Chapter 12: Chapter 12

• 3^rd Person POV

(“What should I say???? Judging by her tone and the way she speaks. She’s clearly an authoritative figure”)

His mind races a miles per second as Astra was taken aback by the question. He doesn’t  know himself, everything comes too fast all at once. All he knew & remember is that, he has fallen asleep in his own home. Then waking up in a strange place with a massive tower and upon touching the ‘mysterious’ crystal atop the tower he blanked out before waking up again to suddenly get teleported to this place.

Certainly no one would believe what he has experienced, if he just blabber everything all at once. So, his mind is working hard to make it compact albeit to no avail. As Maleah’s question hang in the air for several seconds.

The atmosphere is quiet, so much so that even they can hear breaths were taken. Black, Cecilia, and Francis got nervous after a while Until Maleah stepped forward to Astra.

Eliciting a startled reaction as her footsteps are quite heavy making the young lad step backward. Noticing that, she scrunches her eyes, stopped ,and spoke.

“Look... I’m not here to punish but I wanted to know if you’re a suspicious figure or not. As the leader it’s my job to protect the safety of my people”

Maleah spoke it with clarity as Astra took a second before nodding to her word and reply.

“I-i...am from Earth and I don’t know how I get here…”

Upon saying that though. Cecilia, Francis, and Maleah looked at each other in confusion. For all they know. They never knew the term ‘Earth’ or knew a continent with that name. Is it maybe a kingdom in a far away place? It makes sense for a place that far wouldn’t know about Vogun but...

How did he get in here in the first place? Normally the route would lead to Blueport first then lead to Vogun via ships and certainly unidentified passenger would attract attention and the dock master would report this to Chrys then to Maleah. But they didn’t get any notifications so he must have entered illegally. In what methods?

Francis who’s a bit more knowledgeable began to think something different.

(“Could it be a teleportation accident?”)

Magic that involves spatial displacement is quite a tricky & difficult to use there’s also the risks that the caster would take upon using it. Resulting in the rare usage of spatial displacement magic. Leading to this conclusion and he asked Astra.

“Have you used teleportation magic before?”

Upon hearing that question Astra ponder for a bit. He’s assessing if that faint voice is joking… after a while he determines that Francis’ way of speaking is serious rather than making a light-hearted joke in this situation.

(“He’s  not kidding at all when he said it”)

The question still hangs in the air for few seconds with Astra currently thinking...

(“Magic? You mean those in fiction novels? Wait...does this world have magic in them?”)

Understanding that, Two sets of emotion build up inside Astra. First, it was unbridled joy but then it only last for few seconds before replaced with a sense of forlorn as the knowledge that he’s not in Earth have been absolutely proven.

Astra finally answered…

“No... In my place, we don’t have magic so...I don’t know how I got here. I was at my home and then as if my world instantly changed into this place”

Upon hearing that, something in Francis’ head clicks in place. He understood that it is the work of spatial displacement magic recorded like in books, but he doesn’t know how far this lad in front of him has been displaced. If this ‘Earth’ he mentioned is a far away continent / kingdom then it would take an incredibly powerful magic at hand to do so. Yet this lad, said that in his place they do not have magic. It is contradictory as Francis have more questions propping up in his mind yet he held it back before turning to Maleah.

He nods to her in which the other party understood the signal as if asking for more time to think. She turns her head at Cecilia as She made a hand gesture to the pair of scholars in which Astra do not know what happened since he still closes his eyes.

The scholarly pair have a look of understanding what the signal meant with ‘Black’ just watch the interaction in confusion. Almost in coordinated manner, Cecilia quickly moves forward and spoke to the young lad with Maleah points to ‘Black’ signalling him to come over to her accompanied by Francis which he follows since he’s dealing with the leader of Vogun after all.

Meanwhile Cecilia speaks with a gentle and motherly tone towards Astra. Giving him at least a sense of ease.

“it must have been quite a confusing experience. How about resting here first to get your bearings? I promise you it is safe here rather than outside”

Momentarily, Astra remembers the loud roaring noise outside when he was teleported outside the village border. So, he understood what Cecilia meant.

Yet, he couldn’t help to feel suspicious of something.

(“What should I do? Should I trust them?”)

That question stayed inside his mind creating a dilemma for a while as he ruminating the decision. Nevertheless, Cecilia is patient as she waits until the young lad finish his decision.

Rather than stranded outside to the desert or now known as savannah it is much safer for him to be in this civilization.

In addition, with the recent mana emergence in Airun. Some scouts of Vogun have encountered new creatures. Although the scouts haven’t seen much more since the unique creatures discovered deeper in the central area. But they can testify that those creatures are more dangerous than the usual beasts that Vogun’s hunters have fought.

(“I am in another world; I remember there’s  an idiom saying, ‘when in Rome do as the Roman do’. In fact, by knowing this world I might figure out why I am here and how.”)

Through that train of thought. Astra get a slight comfort and hope. The recent incident with ‘Black’ lies forgotten as he nods to Cecilia suggestion.

“Alright... I’ll show you around, are you alright with me touching your hand?”

Although Astra cannot see at the moment, Cecilia unconsciously smiles as Astra agreeing to her suggestion and feel her soft hands touching his pale palm. She commented in her head…

(“He’s very small, I still couldn’t believe his age is 26.”)

“You’re okay Astra? Here let me help with your hair”

The long hair locks on Astra’s head already sprawled messily on the floor. With Cecilia noticing, that it isn’t damaged at all or dirtied when she pick them up and began to expertly braid them.

Feeling that, Astra expresses his gratitude.

“Thank you doctor”

Cecilia smiles hearing the heartfelt words from the young lad warmed her heart.

“Don’t mention it, shall we go?”

