16 Chapter 14 - Contract
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As Takashi advanced deeper into the forest, with blood consistently discharging out from his wound, he found a stone stair that climbed a small hill. The height was not to the degree of climbing a mountain, but at the top of the stone stair, there was a space that opened up.
There was a Torii erected at the open space and through that Torii, was a shrine. Its brilliant scarlet color was disoriented due to the Cancer Grounds transformation, the whole body of the shrine was black.
It should have originally enshrined a local Shinto deity.
This place was supposed to be a tranquil sacred location, but an ominous heavy atmosphere was now compelling down.
However, the area's magic power was thicker and more stagnant when compared to other places, and it was told that such places made it easier for Sacred Treasures to occur.
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Just as expected.
The inner sanctuary of the shrine that lost its color and blackened. On its altar, there was an offering of a Japanese Katana. Only that Katana hadn't lost its color and exuded an atmosphere of holiness. However, it was a pure Obsidian Katana; eluding an elegant, formal and prestigious color, invoking its authority and power, atypical of a regular Japanese Katana.
"Is this...an enshrined Katana?"
Originally, it should have been an enshrined wooden Katana of the shrine, but it transmogrified into a Sacred Treasure because of the magic power brimming through it.
When it touched his hand, the texture felt like the pure alloy was breathing. Takashi's remaining magic power was absorbed naturally into the Katana and he before he noticed, he had already collapsed on the ground.
Of Course Takashi collapsed; he had already lost a significant amount of magic during all those battles, given that he had infinitesimal to begin with.
Sacred Treasures exhibited their special power by sucking the user's magic power. Right now, it was establishing a bond with Takashi.
Takashi smiled wryly while sprawled out on the ground as the Sacred Treasure continued absorbing his magic power----'katsukatsukatsu' sounds were heard from the direction of the shrine entrance.
Fox type Demon Beasts has infiltrated the shrine and, locking their vision on Takashi, they leaped out.
Takashi instantly gathered what remaining strength he had and intercepted their lightning fast charge with his Iai draw, but at that instant----
The fox slipped out from Takashi's Iai draw and rammed into his body.
"Blargh!" Blood discharged from his mouth. The laceration in his stomach was already making him blank out and a simple attack by the Demon Beast had left him on the brink of death.
Sensing that their opponent was at death's door, the Demon Beasts made a 180* reverse and left the shrine, leaving Takashi writhing on the ground.
He knew that he was at the end of the rope and he decided to give up the ghost. He had only made it this far in life.
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My body was cold, shivering, in pain, shaking.
.....My consciousness is getting worse. Is it because of the pain....? Geez, I really need to keep it together. More blood spurted from my mouth.
The surroundings seemed to collapsed and was being sucked into a hole.
.....The crumbling field.
I am walking alone in that field....but I lack the strength to walked anymore....
My eyesight is getting blurry...even though I wasn't tired..
I don't feel the pain from the wound now.....
It doesn't hurt...nor is it painful....
My legs...won't go any further in that field....
Huh...my sight...goes to the left....then up....
Did I already fall...? No, I couldn't even tell.....
...There are still so many things I wish to do....things I want to prove....things I want to accomplish...but...I am glad that...I was at least able to save her.....-----
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Before Takashi noticed, he was already asleep.
Inside the dream he saw in the pitch black world, he sank deeper and deeper----
that place was already neither a dream nor an unconscious mind anymore.
<Cosmos> The alternate dimension connected through the depths of a human's inner self. Humans who searched for magic power that could distort the world, which exceeded their strength of existence, their mind was disperse and restored in this world.
What spread within the inner heart was an overwhelming and vast darkness. It was a place that gave off a feeling where a person would lose themselves. However, on the surface of the darkness, slight ripples were spreading out.
Continuously heading towards a deeper place within the darkness.
It was an image of the deep sea. The pitch-black color of the darkness slowly became more and more dark.
However, it was just like the seabed of the deep sea. It was a world where light cannot reach. If one used Perception Enhancement Magic, then you would understand that the <Distant Past> and <Past Feelings> that you could not recall were currently sleeping here, just like it was accumulating layers. The so-called unconscious mind was this kind of world.
Just like how the deep sea's water pressure was very high, inside the spiritual world, the color of the darkness becomes darker as you dive further down to the depths; your ego blurred. The feeling of resistance from the darkness was just like that of rushing forward against the wind.
The parts of Takashi's mind that were disconnected were being dismantled bit by bit and lie scattered across the vast Cosmos.
