Matsumi had gone back to the school. He sat outside on the campus with his arms extended pointing at his roller skates placed in front of him. His tongue stuck out in concentration.
The schools had just got out as the large bell rang. Students started to walk outside on the campus, or across the street to the dorms and shopping section. The tall boy made his way outside. Raito spotted Matsumi and looked at him silently, before realizing who he was.
"Ah! You're the guy that everybody is talking about..the volleyball boy. Hey man! What's up?"
Matsumi turned his head to the boy, still not moving his arms from their position.
"Huh? Everybody is talking about me? Sweet! I'm making magic right now! I almost got it, I can feel it in my bones!"
"Well..not in the best way..but hey, if attention was your goal you sure as hell got it."
"The more people look the merrier! I think that's how the saying goes."
"Nope! Not the saying. I would be careful though man. They don't have the best opinion of you after that stunt you pulled. You best be cautious around these parts."
"What stunt? If it was big and cool I would know about it!"
"Well you skipped school and broke into Ashi Zenin's castle man! You were caught on camera, it's all over the news. They thought about canceling upcoming things because of it..some people think you're some kind of villain."
"Oh! That big fail! It could've been so cool too…now I have to go to school for the entire year. Villain? No way, if anyone's the villain it's that old woman!"
"I wouldn't be bummed about it. We have a school trip coming up soon actually. So we won't be in school for a month anyways."
"A school trip? For what?"
"Well..the mana exams is a tournament and they're thinking of doing something different this year. So we're traveling to Heldor's Tower to do some training, and climb the tower."
"Right, that tournament thing. I completely forgot about it. But if it's climbing I can get behind that!"
"Well..it's not actually climbing. That phrase is sort of figurative. Really, it's more like battling up each floor..but sure! You should be pretty hyped..All though you don't strike me as much of a fighter!"
"You got some good eyes man! Yeah, I don't fight. Don't care much about it. Feels like I everyone here goes crazy about it though."
"Well, that's because a war may be coming soon..or so the rumors say. People wanted to be ready for it. So..if you go on the trip you might get crushed..but hey! You could always stay here and do paper work."
"What?! I'd rather get arrested again than do that! I'll go, but I don't know if I'll do anything, depends I guess."
"Well doing nothing isn't an option or else you'll have no fun..and it'll be torture. Which, might be an understatement honestly. Some people never come out of there man."
"What? Then why would anyone go? Just skip."
"Well if you pass the training you'll get a special reward that nobody else has at the top..though nobody has made it past the final stage in fifteen years…So people want that reward! Could be worth a lot of money, or could be insanely powerful. Maybe it's a special power or spell. Nobody knows!"
"Wait! So, it's like a game?!"
His own twisted logic sparked up.
"Yeah! Heldor's Tower is a simulation based fighting game that translates over to real life. The only thing that doesn't is death. You'll always respawn in Heldor's Tower when you die. Outside of that, it's actually like an in real life game. There's one hundred floors..and each floor has some kind of puzzle, or boss fight. Beat all 100 levels and you unlock a special prize! And if you die more than three times you're sent back down to level one all over again. That's it!"
"Woah! That's sick! Sign me up! I wanna go!" He turned his whole body, completely forgetting about his magic.
"I can't sign you up..but you can register with the teachers! Deadline is two days from now so i'd be quick about it! It's a limited list!"
"Are you going? I don't even know your name, either."
"Of course i'm going! I want to beat the floors man..Oh! Names Raito! We played volleyball together but I guess I never introduced myself."
"Did we? Sorry, I barely remember anyone's faces from back then. But now you got me excited! This is way better than sneaking into the palace! Another adventure for Barg and Matsumi!"
"Well that was only a few days ago but whatever. Yeah. I'd say this is way better! Plus you'll get hands on experience. I can tell you've never really fought before, so maybe you can try it out."
"I'm more interested in the whole clearing the floors deal! The first one to reach the top wins right?"
"Yeah but you'll have to fight and strategize to reach the top. You can't just run up stairs or whatever."
"Uhh oh but that's ok actually! I have Barg!"
"I am not fighting through Heldor's Tower for you!"
She appeared, one with an angry expression.
"Not only is it dangerous because your mana levels are low but you need to learn to battle yourself!"
"Wow! That's the legendary Barghest! No way someone like you got ahold of it by finding it in the trenches. You had to have been given that, maybe a family heirloom or something?"
"But why not? I thought you were good at fighting!"
He answered Raito quickly.
"It's from a friend."
"Because you're being lazy and you'll get me hurt. Thats all you've almost done anyways. Why should I trust you after that stunt you pulled before?"
"I haven't gotten anyone hurt…on purpose. But Vermelha said you always fought before! I though you wouldn't mind it like everyone else!"
"I only fight for masters I respect or for my own gain. I don't fight just because im asked to. And that's the problem! You don't do anything on purpose and it ends in them or you getting in trouble. You're selfish, and if you're willing to just do something stupid like that I can't imagine you in that game."
