Kotsuba Musashi.

Hearing this name would instil the image of that one "Word of Power" hunter. Kotsuba Musashi was that sort of man - A slim, well-built being, wearing a simple tanned leather coat and chitin pants, with hair the colour of charcoal. It was easy to distinguish his Ohdean background from other Word of Power hunters out there.

Right now, he had arrived at a place no one else seems to have been to for the longest of time.

With wooden flooring and walls riddled with soot, it was no doubt a strange room. The ceiling had been blasted off by some form of attack, revealing the strange inter-dimensional space surrounding the room. Broken debris of the pillars and walls lay on the wooden panels which comprised the floors.

Kotsuba Musashi had arrived at one of the mythical Sealed Rooms, which supposedly houses a Word of Power within. These rooms, rumoured to have belonged to castles decades ago, have been ripped from their citadels in entirety, and sealed within this strange, distorted dimension, away from the vile claws of Man.

But there he stood, with the resilience and triumphant valor befitting a representative - In defiance of it all.

In the centre of the room, was a most strange pillar with a simplistic design.

The pillar was floating above ground, tilted at a 45 degree angle with the bottom pointing toward the room's entry point. Just slightly above the base was a character of an Anikan origin, radiantly glowing with a golden light.

One ought to have been happy at this sight. Being inside a mythical Sealed Room, with a Word of Power before oneself, anyone would have gladly accepted this power with open arms.

And yet...

Musashi's face twisted into a heavy, anguished look of disbelief.

"No..."

He was blatantly unsatisfied with what was before him.

With his eyes fixated onto the golden character, he slowly dragged his feet across the dusty wooden panels, stopping before the pillar. He recognized that character in his native tongue, but he knew subconsciously that it had meant something else in its entirety, something meant to be spoken in a different language and intonation.

That character, was å®š.

"No... No! NO!!!"

Kotsuba Musashi collapsed down, and knelt on his knees. Holding his head in denial, he looked up toward his 'prize', as if in a prayer. From a distance, he looked quite insane, had what he uttered been left unheard.

"This... This wasn't supposed to happen... The most heavily guarded Word of Power should have been å†... Why is it å®š!?"

The undeniable fact laid before his face, almost cackling at his grimace. He shook his head ever so slightly, refusing to believe the reality blatantly laid out before his eyes. But there it was - In its greatest glory, that golden word lay upon the barren, plain pillar.

(All the lives lost... All the resources sacrificed... All of that could be rewound if I had å† to create a å†åº¦ concept... All of that could have been recovered... All of it didn't have to go to waste if only it had been å†...!!!)

He could not even cough.

Relaxing his hands slowly, he sunk deeper and deeper into devastation.

Had that word been something else, it would have been different.

Had that word been what he expected it to be, he could have saved them all.

(... I don't have the dignity to walk back alone like this, with them dead... As much as I wanted a Word of Power, I needed å†, not å®š...)

Certainly, had he retrieved what he sought after, the power to revive the dead and recover the resources expended must have been valuable enough to risk it this far.

His will wavering, Musashi looked at the pillar above his head once more.

(... I dare not take it.)

He was afraid. Had he taken that power, and went back to Rugnud, he would be ostracised as a cold-blooded murderer who had used others' lives for personal gain; A merciless, dishonourable monster who would throw the lives of others away to achieve the end-goal.

He did not want that.

As pure as the power was, as beautiful as it had always been, in his hands it would be viewed as something obtained through dirty means. The act would be misjudged by the corrupt eyes of the people who sought after it, and these hands of his will be branded by, stained in the blood of the people he didn't kill.

Musashi did not mean for this to happen.

His head drooped into a position where it was just dangling on his neck. He looked down at his attire, stained with the blood of those who had given their lives willingly.

He remembered the owners of the stains clearly.

The spattered drops were from that young boy Rohat, whom was impaled by a spear wall. A joyful, sprightly man with a great future ahead of himself, dead from a moment of folly and an unexpected trap.

The smudge of blood and grime belonged to his childhood friend Dekomura, whom gave his life to redirect a boar down a cliff. Unfortunately, the boar's tusk scarred a great wound on his left thigh, and the persistent Bloodswarm locusts made his wound fester much faster than normal.

In the end, he too succumbed to fate. And despite that, Dekomura's final words...

