Pebble
Chapter 9 — Pebble
Elaira’s question lingered in the air.
“What happens when you try to move just one stone?”
I didn’t answer right away.
The three of us were still standing in the arena.
I lowered my gaze to the ground.
“…Very little,” I replied quietly.
Izuo scratched the back of his head.
“I mean, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Worst case, nothing happens.”
Elaira nodded.
“Exactly. Don’t fight the whole world. Pick one thing.”
My eyes stopped on a tiny pebble near my foot.
So small I would have ignored it before.
I swallowed and took a slow breath.
“Okay. Let’s try.”
Normally, when I used my Sigil, I felt everything at once—space stretching in every direction, my body screaming the moment I lost control.
So this time—
I didn’t reach outward.
I narrowed everything down.
Just that pebble.
Nothing else.
The pressure formed—but it was different.
Thin. Controlled.
Like holding something fragile instead of trying to crush steel.
The pebble trembled.
Then it lifted.
Just barely.
My breath caught.
“I… I did it.”
It hovered there, shaking slightly, but steady.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
For the first time, I was using my power without seeing my own blood.
“Senior, look! It’s actually working. It doesn’t hurt as much this time!”
The pebble wobbled as my excitement nearly broke my focus, but I steadied it again, grinning openly.
Elaira watched in silence, her expression slowly softening.
She let out a quiet breath, more amused than she expected.
“…That’s cute.”
Her voice was so low that it never reached me.
“Hm?”
Izuo tilted his head.
“Did you say something?”
Elaira straightened immediately, clearing her throat.
“No. Nothing important,” she replied quickly.
I moved the pebble left.
Right.
Up.
Down.
Each movement felt smoother than the last.
The pressure inside my head was still there—but distant.
Manageable.
I laughed softly.
“This is amazing.”
Izuo crossed his arms, watching closely.
“If you can move it precisely, try this.”
He pointed toward the far end of the training grounds.
“See how far you can throw it.”
I hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then I nodded.
“Okay.”
I focused.
I gathered myself.
Just a little more.
I didn’t think about strength.
I didn’t think about speed.
I simply opened the way.
The moment the stone left my control—
BOOOOM.
A sound like an explosion tore through the arena.
But it didn’t come from the impact.
It came from right in front of me.
Space itself ruptured outward, as if something invisible had been violently torn open.
The air shattered.
A brutal shockwave blasted across the arena, kicking up dust and gravel, slamming into our bodies and rattling the training barrier with a deep, violent roar.
The stone was gone.
Not thrown.
Not flying.
Gone.
For a fraction of a second, there was nothing but ringing silence—
Then the world reacted.
The air screamed.
A second, sharper crack split the arena, high and piercing.
The ground trembled beneath our feet, thin fractures crawling across the stone floor.
A path carved itself through the air.
Invisible.
But undeniable.
Before anyone could blink, the far wall detonated.
Stone didn’t simply break.
It burst outward.
Massive chunks of reinforced rock were ripped free and hurled across the arena, smashing into the
barrier with thunderous force. The echo rolled again and again, trapped inside the training grounds like a wounded beast roaring in pain.
At the center of the wall—
There was a hole.
Terrifyingly deep.
The stone that had struck it no longer existed.
No fragments.
No dust.
No trace.
As if it had been erased.
The dust slowly settled.
Silence followed.
Izuo stood frozen, his mouth hanging open.
Elaira hadn’t moved.
Neither of them had seen the stone travel.
They had only seen the space in front of me explode—
And the wall surrender.
My heart hammered in my chest.
“I—I didn’t mean to—”
Suddenly, a sharp headache struck me, like a metal hammer crashing into my skull.
Warmth ran down my face.
“…Huh?”
I touched my nose.
Red.
Too red.
“Rikuo!” Elaira’s voice broke, sharp with fear. “Are you alright?!”
The arena tilted.
The cracked wall blurred.
My knees gave way.
The last thing I felt was the cold stone floor rushing up—
And my name being shouted.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then—
Memory.
I was standing somewhere high.
Cold air brushed against my skin.
Mountains surrounded me on all sides, jagged peaks rising endlessly into the sky. Stone, rubble, cliffs—an entire world made of rock.
