Wasteland of the West

(One day after Klada Disaster)

[Lynn's POV]

I started walking towards the west alongside Kyrielle.

"...Miss Magic Pioneer?"

"Just calling me Lynn is fine."

"...Lynn. What is the third problem that we are facing?..."

"The third and final problem is that even if we know exactly where we are, we are still really far away from home. If we were to assume that we are on the Bostnia Continent, it could take no less than 6 months of walking just to reach the eastern coastline and take a ship to go back to the Centralia Continent."

"...that long? Damn it..."

"Yes. After that, it could take another year just to walk up North, back into Ataraxia, your home country. And that is assuming that we won't wait for weather issues like winter, monsoon rains and more. I could just fly back by myself and reach home from here by just a few months time, but obviously I won't. Carrying you as I fly is out of the question too."

"I see... your flying ability is just so ridiculous..."

"I know. It's the most useful magic I have."

"Wait, how come you can't just use gravity magic to lift me up and fly as well?..."

"That's not how it works. You see, gravity magic is done by bending Mana in an object by pouring your own Mana into it. Living thing's Reserve Mana can't be bent as easily because they reject your own Mana, which acts as a natural defense."

"I see... That explains why you don't use them in a fight then."

"I mean I could, theorically anyway, if I were to use my own Territory Expansion. "

"I see... What is a territory expansion? I saw that demon using it, and it was something really dangerous..."

"A territory expansion is the secret weapon of some really strong demons. By creating a dome using Barrier magic, they can create sort of an extension of their own body inside the dome shaped barrier. With this, they can use abilities that are normally too difficult to use outside of your own body. "

"I have heard of such techniques in school... I remember hearing about one where the demon could create a doppelganger that can fight alongside themselves, and it's only possible inside a specific area that the demons have."

"Ah that one? It's called Territory Expansion : Twin Shadow. Quite a few high ranking demons have them, most of them are warriors that fight with weapons rather than magic.... Are you from the magic school?"

"Yes. You have seen me before. "

"Have I?... That twin tail red hair... A sharp face... And being really good at magic... Oh now I remember. You are that girl who went on the stage during my lecture."

"Yea...."

"Haha, I can't believe that this is such a coincidence! Looks like we'll be stuck together for a long time so let's get along shall we, Kyrie?"

"...Ah."

...She has almost completely changed. Back then, she was really energetic and had an easygoing mood, almost like me.

But now she's silent and gloomy, and she even appears to be unstable. I guess this is what trauma can do to a person.... I have personally experienced it before, after all.

I could give her some advice but for now what she needs is not words, but just some rest. It would be useless to talk to her about it... for now anyway. I will just let her rest her mind for now, and until she gets better I wouldn't nag her mind.

[Kyrielle's POV]

I must hurry back home. That is the only reason I even got up from my sleep...

Right now, my mind feels really heavy, and I don't know what to do other than to just follow this lady, Lynn next to me.

We walked for about 2 hours before stopping and taking a rest under a tree. The sun has finally come out fully and the desert is as hot as an oven. I sat down here together with Lynn and rested.

All this time, my mind just kept on focusing and thinking about what had happened at the city... I thought about what might've happened to Marielle and Mom... What might've happened to Gerd, Mike and Rick... What could've happened to the other people... I can't focus at all.

Ah... how I missed Richard. Maybe if I made it back home... Maybe I'll confess to him.... if he is still there...

After 10 minutes of rest, we continued walking. We walked and walked and walked. There is nothing much to see at all. We didn't talk much during our walk, and the sorching sun is burning me out as if I'm a piece of bread in a furnace.

My mind only thought about that incident.... What I could've done better, what I was lacking, and how I could overcome it what I am lacking...

Fighting with that demon has taught me one thing. I lacked firepower. He is immune to my strongest attack, the Forbidden Sun, and Mana Ball couldn't even scratch him. I need to think of ways to beat him...

