She was Alpheas of renown. Even having lost forty years of memory, she remained a paragon of intellect who did not flinch.
"What good is reclaiming some petty memories that have already passed? I don't need pathetic pupils like you."