A Few Months' Time

  ELYSIUM

  Rel

  …

  (Mess hall)

  “You there?”

  It’s been three months since I first awoke from the dream. I haven’t had another of her since. I’m not sure what this means…

  “Hello…?”

  I called this an orphanage before, but it’s not that simple—it’s actually much more. An orphanage, a training facility, and a school, all in one. The School of Mynhart.

  “Rel…”

  I’ve been steadily adjusting to the environment, and I’ve got a decent grasp on magic now… kinda. Still a bit rough around the edges—

  “REL!”

  “Agh!” Rel flinched, nearly dropping his food.

  In front of him sat an irritated Yumi, arms crossed and brow furrowed. Beside her, Dante struggled to hold back his laughter.

  “What do you want?” Rel grumbled, clearly not in the mood for whatever this was.

  “I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past twenty minutes!” Yumi exclaimed, sneaking a fry off Rel’s plate.

  Wait, what…? Has it really been that long?

  “That can’t be right…” Rel mumbled, looking around for a clock. “I haven’t even eaten yet… damn!”

  “I’ve been trying to tell you,” she sighed. “Lunch is practically already over…”

  I hadn’t realized…

  “We’re heading to the training hall,” Dante added. “We’ll let the instructor know you’re running late, so don’t stress.”

  Yumi waved with a smile before turning on her heel, heading toward the large double doors at the end of the hall. As had become routine, Rel already knew what lay beyond the towering doors beaming with mana.

  Every day after lessons, he’d finish lunch and make his way to the training hall—a vast chamber devoted to honing one’s skill in both combat and magic. Training wasn’t mandatory; only those who aspired to become adventurers were granted the privilege of entering the great hall.

  A select few students frequented the hall nearly every day, each striving to sharpen their abilities and deepen their mastery. Rel and his friends, determined to set out on their own someday, knew they couldn’t afford to slack off.

  Normally, the other kids would still be busy with their studies around this hour, but not us—we have special permission to use the training hall at this time, though only under supervision, of course.

  “That’s why I can’t take too long here,” he mumbled, stuffing his face. “We don’t have all day…”

  Rel quickly finished his food and rushed to the training hall, where his friends awaited—but first, a familiar obstacle stood in his way.

  The massive double doors loomed ahead, tall and imposing. As always, they offered a trial to any who wished to pass: the magic handle.

  With a grin, Rel took hold of it—and this time…

  Clack.

  The handle hummed with power, glowing softly as the lock released. The doors parted, revealing the vast training hall beyond.

  …

  Before him stretched an expansive chamber, brimming with mana—a familiar sight he’d grown used to. The hall buzzed with energy, packed with weapons, training gear, and scattered dummies. Battered equipment littered the floor, while the air rang with clashing spells and bursts of magic.

  Off to the right, he spotted a small group gathered around a mage, his friends among them, seemingly caught up in a lesson on magic refinement. The instructor, Professor Fenral, was a seasoned battle mage. A veteran of Lumen’s largest dungeon, the Labyrinth, he bore the hardened air of someone who had survived the depths. His presence alone commanded respect, and with him came decades of hard-earned knowledge.

  It really is a privilege to learn from someone with so much adventuring experience… I can’t waste this opportunity—word is, the instructor’s only sticking around for a few more weeks.

  With this in mind, Rel darted toward his friends, weaving through stray spells and leaping over worn-down traps and obstacles scattered across the hall.

  …

  Hahhh… I made it.

  Rel, winded from the sprint, peeked over someone’s shoulder to catch a glimpse of the instructor—only to accidentally bump into the kid in front of him.

  “Oh, hey!” the boy said, turning around. “Where’ve you been, man?”

  It was Lamoros—the oldest among the regulars at the training hall, and a skilled user of advanced wind magic. If you had a question about the gale, Lamoros was your guy.

  Oh… damn.

  “What?” One crowd member turned.

  “Rel’s here!” Another exclaimed.

  I knew it…

  Before he could react, the entire crowd had already turned to face him—and at the center, Professor Fenral looked on disappointedly.

  “Of all days,” the professor muttered. “You chose today to be late…”

  Yumi peeked out from behind him, her hands clasped in a sheepish apology. With a quick flick of her fingers, she signed a silent “I’m sorry” before slipping back into the crowd.

