The Fractured Mage

Chapter 16 - Four Months

"Yeah? Who is it?" I called out, as someone knocked on my door.

It's definitely not Lilac, she would never knock.

"It's me. May I come in?" Cane Ifeus's voice from outside the door.

"Sure, come on in," I responded, sitting up as the door opened and he stepped inside.

Another month or so has passed, it's now been about four months since the start of my current memories. It's around 10 PM at night right now, I was getting ready to go to sleep, so I hope this doesn't take too long.

Ifeus and Iris have been busier than usual in the last couple of weeks, while Lilac has put all her focus into training, since she's close to reaching her Ascended Tier and wants to make up the remaining difference as quickly as possible.

I've been sparring against her every so often, and at this point, I'm a fair bit more powerful than she is. I've learnt to use my Ether Magic to boost my physical attacks upon impact, and that's helped improve my physical strength as well.

It works by channeling the Ether inside my body into a single point, which gives me more destructive power upon impact for a single hit, and then I have to do it again. I can't overdo it though...the more Ether I channel into a single point, the more backlash that hits me afterwards. If I channel too much Ether into, say, my fist, the backlash could end up breaking my arm as a result.

But that's not the only problem...while I'm not externally manifesting the Ether with this method, instead focusing and compressing it into my fists or feet and then abruptly release the compression at the point of impact to sharply increase the amount of force imparted upon impact, the part of my body I concentrate the Ether into ends up glowing, which would give away the fact that I'm not a Martial Artist. Hm, maybe I should get some thick gloves and boots to hide the glow...

"So, how's your training been going lately?" Ifeus asked me, as he walked over and sat down on the corner of my bed.

Since he's been busy lately, he hasn't been able to check up with me regarding my training, and Iris hasn't trained me for the last couple of weeks, so she doesn't know how my recent progress has gone either, which has been galvanized by the new technique I mentioned.

"Pretty good, I'd say. But I've been mostly training solo lately, so it's hard to properly assess my current level," I replied with a shrug.

"I see. Sorry that I haven't been able to talk properly with you in a while, I've just been so busy lately. We've had a spike in the number of Quests in the Guild over the last few weeks, and I've had a mountain of paperwork pile up on my desk," He sighed with a weary smile.

"You have my sympathies, that sounds awful."

"Oh, it really is, you have no idea...anyway, back on topic, Iris informed me about a month or so ago that you'd reached a decent enough level to convincingly pass yourself off as an Ascended Mage, specifically a Martial Artist, one of the Ascended Tiers of the Physical Class. If you've improved even slightly significantly since then, I'd say it's about time you join the Guild. Provided that you yourself are ready for it, mentally speaking," He informed me.

"I mean, I'm not in any particular rush to join yet...I've gotten nice and settled into my current daily routine, and I'd like to stick to it for at least a little while longer, so yeah, I'm fine either way really," I responded indifferently.

"Don't you feel cooped up at all? I've told you to stay indoors and avoid being seen all this time, you've never been outside the house even once since you first woke up here. It's for your own good, but I still feel bad about it," He replied sheepishly.

"Honestly, I'm not particularly bothered by it. This house is pretty big, especially with the backyard and the garden out front, so no, I haven't really felt cooped up or anything," I shook my head.

Sure, I've occasionally thought about what the outside is like, but I've never really felt a strong desire to go out or anything. I'm pretty content staying inside...that's probably not normal, huh?

"Really? Not even a little bit?"

"No, not really. Huh, I wonder...hey, is there anything in my past that'd explain why I'm content staying indoors or whatever?" I inquired curiously.

"Huh? Well, er...I don't know," He averted his gaze as he answered.

Yeah, should've figured as much. Though based on his reaction, I think it's safe to say that the answer to my question is a yes.

"Really wish you'd just give in and tell me about my past, already..."

"Sorry, but I can't, for several reasons that I won't, or rather can't, get into. Anyway...you don't seem opposed to joining the Guild right now, just indifferent. In that case, how about this? I'll try to make some time tomorrow and come home early, so that we can have a little sparring match. I'd like to see exactly what level you're currently at. Once I have a good idea of that, we can decide whether to sign you up now or hold off on it for a bit longer," He suggested, as he glanced at me.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine with me. While I wouldn't mind continuing to live the easy life indoors, I also don't want to freeload off you indefinitely," I nodded with a wry smile.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. I am your guardian, after all, not to mention the fact that you're only in your mid-teens, you're basically still just a kid. So you have every right to indulge in your desires and be as lazy as you want, that luxury is rare and precious once you become an adult," He grinned as he patted my shoulder.

"I'll keep that in mind. By the way, if and when I do go outside, what do I say when people ask me who I am? Reminder, I literally know nothing about myself."

"Oh, don't worry, we'll come up with a fleshed-out, convincing backstory later. But in a nutshell, it'd probably be something along the lines of you being the child of a close friend of mine, probably someone from a different country, who passed away or something, and because of that, I'm taking care of you. We can discuss the details another time," He surmised objectively.

"Hm, speaking of which...my biological parents, are they alive or dead? Did you just make up the part where your 'close friend' is dead, or instead...?" I trailed off with a raised eyebrow.

"You know I'm not going to answer that...but I'll say this much, lies are more convincing when they have a bit of truth sprinkled in them."

"...you do realize that's a pretty messed up thing to say to a kid with no memories, don't you?"

"Y-yeah, sorry, I was just trying to sound cool, that came out wrong."