After class, Wayland followed Flyn back to his dormitory but found nothing unusual. Later, he joined him at the General Fundamentals cafeteria.
Staring at the wide array of dishes, Wayland couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy.
'I'm a proud member of the Modern Magecraft department; I don't envy them one bit... but man, those fish and chips smell amazing.'
If it wasn't for the fact that other departments charged for their meals, he would have definitely eaten here every single day.
Back in his own room, Wayland placed his textbooks on the desk, took a quick shower, and collapsed onto his bed with a sigh of relief.
He lay there for a long time, pondering how to tackle Flyn's quest.
Flyn had no idea why he was having those nightmares. Wayland had searched his room and found it perfectly normal--nothing out of the ordinary at all.
'I'll have to ask him tomorrow if he's been anywhere specific recently or met anyone strange.'
With that final thought, Wayland quickly drifted into a deep sleep.
Sometime later, a faint, white light appeared within the pitch-black room.
"Is he asleep?"
Two voices whispered in the darkness.
"He is. Can we just eat him now?"
"Don't get too close. The scent of blood on you is too strong; it'll wake him up. Besides, his prana is weak--likely a recent promotion. Eating him now wouldn't be very beneficial."
"What a waste... I suppose we'll have to feed him on resentment for a while longer."
"Let me do it."
The speaker didn't look like the other ghost, who was draped in blood-stained clothes. This one appeared more solid, though half of his face was missing--sliced clean across from the nose up, leaving nothing but two bare, staring eyes.
He floated toward the sleeping teenager.
["Master! Wake up!"]
In his dream, Wayland heard Irigal's voice, sharp with urgency.
'What happened?'
'Usually, you sleep more soundly than I do.'
'What's wrong today?'
He forced his eyes open, his mind still hazy with sleep.
"!!!"
In an instant, every hair on Wayland's body stood on end as he bolted upright. The last traces of sleep vanished as if they had never existed.
'Holy--!'
'I've really seen a ghost!'
Wayland didn't hesitate. He threw out his right hand, his Magic Circuits flaring to life like streetlights on a dark road. He pushed outward, channeling his prana into a dark red magical circle. A burst of black light erupted from the center.
Gandr.
The sudden gust of wind caught the ghost, whose form was already somewhat translucent.
Realizing he couldn't dodge in time, the ghost was instantly enveloped in a mist of blood-red prana.
Wayland didn't wait to see the result. He grabbed his bedsheet and threw it over the ghost with all his strength, simultaneously performing a kip-up to leap off the bed.
The Gandr blast had torn through the blood mist, but its power ended there. The ghost exhaled a cloud of prana, and the Gandr burst vanished. In the next heartbeat, the ghost felt a wave of darkness descend as the bedsheet covered him.
Wayland's movements were relentless. While mid-air, he formed another sequence of magical circles with his right hand, creating a kaleidoscopic display nearly a meter wide.
He took a split-second to glance at the other ghost standing in the corner.
It was strange that it hadn't helped its companion, but Wayland remained on guard.
As he swung his arm, the Gandr energy transformed into a cluster of black flames.
The sound of crackling energy filled the air.
The ghost tore the bedsheet away, a terrifying grin spreading across its mangled face.
Just as Wayland's heart began to hammer against his ribs, a sudden wave of blood-red energy erupted, slamming into the black flames with overwhelming force.
In the next instant, the black flames disintegrated with a low hum.
Wayland's reflexes were sharp. The moment he saw the collision, he used the resulting shockwave to hurl himself to the left. Even so, a massive, residual force slammed into him, knocking him squarely against the wall.
The impact was deafening, echoing through the quiet dormitory and triggering a chain reaction of sounds.
The hallway lights flickered to life.
"What's going on in there?"
It was Krisy's voice.
The moment the voice reached the room, the two ghosts vanished as if they had never been there at all.
Wayland rubbed his back, wincing at the sharp sting of pain.
"It's nothing! I was just practicing some magecraft!"
Wayland shouted back, his voice strained. He didn't want Krisy involved in this just yet. If the Clock Tower took over the investigation, he likely wouldn't be able to help, and his final quest evaluation would suffer--meaning he might not receive the full reward.
"There are designated areas for practicing magecraft!"
Krisy sounded genuinely annoyed. "Since you're a freshman, I'll let it slide this time. Do it again, and I'm docking your credits."
"I understand. It won't happen again."
Wayland looked around the wreckage of his room, his head throbbing. Fortunately, the damage wasn't too extensive, though several chunks of plaster had been knocked loose from the wall.
He stared at the spot where the ghosts had vanished. The first thing that came to mind was detection magecraft.
It was one of the most fundamental branches of knowledge, with similar spells existing in nearly every magical system.
'I should be able to find something in the library.'
Wayland glanced at the clock on the wall.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]