Arcane Awakening

Some kids are playing at the hospital ground.

I stare at them nonchalantly, but still wondering from where they get the energy. The kid with white hair, Joseph, a patient of thyroid cancer, is currently holding hostage of a handball and wiggling with it. Another kid with constant attachment to tissue papers, Liana, diagnosed with acute pneumonia, is provoking him to pass the ball to her. The kid who seems a bit older than them, James, standing with the help of a crutch instead of a leg, watching them from aside and giggling at times.

Maybe I've had my fair share to live, maybe because I'm not young, maybe life hasn't been always fair to me, I can't feel joy like those kids. But it's alright, as I think to myself, since everything is bound to end one day and I'm no exception.

Hearing the click of the door, I look away from the window. Jenna, my little neighbour, enters the room with cheerful steps. I'm not sure if it's because of the pink ribbon on her hair, but she's looking brighter than usual.

"Miss Hazel!" she runs to my bed where I'm lying down, her eyes are brimming with excitement. "The nurse said I could take of the stickers off my hands today! Look," she attempts to show me her wrists, considering this as a big achievement.

"That's great, Jenna," I chuckle, feeling a bit better in my empty mind. "I hope you'll need those less in the future."

"Thank you! But I miss home though," she pouts and leans on the bed edge carefully. "I'm sure my dolls are crying in sadness since I'm not with them! By the way, Miss Hazel," she tilts her head towards me. "Will you come see my dolls one day, you know, when everything gets better? I have lots of them, which will make even you envious!"

I smile softly, "Sure, I will, if your parents allow me to. I'll make sure I visit you and your dolls, Jenna."

And I wait for the guilt to hit me for lying to a kid. Some things can't be changed and I'm a mere creation of the universe, I don't have much power to exceed my limitations.

When the sun sets, I slowly adjust my bed to lie down comfortably. That's what I have been doing for the past year, lying down, taking my pills according to the rules, savoring bland, antiseptic foods if I feel like it and use my every bit of strength to hop on the wheelchair and hover my way through the hallway.

I must have dozed off for a bit, since there are two whispering voices in the room. I immediately know who they might be, since they check up on me regularly to see if I have already used my ticket to the afterlife.

"Babe, I want that golden lined dress," I can imagine my sister hanging from the soon-to-be husband's neck, pouting and puffing her cheeks. "It's so cute, I really, really want it."

"But sweetie, it's so expensive, can I really afford it? You have to understand me," the husband softly tries to turn down her request.

"But I want that dress. And you love me, so you'll buy it for me at any cost, right?"

"Listen to me, sweetie."

"What about the life insurance money?" I can feel her glancing at me even with my eyes closed. "You talked with the company, right?"

"But we ain't getting the money until your sister dies. You know how the rules work, so why don't we go with the dress I chose?"

"Ah that woman, still holding onto her useless life!" my sister raises her voice and storms out the room. And the husband hurries behind to calm her down.

I open my eyes.

The neon light is so red, looks even redder than human blood. It's like a signal reminding me about the countdown, in every moment. I wonder about the organism behind the light and chuckle to myself without no reason.

When the supper time comes, I finish my food like a good kid, even though the food probably never heard of seasonings. And then I smile to the nurse who fed me, asking her to have a good night.

I wait patiently till it's midnight, one thing I'm good at. The noise quiets down slowly, soon there will be a change in the guards shift, which will take ten to fifteen minutes. Enough for me to use my last bit of strength for one last time and place my pathetic body on the wheelchair.

I try my best to lock the door and make it look like I'm sleeping inside. Another good thing is that any doctor won't do checkup on me at night, since my illness isn't severe anymore. Well, it's not severe right now, doesn't mean I'm getting any better either.

I sigh while passing Jenna's room, trying to conceal my sadness. I'm sure she will get better and be a great person in the future, away from this white rooms. I chuckle seeing the elevator opened, like even fate is helping me today. I don't forget to push a button down after I get off, I don't anyone to get sus thinking someone came to the top floor.

I struggle hard again, to gain motion, to reach the rooftop through the rally. Rooftop isn't banned to us patients, since everyone wants some fresh air, but the railing is half a human length high.