... He offered Musashi his corpse to disable the traps ahead, such that his chances of reaching the Word of Power may heighten, as little as it may be.

The moments of their deaths flashed before his eyes in an instant. The valiance and dignity they had, in order to ensure that this retrieval had been a success, would be sullied by those greedy hyenas in human skins.

He couldn't accept the Word of Power.

Those very lives would have their sacrifices pinned upon him wrongfully.

Those very people who looked up to Musashi as a model would weep and turn in their graves when they learn of their families' spite towards the man they gave their lives willingly for.

And yet, he could not let their deaths be in vain.

(Everyone... I have let you down... I-... I'm truly, truly sorry. As much as you have put into getting this for me, I can't accept this.)

Musashi stared blankly at his body, his head devoid of energy and his eyes losing its brilliance.

His focus was, unconsciously, locked onto a specific part of his field of vision.

 

A vial.

A vial, dangling from his neck, with a strange, white liquid within.

It was his lucky charm, should he be killed on the job - A bottle of his own semen to carry on his heritage.

"... ! "

Luster returned to his pupils and he grabbed the vial on his neck gently, but quickly.

He sprang up, determined.

The solution had been under his nose the entire time.

Dangling the vial on his hand, he slowly tapped the vial onto the pillar. The simple motion sparked a strange effect - The golden character faded away, and the vial glowed a brilliant, equally radiant glow. The pillar, which was supposed to have dropped, remain suspended - Part of the pillar had been stuck in some debris before Musashi, preventing it from falling.

(... I will never live with myself had I taken this power. I won't be able to answer the dead respectfully. That is why... My dear, precious child, please understand... This is Daddy's only gift to you. Cherish it well, my sweet child.)

Holding the vial in his hand tightly, he uttered to himself. Or perhaps, he was talking to something?

"Let's go home... Katachi."

Turning back, he exited from whence he came, a door which was not a door, the only entrance and exit of the Sealed Room.

And with that...

Kotsuba Musashi's days as a Word of Power Hunter ended with his failure.

... But what of the å®š he had gifted the semen?

2: Chapter 1

1569 A.D.

In his eyes reflected the sky. It wasn't a sky that was clear, it wasn't a sky where people could call blue. It was a sky covered with clouds, an overcast that blanketed the lands.

The farmers nearby rejoiced at the gift of rain. Women complained and hurriedly kept their laundry. Children sat by the small windows to await the ritual of Sharyu Zuku to begin. People hastened their footsteps to avoid getting their bamboo sandals wet.

And yet, Katachi sat there, motionless.

K : (The sky is vast...)

His face twisted, expressing a deep longing. No matter how much he had yearned it, that was not something people could just get.

K : (Can I fly in it, away from here...?)

He stretched his left hand up towards the sky, and clasped it gently. A small bird flew past, and his eyes followed.

How badly he wished he could fly freely, like the bird.

If given the opportunity, he would have given everything he had in order to escape this place.

Alas, what the mind wants was what the body could not get. Giving up, he relaxed his left arm and it landed onto the soft grass and soil with a thud.

"Katachi! Be a good boy and help me keep the laundry, will you?"

A familiar voice called out to him, a little hasty and rushed.

K : "Yes, Mother Rin!"

Shifting his weight between both legs, he slowly stretched them and stood up. Katachi brushed off a few stalks of grass and dirt attached to his cloth shirt and headed towards her.

*** ***

Before he even began to remember things, Katachi was abandoned by his parents.

The reason, the cause was unknown, and as much as the young 9-year old wished to find his real parents, he knew he couldn't. What was a young, 9 year old supposed to do, when nobody was even willing to give him the slightest of clue?

All he knew was that when he was found, a wooden tablet with "Kotsuba Katachi" carved on it was tied to his anklet. He knew nothing else regarding his parents.

Mother Rin was a kind soul who found him crying on a soft patch of grass at the outskirts of the town. Nursing and raising him as her own, she soon had a second mouth to feed at home, but that was not a problem for the formidable nun.

The townsfolk, however, did not take his arrival with equal cordiality.

Adults branded him as a bastard child. Children hurled rocks and nasty insults at him because their parents said it was fine to. The only ones who haven't ill-treated him were the elderly whom he had been nice to, and Mother Rin herself.

