Chapter 213 - Tears

“Sell,” Lastia’s voice sounded hesitantly from behind.

Sellitha had an open history book in front of her, but her gaze was to the sky in the east. It was as if she stared long enough, she might be able to catch a glimpse of something.

“Sell,” Lastia called out a little louder, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Huh?” Sell turned around to see Lastia and Felicia looking at her with worry.

“Are you okay?” Felicia asked.

“I’m fine,” Sellitha answered, trying to give an assuring smile but failing.

“Well,” Felicia said hesitantly, “Good. I know it seems bleak right now. I’m worried too. But we have the Academy on our side. And Adion…he’ll find a way to escape. You have to believe in him.”

If I got captured…Would Adion just sit at home and believe in my ability to escape? No way.

“I know,” Sellitha murmured. She had heard it all before. It didn’t comfort her anymore. “I’m going to the fighting pits.”

Sellitha closed her book and stood up to leave.

“Again? Sell, you spent all morning there. Don’t exhaust yourself,” Lastia said.

“I’m just sharpening my Will. This is nothing compared to fighting in the war or in the Outskirts,” Sellitha answered, “I need to go. See you tonight.”

Sellitha left her two friends behind and headed outside. She knew they were worried about her, but Sellitha had no time or energy to comfort them. She needed to focus all her attention on getting stronger.

As she got outside, she was greeted by the sunlight washing over her face. It carried very little warmth now that fall had come. It was getting colder and colder each day. It managed to somehow make Sellitha’s mood even worse.

If my fire could burn as fiercely as the summer sun…I would burn all our enemies to ashes.

One day.

Just stay alive until then.

Sellitha clenched her fists and ran off to the private fighting pits belonging to the Scrolls. Her mind was a mess these days, but she never took a break from training. It was the only thing she could do that still felt like it carried a purpose. 

She had been so happy once she found out that Adion might have been found. From everything she knew, it really sounded like Adion was kept at that base in the Saba Desert. And with the strength of the team that set out, Sellitha didn’t think they could fail.

But she had been naive. The base was already gone, and no one was found. No members of Heavenly Light, and no Adion.

Sellitha kept hoping to receive good news. Hoping that she would wake up to an agitated Headmaster knocking on her door, saying that Adion was on his way back home. But that never happened. She had to go to his office each day with hope in her heart, only to be met with an apologetic and helpless Headmaster who told her that there was no news yet. 

She went there every day to ask. But each day, her mood turned a little more somber. Days into weeks, weeks into months. 

She still went there every morning to ask, but she no longer dared to hope too much. 

Sellitha locked the gate to the fighting pit and took a deep breath. She had already mediated in the early morning, and she wouldn’t get much out of any more effort on that. She knew Will was the key to everything. That and her fighting prowess. She had her Words of Truth, so she had long known that the stage of your mana core was far from the limit your fighting prowess could reach. 

She conjured ten thick ropes of fire and controlled them with her Authority. With a thought, she sent them as fast as she could to the protruding pillar in the middle of the fighting pit. It was something she had requested to be put here. Using her credits, it wasn’t difficult to arrange.

The small pillar was made out of an incredibly robust and heat-resistant metal that wouldn’t budge unless a fire Soul mage attacked it. 

Not counting Sellitha, of course. As her fire hit the metal, glowing sparks flew. She conjured more and more fire, hitting the same spot over and over with incredible speed. Eventually, the metal gave off a gentle glow, denting slightly. 

Sellitha gave up her control over the fire and let it all dissipate in the air. She stared at the metal in front of her, completely unrecognizable after all of Sellitha’s training over the past month. 

I need to ask for something stronger. 

Or something with a Will to fight against me. This isn’t enough.

I’ll ask the Headmaster to send me to the Saba Desert again. I need to fight against a mage’s Will if I truly want to progress.

There should be nothing to worry about if I had a Hard Soul mage to keep watch over me.

But…That mage shouldn’t waste time on me. If I do that, was use will me going there have?

As Sellitha continued her training, her Will soon got exhausted. She had barely had any rest since her previous session. 

But she pushed on. As soon as she felt like giving up, she thought of Adion. When she felt there was nothing more to give, she thought of Adion.

Finally, when she truly couldn’t bring herself to continue, she looked at the metal pillar in front of her. 

Quietly, she muttered, “At the speed of silence, terrifying beauty.”

A small flame appeared in her hand. The next moment, it vanished, and a huge explosion of flames appeared around the pillar. Sellitha tried to keep her eyes open to see the results of her magic and see through its secrets. But that was truly impossible. 

Sellitha’s eyes closed, and she fell to the ground unconscious. 

—

It was dark when Sellitha woke up. Her head hurt, and she would prefer to keep sleeping, but there was someone tugging her robes, calling her.

“Sell. Sell, wake up,” Ailera said.

“Ailera. What’s the matter?” Sellitha asked, slowly sitting up next to Ailera. 

