“It’s because your body is growing an immunity.” The professor sighed as she gestured for him to follow her. She continued talking as she led him into a hallway. “Your body has a very unique composition. Because you are no longer human, mana transfers don’t work on you like they would for a regular person. This ritual I devised is one that was made specifically for you, but I suspect it won’t be long before even this ritual becomes useless.”
Anthony grimaced as he heard that. “Is there anything we can do?”
Professor Incanscino stopped in front of a wooden door. He’d noticed that none of the doors in her office/residence were automatic. They were all made of an expensive wood that made her residence resemble a noble’s small manor.
“There is nothing I can do,” Professor Incanscino said as she opened the door. “However, there is something you can do.”
“I’m not going to have sex with anyone,” Anthony said. “I won’t betray Lilith.”
Professor Incanscino cast him a dark glance. “Stubborn as always.”
Anthony shrugged as he walked into the darkly lit room, which used candles instead of lamps to illuminate the space. It wasn’t a large room. He estimated it to be no more than 100 square feet. As he walked in, Anthony moved to the very center of the room, which contained a large-scale magic circle. It looked like a circle with a decagon followed by a ten-pointed star inside. Numerous symbols were drawn inside of the circle. He didn’t know what any of them did since magical hieroglyphs were not something he ever studied, but he knew what they were used for.
“Take off your shirt and sit down,” Professor Incanscino instructed.
Doing as instructed, Anthony removed his shirt and threw it out of the circle, then sat down as Professor Incanscino came up behind him. He steadied his breathing as her scent drifted into his nose. The short professor smelled of lilacs and lavender. It was a very soothing scent, or it normally would be, but Anthony had trouble because he understood this scent came from a very cute woman.
He did his best to ignore that as a pair of small, soft hands found their way to his shoulder blades. Anthony didn’t know what Professor Incanscino did to keep her hands so smooth. They sent an electric jolt through his body, though again, he tried to pretend he felt nothing.
“Are you ready?” asked Professor Incanscino.
“Yes,” he said.
“Good. I’m starting now.”
The hairs on Anthony’s scalp prickled as energy washed over his body like an electric current creating static on his skin. All the symbols inside the magic circle began glowing a bright blue. The incandescent light illuminated the dark room more than the candles did. As the symbols lit up, the mana filling the room suddenly paused, then sank into his body. For a moment, Anthony felt like he was getting younger, like time was being rewound. It caused the empty feeling from his nearly exhausted mana reserves to disappear.
As the ritual magic died down, the glow disappeared, and Professor Incanscino took a step back.
“All done,” the professor said with a sigh. She sounded tired. “I hope you appreciate what I’m doing for you.”
“I do appreciate it.” Anthony stood up, found his shirt, and slipped it back on as he turned to face the diminutive woman. “I understand that I would be dead right now if it wasn’t for you. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
“If you really appreciate what I’m doing, then hurry up and build a damn harem,” Professor Incanscino said with an irritated scowl. “I don’t like being your personal mana battery.”
Anthony gave his professor a pained smile. He knew he was being selfish by not doing as she asked, that he was forcing her to use up her own mana to keep his sorry ass alive, but he just couldn’t bring himself to bind a woman, any woman, to him. Maybe it was stupid, but he didn’t want to betray his feelings for Lilith.
He didn’t want to betray the woman who had saved him and his younger brother from their own personal hell.
Anthony looked at the moon as he stood outside of the hospital. A full moon was out that night. The sky should have been dotted with stars, but the pollution and lights from the city blocked out almost everything. While a lot of the pollution had been clearing up thanks to new innovations in technology that relied on mana instead of fossil fuels, it didn’t change how humanity had been screwing up this world for hundreds of years.
He’d just finished visiting his younger brother, but nothing particular or special had happened. His brother was the same as always.
Anthony turned on his heel and began walking toward the nearest maglev station. It was late, but the station should still be open for another half an hour.
As he was walking along, a strange sensation came over him, like eyes were drilling holes into his back. Anthony was used to this feeling. Normally. The eyes he felt on him right now were different. They weren’t at all like the angry glares of men who felt like he was threatening their territory. A trace of killing intent caused a shiver to run down his back.
He turned around and looked left, then right. He didn’t see anyone. However, when he looked up, Anthony discovered a dark figure standing on a building next to him. He couldn’t see who they were because all he noticed was a dark silhouette, but it looked like they were carrying something long in their right hand.
“What the—who are you?!” he shouted.
The figure said nothing as they leapt from the building and fell toward him like an avenging angel. As the light from street signs played off their body, Anthony finally caught a good glimpse of the person flying toward him.
It was a woman. She was more of a girl really. Her red hair was long and looked like streamers of fire as each strand whipped through the hair behind her head. Vibrant blue eyes were narrowed in concentration and determination. Her voluptuous body was clad in a tight black suit with glowing blue lines. Mana was running through that suit. As she descended toward Anthony, she spun the object in her hand around, and he finally saw it for what it was.
