A figure rushed through the forest, breathing heavily as it made its way to a house on the outskirts of town. Only the light of the stars remained before plunging back into darkness.
Crack.
Water gushed from the tap as the girl opened her eyes.
Ethan washed his wound once again, hoping he had removed all the splinters from his shoulder.
"Fuck, that hurts! He really hit me hard."
Taking the bandage in his hands, Ethan turned around, and his eyes went wide.
A girl with shoulder-length blonde hair was looking at him with her wide, almost deep-red eyes.
"Oh, you're finally awake." Ethan sat down on the bed, his expression turned menacing. "So, what happened in the forest? You know something about it, right?"
"Menir."
"Agh?"
The girl touched her chest. "My name is Menir. What about you?"
"Tsk. Ethan," he snorted. "I don't care what your name is. I want to know what happened in the forest!"
"I'm afraid I don't have any answers. I was just following my spell, or rather, I was forced to. Then, the monsters, death, and you... You decided to kill me even though you saved me. Why?"
Ethan rubbed his temple.
"You mean that? I'm not going to apologize. You were supposed to be my donor, my only chance, so I did it, but it seems something went wrong."
At the same moment, the sound of gears turning could be heard.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Two spectral circles hovered between them — Ethan's was broken in half, and Menir's was 95% complete. Still, if even one tiny piece was missing, it was considered a Broken Circle, limiting the mage's potential forever. Unless...
[The inferior circle is ready to grant access to its Patterns for the complete restoration of the superior circle.]
[Is the superior circle willing to give permission?]
An answer was needed.
Ethan glanced at Menir, but she just tilted her head in confusion.
"What?" she touched her lips. "Don't you understand that your Circle is a superior one?"
"But..." Ethan faltered, looking at his circle, which was much more damaged. "That's strange. I should have absorbed your Circle by killing you. How did you survive?"
Before Menir could say anything, Ethan waved his hand in agreement.
[Synchronization begins.]
Then, half of Menir's Circle was copied as a spectral layer, overlaying Ethan's. His Circle also gave a small part of itself to Menir.
[Perfect match. Absorption is impossible due to the inferior circle's tainted Patterns. It is necessary to completely cleanse the inferior circle by opening the entire Catalyst.]
They exchanged glances.
Whether they wanted it or not, they were now dependent on each other, at least until they both restored their Circles.
Menir bandaged Ethan's wound.
"Not so tight.
"Why aren't you using any medicine? You won't get very far with just bandages and water." Menir tied his shoulder tightly.
"Hah, let's see. Either I love to suffer, or I don't have the damn money for medicine!" Ethan waved his hand irritably.
Menir pointed to the dagger.
"What about this? It looks pretty expensive. Better to be without a weapon and with medicine than with a weapon and dead."
Ethan took the dagger in his hand. "Nah, I can't sell it."
"Why not?"
"Because it's a gift. I don't sell gifts. I wouldn't want someone to sell my gift, so there you go."
"Then maybe you should ask this man for help? You seem to be important to him." Menir asked.
"Hah. This dagger is a guarantee that I won't bother him anymore, and I won't."
Menir touched her lips.
"In that case, it's not a gift but a bribe, isn't it?"
Ethan smiled bitterly. "Call it what you want, but we're alone with our problems."
"Got it."
Tap.
Menir took off her earring, her only one.
"Hmm? What should I do with this?" Ethan asked.
"It's gold. It's not much, but it's enough for meds, food, and…" She glanced at their bloodstained clothes. "Clothes."
Ethan grinned.
"Good. Finally, some kind of reward!"
By evening, they had everything they needed, as Ethan drank a glass of thick green substance.
"Gha! How disgusting!"
Ethan wiped his mouth, all for the sake of healing.
"What are we going to do? It seems that until we restore your Patterns, we won't be able to move forward."
It was a headache. Every Mage had to find Patterns to make their Circle more powerful, basically developing their Catalyst, the spells.
The Patterns were clusters of energy with unique properties. They were everywhere, in humans, monsters, artifacts, and even some resources.
The problem was that finding suitable Patterns for Catalysts was difficult, especially for the Broken Mages whose circles were unable to rotate due to their malfunction and absorb energy that helped in the search.
Sometimes it could take years. Or someone could kill a random monster while hunting and fill a Pattern for their Catalyst. As in all worlds, luck could play a big role.
"Find Patterns for you." Ethan scratched the back of his head. "Hell, we'll die of old age before we figure this out."
"Don't worry."
Menir replied emotionlessly.
"I think I can take on this task."
Confused, Ethan was about to ask something when he saw the gears turning deep in Menir's eyes.
A red orb hovered above her hands, bound by a multitude of heavy chains.
"This is my First Circle Catalyst, my only spell," Menir explained, even though Ethan was in the same situation.
"So, what does this orb do?"
Menir focused.
"This is the Blind Voyager. It's the reason those mercenaries brought me to the Rotten Forest and died."
Slowly, a terrifying hand emerged from the dark orb, pointing its long finger toward the west.
"It shows the way to something valuable, maybe something I need, or maybe something that's a treasure for others. But… as the name suggests, I don't know what's waiting for me at the final destination."
Ethan chuckled darkly. "Well, what else can you expect from the blind one? So, you think your spell will help us find Patterns for your Circle?"
"Most likely. The Blind Voyager points first to important things, then to valuable ones. Given our situation... There is nothing more important than completing my Patterns."
"Alright."
Ethan stood up, brushing the dust off his knees.
"Then show us the way. Now that we know where to go, we're halfway there."
In response, Menir smiled softly.