Void (3)

When I brought up my questions about the Void and mana, Clara reacted exactly as I had feared — she assumed I was about to dive headfirst into black magic.

Which, to be fair, was not entirely wrong.

But her reaction was far more violent than I had expected.

"With! My brother's! Body! What! Exactly! Are you trying to do!"

With every clipped phrase she spat out, Clara landed another slap across my back. Being the daughter of Baron Manfred apparently came with monstrous strength. Even before the possession, I had rarely been hit this hard.

"This will help Karl too. It's for easing the pain of the Curse of Illusion."

Growing my own power was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠larger goal, of course. And I might well end up feeding even more of Karl's already meager life force into his curses. But there was no need to volunteer those unnecessary details.

"…Just don't go doing anything strange somewhere and get yourself dragged off by the Lumenic Church."

"I'll be careful."

Clara let out a sigh and began her explanation.

The Void is connected to every person's mental world. Reaching it, then, is not especially difficult for anyone. The hard part is finding the direction of the Void in the first place. One way to shorten that process is to have someone inject a small amount of mana into your body from the outside. By following the sensation of that mana flowing through you, you can seek out the place deep within your mind where a similar power resides.

"I'll channel mana into you, so please lie down comfortably on the bed."

I did as Clara instructed and lay down. She sat beside me and gently took my hand.

"Close your eyes. Imagine yourself floating alone in an empty space. My mana will begin flowing through your hand. Follow it toward wherever you feel a similar power."

In truth, all of this still felt like pure fantasy setting to me, and I was not at all sure I could actually do it — but it turned out to be no harder than Clara had said.

My body, floating alone in a featureless void. Mana flowing into me. Somewhere, a power that felt like that mana. I imagined myself moving toward it.

And then.

Thousands upon thousands of bloodshot eyes blinked and wept cataracts of bloody tears. Thousands upon thousands of mouths packed with teeth split open in mad, ecstatic laughter. And from between them, thousands upon thousands of black hands reached toward me, dozens of fingers writhing on each one.

I did not want those things to touch me. Every instinct screamed that I must not let them touch me.

But I could not move. I could not breathe.

"…Brother! Brother!"

When I came to, Clara was shaking me violently. The breath that had been locked in my chest burst free all at once.

"Gah—! Hah… hah…"

"A-are you all right? You slipped under, and then suddenly it was like you were having sleep paralysis…"

"…I saw ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something."

"What? That can't be… There's nothing in the Void. Only mana."

"Then maybe I just had a brief dream?"

"It wasn't brief. You were out for over an hour."

"An hour?"

"Losing consciousness isn't that rare a symptom. Some people reach the deep Void on their very first try, and in those cases it takes time."

Subjectively, it had felt like a few minutes at most.

"You waited for me the whole time? Sorry about that."

"For my brother, of course I would… But I still don't understand the sleep paralysis…"

"…It's probably nothing. Just a nightmare."

"…Now that you're connected to the Void, mana should start flowing to you. Focus your mind, find that same sensation as my mana from before, and imagine drawing it outward."

Just as Clara said, I could feel mana being supplied to my mental world. I seized that sensation and pulled it into reality. The same way it had when Clara drew up her mana, I felt my hair and the edges of my clothes lift slightly into the air.

"Good heavens…"

Clara stared at me as if she could not believe what she was seeing.

"The purity of your mana is extraordinary… Just how deep into the Void did you reach…"

"Is that a problem?"

"The higher the purity, the greater a spell's power, so it's a good thing. It's a talent everyone dreams of. But… given your physical condition, Brother, it may be more than you can handle."

"Ugh…"

The moment she finished speaking, a violent wave of dizziness crashed over me. It felt as if someone had taken a hammer to my brain.

"Settle the mana. The deeper the Void you've touched, the greater the drain on your mental strength. And mental strength isn't independent of physical stamina — so the time you can actually use mana will be extremely short."

That did not matter. Simply being able to use mana at all was more than satisfying enough.

"Thank you for the help, Clara."

"I never imagined you had this kind of talent… If it weren't for the cursed body, you could have become a mage of considerable standing. What a shame."

She was not wrong. In Luke's Biography, the demon-worshipper Karl had ranked among the greatest mages on the continent — priests, black mages, and World Mages included.

"I should just be grateful we found out now."

"…It's a waste, having to spend a gift like that on sorcery."

