"Next time you run away, I'll put you in a cage!"
When I first arrived back in the village, Sister Domne cried relentlessly as her snot kept running through her nose. However, the moment I reached within arm's length, she turned from a relieved grandmother to a savage demon as she dragged me back to the discipline room and smacked my ass with a belt.
Father Donavic was ecstatic to hear me return home safely and thanked the village trackers for finding me.
Apparently, someone left a handful of hay trails leading into the forest.
Despite my nerves being on the verge of a breakdown, I didn't hear anyone say anything strange about the forest, other than me missing. I was so certain that nobody ever found the destroyed part of the forest.
Relaxing once again, I found myself surrounded by the other orphans, trying to get me to tell my adventures outside the village. It was my understanding that not only were children not allowed to leave the land, but also the peasant class as a whole.
"Tell us, what did you do in the forest? Did you find dragons? Were there treasures? Tell us!"
"Are you a liar? Did you really go outside, in the middle of the night?"
"Quiet! I'm trying to think!" I yelled.
The kids stumbled back by the sheer outburst. I immediately took a chance to walk away before any could retort.
"Geez, what's his problem?"
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I shouldn't have been too harsh, these are kids after all. They wouldn't know any better, only doing what kids do.
Even so, how long could I pretend to be like any other kid? How long until England is plunged into another warfare? How long will there be another famine? How long until there is an outbreak of the most basic diseases to kill me?
And there is me.
Being able to cast magic, you think I got an edge in life.
Instead, it just makes me a bigger liability. I'm not sure if I could use any other magic, other than the one I used on the wolf. Not to mention that there was a magic circle, which tells me that there must be a formula for these kinds of things.
If word got out that I have magic, imagine all those uppity nobles decided to paint me as a giant monster that needed to be slayed.
Even worse, the church.
God, I just had to jump off the frying pan and into the fire. Wish I had parents in this life because right now I'm in agony just standing here. The moment the Vaticin catch winds of this, think of all those psychopathic priests rushing to their nearest cathedral to join the inquisition.
A witch hunt, sprouting all over Europe, with the largest bounty in history on my head.
I had to keep this a secret. If I want to keep living, I need to make sure I never use it ever again.
...
Who am I kidding? I can't hide it forever. No matter how much I convince myself, there is no way I can avoid using magic. As I stated before, there are always circumstances that will force me to do otherwise.
I need to put this power to full use. I have no money, no connections, and no power. Magic is the only tool I can trust to be there for me.
For now, I need the herbs verified. Maybe there might be an herbalist around here, but there's a slim chance they were burnt
I decided to walk around the village and ask. Surely no one would notice a missing orphan or two.
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"We had a herbalist. But he passed away three years ago. I don't know if he had children, but if he did, then they must have moved away."
"During the war, we would have physicians traveling to the king's army, and from time to time they would offer service. Are you sick or something?"
"Boy, that's witchcraft. Even if there was one, that's not something you should be searching for. If it were me, I'd deal with that curiosity of yours before damnation."
Great, nobody knows if we have an herbalist, or if there was one in the first place. I've been wandering around, talking to one villager after another. It would be useful if I had a clock to track the time, but then it wouldn't be called the Dark Ages in the first place.
The sun is already setting, I should really get back to the dorms and figure out what to do with the stuff I gathered.
It's frustrating, but I might have to throw them away. It's not like I could prevent them from perishing.
...
I haven't started to experiment with magic, have I? Perhaps it might be a good time to do so, I just need to find a secluded place to practice.
Returning to the church, making sure I was clear to slip back in. It doesn't seem the hag is around, but I can't be too careful.
I saw the other orphans were about to enter the dining halls, so I took my chance to bend in.
So, after a somewhat decent meal, I return to my dorm and grab my samples. Once I prepared to leave my dorm, I made sure to leave behind a decoy, the classic blanket cover. I learned from my mistake, so I took precautions to make additional countermeasures to lower any suspicion.
Nevertheless, it made moving around much easier as fewer eyes patrolled the church.
Once again, I left the church under the cover of night, scouting a spot to establish my base of operation. As much as I would like to camp out in the wilderness, I couldn't take the chance to make such risky moves when there's still the village watch taking their shift.
I couldn't find any particular spot that wouldn't cry wolf, since this IS a public village. Every hut I checked is already preoccupied. Even Egmund's house was already taken by the neighbor's newlywed, though pleasant to watch them consummate their marriage. Then again, scholars from the modern era argue when the consummation of marriage existed, but dang that man went all in.
I don't have time to watch the pair's intercourse. Besides, someone might spot me and gossip about how much of a perv I'd be in the holy church. That scandal will be sacrilege, and I'll find myself burned by an angry mob.
