Sight-Infused

“Umm…”

I had made my Keeper’s training teacher completely speechless.

“I know you put in the effort… I guess maybe magic just isn’t your thing?”

Obviously, thanks to my unique trait, I could not pull out a single bolt of magic, no matter how hard I tried. I wondered if I could tell him that. Obviously, I could prove it, but after three weeks of constant failure, it felt weirdly late, as if I’m using it only as an excuse.

“I’m sorry.”

I mumbled, but apologizing didn’t feel right, not after I wasted his time for three consecutive weeks. He even added a special course on the second week’s Saturday for just me and another person, and that person managed to finally do something.

Mr. Frowen shook his head and lightly tapped on my shoulders.

“It’s alright, not everyone has the same strengths and weaknesses. You can go back.”

“Thank you for your time.”

He nodded.

“I wish I learned that lesson sooner.”

I heard him mutter silently to himself as he walked away. I went to the side and picked up my water bottle before walking away from the Keeper’s Training Grounds. I find Antonio watching from his usual spot near the ground’s exit, his lab coat fluttering in the summer wind.

As inconsiderate as he could be sometimes, I genuinely appreciate how silent he was when it came to my failures as a magic wielder. He didn’t say anything as usual. Instead, he silently handed me a bottle of water to replenish my already empty bottle.

“Thanks.”

I opened the cap and gulped down half of the six-hundred-milliliter bottle.

“Want the change?”

Antonio asked, offering the sixty cents change. I took it and put it in my pocket.

“I’ll get changed then grab some lunch. Want to come with me?”

“Sure.”

I went to the bathroom and changed into my school uniform. I had made it a habit to wear my school uniform after Keeper’s training, just in case I wanted to visit the school grounds for any reason. Technically, Friday still counted as a school day after all.

“Have you eaten?”

I asked after I finished changing. We made our way together to the cafeteria.

“No. I waited for you to finish.”

“That’s sweet.”

“I took great interest in your progress, or more accurately, lack off, as it proves the accuracy of my theory.”

“That is not sweet.”

“No, it is not.”

Antonio shrugged and walked in front of me. He ended up ordering a double cheeseburger while I went for some meatballs. The sight of someone like him, who wore his lab coat wherever he went, trying to eat a large cheeseburger without getting dirty seemed funny to me.

It felt like looking at a distinguished noble wearing expensive garments eating street food, not that there was anything wrong with that.

“What do you want to do after this?”

He asked after he finished eating his cheeseburger. He took the tissue from its container on the table and wiped the ketchup off of his mouth.

“I don’t know.”

Two weeks ago, he helped me find my ability, and last week, he helped me improve it further. After all that staring, I could lower the time down to five seconds. It didn’t look like it would be able to go down any further, though, as no matter how hard I concentrated and practiced, my time was stuck at five seconds.

I personally considered five seconds to be a decent time. I couldn’t even find a way to use it anyway, and having it appear too fast would just be annoying.

“Now that you have a decent handle on your abilities, I would like to do some private research on matters that concern myself, thus if you do not have any important thing to do with me, I would be retreating to my room.”

“I see…”

“That is the time when you offer your help.”

“If you need my help, just say it. Besides, you did say that it was a private matter. Still, what is it?”

“Something related to my family. I would prefer it if we do not talk about it here.”

“Alright.”

I quickly finished my meatballs and returned the plate to the collection tray sitting at the side of the cafeteria. Antonio threw away his wrapping and walked away from the cafeteria.

“Would you like to take a shower before you come to my room?”

I’m a bit surprised at how casually he invited me to his room, considering that neither of us had ever crossed into each other’s dwelling before. I immediately agree, though.

“That would be nice.”

“Head on when you are ready. It is room C27.”

“Alright.”

Stuffing his hands back in his pockets, he walked away back to his dormitory.

By the time I finished showering and resting for a bit, it was already two in the afternoon. I took my phone and messaged Antonio, confirming that I would be heading to his room shortly after. I changed my room clothes to my school uniform, which I had only worn for a short while before, and went out of my room.

Upon leaving the dorms, I turned right and headed for building C, the eastmost dormitory in the school. I went to the second floor and looked for Antonio’s room. It didn’t take long for me to arrive in a very normal-looking room. I braced myself and knocked on the door. There was no reply. I thought I had knocked on the wrong door. I was about to message him when the door creaked open.

“It is you. Come in.”

He said, leaving the door narrowly open for me. I pushed it slightly, embracing myself for whatever sat inside his room.

“Eh…”

“What is it?”

Antonio’s room was… pretty normal.

Piles of paper littered the top of his desks, his laptop sitting in front of them and his tablet charging on the side. Besides his desk, several books were tidily placed on the floor, three stacks with maybe two to four books each.

“Take a seat… why do you look disappointed?”

“I was expecting something more…”

I found a weird, beaker-shaped plushie on his bed. The beaker had green liquid in it and large, cute eyes for some reason.

“... weird.”

“Based on your eyes, I assumed you considered my plushie weird?”

“Very weird.”

“It is a gift from my brother. It is a weird one indeed, but it is special to me. Besides, I sleep alone. The sight of me hugging a plushie is not a sight everyone needs to see.”

