Trauma

tap tap

Sounds of footsteps could be heard as Arche walked down the stairs. When he had reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard the sound of the door, creaking.

tap tap

Someone standing on two legs had entered. Not knowing the reason, Arche quickly hid behind the pillar. The shadowy figure sat down on the couch and made themself comfortable.

"Arche, you're there right? Come out," said the figure as he drank what looked like tea.

Arche stepped out of the shadow. He slowly walked towards the figure. When he was near the figure, he confronted them.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" asked Arche with his beasification partially activated.

"Huh? What are you talking about? It's me," confusingly asked the figure as he continued sipping their tea.

"Who?" asked Arche once more, now with his two hands active.

"Wait, you're serious? It's me, Fen. I finished my lunch and came here," said the figure as they approached Fen. Light shined upon him to make it clear that it was him.

"Ha~, you scared me, man," sighed Arche as he deactivates his beastification.

"Ha-ha… …sorry about that," apologized Fen awkwardly.

"In anyways, what are you doing here?" asked Arche.

"You haven't eaten lunch yet, have you?" Fen asked back in response.

"No, I've just wrapped up the elder's impartation," answered Arche.

"Good, I've brought you your favorite, smoked beef," said Fen as he pointed out to the box that was placed on the coffee table.

After Fen had said that, he and Arche sat down on the two chairs in the living room. Fen watched as Arche gobbled down his beef. But before long, he asked questions that he was curious about.

"Arche, have the elder completely imparted their magic on you?" asked Fen as he kept on sipping his unfinished tea.

"Mmph- I think so, I'm not completely sure though," said Arche with his cheeks stuffed with smoked beef.

"Then… do you want to try it on me to see where your capabilities lie," offered Fen with a big cheeky smile.

gulp

Arche gulped down his food and then asked Fen "Are you being serious with me right now? May I really practice it on you?"

"Yeah, sure. After you finished off your food though. Treat it like an exercise for your digestion," replied Fen.

After Fen had said that, Arche finished off his food in a swift manner. So did Fen afterward, he had finally finished off his tea.

"Okay, let's say goodbye to the elder," said Fen to Arche.

"Goodbye! Thank you for everything you have done!" yelled out Arche with his two hands encircling his mouth.

The two later parted ways with the elder and headed back to the training grounds. It was there Arche got his mana infusion.

When they had arrived, they were greeted by the mage waving his hand to the two of them. Later when they both got closer to the mage, Arche noticed a circle surrounding the mage.

The circle was placed atop the dirt field. Written with words that made Arche feel nostalgic. It was the same type of words he saw before he got teleported into the realm of emptiness.

"What is this?" asked Arche with his index finger on his lip.

"This is a noise-canceling formation," explained the mage.

"What's a formation?" inquired Arche as he circled the formation, trying to analyze the circle since the last time, he didn't get to.

"Huh? I thought you would know since you got here by one," said the mage in confusion.

"Tee-hee! I completely forgot to ask," remarked Arche with his body slightly leaning right, his right eye shut, tongue out, left hand holding his hips, and his right hand knocking on his noggins.

"…" the mage and Fen, who was standing behind Arche. They both had nothing to say.

"…" Arche still stood there in the same position, now with silence in the air. He felt embarrassed.

"What was that?" asked the mage.

"…It's nothing. Let's move on," said Arche to divert the topic.

"Anyways, a formation… …well, some kind of tool that can assist you in any way…? Honestly, I'm not too sure myself, there are lots of variations to use," roughly explained the mage.

"Okay, then why have you deployed this formation?" questioned Arche.

"It'll have its use later," smiled the mage as he directed Arche to the middle of the formation. Fen followed.

When Arche was finally atop the eye of the formation, he started chanting a mantra. This mantra would activate the formation, making everything within it, dead silent.

"Arche! Try using your newly obtained magic on Fen!" shouted the mage from outside the formation.

