Heisen's Eye

Chapter 11

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Airi's POV
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He hasn't woken up yet.

Its been 3 days since I got him to the Capital, and he still hasn't woken up yet.

All he does is groan and cry. Tears seem to always run down his face, just after he groans.

It hurts. Watching him in that much pain. I haven't even been with him for long, but it hurts me to see someone only a few years younger than me have to undergo such torture.

And as much as I hate to admit it, I can't do anything. I can't use healing magic, not even low-level. Very few people can, actually. It seems to be hereditary.

Astrid is a special one. Not only can she use healing magic, she can use high-level as well, though, not for very long as she doesn't have a large mana pool.

I should stop thinking about this. It makes me feel worse and worse as time goes on.

I just need to hope that he wakes up soon. Yeah, hope.

But, really, I forgot how crowded the Capital was, looking down Main Street, all I can see are the tops of heads.

The heads of people heading home from work, heading to work, going out with friends or visiting one of the many stores littered to the side of the street.

Its slightly comforting, actually. Having not been here for 7-8 months, it feels nostalgic.

Seeing the familiar faces of adventuers is uplifting, and seeing the smiling faces of the children as they pass by makes me happy how free this Kingdom is.

But every single time I see the smiles, I'm reminded of Siquema Village. The disgusted stares directed towards Ryu. The haggard look of the kidnapper. The solemn silence of the village.

I think that was my first look into how society could be. An emotional battlefield. Not a physical, I can handle those. But an emotional one, that took its toll on me.

Without realising it, I had begun to emit a depressing aura, and people began to shy away from me in fear.

I quickly pushed away my thoughts and carried on down the cobble street, taking glances at the shops on the side.

As if magnetized, my eyes seemed to gravitate towards a sword, hanging from one of the blacksmith shops.

Its incredible. It shimmered in the sunlight, showing me my reflection in the blade. The finest of craftsmanship.

"How about it, little lady?" (Shop Keeper)

"Hmm, how much?" (Airi)

"5 gold coins." (Shop Keeper)

"1." (Airi)

"3." (Shop Keeper)

"2 and 50 silver?" (Airi)

"Deal." (Shop Keeper)

Having bought the sword for a reasonable price, I began my way back to the barracks, stealing a glance at the shop once more to see the shop keepers wide grin seeing me off.

I wonder why I bought this. Its too small for me, I use a normal sword, not a short or a long sword.

Hmm. Wait, doesn't Ryu use a short sword?

I'll have to check, but this might be a good present for him.

Having recognised my reason for buying it, I looked up at the street ahead, with a large smile on my face.

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It's chaos.

Having reached the barracks, I enter to see knights, mages and archers all scrambling around, trying to gather whatever weapons they can.

It takes me a few seconds before I'm finally able to recognize the reason for the panic. A large malicious magic power is coming from the far door, the door leading to the infirmary.

Before I even notice, I had dropped everything I had bought aside from the sword and began dashing towards the door, almost in a panic.

Shoulder barging the door, I make my way towards the infirmary, the malicious magic power growing ever stronger.

After a few turns, I reach the pure white door that seemed to be smothered by a blackish-purple substance, which I recognize as physical mana.

Its grotesque. The only type of mana that can gather this solidly and this horrifically is dark mana. One of the most common mana types due to it not being inherent. It is born from negative emotions.

Calming myself, I take a few deep breaths before bursting through the door. My eyes are drawn towards Ryu's bed within a second, and torn away at the next.

Words can't even describe how awful the feeling was looking at him. The pure power that leaked from him would be incredible, had it not been for the fact that the power was from dark magic.

I see Astrid looking at Ryu near the window, completely astounded.

"Astrid! What happened? Why is he like this?" (Airi)

"... He just... Woke up, and started screaming. Then after that, the mana just started pouring out." (Astrid)

"How do we stop it?" (Airi)

"We need to put him to sleep I guess? I don't know how we'll do that, considering I can barely get close without gagging." (Astrid)

"I'll do it, just make sure I don't get attacked by something." (Airi)

"Yeah, sure." (Astrid)

Having received Astrid's confirmation, I ready myself and begin walking towards Ryu.

He is only 5 steps away, yet he feels like a mountain in the distance. The dark magic seemed to intrude into my mind as I walked closer to him.

"Sto- don- come close-" (Ryu)

"I'm going to help you Ryu, just keep trying to pull it in." (Airi)

Once again, I continue my trek towards Ryu, the resistance seemingly doubling every step I take.

His face is contorted into a mixture of pain, defiance and anger. Everytime Ryu gathered his strength to resist, he seemed to shiver, and for a brief moment, I could have sworn I had seen a symbol in his eye.

Pushing that to the back of my mind, I take another step towards Ryu. It was painful to look up at him, and it was even more painful to inch closer, but I persevered and managed to reach his side.

Lifting my arm, I swiftly brought the side of my hand down onto Ryu's neck, rendering him unconscious, and the dark mana seemed to disappear almost instantly.

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Author Notes
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That took too long. I managed to procrastinate writing this chapter for about a week before finishing it. Although, I do have some doubts on whether that was truly procrastination or just plain writers block. Not that it matters, it still took way way way too long to write.