Based on the information that Ban Yue managed to piece together, he could infer that the blessing of Nature also enhanced the power of mages greatly, and its effects especially amplified the ability of mages who wielded the power of light. The effects were so great that when the High Priest Clodine Becket used his st ounce of energy to defeat the shadow puppets, the effect had sted one hundred days – long enough to decimate all approaching reinforcements even after his death. It could be said that the blessing of Nature had become the deciding factor in the victory of the Holy Knights during The Battle of the Red Moon.
“Ignite!...Levitate!...Wind, I summon thee!...There shall be rain!...Earth, rumble!...Illuminate! No, let there be light!” Ban Yue shouted a string of words with great conviction.
In his mind, he pictured the image of a candle suddenly burning up, himself floating up in the air, the earth starting to shake, and the rain beginning to pour. He also pictured an orb of light appearing in front of him. But to his dismay, nothing extraordinary occurred in front of him. The only thing that changed was Ludville’s face which was already contorted into an expression of extreme worry. His expression became worse each time Ban Yue uttered a new command.
“U-umm…you…if there’s something troubling you, y-you can just talk to me…” Ludville spoke in a small voice.
He volunteered himself as Ban Yue’s confidant, thinking that Ban Yue’s concerning condition would ease up if he had someone to share his worries. Ludville also had his own share of challenges in the past, but he didn’t remember ever getting to this point. If that were the case, then Ban Yue’s condition must be really bad!
Ban Yue, who remained oblivious to Ludville’s misunderstanding, was too focused in his own thoughts that he failed to catch Ludville’s words, “Hm, did you say something?”
“N-no…” Ludville shriveled in his seat, no longer having the courage to say the same thing twice.
Ban Yue was in fact very much sane at the moment. It was just that he was gauging how much they could utilize the blessing of Nature during their escape tonight. After confirming that he was indeed just a box and not some sort of a special and unique magic-wielding box, Ban Yue who was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t experience a typical fantasy hero’s magical world turned his attention to Ludville who had been stealing gnces at him over his book nonstop for the past hour.
“Ludville, are you sure you can’t use magic?” He asked for the second time this morning.
“…I can’t. I’m fairly average in all aspects except art which left my father very dissatisfied. I’ve tried to awaken to magic several times with the help of a special tutor that my father commissioned but failed every single time…” Ludville responded with a glum expression before yawning several times, “Augh…I don’t know why I feel so tired today when I turned in so early for bed st night…”
Ban Yue averted his eyes when he felt needles of guilt prick at his conscience. He had used Incognito st night for a total of three times, and while each use only took 15 minutes, each cycle must’ve disrupted Ludville’s normal sleeping cycle.
Ban Yue opened his system window and looked at the time. It was currently 11AM in the morning with thirteen hours left in the countdown. At 9PM tonight, the shadow puppets would awaken and emerge from their hiding spots, and the scenario’s final stage of survival would commence. If they were lucky, the red moon would rise a little ter tonight and Ban Yue and Ludville would only have to endure for a while. However, if they were unlucky, they would have to fight for their lives for three whole hours at a complete disadvantage.
“Ludville, are you good at running?” Ban Yue inquired casually.
Upon hearing this question, Ludville set his book down and looked at Ban Yue with a puzzled expression.
“…I usually stay indoors, so my stamina isn’t very good.”
“Then, how about swimming?”
Ludville was growing increasing confused at the questions that seemed to have come from nowhere. Still, he answered Ban Yue’s questions obediently.
“There is a big ke in our estate, so I’ve learned to swim since I was young. However, as I said, my stamina isn’t very good…” Ludville peered at Ban Yue curiously, “Why? Are we going on an outing? Where? How? The gates have been locked from the outside, and we don’t have the key. I’ve tried climbing the walls once, but it’s impossible. And those things that come out – “
Ludville suddenly paused his barrage of questions when he suddenly remembered their situation. At the moment, they were currently locked in, and it was almost impossible to escape.
Ludville’s excitement grew cold.
What outing? It would be more than enough if both of them could escape this pce alive.
At this thought, Ludville’s eyes shook.
“Is it…is it time? Is it really possible?” Ludville held his breath. Because Ban Yue didn’t answer as quickly as he normally did, Ludville’s anxiety only started to grow. It was during these moments that he wished he could see Ban Yue’s face.
It was only after a minute had passed that Ban Yue finally answered Ludville. It was as if he had been in deep thought before and only just then remembered to respond. He uttered the words that made Ludville’s blood grow cold. The words he anticipated and dreaded the most at the same time –
“It’s time,” Ban Yue closed the blue window he had been looking at so intently. It was a picture of the campus ground’s entire map that they had stolen from the main building’s bulletin board. He looked at the child’s pale face and continued, “Ludville, we have to escape tonight.”
“…Ludville, lift me a little higher. I can’t see it very well from here,” Ban Yue’s pupils almost disappeared under his eyelids.
The statue was so tall that it had already exceeded Ban Yue’s line of sight. No, actually, if one where to look at it objectively, it wasn’t that the statue was tall. In fact, if Ban Yue was in his original body, the statue would’ve only been about three heads taller than he was. But because he had been reduced to a mere box and Ludville’s stature was quite on the smaller side, Ban Yue could barely see the top.
