Hope born of solitus

*

I walked carefully behind the next person, discretely using them as a wind shield against the crowd. The hustle and bustle breathed a cacophony in this compact space, the train station was on ground floor, yet it was so huge that the sky couldn't be seen. It was an urban hub after all, countless people came to use this place for their daily lives. It was even more shocking to think that this wasn't their peak footfall, it was actually on the low side as it was right after commuting hours. Yet I couldn't even hear my own breathing lest I scream.

As I walked further, the world lost more and more colour. I no longer saw the yellow paint on the ground demarcating the queues, the red fabric transportable fences had also stopped appearing. The navy blue paint on the walls submerged into a pale greyish blue. I continued to take more strides, sitting for so long had made my legs cramp up from this little amount of walking, I wanted to find place to rest outside the station.

That was when I first noticed it. This wasn't the exit, I just entered the pathway to another train line, this one led to tracks that were underground. The fabric fences and yellow tap had never vanished. Just like the deep navy blue paint, they had turned pale grey... At first I thought it seemed natural for urban architecture, but the hues on people's clothes also became less and less saturated. I stopped taking any further steps and looked down at my hands.

The ambient noise instantly quietened and there were no longer any shadows on the ground near me. The skin on my fingers were grey, my pale blue dress was even more pale than before, almost as if it was bleached thoroughly... The flowers and bear patterns were suppose to be a saturated ocean blue, like a sapphire or a blue rose. I craned my gaze back up, only to see that there was no longer anyone here. In the distance, the exit of this train station was obscured in thick white fog. Only white blocked the way out of this t-junction.

A single figure stepped out of the fog, akin to a traffic cone sat in front of the setting sun, a black shade sharpened towards the top. It was a girl in a cloak. Nobody vanished, I was the one that disappeared in that crowd. I walked into someone's 'territory', that was the only conclusion I could draw. Now the first thing to ascertain...

"Are you my enemy?" (Lastia)

I had hoped it would never come to this. Why drag me into your territory? Why force me to engage? A warm scalding sensation encapsulates my heart before spreading to the rest of my body, it burns, yet it isn't painful. It's because this heat, it's my own magic, it's part of myself. My entire stature glows white before the light wrapping me shatters into dissipating fragments, dissolving into the air.

My purplish black dress had replaced my sky blue one. A B grade... Going by my own ranking system, my physical strength and magical volume is around that of an ogre's now, weaker Traces like goblins are now nothing to me. I could bash their skulls apart with brute power, that was the disparity in rank and the reason why I couldn't ever bridge the gap between 'me' and Sariel.

The figure jumps forward, leaving a flash in their wake. Right now, they're around my full speed. I can't let my guard down, they might be hiding their strength. For now let's hide my cards. I'll only 'ingest' the magic of the entire 'territory' as a surprise. Though, the fact that this is a 'territory' made of the opponent's magic... It's clear that the mechanism behind it is the same as 'ingestion', the opponent's magic has infused into every bit of this place and occupied it... It's a big volume.

Even though it's of a tremendous size, this 'territory' doesn't give of a feeling that it has extremely high magic consumption... As if it was second nature or a deliberate feature of the opponent's ability. 'Feature'... Intentionally invented techniques using the primary {ability}, yet retain some sense of uniqueness...

Her body arrived, in this world lacking colour, he cloak completely concealed her face and only revealed what was below her neck. A short flutter skirt and simple dress top, chain mail stretched under the fabric as metallic boots and greaves shone brilliantly in this monochromatic world. She thrusted her blade forward, she was still a couple metres away, her sword shouldn't reach me from there... So why...?

I rolled to the right and hopped back up a knee, slamming my other leg painfully into the ground. The concrete floor cracked as I observed my surroundings. There was no mistaking it, her sword expanded forward into numerous waves that gouged the ground like a drill of light... {Anxiety}, these were the traits of that ogre Trace's vibrational power...

In other words... It was the Trace 'I' let go that had killed a magical girl and evolved into a Remnant... There's no need to hesitate, we know each other and she was undoubtedly intelligent to know what she was doing. She wants to kill me, then... There's no way but to fight back. You must be prepared to die yourself. Minimum classification, 'A' rank. She's hiding her strength, but there's no use hiding mine. I would only get slaughtered instantly.

'Ingest'. I will erode away at your 'territory' and sap your strength for myself. I could feel my body regaining its fatigue. Thanks past Lastia, after the fight with that Eldritch Trace, even if you couldn't keep any of the Eldritch energy you still allowed this body to get stronger. I would have been instantly killed otherwise. Even though she was holding back, it still took all my wits and reaction speed to deal with that attack.

For now, I can't win in a head on fight. Even if 'ingest' is helping me a little, it can't bring me to equal footing. I leaped upwards and smashed my other leg into the ground, bursting off into a sprint. A few vibrational slashes flew towards me, they were so imbued with magic energy that they formed holes in my 'territory' formed by 'ingest'. I twisted my waist and swung my fist forward, causing them to crash.

The skin on my fingers split in half, splashing blood into the air.