59 – Miracle
The footsteps continued endlessly. It was hard to believe that one could walk such a long distance with a bleeding rate that could turn the white snow red.
“No… No…!”
Of course, Ariel, who was running tirelessly along the bloodstains, did not have such thoughts.
The light clothing and the cold snow touching her bare feet felt as if they were freezing her to the bone, but she did not feel the cold.
Now she could handle mana smoothly. No, she could use it even faster and more powerfully than before.
Covered in overflowing mana, Ariel moved as if flying along the fading footsteps.
The surrounding scenery changed rapidly as if flowing. She crossed Frost Territory and passed Snowfield Village, which had been reduced to ashes.
However, due to the snowstorm that had started blowing, the snow had piled up and the traces of Venice’s footprints were almost disappearing.
Having experienced countless snowstorms while living in the northern region, she had never hated a snowstorm as much as she did now.
“Please… Please…”
No matter how desperately she prayed, the footprints were barely visible due to the snow that had already piled up. If more snow piled up like this, she wouldn’t be able to find the footprints.
Ariel’s empty eyes looked up at the sky. The feeling of hatred was directed towards the snowstorm. A storm-like wind rose around Ariel’s body, gathering all the mana in the vicinity.
From Noble mtl dot com
The magic of changing the weather had always remained a legend. Stories of a great sorcerer or sage who appeared in the chaotic era of the past, who changed the weather, played a role in arousing the longing for sorcerers in apprentice sorcerers or those who wanted to become sorcerers.
However, legends remain legends for a reason. No one was able to perform the miracle of changing the weather.
The magic that even the sorcerers and sages who flourished for generations had given up on had now become a common belief that it was impossible unless one was a dragon in a legend.
“………”
Ariel keenly felt the truth. The time when she first learned about the existence of wizards as a child. It was her goal that she had dreamed of countless times.
However, reality was cold. No matter how talented Ariel was, it was impossible for her to perform the miracle of changing the weather from her childhood to the present.
With that in mind, Ariel continued to live, still forgetting.
“I have to succeed somehow…”
Now, Ariel sets her childhood goal once again. To achieve that miracle that she hoped for, even surpassing all the wizards and legends.
There is no time to think that it is impossible. It is something that must be achieved no matter what.
If ordinary people, or even enough strong individuals, were caught up in it, a storm strong enough to blow them away in an instant would arise. Ariel calmly looked at the sky from the eye of that storm.
The dark, high sky that seemed endless. The sky that pours out hateful eyes, blocking my path.
I have never felt the sensation of resonating with mana like this in my life. It feels as if mana and my body have become one.
I concentrate all the available spirit. Concentrating beyond the limits of the brain feels like going beyond the realm of humans.
The cloudy mind becomes clear, and unnecessary thoughts disappear like ripples.
The intense storm of concentrated magical power becomes calm and creates a peaceful wind instead. Ariel speaks while looking at the hateful sky.
“…Don’t stop me.”
The calm storm starts from around Ariel and sweeps everything away. The small wind that was like the fluttering of a butterfly gradually grows to the point where it expands to the sky.
The wind that seemed to blow over the whole world moves forward silently and lays claim to the sky.
After a while. As if asking when the fierce snowstorm had hit, the weather became calm and clear.
The miracle that had only taken place in legends and history books was now realized in this very place.
After breaking through the wall named “limit,” the quality of mana that I had felt until now seemed different. Now, it feels like I have the ability to achieve any miracle.
However, there was no time to rejoice in realizing the miracle and surpassing the limits of humans. Ariel silently followed the traces of blood that had started to appear again and continued on.
Ariel entrusts herself to her intuition and now begins to fly, giving up running. The more refined manipulation of magical power made it possible to constantly use the Fly magic that would receive praise from the entire empire, even if it lasted only a few seconds.
As they continued forward, their footsteps abruptly stopped at a certain point. It was a place that Erielle knew all too well.
“……!”
It was a place they had cursed countless times. The space where they first met Venice.
The traces of blood led into the sorcerer’s cave. The moment they discovered the cave, Erielle’s heart began to race madly.
Gulp.
With a trembling body, they entered the cave. The unease was overwhelming, as if it was devouring their entire being.
Inside the cold cave, not a single sound could be heard. However, the traces of blood continued into the depths of the cave.
With each step, an indescribable something squeezed their heart. The more they thought about Venice, the stronger the intensity became.
Creak…Creak…
“……!”