I grasp the hand stick I brought with me tightly, balancing myself leaning on the brick railing. The night sky is astonishingly beautiful tonight, with stars twinkling here and there. I look down at the roads, the city is still alive, filled with car horns and human clamoring. After a while, the noise will still be there, but I won't be. Life goes on, it's just not for me.

I slowly touch my face, wiping the tears off. I'm sure where they came from, but still I'm happy that I got to choose this decision by myself.

When I stand on the railing, my brain does a quick math. The building is eight storied, along with the rooftop, it can be considered as a nine. With average length of each floor, my velocity and friction forces, I'll probably take like four seconds to reach the ground. I can't help but giggle to myself, I didn't even like math in school.

There I stand, with the help of the stick, shaking involuntarily, but prepared to experience my end. Was my life worth it? Short answer, no. But there's nothing I can do anymore, except this, since my soul left me long ago.

I slowly let go of the stick.

Only after a few seconds, the sound of the wind passing my ears, a muffled shriek of my own, the crushing sound of my bones and immense pain everywhere, welcome my farewell.

Looks like the painkillers didn't work.

I don't know when, but I open my eyes.

Bright tube lights and white walls greet me, almost sending me into another dimension. Fancy enough for an afterlife, I wonder to myself. I slowly tilt my head to see the room. It's filled with unusual machines and in the corner, a man is standing there, watching me with an uninterested expression.

A gasp escapes my lips and I sit up on the bed. And only to exceed my surprise, I'm wearing plain white clothes right now, not the hospital shirt and pajamas. I thought I was going to be alone in the afterlife, not stuck in a room with an unknown man.

The man points his finger at the back, making me turn in that direction. There is a big hole in the wall there, baring the green field beyond, scattered bricks and dust made a mess on the floor.

"You caused this," the man speaks, as if to answer my unasked question. "And you're going to have to fix the wall."

I shake my head, finding it funny.

"A tiny person like me did this? This hole looks like an explosion happened here. And I don't know why I'm here in the first place. I was supposed to be dead."

The man sighs, seems disappointed with my statement. He walks towards the hole and puts his hand forward, like he's going to cast some spell.

"Reforming Magic : Molecular bond."

Light rays come out of his palm and all the particles go back to their places perfectly, like there was never a hole.

"It's a magical world," I whisper, finding it hard to believe my eyes. "I got reincarnated into another world after my death."

"So you're from another world," the man takes a seat in front of me. "No wonder, you don't have an ounce of aura with you."

I don't pay attention to what the man is saying, instead I stare at my legs. Tears start to fill up my eyes. I never thought I would feel my legs without any numbness again.

"I don't think you need to feel emotional. Other world people are rare, but not completely rare in this world. With proper guidance and instructions, you can be a mage too."

I look up to him, not sure if I want to be a sorceress. I mean I literally jumped out of a building to end everything. Now I'm granted a second chance.

"Oh," I state calmly.

"Oh? That's all you have to say?"" the man seems to be surprised. "I thought you would freak out and throw a tantrum."

"Do I look like a kid to you?"

"Kind of, yes. Look at you."

I frown and stand up, spotting a hand mirror on the shelf. The moment I look in the mirror, I can't help but curse out audibly. I'm back in my prime again, I have the face of my teenage life, pretty and innocent. How's this even possible?

"Anyway," the man walks to his table and weird-looking machine. "I was doing some experiments about transportation ports and you clearly ruined it. Now I have to start again."

"I apologize," I reply simply, not sure what to say further. I slowly open the main door and step outside. The man glances at me but says nothing.

There's a pretty big field in front of the house, giving a loving aura around it. I inhale the fresh air deeply, feeling great and alive again. I sense this urge in me, the urge to use my second chance properly, the urge to feel my worth again.

So I go back to the room and torture the man with countless questions about this world, so much that he had to send me to another room with some books.

This world's name is Niria. I'm not being judgmental obviously, the name sounds pretty. Everything in this world basically depends on magic. The more magic someone has, the more powerful it is. The kingdom of Imperium, where I'm right now, is run by a magic knight army, which is divided into two parts, Theory Squad and Practical or Battle Squad. The Battle Squad again consists of thirteen magic knights teams. They work together to protect the kingdom's people and peace.