Sorcery — the magic of death — did not demand great talent, and beyond curses its practical applications were limited. But for someone born with a curse as powerful as Karl's, the story was different. Because of the power of Altering.

The demon-worshipper Karl had Altered the Curse of Illusion and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠become the continent's foremost master of mental attacks. I planned to develop that power in a somewhat different direction.

"There doesn't seem to be any immediate problem, but… what happened earlier still worries me. If anything feels wrong, you must tell me."

"I will."

Clara watched me for a long moment with anxious eyes, then rose and said she would take her leave. After she left my room, I took the silver dagger from the drawer.

The catalyst for the Curse of Obsession.

Previously, something had felt incomplete, and I had been unable to proceed with the Altering. Now, when I drew up mana, I found I could intervene in the formula. So mana had been the missing piece after all.

Unlike the Curse of Illusion, which I had been born with and which needed no catalyst, the Curse of Obsession required me to rewrite the formula starting from the catalyst itself.

A black magic circle appeared above the dagger. Dark energy flowing from my hand began to overwrite it, stroke by stroke.

I was resting, still dizzy from the heavy use of mana, when Sophie burst into the room in a hurry and said people were calling for me. Walking was difficult, so I leaned on her for support as we went.

We arrived at Baron Manfred's study. The baron himself was not present — but my family was. Lady Manfred, Cain Manfred, Clara Manfred. And with them, Paulo, Brenden, and the other officers who had served since the mercenary company days.

It looked like something serious. I was not sure a man who had been wheezing in bed belonged in the room at all.

"Karl. Are you feeling all right?"

"I'm fine, Mother."

Lady Manfred looked at me with worried eyes.

"The baron has requested reinforcements. It's about those Anamar deserters from before."

Paulo began the briefing. The beastman bandits that Baron Manfred had gone out to suppress in person. I had thought it would be over quickly — yet here he was, calling for support.

"The situation isn't dire, but it seems to have stalled into a deadlock. Young Master Cain will be going. Brenden — can you manage?"

"Augh. Why does everything keep landing on me these days? Guess they really can't do without me."

Brenden grumbled with a grin. He had certainly been busy of late. After escorting me home from the hospital, he had gone straight out to deal with the ghost problem in Grat Village, and now he had to reinforce the baron.

The baron charged out of the castle the moment any fighting started. Paulo, his right hand, had to stay behind and run the place in his stead — which naturally meant more fieldwork falling to Brenden, next in the chain of command.

I was still wondering why I had been summoned at all when Paulo turned to me.

"And. Young Master Karl."

"…Me?"

"Yes. We would like you to go as well."

"Why Karl? Did Christopher ask for him?"

Lady Manfred's voice sharpened as she questioned Paulo. The other officers looked equally puzzled. Only Cain watched me with an easy smile.

"No. He didn't name anyone specifically. This is my judgment."

Paulo looked faintly nervous, but he continued calmly.

"The leader of the deserters is said to be a black mage."

At the words black mage, the officers began to murmur. What could a black mage possibly stand to gain by showing himself here?

"Young Master Karl demonstrated exceptional skill at resolving matters of sorcery during the recent ghost incident."

"If it's a black mage, sorcery won't be the only problem. Why not just call a priest?"

A black mage would obviously rely on dark magic in combat. Countermeasures against sorcery were not the urgent priority. A priest who wielded light magic would be far more efficient.

"The priest is already there. He's said to be locked in a hard fight with the black mage."

"Then Christopher should be able to handle the rest on his own."

That was fair. If the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠black mage was tied up fighting Priest Thomas, the remaining beastmen would be swept aside in moments before the baron's great curved blade.

But Paulo shook his head and looked at me.

"Even so, he is struggling. A werewolf is said to be fighting alongside the black mage."

A werewolf — another product of a curse. Almost certainly a curse that would be useful to me. I also wanted to test the power I had gained by Altering the Curse of Obsession. And perhaps I could claim the black mage's grimoires as spoils of war. More knowledge of black magic would be a tremendous help in handling curses.

"All right. I'll go."

"Karl. You don't have to push yourself. You don't need to step forward. We've weathered plenty of crises without this."

"No, Mother. All I've done until now is cause trouble. I want to be of some help for once."

The real Karl might well have meant every word of that.

Phrases flickered through my mind.