"Ugh, whatever! I don't need you lecturing me, too! If you don't wanna help me, I'll figure something else out!"
"What? You're gonna leech off someone else to get to the top? You want to know why you dont fight? It's because you're a coward! You're so scared that you'll lose or get hurt you won't even try! Figure something out without someone else's help? What a joke! You can't do anything by yourself!"
"Oh yeah?! I'll show you! You can stay in your crystal for all I care! I'll get to the top and then rub it in your face!"
"Yeah? You get to the top by yourself and i'll do whatever you want for eternity! You can bet your little ass on that!"
She crossed her arms and turned from him, fading back into the crystal he held.
"Oh, you're gonna regret those words! Man, what a pain…am I right, Raito?"
"I don't know man. She may have a point. Maybe you're being lazy or scared. What if you did it through your own actions? Then nobody could say anything to you."
"She thinks I can't do it! Can you believe that?! Now I really have to go!"
"Well it's no walk in the park. So I don't know man…but hey if you think you can do it maybe you can."
"Of course I can! Gotta go tell teach! My spot isn't getting taken!"
He grabbed his skates and sped off inside the halls, to find Nomuro. Raito watched him ride off as the students continued to leave the building.
Screeching to a halt, Matsumi burst open the door to the classroom where he had seen Nomuro before.
"Teach!"
Nomuro was standing next to the window, continuing to look out on the scenery. He looked toward Matsumi, hearing his voice he smiled.
"Oh…Hello Matsumi! I see you actually did what you said you were going to do..To be honest im impressed. I would've never did that even when I was a kid…"
"Of course I did it, but that's not important! Sign me up for the tower game! I have to go!"
"Sorry. No can do. Normally i'd let you but this is against your safety. You're not capable of fighting. If I let you go in there who knows what would happen to you. You wouldn't come out the same person."
"If I don't go I'd look totally uncool! I got challenged to do it!"
"You're not ready Matsumi. You don't know the first thing about combat. How could I send you to be tortured like that? Thats not fair to you."
"But I'm good at games! If I don't sign up today, I won't have any slots left! That's what I was told."
Nomuro had thought back to his time, and how a lack of belief in someone's readiness had caused their death in the final battle.
"…Alright…I'll let you do it…but theres no backing out Matsumi. I won't let you leave until you finish the tower or the trip is over. If you're going to do it, no complaining and no backing down. Do we have a deal?"
"Deal! I wasn't gonna back out anyway!"
Nomuro took a clip board and wrote on it before placing it back down.
"There you go..You're officially in."
"Thanks, teach! When does it really start?"
"We have about two days or so. It starts at the end of this week. So you've still got 2 more days of class."
"I can handle that, no biggie. It'll all be worth it. Then the king and the hag will be left with no words! Hahaha!"
"You'll most likely fail…but it's alright. I'm rooting for you."
"Really motivating there, teach. I'm gonna prove all of you wrong!"
"Hey honesty is the best policy. Im just being real with you, okay?"
"What do I do until then?"
"I would be training if I was you. Maybe find a team of some sorts. It's very difficult to do the tower alone.."
"Oh, but I can't do that. I need to get to the top by myself. That's the rules."
"Technically not. You do have the option of forming a party."
"But then I won't be able to say 'told you so!' to Barghest!"
"Well then you're in for a very rude awakening and a ton of surprises. So maybe train. Try to learn or find something that might help you."
"Ok, and what do I do?"
"Start by using this.."
Nomuro reached down into his desk and pulled out a small book and placed it on the desk. He infused his mana into the book, it floated and gained life, flying over toward Matsumi as if it were its own creature.
"Your own grimoire. The extent of mana is endless. Use your imagination and try to make some fun out of it. Try creating a few small spells that would be useful to you. Not just in the tower, but any situation."
"Woah."
He reached out to try and grab from the air, he had never seen anything like it.
"You're saying that this makes magic? How does it do it?"
"The grimoire is an entity, a spirit that you can work with to adapt its powers to create spells, either from a template or from scratch completely. With this, this should aid in you using magic for whatever you wish without having to use omens."
"This is how all beginner mana users usually start out with if they go down the route of learning witchcraft and spells..I know you're a beginner so it may be challenging for you to completely understand the inner machinations of the book. Try and learn one or two spells. Most of them are developed around techniques that we used 20 years ago or so..before the First Witch was born in battle."
"I can do whatever I want with it then? Last time I tried with mana I fell on my butt."
"Learning how to use magic isn't easy. You're going to fall down many times…it's apart of the journey ."
"Man…magic is cool and all but it's so confusing."
He examined the grimoire, opening and closing it to see if it had any other special things.
The grimoire lit up as Matsumi turned the pages, it's green aura projecting itself into Matsumi's hands every time he fiddled with it.
"What the-, it's magic! So cool! Alright, I'm outta here! Thanks for the sign up!"
Taling the magical book with him, he'd exit the room just as fast as he'd entered it.
"Good luck!"
Nomuro waved as he headed out, smiling at his optimism.