Arche nodded in response, indicating that he understood. He looked up at Fen who stood tall in front of him. Fen nodded to confirm his participation.

Arche closed his eyes and pulled out his hands apart then made them both into the shape of a bowl. After a while, purple light emanated from within him. Clouds were forming on top of his palms.

Fen stared at him, he was emanating a purple glow. He stared for a short period before he sat down and closed his eyes. In doing so, he had hoped it would be easier for Arche to access his mind.

[Du vil nå åpne sinnet ditt for meg, for meg og ingen andre.]

Arche finished his chanting with eyes glowing purple and hands embraced with purple clouds. He redirected those clouds to Fen's head. Who sat down in front of him.

[Hngh-!]

Arche struggled with the sudden burst of mana in his hands. But thanks to Fen, who was close, he didn't have to struggle as much in steering into Fen.

woosh~

Arche was teleported in an instant. But what he saw was not what he had hoped. It was the same scene he had seen earlier in the day.

A sea of flames scorched the wall that encircled the town. Cries of innocents heard. The gallant figure of Damian on top of the wall could be seen from where Arche was standing.

"Why- why am I here again!" shouted Arche. There was no one who could hear him, yet.

"Tch- I have got to get out of here somehow," He had said in continuation.

Back outside, Fen nodded at the mage. It seemed that Fen and the mage knew something was going to happen beforehand.

The moment Fen had looked away to nod, Arche's face turned to that of one that had lost everything that he held dear.

Knowing that he was not in harm's way since Arche's magic was not cast properly, he got up and walked to the mage. They both then stood outside the formation together.

"It's really happened, huh," said Fen as he looked at Arche's face of despair.

"Yeah, I didn't think it'd be this bad," said the mage in response to what Fen had said.

"Have you activated the second formation?" asked Fen.

"What's the second formation?" the mage asked back.

"The calming formation. Don't tell me you haven't activated it yet," said Fen.

"…" the mage stood in silence with no response.

"…you're kidding," said Fen as he stared at the blank expression of the mage.

"Of course, I was! Who do you think I am!" said the mage with his chest puffed up.

"You're just like your mother," said Fen as he shook his head in frustration.

"She's also your sister-in-law," the mage said back.

"Yeah, let's just see how this'll go," said Fen as he shifted his attention to the pained Arche.

After a while, Arche was back in the real world. His expression changed to that of his former one, before he used the spell.

He looked behind him to find Fen and the mage who was conversing under the tree. The tree where Fen was stood when he watched his mana injection.

Arche closed in on them both to surprise both of them. He got closer… closer… closer… then boo! He surprised them both. But it was unsuccessful and they continued on talking as if Arche wasn't there.

"His case is the usual one aye?" said the mage.

"Yeah, the common blockage that prevents the use of spirit magic. Which is trauma," said Fen.

"You know how to handle this?" asked the mage to see if Fen had any idea.

"Personally not, but I've heard of others overcoming it," answered Fen.

"How did they overcome it?" asked the mage once again.

"They said it was because they have gotten used to seeing their trauma," responded Fen.

"What do you mean?" the mage asked.

"They would voluntarily activate their magic so the image appears. They would keep on doing it over and over again until they become immune to it," explained Fen.

"That'd be pretty harsh on the kid, so I think that method is crossed out," said the mage.

"Then what do you reckon we should do-" Fen's question was cut off. A loud voice could be heard coming from behind them.

"I'll do it!" shouted Arche all of a sudden.

The both of them finally took notice of Arche who was eavesdropping ever since he sneaked up on them.

"Are you sure?" asked the mage to confirm what Arche had just said.

"Yes! I need to get used to it as fast as possible so I can save people instead of running away," responded Arche.

Seeing the glint in his eyes, both the mage and Fen couldn't refuse. Arche and Fen moved back to the center of the formations again. But this time, Fen had called Zen in case they needed his assistance.