Katachi's childhood was littered with horrible memories; So many of them, that he would rather not recall any if it were possible.

His only happy memories were of those he enjoyed with Mother Rin, and when he was alone, usually in the library or open in the fields, or in that one spot near a field where he could admire the carefree children from afar, in morbid silence.

And yet, Mother Rin insisted that he should be kind to others.

R : "Listen very carefully, Katachi. There are two things I have to tell you."

The first time he came back crying at the age of four, Mother Rin comforted him.

She told him, "First, you have to know, Katachi. I love you a lot, I really do, but I am not actually your mother. I am not the mother that gave birth to you. You were just outside the town, lying in a patch of grass near a field of medicinal herbs. Your parents may be dead and they may have gave their lives to make sure you were safe."

That was bound to break a child's heart, under normal circumstances. But what's broken can't be broken any further.

R : "But don't worry, Katachi, Mother Rin is here for you. Come here~"

Katachi remembered the warmth of Mother Rin's bosom and arms clearly when she hugged him after saying that. It was a cozy, comforting, accepting warmth that made him relax and feel that he was loved. His urge to cry was suppressed immediately, and he reciprocated Mother Rin's motherly snuggle.

R : "That was the first thing you need to know. Mother Rin may not have given birth to you, but Mother Rin wants to be able to love you like how your mother would have wanted to. Is that okay?"

Nodding his head gently, Katachi remembered a flashback where one of the adults in town on the pillory accepted all of the bad words and insults without flinching.

R : "The second thing I want to tell you is also really important. Are you ready?"

With that one adult as his model, he mimicked the man with much effort, took a deep breath and exhaled, gearing himself to accept anything.

R : "You have to treat others with kindness, Katachi. Even though they may be bad, even though they may hurl bad words and rocks at you, you still have to be kind to them. They are immature right now and are doing foolish things in a moment of folly, but you have to bear with it and reply with kindness. There will come a day where they themselves, just like you, will turn into adults and regret doing those things."

Mother Rin's love and guidance, and the townsfolk's behaviour towards him forced Katachi to mature at an abnormally fast rate; When compared to other children and even the adolescents, he was perhaps maturing too quickly, forming a rather large anomaly.

Yet, as much as Mother Rin made sense with what she had said, he did not run towards her crying because he was bullied.

It had been for another reason - One not even she had expected.

*** ***

K : (This madness... No more shall it plague us. If I must give my life, I shall do so for this Mother, whom has taken such great care of me.

Such that the ones to come after me would be free from it... Such that the people behind me suffer no more.)

*** ***

It was time for Katachi to step onto a new stage.

As he hit the rich age of 10, he was now old enough to enrol into one of the famous academies in the region - the Sage Raufid Magus Academy.

Packing his stuff, he prepared to set off almost immediately. Being a poor child he was, he had not much to carry with him, except the clothes on his back and some documents to certify his identity as a student.

R : "Be sure to sleep well, eat well, and grow up properly, okay, Katachi? You can always come back any time."

The nun looked back at him with tears in her eyes, as she held the wrists of the young boy gently. She was clearly saddened by his departure, but it is impossible for change not to transpire.

K : "Yes, Mother Rin. I'll be sure to come back and visit every couple of moon cycles."

Katachi straightened the strap to that shoddy and flimsy thing he called a bag, and entered the riderless carriage dispatched by the school.

And with that, Katachi began his life on a new world stage.

3: Chapter 2

Before the young 10 year old was a huge facility that gave off a castle-like feel.

It was a plot of land given to an aristocrat and a great sorcerer, by the name of Sage Raufid. According to the bamboo books inside the library, Sage Raufid wept at the potential magi dying because of the tides of war. To have built an entire academy to service the public and fish out the potential magi of the world, this place had been worshiped as a sacred ground to the figures of the world.

He wasn't used to such a classy sight. With hesitation, Katachi entered the building.

Setting foot into the grandeur hall, his eyes locked onto the first thing he saw - The great interior of the academy.

The elegant, strange design of the place appalled him. The chandeliers were shaped irregularly, and some even had magic seals on them. The pillars were not straight ones that normal people used to support buildings, and they swirled and spun in such weird fashions it seemed as if the building was the one supporting them. An orange rug was laid out in the center, almost as if saying "Right this way, guest of honor."

