Money was scarce, and easy to disappear. Like a bubble, it popped and popped, until nothing was left.
Facing this ordeal, Tsukishiro was forced to meet the merchant who brought him here.
With a job offer of delivering goods around, he was working during the night and studying during the day.
New knowledge gained from Saintellia was foreign. As someone who only studied by himself, he never knew what he did. It's just that, it works. So long as it works, no need to question it.
And after a week, an exam happened, a mock exam, to be exact.
...
Miss Aurelia stood in front of the energetic student.
"Silence, you all." She yelled with authority. "From that week of basic theory, we have gathered today to apply that knowledge in combat—specifically, wild combat. Wild combat is an exam wherein you'll be sent to the forest to collect leftover pieces from defeated wild monsters. And for this exam, you'll be working in pairs."
Tsukishiro tensed, worried. Pairing up, especially when you know very little about those people around you, is challenging.
"You'll choose your pair. I'll give you thirty seconds."
The students immediately scrambled all around, looking for a partner. Tsukishiro could only stand in a corner, looking and gazing. However, everyone was already occupied and paired up.
Can I just do this solo? He thought to himself, disappointedly.
Suddenly, he felt a tap from behind him.
*Tap, tap*
He turned around and saw Yukari behind him.
"Wanna pair?" She said emotionlessly.
"S-Sure." Relief surged over him as he exhaled. He won't be doing the exam solo.
"Alright, now that everyone already has their partners," she turned around and summoned a portal behind her, "this portal will lead you to the forest. It is a B-graded section, so do not worry about dying. You will only die if you're not a B-graded magician." Her eyes were hard, looking at each of the students.
"Now then, the goal is to collect 10 Magic Imbued Wild Boar Horns. Bring it back in 30 minutes. You may enter the portal in... 3, 2, 1..."
"Go."
The students, with their weapons in hand and magic prepared, went in one by one.
"Are you ready?" Tsukishiro asked, as he unsheathed his small blade.
"Sure, let's go." Determined, Tsukishiro, along with Yukari, went inside the portal.
The forest setting inside the academy stretched endlessly into the darkness. The air carrier emits a faint hum of heavy energy.
They walked through an unknown path, Tsukishiro cautious of every sound he heard. The rest of the students have already dispersed all throughout the forest, and they are now left alone.
They are tasked with harvesting 10 horns of Magic Imbued Wild Boars. And these horns are the proof of their work. The boars range from C+ to B+, never above B.
And so, they began venturing.
"So, Yukari-san, what is your fighting style?" Tsukishiro asked curiously, while still keeping formality.
"Oh, right." She remarked, as if she forgot to say something to Tsukishiro beforehand. "I don't kill. I'll leave the killing to you."
"W-Wait, what?" He blurted out, confused.
"I am a support mage, I'll keep you alive. You can kill all of those boars." She replied, her voice cold as usual.
"O-Okay, sure."
As they walked, the rustling noises around them grew louder and louder. Yukari's footsteps were effortless, as if she could sense and see through the unverving darkness that extends forward, as if the forest itself was her home.
Tsukishiro, on the other hand, was slightly more cautious and rigid. The forest was his training ground for most of his years. However, today was different. The magical energy present was heavy, like something from the shadows was staring right at them.
And his hunch was right.
At a certain point, he felt that something was approaching. "There." He pointed in front. Soon, rushing noises began to echo louder from in front of them. And soon, it came into the clearing—a magic imbued wild boar.
*Roar*
It roared ferociously before charging at them at high speed. Both of them immediately dodged to the side. Tsukishiro, who landed on a tree branch, unsheathed his weapon, and with a faint, dark energy emitted.
"Let's do this." In a swift motion, he dashes over the wild boar, leaving traces of his black magic along his tracks. Then, he slashed, embedding a deep wound on the boar's body. A black energy remained, further inflicting damage onto the boar.
Tsukishiro landed behind it and immediately re-adjusted his stance and, from above, stabbed his dark blade into the boar's body. The boar squirmed around and yelled out in pain, trying to break free from the grasp of Tsukishiro's blade.
"Disperse!" Tsukishiro whispered, before exerting a portion of his magic energy, and like a needle, dispersing that dark magic all over the boar's body, instantly killing it on the spot.
He stood up and caught his breath, glancing in Yukari's direction. Yukari slowly walked towards the dead boar.
"May I borrow your dark blade?" She asked.
"Oh, sure."
He handed his dark blade over to Yukari. However, upon losing contact with his hand, the darkness within disappeared, turning it into nothing but an ordinary blade. But, it was enough to serve the job.
With precision, she slashed through the black horn.
"One done." She said, before handing the blade over to Tsukishiro.
"Yeah, let's go."
"Wait,"
Just as Tsukishiro was about to turn around and continue, Yukari called out to him.
"What is it?"
Yukari raised her hand and hovered it near Tsukishiro's chest. Then, a golden glow was emitted. Tsukishiro's eyes widened. His feeling became... lighter, as if the tiredness and fatigue he felt were cast away, and the magic energy he consumed was replenished.
