Chapter XLIII

Nigreos Noctis slowly rounded the corner, seeing the same hallway he’d been walking down for the past three days. He was getting so sick of it that part of him wanted to unleash a burst of magic and blow one of the classrooms to pieces. The only reason he didn’t was because he knew he couldn’t afford to lose his composure. He still didn’t know how much time was passing in the outside world and so every second he spent inside that pocket realm was precious. However he could feel his body getting weaker. He was still moving without water because he was using dark magic to sustain his body. That would only take him so far, though. Sooner or later, he’d need a drink and if he didn’t get out in time, then he was going to die there.

I can’t lose to this place. How embarrassing would it be to succumb to something like this? No… I’m going to get out of here!

He still hadn’t come across Album yet, but he knew it would be unlikely that he would. The maximum size for a pocket realm was around the size of a small city. Therefore, there was a top and a bottom to this place. At that point, Nigreos was almost certain that the structure of the pocket realm was the same hallway stacked on top of each other with the top and bottom potentially being a city’s length apart. The chance of finding Album was slim. He knew it would be best to meet up with her on the outside and figure out how to proceed from there.

And I’m close. I can sense it so clearly now!

The one downside to using a pocket world as a trap was that there was a known method of escape from the inside. One simply needed to know what to look for. The world was being held together by two mana ports which were communicating with each other on how to structure the world. Those ports would also be gaining their mana from whoever constructed the world and so, if they were found, he could use it to return to the outside. All he would need to do was collaborate with the mana signals so that they would send him back to Omaruo.

And if these things are communicating with the world’s creator then they’re more mana dense than the rest of this place. For an Ijirian Master like myself, sensing the ports is easy.

The only problem was that he sensed one of the mana sources below him but he didn’t know how far down it was. He’d been descending for three days with very little breaks and still hadn’t found it. At this point, he was starting to suspect that it was at the very bottom.

I just need to keep moving though. Take it slowly. Don’t overexert yourself. Using unnecessary energy won’t do you any good.

He went down another flight of stairs and was greeted by the same sight once more. It was starting to take a toll on his mind but he forced himself to press on. He pushed his thoughts from his tedious walking to other things, hoping to keep his mind sharp. So, he once again considered the implications of the pocket realm’s existence.

Unless I’m missing some crucial variable, it’s impossible that Eric Reiner could have ever made this. No teenager in Ijiria is skilled enough to perform magic as advanced as this so I doubt a boy living in Omaruo could ever hope to be this skilled. There’s no doubt in my mind that this was created by a powerful magic user. But if somebody like that exists here then is Eric Reiner not our target? Did somebody else get their hands on the Assassination Gem?

He briefly considered the possibility that somebody from Ijiria came there ahead of them and created the pocket realm as a trap for them, but then quickly discarded the idea. There were only three realm daggers in the Citadel—the one Nigreos currently had, the one that Rista Pine used to escape with, and a third that was still in possession of the High Council. There was once a fourth one that had been King Markreas’s, but that one had gone missing the night of the attack that put him in his current, near-death state. The Council kept close watch on the daggers so it was unlikely any of those were stolen, therefore the only possible conclusion would be that the pocket realm’s creator used the missing dagger.

But even that’s hard to believe. This mission was supposed to be kept a secret from anybody outside the Masters, the Prince and Princess, and the High Council so the only way anybody could have known to lay a trap was if they were one of them…but there’s no way that’s possible. It’s just too ridiculous! Nigreos clenched his teeth. But then what’s the answer? What variable am I missing?

He continued to descend the floors, feeling the mana port getting closer by the second. And then, finally, he reached the bottom of a flight of stairs and sensed the source suddenly shift from below him to just ahead..

Yes! Finally!

Using what energy he had left, Nigreos broke into a sprint, running past classrooms until he found the one the port was in. The Master yanked the door open and stalked inside and there, hovering over the student’s desks, was a ball of pulsating white mana about the size of his head.

