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CHAPTER XIII:
It was an early afternoon Ordinarily Towering buildings sat quietly, their concrete edges softened by overcast light. It was just ordinary architecture in an ordinary, quiet city on an otherwise ordinary day.
The world was dark, filled with the rich scent of dry vanilla, old parchment, aged oak, marble dust, and a faint hint of autumn leaves.
The atmosphere was calm, punctuated only by the rhythmic, hollow clack of heels on polished stone somewhere behind him, accompanied by the dry, raspy thrum of a heavy page turning.
Kuro opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by the leather spines of countless books. Some were open, others were closed, and most were stacked precariously atop one another, almost barricading him within a fortress of literature.
He looked around the spacious room. Oak shelves lined the walls, packed tight with even more volumes. Above those shelves, intricate, contorting circular runes were engraved into the stonewalls at perfect intervals.
The runes shimmered with a luminous, vibrant, golden glow, adding a regal feel to the otherwise empty library.
Kuro adjusted his posture to sit upright on the marble floor, leaning his back against the wall of books with his arm resting upon a few thick lexicons. Held loosely in his hand was an open book.
"You're finally awake, Kuroshiraga. I never expected you to doze off so quickly, especially after drinking that much coffee."
The soft, even voice came from behind, its tone casual and calm. Without shifting his torso, Kuro turned his head to look toward the source.
Tamiyo stood there, her long blonde hair gathered into braids that cascaded over her shoulders down to her chest. Simple bangs framed her forehead, and she wore ordinary, casual black clothes.
Kuro stretched and adjusted his body to shake off the numbness of sleeping in one position for too long.
His eyes were still heavy with sleep. With a strained, gravelly voice, he replied, "Ah, Miss Tamiyo, that's right. I keep forgetting that coffee makes me unusually sleepy shortly after I drink it. I should have told you beforehand. My bad."
The young lady looked down at him and let out a soft chuckle, gracefully covering her lips with a pale, soft hand. "My, Kuroshiraga. Please drop the formalities. Like I told you already, Tami is just fine."
Kuro embarrassedly scratched his head. "Oh, yeah, right. Sorry, Tami."
He straightened himself out and stretched a little more. Looking down, he noticed his new clothes were disheveled, so he began to smooth out the creases.
Kuro let out a short sigh as the scent of the library mixed with a much more familiar aroma. His clothes still had that distinct scent of being freshly bought, and the price tag was still dangling from the side of his shirt.
Tami watched him, her expression entirely unreadable. Her pristine face always made it incredibly difficult to discern what she was thinking or feeling.
"How do you like the clothes? I hope they are comfortable enough to wear."
Kuro was indeed wearing new clothes, though they weren't bought with his own money. The kind Miss Tamiyo had paid for them entirely out of her own pocket.
Because Kuro had not wanted to pick anything too expensive, he had settled on a simple grey T-shirt, baggy black cargo shorts with numerous pockets, black fingerless hard-knuckle gloves, grey socks, and black sandals.
'These clothes are near perfect. I prefer baggier clothes anyway. It is much better than walking around shamefully naked next to a lady.!'
His fashion sense was unusual, perhaps even bizarre, but Kuro did not mind. His outward appearance was already strange, so what was a little more eccentricity going to do?
"They are indeed comfortable. I selected them myself, after all, so you have nothing to worry about. Also, I am done reading through these books. I have a rough idea of how things work now."
Tami looked at Kuro for a moment, then glanced at the barricade of books that obscured a majority of his figure. She traced her gaze back to his face.
Even though she usually restricted her emotions from showing, a flash of genuine surprise crossed her features before her expression returned to its pristine, unreadable state.
"Wait, really? I thought all you did was quickly skim through them. I never realized you were that quick when it came to reading. How did you manage to go through so many books when I have barely finished a single chapter?"
Kuro cleared his throat and shrugged. "I have always been capable of absorbing and retaining large amounts of information for a decent amount of time. That kind of explains how I managed to not entirely fail my classes."
Because of this weird talent, Kuro's daily morning amnesia did not completely destroy his ability to maintain barely average grades.
Though it made every morning of a test harrowing and cumbersome, ' I would be done for... if my past selves had not made a habit of leaving detailed notes.'
Tami offered a rather professional smile. "Anyway, that is a good thing. That means there is enough time left to practice what you have learned today."
'It has been a while since I actually got to practice Auramancy.'
Kuro put his book down, walked toward the exit, and stopped dead in his tracks.
He turned on his heel, gently gestured toward the wooden door, and smiled sheepishly.
"Ladies first."
Tami's lips curved upward. Nodding gently, she stepped out of the book-filled room, and Kuro followed closely behind her.
---
After logging out and leaving the bizarre library, Kuro could not help but look back at it. Usually, mundane humans never had access to a place containing that much information on Auramancy.
According to what he had just read, the mechanics, and nature of Auramancy were strictly regulated by the major factions, with the Auramancer Association at the absolute center of it all.
