Chapter 15 — Smoke and Clouds Disperse
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
In a shadow realm woven of black and white, Gao Yang, Amber, Betty, and an unnamed wild mage sat in a crude wooden hut. Before them lay the simple lunch Betty had just prepared: a few slices of bread, some fried sausages, and a little vegetable soup.
Everything was utterly colorless, like an old black-and-white photograph.
Gao Yang had no intention of touching the food before him. Cooking was indeed possible within the shadow realm, but he truly could not be sure what would happen to him—a living, breathing human (probably)—if he ate something from this place.
Beside him, Amber and Betty likewise left their knives and forks untouched.
The wild mage across the table did not urge them on. He simply ate his own food in silence, looking very quiet indeed.
A strange, unspoken understanding hung over the hut.
It was Gao Yang who first broke the silence. "How long have you been here?"
"A long time," said the wild mage, setting down his knife and fork with an air of courtesy. "I settled here in the second year after I left the Arcane Society."
"You were once a member of the Arcane Society?" Gao Yang asked, somewhat surprised. "I took you for a wild mage through and through."
"I was originally a second-rank member of the Arcane Society," the wild mage said quietly. "By the Society's standards, I was a clumsy spellcaster—I was good at calculation and reasoning, but I lacked the ability to turn that into spell models. In other words, my casting level would forever remain at the novice stage. A mage like that is not welcome in the Arcane Society."
"So they drove you out?" Amber found it hard to believe. She knew that a true mage was precious, even a clumsy one—clumsy only by the measure of the great arcane masters. In the eyes of ordinary people, even a mage who could conjure nothing but a little fireball was a personage of no small consequence. Even if such lowly casters were overlooked within the Arcane Society, surely it would not go so far as to cast them out.
"I left of my own accord," the wild mage said, shaking his head, and turned to look at Betty. "For my daughter's sake—to cure her—I had no choice but to leave."
Betty stared at the wild mage, dumbfounded, then nodded in a muddled way.
Gao Yang did not press the matter further. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the wild mage's and laid his right hand on the hilt of the longsword at his waist. "You should know why we've come," he said slowly. "We don't have much time to waste."
The wild mage's stiff, sluggish expression finally shifted a little. His body trembled slightly, and then he lowered his head. "...Guest, I'm not quite sure what you mean."
Betty looked at Gao Yang nervously. "Master?"
Gao Yang furrowed his brow. After a moment he took his hand from the hilt of the Pioneer's Sword and softened his tone. "Then we'll wait a while longer."
The wild mage lowered his head and went on eating his meal quietly and in silence. The only superfluous movement he made while eating was to raise his head from time to time and glance at Betty beside him.
Eventually the food would be finished, and Gao Yang could not wait indefinitely.
The wild mage swallowed his last bite of sausage, then carefully wiped the soup plate clean with a slice of bread. Having finished his meal, he raised his head and looked in Betty's direction—but his eyes were not really focused on her at all, rather on some point farther away. His body swayed as though he meant to stand, yet several attempts failed.
In the end, it was Betty who helped him to his feet.
"Papa, I have to go now," the little girl said, holding the wild mage's arm. Only once she was sure he was standing steady did she let go, then edged over to Gao Yang's side. "Miss Rebecca and Lady Heidi are still waiting for me, and the master has come too."