Then, a mechanical sound came from a small glass bead on the ground. Erielle, who was on guard, lowered their stance, but it did not attack or explode.
Ignoring the glass bead, Erielle tried to enter the inner part of the cave, but the glass bead kept catching their eye.
It was a strange premonition that if they didn’t check that bead right now, they would regret it for the rest of their life.
They kneeled down and picked up the glass bead. Other than the creaking sound, it was an ordinary glass bead with no apparent function.
However, they could see a faint dark aura emanating from it. It was probably something similar to the sorcerer’s artifact.
Even after staring at the glass bead for a while, they had no way of knowing what it did. Erielle let out a small sigh, put the glass bead back down, and tried to proceed into the depths of the cave.
Creak…Creak…
-You can see the scenes of the target. Would you like to confirm?
“….What? Ugh…!”
Suddenly, a blinding light flashed from the glass bead, making it impossible to open their eyes, until they let out an incomprehensible sound.
“…Was it a trap?”
With her eyes tightly shut against the sudden burst of light, Ariel focused on the sounds. If she could hear the approaching footsteps, she could respond immediately.
Rumble, rumble…
But what she heard wasn’t the sound of footsteps, but rather the voices of people. And it wasn’t the echoing sound that would come from inside a cave, but rather the sound one would hear from a square in a village.
Realizing something was amiss, Ariel opened her tightly shut eyes. The blurry world quickly became clear, revealing Snowfield Village instead of the cave where Ariel had been standing.
“What is this… what on earth…”
In an incomprehensible situation, Ariel looked around. But the clear voices of people and their faces confirmed that this scene was indeed real.
It was such an alien sight that Ariel thought she must be seeing a hallucination. However, no matter how many times she faced people and made a sound, they ignored her as if she couldn’t be seen or heard.
Even a passerby who was approaching Ariel walked right past her without colliding.
“………….”
Ariel quickly began to assess the situation. People who couldn’t see her or touch her.
And the words that had flowed out of the artifact. “Witness the scenes of the subject.”
With a brief thought, Ariel concluded that she had taken on the role of an observer in a world within someone’s memory.
At that moment, she saw a familiar face in the distance, at a shop.
“….Venice.”
With a small basket in hand, Venice was tightly wrapped in layers of clothing. Venice bowed repeatedly to the shop owner.
Approaching quietly, Ariel eavesdropped on the conversation between Venice and the shop owner. She watched as Venice, with a bowed head, expressed gratitude for receiving a difficult errand to the Frost Territory.
…Why?
If Venice was a dark wizard, why did they bow so deeply to the shop owner and take on such a difficult errand?
Why did they want to feed the orphans? If they were a dark wizard, a parasite of society, they could easily survive without doing such things.
On a night that was pitch black, with a fierce snowstorm raging, Venice braved the wind that seemed to want to engulf and blow her away as everyone else drifted off to sleep.
“….Huff!”
As she continued her weary steps, Venice suddenly raised her head and looked around.
Whether it was because she suddenly felt the cold or because she was scanning her surroundings, Venice walked toward the entrance of a small cave that she discovered with her limited field of vision.
…It was the cave where she first met Venice.
“What on earth is this?”
Venice looked at the symbols of the sorcerer and the black cloth, seemingly fascinated.
…Why do you look at it as if you’re seeing it for the first time?
If you were a sorcerer, you would know the symbols better than anyone else.
Venturing into the cave as if by chance, Venice gradually moved deeper inside as the scent of blood began to fill the air.
Unveiling the black curtain, the sorcerer’s workshop was revealed. In the iron bars, she could see her own dying reflection.
Ariel quietly watched Venice, who shook the people inside the iron bars with a desperate expression, trying to wake them up, and tried to strike down the iron bars to break free.
…Why do you look at them with a sorrowful expression? Why do you become angry when you see those who have died?
“……..Sigh.”
Venice’s voice barely reached her, and the moment she first met him unfolded before her eyes.
The sorcerer entering the room, Venice stabbing the sorcerer with a dagger the same color as the dark magic the sorcerer wielded.
And even smiling as he handed himself over without any suspicion.
“What on earth is this…”
Ariel tried to deny the reality, but what she saw before her eyes was undeniably real.
If he was a wicked sorcerer, these were actions he would never take.
As the disbelief towards Venice gradually peeled away, the truth that had been concealed by that disbelief was revealed.
Once the fog of disbelief lifted, Ariel’s mind became filled with anxiety and denial.
Crack… Bang-!
The world shattered and another scene emerged before her eyes.