Even stranger, he was not officially registered as an Auramancer, nor did anyone know his true soul body rank or status. As far as the world was concerned, no one knew he was an Auramancer except for Tami and her mysterious superior.
So why did they give an unregistered novice so much freedom to learn this kind of information?
Kuro thought about it for a moment before arriving at a plausible theory.
'Perhaps the superior Miss Tami mentioned was the one who pulled the strings to register me on my behalf.
She was also the one who directed Miss Tami to watch over me.'
He could not be entirely sure, and he certainly could not lower his guard. Why was a complete stranger so interested in helping him? He did not know, so the best course of action was simply to absorb as much information as possible.
"Earth to Kuroshiraga, Earth to Kuroshiraga." Tami's calm voice shattered his train of thought.
Coming back to reality, Kuro chuckled crookedly. "Oh, my bad. I was just thinking of something. So, where exactly are we headed?"
Walking ahead, Tami slowed her pace to let Kuro catch up to her. She wore her usual serene smile. "We are headed toward the outskirts of the city. There are barely any people out there to bother us while you practice."
Kuro nodded in agreement. Not only was it safer for the public, but it reduced collateral damage in case of an accident. Furthermore, it kept curious crowds of mundane citizens from watching a novice Auramancer practice.
Unauthorized public displays were highly illegal and actively attracted Dreadspawn.
'How cumbersome. I guess it is for the best. I haven't used Auramancy for such a long time, I am afraid I might put people in danger and end up in jail shortly after getting back my memories, even if they are still scrambled.'
He shook his head, clearing his thoughts to engage in idle chatter with the pretty young lady as they walked.
Shortly after Tami raised her hand, a taxi pulled over to the curb and they both climbed inside.
Sitting in the driver's seat, was a dead-eyed man with a cold, piercing stare. Ironically, his voice was remarkably kind and soothing.
"Where to?"
Tami provided the directions to the dead-eyed driver, who promptly started the engine. Their journey to the edge of the city began, but it did not last long. They arrived at their destination much quicker than Kuro had anticipated.
The outskirts were completely desolate, entirely void of civilian life. The few buildings still standing were dilapidated, covered in thick moss and marred by deep cracks. Dark black soot stained the frames of the entrances, vents, and windows alike.
Every window had been shattered into shards, leaving broken glass to mix with the unidentifiable litter filling the empty streets. It looked like the aftermath of an especially violent riot or a natural disaster. The entire atmosphere felt deeply oppressive.
Walking further, the two arrived at the absolute edge of the urban sprawl. The terrain was dry and lifeless, consisting of empty land with barely any vegetation or standing structures. The entire journey had been eerily quiet, with neither of them saying much as they remained lost in their own thoughts.
Tami finally stopped and turned to face Kuro. "This is far enough. Let us begin our practical training here."
Kuro nodded, roughly wiping down a discarded plank of wood to take a seat. Tami looked down at him for a moment, then casually waved her hand.
Shimmering dots of luminous light converged, instantly forming an exquisite, comfortable chair right next to her. Simultaneously, a checkered picnic mat materialized directly on the ground beside Kuro.
'How convenient. Is this what they call an artifact? I thought they were strictly limited to weapons. Interesting.' Kuro thought inwardly.
"Take a seat on the mat. You will find it much more comfortable," Tami said, gesturing downward.
Kuro obliged without hesitation. It was vastly superior to the crooked plank of wood. In fact, the surface was so soft that he momentarily forgot about the hard, solid ground beneath him.
Tami settled into her conjured seat with unhurried ease. She looked at Kuro, recalling the massive stack of books he had apparently consumed in the time it took her to finish a single chapter.
"So, what exactly did you manage to absorb from your reading?"
Kuro scratched the back of his neck, reciting the information as if he had memorized the text verbatim.
"The basics, mostly. Ryoku is an exotic energy that fuels the existence of certain phenomena, and every living thing possesses it.
The refinement process is what separates Auramancers from mundane people.
You need both a purification cycle and an ignition core to actually activate Ryoku.
Without both, you can absorb it, but not manifest it."
He paused, collecting his thoughts before continuing.
"Dreadspawn form when large clusters of imprinted Ryoku collapse in on themselves under specific conditions.
The Auramancer Association manages their population numbers before things spiral out of control...
That is as much as I remember off the top of my head. I will remember more if I reread the texts."
He glanced at her with a blank expression. "Did I get any of that wrong?"
"No," Tami said. "That is highly accurate. However, it is also vital to remember that your soul body status determines what tier of phenomena you have the clearance to interact with, while your soul body rank determines how much Ryoku you can actually achieve within that specific clearance."
'huh,So the two attributes don't always scale linearly.' Kuro nodded, absorbing the distinction.
Tami studied him for a moment.
"That last part is an advanced concept. Most novice Auramancers take months to truly understand the distinction between rank and status."
She folded her hands neatly in her lap.
"Alright, since you have grasped the theory, let us talk about where to start practically...
