(Miabi POV)
The moment for jokes and giggles sadly must come to an end and it's time that I start to ritual to end Ken Bruce's curse.
The first step involved summoning the magic circle required for this ritual to commence, I began chanting the incantations needed for it.
"Of Curse and Misfortunes, may be purged from this poor soul's essence."
The first part of the violet magic circle, its outer circular boundaries slowly formed, eventually connecting and turning into a proper circle shape on the ground, just as I expected it to be.
"As Malediction befalls upon them no more, may they move on with the grace of unburden and liberty."
We now witness the magic circle forming its inner diagram, molding it into a set of complicated arrays of lines and other arrays that are a bit hard to pull off for someone who's not a professional in this kind of ritual.
Sweat instantly started to pour from my forehead as I felt the slight burden of casting this type of magic. While I knew that I'm more than capable of summoning a magic circle of this caliber, the exhaustion that accompanied it was still a constant factor that can never be taken away. As a result, a fortress of mental fortitude was absolutely required when performing the ritual since even a single mishap might cause the magic circle to fail and disperse.
Such was one of the hardships of a curse specialist like myself. Ken Bruce better be grateful for the efforts that I'm doing for him.
"From darkness use to condemn, darkness shall once again absolve to bring one's glorious light."
After reciting the recent incantations, I immediately step inside the circle and begin the final step of the ritual.
I instructed Ken to enter as well and gestured him to stand right at the very middle where the circle's magic was at its peak.
And this particular step involved a lot of body movement, one that's both physically and mentally demanding.
Nevertheless, a curse is a curse, and it's my job as a Warlock of the Ebonhand Order to cure his affliction. Ignoring his troubling case shall only provoke our Order Leader in chastising me. That, and I have the ability, so why not use it instead for something good? It's also a useful practice to hone my curse curing skills.
Ken Bruce better appreciate this.
(Ken POV)
Phil and I both watched Miabi as she entered the circle she had summoned. After a short while, Miabi took a deep breath in preparation for what I assumed to be part of the ritual.
Then, she began moving, one that's similar to a dance.
I could only watch in deep awe at how elegant and nimble she was. Every step and movement was calculated and filled with grace that I could not take my eyes away from.
While this was happening, the magic circle started to glow brilliantly. Phil and I were both amazed by both Miabi's dancing and the sight of the stunning light.
"Ah!! I know of this ritual!! I've seen someone performing a similar feat before."
Vivian said in a jolly manner as she appeared to be chirpy when witnessing the dancing ritual in front of us.
"While it would appear that she's merely dancing, what she's actually doing is a complex series of movements use to connect and secure the magical lay points in the circle. While not every magic circle requires this kind of step and the process varies mostly from one circle to another, this particular step though is for extra precaution so the circle would fully stabilize and won't break down during the process of your cure."
"I see. And I'm slowly getting the feeling that a weight is slowly lifting off from my body."
"Good. That means that the ritual is working and you are on your way to being cured. On a side note, I believe that you'll start to understand how the ritual fully works in a short while, thanks to our unique magic."
Nice, that's very assuring, especially when Master told me so.
Additionally, I'm slowly grasping the mechanism of this ritual as well, similar to what I've experienced when I'm looking at a spell.
Whenever I attempt to copy a spell, my rate of learning the spell differed depending on the spell's complexity.
For example, a simple Fire Ball spell was extremely easy to learn and I can comprehend it in about five seconds while Wind Blade was around the same more or less. Some of my most difficult spells; Heaven's Wrath took around five minutes, Hell Dragon's Wrath, I guess two minutes or so, and Thousand Cutter was about three.
And this ritual took five minutes from the very moment when Miabi chanted her first word from her first set of incantations.
While the time it took was by assuming to be a maximum of mere minutes alone, every second on the battlefield counted and can mean the difference between life and death. Thus, it's not really advisable to learn an opponent's extremely hard spell while engaging them head-on unless I can bide some ample time for it.
Additionally, I could switch my copying magic off at will so my brain won't be shocked by the sudden influx of knowledge being entered. It's a useful function in case I'm to encounter multiple foes casting many spells, and I'm not so confident if my brain can handle that much information of spells. Also, whenever I'm in the process of learning a spell, my eyes would glow silver.
Damn, this Infinity Magic sure was terrifying nevertheless.
Going back to our resident Warlock of 1-S, Miabi dancing was simply breathtaking, like someone performing in the theater. It was like watching a professional doing her thing with poise and dignity that's rather befitting of her. I could also see the sweat pouring from her angelic face, a clear sign that she's exerting quite a bit of physical capacity just for the performance of this ritual of hers. I appreciated what she's doing for me, even if I'm kind of a bit of an ass to her for being suspicious earlier.
As a result, I find myself captivated and my eyes were focused on every ounce of her being, not even a single nanosecond did my sights betray away from her.
"Graceful, elegant, and with a great sense of humor. Alright, Kennie boy. Man up and ask her out!!! You would be a blind fool if you do not see the charming lady that's in front of you."
I rolled my eyes in response and find Master's statement to be absolute nonsense.
What's my admiration for Miabi had something to do with me asking her out?
I'm not a simple-minded dude that would date a girl just because of how amazing her dancing was.
No matter how tempting it was.
The ritual commenced without any issues and ten minutes later, Miabi ceased her dancing and the magic circle stopped gleaming, returning to its dull non-shining form.
So, this is it? Was the ritual over? My curse finally lifted?
My 15 years of burden… all gone now?
"It would seem so, the ritual being over that is. You still have to test if your curse truly now is a thing of the past."
Master spoke as her tone resonated with seriousness.
I gulped in sheer anxiety and my heart beat so fast that I could not help but be nervous at this.
But now was not the time to indulge in my moment of weakness as the two of us saw Miabi panting and fall to the ground on her knees.
"Hey, you okay!?"
With my unconscious desire to help others, I naturally approached Miabi and knelt by her side. Phil quickly followed after and did the same.
"I'm alright. While your concerns are appreciated, it's not of necessity. I'm used to this kind of ordeal, especially in the aftermath of a curse-removing ritual. A week tops and I'm good as new."
Well, if she said so, but my concern for her still retained and I regardless did not leave her side yet.
Miabi then smirked and pointed out the spell book that was still on the ground.
"Fufu, you should be more concerned with yourself rather, Ken Bruce. The victim's first action after a ritual was their own condition and they would immediately verify if their curse was finally no more. You're a strange one indeed."
I smiled back at her and answered-
"Meh, I'd rather be strange than ungrateful. Besides, you look awfully pale and exhausted, so it's only natural that we should be concern for you. Even if we were initially suspicious of you, we are still classmates, and we should do our best to help one another since we're practically comrades now."
"Ken is right, Miabi. We're not going to leave a comrade behind."
I myself and Phil spoke respectively with sincerity, much to Miabi's bewilderment as evident by the slight widening of her eyes.
In the end, she then chuckled darkly and said-
"Fufu, you do realize that I'm still a Warlock in the end? Someone with the magic of darkness that's considered to be tainted and evil in the eyes of the public?"
I tilted my head in confusion and Phil shared my sentiment as well.
"What's that got to do with our concern for you? Sure, we are still suspicious like I said before, but only because of how you kind of took care of things for both of us to be here in the dark outside without any consequences. It's got nothing to do with your dark magic or any of that crap whatsoever."
Phil smiled brightly and nodded with my statement.
Miabi blinked for a moment to process what I have just said. In the end, she smiled at us, but this time with clear earnestness that's out of her mischievous persona.
"Yep, the both of you are strange undoubtedly."