There it is! After all this time, I can get the hell out of here!

He sent his own power to his fingertips and walked past the desks to stand before the ball of power. Nigreos then took a deep breath, dreading the revelation of how much time had passed on the outside, and placed his fingers against the ball.

“Dimiitio,” he whispered.

Despite being braced for what came next, he still found himself hit by a wave of nausea as the world began spinning and warping into a blurred mess. He could feel himself being sucked into the port, but he forced himself to bear through it all, knowing it wouldn’t last long. The sensation only continued on for a handful of seconds, but it felt longer to him. This time, he was determined not to pass out and finally, when the world returned to normal, he was standing right outside the school’s gates. Nigreos hurriedly took in his bearings, afraid of being seen by any of the locals. He was lucky. Based on the position of the sun on the horizon and the temperature around him, it was early evening. There weren’t any students around the school and nobody had seen him reappear.

Good. Now, I need to get moving. If Album already got out then she’s probably waiting for me.

He pulled his cowl up over his head and hurried into the silent neighborhoods surrounding the high school. He had no intention of attempting to get into the building another way as he was not about to chance getting stuck again. He still didn’t know how long he had been in there so he wasn’t sure how much time was wasted. Keeping his instincts sharp, Nigreos proceeded down the streets, hoping to use his abilities to sense Album’s presence.

However, the moment he attempted to do so, he was hit by the sudden realization that he had been bested. With no magic in Omaruo, it should have been ridiculously easy to locate a mage as strong as Album but, as he knew well, pocket realms took a huge amount of power to create and sustain. It was so dense that it would overwhelm any other sources of mana in the area and therefore, not only would he be unable to locate Album, but it would be next to impossible to find anybody who came into contact with the relic unless they were right beside each other.

Hell…, he thought, feeling his body go cold. We’ve been led right into a trap! It didn’t matter whether we escaped that realm or not! Just by opening it once, we’ve unleashed a ton of energy into this damn town! How in the hell are we supposed to find the stone now?!

Their enemy was clever—that much he was beginning to realize. What he believed would be a quick trip to Omaruo to reclaim the stone was fast becoming a much more dangerous mission. Somebody was going after them and they had fallen right into their trap.

Nigreos clenched his fists at his side. Then maybe it was a good thing I decided to go speak with Nuvo. That might make the difference between victory and defeat here.

He raised his hand and placed it against the pocket of his suit where the nerich’s canister was still tucked away. Given the brilliant trap that awaited them, it now seemed certain that he would have to use it, though he would need to do so in the most efficient way possible. They no longer had room for error.

As he was deep in thought, he came to a sudden stop, having just barely sensed the small fluctuations in his senses, and couldn’t help but smirk.

I knew she’d get out before me.

Up ahead, leaning against one of the streetlights, was a woman in a white cloak, her pitch black eyes trained right on him. Her arms were folded under her chest as she regarded him for a moment before straightening her body and proceeding to walk toward him.

“Took you long enough, Nigreos,” Album called out. “I was beginning to think I’d be dealing with this mission alone.”

The Master of Darkness snorted. “Save the sarcasm, Album. How long have you been out? What do you know?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know much of anything, but I’ll tell you what I do on the way. Come. Follow me.”

“On the way?” he muttered. “Where are we going?”

She turned and beckoned for him to follow her with a smug grin that irritated him. He had a nasty feeling that she would be lording her quicker escape from the pocket realm over him for quite some time. When it became clear that she didn’t intend to explain herself yet, Nigreos sighed and begrudgingly followed after her. He couldn’t imagine where she wanted to go and was only confused more when she turned left and headed through a gap between two houses that appeared to lead into a forest. The forest was quiet and Nigreos felt like the trees would provide cover if they happened across any Omaruans. With the sun completely below the horizon now, the only light on the path came from the few streetlights on either side of them.

“So,” Nigreos finally began once it was clear that they were alone. “Fill me in, Album. What’s going on? How long have you been out?”