Ailera’s lips were firmly pressed together, and her brows were furrowed in worry. “Why were you unconscious just now?”

“Just a little tired. It will go away with rest, don’t worry,” Sellitha said. She turned to Ailera and smiled slightly. It was easier to smile when looking at Ailera. She could see the shadows of Adion’s handsome face on her.

“Well. Don’t overdo anything. Adion will be upset if anything happens to you when he gets back,” Ailera advised.

“I know. I’ll be careful,” Sellitha responded obediently.

Ailera looked at her for a few seconds before speaking again, “Heavenly Light has conquered Valis. The capital has fallen.”

Sellitha took a deep breath. She wasn’t very surprised. This was something that would happen sooner or later. But it still made her stomach drop slightly.

“I see,” Sellitha said quietly.

“The Headmaster just told me something interesting, though,” Ailera said. 

Sellitha looked at her and noticed her mouth curving up slightly, and there was a glint of excitement in her eyes. Sellitha had always been good at detecting things through people’s eyes, so she knew there clearly had to be some good news.

“What did he say,” Sellitha said in a slightly hoarse voice. Not daring to hope for too much.

“It’s nothing really. Adion is still missing with no signs of where he might be,” Ailera clarified, “But there is something strange about Heavenly Light’s actions. You would think they would sit still and solidify their gains. Or perhaps launch an attack against Cyalis. Maybe they should head over to the Delovan Empire and help with the war. But none of that happened. 

“For some reason, the strongest mages in the organization set out into the Saba Desert. Now, there is a huge number of mages from Heavenly Light spread across the cities there. But they aren’t attacking anyone, they have shown no signs of hostility to the Empire. Instead, they are seen searching all over the place. Searching for what? Well, quite a few of their mages have been taken down from our people. Do you know what they all had in common?”

“What?” Sellitha asked, grabbing Ailera’s hand. She could hear the excitement in Ailera’s voice.

“They all carried a picture of Adion,” Ailera said, almost shouting it in her excitement. 

“Why would they…” Sellitha began.

“They are looking for him, of course,” Ailera said, and rambled on, “They were all questioned, and there is no doubt about it. The Headmaster suspected it to be some kind of trick at first, but even Hard Soul mages are involved. And they are out there looking.”

“He escaped,” Sellitha asked, her mouth wide open, hardly believing it. She had told herself over and over again that Adion would escape and come back, but she no longer believed it after so much time had passed.

“He must have,” Ailera said with a wide grin, “We can’t afford to get too excited, we still don’t know where he is, but this is excellent news. Now, we are no longer searching for Heavenly Light and their secret hideouts, we are searching for anyone who has seen Adion. The Headmaster wouldn’t tell me anything specific, but it seems that some of our people have found people who recognize him. He is out there! Free!”

Sellitha stood up. She didn’t know what to do, so she began pacing around with quick footsteps. 

He’s alive and free? Could it be true? 

“The Headmaster was uncertain if he should tell you or not, since we don’t actually have him found yet, but I thought this would do you good,” Ailera continued.

“That old-” Sellitha stopped herself from cursing a Pure Soul mage, but she couldn’t help but feel furious that that man had almost kept this from her. 

“I have to go talk to him. Maybe he’ll let me go to the Saba Desert now that Adion is out there. I can help,” Sellitha said, taking off running to the gates.

Ailera followed after and said, “You know there is no way he’s letting you do that. I already begged him to let me go.”

Sellitha stopped.

That’s true. That old man wouldn’t risk it.

“It’s okay, Sell. But the only purpose of our going would really only be to make us feel better. To make it feel like we are contributing. But in reality, there are already thousands of mages working on it. Hard Soul mages are working on it. We wouldn’t make any difference.” Ailera said.

“Maybe they didn’t think of something,” Sellitha argued, “We know Adion. We might be able to figure out some clues about where he went.”

“Maybe, but my Grandpa is already there. And don’t forget, it will take a long time for us to get there. If Adion isn’t found by then…Do we have any hope of finding him? He might not be in the Saba Desert anymore.” Ailera said.

“I…I just want to look for him,” Sellitha said quietly, “Sitting still here. It’s killing me.”

Sellitha felt Ailera embrace her, and she couldn’t stop the tears from coming. 

She hadn’t cried in a long time. After the first week of Adion’s kidnapping, she had forced herself to get herself together. She needed to be strong and not waste any time on anything so stupid as crying when she could do something productive. 

But it had gotten harder and harder lately. It was hard to keep herself from falling into despair.

Now, with the news of Adion’s freedom, Sellitha’s emotions got so mixed up that she couldn’t hold anything in any longer.

So she didn’t fight it. She just held Ailera, and the two girls cried together. Tears of joy in one moment, in sorrow the other.

Just come back, Adion, and I’ll do anything. I’ll train, I’ll train until I become strong enough for nothing to ever go wrong again. We’ll only be happy. I promise.