...thats right... What if I used Mana Ball like I used combustion?... I can do triple casting now, what if I stacked two or three Mana Balls together and directly punched it into his body?

...but I would never know whether or not that'd work. Because he is already dead...

We walked further in this scorching desert, and the scenery is just a barren desert full of sand, dried mud and dead plants not dissimilar to the desert back on Earth's USA. And unlike the desert from Egypt, this one doesn't have as much sand, but much more dried clay and mud.

After a while of walking, we stumbled across monsters. Not animals, but actual monsters. This is actually the first time I have seen monsters aside from goblins. 3 giant lizard like bipedal monsters are walking in a pack through the desert just like us. They are not too big, but most likely would be taller than an adult male.

....They look just like dinosaurs.

"Hmm. Raptors. "

"...are they dangerous?"

"Yeah. One of them could kill an unarmed adult, and they usually appear in packs. When alone they are at most C ranked monsters, but in a pack they are B ranked. This is the perfect opportunity."

"...For what?"

"For you to practise fighting. "

"....What are you saying? "

"I'm saying you should go kill those Raptors. With my protection of course."

"Whatever...."

We sneaked up closer from behind. And then I mildly charged up a Mana Ball as I chanted for a Mud Puddle... This spell combo is a really basic one that I have used for a long time....

But then, Lynn whispered right into my ears.

"Don't hold back when fighting monsters! Focus on eliminating them all in one fell swoop, because a mage's only advantage is in range and firepower."

"....right."

I was just thinking of improving my firepower... The perfect chance to practise it is to just keep on trying my absolute best and doing repetitive work.

I would want to try using that Mana Ball punch but honestly it's too dangerous... Right now... I don't want to die alone in this desert. I want to make it back home at least... that's why I'll actually go all out against these dinosaurs.

I cancelled the Earth Wall and then stacked another Mana Ball on this one that I already had. As I did that I casted a Fireball right into this two stacked Mana Ball.

The three Raptors took notice of me and then immediately begun charging at me, but it's too late for them.

"Oi oi oi what are you doin-"

Forbidden Sun!

'Puowh!' It shot out with a speed not that much slower than the speed of sound... and it even cause a slightly distorted sound upon firing. When it hit the raptor in the middle of the other two, bright flash shoned. And then...

'Boom!' A really large explosion happened, enough to rival a drone strike and not much weaker than that one which Aamon used.

The sands around were all knocked up from the ground and created a huge screen of dust. The shockwave then carried all the sand right onto our face.

"Cough cough cough!..." I breathe in some sands and started to cough in response.

"Cough cough cough... You didn't have to use a spell of that caliber...cough cough..."

"...I wanted to practise how to increase my magic power and gain tremendous attack... And you did tell me to wipe them all out in one hit."

"That is just overkill!... So you want to get better at magic right? I'll teach you, but don't destroy everything alright?!"

"...Okay."

That is a good thing. Just one of Lynn's lessons has improved my abilities far beyond what I can do on my own. I can look forward to her teaching me now.

"Seriously... Maybe the first lesson you need to learn isn't about magic.... it's about safety!"

"I'm sorry... It won't happen again."

To be honest I can't give any care about my safety now.... I can't muster the strength for it.

The three Raptors are all blasted into pieces. We cut off a chunk of meat from the least damaged one, stabbed the piece of meat through a stick to carry it and also let it bleed out all the blood, and then continued on with our journey.

"Normally, you don't want to carry a bleeding piece of meat when travelling."

"...why?"

"Because monsters and some predatory animals are drawn to the smell of blood. Some can smell blood over hundreds of meters away, so you don't want to be attracting beasts. The only reason we can do this now is because no monsters would dare to approach us once they sense our Mana Aura."

"I see..." That being said, I still don't know how much Mana she has.

We walked for 2 hours and then took a rest. And then we walked for 2 hours, and then we took another rest. Aside from lunch where Lynn cooked the meat for me using fire spells and also when we took small breaks, we never stopped walking.

