13 Chapter - 5: A Wish Granted, A Day Yearned For. ( 1/4 )

A home, a bed that you could sleep in. A room that you would see when you wake up. Never dawning on the thought that you might wake up to see a different place. A street, a dungeon, a place without light, or a place where darkness itself was light.

But this wasn't a luxury I could afford. At least, not anymore. Even a day was rare. A day where I could just laze off and actually ponder about life like everyone does. Everyone? Seriously, I'm here comparing my life to the next guy. Trust me, my life was nothing like theirs.

People would compare themselves with other people. It was natural. Where they might be the same 'people' of the same species, it was important to remember that they were 'two' different individuals with two different lives.

The best person to compare yourself with, in the end, remains yourself and only yourself. Because the only one, under the exact same conditions, with the same phenotypic and genotypic makeup, was you and only you.

At the very least this was true to me. And there has not been a day where I could ever forget. It was ingrained in my flesh, in my bones.

Waking up, to see a roof over my head was just as rare. Just like right now, where there was actually a ceiling above my head. I turned to the window, staring outside.

The grand blue sky had clouds scattered all around it. If I remember correctly, I was staring at the south side of the city. A few buildings were lined and matched, some protruding out amongst such buildings. A few reaching towards the sky, whilst some spreading wide, like small hills.

The most common were the shops, the vendors. There were small paths that only a few people could walk side by side at. Then there were the roads or streets with tiled stones, where carriages and other transports could pass through. And the sides of these streets were lined with shops, stalls, and various attractions of the like.

People were flooding all over the places. Some were students, the majority were outsiders. Weren't they not allowed in? But then, there wasn't a rule that said they weren't, the rulebook itself had no rules. Though if all outsiders were allowed then the place would really be overflooded, to the point where they would leak out of this plane onto the other one. Gladly, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

But to see so many people, comparatively more than all those people I had passed through while running here, all at this side of the city. Could it be because of the guilds?

"Guild, guild... that's right. I came to this place yesterday. But why can't I remember?" For some strange reason, I couldn't remember anything like entering a house or a door.

"At this height, I should be at a high place. It shouldn't be hard to remember, or at least, find out."

But it was strange that I would forget so easily. I could clearly feel that all limbs and bones were attached. There was no unknown pathogen in my body.

"Could this be some side-effect? But of what?" Memory was not only related to the brain, that is, the mind. The soul could also store memories, just as the flesh could.

"Ack! My head hurts, what the hell did I do this time?" The world was shaking in my eyes, and everything seemed to shift left and right by a few inches. This, however, didn't really make anything different. I had long gotten used to this. Otherwise, I wouldn't be alive right now.

When your life really was at stake, then you had to struggle to live, no matter the cost. If one of your legs were broken then you had to limp without stopping. If both were broken then you had to crawl with your hands. Maybe some people would say, "Just resign yourself to your fate of death. All that struggling is futile." But could they say so when their life was on the line? It's only when death is at your door that you really see the value of life. Everyone or everything would struggle like a cockroach once death was right behind you, its claws reaching for you, a few more inches and it would drag you down.

All of that had passed now. But the experience remained, along with what was learned. The ability to cope with diseased states while having a clear mind.

With my head still hurting, I stood up from the bed and looked around. The room was as normal as it could be. A wardrobe, table, chair, mirror, dresser, and a bed. All arranged neatly. The floor clean, no dust was visible. The door looked strangely royal, western maybe. It was dark brown and was made of wood. Though it definitely wouldn't be normal wood.

I stood up, opened the door and walked out. The long corridor greeted me in its tatted state. How could something be this wrecked yet still stay in place? I was baffled. How could I even stay at a place like this?

"Where should I go? Left or right?" It felt right to go right, so instead, I went left. I clutched my head with my right hand. Leaning on the wall with its elbow and I walked. Maybe this pain meant that it was healing.

Along the corridor, I passed through other doors but all of them were broken or were not even there. As for the rooms they led to, some didn't even have floors and led straight down.

