The next day came, and luckily nothing important happened. The king didn't randomly show up in the middle of the night. I'm still wondering why he thought he would show up in a week, but I likely wouldn't find out the answer. I also seem to be fully healed. The pain was completely gone, and I could do rapid movements again.
"O spell of."
I tried to chant a spell to see if I could, but the pain was still there. I guess this means that I won't be able to use spells. At least I could move my body the way I like though. I also won't be plagued by any pain unless I use a spell. I still want to use spells though. They are super convenient and help a lot. I never really realized how much I used spells in my daily life. I guess this just proves you only miss something once it's gone.
I really hope I don't have to go through something like that again. I don't want to be bedridden for another week, and the pain was already something I don't want to experience again. However if I had to fight against the king, or someone with similar power to him, then I don't think I have a choice. That spell would be the only one powerful enough to damage them. I would need to actually be able to hit them with it though. Well no point in worrying about that now. I'm hungry and it's time for breakfast.
"Sylvain, are you sure you should be walking on your own?" That was the first thing I heard when I came out of my room. I mean sure I was basically a cripple for the first couple of days, but I wasn't that bad. Especially during the later days. I should have practically been the same as usual yesterday.
"Don't worry Astra, I'm fine. The pain is practically gone."
"Can you use spells then sylvi?"
"Not at the moment Ana. It still hurts very much to use them, so you guys are still going to have to hunt. I'm sorry for putting you through this."
"It's fine Sylvain. We have been hunting pretty frequently for the past couple of days. We should have a large amount of demonic beasts in storage. You will still have a lot of work dismantling them though. Since you are better, aside from casting magic, you'll have to finish them."
"Don't worry I'll finish the bodies. I have already gotten used to dismantling the demonic beasts, while using my current strength. While I'm at it I should also try to improve my sword technique. I feel like I have been reliant on spells."
"How are you going to do that sylvi? We don't have any practice swords. You definitely can't use wooden swords as those won't be able to cut anything. Your spell sword also can't be used since you can't use any magic."
"I guess I'll have to wait until I can use my magic again. Then I will have to try to fight only using my spell sword. I hope that I'll be able to spare you two first."
"Sure, but wait until you can use magic again. Also speaking of magic, ever happened to the test you did before the king showed up. I don't. Think you ever told us."
"I could have sworn I did. I'm pretty sure I told you both at least once in the last week. Yeah it's coming back to me. I was stuck in bed and running out of topics to converse before the topic began to shift to magic. I then remembered that we hadn't talked about the result of the tests so I told you all about them."
"Yeah now I'm starting to remember too. I remember being shocked that your healing spell didn't work. Have you figured out where it went wrong and how you can fix it."
"Nope, I haven't Ana. I've been confined to this bed and whenever I try to cast a spell the elements in my body go out of control. I haven't really been able to think through that, especially with the pain."
"Well since the pain is gone, you should be able to work on your spell. I think you should really create your healing spell, sylvi. Out of all of us you are the one that gets hurt the most. A healing spell would definitely be able to help you. I probably also use it if you base it around the water element."
"Yeah. I am also of the same opinion. I still have to figure out the reason it didn't work though. I don't even know where to get started on that."
"Well maybe you can talk it out with us Sylvain!. We might be able to help you out. Or we could at least give you a new opinion."
"Okay well since I'm borrowing your elements to use this spell, some of my elements would get mixed in. So I decided to combine two commands to create this spell. That way I could control the secondary effect to a pretty reasonable degree. So I decided to base it off of my spell sword, which was the only spell that had two commands integrated into it. Thus my spell infantaction became, o spell of water, combine with the wind to cover my body and heal myself. However when I tested it out it failed."
"Was there any specific part that it failed at?"
"Yeah, it felt fine until I got to the part that said my body and heal. So do you have any ideas to help me?"
"Yeah no, not really, Sylvain. I don't think we will be much help to you since we don't really use incantations."
"But sylvi, I have a question. Why are you basing it on the spell sword. I know it is the only one that has two commands, but isn't that an attacking spell. Shouldn't you base it off of an already made healing spell."
"But then how would I deal with the secondary effect. My element will combine with it regardless, and could potentially create a massive problem. Like maybe I got the healing spell down, but my wind element sliced open the wound."
"Well you would first have to test out the spell first. The secondary effect might actually be beneficial, sylvi. Also even if we don't really use an incantation we can still use them. So I would be able to use the spell, which would still allow us to heal each other. So even if the secondary effect does negate the healing, I would still be able to use the spell as intended."
"Hmm, I guess your right Ana. It's not like I'm gonna get anywhere trying to figure out why my incantation failed anyways. I think it's better to start anew and get a fresh start. If I were to base it off of any spell then I would probably have to have it off of the light spell from the game heroes and demon lords. It may not be an actual two spell, but it should be grounded in some truth."
"And there you go Ana you set him off. He's probably gonna be like this for the next couple of hours. The only thing we can do now is wait for him to finish."
"What does the spell go like again? It has been such a long time since I've played that game. I think it went something like o spell of light come forth as a mist to heal my allies. I think that is it."
"I'm sorry Astra, but at least sylvi seems to be happy. It was so sad seeing him stuck in bed this past week. I'm glad he's back to his energetic self. However will he even be able to test the spell. He should still not be able to use spells right?"
