Vol. 4 Ch. 4

“We made a deal earlier that I and Hazel would be strangers until I accepted the fact that Pallitra is gone. Though with that said, I don’t exactly regret talking to her, it sort of gave me… reassurance with myself.”

He looks at Hasha standing in front of her desk.

“I might as well listen to the discussion for now…” he thought.

“In this world, there are many types of magic, we have 6 major types of magic which are specifically Rock, Fire, Water, Wind, Light, and Dark Magic. We have some minor types and some examples of these are Creation Magic, Storage Magic, and much much more. But first, let’s go into them one by one…”

“It’s been a while since I listened to a discussion. Though I don’t think I can force myself to progress with the case of her loss, I can at the very least progress, with something else,” he murmured.

Back at home, Phize is at the table eating with Lizia, his little brother, Lexia, and Vhint.

“I now have something to look forward to… but now what? I managed to get a grasp on a starting point but in the meantime, besides progressing my magic skills, what should I do?” a question lingering in his mind.

Inside his room, he lays in bed. He reflects upon himself.

“What I have right now… is a temporary goal. Do I really have to push myself and think ahead of what should be my permanent goal? Then it must have something to do with…”

“…With what exactly?”

…

..

.

Another day greets the sunlight and the little boy interrogates himself further, trying to analyze the depths of his own mind.

“…My goal… how do I get one exactly?”

He cerebrates, “My goal… It has to be something that relates to what I want to happen. What do I want to happen?”

“Let’s see.”

“I want to live… that’s obvious but too vague. I want to help my family… that’s true but I’m currently facing troubles, so that might not be plausible at the moment,” he theorized.

“Something…”

“Maybe it has to be something deep in my heart… what I really feel strongly about. What do I truly want?”

“I think I’m close. I can feel my mind and heart almost grasping what it truly wants.”

“I want to do something about what happened to Pallitra, but in what way can I do something about it?”

“What… do I feel right now?” he ponders while touching his heart.

“I feel… sadness mostly, with a bit of disappointment, and deep inside it… resides me is…”

“Anger…” he speaks with a monotonous tone.

“Anger? The word to describe it with the word anger seems too weak… The true emotion I’ve been meaning to release all this time… is the feeling of revenge. And that feeling… the one it’s pointing towards is quite obvious.”

…

..

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“I want to get revenge for killing her… I WANT TO KILL THE WITCHES THAT KILLED HER,” he says while he clenches his fist.

“What are my objectives? It should be… to get revenge for her brutal death and put my mind at rest, to prove that I’m not powerless, and…”

…

..

.

“And… to be able to stop these things. To be able to stop events. NO, EVEN STRONGER!”

“To have the ability… to manipulate the fate of the events. To shape them to my will.”

“Right now, my purpose… my goal… IS TO GET STRONG ENOUGH AND KILL ALL OF THE WITCHES! And the first step towards that goal is to get stronger.”

He walks down the hallway and stumbles on a poster hung on the bulletin board. Its contents had such little fonts, he had to look closer to even read it.

He reads aloud the most apparent line of text, “Sign up now, for the upcoming High Hill Veril Event Tournament…”

“What is this?”

While he was solely focused on what the poster had to offer, his great rival, Trif appears walking along with 3 people in full service of him. Slowly approaching him, he takes notice of Phize.

“HEY! HEY! WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?” Trif shouts with an arrogant attitude.

He takes the poster and reads it out loud.

“SIGN UP NOW, FOR THE UPCOMING HIGH HILL VERIL EVENT TOURNAMENT…”

With a hint of mockery, he looks back at him.

“You’re thinking of joining this little competition? Good luck, cause I’m obviously gonna win. You better join because I’d like to humiliate you to the entire school. If you don’t join, I’ll beat your ass up.”

He throws the poster away. He laughs and his lackeys follow him and leave.

“That jerk. Maybe I’ll beat him up too. I hate him as well,” he thought.

“The High Hill Veril Event Tournament… sounds interesting. I’ll see into it more.”

Once more he picks up the poster and reads it in its entirety.

“The High Hill Veril Event Tournament… one of the most anticipated events of The High Institute of Veril and one of the events which it is famous for. It is a competition to see how far young warriors have developed their magic skills, swordsmanship, and battle sense. Participate in 1v1, 4v4, and battle royale-type fights.”

“THIS! THIS IS PERFECT! THIS IS WHERE I CAN PRACTICE MY SKILLS!” he reckoned.

“I have a temporary goal. And it is to win this tournament. ”

“With this, I can lift myself back up again. I’m taking this poster,” he thought.

He arrives back home. The whole family dines at the table.

Phize stands up from his chair and digs through his bag. After minutes of digging, he grabs the poster and shows it to his parents.

“LOOK!”

“Hm? What’s that? Is that… a competition?” Vhint curiously asks while he tries to analyze the poster.

“Ooh, looks like it. You should join,” Lexia suggested.

“But you haven’t practiced swordsmanship for a long time, son. I’m glad you want to join, but are you sure?” Vhint asks.

“Have confidence in him, Vhint, I’m sure he can manage with enough practice,” she said.

“Um, about that, I have a favor to ask,” Phize says.

“Hm, what is it? ASK AHEAD!” she says with a sudden shift to excitement.

“Can… can you both train me?”

Vhint was dumbfounded, “Eh?”

Lexia had to process what he asked, “Hm?”

Lizia butts in, “Training? Look, Laze, big brother’s asking mommy and daddy!”

“Ooh,” Laze said.

…

..

.

“What is it with this awkward silence?” he wondered.

END OF EPISODE 22