Sight-Infused

Class A23 faced the west side of the school, which means if we were any higher, we could see the scenery outside the school.

“Woah!”

“That is scary!”

The skies above us, which were visible, looked clear as day. Not a single cloud stood up there, making the entire situation even scarier. The winds had picked up great speed. It flowed from east to west, but beyond our school, the outside world looked normal.

Or at least that was what one of our classmates said.

He lived in an east-facing room, on the third floor of the C building from the boys’ dormitories, which meant he had a view to the outside world. Facing east meant being one of the first to meet the wind head-on, thus based on the video he sent us, the way the glass rattled was terrifying. We ended up not having the chance to start the weapon training.

Mr. Frowen, our Keepers’ training teacher, applied a rock shield onto himself and went out to ‘rescue’ our classmate. The last update was that he managed to escort the child into an empty room on the west side of building B.

He hadn’t come back since, though. The classmate said he had someone else to help and left the building. On the back of my head I could hear other students speaking about him, wondering about his safety. Apparently, out of all the teachers, he was the only teacher who can apply a rock shield strong enough to resist the wind.

“But it wouldn’t last forever, would it?”

Aliya asked one of her friends who stood in front of her. They, too, found themselves worrying about his fate. Mina listened closely while remaining silent. I glanced at Antonio, who sat beside me, dead silent. He looked at the pages of his book, his gaze blank. He had been like that ever since we got the news that Mr. Frowen went back out and hadn’t returned. Only ten minutes passed ever since we received that message, but the restlessness in Antonio was visible as day.

I pulled my chair to him and sat down.

“You have something to do with Mr. Frowen.”

He glanced at me, his book still open on his desk. It looked to be a note of some kind, filled with writing that would make even the best doctors cry.

“You have quite the observation skills.”

“It’s obvious.”

“He is my father.”

That explained it. But if I remembered correctly, they had different family names. All the active teachers were written in the guidebook, but it would be impossible for me to go and check now, so I could only check once I got back to my room.

But I couldn’t remember him lying. He was always frank with me, both the positives and negatives, whether it was about me, or about himself. I looked around the room, but not a teacher in sight.

“Oh no, there’s no teacher anywhere. I want to go to the toilet. If only a teacher would come so that I can ask for permission.”

I whispered to Antonio.

“If you are trying to push me out of here, I wish you would do it in a smarter way.”

“Can’t expect much from me, can you?”

Antonio reluctantly got up and headed to the door.

“Hey, where are you two going?”

The class representative asked.

“Toilet.”

“Make it quick, and don’t leave the building. It’s dangerous out there.”

I nodded to his words and while apologizing inside, left the room. As we left the room, I could hear the voice of a girl asking to go to the toilet as well. Her voice was rather silent, blocked by the class’ doors, but even then, I recognized that voice anywhere. Not long after, Aliya came running for us, Mina in tow.

“We’re really doing this, huh?”

I nodded, then turned left at a section before the stairs, heading for the boys’ toilet.

“Hey!”

Aliya shouted. Antonio followed me without questions. We went to the toilet together.

“Could not set a good example for the class if someone like me lied, could I?”

“Whatever, teacher’s boy.”

“Correction, son.”

We finished our business and waited as Aliya went to the toilet, while Mina waited for her in the hallway. The hallway was quiet, with most of the students in their classes. We then went to the first floor. The front door was left open, and from there, the true power of the wind was visible. It was intense enough that I could see the lines flowing.

I looked at the girls’ dormitories which stood across the school building. The building also had a gray shield on it. All the school buildings had a gray shield for them, which was particularly strong against the wind. The fact that even with that, the windows still rattled… I really hope it could hold long enough, as who knows what would happen if the shield shattered.

I tried to peek out of the doors, the winds immediately pounded on me. It was too strong for me to fight, so I got back inside, nearly falling onto my back. I managed to recover in time and stood back straight.

Inside, Antonio started applying the rock shield on everyone, which would be the second most effective against the wind.

“This might be heavy, but deal with it.”

Antonio said, applying the same shield to me. I felt a sudden increase in my weight. Walking felt slightly harder. Antonio then stood at the entrance, looking back at us.

“Everyone ready?”

He asked as he walked backward into the wind. Immediately, his gym clothes fluttered in the wind. Seeing him unfazed, the rest of us slowly but steadily stepped out, the strong winds hitting our faces.

Countless thick light green lines flow from east to west. The weight of the shield planted us down to the ground, albeit moving became harder. We walked against the winds, which continued to pound on us. Debris picked up by the wind was thrown all over the place, limiting our visibility, while above us, the bright blue sky extended, with the sun shining its warm gaze at us. It felt weird in a way, to see such dangerous winds in such a clear sky.

To add to that, the wind element, magic-wise, had the color light green. Many say it was like that since ancient times, some saying that the color came from the leaves that it picked up. Some leaves flew around, and with all the dust, I had trouble trying to open my eyes in order to see the elements. I then felt a palm gripping my left hand. I looked to the left to know it was Aliya.

“I couldn’t see!”

She yelled, her sound fighting against the voices of the wind, while Mina held Aliya’s left hand. Antonio handed me over his glasses.

