Four Days Before the Sentence
Birdsong echoed beside the window, accompanied by the sunlight of a brand-new day.
Mike sat in his room, gazing out at the distant scenery. After a long while, he lowered his eyes to the sheet of paper in front of him and began to write.
Dear Mom and Dad,
It's me.
It's been almost two months since I was brought to this world along with Kai and Duke. A lot has happened since then… but I'm still doing fine. I hope you two are doing well too.
I don't know how you're feeling about all of this, but… I hope you can get through it.
The tip of his pen stopped in the middle of the page.
Mike stared at the words in front of him. His fingers tightened slightly around the pen. After a moment of silence, he continued writing.
The three of us are currently facing a… very serious problem.
Something that could put all three of our lives at risk.
No matter what happens… if there's ever a chance for you to know this, I hope you understand that…
I'm truly grateful to have been born into this world.
Yours sincerely,
Your son,
Mike.
Mike paused.
Just outside the window, a loud noise suddenly came from the yard.
Thud!
Mike flinched slightly.
He stood up, walked over to the window, and looked down.
Kai was in the yard, still training.
Repeated noises echoed from outside, mixed with Kai's heavy breathing. His still-healing arm was extended forward, directed toward an object placed some distance away.
Mike watched for a long while before letting out a quiet sigh.
He closed the window.
Then he returned to his desk.
Mike looked down at the letter he had just written.
After a long moment, he folded it.
He bent down, reached underneath his bed, and pulled out an old box.
He opened the lid.
Inside were dozens of letters.
Some had been neatly folded, while others were slightly crumpled. All of them had been carefully stacked on top of one another.
Mike placed the newly written letter inside.
He closed the lid and pushed the box back underneath his bed.
Mike sat down on his old wooden bed.
He raised both hands and rubbed his face.
"…What the hell am I doing?"
The room fell silent once again.
Mike remained there for a long while.
Then his gaze suddenly shifted toward the desk.
The magic book Tonio had given him was still lying there.
Along with the sounds of Kai's training coming from outside.
Mike looked at the book.
"Right…"
He stood up.
"I need to concentrate."
Mike walked over to the desk and picked up the magic staff he had obtained back in the forest.
He stood in the middle of the room.
Closed his eyes, Took a deep breath.
Then slowly exhaled.
Mike opened his eyes.
His expression grew serious "Alright…"
He raised the magic staff.
"I need to concentrate."
Inside Mike's mind, three circles appeared.
They overlapped and intersected at certain points. Strange characters ran along each circle, resembling a language he had never learned, yet somehow felt strangely familiar.
Something began to manifest around Mike's body.
A faint force field enveloped him.
Mike gritted his teeth.
"Come on… focus…"
But just as the circles in his mind began to grow clearer, the image before his eyes shattered.
Another image appeared.
A man and a woman
The two of them were standing right in front of him.
Mike froze.
The magic circles immediately vanished.
The force field surrounding his body disappeared along with them.
Mike lost his balance and fell to the floor.
"Damn it!"
He caught himself with his hands and breathed heavily.
After a while, Mike got back to his feet.
His gaze turned toward the magic book, which was still open on the desk.
The page in front of him contained an illustration identical to the three circles and strange characters that had just appeared in his mind.
Mike stared at it for a long time.
"How… am I supposed to do this…?"
His conversation with Tonio suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
That day, inside the shop, Mike had been holding the magic book and looking at the shopkeeper with a confused expression.
"So… how exactly can an ordinary person cast magic, old man?"
Tonio took the book from Mike's hands.
He opened it to a particular page and showed it to him.
"See these three circles and these characters? Memorize them carefully."
Mike nodded.
Tonio closed the book.
Then he picked up a magic staff from the nearby shelf.
"This is a magic staff. Each one is fitted with a gemstone called a The reflection."
Mike looked at the small stone embedded at the top of the staff.
"The reflection? What does it do? And what kind of name is that?"
Tonio raised the staff.
"Nobody know why it had that name"
"The legend said that ancestors of the various races, under Gaia's guidance, learned how to turn a user's thoughts into reality by creating magic circles engraved with ancient languages, which are believed to be the language spoken by the gods."
The gemstone at the top of the staff began to glow.
"This tiny gemstone reads the user's mind and then turns their thoughts into reality."
"And from that…"
A force field appeared around Tonio.
"…magic was born."
Mike's eyes widened.
"That's… magic?" Mike asked
"That's right." Tonio gave a smug chuckle.
"This is a spell called Protection. All you need to do is memorize the image of the magic circle in your mind, then leave the rest to the True Intellect."
Mike looked at the force field in front of him.
"So casting this spell doesn't consume mana?"
Tonio looked at him in confusion.
"Mana? What's that?"
Mike fell silent, Tonio shrugged.
"Do you mean stamina? Of course it does."
The memory came to an end.
Mike gave a quiet scoff.
He looked at the magic staff in his hand.
Then back at the book.
"Alright…"
Mike straightened his posture.
He closed his eyes.
An image of Kai, Duke, and himself appeared in his mind.
The three of them sitting together beneath the tree in front of the house.
The three of them talking.
Laughing.
And going through their training session a few days earlier.
Those memories surfaced one after another.
A familiar sentence suddenly echoed in his mind.
"The future is probably worth looking forward to, because it won't be boring."
Mike slowly opened his eyes.
The magic circles appeared in his mind once again.
This time, they didn't disappear.
Each circle became clearer.
The ancient characters engraved along them began to connect with one another.
The gemstone on the magic staff lit up.
A force field immediately formed around Mike.
It no longer flickered but rather completely enveloped his body.
Mike stared at the force field before him.
He remained silent for a few seconds.
Then the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.
An excited grin spread across his face.
"Worth looking forward to… isn't it?"