All this walking stopped right before I was about to pass another door, this one intact. A sudden wave of pain assaulted my head, this one more so than the rest. I held my head with both my hands. And suddenly I felt something coming back. Like you realise you lost something, and suddenly found it back in its original place, even though it wasn't there before.

I felt that my memories had come back. Though they were vague, it was now more whole, more complete.

"That's right! I came here today, and.. wait, why do I feel like some memories are still not there? Isn't this senpai's room? Maybe I should ask her about it, even if only where to go to."

The pain stopped, the headache cleared. The world was now still. I went ahead and walked to the door. Turning the doorknob, I opened the door, and soon realised my mistake, but it was too late.

"Shit! Isn't this a girl's room? Wasn't I supposed to knock first before I opened the door?" My realisation was too late, and was also, unnecessary.

The room behind the door, that I was staring at, was all empty. There was nothing in it if you didn't count the walls, the window and the wooden floor. It clearly showed no sign of inhabitation, more like it wasn't possible that someone lived in it. Yet I could clearly remember a certain someone telling me that it was her room.

"Now that you mention it, why can't I remember seeing senpai at this place yesterday?" Looking back to my regained memories, I couldn't find anywhere I actually saw senpai here yesterday. From the entrance to when I slept, there was no image of her in my mind. Was she not here that time? Yet I couldn't remember her being here. Then what about that voice? Did I mishear it? I could hardly believe that. If someone told me, that I wasn't right in the head, then I wouldn't deny them. But still, I at least didn't hear voices in my mind.

"Nevermind, I'll ask her later. I have to meet with her for some other things anyway." I went near the window and stared outside. There were no panes, nor glass. Saying that it was a hole in the wall wasn't wrong. It was large enough for me to fit in, crouched down.

"I should be able to head out from this right?" I no longer had any business here. So why did I have to leave through the front door? This was obviously the quicker way.

With a jump, both my feet left the ground, then my body followed and passed through the window. Leaving the room and the castle behind. Maybe I should rename it soon since it was 'mine' in a sense.

Gliding in the air, I planned my next destination, " Considering the time and the day, I guess most of them should be at the academy's main building, right? I think I should head there too. I don't really have any 'objectives' anyway." At least, not right now. I could even spend my time lazying around, but even so, trouble would still come knocking at my door. So I flew, towards the north-east, where the centre was. If I remember correctly, it was east of that tall peak that had a little house. In other words, it was east of the danger zone.

"Thinking about trouble, why does that sneaky looking shopkeeper come to mind? Maybe if I really stayed and listened to him..... I don't dare to continue thinking."

And while I was thinking, Cat, that was snuggling in my bosom, peeked its head out. It stretched and gracefully went up to my shoulder.

Curious, I stared at it while I was gliding. I just kept on staring at it, interested in what it would do.

And maybe that was a bad thing. Cat slid down and stopped right at my right hand. Don't tell me it's going to...

Before I could finish, *Chomp* my fear came true.

"Shit! That hurts! Don't tell me my mana is breakfast for you or something!? Seriously, you can't do that now, if I don't have mana then I won't be able to glide, and you won't be fine either if that happens."

Or maybe Cat would be fine. Wasn't it said that a cat had nine lives? Wouldn't that also include other felines like a Nethersky Feline, who in a sense, was just a special cat? Even its name was Cat.

Whether they really did have nine lives or not. The myth does state one thing, that they had 'luck' on their side. Even if one only had a chance of surviving one out of ten instances, then with 'luck' that instance of surviving would be the current one. Cat really did have it easy.

Right now it was even having a free snack while lying on my palm. I had no other choice but to raise my right hand like a waiter or a butler would, palm facing upwards. Maybe it wouldn't be wrong to say I was carrying Cat like I was its valet.

But if this kept up then what would follow, I'm sure anyone would know.

We had now passed through maybe half the distance between the guild's square and the main building. It was now visible from where I currently at, still up high in the sky. It wouldn't be wrong to call it a small house, or building from here. But then the building next to it would be a small shrub, or flea if that was the case. A testament to its immense size. Yet, would it match Danger Peak?

