Chapter 11 - Restart

The first thing I noticed after I woke up was that all my pain and fatigue were gone. What's more, I didn't have a single bandage on me. 'Huh? Was that all a dream or something?' I looked around, unable to recognize the place.

 A door opened, and the old man who taught me about magic and echoes entered the room. "You seem to have recovered. You have been out for a few days." 

I was barely holding back my urge to ask about my results. But deep down, I already knew what he would say. 

Master Xela looked at me, not showing any sign of emotion. "Can you tell me what has happened in the past week?" I started to tell him about my time in the forest and the wooden monster. Except I told him that I managed to damage the guy a little, then made a 'wise' decision to retreat. 

At that moment, I thought that by saying all this, I could improve my chances of getting accepted, so I tested my luck. "So, uhm, did I get in?" The old man stared at me, bewildered. "What kind of question is that? You obviously didn't." 

My heart sank. "The guy you fought wasn't even using his echo for most of the fight. Not only that, he was just toying with you the whole time, and despite that, you barely hit him. The damage he sustained can be healed without any magic. You are lucky that the bearded man chose to take care of you, because if it were up to me, I'd let shit like you die."

 I was lost for words. I wasn't able to process everything. Who even was the man in front of me? Why did he help me to begin with? 

The old man stared at me with a scary face and whispered, "This academy is for talented people. The sole fact that shit like you wants to attend this academy ruins its reputation."

 I was filled with anger. Who did that old fuck think he was!? 

"If you are so smart and powerful, and call other people shit, then why didn't you fucking tell me everything!? What's the deal with the lightning that guy used!? Why didn't you tell me about echoes!? You didn't tell me a single shit!" I started yelling at him. 

"You should probably learn some manners," Master Xela told me, not bothering to hide his sense of superiority. Words couldn't describe how much that annoyed me. 

"But fine, I'll tell you." I didn't know what to expect. That man was insane. "As you know, when you are born, you become able to use the four basic elements. In order for one to go beyond that, for example, to use lightning, he would have to use outer mana." I tried to hide my shock. 'Is one of the weakest guys at this academy that strong? He was using it without much effort!' 

That thought was very scary, but then the old man spoke again. "However, that's not always the case."

 'Huh?' 

"You see, there are people who, at birth, get an additional element that they can use with the help of spirit mana. Your opponent was like that." "And why did you make the fight so unfair?! Is it because I have a low status? Tell me!" I said furiously. 

"You could've at least made him use his echo... Peasant." He looked at me. "As for echoes... You won't find out."

 He smiled. "That's because you won't undergo the echo bestowment process. And that is because... we decided to take away all your rights to attend any sort of school. Since we are such an influential academy, believe it or not, we can do that." 

"No, you don't!" I screamed as I punched him. He caught my hand and punched me with his other one, knocking me out again. 

When I woke up, I wasn't in that room anymore. I didn't even know where that was, but I was assuming it was somewhere inside the academy. This time, I was outside. I was in the middle of the road. "That bastard!" I was very stubborn, so I thought of going to another school right at that moment, just to piss him off.

 But then I remembered how confident he sounded when he told me about being unable to go to any school. I punched the ground as hard as I could, letting out a scream. Tears started rolling down my face. 'This can't be... What do I do now!?'

 Luckily, I wasn't on one of the important roads, so there was no one nearby. 

After screaming and crying for a while, I finally got up and decided to wander around the town, just like when I was home. That made me think of my parents, which made me cry again for a few minutes.

 It was frustrating. They were always in the back of my mind, but I just couldn't afford to cry over it. But at that point, it felt like everything was over. There was nothing I could do. 

I sat on a bench, looking at the sky. I wanted to try and relax for a little bit before I would think about what to do next. I wondered if Eki would pass. 

Was it an hour, perhaps two? I didn't know. I was just staring at the sky; people who were passing by were completely ignoring me, so it was fine. A guy even sat on the other side of the bench, as if I wasn't there at all. Except he didn't completely ignore me. 

"Are you alright?" Surprised, I looked at him. He looked around thirty years old and had a mustache. His face was pale, and he was wearing a baggy sweater. "You're weird. Can't you feel how hot it is outside?" He let out a laugh. "My body is weird; I feel cold regardless of the weather outside. So, what about you?" 

I was debating whether to tell him or not, but he spoke instead. "If you want, you can join my guild. You know, we are currently recruiting." 

"What is a guild?" 

"Oh, really?" The man said thoughtfully. "Well, a guild is where mages go and gather the necessary experience for the echo bestowment, for the most part." My sadness suddenly disappeared. "Some of them choose to go on their own, create a guild, or some even remain in their old one. Well, generally, you would need to graduate from a school to be able to join a guild, but I like to scout for people without such possibilities who have the potential to become great mages."

 It felt like he was daydreaming, but I didn't care. That guy was my only hope. 

"So you can help me!?"

 He looked like he got distracted from his thoughts and turned to face me. "So I was right. You do need help." 

He smiled gently.