Chapter 5 The Volcas

On the day to leave, I wear normal clothes and take my backpack, since Cedric suggested that wearing an armor can cause trouble quickly. My heart is beating so fast, I'm excited and scared at the same time. Till these days, I had him as my my mentor, but from now I'm on my own, I'm my sole responsibility.

The river port is filled with various type of people, giving off different impressions. People are chattering mostly or saying goodbye to their closed ones. I'm sure many participants are joining from this city too, but overall the selection is competitive. The boat to the Celandine city is going to take off after a while, to the city where the selection ceremony will be held.

"Be careful on the roads," Cedric says to me, standing beside me.

"Is getting selected that hard?" I ask a silly question to distract my nerves.

"It wasn't for me," he chuckles. "If you put hard work and concentration, you'll definitely get choosen, in any trupe. You have to show off your potential, what only you can do. They have different challenges each year, so I'm afraid I can't give you any suggestions."

I look at him, grateful. "Thank you for everything. You have truly helped me despite me barging into your house, from the beginning."

"It was my pleasure to come across to such a quick learning student," he grins. "But this isn't farewell. We will meet again."

"Yeah, we will."

After getting on the boat, I wave at him, who is looking at me from the shore. I can still see his comforting smile, like it's reassuring me that everything will be okay.

My eyesight suddenly becomes blurry for no reason.

~

The people in the boat cabins aren't talking much, which makes me feel at ease, since I don't like much noise either. I eye them for a while, the only common thing among them must be their young and lively age. I suppose most of them are going for the selection ceremony too.

I turn back at the sea, staring at the quiet waves and feeling the warm breeze. Small sea creatures can be seen at times, making their way beside the metal boat. I wonder for a moment if they're aware of their limit or power. Because of the past two months, I have been sent into this world, my own power and desire for more power sometimes scare me. I was pretty much a nobody in my previous life. My father died from cancer when I was in college and my mother died long ago, after she gave birth to my sister Ginnie. Dad had to remarry, and my stepmother wasn't very appreciative of me either. Things got harder as I grew up, even my own sister began to hate me. I was the one who had to be the one to do everything, from doing my job to being the homemaker. Still, I wasn't enough. Still, I had done so much sin that God gifted me with a rare disease, making me paralyzed for the rest of my life.

I sigh, but I have to make use of the second chance I got. I won't let myself be a nobody ever again. I won't ever give up again.

I become puzzled for a moment when I notice a dark area ahead of the boat, hindering the clear view of the sea. It's very unusual to see that in the middle of nowhere. It must be some kind of magical cloud.

The passengers start murmuring, as a woman gasps audibly, "Oh Lord, it's the tunnel of Volca!"

I don't know what that is, but I keep myself on guard, who knows if it's a part of the selection exam too. The moment the boat enters the cloudy area, screaming and screeches of mythical creatures can be heard. Someone illuminates the whole area with a broad lamp, unveiling the ominous flying monsters, way more enormous than dragons.

I don't waste any time and sprint to the deck before it gets crowded. I frown when I see no one was in the engine room. Who was driving the boat till now?

I notice a kid gazing at the Volcas idly, when they're like one feet away from killing him. I take out my sword swiftly and is going to tell him to get back to the cabin, but then the kid moves.

"Flame magic : Salamander's breath," his voice is cold and dominant. A gigantic fire dragon appears behind him, emitting explosive fire at the Volcas, burning them to death.

I sense someone's presence behind, a tall and thin young man watching the madness, also smirking. He closes his eyes and puts his hands in front, creating an intriguing aura.

"Stone magic : Exploding rain!"

Combination of stone and fire start to demolish the Volcas, so I don't hesitate to take this opportunity. I sprint to the edge of the deck, jumping onto a Volca's back. I swing my sword aiming for its neck, then stare for a moment to appreciate my work, it was such a clean cut. I jump again, slashing another Volca's wing, as well as almost bursting my eardrums with its screech.

When we are done, I land on the boat carefully, watching the dark cloud slowly disappear. The boat is such a mess right now, I wonder if the other passengers are okay in the cabins.

"That's such a weird looking sword you got there," the kid shrugs looking at me.

"Nice magic," I chuckle, giving me thumps up. Then the kid glares at the tall guy, apparently some of the stones hit him too.

"What a dirty magic technique," he scrunches his nose, as if he feels disgusted.