Ludville lifted his arm a little higher and asked, “…Is…is this alright?”
This angle was a little better, but Ban Yue still couldn’t see the entire thing, so he said, “…a little higher.”
Hearing this, Ludville couldn’t help but feel a little impatient. So, instead of adjusting Ban Yue a little bit just like he did each time, this time Ludville stretched his arms high up above his head. He thought surely this time the angle would be perfect.
Ban Yue almost hurled at the sudden movement. It was as if he had suffered a short wave of vertigo. Ban Yue couldn’t help but feel that the roles had suddenly reversed. Although he was acting like Ludville’s guardian, right now he felt like he had become a child whose father had lifted him high up in the air just because he couldn’t see his favorite mascot character in the middle of the crowd. Ban Yue felt like puking – he had always had a weak stomach – and wondered why children seem to find this incredibly fun. He gagged three times before his stomach finally settled down.
[OOC Warning: The attempt to vomit has been terminated by the system due to your character setup restrictions. Please revisit your script and try again. Actions determined to be out-of-character by the system may have severe impact on the progression of the storyline. As such, penalties may be enforced after multiple excessive viotions. This is a warning! Please be careful!]
[OOC Warning: The attempt to vomit has been terminated by the system due to your character setup restrictions. Please revisit your script and try again. Actions determined to be out-of-character by the system may have severe impact on the progression of the storyline. As such, penalties may be enforced after multiple excessive viotions. This is a warning! Please be careful!]
[OOC Warning: The attempt to vomit has been terminated by the system due to your character setup restrictions. Please revisit your script and try again. Actions determined to be out-of-character by the system may have severe impact on the progression of the storyline. As such, penalties may be enforced after multiple excessive viotions. This is a warning! Please be careful!]
Ban Yue snapped at the barrage of system notifications inwardly, “It’s a physiological reaction, okay? It’s not like I can help it, so stop with the warnings already. Also, if someone wants to vomit, just let them be. It’s not like you’ll have to pick it off from the ground.”
Ban Yue sighed and returned his attention to the statue in front of him. Now that he was high up, he could finally see the entire thing up close. It was a long pole with two wide triangles at the end and a circur frosted ball in the middle that looked about as big as Ban Yue’s head.
This was Clodine Becket’s staff.
When Ban Yue scanned the history books, he read that Clodine Becket had embedded his staff somewhere in the hill during The Battle of the Red Moon, and that it had warded off the shadow puppets effectively for one hundred consecutive days. Ban Yue didn’t think he would still find it here, thinking that something so old and filled with history would have already long worn away or stored in a great museum for everyone to marvel at. He was a little bit surprised when he found it marked in the Clodine Becket Academy’s campus map.
Ban Yue had seen a glimpse of this very statue in the middle of the wide clearing located opposite of the rose garden, but thought it was nothing but an architectural ndmark. Who could’ve thought that this would be the real thing?
Ban Yue didn’t ask Ludville to take him here just to sight see. He was here to see if there was any way they could take advantage of the sacred staff. At present, because none among Ban Yue and Ludville could wield magic, the blessing of Nature could only be considered a neutral force that was more likely to interfere with their odds of surviving rather than help.
“Anyone who shares the power of the light is blessed by the white moon which is ever-present even behind the veil of the clouds…”, Ban Yue could still remember this part from the books.
The white moon is ever-present even behind the veil of the clouds. If that were the case, he figured that there must be some way for them to harness the power of the light. Ban Yue peered at the circur ball in the middle of the staff.
Does it glow in the dark? No.
Is it sor-powered? Doesn’t seem like it.
Is there a button that he could push somewhere? Nah, it’s not like it’s a light stick.
It doesn’t seem like you can twist anything either.
“Is there really nothing…?”, Ban Yue murmured.
Suddenly, he felt his vision start to shake.
'O-oh?! I knew there was something! Is it somehow resonati-'
“Are you done yet? My arms are aching so bad right now…” Ludville protested below.
Ban Yue’s excitement grew cold. It turns out it wasn’t the staff that was shaking, it was Ban Yue himself who was shaking, because Ludville’s arms were starting to get tired.
He sighed and used Inspect without much hope. When the blue window appeared, Ban Yue briefly gnced at the contents and immediately moved to close it.
“Alright, you can put me down now – huh?”
[Inspection has been completed. The results are currently being compiled. Please wait a moment…]
Ding!
[The staff awaits its master’s orders. Please find the master who has hidden himself among the clouds. Only the rightful owner of the staff can wield it to summon the power of the light! ☆ ]
Ban Yue froze.
'Master? Hidden? What’s that supposed to mean?'
“What’s wrong?” Ludville who had noticed Ban Yue’s abrupt pause asked.
But Ban Yue could only stare at the blue window in surprise. All of a sudden, another window overpped with the first one. This time, a red window appeared to block Ban Yue’s view.
[You are entering an area in the map that has yet to be unlocked. In order to not affect the progression of your currently selected scenario, the system will now return you to your starting point in…5...]
“What? Why?...”
[…4…]
“No, wait…”
[…3…]
“No, not yet!”
[…2…]
“Tell me more!”
[…1…]
Ban Yue only had enough time to scream these words before he suddenly disappeared from Ludville’s arms.