He said as he picked up the plushie and placed it above his pillows.

“Oh, I definitely need to see it. So, what did you invite me here for?”

He patted the bed on the side near his work chair, telling me to sit down. He then sat down on his chair, facing his laptop. He started typing something. I waited, but it soon became apparent that he wouldn’t stop soon.

“So…?”

“My apologies. When I waited for you, I decided to start another task. I am now focused on the task at hand. Make yourself at home while I finish this.”

He said, continuing his work as if I didn’t exist. I shrugged and fiddled with my phone. Looking at the message, I really hadn’t changed much after arriving here. I only got two new contacts, Antonio and Mina, whom I rarely talked to. I talked to Antonio regarding tests, quizzes, or homework every now and then, but it felt more like the class mentor teaching one of his students. Mina, on the other end, I only added for a group project. We hadn’t talked about anything else ever since.

Most of the messages in the app were from my Dad or from my class group. Aliya had put some amount of effort into talking with me after the Sunday date two weeks ago. It hadn’t returned to the same levels compared to our middle school years, though.

“Alright, I’m done.”

Antonio said, now looking back at me.

“What did you just do?”

“Some things that you would probably not understand.”

“Well, how about you start with something that I will understand?”

Antonio nodded.

“I need your help to find my brother.”

“Your brother?”

“I am the youngest of four siblings. The second in line went missing around five years ago, just two days before the peak of the winter celebrations.”

“Two days… The twenty-third of the last month, seventeen ninety….”

I fell silent. It was the exact date I ran into Aliya.

“It seemed that date had some history with you.”

“Yeah. That was the day I met Aliya for the first time.”

“I see. I couldn’t see the two events being intertwined, however, as my brother left not long before midnight.”

“Different event, then.”

While my run-in with Aliya happened in the evening, I remember clearly the town’s clock tower bell ringing, its hands pointed to the number nine. If someone would like to run away from home, then Loknartor would be too far away.

“He hasn’t been found until today?”

“No.”

Antonio looked back at his laptop. He opened his browser and typed in something, bringing a screen showing a news report from two years ago with the date showing fifteen days after the new years.

“Do you recognize this event?”

He picked up his laptop and put it in front of me.

“The tornado?”

“Yeah. No one knows where it came from. It appeared suddenly, without any warning. Two teachers and one student were injured, one of them ran out of the relative safety of the buildings to try to fight the tornado using magic. I said relative because the truth was, even the buildings suffered heavy damage.”

He stated.

“And…?”

“I suspect this to not be a natural disaster.”

“Your brother?”

Antonio nodded.

“You have learned.”

“Even a turtle would go a mile if it moved every day.”

“I would not be willing to wait for it, however. In this day of free-flowing information, I do not have the patience to wait for a turtle.”

“Guess I’m not a turtle?”

“Still a turtle, but with rocket boosters attached to its back.”

“Wouldn’t that mean it goes faster than a rabbit, though?”

“That is under the assumption that it flies. Put a rock onto a rocket booster and let it face horizontally to the ground, one would be surprised if it could go far without tipping over.”

“You’re right… What were we discussing again?”

Antonio scrolled through the news article, bringing up a video from a security camera. The video lasted five minutes, showing the tornado’s formation. Eventually, it was destroyed and the footage was cut.

“I suspect this to not be a natural disaster. Instead, it was my brother.”

“Does your brother have anything against the school?”

Antonio fell silent. He scrolled up and down the news page. Seemingly not finding what he was looking for, he brought the cursor back to the video before looking up at me.

“I do not know.”

“That’s a lie… Oh well, not like that mattered anyway.”

It had been two years, after all.

“So, where do I come in?”

“I had done my own digging on the matter. I checked weather reports, looked into police investigation from the accident, and compared Keepers notes that were recorded. I could say with confidence that this is not a natural disaster… to some extent, at least.”

“You said that before?”

“Just so you know that I am not pulling stuff out of some portal somewhere.”

He said as he returned the laptop to his desk.

“The conclusion that I came to was shared among the other sources. All pointed this to be a man-made disaster. As to why…”

“You know why, but you felt uncomfortable sharing it with me?”

Antonio nodded slowly.

“This secret had something to do with my entire family affairs. It would not be a good idea for me to tell you about it without the permission of my family members.”

“I’m not asking about that, though… although I am a bit curious. Anyway, what do you want me to do?”

“A tornado of that size and power could only be made by an adept wind user. My brother shared my blood, which means he had the same blood-infused abilities as I do. However, I was only around ten by then. I hardly remember how good he was. I suspect he spent three years getting to that level. I know that he did not achieve the goal he set out to do, so I suspect a second strike. Yet, for it to succeed, he would need even more power than that. I am afraid he would cross the line.”

“You’re scared of him being an element-infused?”

“Correct. Unfortunately, only then would you be able to help. You could not detect his presence without him using his powers, which meant by the time you could detect him, it was too late. But… I do not know if this is possible…”

Antonio stared at the floor, before shaking his head and looking back at me.

“If possible, I would like you to take me to him, so that I can meet him one last time.”