Those pieces scattered everywhere contained countless memories of his life so far.
The time he got adopted by the Yagane family. His first interaction with Yukie and his family. The first time he picked up Murasame. The first time he learned his Magic spell. The time he first met Akane. The time he got accepted into the Academy. His duel with Moroboshi. His encounter with Student President Iori.
And then even further into the past----the event that was seemingly hard to recall, the distant scar....
The bottom of his own mind. The border line between his own mind and Cosmos. In the lower strata of his unconsciousness that was far separated from consciousness, forgotten pasts were precipitating as if being thrown away.
A deep memory that he already couldn't recall anymore even if he willed it himself.
Inside the darkness of the Cosmos, Takashi recalled the <Forgotten Scene>
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The days of cold winter that froze the body. A woman held Takashi that was still a baby in her arms.
The sounds, scenery, and touch of that time were being reproduced as it was.
The drawn scenery was a snowy night.
The moment he saw that woman's face, Takashi's chest tightened.
Takashi remembered this woman, instinctively.
He remembered about this day. The coldness that prickled the childish skin just before the dawn.
Mother..On that cold day, mother..abandoned me in front of the gates of an orphanage.
The past that could not be recalled, however Takashi's mind that had turned to the depth of his unconscious mind could be controlled.
I see----that's why I couldn't believe on that kind of thing. Myself that was not even loved by my blood-related mother, how could I ever have the confidence in myself.
------
A female voice so soft and alluring rang out
"------Yagane Takashi."
(After all your reason for fighting is this kind of thing.)
(A pitiful child that didn't even get loved by his own mother. That is you. In actuality, you don't think of anyone as important. Your true essence is servility. That is not kindness. You fight only for your own sake in the end.)
While Takashi was seeing of his mother's back that became farther from the Orphanage, he heard that voice.
Isolation without end. Yes, the former Takashi was always crying.
However, he was different now. Inside Takashi's head, a voice reverberated like a flash of lightning. Akane's voice.
"I won't forgive you if you die!"
.....That's right...certainly, the me in the past was without a doubt desperate about wanting to be loved by someone.
Even right now, sometimes, there were moments where he got close into desperation without thinking of his own well-being.
Even Yukie would say something like "Nii-Sama you moron--!" and sock him hard.
That was why I got back on my feet already from this kind of trauma. The past is the past, now is right now.
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BOOM!
At that moment, the world of darkness was filled with light in a flash.
"Well spoken, O chosen one." A sudden voice resonated throughout the Cosmos----It was the same female voice. Is this the voice of a Spiritual Being...?
The darkness in front of him increased in viscosity and condensed. It seems that something lodging there exists.
"Such Noble Words suited for a true warrior----Yagane Takashi! Do you have the resolve of being burdened by a power that can change the world?!"
Takashi could not identify its gesture. He did not have the power to.
However, the voice that came over was clear. If that was the case, they should be able to converse and make a contract.
A power that can change the world--Was this something that could be obtained through a contract with the Spiritual Being, was it really such an enormous power?
"To tell you the truth, I am clueless about how I would use such tremendous power, except that I know I will use it to protect my loved ones. If I was the person that was <Chosen>, then I should respond to it.
Perhaps I am only a tiny human, but I will still stake my life again and give it my all.
"If it's resolve, then I have it!"
After Takashi replied like this, a powerful light flashed up in front of him.
----When he recovered, Takashi's consciousness had already returned back to the shrine; his wounds fully healed and a vast amount of Magic power swirling within him like a raging vortex.
It felt strange. Inside his muddled mind, he was gradually confused.
Did he just manage to contract with a Spiritual Being? Furthermore, his wounds were non-existent.
At this moment, a white light suddenly illuminated in front of Takashi.
At the same time, he felt his Magic was being sucked out from his spirit and was entering the light in front of him. Something...Something from another world was currently materializing?!
The next moment, a light that made him close his eyes burst out----
"A woman?" Takashi could not help but cry out.
A beautiful young woman, adorned with golden blond hair and blue eyes as deep as the sea, dressed in a divine garment that would make any male fall in love at sight, was floating beside him.
This was a <Complete Summon>. This woman was not simply an <Illusion> made fixed by Magic, but was a body with mass.
This was completely unprecedented.
A Fully Materialized Spiritual Being.
The woman that appeared within the air was gently floating and stared at Takashi.
"With this, the contract is complete."
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----From that moment on, Takashi was no longer a useless Magician