When a person becomes ten years old, they're provided with a grimoire through a ceremony. The grimoire basically helps people to cast spells according to their own magic attributes.

I walk back to the man's room, because I need to find out something.

"I don't still know your name," I blurt out.

The man looks at me, an expression of amusement playing on his face.

"I'm Cedric."

"I'm Hazel, nice to meet you, really," I reply awkwardly. "I know I'm kind of like an intruder, and I'm causing you trouble, but thank you for your help."

"Okay," he replies, going back to his work.

"So how can I get a grimoire?" I ask again.

Cedric sighs, then gives me a questionable stare. "We get our grimoires at ten normally, through the national ceremony. Maybe you can try the ceremony next month, but I'm not sure, since you're way over the age and too weak."

I feel offended now, I know my illness has dried up my health a lot. But if I train hard from now on, I can definitely get stronger.

"And you also have very little aura, almost nothing," he says again.

"How do you know that?" I frown impatiently.

"Looking at your stats," he indicates somewhere near my head, but I notice nothing. "Your rank is one, and your HP is only two. Many of the functions are still missing, you need to work hard to level up."

"But I don't see any stats."

"That's because you don't have the stat glass. It's normally common for all Nirians, despite the kingdoms' differences. Someone can go up to rank at a thousand most. That's the highest."

"How can I rank up?"

"That will depend on your aura type," he pours some water into a glass, leaving a small leaf on it. "There's a way to find it, do you want to find out?"

I step forward, feeling curious. "How do I do it?"

Cedric puts his hands out, focusing on the water. "I'm pouring my life energy into the water, seeing how the water is moving. That means I'm a transformer."

I put my hands forward like him too, trying to do the life energy thing he just did. I try hard to push myself, not sure what I'm doing. But nothing happens, the water stays still.

Cedric looks up at me after some moments, wearing a dark expression.

"You're an Ordinary, Hazel. A person with no magic."

~

For the next week, I am doing physical exercise, any type of freehand workout I can remember. In my mind, this thought is haunting me, that even though I have been reincarnated into a magical world, I have no magical power. So what? I can still enhance my physical ability. I can't deny that I'm frustrated, but that shouldn't be any excuse for my improvement. I should improve while I can, while I'm utterly interested in the Magic Knight selection ceremony. Cedric mentioned that the selection isn't limited to anyone, so I hope I'm not an exception to that. I'm ranking up and gaining power slowly. I'm at rank seven currently. I have this urge in me to get stronger, to seek greater power.

I chose the forest behind Cedric's house for my training area. Until now, I have seen normal wild creatures like rabbits, tortoises, foxes, but haven't encountered any mythical creatures yet. Cedric said it's because of being a private area, he's in charge of authority. He doesn't like being asked about his rank or power, but I'm pretty sure he's a genius. He also banned me from going into the basement. His reason was that it's dangerous there. The food and my bed are average, though I insisted on cooking sometimes, feeling guilty to stay at his house without any rent.

I complete a thousand push-ups, literally gasping for air. I plan to work out till afternoon today. I brought my lunch with me because of that. Nirians normally gain their aura through working out, duels and food. I can at least do two of them.

After taking a sip of water, I glance around, sensing that someone is watching me from behind the trees.

"Who is there?" I raise my voice, ready to face the intruder.

A huge looking man comes out from a bush, wearing armor and his beard is almost touching his stomach. He eyes me for a split of a second, before taking out his sword and screaming out, "Enemy's here!"

I become frightened, there are definitely more people with him. The best choice is to run to Cedric's house, so he can fight these robbers. But before I can even take a step, that man yells,

"Water Magic : Dance of the Sea Lord!"

I flinch, freezing at the sight of an ice statue sprinting at me. Literally, my life is flashing before me right right now, while nerves are crying to dodge that attack. I shut my eyes tight, thinking it's my end again.

But nothing happens. After some moments, I open my eyes, seeing myself perfectly fine, unharmed. How is that possible? It's like the figure disappeared just before me.

The man is looking at me with shocked and wide eyes. I can already hear his companions' footsteps. I use this opportunity to dash out of the place, calling out Cedric's name.