This cycle of walking, resting, and eating goes on and on until the sun starts to darken a bit. I couldn't tell the time at all because the pocket watch that Rick gave me broke during my fight with Aamon. I didn't throw it away because... it's precious to me.

"At night, the desert gets really cold. We should start a bonfire now so that you don't have to worry about being in the cold."

"Mmmn... "

We searched for dead tree branches and collected them, and then piled them on a flat sandy area.

There, Lynn taught me how to make a camp fire.

"Small fuels like fiber branches, crushed dried leaves are called tinder because they are easy to ignite. Tinders helps the start of a fire by creating ember, which is just a small fire. Then, as an ember starts to burn bigger, you add bigger fuels like dried leaves or small sticks. And when the ember burns into a fire, you start to add even larger fuels like wood blocks, big tree branches and/or charcoal."

"I see..."

"I could teach you how to start a fire by hand, but honestly that is useless for humans now because unlike humans at the past, most normal people can just use 'Ember' to start a fire. With Mana like yours, I doubt you'd ever run out of it as well."

"I see...."

"Right. Next time maybe I'll teach you some other survival skills. For now, you'll learn how to make a place to sleep in the desert. "

"...How? "

"With a fire burning nearby, heat would seep deep underneath that fire and onto the sands. These sands underneath the fire will spread the heat towards the surrounding sands as well. If you dig a small crater and sleep inside it with a blanket, then you'll be warm enough to survive the cold winds of a desert night. "

"Hmm.... That is a useful trick."

"Hahaha, I know right? I learned this trick back in my days as an adventurer during the Great Demonic War! But this trick is useless to me now because I don't need to sleep at all so it's natural for me to teach it to you instead."

"I see.... Why don't you need to sleep?"

"It's a secret~"

"...."

"Oh come on, no reaction? Ah well, you can't force yourself to smile at an unfunny joke, that's a fact."

She looked towards the side and closed her eyes as if she's disappointed at herself. But she's bad at acting because I saw her opening her eyes and peeking at me, I know that she's just baiting me to laugh at her.

...I found it amusing... just a bit. The sides of my lips raised a bit into a small smile.

"Hahaha, you found that funny didn't you?! You have finally smiled for once after an entire day!"

"...No."

"Liar!"

"Whatever."

"Anyway, I'll start cooking. Next time I'll teach you how to cook as well, for now you just chill okay?"

She cooked the meat and then let me ate it. It tasted really bad and gamey compared to the bunny meat yesterday, which tasted like chicken.

After that I relaxed around a bit before going to sleep in the shallow crater that I dug myself. Covering the crater with the white coat that Lynn borrowed me actually makes it really warm and cozy inside.

I slowly dozed off like that...

[Lynn's POV]

I tried my best to cheer up Kyrielle, and in the end I only got a small smile out of her, but honestly that is already good enough.

If I continue helping her by cheering her up like this, I think she might recover from her grief sooner.

For now I'll just keep her company because the thing that someone who's depressed really needs is actually another person lending them a hand.

...when was the last time I tried to cheer up someone? Most likely back during the Great War huh.

Come to think of it, I was actually the one that was being cheered on usually. I used to easily get depressed and sad, and Gilles, my lover would cheer me up by the camp fire, just like I did to Kyrie here just now.

...how nostalgic. I still remember those days just like it was yesterday... It's must have already been 30 or 40 years since he died that day huh? I sure hope he is having a really nice afterlife...

...sigh, reminising at the past is dangerous... I'll avoid doing that so much. But it's really tempting to do that when you are alone out in the wilds without anything else to do...

Hmm, maybe I'll actually try sleeping at night to skip time. The last time I slept was maybe 4 months ago now, and that was done out of a whimp, I can go at least about 10 months without sleeping once. I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to just do that daily huh?