At a small corner of the eloquent view, was a familiar existence that ruined the entire flavor of that wonder.

"Hah. I didn't think the orphan would be allowed to attend this school."

... He remembered that voice.

There were three people in Mielfeud that constantly picked on him.

The first was Juval, a big brute who was the raw strength of the three. He would grab Katachi by his ragged cloth shirt and drag him to a dark alley. He had been here at this academy once, only to be sent back to Mielfeud as a laborman because he wasn't adept at magic.

The next was Zirco, the scheming brains of the group. He wasn't necessarily bad, but his mouth spewed forth the lies and slander that garnered the spite of others. He had probably been here at the Sage Raufid Magus Academy for about a year now, since he was two years younger than Juval.

And the one before him was the savage one in the group who would hurt him physically and mentally.

K : "Hello again, Dante."

D : "You scum! Don't talk to me in such a friend-like manner! You're just a bastard child unwanted by your parents!"

Clenching his fist hard, Katachi took a few short breaths to calm down, before relaxing his grip.

K : "I have no reason to take your humiliation here. I'll be off."

D : "Hah! Are you a coward?"
 

Katachi remembered Mother Rin's words in his heart - They were still immature, so their acts differ little from those of a fool's. He saw no reason to be dragged into his pace. With that preceding his baseless insults, Katachi walked up the steps, towards the second level.

D : "You'll never be able to use magic! You'll be sent back to Mielfeud and live the rest of your days as a lame, dirt poor priest! You'll always be a coward who's all talk and no action! GET BACK HERE WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU, DAMNIT!"

"SHUT UP!!!"

It seemed as though an adult, most probably a teacher in the academy felt disturbed by Dante's actions, and was now scolding him. The teacher placed some sort of seal on the magic circle at the top of his arm, most likely for misconduct.

(... This is new... The adults actually stood up for me.)

He had never received such treatment from another, not even once. To the child, it was a shock that he was protected by someone else, and even cared for.

Silently thanking the timely intervention, Katachi continued on his way along the orange rug.

*** ***

"... Welcome, new student. You are?"

Before him was a strange man indeed.

He wore a crisp green fancy uniform, with a white undershirt and a red colored tie. He had a really peculiar sun hat that seemed to be made out of a strange green jelly-like material shaped into a top hat.

From what he could remember, beings like that were called Slimes. Soft, brainless and resilient towards physical trauma, it was often a suitable enemy to train against. Why the man before him was wearing one as a hat, though, baffled Katachi.

But it fascinated him. Such a strange creature, told of only in the books of old in a time where monsters existed, sitting there quietly before him in its own little world...

And yet, the terrors it could induce. It was best to leave it be.

K : "I'm Katachi. Kotsuba Katachi. I... turned 10 just a week ago."

B : "Ahh, a new student, aren't you?"

In his hand was a strangely-shaped snack that resembled a lizard that had been roasted over a flame of sorts, eaten out from its belly.

K : "... Is that... A newt on a stick?"

B : "My, how observant. Most students here don't even know what a newt is."

Licking his lips, he took another bite off the area at the abdomen, and the entire right leg of the newt snapped off easily. It made a squishy, chewy sound within his mouth, which gave Katachi a good number of goosebumps.

B : "Your astuteness will definitely help you in becoming someone great one day. Right then, your perceptual ability aside, let's see some magic, young boy. Do you know any form of magic at all?"

K : "I... I do."

Hearing Katachi stammer was not something people heard often. But, being oppressed since he was young, Katachi probably didn't have much social interaction with people except Mother Rin, so it was understandable how he was nervous speaking to others.

K : "But... Could you get the teacher standing there to go outside first, please?"

Katachi was indeed nervous.

Most students, upon meeting a stranger, would be nervous if they performed poorly on a first impression.

However, Katachi was nervous for a completely different reason.

B : "Feeling pressured from eyes watching you? Very well then. Take your leave, Yorn. Let me handle this first."

He had hoped the principal before him would keep the secret.

With a grunt, the huge teacher with a really large upper torso left the room through the wooden doors.

B : "Right then, let's see what you can do, boy."

Katachi's hands felt cold.

He extended a finger, and approached the desk with it.

