I was dumbfounded. I mean, how couldn't you?

That damn crystal exploded!

I complained deeply in my heart, the crystal exploded like a firework when I inserted a bit of my mana into it. Luckily, Cirdan is quick in making decision, otherwise I would have become a mincemeat already. I raised my head to look at Cirdan. Our eyes meet and I found that he glared at me quite intensely.

The silent classroom suddenly became noisy, murmurs and whisper could be heard from behind me. All of them were anxious and guessing what was happened with their friends. Some of them eyed me warily and pointed their finger at me. It seems doubt has budded in their heart and I have been pointed as the perpetrator by the children.

Cirdan clapped his hand and the sound rang loudly across the room. The class instantly became silent again.

"A little accident had happened, so please remain calm and seated." Cirdan calmed the group of children. He tilted his head down and stared at me. I stared at him back.

"You too, Hiiro, please go back to your seat."

"...yes" I answered him.

I followed his word and walked back to my desk. The wooden chair scrapping the floor as I pulled it, I sat down promptly and ignored the gaze gathered on me. I turned my head to the left and looked out of the window, my mind was in chaos while thinking what was happened and what caused the explosion. In the end, I could only think about the strange pitch-black darkness when I tried to imagine my mana. Is that even Mana?

After Cirdan cleaned up the remains of the crystal, the lesson resumed as if nothing had happened, the children too didn't say anything. My eyes focused to the lesson in front of me, but my mind is in elsewhere, I ended up not paying any attention to the lesson at all. I stared at the teacher writing at the blackboard, the chalk scrapping the board, colored the black into white. Various thought ran through my head, in the end, I decided to confront him directly would be the best.

The class ended shortly after that, some of the children said farewell to their teacher and ran out from the classroom, happy that finally free from the stuffy room. Right now, the only one remaining in the classroom is me and Cirdan. He stood beside the opened door, I walked and stood facing him, raised my head and stared directly at his eyes. I immediately opened my mouth and intended to ask the question that has been haunting in my mind.

"Teacher, I had a question to ask of you." I asked him, and he stared at me for a while, as if contemplating about something, since he didn't say anything at all, I continued my question.

"That crystal, why did it turn black, why did it explode? Is there something wrong with my mana?”

"Yes, everything about that is wrong." He sighed and turned his back to me. My eyes followed his walking figure, his fingers touched the smooth desk surface, which was protected by the barrier before. He turned his head toward me, his face is passive and unreadable.

"Your Mana is tainted, and it is the vilest one I had ever met." He answered my first question, which popped another question again.

"Tainted?"

Does that mean I am cursed or something?

He squinted his eyes, as if looking at my reaction at his reveal. If he really looking for my reaction, then he would meet with disappointment, since I displayed my usual poker face. He turned back his head, looking around the classroom, the orange ray of sunlight peeked through from the rectangular windows and colored the classroom with an orange tint, the shadows were now twice as long as themselves, giving the classroom a foreboding feel to it.

"Tainted... means someone that had been touched by the mad prophet, Elise, or at least relic that related to her. The contaminated one or the cursed one, will slowly find his Mana uncontrollable, then his body will slowly deteriorate, unable to use his limbs properly or slowly losing his five senses. Then the curse will reach to the mind, turning the person into a madman. Lastly, the curse will creep into one soul, devouring them fully. Which mean dead. The process took approximately seven days." Cirdan face was flat, he explained it calmly like explaining what he ate for breakfast. I listened thoroughly every of his words. I can feel my heart beating slightly faster and beads of cold sweat rolled down from my forehead.

"You are cursed, and the curse already spread to the level that nothing can save you anymore. Which beg the question, how could you still be sane? And how could you still alive? And the strangest thing is, the curse somehow harmonizing with your body and soul perfectly. Like you are born with it. Like Elise." He stopped talking for a moment, his finger drummed the desk with a rhythm I never heard before. While I was digesting the info I just received, he took a deep breath and start talking again.

"I had heard from Sol, that idiot trespassed the forbidden territory, and found you injured deep inside the Forbidden Forest. Somehow the elder seem to be quite fond of you, accepting you easily in this town without knowing who are you or where you came from. You weren’t a mere lost child. Who are you really?" He titled his head to the right while turned his head toward me. His gaze was sharp, as if piercing through the feeble mask I adorned. I could feel the cold bristle through me like ants crawling at my skin. I gulped and keep my mouth shut, as I looked into his eyes, I could feel him searching deep into my soul.

In the end, the one who break the eye contact first is Cirdan. He sighed for the second time and the previous heavy atmosphere is gone, replaced by his usual nonchalant attitude. And I too, relieved that I finally free from the piercing gaze, then I finally realized that I had been holding my breath quite a while.