“Hard to say,” she responded. “Obviously, I can’t just go up to somebody and ask but, based on the length of the days, the average weather temperatures, and the blossoms on the trees, I’d say we’re in late winter to early spring.”

Nigreos could hardly contain his horror. “What? Then that means...we were stuck in there for almost three months?”

“I believe so,” she confirmed. “My guess is that within that realm, one day is roughly the equivalent to a month here. Am I correct to assume that you were in there for about three days?”

“I was,” he grunted. “Yeah, almost three.”

I can’t believe it! So we’ve lost nearly three months of time?! So then, considering the time ratio between here and Ijiria, that means it’s been about a month and a half since we left from their perspective. Damn it…

“So what else do you have?” he growled. “Have you made any progress in either locating the relic or finding the sorcerer who crafted the pocket?”

Album shook her head. “No. I’ve only been out for about a few days myself, and that pocket realm is so mana dense that it drowns out almost everything in this town. I could hardly sense you and you’ve got a damn nerich in your pocket.”

“Yeah, I noticed that,” he murmured. “Have you then not located Eric Reiner?”

“I have not. He no longer lives at his old house and, obviously, I haven’t been able to check the school.”

Nigreos clenched his teeth. “Do you think there’s any way we could get in from another entrance? A window, maybe?”

“I’ve already tried that,” she responded. “Getting within the school grounds from any point sends you back into the pocket. In fact, I’ve broken out of there nearly five times already.”

“F-five?” he exclaimed. “How the hell…?”

She scoffed. “Don’t act so surprised. Don’t forget that I have a pocket realm of my own. I know how they work better than most and so, combined with my light magic, getting out of there is easy. You should be happy. I’ve at least confirmed that we have no possible method of getting into the school.”

He shook his head, irritated at how arrogant she could be, and turned the conversation to a different issue. “And what of the students of this town?” he demanded. “I imagine there’s been an uproar with all of them getting swallowed by the realm?”

“No,” she stated firmly. “In fact, there isn’t a single student that’s vanished. The realm is designed to only react to us, I believe...or at least to any hostile presences that are attempting to get inside. My theory is that it’s designed to protect the relic. If we can’t get inside, we can’t get it back.”

As she said that, Album turned and deviated from the path, leading him further into the woods. He still didn’t know where they were heading but he figured there were other matters to discuss first.

“But then the answer is simple,” he growled. “If it doesn’t react against students, then we use the nerich on one of them and send it inside to reclaim the stone.”

Album nodded. “I considered the idea, but there’s always the possibility that it reacts to the creature as well. If it does, we’d essentially be wasting our best asset right now.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“Simple. We track down one of the targets and use it on them as opposed to a random student,” she replied. “That way, even if the pocket realm reacts to it, we’re at least getting one of the targets out of the way. It’s less of a waste if things go south.”

Nigreos scowled. Her arguments made sense and he could tell that she’d already put a lot of thought into everything. He knew that the nerich could be the variable that would determine whether they won against the sorcerer or not. Wasting it would almost certainly spell defeat for them and, after having failed to prevent Rista Pine’s escape, their reputations would be destroyed if they once again failed. They couldn’t afford to take any unnecessary risks.

“Fine,” he grunted. “Then the first thing we do should be to track down at least one of these targets. From there, we can use the nerich to get into the school. In addition, I say we take one of them captive so that we can find out just how many targets there are. We’re completely blind at this point.”

“I agree,” she replied. “However, I would make one suggestion. I think we should attempt to make contact with Eric Reiner.”

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “And how exactly do you propose we do that? I thought you already established that finding him is going to be a pain in the ass.”

“Mind magic,” she said simply.

“Mind…?”