(Should I do it...? Should I not do it... ? He's suspicious, but he seems pretty broad-minded seeing how he just readily accepts me being observant. It's... It's a gamble. Okay. Here goes...)

Pointing at the desk, a glowing, golden character was formed on it. A small amount of smoke appeared from the book right next to the character.

It was a most peculiar symbol - 定.

*** ***

B : "I have to say, that was a marvelous display, Mister Kotsuba. To use it at the age of ten is wondrous indeed. That kind of power can get you into the best class easily. In fact, you might not even stay in this school for long if you keep growing at this rate."
 

Katachi was kind of happy at being called a "mister", but it was no time to be elated.

K : "I don't want a best class, actually. I want a curriculum that can maximize my own potentials my way."

He had uttered it with flawless replication of Mother Rin's words - "The best is a standard set by the one who has achieved it. I would want something to be set for me, not by some person who didn't even know me."

Nodding in agreement, the principal's eyes squinted a little bit.

B : "Interesting. You truly are interesting, Mister Kotsuba. Most children would blindly go for the 'best class' because it offers the greatest diversity in finding their own affinities in magic, but it seems you have your heart set on what you already have, no?"

K : "Never doubt it."

Katachi felt kind of glad to be around the principal - He was surprisingly comfortable to talk to, despite dressing in such an awkward manner.

B : "I like that positive response. Very well. Here is a magic circle indicating your official registration into our school."

Snapping a glove snugly over his left hand, he placed his palm on the top of Katachi's arm. A slight, burning sensation was felt, and a circle was tattooed onto his skin.

B : "I have to say, I really love students that wear clothes as ragged as these. It may be a bit chilly in the long run, but that beats having to roll up your sleeves to place these magic circles."

Staring at the magic circle closely, Katachi raised his left arm a little bit to get a better look at the newly-added seal.

B : "Don't worry. That seal identifies you as an Academy student. It comes off when you leave this area, and vice versa."

Hearing that, he relaxed his left arm.

B : "In any case, welcome, to the Sage Raufid Magus Academy! I'm your principal and the descendant of Raufid, Bertund. There is path finding magic all over the corridors and walls, so you just need to close your eyes, think of your destination and walk forward naturally. The magic will guide your brain directly, so there's no need to be afraid of getting lost."

Bertund wagged his fingers around, as a gesture to represent the magic's assumed omnipresence.

B : "The path determination magic is unlocked only during breaks and is fixed at night, which means even if you try to sneak out during curfew, you'd be naturally redirected back to your room. Enjoy your stay here, Mister Kotsuba. I'll be heading back to work now. If you need anything, just form my image in your head and you will know how to get to me."

K : "Okay."

B : "One last thing - Take it easy just for today, and wander about the school, enjoy the scenery, remember the places if you have to. Walking and admiring without thinking of where you want to go is the secret to countering this magic. Your first lesson is scheduled to start in two days. Enjoy yourself until then."

With a wave, he invited Yorn back into the room, and closed the wooden door with a gentle click.

4: Chapter 3

The wooden-soled shoes clacked noisily on the hallway.

In normal cases, where most students would have come from Bellpot or other large cities, their shoes would have been fresh-smelling, nicely polished, comfortable leather shoes, a gift from their parents.

Katachi had no such luxury to get such expensive shoes, having grown up with Mother Rinnesfeld whom believed that Nature has much to offer those who worked hard. It was quite unthinkable from a child's perspective to get such shoddy soles to wear to a prestigious, sacred land such as the Sage Raufid Magus Academy.

Of course, physical vanity and the like weren't problems for neither Mother Rinnesfeld nor Katachi; They had used Mother Nature sparingly and expressed their gratitude whenever they did. It had become a commodity to silently thank Segus and Mother Nature for anything and everything. It appeared too good to be true in the eyes of others, but non-believers can only doubt their faith for as long as they have not experienced it themselves.

Regardless to say, everyone in the vicinity 20 meters away from where Katachi was heard the noisy wooden soles plopping and clacking, disturbing the lessons that were going on and the peace of the general area.

(That green man they call 'Principal' seems to be right... The people who are walking here all have their heads fixed to their front as they walk. Wandering around without the slightest clue to this place, without a destination is the solution to overriding this magic in the day. It doesn't stay the same at night though. Did they put some sort of rune to determine when the magic needs to switch in phase? If so, how do they set that? The bamboo books never mentioned how to set them up...)

