Hermes
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Well, it's a new day in my brand-new life. I slept like a rock last night. I didn't think I would sleep so well with the creepy building we slept in. "Oh, hi, sister! Why are you so close?!" Why is Sister so close to me? It was so shocking; she just got right up to my face. Why is she not speaking? "Um, sister? Is something wrong?" She is still not speaking. Wait, this is one of the other two sisters. Not the one I've been talking with for the past two days. If I remember correctly, she can't speak. What should I do? Wait, what is she doing? Why did she put her hands around my neck? Is she going to try to choke me?!
"Hermes, get away from her!!!"
"Ah!"
"Get away from her, witch!"
"?" What's going on?!
"Hermes, are you alright?"
"Um, yes, sister."
"Thank goodness."
"Sister, what's wrong? Why are you so worried?"
"Please forgive me, Great Sage."
"For what?"
"Whatever you do, don't trust the other two."
"Why?"
"Just don't!"
"Okay? I am a little confused, but I will do as you say."
"Thank you."
"... Where are John and David?"
"They are outside packing everything up."
"Oh, okay?"
"I'm glad that you are okay. I don't know what I would have done if she hurt you. He would be mad."
"Who?"
"Nothing."
Is she talking about John? I guess that makes sense, but would he be that mad? Okay, that is kind of stupid of me. He would most definitely be angry. Why is she so scared? What would have happened if she wasn't here? And why does she not trust the others? Doesn't she know them? And most concerning of all, was the sister trying to kill me? I think she was going to kill me. What a scary thought. This world is brutal. Is everyday life going to be like this?
"Please, Great Sage—"
"Hey!"
"What is it?"
"I told you to call me Hermes! Not Great Sage!"
"I don't think I deserve such a luxury. Especially after what just happened."
"I don't care about that. I want you to call me by my name."
"... Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Very well then, I will call you by your name, Hermes."
"Thank you. Now what were you going to say?"
"I would like you to go and stand by John and David, and I will go and deal with the other sisters. And from now on you should at all times be by me, John or David. No one else!"
"Okay, I understand." Well, it looks like I'm going to have my guard up almost at all times…
"Oh, hello, Hermes."
"Hello, John."
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything is alright."
"Where's the Sisters?"
"... Packing up!"
"Oh, okay."
"Should we really let them out of sight?"
"We talked about this, David!"
"No, he's probably right."
"Oh, really? What's changed?"
"Nothing's changed."
"AAAAAHHHHH!"
"What was that?!"
"I don't know! Come on!"
"I wouldn't!"
"What?"
"What do you mean, Hermes?"
"I don't think we need to worry."
"Are you sure?"
"I am."
"Well, okay then."
I don't know why, but I have a feeling that I don't need to worry. Strangely, I feel unnervingly calm. I'm not worried, not concerned at all. I wonder why that is? I don't think I want to see what's happening.
"We should get going if we want to reach the town."
"Let's wait for the sisters."
"Very well."
"Well, it doesn't look like we need to wait long."
"Sorry for taking so long. We're ready to go."
"It's fine."
"Alright, let's get going."
Back on the road again, huh? I don't think I can ever complain about walking so much, with how beautiful this world is. It's not like I hate walking, but I do prefer going on jogs. Circling back, should I ask Sister about that scream we heard? I know I said I didn't want to know, but I am getting curious. "Hey, sister, what was that scream earlier?"
"I made sure that they wouldn't do something like that ever again."
"Oh."
"Please don't worry about it. Everything will be fine."
"Yeah, you're right. Everything is fine."
"Hey, I know what could cheer you up. Let's continue your magic practice."
"Sure. What spell will I learn next?"
"Not a spell. I want to raise your mana capacity. First, create a snowball!"
"Okay! mhcjoʃ çʔɪd rækmhɔsn! Okay, what's next?"
"Try to keep the flow of mana in the snowball so that it doesn't melt."