“…What is this place?” I asked instinctively.
For a moment, panic crept into my chest.
I hadn’t been here before.
Then her voice answered calmly.
“This is still a dream,” the Director said. “Almost anything is possible here.”
I turned sharply.
She stood a short distance away, hands behind her back, red eyes watching me with quiet interest.
“You changed the landscape?” I asked.
She nodded. “I gave you something to work with.”
My gaze swept across the mountains again.
So many stones.
So much mass.
Just looking at it made my chest tighten.
“…You want me to train here?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied simply.
I swallowed.
Then nodded.
I took a step forward and raised my hand.
Instinctively, I tried to use my Sigil the way I imagined magic worked.
I focused straight ahead.
Channeled everything forward.
Like a spell.
The moment I did—
Pain tore through me.
Sharp. Explosive.
My vision went red.
I fell to my knees, retching violently.
Blood spilled from my mouth in thick waves, splattering against the stone beneath me.
I gasped for air—
Then suddenly—
The pain vanished.
Gone.
As if it had never been there.
I froze, shaking.
The Director looked down at me.
“You are being impatient,” she said. “Your Sigil is not magic. Using it like one will only break you.”
I clenched my fists, breathing hard.
“…Then how am I supposed to use it?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she waited.
I wiped the blood from my mouth and slowly sat down.
I thought.
Magic was released.
Thrown.
Cast.
But my Sigil…
Space didn’t need to be launched.
It already existed.
I stood again.
This time, I didn’t imagine throwing anything.
I imagined cutting.
Not energy.
Not force.
Just a line.
The moment I tried—
Agony exploded in my chest.
My heart seized like it was being crushed in a vice.
I screamed and collapsed, my body twisting violently against the stone.
I couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
Then—
Silence.
The pain disappeared again.
I lay there for a moment, gasping.
Slowly, I forced myself to look up.
Ahead of me—
One of the massive stones in the distance bore a thin, clean mark.
A cut.
Not deep.
Not complete.
But real.
“…I did that,” I whispered.
Incomplete.
But it worked.
I took a deep breath.
“One step at a time,” I muttered.
I kept testing.
Not attacking.
Adjusting.
Digging shallow holes into the ground.
Shifting rocks.
Tilting terrain.
Every action hurt.
But some hurt less.
And those—
Those were the right ones.
My Sigil wasn’t meant for straight destruction.
It was better at reshaping.
At changing the world quietly.
The Director watched in silence.
Eventually, she spoke.
“Time is running out.”
I froze.
This place—
This chance—
“…I won’t get another opportunity like this,” I said quietly.
Before she could answer, I made my decision.
Just once.
I opened everything.
No restraint.
No control.
The pressure was unimaginable.
My body screamed.
Bones felt like they were tearing apart.
Blood boiled.
My thoughts shattered.
And before I could even release the power—
POP.
My body burst apart.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
Like a balloon filled with water, exploding in every direction.
Pain erased everything.
I would never forget that pain.
Not because it taught me something profound— but because blowing up like a water balloon was not an experience I wanted to repeat. If that was the price of being careless, then I really needed to start thinking things through.
I sighed inwardly.
"Yeah. I really, really needed to be more careful next time."
I opened my eyes, my vision still blurred.
The first thing I felt was pain.
A dull, pulsing ache behind my eyes, like my head had been used as a training dummy.
“…Ugh…”
I tried to move—and immediately regretted it.
Something soft shifted beneath me.
Warm.
My thoughts lagged behind my senses. The smell came next. Clean, faintly metallic, mixed with sweat and something familiar.
Training clothes.
I blinked.
Once.
Twice.
My vision cleared just enough for me to realize—
I wasn’t on the ground.
My head was resting on something.
No.
On someone.
I stiffened.
Slowly—very slowly—I turned my eyes upward.
Elaira was looking down at me.
For a second, my mind refused to process it.
Her red hair framed her face loosely, a few strands sticking to her cheek.
One hand rested near my shoulder, the other lightly supporting my head, as if she was afraid I’d move too much.
Her expression wasn’t calm.
It was worried.