Three girls excitedly chatting to each other noticed the wooden plopping getting louder and clearer, and stopped to stare outside their class, at a completely clueless Katachi.

"Who is he?"
"Ugh, he looks so filthy!"
"Is he a new student?"
"Why is he wearing those shoes?"
"Look at how worn-out his clothes are!"

Instantly, his distinctive differences were picked on.

Students who went to the Sage Raufid Magus Academy often came from rich and poor families alike, but with a single glance into the classroom, Katachi roughly understood the situation.

There was a rather large group of those rich children who were talking to each other in a prideful manner, flaunting their riches and such before the others. It was obvious because their uniforms were hemmed with gold and silver, their bags were of a high-quality shiny leather that reflected the sun's rays, similar to their shoes, and they stood with their chests puffed out and arms crossed, trying their best to intimidate the others in the group with their parents' wealth and influence. Among the 5 who stood, one was a female who was even boasting about her chest.

There was another group who had normal uniforms, classic cloth knapsacks and were just generally doing their own things : Reading the books they had, twiddling their thumbs, or discussing something about Ley lines, which Katachi presumed was a subject or chapter they had to study on. These people who were grouped like so were obviously those of a lower status, or class, whom have probably ended up in that class by scoring roughly the same as those rich people. With that single image, one conclusion had been derived.

K : (It appears that the classes in this place are formed and based on magic compatibility instead of status, hierarchy and ranking, centralising the good and improving the quality of the magically adept by giving them reliable, relevant competitiveness amongst their classmates. It's still too soon to judge, though, so I'll just keep that as a possibility.)

For a young boy such as Katachi, that was impressive to have deduced a conclusion this quickly. On the other hand, it could also be said that the result from spending much of his time in the library of the church had finally blossomed and paid off.

Not minding the onlookers who were now focused on the clear, resonant noise outside the door, Katachi continued walking.

*** ***

Katachi walked into a huge, wonderful-looking garden without noticing.

The entire school and its structure was just absolutely bewitching, to the point where remembering every detail would need one to use those very halls repeatedly. Since turning around to look behind would set the 'destination' to be behind him, it would just continuously force his body to twist to his left repeatedly and pace back and forth a 2-step wide area, forcibly making Katachi look like he's dancing to an awkward tune unheard by the other students.

It wasn't a good thing either since he was making even more noise with his already-distracting wooden shoes. Having experienced that once, it was safe to say that turning to look backwards was by no means a good idea under the influence of that magic.

K : (It seems as though that magic itself is flawed in its own way as well... Ugh. I feel like throwing up...)

Leaning against a tree to catch his breath, Katachi soon found himself in a garden, without any clue on how he got here.

It was a beautiful sight.

The pavilion to his left was covered in a lot of vines, showing the neglect it had suffered. Though it had creeper plants all over the pillars and roof, it was perfectly clean in the center, if someone would put effort into dusting. Perhaps the seat area had been enchanted or made with a certain life-rejecting material, the pavilion was full of nature and yet the center was devoid of life. To his right-

K : (... ? What is that?)

-was a strange wire, attached to a very small, well-camouflaged magic circle on one end and one of the pavilion's pillar on the other.

K : (Why is there a line here? I have never seen spiders form their webs like that. No, the line is too thick, that's most likely not from a spider. What is this doing here?)

Out of curiosity, he tapped on the wire, expecting the line to be stuck on his finger.

The instant he had touched the wire, however-

K : "Wha!?"

-it burned out into an ethereal realm with a purple tracer, leaving nothing behind. The magic circle connected to one end of it glowed a sinister red, and a few pieces of tiny bits of what seemed to be fingernails, dead bugs, a beak of a crow snapped off and the like, floated in mid-air.

All of the tiny pieces were rather pointed, and were all targeted towards Katachi.

K : (Is this... a trap?!)

Within a second of them floating and stabilizing in midair, they all flew towards Katachi in a menacing, merciless omni-directional pincer attack.

In that swift instant, the only thing one could do was think. It was a trap made deliberately to assault an opponent without giving them the chance to react.

But for the black-haired boy, thinking was more than enough.

