Chương 27: Chapter 26: Compression

I lay on the couch and closed my eyes. I'd spent days dreading this moment. And now that it was here, there was nothing left to do but start. I drew the first line. Then the second, slowly building the circle in front of me. Mana traced through my chest, following the path I'd mapped a dozen times in my head. The geometry was different from the First Circle — wider, with longer branches that needed to interlock with the existing circuit. Opposite rotations. If the First Circle spun one way.

The Second would need to spin the other. I pushed the circle deeper into my chest. Skin. Muscle. The resistance of tissue that didn't want to accept a foreign pattern. The First Circle had been the same — a burning trail carved through my chest, each millimeter a conscious effort. Last time I didn't know if I'd survive. But this time I knew I would survive. In fact, I knew exactly what it would feel like. And that was the problem. The anticipation was worse than the pain. Every nerve braced for the next millimetre.

The next moment the circle would carve deeper, burning through my chest. It wouldn't leave a scar and I wouldn't bleed yet it felt exactly like it would. I kept pushing. Line by line. Branch by branch. Carefully maintaining the shape. The new circuit would sit alongside the old one, tracing the negative space around it like a mirror held at the wrong angle. The pain finally peaked when the first connection touched the heart. Same as before. A spike of heat that radiated through my ribs, up my neck, behind my eyes.

My body wanted to reject it. To clench around the intrusion and push it out. I breathed through it. The connection held. The second branch found its anchor. Then the third. I could feel the First Circle reacting. Responding. The familiar rhythm of its rotation shifted, adjusted, making room for the newcomer. They weren't fighting. They were finding their balance. The final line sealed. The Second Circle locked into place and began to turn. Not with the First Circle. Against it.

A counter-rotation that pressed inward rather than outward. The space between them compressed. The mana that had been circulating freely through the First Circle suddenly had nowhere to go — the Second Circle was pushing it back, packing it tighter, forcing it into a smaller volume. The sensation was the same as holding my breath. Fullness. Density. Weight behind the sternum. The First Circle gathered. The Second Circle compressed. Then my body decided it had enough and let go.

I woke up on the couch, that was much better than the cold stones of the study. Something had changed. I lay still and took stock. The First Circle was still there. Turning. The Second Circle was alongside it now, and the two of them together created a whole new set of sensations. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. I opened my eyes. Yato was on the back of the couch, watching me. He hadn't moved closer.

Just sat at the edge of the cushion, tail curled around his paws, studying me with the flat attention of a creature who was reassessing something he thought he already understood. Still looking at the ceiling, I raised a hand. And in the air above my palm, I traced the circle for Heat Transfer. The circle formed slowly. But it felt different. The mana feeding it was coming through the compressed reserves, and the circle responded differently. Sharper. More eager. Even the heat was more concentrated than before.

I held it for a moment, then let it dissolve. Lightning. That was why I'd gone through this insane process again. The lightning had failed because my mana wasn't dense enough to sustain the feedback loop. The spark had lasted a second, then the spell had drained everything I had and left me to collapse on the floor. Now I could feel that I had much more. More density. More pressure. More power before the tank would run dry. I sat up slowly. My head was clear. My body felt rested, not drained.

The engraving had taken something out of me but the recovery was already happening. I looked at the shelf across the room. There was no time to lose. Bill's phone buzzed at 4: 08 AM. He grabbed it off the nightstand, heart jumping, expecting something — anything — from Arcene's number. It was a news notification. He read it three times before the words stopped bouncing.

BREAKING: Homeowner Missing After Residence Vanishes Overnight, Police Investigate Authorities are searching for Arcene Evans, 24, after his home at 1428 Saint-Exupéry street was discovered completely gone early this morning. The property, which neighbors described as a single-family residence occupied by Evans, now consists of an empty lot with a shallow body of water filling the excavation. Utility crews responding to reports of severed water and gas lines arrived at the scene shortly after 12: 30 AM.

They found no building. No debris. No foundation. Thief Limited Gas & Electric estimates damages exceeding $300, 000 and has filed a complaint. The police officers working on the case are asking anyone with information to contact the department as soon as possible. Sources tell us Evans has not been seen or heard from since late last night. His vehicle remains unaccounted for.

A separate source within the department confirms they are reviewing a missing person case from 2023 involving Evans' mother, who disappeared without explanation. The case was closed two years ago despite objections from the family. Bill put the phone down. He stared at the ceiling. Then he picked the phone back up and read it again. The article didn't say Arcene was a suspect. It didn't have to. The shape of it was clear enough — house gone, owner missing, history of vanishing family members.

The police weren't looking for a victim. They were looking for someone to explain what happened and pay for the repair. Bill scrolled to the comments without thinking. The usual garbage. Insurance job. Dude probably skipped town. His mom disappeared too? That's a red flag. People who had never met Arcene, speaking ill of his best friend. The same friend that had disappeared, the one he was worried about. Bill closed the tab. The room was quiet. Susanoo was dreaming on the dog bed, legs twitching.

He looked at Arcene's contact in his messages. Sent. Delivered. No reply. He typed anyway. dude? I don't know if you can see this, but there's an article they're linking it to your mom. He stared at the message. Hit send before he could second-guess it. The checkmark appeared. Delivered. No reply. I stood up from the couch. My legs were steady. My head was clear. I walked to the shelf. The beast core sat on the edge. I picked it up. It was heavier than I remembered.

Or maybe my hands were just more aware of weight now. The grimoire was still open on the kitchen table. The page on core engraving. I sat down. The procedure was clear. A novice engraving method: draw the circle in mana on the surface of the core, then press it inward to settle. The crystal accepted the pattern the way water swallowed a stone — it would close around it, trap it, hold it forever. I turned the core over in my hand.

Last time I'd failed because I couldn't sustain it, the circle I had created to generate lightning. Now I felt like I could do it. I've learned the circle in the past few days. I have yet to use it successfully but the scorching mark on the ground is the proof that it somewhat works. I placed the beast core on the table in front of me. The instructions were sparse — a drawing, a diagram of a core cross-section showing where the circle should settle. The rest was up to me. I drew the circle in the air.

It took me a full minute—better than last time. I checked every branch, every connection. The targeting node. The stability anchor. The power channel that had drained me dry the first time. It looked right. I held it for a moment, letting the lines rotate in the afternoon light, then closed my hand and let it dissolve. I picked up the beast core. One chance. No second attempts. I placed my thumb against the crystal and began to draw again.