He exhaled softly. Mind magic, when at its more advanced levels, was one of the most dangerous classes of magic in existence. However, there were some more common spells that could be used even by those who didn’t choose to specialize in it, and one of them was for communicating with others telepathically. Album wasn’t strong enough in that particular field to do so, but Nigreos knew enough of the basics that, as long as Eric Reiner was actually in Wilham, it wouldn’t be hard to reach out to him that way. The only problem was that he was no longer certain that Reiner was even involved. If their guess had been wrong and the boy was completely unrelated to the stone’s theft then wouldn’t it be better to avoid making contact with him.

“Album,” he growled. “I know you’re not stupid, so I imagine you have a reason for wanting to risk talking to him.”

“Of course I do,” she said. “And that reason would be that I refuse to believe that Eric Reiner and a sorcerer powerful enough to create a pocket world coincidentally wound up in the same world in the same town. And even if they did, I’m certain they would have made contact by this point. Reiner may not live in Ijiria but the ability to sense magic is innate. He would have noticed the sorcerer’s presence and vice versa.”

Nigreos nodded. “So you think we can gain information by speaking to Reiner telepathically?”

“I do.” With that, Album then came to a stop, prompting Nigreos to do the same. Before he could inquire as to what was wrong, she whispered, “here we are.”

The Master of Darkness cocked an eyebrow, seeing nothing in the surrounding forests that was of any significance. He was about to ask why she brought him there when she lightly placed her palm against his cheek and whispered, “Revealaron”. He instantly recognized the spell as the one used to break distortion magic and, a few yards ahead of him, the air warped to reveal a run-down, old wooden house.

“I found this place yesterday,” she explained. “It looked abandoned and it’s in the middle of the forest. Seemed perfect for us to use as a base of operations.”

He nodded his agreement. It would be unlikely that anybody would come looking for the house and, even if they did, Album’s distortion magic would make it very hard for them to locate. Only the two of them would be able to find it with ease. Depending on the sorcerer's proficiency in distorting, he may be able to recognize the spell but that would only be the case if he happened to stumble upon it.

Nigreos grinned. And that’s unlikely, of course. His damned pocket realm might screw with our senses so we can’t find him, but it works the other way, too. He won’t be able to locate us unless he’s close by.

Album and Nigreos proceeded forward, stepping up onto the porch. The Master of Light grabbed the door, uttered a spell to unlock it, and pulled it open to admit them to the entry hall beyond. It was a depressing place even in the interior, but Album was right in that it was perfect for what they needed. The main room of the house was empty of any furniture aside from a single chair that had been pushed into the corner.

“Alright, given our severe loss of time with that realm, I’d prefer it if you could make contact with Reiner immediately,” Album said. “Are you in strong enough condition to do so?”

Nigreos nodded. He was exhausted from his time in the pocket, but the communication spell didn’t take much of a toll on him. He could at least reach out to Reiner without issue. The man walked toward the chair and took his seat while Album moved to stand in the corner of the room, once again folding her arms as she watched him expectantly.

Alright, let’s make this quick.

He closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, recalling everything he’d been taught about mentally connecting with a target he didn’t know the location of. However, he had an advantage when it came to Eric Reiner. He and Abi had connected many times in the past and so, he could recall the feeling of her mind vividly. Since Eric would have only inherited magical qualities from his mother, there wouldn’t be any paternal signals interrupting him. If he simply sought out the mana signals of Abi, he would be able to connect to the boy.

There should only be two signals in this town, he thought. One for the sorcerer and one for Reiner. Eric’s should be the less powerful of the two so if I find…

What the hell?

He easily felt the familiar presence of Abi’s mana within the town, but what gave him pause was the fact that he didn’t sense a second one. That meant that Eric Reiner was the only other one with magical blood there.

Then where the hell is the one who created the pocket? Is he not here? Or were we wrong? Did Eric make it? That shouldn’t be possible, but…

He quickly made the decision of what he should do. Choosing to just talk to Eric directly, he centered his attention on the boy’s signal and intertwined his own magic with his. Within moments, he should be hearing Eric’s voice.

“Agh!” he suddenly shouted.