A double-bladed sword.
“Holy—!”
Anthony didn’t have much time, so he used what time he did have to activate Physical Enhancement and leap back. Blue lines of power similar to the ones on this woman’s suit appeared on his body. With his strength enhanced, he was able to leap far enough back to avoid her attack. The blade in her hand slashed into the ground, cutting straight through it and leaving a perfectly straight line with smooth edges in the road. He grimaced. If he’d been cut with that, his body would have been split in half.
“Tch. I can’t believe you dodged that,” the woman finally muttered, and she sounded… young. Actually, she looked to be about his age or maybe even younger. She wasn’t that tall, and while she did have an impressive figure, her face was youthful, with full cheeks and a smooth chin.
“Who are you?!” Anthony demanded. “Why are you attacking me?!”
“You don’t need to know my name,” the woman said as she spun her double-bladed sword around and adopted a fighting stance. “All you need to know is that I’m here to kill you, Incubus!”
Anthony’s blood ran cold as the woman finished speaking. She had called him an Incubus. However…
“No one should know about that except Professor Incanscino and a few others,” Anthony said. “How do you know what I am?”
The woman scoffed at him. “I don’t need to tell you anything. Now hurry up and die!”
As the woman rushed forward, Anthony realized that trying to talk his way out of this was pointless, so he assumed a fighting stance and got ready.
The woman was on him in an instant. She swung her sword around, attacking him with one of its blades. He jumped back, but then she spun the sword and thrust the other blade out, and Anthony nearly found himself impaled through the chest, though he managed to avoid it at the last moment by stumbling left. Even so, he nearly lost his balance, which gave her the opportunity to attack again.
As the woman launched more attacks at him, Anthony foun
d his eyes drawn to her sword. There were several symbols etched onto the surface that he recognized as a magical formula. Each formula resembled runes he’d seen in some of the ebooks he read. They glowed a vibrant blue.
It looked like this weapon was using mana to increase its cutting power. He didn’t know what sort of magical principles it relied on, though. He wondered if it was similar to a surgical knife that used magic to sever the bonds between molecules. If that was the case, then getting cut with that would slice him open with ease.
“Ha… ha…”
Anthony’s breathing became heavy as he evaded this woman’s attacks. A dull throb appeared in his chest. Sweat covered his face. Meanwhile, his attacker wasn’t having any troubles at all. Her breathing was even, her expression composed, and her arms apparently incapable of tiring even as she swung that massive weapon around her body like a gymnast twirling around a baton.
Pressing his back against a wall, Anthony thought fast before rolling across the ground as the woman swung her sword. He skipped back to his feet and gawked when he saw how her weapon had cut through the wall like it was nothing. These walls were made of a composite material that was resistant to flames, electric, and physical damage. Even an explosion wouldn’t break these walls. That her sword did proved it was no ordinary weapon.
I can’t afford to let that cut me even once!
“I don’t suppose… we can talk about this…?” Anthony asked as he gasped for breath.
The woman frowned at him like he’d said something stupid. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m here to kill you.”
“Right… I figured as much.” Anthony backed away. “In that case…”
Turning on his heel, Anthony bolted down the street, dove through an alley, and emerged on another street. He raced across the road, toward the maglev station. His attacker had attacked when he was alone. That meant she didn’t want any witnesses. If he could just get to the maglev station, he should be safe.
Those were his thoughts when sirens blared inside of his head. Instinct kicked in and Anthony stopped running and leapt to his right, and it was a very good thing he did because the woman he’d tried to leave behind landed in the spot he’d been standing. She bent her knees and crouched low. One end of her sword was impaled into the ground all the way up to the long handle, though it slid out easily as she stood up and glared at him.
“Coward. Do not run away and face your death with dignity!”
“If it means staying alive, concepts like dignity and honor can kiss my ass.”
The woman didn’t take kindly to his words as she leapt forward and swiped at him with her weapon. Anthony bent his body to avoid it, but then she planted a foot on the ground, spun around, and slammed her other foot into his chest. He gasped in asphyxiated agony as her heel crashed against his ribs. It felt like a freight maglev had rammed into him. If he hadn’t been reinforcing his body with mana, that would have snapped his ribcage like it was made of toothpicks!
Anthony wasn’t even given time to recover as the woman came at him again, her sword appearing as mere flashes of light and streaks of silver. Despite being clearly outclassed, Anthony tenaciously hung on as he shuffled along the ground, avoiding her attacks by the barest of margins. A swing sliced several strands of hair off his head. Another one cut open his cheek. As blood ran down his pale skin, Anthony bit his lip as he realized he might actually have to use most of the mana he had recovered.
Professor Incanscino was going to be so pissed off.
Leaping back several times, Anthony raised a fist into the air and channeled the mana he possessed into it, causing his fist to emit a bright blue glow. The woman’s eyes widened as he brought the fist down. She tried to reach him, but he slammed his fist into the ground before she could.