Hm? For some reason, I seem to be gliding slower and slower.

"Now that I think about it. How long as Cat been having its meal? Oh! It seems to just have its fill. So that leaves me with.... five minutes in the air!?" The hell! That wasn't even enough to reach the ground. I was still so high in the sky. A fall from this high might, at the worst, end my miserable life. Which I did not want, by the way. Or at best, a month in the hospital. A fall from this height would

send tremors through my body, affecting my brain, any injury to the brain was hard to recover even with healing magic.

I had to think of a way out of my current crisis! Crisis, now that word reminded me of those guys that called themselves Viath's Council, I wonder how they're doing right now?

I don't have the time to be sidetracked right now! My life is at stake here.

And as I was flailing about, trying to think of a way, everything slowly came to a stop and

I started plummeting downwards. This would be a long one.

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"Aaaaaaaaaa!" Falling from this high, I could feel the shaking wind as I passed through its layers.

How high did I fall from? 100 meters? 200?

"Shit! This ain't the time to be thinking about that! Think about a way to live! Think!"

"Hm? Now that you mention it, I don't feel the wind anymore." At least not that raging wind as I dropped down.

"To be honest, you've stopped falling quite a while ago. You were so busy thinking that you didn't notice."

Caught unaware by the voice, it sent a shock to my mind, making me fully alert. Scanning my surroundings, I took note of whatever was around me.

Floor, white stone tiled, frizzled and clean. Unlike what I expected, there were no houses or buildings to my left or right. While I 'had' a bird's eye view, the fall should have had a trajectory that would land... I mean crash me near a residential area.

The smell of grass, the greenery, assaulted me. But I couldn't find any, on the contrary, all I saw were iron bars arranged in rows, not too far from me. My back, that was facing them, was also facing an empty space that seemed to be a path in and out of this 'containment'. Whether or not it was one, the space provided a path, the road there was dull and grey.

Then in front, was a huge building. Massive, the only word to describe it was massive. From the side of my eye, I could see the faint shadow of a hill. I couldn't see the peak. I could hardly for the building in front. From all this, I could easily guess where I was.

"You have some nerve being so late to school, don't you remember you have to be here 4 hours after daybreak? Or are you trying to irritate me on purpose?"

The lucky guy, who supposedly should be a guard or one of the authorities, also helped a lot. Both height and width far surpassed the normal adult human male of Omera. He looked like a pillar from where I was staring at him from. His clothes, probably the biggest they had, could only be a tight-fitting one.

The 'uniform' was plain and simple. Black pants, shoes, a white shirt, a black coat which was probably supposed to be loose. Nothing that stood out.

What gave him away? It was the bulging 'guard' badge he had on his chest. Buldging not only because his chest was, but also because the world 'commander' was carved into it, the letters big enough to be viewed from a distance not too far. It seemed amusing yet fitting.

"Oi! Are you deaf? What are you staring at? Do you know you're wasting precious time by just sitting there? Get off your ass and get to class!"

Seemingly irritated the bulky guy gave me a last look as I got up and walked away. Were people so grumpy these days?

As he walked away, I could see the crest patterned at the back of his coat. A black shield surrounding a white peach blossom. He really was a guard. Thankfully he left just like that.

"Ah!? I forgot to ask for directions.." Nevermind I could just ask anyone I meet since the guy already brought me here.

"Since I'm already here might as well get on with it." To be honest I always wanted to go to school like the rest of the kids. Even the village children would speak of their aspirations. Those who could go for visits to the city would tell us what they saw from the windows.

"Now that I mention it, I can't really recall what those were." Those aspirations, maybe it would come true for me too?

I guess the interior of the building would be like any other academy, with rooms where taught with only words, rooms where experiments were carried out, etc., just that there would be many much more such rooms.

So I would head in without even knowing where I'm supposed to and go on another wild goose chase? Fat chance!

Putting my palm on the wall, then my feet, and with a leap, I started scaling the building. I'd rather skip than search through the whole place. Seriously, would I even be done in a week? I would if I just asked someone but it was too deathly quiet. But then I could do that without 'searching' for that long. So the best choice was to just ask someone when I had the chance. Right now it was time to take a view of my surroundings.