Astra nods

She began leading Astra outside of the healer’s tent. The cosy temperature inside the healer’s tent drastically changed into hot as if he’s outside during summer yet Astra doesn’t feel that it is too hot  to burn his skin as he realizes something.

(“Oh!... I’m outside, where is she leading me?”)

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She patiently guided Astra whenever he hesitated to move since he’s currently unable to see.

Healer’s tent is located nearby the hunting district in the far west of Vogun. Cecilia intends to lead Astra to the residential district on the opposite end. While on the walk though, Cecilia ask a particular question towards Astra.

“Astra, do you remember what happened before? When I called ‘Black’ to be your helper?”

Given that question, Astra backtrack and think about what happened. He remember seeing the black haired man and stare at the strange looking mark. Yet, the rest is just blank as if it’s covered by a black sheet then when he woke up, he stares at ‘Black’ again when he’s lying on the bed.

Like a jolt of lightning, Astra is reminded of what happened and ‘Black’ reaction when he saw him. Internally he began to sweat with panic as the cold & refreshing feeling begin to bubble up inside him fighting the turmoil he’s having.

(“Oh god, he already saw my eyes. Where is he? Please don’t rattle me.”)

After a while though, the cold & refreshing feeling won as his racing mind began to be slowed and getting his bearings back before he answered Cecilia’s question.

“No... I remembered I saw him and that’s it. ...Do you know where he is? Is he alright?”

Cecilia is silent for a few minutes as she thought.

(“He didn’t remember what happened then… how mysterious…”)

Not wanting to leave Astra for too long she quickly replied after realizing she went silent for few seconds.

“... He’s fine, I suppose... he is doing a lot better now.”

Several on lookers sees the small white robbed figure with long black braided hair being handheld by Cecilia. They looked at them curiously but not wanting to interrupt whatever they’re  doing.

Until they reached a certain tent. It’s larger than what the average people home’s in Vogun and dyed in forest green colouration. Similar in look to the Healer’s tent as the scent of herbs permeated through the air and catching Astra’s attention

(“Is this another doctor’s place?”)

“Ah… you must be wondering, *ehem* this is my & Francis’ home. I suppose this will be a temporary stay until we managed to get your own tent & helper.”

She made sure that Astra is in a safe spot to prevent any knocking over as she lets Astra sit on a chair while doing something else. With Astra able to hear items being moved away, it seems she’s rummaging for something from far away.

(“Oh… I see… it makes sense with the smell and all. Hmm… is it alright for me to open my eyes now?”)

While clutching his hand to the edge of his hood, he slowly opens his eyes and sees the interior of the tent. Its… different than what he expected.

The tent is a wide rectangular space containing shelves heavily stacked with books several knick-knacks such as weird looking stones or statuettes displayed on top of small tables. Some of the tent flaps are small and looking similar to windows but rolled up & tied giving an opening and allowing air to circulate.

On the corner of this tent, is a long table with items such as scalpels, mortar & pestle, and an elaborate looking scale. Similar to what he encountered in the healer’s tent, although he did see an extra entrance which Astra assumed to be where Cecilia is since the sounds are coming from that.

There’s also a big bed in the edge & centre of the bed, enough to occupy two people. After a while of waiting though, he can hear approaching footsteps.

“Fiuf… sorry for the wait, it takes quite some time to clean up the mess of the other room.”

She approaches Astra with him lowering his head down with her extended her arms toward him. While saying.

“Please reach out your hand…”

Astra took her hand and now being guided toward the extra entrance. He can hear & feel the flaps opening as he entered that room.

“Well… this is your room! Please get yourself acquainted; I’ll be here to safeguard you if anything happens.”

Cecilia already safe proofed the extra room here so she’s sure that Astra wouldn’t harm himself knowing that he’s blind and all.

She guided Astra to the bed, the bedside table, the rolled up windows, with Astra picturing the layout of the room in his mind. Since he’s looking down most of the time only seeing the compacted ground beneath. After it is done, he turn towards Cecilia and said.

“Thank you once again, Dr. Cecilia. I’m grateful for what you do”

Cecilia picked up on how he worded that as she commented to herself.

(“Is he a descendant of noble-blood?”)

She shakes her head, whisking away the stray thoughts as Astra continue on…

“I think I’m going to be okay, I’m already familiar with the layout. But I do have a question? If you don’t mind me asking?”

She raised her eyebrows hearing that and wonder.

“Yes, what’s the question?”

Astra take a deep breath as he ponders about this particular question.

(“Should I just asked it? Would it be to abrupt? Sigh… there’s no reward when no risk involved Afterall. Am I going to be taken as a joke when I said it? Maybe that soft-spoken male is actually kidding. Augh… never mind, let’s just do it!”)

“Wou-….would it be possible for me to learn magic?”

Hearing that Cecilia widened her eyes for a second, those sets of words it reminded her of something distant in the past when she was back in Etude with her husband. Although subtle, her face seemed to be sorrowful before returning back to the usual cheery Cecilia. Unfortunately, Astra is still looking down at the ground as he didn’t see the slight change of Cecilia’s expression.

“Yes… it’s definitely possible for you to learn magic!”

Hearing that, Astra abruptly flick his head up while remembering to keep his eyes closed. Wearing a big wide grin, happy with the prospect of thinking he’s able to learn magic and uses them.

Cecilia looked at the young man expression, as her heart pang with both sorrow and joy. This boy in front of her definitely reminded her about their child. She gives a gentle & kind smile as she thought of something.

“Astra… please wait for a minute, let me get you something”

She quickly moves toward the central room and bend down to reach something on the bedside table upon getting what she’s after, she sat down on the side of the bed for a moment in silence. Taking a deep breath as she finally opens the box.