"Cedric!" I crash at his door, having an adrenaline rush. "There are some bad guys in the forest!"

Cedric stops the machine he was working with, then turns his head to me. "What did you say?"

"There's a Hercules type guy there! He shot me with an water statue! But then the statue suddenly disappeared," I pant, not even attempting to calm myself down.

Cedric runs out of the house after hearing me and I follow him behind. A group of ten armored people run out from the forest, packed with their weapons, shouting. I glance at Cedric, his expression is cold and angry. At that moment, the bright sky turns gray, roaring thunder sounds, making the area atrocious and dark. He creates a circle with his hands, focused. Enormous rays of white light come out of his body, while he's exploding with aura.

"Ice Magic : Infinite Crystal."

And I experience one of the greatest events of my life in front of my eyes. A lot of crystal-shaped ice goes up into the sky, then falls on the intruder's team in a blink, knocking them out in a second. Everything happened so fast, the next thing I see is that they're on the ground, covered with ice crystals. I'm in total awe, he's really a powerful sorcerer.

The sky turns bright again and Cedric looks at me.

"Are you hurt anywhere?" he asks softly.

I shake my head in response.

He slowly walks towards me, his eyes are brimming with curiosity.

"Put your hand out, Hazel."

I don't get what's he going to do, but I obey him anyway.

After a moment, he says, "You possess anti-magic, Hazel."

"You got to have a grimoire then," Cedric states after a moment, looking into somewhere distant.

"But how?" I ask, still processing what he just said. Finally, something worthwhile that I have. But in a magical world, I have the power of anti-magic. I can absorb magic, won't it be seen as a curse?

"You'll see," he steps out of the door. ""I have to take care of the bodies now. We'll go outside at night, so be prepared.""

"But who are these people?" I question him from behind, but only got a slam of the door in response.

I guess he's aware of the intruders, probably his enemies. I have to be careful myself. I almost got caught up in their scheme. It was not because of my anti-magic ability. They seemed weak to Cedric. Maybe it's because he's amazingly powerful.

I drop on the bed slowly, resting my body and mind for a while. I'm going to get a grimoire tonight, a magic book filled with spells all by myself. But I don't even have the power to cast spells. Maybe I'll be granted a weapon at least.

I doze off thinking this and that, when I wake up it's already dark. I had some bad dreams, leaving me all sweaty and anxious. I saw my younger sister and my other family members, those who I have only memories of. I wonder how they're doing right now, since I'm dead in their world. They're probably happy, as they didn't care when I was alive what difference it would make now.

I sigh and get up, craving some food. I decide to warm up some sandwiches from the fridge. I'm going to ask Cedric to fetch ingredients and I will cook for us tomorrow. Cooking is one thing I'm not horrible at.

I peek at his room and notice that he's sitting on his seat, his eyes are distant somewhere.

"Are you ready?" he suddenly asks me, already sensed my presence.

"Yeah almost," I chew some dry chicken pieces, swallowing somehow. "By the way, where are we going through?"

"There's a certain time for the ceremony every year, and aside from that you won't get your grimoire. But you can use an alternative."

"Which is?" I raise an eyebrow.

"You will see," he replies nonchalantly.

An hour later, we arrive at a massive building with an ancient design. I thought Cedric would take on a broomstick like in the movie, but instead he drove a simple car and led us here. Which left me a bit disappointed. My last flying experience wasn't that great.

He walks through a dark alley beside the building, walking me to follow and to keep quiet. After a while, he unlocks something in the brick wall, revealing a cellar. As I get down with him, he closes the entrance with a spell again.

"But how do you know this way?" I whisper, feeling curious.

"I pulled some strings," he whispers back. "Don't make any sound, there might be some guards inside."

We reach the staircases and then the hall is completely dark. Cedric lights up a little lamp by his magic, discovering a huge room with thousands of grimoires stacked up.

"Go stand in the middle," he speaks in a low voice.

I slowly step forward, my heart is beating like crazy. He starts mumbling a chant, while circling around me in collected steps. I put my hands above, waiting for my grimoires to choose me. Cedric pulls up his blue grimoire, the cover is covered with four strings of silver chains, he starts chanting in a higher voice.

