Vol. 2: Chapter 37: In The Midst of the Meadows

A whisk of warm wind blew. The soft strokes nudged me to open up my eyes. And so I did. I tried lifting its windows wide-open, but it felt like lead. The first thing I thought was, ‘Where am I? Who am I?’

I was listless and muddled.

Pangs of headache trailed next. It showed no mercy, pushing me to grit my teeth. It gnawed at the rising questions, one bite at a time. My world twisted into oblivion. Even determining forms and shapes was nothing but impossible. Not one straight thought came to fruition.

Not yet enough, I tried moving but soon realized its futility. From the soles of my feet, up to my upper trunk, I felt nothing. Floating into the clouds—that was what I felt. I stopped looking around, since it only worsened my dreary experience. Extreme nausea had no thought of sparing me. With every tiny move, I paid for my insolence.

“Aghh.” The rancid contents of my stomach churned. Laying my head sideward, I barfed all the food I ate. I gulped a lot of air through my mouth, holding the next batch from coming out. The memory of when I first rode a boat entered my mind. I winced. Seasickness. It was almost the same feeling, but this one was far worse.

I silently laid down, closing my eyes again, unmoving. I waited for a while. Minutes? Hours? I couldn’t remember.

The gentle breeze blew and wiped the sour stains from my face. A few popping notifications flooded my eyes. I gave up counting the exact number since it was incredibly chaotic. But damn, it was too many to even count.

Soon enough, the pop-ads finally ended, leaving a few troublesome lines in its midst. It was a piece of not-so-welcome news, and it was cherry-tinted.

[You’re suffering from the side-effects of the long-distance spell. You had exceeded your limits. Your current status is showing; ‘Confusion’, ‘Nausea’, ‘Enfeebled’, ‘Paralyzed’, Mana-Drained.]

[You have overexerted your mana lines, exceeding healthy limits. Temporarily shutting it down until total recovery. You won’t be able to use spirit arts or spells for 60 days. Don’t try.]

I stared at the notifications, stumped. Though I had an ocean as a mana pool; it seemed like my mana veins broke after handling the raging load. Or rather, it wasn’t yet at the level that it could handle such an amount. Well, at least I was still lucky. It spared my life while even offering me the chance to recover.

Though I had read this condition in an old book in the grand library, it was still a unique feeling to be on the receiving end. No wonder that book was full of expletives as the author described what he felt. Those who experienced the backlash had only three endings. First was death—the unlucky ones. Second, the disabled—the very unlucky ones. And the third, those who could recover—the lucky ones.

For a better reference, I used an analogy to keep it in my mind. Think of a dam that suddenly burst out. Won’t the rivers and streams around overflow and turn into damaging floods? Now think of the veins as the rivers and streams. Once the flood ebbs, it’d take a miracle to see an untouched river and streams.

I shut my eyes, taking deep breaths.

The dizzy spell had taken its time, but it was now steadily wearing off.

Now, where was I again? Wait.

“Saria!” What came out wasn’t a loud shout. It was a deep soft aching grunt as my lips refused to bulge, too weakened to follow its owner’s desires.

“Teleported.” I tilted my head, trying to make sense of where I was. It was unfamiliar. The wide expanse of thin grasses waltzed along with the wind as it filled my sight.

I stared at the blue sky and saw nothing but patches of white. Pleasant weather.

‘Alistair? Little Maggie, where are you? No, where are we?’ Knocking on the lines crafted by our contract. A light wind whisper touched my face. A strong breeze gusted around me. Yet, the blobs hid from my sight.

Oh, right, I almost forgot, [Spirit Eyes].

I shouldn’t have done that.

“Arghhhh,” a pricking sensation poked throughout my entire body. Every part of my body shuddered, shaken and in pain. Pins and needles poked my senses. Then a burning sensation blazed through my veins. I quivered in agony for an unknown amount of time. Now, I knew what those earthworms felt when I seasoned them with salt.

Then, the image of the bloody notification flashed.

[You won’t be able to cast any skills or abilities until you reach complete recovery. Your entire body is currently undergoing healing and reconstruction. Don’t use any spell lest you’ll suffer great torture. Don’t do it again or else. Duration: 60 Days.]

“Damn, warn me beforehand!” Cold sweat trickled down my back. Wait? It warned me. Anyway, even though I couldn’t see the little green spirits. At least, I sensed their presence through our spirit contract. I even felt little Maggie sending her worries and giddy emotions through the same line. As for the tempest spirit, the proud blob felt sorry and guilty, telling me he caused it all.

I thought of using that panel screen, but I killed the idea as soon as it popped out. The warning notifications flashed again, frightening me. The ‘don’t do it again or else’ stopped my mouth from uttering any words. It was a genuine threat. Wait, is using that word or considered as a spell?

Hah, anyway, I better stay on the safe side of the coin.

“Lift me up, please,” asking the help of the unseen green spirits. The wind nudged me upward, enabling me to sit at the right angle. The gold-rimmed glasses in my eyes almost fell. Thankfully, the two blobs assisted me in putting it back to my rightful place.

If my guess was spot on, an ancient teleportation scroll had transported randomly me. The crucial question now is, ‘Where am I?’

I took a deep breath and tried to gather the remaining strength in my limbs. Of course, I failed. That [Paralyzed] status was no joke.

