The forest gently awakens as the first rays of dawn penetrate the dense canopy of towering trees. The scent of earth and blooming wildflowers wafts through the ruined mansion. Moisture and the smell of rainfall linger in the air, where droplets of water gather from the hole in the palace, forming a small pool.
It's obvious that it rained last night. Water drips onto Saze's forehead and slides off as he wakes up. He slowly opens his eyes, rubbing them lightly with his hand, his two black eyes gleaming with clarity.
"Ahh~" Saze stretches and yawns.
He raises his arms, makes fists, and begins to stretch his spine, twisting his waist left and right, listening to the crackling sounds of his joints. This feeling is very comfortable, but it leaves him wanting more. Now he imagines rotating his spine three hundred sixty degrees.
"That might be comfortable..." Saze thinks to himself as a joke. After all, he doesn't want to end up disabled. If he has to sit in a wheelchair forever, he really doesn't know how to live happily.
"Oh yeah, what year is it in this world...? I should ask Finty later…" Saze looks up at the huge hole in the ruined palace and whispers to himself.
"1887," a cold voice sounds behind him.
As Saze turns his head, he sees a woman with blue and black gradient hair, dressed in a dark blue gown, sitting gracefully before him. Finty's face shows a faint smile. Her charming, mature smile slightly warms his heart as she repeats, "This year is 1887."
Saze gulps hard, suppressing the rush of emotions within him. At his age, he has also entered puberty. In these four years, Finty teases him sometimes, but not too frequently. He quickly calms his mind and responds to her.
"1887? So it's the 19th century right now…" Saze contemplates aloud.
"So you've been here for four years now. What other memories do you have from Earth?" Finty asks.
"Oh, I've recalled my memories from when I was thirteen, so now I'm thirteen again," Saze replies softly.
As time goes by, Saze's memories return. Each day he spends here brings back fragments of his past life on Earth. Although the void has reversed his time, affecting both his body and mind, he knows everything will come back eventually.
"Well then, you will have a long vacation soon," Finty says, playfully poking a small spider that crawls onto her thigh.
"Eh,? why?" Saze asks in surprise.
"I'm going outside of the forest to the human world, their country. I'm going to prepare your ID card for you, so you can live there among your kind."
"Are you excited now? You can leave the forest and step into the world of humans," Finty smiles at him.
Saze has been in this forest for four years, and the prospect of finally seeing humans fills him with excitement. Aside from Finty and Moty, who can take human form but are not entirely human, he hasn't seen anyone else.
"R-Re-Really?!! Hooray!!" Saze stammers, shouting with excitement.
"Hehe… However, you still need to wait for a month." Finty sees his happiness and can't help but want to temper it.
"It's okay! I've waited for four years already! Just one more month!" Saze declares, clenching his fists with determination and showing no signs of his excitement dwindling.
The light of yearning for freedom shines in his black-haired eyes, momentarily stunning Finty before she smiles again.
"Well, staying optimistic isn't a bad thing at all. Just don't get too carried away," she advises.
"Alright, what are we going to do today?" Saze asks, eager to know the plan.
"Nothing much. You can take care of your own things while I prepare for my trip," Finty replies as she rises and walks away.
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"Then let me help you," Saze follows up.
This act makes Finty glance at him. She doesn't expect Saze to do this. To be honest, it is quite heartwarming. Sometimes the unintentional kindness of others is remembered in people's hearts.
This is the first time in four years that Saze offers to help. Of course, this is because he couldn't help before. After all, he can't lift huge ruined blocks or hunt. But Finty doesn't say anything and just gestures to tell him to follow.
After leaving the hall, they pass through many small areas and then see an old wooden door in an inconspicuous corner. Finty steps into the room as she slowly opens the old wooden door, and the creaking sounds.
What comes into view is a huge red carpet covering the floor of the exhibition hall and a large white bed with tables and chairs next to it. There are also many decorations in this room, such as a world map hanging on the wall and books piled on the floor. There are shoe cabinets and many luminous stones to illuminate the room.
When Saze steps into the room, a scent of fragrance hits his nostrils. At this time, he looks at the bookshelf on the side and finds that there are many flowers and plants in a row, and the fragrance comes from them.