As for safety...I think with a large and detectable Mana Aura, nothing would dare to come near us during our sleep. I unleashed a small fraction of my Reserve Mana and let it flowed around in the area.... even just a fraction of my Mana Aura is alreadu so big that it exceeded Kyrielle's.

I dug up a crater myself, and lied down there cozily. Before I sleep, I looked at Kyrielle who's sleeping soundly now and her face looked so innocent and cute that I can't help but smile upon seeing it, because it's such a big contrast to her grim and dark look during the day when we travelled.

"...Good night Kyrie." I whispered that to her before I went to sleep myself.

[Kyrielle's POV]

(Four days after Klada Disaster...)

"Nee-chan! "

Huh?

"Onee-chan!"

....what?

"Wake up, nee-chan! It's time for you to go to school already!"

...that's right. I have paperwork to do regarding the upcoming harvest festival of spring. Being the student council president sure is busy....

"Yes yes, I am up now... "

"Mmm! Food is waiting in the kitchen! And I have prepared a bucket of water for you to wipe your face with! Come down after you have finished your routine!"

"Mmn. Thank you, Marie. "

"Naturally, Taki onee-chan!" This girl... did she just called my Japanese name?! What a little brat....

I got up from bed and cleaned my face, and gently brushed my teeth with a brush made of wooden straws. It's really sharp compared to the tooth brush on earth, so if you brush really hard you might scratch your gums. I applied toothpaste made from unknown materials as well. I don't know what it's made of but if it cleans my teeth then it's useful.

I finished cleaning up and put on my white buttoned long sleeved shirt, a skirt that's just above the knee length, and then my black and red student council blazer, before heading downstairs towards the bathroom to use the toilet. After finishing my business, I headed out towards the kitchen for breakfast.

"Morning, Kyrie."

"Morning, Dad. "

Wait...

"...whats wrong Kyrie? "

"...."

"...did you fainted? Hello?"

He waved his hand in front of my eyes.

"Hmm... Katherine, I think Kyrie might be sick. "

"Really? "

Mom walked towards the kitchen from the counter where she works at. She squatted down in front of me, and then put her hand on my head.

"Hmm.... there's no fever. Maybe she's just tired?"

"Here, let dad take you to the couch to rest then. "

Dad put both his hands on my shoulder from behind and then gently pushed me to the living room where I sat down on the couch.

"Take a nice rest okay? If you are sick then just don't go to the school. Even the student council president isn't an invincible person, they will still get sick sometimes."

"...mmn..."

"Well then, dad will have to go to work now. See you Kyrie!"

"...No!"

"...what?"

"Don't go... "

Dad looked at mom who's behind him, and then he turned back and looked at me again in the eye this time.

"Unlike Kyrie, dad has to go or else people's lives might be in danger you know? Dad is a guard afterall!"

"...Mmn. "

"That's my girl, I know you wouldn't be so selfish. Goodbye then Kyrie, you too Marie."

"Mmmn!" Marielle replied to him with enthusiasm.

Dad walked towards the door.

"I'll be going then Katherine. Take care of Kyrie for me okay?"

"Of course. See ya."

"See ya. "

He opened the door to our home.... I got up from my seat and ran towards dad, and then hugged him from behind.

"...Just don't go... please..."

My eyes starts to blur from tears forming.

"What?... Come on Kyrie, dad really need to go.... How's this then as a payment?"

He turned around and patted me on my head.

No... If you do that to me then I won't be able to hold it back...!

I could feel liquid dripping down my cheeks like it's a waterfall.... I wiped my eyes with my sleeves but then the tears would just form again...

"Sob... Just don't go.... Don't leave me.... Please...!"

"Whats with you?.... Sigh, I won't go alright?"

"Sob... Really...?"

"Yeah. I'll stay with you for as long as you like. "

"Sob... Mmn...."

I knew this isn't real... I knew this isn't the reality that I was hoping for... And that the moment I wake up from this dream, I'll be disappointed...