"If you didn't want to talk about it. That’s fine, I don’t intent to force your past out from your mouth." He explained while sitting down to his chair. I raised one of my eyebrow, I thought I had screwed up but it seemed like he won't be pursuing the earlier topic from before. It's something to be happy for, but isn't he giving up too fast?

It seems my feeling was easily read by him. He scoffed and beckoned me closer. I warily walked closer to him. He raised his arm and put his palm around my head, giving me a rough head pat.

"?, What are you..doing.." I was confused by his sudden action, while my head bobbed up and down because of the head pat.

"Well, I can't sense any ill intent within you, so I didn't feel like to make a fuss about it. This town is composed by troublemaker after all. Most of the town people had a few pasts going with them. Adventurer, people exiled from his own country or people with criminal record with nowhere to go, different races coming from all over the continent settled in this unwanted town. Adding one more troublemaker isn't going to change anything." He retrieved his hand back, leaving my white hair messy. Then he stood up and walked to the door, intent to leave this place. Before he left the classroom, he turned his head towards me and gave me an ominous advice while fixing his ever-crooked glasses.

"One last thing, if it was me, I wouldn't want to trust the elder too much, who knows what kind of plan he laid for you. You better think for yourself, about what to do next instead following along the flow."

Then he left. Leaving me alone in this orange-hue classroom. The sun is starting to fell into the horizon and the color deepens. The previous orange color mixed and mingled into red, as if a warning to my current situation. The classroom is devoid of sound, save for my own breathing and my shoes tapping against the floor, slowly walking away from this classroom. While I stood outside of the classroom, I took a brief glance before promptly closed the door shut.

My surrounding blurred, like a video player, the world fast forward itself while my feet walked to my supposed home. On the contrary, my mind is in slow motion, deep in thought, I didn't notice that I already walked to the outskirt of the town. A paper hit my head and I found myself snapped into reality. I ripped the paper out from my face and found it was not a paper. It was a kite. The body is rectangular shaped with two-long wing shaped paper attached to the main body. The overall design is like a bird.

So they have kite in this world

My line of sight followed the thread binding the kite to its owner. And found a bunch of kids running to my direction. I gave the kite back to them and they happily received it. They immediately ran back to their base and continue to raise their kite up to the orange colored sky. I absentminded sat down in the nearby rock and watching them play energetically.

"...What should I do know, huh?"

I had been in this world for nearly a week. My communication problem has already resolved. I have basic knowledge about this fantasy world. Now what? I tried to not think about it before, but now, searching for way to transform back to my own body? Searching for way to go back to my world? In the first place, do I want to go back to that place?

I raised my head, looking at the dusk colored sky, the group of children have already tired of their game and go back to their own respective house, to their own family. I thought about my previous world, anything that I left behind or things that I regret before. In the end, nothing popped out from my mind. I don't have any family left and I don't have anything I particularly fixated about. I have always lived with the flow, going to school, going to college, going to work, I followed what other normal people would do.

I lowered my head and stood up. Continuing moving my feet, I walked up the hill, to the lone hut with trees scattered around it. When I stood in front of the door, I turned my body and looked at the town built upon the grassland. I looked further. I could saw the mountain and forest behind the town. I raised my head. I could see the giant mountain with cloud floating or maybe magical beast flying around it. The light from the suns had dwindled, hiding behind the mountains, the orange and blue mingled with each other, creating a mystical landscape, more than the usual fantasy scenery.

I stood for a while, enjoying the view I couldn’t see in my world. Contemplating my current situation. I don’t have anything that was shackling me to my previous world. In other words, I’m a free man. And this world is giving me a new chance to start my life over again.

“Hiiro? What are you doing out here?”

The door opened, and revealed the person behind it. Mira stood there with her hand still grabbing the doorknob. She widened her eyes a little, and quickly ushered me into the house. I stepped inside, walking past the door, this time with a new determination welled in my mind.

Inside the house, the room is bright unlike the darkened outside. Delicious scent waved around the air. My nose twitched and I could feel my stomach grumbled. I immediately looked on top of the table. It seem dinner is ready. Sol already sat on the chair, ready to devour the food in front of him.

“What took you so long? The class should be over already.” Sol complained, his stomach protested with grumbling sound. It seem they were waiting for me for the dinner.

“Aah, sorry about that.” I scratched my head and apologized to him.

I walked to the chair and sat just beside him. Mira joined too and we started the dinner. After finishing the delicious meal, I stopped Sol just before he go inside his room. He raised an eyebrow while looking at me. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak one word, I spoke faster than him.

“Please teach me how to fight.”