1 Journey anew

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Hey there! This is my first book (officially) and I intend to write this whenever I'm free, though it may not compare to some of the amazing works out there, please do enjoy and point out any errors with my work. And there probably isn't going to be a consistent schedule so uh :p

Also, I do not own any of the characters and they belong to their respective creators, and please watch Frieren: Beyond Journey's End if you have not!

Cheers,

-Stun.

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"Incredible Ms. Frieren…"

Fern painstakingly opened her eyes to what had just occurred.

"The statue! It's, it's…" 

"Completely fine…"

Perhaps her eyes were playing tricks earlier, as she could've sworn that her opponent was severely injured.

Standing in the middle of the room where many would consider the final stage of the dungeon, stood the statue that represents all of Frieren's characteristics.

Intelligence,

Wisdom,

And Power.

The authentic Frieren appeared directly behind the statue with immense speed, readying a strike a critical attack, however the statue redirected her spell by sacrificing her arm at the very last second.

"It seems it didn't work." She sighed, not taking her eyes off the statue for a single moment.

The imitation of Frieren stood there, analyzing and realizing the strategy they've come up with.

Its stone-cold face remained unchanging, despite the fact it received damage that would cause anybody to die within minutes.

Suddenly, the statue pointed its staff towards Fern, who was embedded into the stone wall could only watch and accept her fate with wide eyes.

However, flying with immense speed Frieren stood in the way of the Zoltraak beam and immediately retreated, dragging Fern away from the danger.

"How troublesome…" Frieren noted as she patted Fern's hair as she remained calm

"I-I'm sorry I-

"It's fine." Frieren interrupted.

"I'll deal with it." She turned her head as she smiled towards Fern.

Fern could barely nod her head as she weakly lost consciousness, her injuries giving her no room to fight any further.

…

"A battle of attrition huh?" I asked out loud towards the statue, only receiving a deadpan stare in response.

'This is gonna be annoying.' I mentally braced myself for the impending fight, as the statue moved into a stance to launch a volley of spells.

SWZZZH!

The sounds of Zolktraaz spells being continuously launched towards me whizzed by as I flew up higher to gain the high ground.

'It's being cautious.' I noted as it released volleys of spells rather than being brash and going close and personal now.

'It's scheming something.' I narrowed my eyes, as I swiftly took action, flying amongst the beams of light, I skillfully maneuvered around the attacks to reach my target.

Responding to my actions, it immediately moved to meet me head-on, with our speeds coming to a head, we both immediately neared one another.

'I must end this quickly…'

The millisecond my foe casted a spell, I deployed another strategy.

'The Height of Magic.' I internally chanted as my opponent was launched across the room, and a large cloud of smoke enveloped the room.

It was the same spell that was used on Fern, I didn't use it to be petty or anything, it's just really strong.

I didn't use it at the start though as I wanted to give Fern the chance to be able to gain more experience.

That was a stupid idea...

"It should be weak." I pondered, as I calculated whether or not I would die being launched at such speeds.

"Fern, you did well." I smiled towards the unconscious girl who was resting peacefully on the rubbled floor.

'Though I must admit, I didn't expect it to do so much damage to Fern.

I narrowed my eyes at the sight of Fern's bloodied state.

The sounds of footsteps echoed through the room as neared closer to the battlefield where the enemy lay.

Its ruined figure lay there with visible cracks spreading throughout its body.

"You were a good opponent," I mumbled as I raised my staff towards its being, who stared blankly.

It launched a pathetic attack towards me, with it barely even grazing my protective magic.

An orb of magic illuminated in front of my staff in swift response as I sought to end this quickly.

ZZZSSHH!

!?

My body instantly went cold as the left side of my body felt numb, I stood there with a lump in my throat as my eyes waivered.

'Who..' I turned around to see who could've launched the attack towards me.

'Ah… I guess they couldn't do it…' I internally cursed as I realized there was nothing I could do.