  “Aw, come on, teach!” an older girl chimed in. “The kid probably just forgot. Go easy on him!”

  The older girl, Yalfei, was a seasoned lightning mage—like Lamoros, she’d been around the longest, her skill firmly establishing her as the strongest lightning user among the students.

  “I know it’s important and all, but it’s not like we can’t do this some other time, right?” she added, giving Rel’s shoulder a friendly clap.

  Wait… what’s so important about today…?

  “I suppose we’ll have to postpone the lesson. We’ve got other matters to cover,” Professor Fenral sighed, clearly displeased.

  Rel stood there, completely lost. The significance of today’s lesson had escaped him. “I’m sorry—what’s going on?”

  “Today,” a familiar voice called from behind him. “Was your turn for Professor Fenral’s magic fusion demonstration. He planned to showcase the reaction when your dark magic merged with his light magic.”

  Dante stood before him, a smug grin on his face, hoisting his great blade over his shoulder. The weapon was far too large for his smaller frame, but Dante used his gravity magic to make it manageable, effortlessly holding the massive sword as if it were weightless.

  All this time, and that still doesn’t look right to me…

  Dante, like Rel, had always wielded dark magic. But unlike Rel, he had his sights set on something deeper—the enigmatic and often unstable forces of gravity magic. When Fenral arrived a few months prior, Dante jumped at the opportunity, practically begging the seasoned mage to teach him. He wanted to grow stronger—for the journey that awaited them.

  Very few knew of that journey—you could count them on one hand. But Fenral, understanding the weight of their mission, agreed. He began passing down what knowledge he had of the long-lost art. With the fated day drawing ever closer, the three of them needed all the power they could muster—enough to survive the road ahead.

  “Why didn’t you just do it instead…?” Rel asked, a bit dejected.

  Dante sighed and gave a half-shrug. “Professor Fenral wanted you. Probably because you can actually use your dark magic offensively—for whatever reason.”

  That makes sense…

  “Gather around, students…” the professor called out.

  A few months ago, when I first woke up without my memories, I couldn’t even cast a basic spell. Yet now, just three months later—and thanks to Professor Fenral’s guidance—my dark magic has grown at an unbelievable rate. From what I’ve heard, dark magic isn’t supposed to be offensive by nature… but that’s never stopped me from using it that way.

  …

  Clang!

  “Urgh—hey, Yumi,” Rel panted between swings. “What’s so—ugh—special about my dark magic anyway? The professor won’t let me branch out…”

  Clash!

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The two had spent the latter half of the session locked in sparring. As aspiring duelist-type mages, they made ideal partners—Yumi with her nimble light rapier, and Rel wielding a standard short sword, more suited to a balanced style.

  “Dunno,” she said, unleashing a flurry of precise stab attacks. “Maybe—hah—you should ask him yourself!”

  This girl…

  Rel, struggling to keep pace, conjured a burst of dark energy that surged outward, forcing distance between them. “Ugh! Ease up already, I’m still sore from earlier!”

  “Hah, you had to use magic!” She exclaimed, a smug grin tugging at her lips.

  Rel dropped to the floor with a groan, his sword slipping from his hand as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

  Yumi let out a breath and set her rapier down, flopping onto the floor beside him. She waved Dante over from across the hall, where he was finishing up his own practice bout.

  “It’s probably because of the freaky way you use that stuff in your attacks,” she suggested. “I’ve never seen anything like it…”

  “…”

  It’s true… no one else uses dark magic like I do—not here, at least. According to Dante, trying to weaponize it normally just fizzles out. But for me… it works. Every time. And when we brought it up with the professor, he just told me to keep going. No explanation, no theory—just that I should keep studying it. That guy’s a complete enigma.

  For a moment, the two of them simply lay there in silence—peaceful, still. It almost felt like they weren’t just a couple months away from the battle of their lives.

  …

  “You know,” she began, letting out a long sigh, “we’ve only got a few weeks left.”

  “You nervous?” Rel grinned. “The Fyltasia dungeon raid’s our only lead. We can’t afford to miss this one.”

  “Pfft, yeah right,” she smirked, elbowing him. “The Tomes of Radiance we’re after are practically ancient relics. If it weren’t for the professor, we wouldn’t even know they existed—there’s no way we’re passing up this chance.”

