《The Other World Soldier》6. Magic
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Albert revealed his right hand to Shepherd. It was wrapped around in a white cloth with red stains all over it. He removed the cloth that was acting as a bandage and showed them his hand. His fingers had been cut several times. They were roughly cut with several wounds on them in a criss-cross pattern. These cuts were made during the ceremony by Albert himself. Since the ceremony, they had only stopped bleeding and had not yet healed.
"I had to cut my fingers to draw blood for the ceremony, to bind the mana stones to my magic, but that is a discussion for another time. You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you. As you can see my fingers are wounded and have not yet healed as not a long time has passed. And the time that has elapsed is not enough for them to heal naturally." Shepherd observed with keen interest. His fingers had been indeed cut and had only just stopped bleeding.
Albert then held his hand in front of his wife and asked her. "If you would dear." Elena smiled and put her hand over her husband's and chanted. "Heal"
Elena’s hand started to glow a white color from her palms. A shining light escaped from Elena's hand and touched Albert's. The glow was absorbed by the wounds on Albert’s fingers and then the magic happened.
The cut on his fingers then visibly started to heal. This sight was unbelievable because the wounds did not disappear in an instant like you would think magic worked. Instead, the wound gave a slight red glow and started to close itself. It looked like the wound was being healed on a molecular level.
Little by little the cut muscles were repairing themselves closed like a string weaving through cloth mending the torn cloth. After the wound was healed the skin also grew over the wound until it completely covered it. There was not even a scar left behind on the skin that would explain that there used to be a wound here.
Shepherd could not believe what was happening right now. How did the wound heal and then close on itself? Albert was holding his healed hand in front of Shepherd with a slight smirk on his face. Shepherd with astonishment grabbed Albert's hand ran his fingers on his hand.
'I cannot believe what just happened. Is this real? How did they do this? His hands are fully healed and I can't find any irregularity. How do I explain something like this? If this is a trick then this must be one hell of a trick.' Shepherd was thinking what should he do? Does he have to believe in something like this? Even if he wants to how can he believe this? Is magic real?
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Now there was only one thing left to do and that was to check it himself.
Shepherd started biting his fingers on his left hand until they were a bleeding mess. He could have just bit once but he wanted to be sure that there was no trick involved. He wounded his handed just like Albert’s but more roughly. His hand had straight cuts caused by a knife but Shepherd had bite marks. He held his hand in front of Elena and asked her to heal his hand as well.
"You did not have to do that Shepherd but I guess you wouldn’t have believed it if did not happen to you. Go on Elena heal his hand." Elena nodded and like before chanted. "Heal"
The process repeated itself to a tee. Light escaped from her palms and touched his hand. The jagged cuts made by biting started to heal themselves like before. The torn skin came together and bound its cells to each other healing his fingers completely. when the process was done not even a scar was left.
While his wounds were healing the only thing Shepherd felt from them was a warm sensation on his wounds as they were closing. He had never felt anything like this before. He was staring at his healed hand and was shuddering. His eyes were wide open and his face drained of its natural color. One hand in front of his shocked face and the other hand rigorously checking it.
For a few moments, Shepherd did not speak and kept staring at his hands. No matter how many times he would check he could neither find a fault with his hand nor be able to explain how his hand healed. Shepherd was then jerked out of his trance and further surprised when Albert spoke.
"I can guess from your expression that your world really did not have magic. To be honest I was a little skeptical before but not anymore. You really are in shock after seeing your hand get healed. But I suppose to help you believe I should strike while the iron is hot."
Albert looked towards the others in the room and they all stood up in a line in front of Shepherd. Shepherd was unaware of what they were trying to do but was again scared out of his mind when all their hands started to glow.
All of their hands glowed like Elena, the only difference this time was that their glow was of different colors. Then the different glows light was replaced with a fist full of different elements.
Albert’s hand after producing a red glow now held a ball of fire. It was like his hand was on fire. It was a small flame at the moment but fire nonetheless. The strange thing was that Albert was showing no signs of pain that one would show if their hand was being burned with fire. instead, he was fine and now had the biggest smirk while seeing Shepherd's expression. His face, even paler than before.
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Elena like before her hand was glowing a sparkly white but that was it. Her hand only had this glow to it nothing else. Liliana's hand produced a blue glow of light and now held in her palm a small ball of water. This ball of water was maintaining its circular shape and was not dripping on the floor even a little. It was like she was holding a glass of water but the glass was invisible.
Ryu and Daiki had the same brownish glow to their hands. Now in their palms, they held small balls of mud. One was bigger than the other but it was definitely a ball of mud.
Shepherd could not believe what was happening right now. He slouched back on the couch in defeat. There was no way that he could be able to explain what he saw right now. This was his defeat and he had to admit it.
'How did they do that? Is there any way I can explain or justify what I am seeing? Is there a trick to it? Even if there is a trick to these balls of elements in their hand and I can explain them, then what about my hand. It was injured and it did heal. There is no law of physics that can contain this phenomenon completely and there is no denying it. Am I really in another world?'
They all sat back down but what was interesting was that the fire in Albert’s hand and the light in Elena’s hand disappeared into thin air. But the mud balls and water did not. They put the balls on the table as if to prove to him that they were real and had been created out of nothing. Liliana on the other hand grabbed a glass nearby the side table and poured the water into it.
"Well, I believe that you do not have magic on your world from your shocked expressions but the question is do you believe us now? That magic is real?" Albert asked to confirm if this prove was enough.
Shepherd was dazed for a while but then with a deep bow apologized to them.
"You were right, There is magic in this world. It has to be magic otherwise I have really gone mad. I cannot explain what just happened so yes I will admit my mistake and apologize. Forgive me for calling you a liar."
"It’s fine, Shepherd. I can understand your situation a little bit. I can imagine if I was told that there is no magic after having used it all my life and then revealed that the whole concept of magic that had been thought to me since birth is nothing but a cheap gimmick. Trust me I would be devastated as well. Now that I have proved the existence of magic, I guess you will believe that this is another world too? "
Shepherd had to believe in magic. If he could believe in magic then what was so hard about believing that this was another world.
"Yes, I do believe it rather I have to."
"Let me ask this Shepherd, did your world had a sun or moon?" Albert inquired from Shepherd. He wanted to find a point where he might provide another prove and clear all suspicions in his heart at once.
"Yes, we did have a sun and a moon. wait! You don’t have them here? Is there no sun or a moon here? If not then how does this world function? Has magic taken the place of the Sun?" Shepherd was curious as to why was he asking him about the sun and moon. Did they have something else instead of it? But how would they know the words sun and moon if they do not have them?
"A sun and A moon huh. It's nighttime right now and the moon would be in full wane tonight. Why don't you take a look at the beautiful night sky of our world? See if you can find a difference or if it is the same as yours?" Again Albert was smiling as he pointed to the still covered window.
Shepherd got up on his feet but could not muster any strength. His whole life and beliefs had been turned over his head in a few minutes. He could not fathom the changes that were happening to his life right now.
He stood in front of the window and reluctantly pulled the curtains. What was revealed to Shepherd was a beautiful night sky. Twinkling stars making the sky seem just as beautiful as the sky on earth giving him a sense of familiarity. but this homely feeling that he got from looking at the sky was soon shattered when he noticed the moon.
‘Two Moons?’
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