Without any warning, his head suddenly felt like it was splitting apart. There was a horrible shrieking in his ears and it felt like something was cutting him open from within the skull. He frantically cut the connection, desperately wanting to escape the pain, as he collapsed to the floor on his hands and knees and retched.

“Nigreos! Nigreos, what’s happening?!”

Album’s voice seemed distant over the sound of the shrieking, but he could feel her presence over him. He coughed up the bile still in his throat and started breathing heavily as the pain gradually began to dull. He felt Album put her hands on his shoulders before muttering a word he hadn’t been able to make out. However, based on the wave of calm that washed over him afterwards, he knew it had been some sort of healing spell. The shrieking vanished and the pain eased considerably, allowing him to push himself to a sitting position. When he looked up, Album was standing over him, eyeing him with concern.

“What happened?” she demanded. “I’ve never seen such a reaction like that from you.”

Nigreos shook his head. “I have no idea. The moment I tried to make the connection with the boy, this horrific pain shot through my head and it sounded like somebody was screaming. That’s never happened before and I’ve connected with dozens of people.”

“So you didn’t even get a word in?” Album inquired.

“Nothing,” he confirmed. “I can’t even be certain that Reiner even knew I was connecting with him, though there’s no way this was coincidental. Whatever happened, I think it was there to intentionally keep us out of his mind.”

Album scoffed. “What the hell is going on here? First the pocket realm and now this? Every move we’ve made so far has been met with utter defeat. We lost three months, we can’t locate anybody because of the mana density, and now we can’t even make a mental connection! And for all we know, Reiner might not even be our target.”

“Actually,” Nigreos began, recalling the one piece of information he gained from that attempt. “I did learn something. Eric Reiner is the only other person with magical blood in this city. I couldn’t connect with anybody else.”

The Master of Light regarded him for a moment with a dumbfounded stare that was rare for her these days, but after a moment, her hardened resolve returned and she simply folded her hands behind her back.

“So either Reiner is the one who made the pocket realm,” she said, “or the sorcerer who did has left Wilham. I’m hoping it’s the latter option because if our primary enemy is gone, it’ll make our job a lot easier. But, if Reiner is the owner of the pocket, then…”

She left her thought unfinished and Nigreos was grateful for that. There was no need to state what they both knew. If Eric was the owner of the pocket then that made him both dangerously powerful and, due to his connection to Abi, somebody that Nigreos might not be able to strike down even if he had the chance. Ryokumo’s words from before they left flashed through his mind.

“If Eric Reiner truly is behind this then, despite what King Markreas commanded, you shouldn’t erase him. Instead...I think you should bring him back to Ijiria.”

But if he did create the pocket then bringing somebody like him back could be disastrous for the country. After all, it was Nigreos who stopped Abi’s rebellion and was responsible for her death. If Eric knew that and Nigreos brought him to Ijiria, he could potentially be bringing a huge calamity upon them.

He clenched his fists in irritation.

“Album,” he muttered. “I need some food, water, and rest. Tomorrow, I’ll try to connect with Reiner again and I’ll keep trying until we make some progress on figuring out what’s actually going on here.”

“If you think you can do it, I won’t stop you,” she replied. “I stole some food from a nearby market. It’s in the back room.”

Nigreos nodded. “Good. Thanks. I’ll clean this up.”

He indicated the vomit still on the floor with disgust. Album nodded silently once more before turning and making her way down the hallway behind him and into an adjacent room. He watched her go for a moment before putting his head in his hands and sighing in exhaustion.

What...am I going to do?

***

“Eric? You okay?”

When Lilly looked up from her homework, she saw that Eric had a pained look on his face and had a hand to his head. The boy looked across the café table at her and forced a smile.

“Yes, I’m fine,” he assured her. “Just a little headache, is all.”

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, seeing a bit of hesitance in her boyfriend’s eyes that made her wonder if there was something else bothering him. But, deciding that if there was, he’d tell her when he was ready, she simply smiled and returned her attention to the homework before her.