From the shelf on my right side, a black colored book sprints at me, then slowly stops above my head. I stare at it for some moments with shock and disbelief, so this is my grimoire. I touch the cover carefully, and it disappears instantly, like it went through my heart.

"The grimoire chose its master. Now let's go," Cedric hurries me, because apparently there are some footsteps coming from the stairs.

It's strictly prohibited to invade the grimoire hall's privacy. So if we get caught somehow, we're going to be in great trouble. Cedric puts off the light and drags me behind a table to hide, cursing under his breath.

The door opens, and an armored woman enters the room. She illuminates the room with a lamp, checking the shelves with a suspicious expression. I wait with a throbbing heart, it's over if she looks over behind her.

Cedric murmurs some spells again, feeling like he had just put a cloak over us. The woman turns to this side, hearing some sound, and probably has her weapon ready already.

"Don't worry," he comforts me, slowly standing up. "I put up an invisible cloak above us, so she won't hear or see us. Let's go through that door quickly, but be careful."

I nod in response, keeping an eye on the woman. We literally start running the moment we're outside the building. I look back for a moment to see the building is lit up. Obviously, they've become alert and looking for intruders.

"Won't this cause a problem?" I ask him when we reach his car, breathing heavily.

"Most probably, no," he shakes his head, starting up the engine. ""A grimoire is linked to someone's soul, but that's why even the authorities can't keep record of them. But stealing and doing business with them are banned, and the punishment is severe. In your case, it chooses you, no matter what the situation is. So you're its sole master.""

"But how do we use it? I don't have any magic power," I sound a little sad.

He glances at me, speeding up.

"Your rank is currently eight and your HP is twenty. It is still quite low to cast spells, but there are ways to obtain magical power through your bloodlines. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend that it contains dark magic."

"Then what am I going to do?"

"We're going to make use of your anti-magic," he chuckles softly. "I'm going to teach you myself, so all you need to do is to listen to me and be a good student."

When we reach the top of the mountain, I see a breathtaking sight in front of my eyes. The warm sunlight is embracing the sky, radiating onto the green, lively forest. The scene looks so magical that it feels like a fairy would come down from the clouds and ask me my wishes.

"Take out your grimoire," Cedric commands me, his eyes on my hands.

"How?" I ask, feeling embarrassed.

He thinks for a moment, then takes out a notebook from his pocket. "Let's see how. Since you don't have any magical aura, then of course you can't use any spells, but you can memorize the simple ones. There's a spell for summoning your grimoire. Repeat after me. Egredere, mi grimoire."

"Egredere, mi grimoire," I speak in a clear voice. The grimoire appears in front of me in an instant, being opened by itself. I notice that the book is chained up with five strings, not sure what that represents. I stare at it with shock, as a huge black sword comes out of the book. I hold it with my shaken fingers. It's extremely heavy and long.

"Can you wield it?"

"Not really," I shake my head, it's already hard enough to hold it.

"Black is a rare color for grimoires," Cedric looks tensed. "Also about the five strings, there's not much reference in the history books. The pages are also empty, which means that this sword is your only power right now. You have to learn how to use it. Get stronger, work out more. Enhance your physical power. Give me a thousand push-ups right now," his voice is strict and cold.

I get to work right then. In order to wield the sword, I need more muscle power. The mountain air is really thin and dry, so it's getting harder to breathe. But I'm desperate for now, I don't want to give up. Not giving up is going to be my magic.

"Five hundred and two," Cedric announces, monitoring me from beside. "Keep your posture right, straighten your back."

I plop on the ground after I finish, feeling like I'm almost going to die. Which isn't anything new.

"Two minutes," he indicates at a tree branch. "Then give me five hundred pull-ups."

Cedric is really ruthless. I realized it later. But he's also very powerful and knows a lot. He mentioned that I have to increase the number of workouts, day by day. I hope I'm able to do that except passing out. I also I hope that he will give me some breaks. It was just that day that I got reincarnated into this world.

As my last workout of the day, Cedric creates multiple ice statues with his magic. I have to defeat the puppets using only my bare hands.

"Aim for their legs, stomach and head," he suggests to me. "Now go, finish them off."