Infinite Mage

Chapter 87: Battle of Wits (2)

Arin had been starving for three days. Consequently, Canis had not eaten anything for twenty days.

"Huff! Huff! I did it! I got it! The bread!"

Canis ran frantically through the alleyways. After losing his pursuers, he leaned against a wall to catch his breath.

His consciousness was fading; all he felt was hunger. He couldn't remember how long it had been since he last ate.

Then, he spotted a piece of bread.

Canis swallowed hard, his eyes wild with hunger.

He wanted it. He wanted to put it in his mouth.

"Yeah, I need to be strong for Arin. I can eat this. Arin can last a few more days."

This thought seemed remarkably rational.

Was there a more logical decision? Eat this and use the remaining strength to find more food.

Canis opened his mouth to eat the bread. His mouth watered, and his hands trembled.

"Ugh!"

But then Canis clenched his eyes shut and placed the bread in his pocket. It was all a lie. What strength could he gain from such a piece of bread?

"I must endure. It doesn't matter if my body breaks down, but if my mind does, it's over."

Canis looked around like a madman, ready to fill his stomach with stones if necessary.

He crawled towards some feces discarded in a corner and, without a second thought, shoved it into his mouth.

"Ugh! Ugh!"

Every part of his body rejected it, but Canis swallowed it.

Better than a stone.

Feces were better than a stone.

Returning to their hiding place, Canis felt sick but managed a smile when he saw Arin and presented her with the bread.

"Arin, look! I got this."

"Really? Wow, that's great."

"Haha, I've got the knack for it. I'll get more in the future. Eat up."

Arin looked at the bread with sad eyes. She wanted to help find food, but stepping outside as a girl in Radum was suicidal.

She never talked to anyone but Canis. Social phobia developed, but what did it matter? At least she wasn't someone's food.

"Let's eat together, Canis."

"I'm fine. I found stuff while roaming. I even ate a big centipede for nutrition. You can't eat that, so you should eat this."

"I can eat it too. Stop treating me like a child."

Canis gripped Arin's shoulder tenderly.

"Arin, I know you're brave. But you shouldn't. Do you understand? The only reason I can endure this hellish Radum is that I can feed you like a human. If you become like me, you might go mad. So, eat."

Arin usually pretended to be defeated and bit the bread. But this time was different.

She looked at Canis's mouth, noticing something stuck there with a stench.

"Canis, what did you eat?"josei

Canis panicked.

"Oh? Haha! It's cake. I licked some cream off it, maybe it's stuck. Sorry, I was so hungry...!"

Slap!

Canis's face swung violently. He'd been hit countless times in back alleys, but never had he felt such a painful slap.

"Arin..."

Arin looked at him with a frightening expression he had never seen before.

"You bastard... How could you do this to me! Am I livestock? Are you raising me? Then you give me this to eat? What am I to you!"

"Arin, it's not like that! This is punishment for me! It has nothing to do with you!"

"I don't need this!"

Arin threw the bread away. Watching it roll in the dust, Canis turned angrily.

"Arin! What are you doing! Do you know how hard I worked to get this...!"

Arin pulled Canis's face to hers and kissed him. She licked something off his lips, tears streaming from her eyes.

It wasn't a sweet kiss. Not a beautiful exchange of emotions between humans. Just two creatures, born as sinners, sympathizing with each other.

Canis finally realized what he had eaten. For the first time, tears flowed. A lifetime of suppressed sadness burst out.

"Sob! Sob!"

"Don't ever do that again. If you do, I can't stay with you anymore."

"I'm sorry, Arin. Don't leave. You're my only family, my reason to live."

"Okay. Let's live, Canis. We must survive."

Overwhelmed with sorrow, Canis couldn't respond and just nodded. But Arin didn't forgive him. That day, she didn't eat until Canis had eaten every bit of the bread from the ground.

Canis recounted his past as if narrating someone else's life. 

"We lived in hell. But our master saved us there. He gave us food, gave me the power to protect Arin, and even bestowed upon us the essence of dark magic, Harvest."

People's gazes turned towards Harvest, who usually was talkative but remained silent this time.

"I get it," Shirone said, "I understand the life you've led. But that doesn't justify killing people. Just because you had a harder life doesn't make doing bad things right."

"Don't be mistaken. I'm not defending myself, I'm teaching you. Your so-called justice is shallow, and the world you live in is hypocritical. It wasn't your kind of justice that saved me and Arin. I just act on what I believe in."