Regardless of what your true soul body status turns out to be, you will be starting from the foundational principles of the lowest tier."
Kuro looked up at her. "Even if my latent status is higher?"
"Especially so..." she replied.
He remained silent, signaling for her to continue.
"Think of it like a building," she explained. Her voice even
"The higher the structure intends to go, the more it requires a proper foundation beneath it.
An Auramancer who skips foundational principles and attempts techniques beyond their current understanding risks permanently damaging their soul body.
Lose a rank, and you cannot attempt an advancement. Push it even further, and you won't be able to advance at all."
She paused for a moment, her voice dropping slightly.
"And if corruption sets in during an unstable state...well..."
'Interesting. So the ceiling isn't the danger here. The floor is.'
"I Understand," he proclaimed.
Tami gave a small nod. "Good. To start, I want you to focus entirely on the flow of your own Ryoku. Observe it. Find where it pools, where it moves, and where it..."
Before she could finish, Kuro focused inward. He instantly located the reservoirs where his Ryoku pooled. With precise, natural ease, he manipulated the direction of the energy flowing within his vessels.
The ambient Ryoku in the atmosphere responded immediately, drawn inward in a slow, swirling orbit before he gathered the collective energy toward a single point in front of his chest.
He released it outward. A dense orb of Ryoku materialized, holding its shape for a short lived moment.
Then, the sphere trembled violently.
The energy detonated outward in a wide, completely uncontrolled kinetic burst.
The resulting shockwave slammed directly into a protective barrier Tami had erected prior to the exercise.
The barrier absorbed the brunt of the discharge, cracking visibly along the edges, but it managed to hold.
Kuro sat completely still in the aftermath. He attempted to move his limbs, but his body refused to cooperate.
A heavy paralysis had settled into his frame, starting from his collarbone and radiating downward.
It was not exactly painful, but rather felt like a muffled signal. He could barely sit upright, let alone stand.
'Ah... So this is what near-total Ryoku depletion feels like.'
Tami stood frozen for a moment, staring at him. The fractured barrier shimmered at her side before she dismissed it with a quiet gesture.
"Kuroshiraga?," she said, a deeply bewildered look crossing her face.
"Yeah, what's the matter?" he groaned from his paralyzed position.
"Did you really actually just awaken recently?"
She crossed the distance between them, pulled his arm over her shoulders, and hoisted him upright.
"Every Auramancer who has just awakened spends weeks on strict mental training before they can direct the internal flow of their own Ryoku at all.
What you just did was converge external ambient Ryoku while simultaneously manipulating your own.
That takes months of intense conditioning."
Kuro looked forward, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"That is more than enough for today," Tami said firmly, beginning to walk them both back toward the city grid.
For a while, they moved in complete silence as the ruined outskirts slowly passed them by.
Some sensation began to creep back into Kuro's legs, and he appreciated that she did not comment on his weakness.
Eventually, he broke the silence. "I already knew how to use Auramancy. Back when I was much, much younger."
Tami did not stop walking. "How young?"
"I was about five at the time." He paused, staring at the path ahead.
"My brother... Megumi, who was a couple of years older, and I used to practice together.
He possessed far better control over Ryoku and had absolutely ridiculous energy reserves.
We didn't have our unique techniques awakened back then, so we just practiced whatever basic principles we could find."
He scratched the back of his neck with the arm that had finally regained functionality.
"At some point, we got curious about summoning... I initiated the runic circle, and Megumi handled the massive Ryoku supply and flow required to activate it.
His reserves were monstrous, even as a child."
"Wait," Tami interrupted, her posture instantly stiffening.
Kuro continued anyway. "We actually managed to get a response."
"Kuroshiraga..." Her voice carried a sudden undertone of urgency, though she tried to maintain her calm demeanor.
"A summoning ritual without knowing exactly what entity you are contacting is absolutely, completely dangerous."
"Yeah, yeah. We were young and stupid."
"Goddess, how is that your defense?" Tami hissed.
"Haha. We actually got incredibly lucky. The friendly entity that responded called itself Bartholomew.
It honestly seemed more alarmed by us than anything else." Kuro chuckled weakly.
"It started warning us about how dangerous our actions were, which was fair in retrospect... But Megumi had already burned through his entire reservoir.
I went down first, and he followed about thirty seconds later."
Tami walked several paces without offering a response.
"You were extremely lucky," she finally scolded him.
"Yeah," Kuro agreed weakly, scratching his head.
"I guess we were."
They made it back to the neighborhood with Kuro offering casual directions as the remaining sensation slowly returned to the rest of his nervous system.
When they reached his front door, she stopped on the porch.
"Same time this weekend?" she asked.
"Sure," he replied.
She gave a small, decisive nod and turned to leave, her blonde braids swinging smoothly with the motion.
Kuro watched her walk away for a moment, then pushed the front door open and made his way up to his room.
He lay down on the mattress without even bothering to change his clothes and closed his eyes.
Sleep arrived almost instantly.