“Use this.”

“But, how about-”

I then realized he still had his glasses on his face. I looked at the glasses he handed to me. It had a larger frame, and the lens itself looked like normal glass. What bothered me the most was the fact that it had been colored pink.

“I prepared it specifically for this occasion.”

“And you chose the color pink?”

I slightly yelled. He gave me a smug smile and thumbs up.

“Once I knew you would be joining, I knew I needed to make something funny.”

And this is your idea of funny?

I took the glasses anyway and wore them. Their large lenses helped protect me from the leftover wind and debris that passed through the shield, allowing me to see again.

“Have any more?”

“No.”

“Aliya, Mina, hold on tight!”

I felt Aliya’s grip getting tighter after I yelled that. We pushed through the wind while my brain filtered what I saw. Eventually, two outlines of different colors came into view. The one with a light green outline stood above the fountain, while the other with a gray one stood below him, looking up at the figure.

We got close enough to the point where we could see their forms.

“Dad!”

“Antonio! What are you doing here?!”

Mr. Frowen ran to us, his back facing the light green one. The light green one lifted his hand up.

“Mr. Frowen, behind you!”

I yelled. Mr. Frowen turned around. The attack, in the form of a horizontal slash, targeted his feet. He didn’t dodge in time and it strikes right through his left calf. He let out a groan as his leg fell onto the ground.

“Mr. Frowen.”

“I’m alright.”

He said, despite holding his calf. The strike damaged his shield, cracks appeared in the area where the attack had hit. Unlike metal, a rock shield would crumble if one area was destroyed, which meant-

“Antonio, apply shield on him! Mina, attack the space on top of the fountain!”

Antonio swiftly applied a rock shield which repaired Mr. Frowen’s damaged one, while Mina rapidly pulled out his bow and fired two magic shots in quick succession. The figure was faster however and disappeared into the wind.

I looked around, searching for where he went.

“Aliya, top of the girls C!”

Aliya understood and unleashed a long-range slash. Silver lines appeared on the top of the girls’ dormitories building C, not even a second after the figure reappeared. It slashed through him, but it didn’t seem like it did much damage. He swiftly disappeared once more.

“What are you students doing here? It’s dangerous!”

“Dad, come back with us! He can’t stay like this for long, can he?”

Antonio helped lift his father back to his feet. Despite wobbling, his father managed to stand back straight.

“Right above him.”

I pointed toward an area above Mr. Frowen’s head. Mina sent a silver arrow right at the target which managed to deflect an incoming attack. The attack dispersed, causing us to feel a noticeably stronger gust. By the time I looked back up, I realized that the figure had disappeared once more.

“Is he a frog, why is he jumping around so much?”

I yelled in annoyance.

“Everyone, please get back-”

“Behind him!”

Antonio fired a metal spell, which made a sharp whooshing sound as it passed me. It traveled toward the figure, which unleashed a vertical wind attack of his own. The silver streak pierced through the wind attack, slicing and dispersing the arrow-shaped vertical attack, causing it to dissolve. It pierced through the figure’s body. This time, it didn’t run away. Instead, it took the attack head-on. The strike pierced through the figure, creating a hole in his chest that was immediately restored. The light green glow then fired a wind attack at us, in the form of a horizontal slash.

It hits Mr. Frowen’s back, throwing him at us. We all collapse to the ground. I saw the figure approaching. I quickly looked at Mr. Frowen only to find his shield breaking apart again. It cracked, and holes started visibly appearing. Any more and the entire thing would fall apart.

The figure approached slowly, a long sharp, sword-like shape appeared on his right hand. The wind became stronger, pushing all of us down. It was so strong it made even turning my head around hard. I also felt the shield getting weaker somehow, something that I never felt before. In most cases, when Antonio applied a shield to me, especially the ice shield on a hot day, I could feel something cool covering me, reducing the effects of the summer heat.

When the ice shield melted, I couldn’t really feel the change. Melting an ice shield took a long time combined with great heat. The fact that wind, which was supposed to be weak against rock, continuously chipped at our shield…

So this is the true power of an element-infused?

The strongest of strong, those who wield the element as if they were gods themselves.

He pulled his sword upward, ready to slice Mr. Frowen. In the intense windstorm, my vision wavered. I couldn’t differentiate between the colors, between the gray and the light green. It all felt like a weird mix of the two. As time passed, and the intensity of the wind increased, more and more light green covered my view. Not the green of calmness or nature, nor the green of health and freshness.

What I saw was the destructive force of a hurricane, winds strong enough that it could destroy forests.

It became a jumbled mess of light green, the overflowing of wind magic, the result of five years of training, along with the anger that came with it.

That was when I realized, I could feel that rage. That disappointment, that bitterness, and that regret. That distrust, that frustration, that fear, that guilt…

That loneliness… that uncertainty…

That hesitation.

I can feel all those feelings, all those negative emotions, being carried by the wind. It felt stronger as the figure approached. Now standing right in front of Mr. Frowen, he held his sword with both hands. I reached out my arm, despite the winds pushing against me. I opened my mouth,

But my voice wouldn’t come out.

Stop, please stop!

He brought down the sword.

I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the aftermath.