I sat on the green grassland, unmoving as a sloth, lazily letting my hair flutter along with the wind. Aside from turning my head left and right from time to time, I had nothing else in my movement arsenal. “Can Saria undo this…”

After uttering those words, the fingers of my hands ached. I glimpsed at it and turned away. It was a bit mutilated. Scratching that violet cage earned me nothing but bloody fingers. I should control my emotions better. It’s quite rare for me to act like that. I wonder what triggered me. Memories of Saria before I got teleported rushed forth towards my brain, making me change my next words.

“I hope she’s alright.” I sighed, a bit parched after remembering that slithering black that I saw before the violet light sent me in the middle of nowhere. I hope that she’s fine and healthy. That tattoo. It was dangerous. Perhaps it was the work of that shady, ordinary-looking butler.

If only I had discovered that butler much earlier. Sigh. On the bright side, Saria had successfully warded off that creepy man. Aside from the slithering black mass on her left hands, I only saw surface-level wounds. The blood and white matter sliding from the white-staff was not from the archmage.

Anyway, I better stop thinking about those things. I’m not in a position where I could just worry about it. It’s not like I could do anything, considering my current plight. Let’s get a little more realistic, Victoria. Oh, I saw that the carriage was still perfectly safe before I teleported. I guess I have to put a little trust in that praying mage.

I shut my eyes, regathering my scattered inner ramblings. I still do not know what part of Endramion was I teleported to. Either to my left and right, all I saw was an endless rolling meadow of green. I’m feeling sleepy. I couldn’t help but yawn. I watched the dancing grass, staring at the moving clouds. A thin mirth unconsciously flowed on my face.

Blue skies, warm sunlight, a cool breeze, and a wide grassy plain. Nothing but perfect. Is this some relaxation zone exclusive for me? Or some pasture? I mean, give me some goats and sheep, then this place would indeed become a pasture. ‘Not bad.’

Anyway, it’s time to get some rest. I had been burning the midnight oil for more than a week. Not for the kingdom, but to repay Saria’s kindness. This well-deserved rest ain’t that bad. Since I had nothing better to do, I better make use of this opportunity to unwind and sleep. Maybe that’ll help me recover faster.

I asked the two blobs to watch over me as I sleep. Since they’ve almost sucked me to death, the duo must at least do such a simple errand for me. I gotta teach these cute blobs that all relationships should never be one-sided so that they could prosper longer.

I closed my eyes and counted those imaginary sheep. One. Two. Three. Four…

Just like that, I fell asleep. The highest quality sleep I ever had in months. Perhaps getting teleported here wasn’t so bad at all.

***

In my dreams, I continued my sheep counting exercise. I had reached the hundred thousand count when I heard something weird.

Mehehe…

Maa…

Moo…

Grr…

I shuddered and immediately opened my eyes after I heard the last one. It sounded like a wolf. I gazed left and right, up and down. Yet, I only saw a group of sheep, goats, and cows moving a few meters around me. There was no wolf.

Grr…

Then I heard it again. The wolf. I glanced down towards the grumbling monster. Oh my, it was only my dear stomach. That’s right, I was getting a bit too famish after puking my last lunch.

Sensing that I had already woken up, the two wind spirits skittered around me. I had worried the spirits. Oh, they were also trying to tell me something. I tried moving, but my entire body fell flat towards the ground.

[You’re suffering from damage to the mana veins. Your current status is showing; ‘Enfeebled’, ‘Paralyzed’, Mana-Drained. The time before expected total recovery is 50 days.]

“Huh?” I blinked my eyes and frowned. I carefully stared at the red notification just to confirm something weird. The last line somehow bothered me. Did I see it wrongly before? I was sure that it was 60 days since the last time I saw it.

Soon, I heard the grass rustling as if someone was running towards me.

“Coby! Coby! Here she is! The one I told you about,” a voice of a little young girl echoed. “This lady had been sleeping here for at least 10 days now. There’s also something blocking me from walking to her. Is she a witch that I had been hearin’ from ol’ gran-gran?”

The girly sounded a bit excited, giddy to prove that she wasn’t lying to the other little twerp behind her. My brows twitch after realizing that I had been out cold for 10 days indeed. So, I was in a coma… again.

“Watch me, Coby,” said the little girl. I heard a rushing sound as her feet bristled against the soft green grasses. She was moving towards me, but stopped soon enough. “Come on! There’s a witch barrier here.”

The other young boy followed soon. “I see. Yar’ not lying to us, Tabi. What should we do with her? Let’s tell ol’ Gran-Gran?”

“Yah, let us,” confirmed the little girl. “Anyway, check this out.”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

The little girl courageously knocked at the wind barrier created by my wind spirits. What a gal! Who dares to bother this lady aunt?

“This barrier never breaks.” The little girl uttered in a proud tone.

“Wow,” said the young boy. “Can I also try, Tabi? Won’t the witch wake up?”

“Sure! Dun’ worry she won’t. I tried all the sheep, cows, and goats to make noise but she never woke up.”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

“It’s magic! Magic!” The young boy laughed as he played with the wind barrier, banging it with abandon.

The villain in me quivered. I wanted to prank these little guys somehow. You’re too brave, little ones. I crafted a little plan to scare them off. A sneaky grin formed in my mouth. I sent the plan towards my spiritual connection with the two blobs, and they agreed happily.

“Again!”

Knock…

The wind barrier vanished just as planned.

“Huh,” said the little boy. “What happened Tabi?”

I sensed the little girl’s gaze zeroing on me. Silence dwelled for a moment. Then she uttered some crude remarks. “She’s dead.”

“…”

Oi, oi, oi!