Cycle of Destiny

Chapter 33 Resurrection

Icy.

This was the first sensation, as if my entire chest cavity was filled with ice water, pressing down heavily and making it hard to breathe.

Then came the pain, a belated, sharp, stabbing pain that was frozen and then thawed, bursting open from the left chest, near the heart, and spreading along the flesh to the body and limbs.

Two sensations collided violently at the same time, abruptly pulling Harry back from the void.

Where am I? Am I dead? Is this the afterlife?

The thought, filled with desperate panic, seized him. He tried to move, but his body felt like it didn't belong to him, heavy and numb. Only the lingering, throbbing pain in his left chest was so real, a reminder of the horrific moment of being pierced and torn apart.

No.

That's not right.

Even if I die, I must... see things clearly.

He mustered all his remaining willpower to fight against the heavy numbness.

His eyelids felt like they were glued together, and with great effort, he finally managed to open his eyes wide.

The first thing that catches the eye is the low, rough wooden ceiling, and the familiar air, carrying a slight musty smell and dust, fills the nostrils.

He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently, each breath pulling at the area of ​​phantom pain.

He stiffly turned his neck, his gaze sweeping across the small space.

On the left was a simple wooden bookshelf, with a lone copy of "Tales of Magic" standing on it. A bare wooden stool sat in the corner. On the right was a rough wooden table, next to which was a makeshift stove made of bricks and stones, containing cold, cooked monster meat.

This is my own magic house. My residence at the magic academy.

"Hmm..."

Harry took a deep breath, the air rushing through his dry, burning throat, producing a short, hoarse gasp.

His body jerked violently, as if trying to break free from some kind of restraint, and his hands instinctively clutched his chest tightly.

There was no blood, no wounds, only a lingering, hallucinatory stinging sensation on the skin beneath the single layer of linen pajamas, and the frantic pounding of the heart.

What happened? Wasn't I... dead?

In the forest, by the campfire, that chilling coldness piercing from behind...

Excruciating pain, bleeding, coldness...

How did I end up lying in my own magic house...?

Harry struggled to sit up in bed, a movement that made his vision go black and his ears ring.

He lowered his head, his trembling hands forcefully tearing open the front of his linen pajamas, his fingers anxiously groping for the skin on his left chest.

No wounds. No bloodstains. Only smooth, slightly sweaty skin, and beneath it, the frantic, powerful beating of a heart.

He almost fell off the bed, staggering to the blurred bronze mirror hanging on the wall.

A pale, panicked young face was reflected in the mirror.

Brown hair, damp with cold sweat, clung to his forehead. His blue eyes were wide open, pupils contracted from lingering fear and utter confusion. His lips were slightly parted, trembling uncontrollably.

His figure looked the same as usual, except that his shoulders were hunched over with fear, making him appear even more bloated.

It was him.

Harry, alive and well.

Was it a dream?

A nightmare that felt incredibly real, one that still makes my heart ache with lingering fear?

The caravan was attacked and fled for their lives. The deathly silence of the forest, the campfire, the shadows behind them, the cold touch of a sharp blade piercing through... every frame was terrifyingly clear.

But the coldness of death, the excruciating pain of the sharp blade piercing me... Could it be that I was rescued?

Just as Harry's mind was filled with all sorts of questions, a slight magical fluctuation came from the doorway, indicating that someone had activated the simple warning runes outside.

Immediately afterward, a slightly hurried young voice rang out: "Harry? Harry! Are you in there? Come out quickly! Everyone's already left!"

Harry shuddered. That voice…

It's Nasus!

And what he meant by "departure"?

Where are we headed?

Sure enough, Nasus was standing outside the door, wearing a slightly worn black mage's robe, with his usual friendly expression on his face.

Harry was overjoyed to see him, his face beaming with a smile:

"Nasus, that's great! I don't know why you came to see me, but I want to tell you that seeing you is the happiest thing for me right now! I apologize for my previous behavior."

"Sorry, what are you saying? You've finally opened the door! Did you oversleep? Hurry up, a lot of people have already gone to line up!"

Harry stared at Nasus, motionless, his smile turning to confusion. After a moment, he finally spoke, "What queue?"

"We're going to the back mountain for a test today, didn't you forget?"

test?

Harry's mind was a complete mess. He'd been away from the college for a month; the tests should have been over by now. Had they been postponed? And...

His gaze fell on Nasus's face.

Before leaving, the man came to congratulate him on becoming a disciple of a holy mage, but he slapped him. As a result, the magic deacon, Cavill, had someone warn him not to bother him again.

But looking at Nasus's expression now, apart from a little annoyance from being urged, there was no resentment or avoidance at all, as if... that thing had never happened.

Perhaps that's how Nasus is; in order to retain his identity as "a friend of the Holy Mage's disciple," he can completely forget all the unpleasantness from before.

"The test?" Harry heard his own voice was incredibly dry. "Wasn't it over...? Or was it postponed?"

Nasus paused, frowned, and looked him up and down:

"Harry, are you still half asleep? Today is the testing day! The Holy Mage will choose disciples from today's test takers. Although everyone knows you don't have much hope, you shouldn't have completely forgotten about today, right? Let's go!"

His tone was full of doubt, even implying, "Did you mess up your training and damage your brain?"

Harry must remember that test.

But... that happened about a month ago?

Wasn't this already over?

It was after this test that I became the disciple of the Holy Mage?

Why is Nasus calling me now?

Harry was filled with questions. He stood motionless, his mouth dry, feeling as if something was blocking his throat.

Seeing Harry's inexplicable reaction, Nasus became somewhat impatient.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you want to go? That won't do, all formal magicians have to participate. But you really aren't feeling well right now, your face is as white as snow in winter."

"Any more choices?"

"What do you mean by 'again' selecting? What nonsense are you spouting? This is the first time a holy magician has accepted apprentices at the magic academy!"

Harry opened his mouth, the words "Haven't all of this already happened?" swirling in his throat, but he couldn't bring himself to ask them.

Because he couldn't see any trace of pretense in Nasus's eyes.

The other person just thought his current reaction was strange.

"I...I'll put on my magic robe and come right away," Harry finally managed to reply vaguely, his voice hoarse.

"Hurry up! Many people have been lining up for ages. The Holy Mage is here today too, and everyone wants to see what the founder of this academy looks like!"

Harry went back into the house and began looking for his wizard's robes.

He discovered that the mage's robe that Cavill had given him was not in the room; he only had the one that the academy had given him for free when he became a formal mage.

Could it really be as Nasus said, that today is the Holy Mage's apprenticeship test?

However, the icy, suffocating feeling still seemed to linger, and the phantom-like stabbing in my chest was still crystal clear.

Before him stood the familiar magic house, and he could almost hear the soft "tap, tap" of his own blood dripping onto the withered leaves in the forest, as well as Nasus's oblivious, urgent voice.

The test... was already over.

Nasus doesn't seem to remember being beaten up.

That massacre... it felt so real, yet I had no wounds on my own body.

So... which side is the truth?

Or... is it all true?

Could it be that I've traveled back to more than a month ago?

What the hell is going on here?