Scaling a wall was easy if you could make some sticky glob-like substance on your shoes to stick to the wall when you take steps, just like how I was doing. Other people could just propel themselves up one way or another but then my whole mana was previously sucked dry but a little feline and what little I had right now couldn't be used to do such things.

It regenerated comparatively slow when I had so less than those that had a larger capacity for storing mana.

I reached the roof in about 5-6 minutes. From here I thought I could clearly see the people, but then again, the building was too tall. So the sights were the large peak to the left, the wide plain grass-field behind the building, the protective bars of the roof, and the way down, through some stairs I'm sure.

Standing at the edge, I could faintly see some people down at the large field. They were quite a bunch. Okay, they were a lot. Maybe a hundred or more moving people. They were flea-sized dots from where I was. From an eagle's view, they shouldn't be too far lengthwise.

"Should I head down?" To be honest, I really did wish to join these classes. But then again,

"Why risk it?" I turned around and lied on the floor, head tip to the edge. Maybe I needed a little time to think about the past days, everything happened so quick I can't process anything clearly.

"Hmm on second thought, isn't it strange that I can't at least recall them now that I want to?" Research showed that a person with high attainments with regards to magic would be considerably smarter than a normal human who used magic only for daily necessities, not to mention those races that could hardly use it.

It would improve a person's mind as a whole. Perception, analysis, thought process, memorization, etc. So to not be able to remember a few day's events, I couldn't help but find it strange. And in the end, I couldn't help but make a mocking chuckle.

"To think that I would actually think of it this way when I used to wish that I could forget them every day. That everything was only a dream and the mist would be gone when I wake up."

"Meow!"

"Hm?"

So the little feline was still here. No longer in my bosom. I could feel it snuggling. This time the snuggling was my coat.

"Eh? How did you get in there!?" I lowered my head and saw that Cat's head was peeking from the inner pouch of the coat. So, the coat really did have an inner space, and it was large enough that Cat could fit in it.

"Don't tell me a space magician is actually somewhere knitting uniforms for Alkmard? Surely it's not the old hag herself, right?" Of course not, the only thing I could think of her doing right now was playing with people's live a mile away from them.

"Thinking of the old hag, it might not be her making it but its probably because of her. No, not probably, surely." As I thought of the possibilities, I suddenly felt like a sense of camaraderie with the only who knitted this coat.

"Meow!"

"Right I don't have time to get distracted." Even having Cat with me could elevate my loneliness. It was staring at me with its violet eyes. As stated before, magic, or maybe mana, affected the mind, which could also be said to be the brain. So naturally, a magic beast would possess a

higher level of intelligence than a normal animal. Some might even rival that of a scholar or maybe exceed one. Obviously, Cat was also smarter than a normal 'cat'.

"Purr!"

And right now the way it was looking at me, its eyes literally glowing, absorbing me. Was this feline equivalent to a woman asking for something? I couldn't know because out of the two, only the former happened to me which was right now.

"I'm not a heartless guy, but it's just that I don't normally get hit in the same place twice. So make sure you make this count. What do you want?"

While saying that it leapt out and landed on the tile, standing right to my head. I also slowly got up and stared at what Cat was watching. It pointed its paw at those dots below. It obviously wanted us, or at least it, to go down.

"Can't I just throw you down?"

"Meow!"

"Okay, okay, I'm just kidding. Whew, that's a long way down." When I looked down, it seemed twice as deep.

"Okay, I'm not doing it. Anything else?"

As I turned my head to Cat, it's eyes, which I had been able to understand since the start, now seemed to be saying,

"Liar, you said you'd do it."

"Now when did I ever say that? Because I clearly only asked what you wanted."

"Either way, we're going down. End of discussion."

And with that Cat jumped on me,

"Hey careful, we're at the edge. If you do that then...."

"Aaaaa!"

We started falling again. Seriously would this falling ever stop? Right now, I wish my psychological state would fall instead of my physical body.