The culprit responsible for the attack was the statue of Fern, who looked towards me with a blank expression, her staff pointed towards me.

I tried to fight, mustering up mana through my staff albeit my control over it was extremely unsteady.

ZZZSSSH!

'Ah… My staff.' The weapon that had accompanied me throughout my journey was vaporized into nothing, along with the hand that held it.

My strength was drained so very quickly, to the point where I could not even put up barriers against such an obvious attack.

I felt my mana fluctuating, with the full capacity of my mana quickly withering away.

The searing pain of burnt flesh was agonizing but I steeled myself to stand strong.

Bleh..

I coughed up a bit of blood as my vision became hazy and the figure in front of me appeared faint.

I fell to my knees as I knew this was my last moment before joining Flamme in her so-called heaven.

I quickly collapsed as my vision darkened, the last thing I witnessed before departing from the realm of the living was the unconscious body of Fern.

'Farewell, Fern.' Tears streamed down my face as darkness enveloped my vision.

Memories of my somewhat relaxed life flashed through my mind, even though I could recall them perfectly, it gave me a sense of nostalgia of being able to see it so clearly.

I could only internally sigh as I watched the show nearing the end, 'This is what happens when people like me take it easy…' 

With my body unresponsive and my mana nearly depleted, I lay in wait for the inevitable arrival of the reaper, my mind full of the memories of a life well lived.

…

…

'What is this feeling?'

My mana was always a part of me, an extension of my very being, and for as long as I could remember I had always been surrounded by its warmth and power. Yet, an ominous replacement coursed through my body as it radiated an intimidating presence.

'This mana… It's disgusting.'

My eyes peeled themselves wide open as if my body responded to the energy.

'The sky?' I looked up at the sky, a dark blue, indicating that night was approaching.

'Did someone save me?' I pondered momentarily before taking a deep breath of the fresh air.

I sat straight up, despite some confusion as my body radiated a large amount of mana.

I instinctively suppressed it, though it was much, much harder to control, with its immense output threatening to fluctuate every so often.

However, there's always time to adjust, as there were many problems, though it would take about fifty years to fully adapt to the energy without showing signs of fluctuations.

"Umu…" I scanned my surroundings, an open field surrounded by lush foliage of trees with a flowing river nearby.

In the distance, I could spot mountains that stretched beyond the eye.

"Oh?" To my side was my staff which was laid in pristine condition. Unless you count the few stains of dirt on it, its condition was much better than previously.

I grabbed the staff as I felt the dirt on its surface, and my hands getting dirty.

I frowned.

Concerning the matter of my mana, it operated much differently than her mana originally did. If her mana in her life was previously neutral, the one inhabiting her body would no doubt be evil.

It felt limited, enhanced by something negative, and its output was much stronger and it flowed through me at higher speeds.

I continued to try and regulate my mana as I slowly made my way towards the forest where I would likely reside for some time.

After a few minutes of walking, the sky had already dimmed to the point where stars became visible, lighting up the sky's darkness.

Arriving at my destination, I washed my hands in the clear water, along with my staff ridding myself of dirt.

"This mana… Why is it this way?" I laid back on a tree and began to tinker with my magic.

Circulating it through my body, I felt a surge of strength appear throughout my body as my muscles brimmed with strength, unlike normal mana which is usually used outside of the body, this mana had incredible power over my own body.

" Strange..." Infusing my fingertips with energy, I ran them through the air of a tree in front of me, causing the tree and the three next to be severed from their stumps.

"This is a lot stronger than I anticipated." Scrutinizing my fingertips, it looked completely normal, as if nothing had happened, however, power simply radiated within them.

It'd also likely mean that using normal spells with this type of mana would be close to impossible, due to the large scale in their functions.

Though I did use a bit more mana than I intended to, my control still needs improvement...

I sighed, pouring more of my mana into my physical strength as I realized I could not levitate the logs the easy way.