"Harming others won't get you anything. If you don't try to understand others first, your past will never receive the solace it needs."

"Ha! Solace? You're spouting nonsense until the end. Want to know the situation now? Our master is going to obliterate this entire school. That includes your friends."

"No. You can't hurt anyone. Except yourself."

Shirone raised a photon above his hand, and Harvest extended his broad palm to shield Canis. Seeing it wasn't enough, he stretched his other arm around Canis.

"What are you doing, Harvest? There's no need to be scared."

"It's dangerous. There's something off about his energy."

Canis scoffed, already having measured Shirone's strength in the forest. He was a decent talent for a magic academy student but still just a greenhouse flower.

"Hmph. To me, it's just..."

Canis's expression went blank. The photon cannon hovering above Shirone's palm vibrated frighteningly. More powerful than the one cast in the forest. But Canis couldn't have been holding back, considering the severity of his injuries.

'What's going on? He has this ability and still...'

What Canis and Harvest overlooked was the fact that Shirone was an Unlocker, having opened the realm of the infinite.

"This is your last chance. Release the mind control."

Canis frowned, his pride hurt by the realization he couldn't underestimate Shirone.

"What a joke. Even if I die, I'll follow my master's will. I can't break my belief."

Shirone's eyes turned cold. The power of the Immortal Function enhanced the photon cannon, making it unlike anything before.

"I don't want to hurt people. But if you try to harm the students, I have no choice."

"Release their memories, or..."

The photon cannon burst into light, transforming into a chillingly cold sphere of white light.

"I'll have to harm you."

Thadd's forehead was drenched with cold sweat as he tried to counteract Viltor Arcane's magic, trying photonization magic on Alpheas's head. "Phew. Such powerful mind control. Even in today's age, it would be effective."

At first, Thadd underestimated it. Even with the title of Archmage, 40 years had passed. Magic had evolved over several generations, and dark magic had become obsolete.

But Abyss Nova was a complex spell beyond Thadd's analysis, even as a beneficiary of cutting-edge magic.

After 20 minutes, the light's energy finally penetrated the core of darkness. Then Thadd pushed the light with all his mental strength. The darkness lifted, and Alpheas's memories started unfolding along the stream of light.

40 years ago in Bashuka, Thormia Kingdom.

A magic craze unlike any before swept through the kingdom. King Adolph XII, unlike his military-obsessed predecessor, was full of intellect and kindness.

Upon his coronation, he separated the magic department, previously limited to military, and gathered numerous talents.

Students from provinces and other countries came to study in Bashuka, turning the capital's streets into daily hubs of intellectual conversation.

Young mages fresh from magic school gathered in pubs for debates, a common sight.

Vividly colored gypsy-style clothing was in vogue.

For women, short hair revealing the neck was a symbol of intellect, while men wore their hair down to the waist.

The pubs were scenes of intellectual clashes and factional fights, leading to arrests by the guards.

The most famous pub was "Homeland of the Ancient Gods," with a large hall and over 200 tables. People frequently ascended the central podium to express their magical views.

The place was a hub of magic debates and real-time gossip among nobles.

It was a romantic era.

Alpheas reminisced about his golden youth.

"Hey, girls! Look who's here! Alpheas is coming!"

A woman's excitement at the pub entrance drew the ladies' attention to the door.

"Hello, ladies! Always so lively here!"

Blond-haired Alpheas, his hair reaching his waist, entered the "Homeland of the Ancient Gods." With him was Klumph Ogent, sporting an out-of-fashion buzz cut.

Despite being invisible to the ladies, Klumph, a swordsman, was ignored as they flocked to Alpheas.

"We waited for you, Alpheas! What magic will you teach us today?"

"First, let's quench my throat. My tongue stiffens up without alcohol."

"Ha ha! So funny, Alpheas. You're truly entertaining."

Alpheas would have been ridiculed by his current students, but back then, he was a popular figure, charming in any conversation.

He was the scion of a first-class family, valedictorian of the magic school, with good looks and refinement. Perhaps no woman disliked him?

Men, however, viewed Alpheas with disdain. Even those not petty enough to be jealous harbored unkind thoughts towards him, reflecting the resentment he faced from men.

The light of the Myrhe family.

That was Alpheas's official title at the time, but those who knew him had another nickname for him.

Proud Alpheas.

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