The road erupted in front of Anthony. It was like a self-contained earthquake. Large chunks of upturned road broke into fragments as a massive chasm opened between him and his attacker. The woman stumbled at the unexpected maneuver, which caused the ground to shake and forced her to stop running so she wouldn’t fall.
Anthony felt his vision dim as the lack of mana running through him caused his body to begin shutting down. He had saved a bit to keep his body functioning properly. However, he’d been forced to use almost everything he had in that last attack.
Despite how tired he felt, how sluggish his body now was, Anthony stumbled to his feet, turned around, and began running again. He raced all the way to the maglev station, not daring to look back. There were several people present when he arrived. This included a security guard, which caused him to sigh in relief. But he didn’t stop, not for anything, not even for the security guard asking if he was okay, and made his way toward the platform and hopped onto the next maglev.
As the door shut behind him, he pressed his back against it and slid down until he was on his butt, gasping for breath as sweat ran down his face.
His destination was no longer home.
He needed to see Professor Incanscino.
Chapter 2
Lucretia Incanscino had come home late and too hyped to sleep. Mana coursed through her body as she sat on a couch in her large office, which also seconded as a living room and entrance hall. She stared at the massive window that spanned nearly the entire wall on her left. It offered a great view of Academy Island, showing the millions of blinking lights from buildings, cars, and signs. She could even see a massive holoscreen—one of several dozen—located throughout the city, which constantly reported on various happenings around the world.
Holding an expensive teacup with both hands, she raised the cup to her lips and took a gentle sip of the warm liquid within. It wasn’t tea. It was coffee. While the caffeine would keep most normal people up all night, she was currently using it to soothe her frazzled nerves. All the work she’d been forced to do had really done a number on her.
“Damn lazy bums. Can the Academy Island Private Security Forces not do anything without me?”
Just as she was bringing the cup back down to rest on a small plate, a loud bell echoed throughout her residence, causing Lucretia to furrow her brown. Who could be coming at this late hour? How did they even get through the school’s door? The Institution of Magical Sciences was closed right now. She set the cup on the expensive glass table in front of her, stood up, and wandered to the front door.
Like all the other doors in her residence, the front door was not an automatic one. It was a wooden door made of bocote. She’d had this double door along with all the others installed after moving into this place. Lucretia didn’t care for the automatic doors. They were just too inelegant.
She opened the door and nearly leapt back in shock when a body fell through and landed on the ground with a dull thud. Lucretia blinked several times as she stared at the body. It wasn’t long before she recognized who it was.
“Anthony!”
Shock coursed through her body as she studied the young man, whose pale and clammy skin was covered in sweat. His breathing was labored, coming out in thick gasps, as if he was suffocating but doing his best to intake oxygen despite that.
Her left eye began glowing crimson as a small magic circle appeared within it. She blinked once as his body suddenly became invisible and glowing blue lines appeared within his body like veins. Aside from the veins, there were also seven small orbs, but they were all gray like stone. As she studied his magic circuits, a shudder ran through her.
“Mana Depletion,” she muttered with a scowl.
There wasn’t much time. She could already see that the remaining mana within his body was leaving him. If she didn’t help him in the next few minutes, it was very likely that he would die.
“Damn it… Anthony… you are such a pain in the ass.”
Lucretia tapped her foot against the ground, creating a glowing blue magic circle underneath Anthony’s body. The circle faded as the glow from the mana encased Anthony. Soon, the young man was being lifted into the air by a seemingly invisible force. With a hu
ff, Lucretia walked out of the long hallway and toward the ritual room, the floating and unconscious figure following after her.
Her ritual room where she performed the magic ritual to replenish Anthony’s mana was already prepared. The large-scale magic circle on the floor was an impressive work of art she had spent nearly a month creating. Lucretia normally didn’t use such arcane methods of magic like old-school magical rituals, but for something like this, modern magic simply didn’t work.
She set Anthony in the middle of the magic circle and sighed. Cracking her back several times, Lucretia knelt before the young man, closed her eyes, and concentrated as she put her hands above him. Mana flowed through her fingertips and into his body. Images flashed past her. She saw Anthony waking up, taking a shower, and getting dressed. She paused after he put on his pants and shirt, then waved her hand, removing his shirt by singling out the moment in time when he put it on and making it so that event never happened in the first place.
The shirt vanished.
For just a moment, Lucretia gazed at Anthony’s emaciated body, at the ribs visible beneath his skin, and his rail thin arms and legs. Her chest ached. It pained her to see someone like this, but no matter how many times she had suggested Anthony build himself a harem, the boy refused. His loyalty to Lilith was indeed admirable, but it came at a cost so great she was sure Lilith would have smacked him over the head for his stupidity.
Now that Anthony was topless, it was time to begin the ritual. She placed her hands on his chest, closed her eyes once more, and began channeling mana into her magic ritual.
“I hope you appreciate what I am doing,” Lucretia muttered in a strained voice. “Reversing the flow of time like this is not easy.”
Of course, Anthony didn’t answer her.
Not that she had expected one.
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