  The Tomes of Radiance—records of the first hero, Pandora, and her journey across the world to seal away the Dark God, Valrea. Once revered and guarded by the wealthiest merchants and most esteemed royalty, the tomes have since faded into obscurity. Over the centuries, their tale has dwindled into little more than myth—forgotten by most, remembered by few.

  On the surface, they might seem like old travel logs, but according to Professor Fenral, they hold more than just stories—hidden within are secrets, ancient spells powerful enough to reshape reality itself. One of those spells… could be the memory-restoring magic Dante mentioned. It’s a long shot, but it may be our only chance.

  “The raid’s in two months,” Dante said, sitting down beside them. “We’ve gotta head out soon or we won’t make it.”

  He exhaled, relieved. “But we caught a break—the professor’s offered to escort us to Heirun, the city of magic.”

  Rel frowned. “Why the detour? We’re already pressed for time.”

  “Well,” Dante replied, “Heirun has teleportation circles linked to all the major capitals in the region. If we’re lucky, one could take us straight to Fyltasia.”

  Teleportation, huh?

  Yumi didn’t look convinced. “And if we’re not?”

  Dante shrugged. “So long as the professor’s with us, we’ll manage. Worst case, we hop on a carriage.”

  Rel sighed and laid back on the ground, a distant look in his eyes.

  “You worried?” Yumi asked.

  “No, that’s not it.”

  “Then…?”

  Why would the professor go so far for us…? Why’d he even come here in the first place?

  …

  Lost in thought, Rel barely noticed the students gradually filing out toward the mess hall. To him, only a few minutes had passed—but in reality…

  He heard a whisper.

  “He’s doing the thing again…”

  Then, another.

  “Should we wake him…?”

  Hm…? Who’s that?

  “What’s—yawn—what’s going on…?” Rel mumbled, stretching with his back still on the floor.

  When he finally came to, Yumi and Dante were gone. The hall was nearly empty—he’d fallen asleep.

  “Hey there, sleepyhead.”

  Whuh—

  The voice belonged to a familiar face—one Rel had grown used to over the past few months.

  “Bad habit you’ve got there,” she giggled.

  Standing before him were Lamoros and Yalfei, both on cleanup duty. This wasn’t the first time they’d caught him napping in the hall—it had become something of a routine.

  Again, huh?

  “Sorry guys… I’ve been short on sleep lately,” Rel admitted, rubbing his eyes.

  “Something on your mind?” Lamoros asked, concerned. “You can tell us, man. As your seniors, you can trust us.”

  Yalfei nodded along, excitedly. “Yeah, we can help!”

  If only it were that simple. How could I ask them to join us on a dangerous journey across the world? We could really use the extra firepower, but…

  “Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing serious…” Rel forced a smile. He couldn’t drag anyone else into this.

  “Aww, don’t be like that,” Lamoros pouted. “We’re training buddies, aren’t we?”

  Yalfei fell silent for a moment, eyes distant.

  “I feel like Yumi’s been hiding something from me too… you know what that’s about?”

  Yalfei was the one who taught Yumi lightning magic… I don’t know if it’d be right to hide this from her—but at the same time, it isn’t my place to tell her. Not without the others.

  “…You two are close, right?” she asked, a nervous look forming on her face. “She might be going through something, and doesn’t wanna tell me…”

  Her voice trailed off, like the rest of the thought continued quietly in her mind, where nobody could hear.

  “Maybe,” Rel started, standing up, “that’s something you should ask her yourself—”

  “You guys are still here?” A voice called out behind.

  Accompanying her, a young boy, casually resting a greatsword against his shoulder.

  Great. Now it’s unavoidable.

  “Don’t you have a sheath for that thing?” Yalfei asked, eyeing the blade. “That’s gotta be annoying to carry around…”

  “Uhh—”

  “He thinks it looks cool,” Yumi cut in.

  “Wha—”

  “And he’d be right,” Lamoros added with a grin. “Looks sick, man.”

  “Hehe… thanks,” he mumbled, face flushed with embarrassment.

  Dante wasn’t used to compliments. As the youngest in the group, most of his time was spent trying to catch up to the others. Still, whether he realized it or not, everyone agreed—he was a one-of-a-kind talent. That gravity magic of his was no joke.

  Rel cleared his throat, a subtle cue. “Right…”

  “Ah,” Yalfei said, catching on as her gaze shifted. “Right… Yumi.”