"Okay. How do I do that?"
"You know that feeling of your mana moving through your body when you complete the chant for the spell."
"I think so?"
"Well, you want to maintain that flow of mana. How you do this is by continuously pumping mana, not letting the flow stop."
"Okay."
"Make a new snowball. And try to maintain the mana flow."
"Got it! Should be easy! mhcjoʃ çʔɪd rækmhɔsn… Wait, no!" It's melting, please stop! It's not stopping!
"Not that easy, huh?"
"I'll get the hang of it."
"Good luck."
I got this. So all I need to do is maintain the mana flow. Okay, feel the mana flowing in my body. Then make the snowball! "mhcjoʃ çʔɪd rækmhɔsn!" I feel the mana flowing from my body to my right arm to my hand. Okay, now I need to maintain the mana flow! Oh my god! Did I do it? Wait, no, it's melting! No, no, no! It melted! "Aaahhh!"
"Is everything alright, Hermes?"
"Yeah, I'm just having some trouble trying to keep this snowball from melting."
"Don't feel bad, Hermes. Amazingly, you were able to perform a spell in just a few days. I don't know anyone who was able to do such a thing. Not even the greatest wizards could do such a thing at such a young age."
He's right, I am amazing! I mean, who else could pull off such a feat? I really shouldn't be so hard on myself. Ah, I feel better about myself.
"I'm sorry, Hermes."
"Sorry about what?"
"We won't be stopping for lunch. We can't waste any time."
"Oh, that's fine. I don't really care."
"Well, that's good to know."
"Come on, Hermes! Tell John that we need to stop and eat!"
"Sorry, David. But it looks like you won't be eating any time soon, hehe."
"Ah, man!"
"Sorry. But we really need to get to town."
"Yeah, yeah. I understand."
David is such a goof. He's really nice, though, so I can't give him too much grief. Strangely, David doesn't have four eyes like John. He's just a regular human. Kind of boring, but I'm not complaining… Ahhh, I love feeling the gentle breeze. I'm living a good life. A simple life. It sucks that it's not going to last. One day I'm going to have to fight Uriel. I don't know how strong he is, but if he's been alive for more than five hundred years. I am a little scared, so I need to keep getting stronger! I need to keep learning magic! Okay, let's try this again! So first feel the mana flowing in my body! Then! "mhcjoʃ çʔɪd rækmhɔsn!" Okay, now maintain the flow of mana… I think I did it! It's not melting! Yes, finally! I'm absolutely amazing! Wait, it's melting! Calm down, Hermes. You need to maintain the flow of mana. Okay, it's not melting anymore. I'm feeling a little tired. Is it because I'm using so much mana? It is possible. "Hey, sister, look, I did it! It's not melting!"
"Wait, what?"
"The snowball isn't melting!"
"Wait, Hermes, stop!"
"Why?"
"I didn't expect you to actually pull it off."
"Oh."
"Does anything feel strange?!"
"What?"
"Does anything feel strange about you?!"
"Ah, no. Well, I feel tired. That's it."
"Are you sure?! You need to be sure!"
"I'm sure! I'm sure!"
"Is everything alright, you two?"
"Yes!"
"Sister, is everything alright?"
"If you feel that anything is strange, like if you get sharp pain anywhere or get headaches, you must tell me! Got it!"
"Yes, I understand."
"... God, why do you have to be such a genius?"
"Well, I didn't expect a random compliment. I can't help being such a genius."
"Ha, okay, little genius. I think we need to take a break from magic practice."
"What! Come on! Don't you think that is too harsh a punishment? I can't help being such a genius!"
"Well, what else am I supposed to do? You lost too much mana in a short amount of time!"
"Oh, is that bad?"
"Yes!"
I didn't know it was that bad. It sucks that I can't practice magic for a while. We walked for hours, and then I saw a town in the distance. Is that the town we're trying to get to?
"Hey, it looks like we made it to town!"