K : (恒定! Constant status - Self!)

A coarse, dry whisper exhaled out the words out in the back of his head. Two words formed on Katachi's body faster than an instant.

One of the words, å®š, was radiating with a golden glow. It was placed directly on his stomach region above the shirt, which would have made the cast word seem obvious. The other word, æ’, had a very faint, smoky, grey outline, resembling a word made from a cloud. It was formed the same time as the character å®š but it soon proved to be completely unstable, as it had already started dissipating the very moment it was formed.

The tiny shards flew towards his body, landing onto his skin.

The small dart objects had cleanly landed onto him, and roughly 19 clicks could be heard within that moment. However, "landing" on him seemed to be the only thing it did. The objects were fairly small, and did not seem to carry any power in itself. Even if Katachi had not used the Word of Power as a shield, he would have probably lived through the trap.

That was only true if these tiny shards did not possess any secrets; For example, had they been coated with poison, or some sort of burning magic, then using the Word of Power to protect himself was truly a right choice. It could have been worth gambling the fact that it did not have secrets, and he could have taken the attack head-on, but Katachi chose not to take the risk since there was no benefit to that at all.

K : (... Had I been late, I might have died. They may be small, but the speed they were flying at was not to be laughed at. That was a speed meant to maim, not as a harmless prank like those boys who used to dump buckets on me.)

He's not out of danger yet.

K : (...! Oh no! Fade off, fade off, quickly!!)

The word faded off his torso in slightly more than half a second. Glancing around, Katachi tried his best to locate anyone who could have seen him. With only the cries of crickets and cicadas filling the area, Katachi heaved a sigh of relief.

The word faded off pretty quickly, but that was still dangerous - Had anybody seen that obvious, distinct Word of Power, he would have been busted on the very day he enrolled. That's something he would, with all his power, avoid at any cost.

Thanking the Gods for his safety and luck, he continued walking through the garden.

*** ***

The "garden" was considered an important piece of history within the Sage Raufid Magus Academy.

It was a special place of many flora and fauna, isolated into a plane known as Cosmatral Neud. Its only active entrance and exit was the center of the academy itself. Sage Raufid wanted to preserve as much life as possible during the warring days, so he had invested a large amount of gold and magic to make Cosmatral Neud possible. Unfortunately, since it acted only on a natural plane, the Path-finding magic did not work in Cosmatral Neud. Therefore, the automatic lead-you-to-your-destination magic was absent in the garden. This also meant that the place was a frequent hiding spot for students.

Katachi's presence there could have a drastic effect on the living things there.

Of course, so long as he did not enter the place with the intent to destroy everything, he was always welcome into Cosmatral Neud. His Word of Power was not something any force of nature could handle, for it did not originate from nature, beliefs nor legends, unlike most forms of magic.

The green-suited man reached his left hand into his slimy hat, and scratched the center of his head. The slime wriggled excitedly as a familiar foreign object had entered it and tickled it up from the inside.

Y : "Do you really think it's safe for him to be there, Bertund?"

Yorn, a large and bulky man wearing a classic vertical striped shirt and pants, with an upper torso completely outshining his stubby legs, spoke with a low baritone and an irritated face.

The principal took his hand out from his slime hat, and interlocked his fingers together.

B : "Oh, it's perfectly safe for him to be there, Yorn. He can storm through the entire garden and Bael's traps like a walk in the park. I'm actually more concerned about the animals there reacting unfavorably."

Bertund did not seem concerned in the least.

Y : "He had just enrolled today! Surely your expectations in this child are too high?!"

Hearing that, Bertund gave a low, sinister chuckle.

B : "You worry too much, Yorn. Are you really that foolish to think that all the magic in the world work on the same dimensions? Or have you forgotten how powerful the Words of Power really are, even individually?"

Yorn's face twisted into a deep frown, unhappy at the fact that he was called foolish. But, as a subordinate, he could only suck it up and tolerate the tactlessness the principal exuded.

B : "Well, you'll see in due time, Yorn. I'm excited to see how things will turn out."

Y : "What do you-..."

Yorn stopped, noticing what he meant.

B : "... Indeed. He is dangerously close to Bael's house. Let's see what will become of this, shall we?"

Y : (... Bael, huh...) "..."