  Yumi blinked, sensing the change in atmosphere. “Yeah…?”

  “Do you…” Yalfei mumbled, shifting her weight, “do you have something to tell us?”

  Puzzled, Yumi glanced at Rel, who responded with a silent nod.

  “What do you mean?” she asked. “What were you guys talking about?”

  This isn’t getting us anywhere.

  “They want to know about our secret,” he sighed, “if you wanna call it that.”

  Yumi’s eyes widened. “Wha—”

  “Ah—hey!” Rel cut in quickly. “I didn’t tell them anything. They figured it out on their own.”

  With a groan, Yumi dropped to the ground, burying her face in her hands.

  “We messed up,” she muttered. “The old man said if anyone found out, we couldn’t go…”

  “With how close we are to the date, I really don’t think it matters anymore,” Dante said, sitting down beside her.

  He’s right.

  “And besides,” he continued, “they deserve to know. We wouldn’t have made it this far without them.”

  Dante had spent the last three months training with Lamoros, learning to endure barrages of spells and heavy strikes. As the group’s frontline, his role was to charge in headfirst—and their sessions focused on evading and deflecting all kinds of attacks with his gravity magic.

  Yumi’s proficiency with lightning magic was thanks entirely to Yalfei’s guidance; there was no way she could’ve mastered the more advanced techniques on her own. Without Lamoros and Yalfei’s support, none of them would’ve been strong enough to even attempt the test.

  “…Okay,” Yumi sighed. “I’ll—wait, do I really have to be the one to explain it all?”

  Damn.

  “No, I got it…” Rel said, clearing his throat. “So, basically…”

  …

  (Fifteen minutes later)

  “…I think that about covers it,” Rel concluded. “Any questions?”

  Yalfei’s jaw was practically on the floor, while Lamoros looked like he’d seen a ghost—pale, wide-eyed, and speechless.

  “You were gonna go on an adventure without us!?” he finally cried, grabbing Rel by the shoulders. “How could you do that to us!?”

  Yalfei remained silent.

  “No—well, yes,” Rel admitted with a nervous laugh. “I just didn’t wanna put you two in danger—”

  “What the hell, man!?” Lamoros shook him furiously. “I thought we were bros!”

  Yumi sighed, shaking her head. “I imagine he was just putting it off… telling you guys, I mean. Probably nervous or something.”

  My savior…

  “The test is tomorrow,” she added. “There’s still time to adjust the roster.”

  Yalfei blinked, as if regaining consciousness.

  “Wait, you guys are taking the test?” she asked, her expression laced with concern. “Actually, the more I think about it, the more it makes sense…”

  The test… I still don’t know what to expect. But I do know it won’t be easy.

  “That’s right,” Rel said. “We’re the five strongest kids in the orphanage—the top mages of Mynhart.”

  “Among the students,” Dante corrected, getting to his feet.

  “Minor detail.”

  With a grin, Dante offered Yumi a hand, pulling her up before turning to the others.

  “Anyway… this mission of ours—to recover the Tomes of Radiance… you two in?”

  Yalfei nodded, and Lamoros let out a hearty laugh.

  “Do you even have to ask?” he said, smiling softly. For a moment, he almost looked… relieved.

  Yalfei looked like she had something on her mind—something that had been bothering her for a while.

  “Do you guys… know what the test actually consists of?”

  “Oh,” Lamoros winced, the thought clearly unsettling him. “I almost forgot about that…”

  Yumi and Dante exchanged puzzled glances.

  Is it really that bad…?

  “I guess you two were too young to remember,” Yalfei began, turning to Rel. “But you… you were there, weren’t you?” Her voice drifted, like she was recalling something distant.

  Rel shook his head. “Amnesia, remember?”

  Rel had explained everything from the top, including his memory loss.

  “Right… sorry,” she mumbled. “Guess it slipped my mind…”

  “No worries,” he said with a shrug. “And honestly, by the sound of it, I’m not sure I want to remember.”

  Lamoros chuckled, seizing the moment to lighten the mood. “Hah, fair enough.”

  “Well,” he added, more serious now, “whatever the trial has in store, we’ll face it together.”

  “That’s right,” Rel said, a soft smile forming.

  Tomorrow… will determine our future. Whether we succeed or not—that’s up to us.