Fortunately, I did not have to break into a crazy sweat as I could easily lift the logs.

Along with the ability to simply run my nails through logs like butter, I was able to build a cabin within the woods easily.

I also built a chimney, though I'm not sure how or when I'm going to use it since the entirety of the house is made of wood.

Though a bed is essential, I'm lacking any materials to make a comfortable bed with…

'I guess I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way…' I sliced the thin crust of the ground, removing most of the grassy part and less of the dirt beneath. 

Carrying the blanket of grass, I placed it on the ground and laid down on it to simulate the same feeling of lying on the grass.

"... This isn't doing it…" I groaned as I rolled around, changing my resting position to no avail.

I sat up as I walked outside and sat on my porch, contemplating.

Though dying wasn't exactly fun, it'd place me in a situation that provided me with new experiences. Who knew throwing around heavy objects was fun?

Although I've experienced death, there was always the thought that remained.

'Is this truly the afterlife? Are they here too?' I smiled at the thought of seeing my friends once again, even if it may be even less than 1%, I enjoyed the idea of reuniting with them.

'Well, I have all the time in the world, I should probably practice magic again.' My eyes lit up as I grabbed my staff, and poured mana into it.

A yellow aura appeared alongside the staff as I watched it dance around my hand.

Running my hands through the aura it felt warm, as it interacted with the cursed mana within me.

'Why does this feel like normal mana though?' I was confused as the staff radiated energy that felt similar to that of the mana I'm accustomed to.

Rustle...

"Hm?" I looked up from my staff and looked towards a bush where the noise came from.

Rustle rustle…

Whatever was in that bush was causing a ruckus, it'd be annoying if it were an enemy already on my doorstep.

As if responding to my thoughts, someone stepped through the bush.

It was a young boy, around eight years old wearing a kimono, along with an expression of guilt, due to being caught.

"Hello." I greeted him as he looked at me cautiously.

"Who are you?" He asked, he narrowed his eyes at me.

"My name is Frieren, I'm a mage," I answered him to which he looked at me suspiciously.

"What are you doing in my family's hunting spot?" He interrogated me with suspicion.

"Say, could you tell me where I am?" I asked the boy, avoiding the question.

"Why are your ears like that? And why is your hair white?" He asked even further.

"I was born this way, could you please tell me where I am though?" I got down to eye level with him.

"A-ah right…" Flustered, he reluctantly agreed.

"You're in the Tsukuiko Shiroyama Forest," He said proudly.

'I've never heard of this forest.' I put my hand on my chin, thinking of what country would've named this forest.

"Miss, you said you were a mage right?" He looked at me with expectancy, crossing his arms.

"Yes, do you not believe me?" I raised my eyebrow, as I had the attire of one.

"Magic isn't real though!" He pointed out.

His comment irked me, 'I know the mage population has lowered ever since, but it was never this bad…' I sighed, assuming that I was in some muscle head village.

"Tell you what, if you show me where you and your father live, I'll show you some magic." 

"Ok! But you have to show me it first!" He grinned.

'Hm, I'm not sure if I know any spells I can show that aren't combat related…' Stumped, I could only really resort to the safest spell that wouldn't guarantee an unexpected outcome.

With a wave of my hand, I caused the very ground to bend to my will as a blanket of magic enveloped the landscape. Countless vibrant flowers burst forth from the earth, blanketing the area in a display of glorious color and beauty.

Stars practically radiated from the boy's eyes as his head zipped left and right at the display of beauty.

"That's amazing!" He practically jumped at me as he grabbed my hand.

"Come to our village! I think everyone will like you there!" He said excitedly as if getting ready to show off a new toy he'd obtained.

I could only smile along with the boy as his pure joy brought back memories.

'I guess I won that gamble..' I heaved a sigh of relief as I didn't do anything to the ground by adding all that mana into it.

Little did I know how wrong I would be…