At this rate, I won't find anywhere to experiment with magic. I decided to take a quick break.
Of course, I couldn't just find a bench to rest. That hasn't been invented yet. Hell, I shouldn't be out this late. With the whole riot I just caused the other night, there is bound to be someone to recognize me and send me off to that nun's torture chamber.
This is making my head overloaded with this simple task. It didn't help that I was carrying a bag, acting all suspicious.
"Oi, who goes there?" Someone called
I immediately turn my head, only to see that there is a guard who seems to act as the neighborhood watch holding a torch.
Panicked, I ran away, but that only raised even more alarm as he started shouting.
"Stop! Do not run away! Men, over here, I found someone suspicious!"
He doesn't sound like a cop. Why did he say not to run? Curiosity took the best of me as I then checked what they were doing.
My worst fears came true. I could see pitchforks and torches raised high in the air as my pursuers chased me.
'OH FUCK! I GOTTA GET OUTA HERE!' I wanted to scream, but I bet that only attracted even more mobs. After all, who wouldn't want to see a scrawny kid get beaten up for his supposed crimes? That's why hanging by the noose still around since the Victorian era, that poor bread thief.
I'm running out of options, just a few more seconds until all the others turn on their lights and watch the commotion.
I kept running and running, trying to escape that perilous chase. Little did I know, I seem to be running on thin air.
-----------------
"Where is he?" Someone shouted.
"I saw him turn to this corner! He couldn't gone that far."
"Wait, theres the other guard! Have you seen someone running?"
"No, you are the only ones who we stumble upon. Who were you chasing?"
"A small person was holding a bag! I think he's been stealing, with a bag that big!"
"Dam that thief, we better get his valuables before he escapes! Keep searching!"
--------------------
I stopped to catch my breath. I thought running away from that wolf would be the most dangerous encounter I'd experience, but an angry mob was something I thought I'd never see.
Humans will one day become the top of the food chain. But that also applies to humans preying on one another as well. Never had that thought lingered as I began to realize something.
I somehow ended up in this strange plane of existence.
I can feel the gravity upon myself, yet at the same time only floating around. Like, if a ship makes use of its buoyancy but in space.
"Where am I?"
There was no one around.
It was weird to describe this place, but it was naught but emptiness.
I began to think. This must have been related to my magic abilities accidentally manifesting, but where have I seen this before?
While pondering, The bag from my had slipped off, leaving it floating around. I thought that it might float away, but it merely stopped at a slow pace.
That's when it hits me.
"Dimensional storage?"
I immediately looked down at my hand, finding a spell circle active with a hint of a purple hue.
It's that magic type that's convenient for manga protagonist to store all their loot. If that were the case, wouldn't it mean that I too can cast other spells?
Still, I wonder how far this empty space stretches. I could probably fit an entire castle if nobody notices anything missing or two.
I decided to test this spell. I'm not sure how it came to be, but if I had just unlocked it, then maybe I can try channeling it through my mentality, trying to connect a word for a spell like trying to re-wire a circuit.
"Dimensional storage!"
Nothing happened.
"Dimensional storage!"
Nothing again.
"Dimensional Storage!"
********
After what seemed to be hours, I could have sworn I managed to connect magic spells into words.
The first spell I mastered to use was [Arcane Blast] but in much weaker proportions.
After that wolf ordeal, I decided to practice if I could use that same spell. As it turns out, I never account how quickly these spells drain my energy, but at least I know that chanting magic spells work.
I am unsure if I have a mana pool for that reason, but I fear that I might run out of energy if I continue like this.
I paused to think for a moment. Magic is still a mystery that was never thought of. Even now, trying to make it chant a spell is like bashing rocks to fuse them together.
Still, it's a lot better than having to live out in shame when I can start over in this world. I told myself that such thinking only makes me sound more guilty, but I've already jumped off a building didn't I? Being here is another proof that I was given a second chance, or at least a different life from the alternative I'll be living. In the end, the best I can do to redeem my previous life is to never put myself in the same situation.
That is, they can legally execute me if they find out I can use magic.
Thus, I decided to practice a few more times on dimensional storage spells before anyone realized I was missing. Not sure how long I was gone, but it's better late than never.
"[Dimensional Storage]"
This time, my hand finally created a magic circle with the same purple hue.
It didn't take long for me to realize that I simply needed to walk through the space, only to find myself in the exact same spot.
"Yes, I did it! Let's fucking goooooo!" I screamed out in joy.
"Over here! There's someone there!"
"Oh shit." I immediately tried to run back into my dimensional pocket, but then I felt another yank at the back of my shirt.
"You again?!"