“…Senior?” I murmured.
Her eyes widened.
“Rikuo—! Don’t move, you collapsed out of nowhere. Your nose started bleeding, and you just—”
She swallowed.
“I got scared something bad happened.”
My head throbbed again, as if reacting to her voice.
“Oh,”
I muttered.
“Sorry…”
She shook her head.
“Don’t apologize.”
There was a pause.
Then, more quietly, she added
“I sent Izuo to get a potion. He panicked the moment you fell.”
I imagined it instantly.
Izuo running around the academy like the world was ending.
“…That sounds like him,” I said weakly.
Despite herself, Elaira let out a small laugh.
I smiled.
Just a little.
The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable.
If anything, it felt fragile—like moving too suddenly would break it.
My head still hurt. Badly. But being there, like this… it dulled the pain.
I stared at the sky above the arena, then slowly looked back at her.
“Senior…”
She hummed, encouraging me to continue.
“I saw it.”
“This path,”
I went on, my voice shaking despite my efforts.
“It’s real for me. For the first time, I can actually do something.”
My chest tightened.
“Finally… I can be someone.”
My vision blurred.
I didn’t cry.
But my eyes burned, and my throat closed up as if the words had scraped something raw on their way out.
Elaira didn’t answer right away.
Instead, she carefully shifted, lifting my head just enough to pull me into her arms.
The movement was gentle. Protective.
Her arms wrapped around me before I could react.
“You already are someone,” she said softly, close enough that I could feel the vibration of her voice.
“No matter what anyone else thinks.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“I don’t care about your past. Or labels. Or rumors.”
She continued.
“Everyone is special in their own way.”
My mind went blank.
I had no idea where to put my hands.
Or what to say.
All I could feel was my heartbeat going completely out of control.
Then—
“RIKUO!!”
The spell shattered instantly.
Izuo burst into the arena, nearly tripping over his own feet, a potion clutched in his hand like a priceless artifact.
“You scared the hell out of us!” he shouted.
“You just dropped with blood coming out of your face like—”
I groaned.
“Lower your voice if you yell any louder, my head is actually going to explode this time.”
He froze.
“…Oh.”
Then, much quieter, “Sorry.”
Elaira and I laughed.
And despite the pain, despite everything…
It felt okay.
The training grounds were quiet again.
Dust still hung faintly in the air, illuminated by the pale glow of magic circles spreading across the shattered wall.
Cracks slowly sealed themselves, stone knitting back together as if time itself were being persuaded to behave.
Elaira wasn’t there anymore.
Neither was Izuo or Rikuo.
Only two figures remained.
The magic instructor stood with her arms crossed, watching the destruction undo itself with a tired expression.
“…You know,” she said, breaking the silence.
“If you’re going to make me repair this kind of mess, at least do it during the day.”
A few meters away, the academy’s director observed the repairs calmly, her crimson eyes reflecting the light of the spell.
“You were available”
The director replied flatly.
“So stop complaining and do your job.”
The magic instructor clicked her tongue.
“Tch.”
She waved her hand, reinforcing a weakened section of the barrier before turning her gaze toward the cratered wall.
“So what exactly happened here? I don’t remember scheduling a battlefield simulation tonight.”
The director didn’t answer immediately.
Her eyes lingered on the deepest part of the damage—the place where the stone had simply ceased to exist.
“…A student was testing their Sigil,” she said at last.
The magic instructor froze for half a second.
Then she slowly turned.
“A student?” she repeated.
“What kind of Sigil does that much damage?”
Her brow furrowed.
“…Don’t tell me this was a third-year. Because if it was, we’re going to have a very different conversation.”
Silence.
The director said nothing.
She simply watched as the last of the damage faded away.
The magic instructor’s eyes narrowed.
Still, the director remained quiet.
In her mind, an image surfaced.
A boy standing in the middle of the arena.
Bleeding.
Potential, she thought.
More than I expected.
Perhaps…
Yes.
Perhaps he was worth the trouble.
Finally, she turned away from the repaired wall, her expression unreadable.
“I’m looking forward to the next practical exam.”
Her lips curved into a faint smile.
Ending of Chapter 9