"I actually have prepared many things already, I'm just going to get my extra shoes and dress," Finty opens her wardrobe.
The wardrobe has many dresses, shirts, and underwear, as well as the shoes that are at the bottom. As Finty starts to grab those things, she also tells Saze to get a flower.
"Hey, Saze, get the dark blue flower on the bookshelf," Finty says lightly.
"Alright... let me see... ugh..." Saze's eyes glance at the row of the bookshelf that has flowers.
"Aha! This one!" Saze finds it and takes it carefully.
This dark blue flower is the same color as Finty's hair, the flower has big petals and a thin stem. Saze holds the flowerpot and leans against the stone wall, and he suddenly sees there is a thin blue color energy that is like silk flowing on the petals.
"Finty, what's this?" Saze asks.
"That's the mana on the flower, didn't I teach you that everything contains mana?" Finty rolls her eyes.
"But I never see them materialize," Saze takes the flowerpot close to his face and gazes at the petals.
"That's because I use the mana to replace the nutrition," Finty answers.
"Oh, arcane magic can also work in this way?" Saze says in surprise.
"Yes, you can also use your mana to replace blood, so you can consider mana as extra blood," Finty explains.
"If you use blood arcane, then it will be better because you can materialize the real blood," Finty adds after explaining.
Saze looks up as if thinking about something. Memories of Earth appear in his mind, through watching anime, he imagines an evil arcane mage using blood arcane to harm people.
"That seems like what evil people do..." Saze says in a deep voice.
"Don't let stereotypes slander others..." Finty's lips corner twitch a bit.
"In fact, those blood arcane are used to heal people, not to harm people. I have a friend who uses blood arcane, and he is a great doctor who saved a hundred lives," Finty adds.
Arcane is a tool that can save others and harm others. No matter what arcane magic it is, the core is still the user.
"Oh, that's cool then! I want to learn it!" Saze says with shining eyes.
Saze acts so excitedly because one of his dreams is to become a great doctor who saves people, and another of his dreams is to be an author, pilot, and lawyer. As for why there are so many dream jobs, it's because he thinks that if he can't do this, then he tries this.
It won't go wrong to leave more escape routes for yourself.
"Ugh... I'm not sure that you can handle blood arcane. Commonly, our first arcane is elements arcane, just like your wind arcane, it is because we can contact them every day," Finty explains.
"But isn't it that we contact the blood every day? The blood is flowing in our body," Saze asks a difficult question to answer.
"Ugh..." Finty is stunned for a moment and thinks deeply.
"I don't know, but what I know is elements are the basic and the first arcane magic awakened in people," Finty spreads both hands, meaning that she doesn't know either.
"I will ask that doctor about this question," Finty adds and puts everything in the small wooden trunk.
After preparing everything, Finty and Saze go out of the ruined palace. Many spiders and also Moty are here, it seems they are waiting for Finty and Saze.
"Oh, Finty, you're finally done!" Moty says happily.
"The carriage is here already," Moty adds.
The rapid sound of horse hooves slowly amplifies a luxury carriage that has four brown horses controlled by a man. That man is young and wears a black robe, white shirt, and black pants. He has sharp eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips, which give him an arrogant aura.
He glances around this area and gazes at Saze. At this moment, their eye contact occurs, and Saze feels an invisible pressure of a mountain as if it presses him down. Saze's breathing becomes rapid, and his hair stands on end, as if he is alone and facing a strong enemy.
At the next moment, the man looks away. Nobody sees that Saze's body is trembling lightly.
The black wooden carriage has ornate gold engravings and a metal wheel. Finty opens the door of the carriage, revealing the pure white leather on the seat and a small table connected at the end.
"Alright, I will go now. Moty, take care of Saze," Finty smiles and closes the door.
As the carriage fades away in the eyes of every spider and person, Saze moves, he suddenly falls to his knees and gasps for air, his clothes soaked with cold sweat.
"Ha... ha... ha..." Saze pants.
"Whoa... what happened??" Moty is confused and quickly walks to his side.
"That man... is... freaking horrible..." Saze stammers.