Chapter 42: Shadow

Emery woke up in the pitch black darkness surrounding him. Oddly enough though, he could see his hands and feet as if he was the sole illuminated thing in this chilly place. No one was nearby but that didn't stop him from calling out, "Is anyone there?"

The dark responded with silence as his voice seemed to echo among unseeable walls.

"What's going on… on… on…!" he shouted.

Then in front of him, a shadow moved and formed a figure, the image of a man he so dearly missed. Emery's eyes moistened as the man opened his mouth.

"What are you doing here, Emery?"

"Father! You're alive!" Emery said but an unknown force prevented him from walking closer.

"No, my boy. I am dead. And you shouldn't be here," his father replied with a dark tone in his voice.

"W-what do you mean? You're here, and we're talking to each other!" Emery's voice was shaking.

"Don't be silly, my boy. Remember what I told you?"

Emery tried hard to remember before uttering, "G-grow up and b-be strong. But how can i? I am so weak?"

"No excuses!" His father said with the strict look that Emery had always received whenever he was being reminded. It didn't last long though as the image of his father gave a warm smile and added, "Find a purpose, my boy. I believe in you."

"Father? Father!" Emery reached out the fading silhouette of his father dispersing into the darkness, leaving him in solitude amidst this gloom. "Purpose?"

Not long after, another shadow arrived, forming a beautiful girl with blonde hair. A glance from this girl made his heart skip for a moment.

"Princess Gwen," he said.

But a smile from the beautiful girl never came out, on the contrary the girl seemed to seethe with anger. "We can't be friends, Emery!"

A pang of pain pierced his heart. Words he didn't wish to ever hear again reverberated in the silence of this dark, empty room. He picked up the courage to ask the words he never had a chance to say.

"Why not?" he shouted back.

As if this girl was looking at cow dung, she recoiled away from him and said, "It-it's because… you are not one of us! You are just a filthy poor noble who can't even save your father!"

"But…" he said, underneath his breath. He looked back at her. "I-I can be different!"

"You are different! You are not even a human!"

The girl's figure merged one with the shadow, disappearing. From behind him, a wild beast's roar erupted. He turned to look and see a giant single horned wolf with thick white fur and greenish hide that made him feel like an ant while he looked up.

"What the—what are you?"

The wolf glanced straight into his eyes before visibly exhaling its steaming breath and returning to the darkness.

"Wha-what is this place! Let me out!" Emery was now able to run. He racked his brain, trying to remember the last detail before he arrived in this nightmare of a place. He could vaguely remember an ugly face that had large upward fangs holding a spear that pierced through his chest. Emery bent down his head and noticed the gaping hole located right in the middle of his torso. Then it somehow clicked to him. He said, "Wait, am I dead? Did I die?"

An amused laughter rang in his head as it said, "Hahaha. You are more interesting than I thought, kid."

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From the corner of the darkness, a figure with no face except for the mouth that didn't move approached Emery.

"Who are you?"

The figure hovered closer and said the following without moving its mouth, hearing the voice directly in his mind, "Me? You'll soon forget about me, kid. We'll meet again soon. More importantly, it's time for you to go."

After it had spoken, it waved its hand and a door with a bright shining light inside appeared. Emery felt drawn into the light as he reached out and stepped closer.

He passed the blinding door and the first thing he felt he needed to do was to suck in all the air around him like there was no tomorrow. Emery opened his eyes and the face of the woman who introduced him to this world of magic greeted him.

"M-Magus Minerva?" he said, throat perched as dry as a desert.

"Good, your memory is intact. You are safe now," she replied.

Emery tried to sit up but after the slightest inch of movement, a sharp stinging pain coursed through his whole being, more strongly in his chest. He subconsciously tried to feel the hole in his torso, but it was solid; the evidence that he was in fact pierced through could be seen by how his uniform had ripped hole in the middle and the large round scar.

He moved his head around and realized he was still lying in the middle of the forest. Around him were two other magi in uniforms. Then his head pounded, he could vaguely tell he had just gone through something bizzare but just couldn't put two and two together.

"This one is gravely injured! She needs to be taken in the nearest infirmary! Her hands are as cold as ice!" shouted a magus whose palms were emitting a light toward another young lady acolyte.

Emery, released his hands from his head, tried to sit up again and said, "She's going to be alright, right?"

"Stop right there, tough guy! Think of yourself first and foremost!" Minerva said.

He didn't listen, however, and asked another question. "Magus Minerva… What about my other friend? Is she okay?"

An irritated voice sounded behind him and said, "Whose friend are you talking about? I am certainly not friends with no one here!"

Emery gave a small snort with half a smile. At the very least, knowing she still had enough energy to try and pick a fight was enough for him.

"Ararara… teenagers… you just can't be honest, can you? You arrived here, barely on your toes, pointing toward where he was lying like a lunatic. Now that he's awake, you speak as if he's better dead than alive! Teenagers…" Minerva sighed, checking his pulse once more. Silva turned away, and if Emery had known better, her cheeks were as red as an erupting volcano. Minerva didn't mind Silva anymore as she said, "Your injuries though don't seem as bad as they look."

Emery's brows twitched. "What do you mean, Magus Minerva? I had a hole in my chest just now."

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now," Minerva dismissed, standing up.

Silva, after calming herself, took a closer look at Emery's chest and said, "It must be an effect from activating your bloodline. It must be!"

"Anyway, he's fine now," Minerva said while checking her wrist's information. "You kids should head back to the academy now. We don't know if there are still others around so—"

Minerva called out to another magus, who was taking a look at the orc's headless corpse, and ordered him to open a portal leading to the academy.

"Don't forget your stuff," Minerva reminded.

Emery received the bag and sword from another magus before entering the portal. After they stepped out, the warm, orange glow of the sun peeking from the horizon welcomed him. It was almost dawn. Now that he had a better look at the bag he was holding, he realized it wasn't his and was Cole's instead. He opened it, Silva leaning over, and a bountiful bunch of four-leaf moon clovers lay still in it.

Silva's eyes beamed as she looked at him, made a palm and said, "Time for you to pay me for my services."

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