"I can replenish magic energy. That'll be my part." She said, before pulling her hand away. "Let's go."
She turned and proceeded to walk away. Tsukishiro snapped out of his amusement and followed behind her.
...
The deeper they ventured inside, the more tiresome and intense the hunt became. The boars weren't consistent with strength. Some were stronger, while some were weaker than the other. And now, having just finished up their seventh boar, Tsukishiro quickly pulled his blade off the body of the boar, and swiftly slashed through the boar's horns.
"T-That's the seventh." He said, as he puts away the horns.
"We should rest for a moment, I am also running out of fuel," Yukari suggested.
"You're right, it's getting a bit tiring." Tsukishiro agreed.
Both of them, thought with distance from one another, sat down.
Yukari's magic energy replenishing works by taking her own and transferring it onto another person. However, as the battles continued, Tsukishiro was spending more and more magic energy, causing Yukari to be quite empty as well.
"Four more left, I hope we can easily find them," Tsukishiro said, as he stretched out like a cat.
"They are everywhere, so it can't be that difficult to find them. Let's go once we're fine."
Both of them rested for a few minutes. No sounds of enemies nearby echoed, nor were there even the faintest sounds. However, without warning,
*CRASH*
The ground trembled, as both of them were sent flying towards the other direction. The surprise attack wounded them both, however, they managed to land on their foot, albeit with some wounds all over.
"W-What the hell was that?!" Tsukishiro blurted out. Both of them weren't able to detect a presence around them, and yet, something struck them.
Soon emerging from the black darkness was a boar—bigger and much stronger than everyone else.
"A boar?! How come we never sensed its presence?!"
"It's a monster that's not supposed to be here. That is no B-ranked monster—that's at least an A+." Yukari said. Her senses tell her that this monster is something else, almost a monster that's impossible to beat. Moreover, its magic imbuedment was different from everyone else.
The typical magic imbuedment to a monster is nothing but raw, unfettered energy. However, the energy around this monster was refined and twisted into something else—lightning.
Blue sparks of lightning covered its body.
"Why is that here? I thought this was supposed to be a B-ranked forest only!" Tsukishiro exclaimed.
"I have no clue. But, we have to defeat that. It's hard to run away from it. We already failed to detect it. Just wonder how fast it could go."
"Alright, I'll handle it." Though nervous with the unfamiliar monster, he steeled up, already embedding dark magic onto his blade.
"I'll support from the back." Unfazed, Yukari replied, before jumping backwards, and preparing to support him from the back.
The boar lets out a roar of fury, further amplifying the lightning around it, and releasing a huge shockwave throughout, enough to uproot the trees around. Tsukishiro and Yukari raised their arms, focusing their energy on their feet to not get swept away.
Once it ceased, Tsukishiro quickly entered a stance and dashed towards the boar with a darkened blade in hand. Upon reaching its vicinity, he swung his blade downwards, attempting to behead the boar. However, its skin was so hard that it sent a painful shockwave through his arm.
"T-The hell is that?" He yelled out, jumping back and landing on his feet.
"Stay still, little boar." From behind him, Yukari whispered to herself. Without any equipment to amplify her magic, and through raw energy, she summoned several flower petals on the ground by raising her hand. Then, they all exploded simultaneously, however, it wasn't impactful. Instead, the explosion was filled with smaller, pink, flower petals that, upon contact, will immensely weaken one's magic defense.
The boar yelled a painful roar, as it was immediately weakened.
"It's weakened. Go." Yukari signalled to Tsukishiro. He tightened his grip around his blade and dashed forward. He exerted all his force into a single swing, right into the Boar's neck. And unlike before, his blade sank a little deeper into its flesh, allowing the dark magic to seep right through.
The boar, feeling the immense pain, activated its magic, releasing a huge lightning energy around it, enough to burn a person to a crisp. Fortunately, before it could release the catastrophic energy, Tsukishiro managed to jump back and avoid death by the skin of his teeth.
"Stronger force... I'll give you more energy," Yukari said, as she exerted more energy towards Tsukishiro, replenishing him.
"Thank you, I'll do this again." He prepared himself to dash once more.
Is this boar really strong, or am I just weak? Come to think of it, Yukari was the one doing the work all along, I just gave some sloppy slash to finish the task. I need to step up.
In between those ponders, the lesson earlier comes to his mind.
Distort magic. Like water, control it.
But how? I managed to do it at the skin of my teeth, however, I have no full understanding of it yet.
However, time wasn't plentiful. He needs to deliver a fatal blow before the boar can recover.
Doubt was in his mind, but he decided to dispel it.
From above, he twisted his weapon, the blade pointing downwards towards the boar's neck. And with all mustered strength, he stabbed it through, albeit not so deeply.
Distort, and control magic...
He exerted more energy, causing the blade to go deeper.
But that's not enough. He needs more power—power to completely behead the beast in front.
Distort, and control...
With immense focus and concentration, along with internal support from Yukari, something fascinating happened. The darkness within his blade grew bigger, stronger, and more powerful.
It was not the release of a raw power, but rather, although not perfect, a refined energy.