"I guess I can change the light to water. That would only change the element. The heal my allies would have to be the same. Otherwise I would get the effect I wanted. I think I would have to keep it as mist. Wait could I possibly combine this instead with the other failed incantation."
"I don't think we should tell him that ana. He seems too invested in making this new spell. I don't know how he will take not being able to use it."
"Yeah that might actually work. The problem was my body and heal part. If I change the shape to mist, then that would cover the body. Changing that could allow me to actually have the second outcome be beneficiary."
"Oh he seems to be almost done now."
"Yes this seems to be what I'm missing. I can't believe I haven't thought of this. I definitely need some more thought on this. I also will need to test it out when I am finished with it. Wait, I won't be able to test out this new spell. I still can't channel my mana."
"You've finally realized the major flaw in your plan. Even if you do create a spell you won't know if it works. Even if you feel like it would work, you've already failed before. You could always fail again. So instead of thinking up this new spell, focus on other work. Then when you are all better, you should focus on making the spell. That way you would be able to test it out."
"Huh you're right astra. Sorry I got a little excited. I am on the right track to create a healing spell. I won't have to worry about my injuries afterwards."
"You shouldn't totally disregard them though sylvi. It would still hurt when you get injured. And you could die before you are able to heal yourself."
"You are right Ana. I may even become dependent on my healing spell. If that happens then I could be in serious trouble in the future. You know now that I think about it I am very dependent on my spells. Without mana I am practically useless out here. I think I should work on that."
"Getting stronger is a good call always, but how are you going to do that?"
"I don't know, but dad would always give me a training routine when I was a kid. He said he wouldn't let me practice the sword. I had to first complete the training for an entire year before I even began to learn. I guess I will just have to do that."
While I was talking about my father, my eyes began to get cloudy. I felt something roll down my cheek. I knew they were tears. I thought after all these years I would be able to talk about my father. Even though they both died, I had a new family now, but I just couldn't. The last image of my father appeared in my mind. Him holding back the guards as he told me to run.
"Mommy, daddy. Where are you?"
Before I knew it the tears began to roll down my face. I couldn't hold it back anymore. I had tried to forget, but it just wouldn't go away. They would both appear in my dreams, haunting me. Why did they have to leave me? Why did I have to be hated for something out of my control? Why did I have to be persecuted?
All these feelings that had been lent up for years finally came up as I cried out. I had grown older and I realized more things. I am different from the others. Like my parents said I was special. However it was this specialness that caused me to be hated. This darned blood of mine caused both my parents to die. It was all my fault. They appeared in my dreams sometimes. Nightmares of that day when everything changed. Right then I felt something warm embrace me. Two things actually. It was Ana and Astra. They were hugging me and patting my head.
"It's okay Sylvain. It's okay."
"We may not know what happened in your past."
"But we can tell you've been through much."
"After all this is the Forest of Calamity. No one would willingly live here."
"It doesn't matter what has happened though."
"Because we are here for you."
"You've helped us in our time of need."
"When our entire tribe had given up on us."
"You came and showed us kindness, and hope."
"Now it is our turn to help you."
"So calm down."
"We are here for you."
"And we won't go away."
"We are a family after all."
I stopped crying while they were talking, but started once again when they finished. These weren't tears of grief though. These were tears of joy. I was grateful for them. They were my new family. Even though we kept many secrets from one another, they still trusted me. I could tell they were very sincere with their words. Especially so after they had just shown how they were willing to leave the forest for me a week ago. My old family may be gone, but this new family is here for me. I have to make sure that I don't lose this one.
After awhile I stopped crying. Ana and Astra also stopped hugging me. I thought they were going to turn back into their fox forms, but they didn't. They stayed in their human forms. I guess they wanted to be ready in case I cried again. That was really embarrassing, but I'm glad that it happened. It brought us closer together.
"Thank you." I started to say, but was cut off by Ana.
"It's natural sylvi, we are family after all. There is no need for thanks."
I am a little nervous to continue taking after that, but I still decided to do so. They had just shown that they were on my side. I should at the very least tell them about myself. Tell them of all the events that had happened. I didn't know how or where to start though.
"I..I," I began to stutter.
"It's okay Sylvain. You don't need to tell us anything if you don't want to."
"No, I'll tell you. I will definitely do it."
And so with that I began to tell them of everything that happened to me. Although I had already told them a little about my past, I elaborated on everything. I went into clear details on what happened and why. I told them all I could remember to the best of my abilities. I cried a little when it came to my parents death, but they were there to help. The bigger and soothed me down, and I soon finished the tale.
When I was finished I felt happier. It was like a big load had been taken off of my shoulders. I was still sad at my parents death. However I felt freer. It was like I had only just started to live my life. It was a satisfying feeling. I was glad that I had talked to them.
"Don't worry Sylvain, we are here with you now."
"Yeah, we are a family and we understand your pain. I can't say we fully understand it. We haven't been through what goes on. However we are together now. Even if the world rejects us, we will always have each other."
"Thank you. Thank you so very much." I said as I cried out again. I had already lost track of how much tears I had spilled today. They are right, we are one family. We have been through similar experiences. All of us know the pain of being hated, scorned by others. We don't have to bear this pain alone though. We can share it with each other. I definitely won't lose this family. I'll keep this family safe, I thought as I cried myself to sleep within the embrace of Ana and Astra.