But even so... even if I knew exactly what will happen... I still clung onto the small glimmer of hope that this is reality and not a fabrication of my mind.... I don't care if it's bullshit... I just don't want to leave dad!

.....

"Sob!... sob!... Dad..." I woke up to my own crying noises, still lying in the small pit that I dug up to sleep in.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a beautiful woman's face with pink eyes and white hair. She looks worried.

"...Are you alright?..."

"Sob.... Yea... Just give me a moment... Sob..." Reality is often disappointing.

I sat myself up and looked at the distant scenery, where I can saw a large sand hill with faint sunlight coming over the horizon like an approaching ray of hope.

Finally recomposing myself from staring at that scenery, I stood up from my place.

The cold winds blew at me and Lynn, blowing a gentle breeze and made our long hairs swirls with the flow. I brushed off dusts that have settled on my face because of sticking to my now dried up tears, and also dusted sands off my back from lying on the desert.

"...Is it the same dream?"

"...Yea."

I have had this same dream for three times now. After I was teleported to this barren desert, I had travelled to the west and seen the sun rise for four times now including this one. This desert is as expansive as the wide ocean, and even walking for so long, we still haven't seen any settlements at all.

"Great news Kyrie, last night I caught us some breakfast again! This time it's a desert salamander, and they can only be found on rarely encountered desert ponds! They taste a bit sweet, perfect for when you are feeling a bit emotional. "

"...really?"

"Yeah. It's treated as a delicacy here on this treacherous continent! But there's other things besides that though, a bad news and a good news. "

"The bad news is?"

"Desert Salamanders are only found on the Bostnia Continent. "

"...Damn it." I'm really at a place the farthest away from home huh?...

"The good news is that I have successfully found a city as well following the same water source! It is just beyond that hill!"

"...I thought it was a good news?"

"Ehhh?... You weren't happy to get to buy a new coat and return my favorite one back to me...? Also those rags you are wearing barely covers up your sensitive parts! If I was a boy I would've assaulted you already!"

I immediately charged up a Mana Ball on my left hand.

"Wait wait wait it was just a joke! But my point still stands, you need some new clothes, and I need a nice bath now."

"But aren't we on the demon continent? Won't they attack us on sight?..."

"Nope... I think. It's because you live up north you don't know that the Bostnia Continent is available for human visitors for about 10 years now. "

"Wha... But aren't we at war with them for like the entirety of history?"

"Yes, but we are on a truce now right? Even back before the great war, human tourists are allowed to come here on rare occasions. Besides, the demons aren't monsters you know? They really don't attack on sight...."

"I see... Then how come that Aamon destroyed the city on sight and seems to relished in the slaughter of innocents like my dad?!"

"He was sealed during the Great War, so he thought that he was deep in enemy's territory. What would you do if you woke up in a room full of goblins? Especially when you don't know that they are in friendly terms? "

"....."

"I know its a bad example, and I mean no offense to you, but really it's just a matter of misunderstandings on top of piles of misunderstandings..."

"No... I was being unreasonable and lashed out at you again... I'm at fault here. But, it's just that in what universe would you wake up in a room full of friendly goblins anyway?"

"Like I said, it was just an analogy! Geez..."

"So the important thing is that we won't be attacked for entering the city right?"

"That's right. So we will now head for there and get information on our whereabouts! Also new clothes! Tasty food! Hot baths!"

"I see.... We don't have money to buy supplies though?"

"Ah... I always had money or precious items on me so now that I didn't have any I had completely forgotten that money is a thing...."

"Sigh... Anyway, let's just head there and earn some money on the spot then?"

"Hmm, a solid plan for now I suppose."

"Right... Are you gonna teach me how to cook wild game meat now?"

(Wild game = Animals hunted for meat)

"If you are willing to learn, then sure!"

She immediately lighted up the bonfire again as she prepared to cook the salamanders. And as she did so, she hummed a music as well.

What a mood.... if only I can be as carefree and happy as Lynn....

(Chapter 38, end)