"That's Mister for you," the tall guy snaps, not smirking anymore. "Where are your manners, kiddo?"

"I'm not a kid!" the kid snaps back.

"There, there, don't fight now," I interrupt. "We should look for the other passengers now, to see if they're alright."

"Who cares, they're passed out in the cold for sure," the tall guy states. "I'm Stone, by the way."

"Stone who uses stone magic. Interesting," I murmur, then smile. "I'm Hazel, nice to meet you."

"I'm Joey," the small guy utters, not looking at me directly. "I'm seventeen years old."

"Nice to meet you too, Joey," I smile again.

"You're not a kid then, my bad," Stone slowly says, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry for being rude, Mister Stone," Joey softens his voice, making me surprised.

"Ah it's fine, just call me Stone."

At that moment, a guy with an enormous belly and big mustache comes out onto the deck, grinning.

"There you guys are," his voice is powerful. "So it's only you three who survived, huh?"

"What about the others?" I ask, slightly worried.

"They all passed out, the sea isn't for the weak," the man shrugs. "Anyway, my name is Robert, and I'm the owner of this boat. You guys passed the primary selection, so you can head to the main exam in Celandine."

"So this was part of the exam too," Joey mutters, glancing at the dead Volcas floating. I smile happily, at least I passed the preliminary exam. I'm going to be a magic knight and learn sorcery no matter what.

"So to Celandine, eh?" Robert chuckles, then begins to drive the boat again.

I lean on the railing, and I'm not sure what lies ahead. Will I be able to pass the main selection? Joey and Stone didn't seem to judge much, even though they could sense that I had no aura. In Celandine, it's such a big city, people there might not take me seriously. It seems like I still can't get over my insecurities, the feelings that haunted me in my past life.

But I still have to do it. I have to prove my worth and become powerful.

Celandine is a colorful and glamorous city, smelling expensive. We buy a map from the local store and have decided to go to the exam venue together. None of us have been to this city before, so maybe we'll find it hard to reach our destination.

"There are two ways to reach Selection Stadium," Stone frowns, staring at the map. "Which way should we take?"

"Maybe we can ask someone?" I glance around, spotting a group of people.

"Nah, I wouldn't recommend that," Joey shakes his head. ""You can't trust people in these kinds of things easily. Why don't we take the route through this mountain? Sure, it would take more time, but normally candidates won't go that way.""

Stone nods his head, agreeing with him.

We decide to walk to our destination, bringing the necessary food and equipment with us. Stone mentioned that it would take just a few minutes if we had a local spatial magic user with us, but unfortunately we don't. I listen to them attentively, realizing that I have much more to learn about magic.

"So Hazel, you're not from around here, are you?" Joey suddenly asks me. "I mean I can't possibly know anyone from Green Archer, but I have a feeling that you're not from our city."

I hesitate for a moment, then reply, ""No, I'm not. I'm from the Earth.""

"From another world, huh?" Stone raises an eyebrow, looking surprised. "That's pretty cool. What are the people there like though? I heard they don't have any magical ability.

"Yeah, they don't. Every being has their own ability, I guess."

"But I didn't hear of any teleportation magic that can make someone travel around the planets," Joey states, glancing at me.

"I was reincarnated."

"Wow, that's really awesome!" They both exclaim together, making me embarrassed.

We walk through a narrow way beside a valley, the sun is already ready to set. Stone lights up a huge lamp with a spell, the blue light starts radiating everywhere. We check the map often, to make sure that we're going the right way.

"Something is following us," Joey whispers, becoming alert.

Before I can comprehend anything, a slime-looking creature jumps in front of us. I stare at it with shock, it has no face or anything, but still moving.

"Step back," Stone warns me. ""Sliburst contains such fluid that can harm someone's respiratory system. We have to destroy it without making it explode.""

The Sliburst pauses for a moment, then jumps forward again. Joey takes out a small box from his bag, murmuring something.

"We have to seal it, but we have to nullify it first," he shouts with urgency.

"How about I use my sword? It has an anti-magic ability."

"Okay, just touch it with your sword, don't slash it or anything," Joey replies.

"Egredere," I take out my sword, then touch the Sliburst with it carefully, making sure not to harm it. The creature stops moving instantly and Joey captures it quickly in the box.

"Phew, dodged a real bullet there," Stone utters, his forehead is sweaty. "I have read cases where even healers couldn't heal people who took in Sliburst's fluid."