Trash: Chapter 166 A New Home (Patreon)

Chapter 166

A New Home

There are times when you expect life to suck. As it was, I was already drawing upon fumes, at least that is how it felt inside. I had heard stories of burn mana circuits, and I never quite understood how such a thing could occur. Having been exposed to magic since I was five years old gave me a great heads up in understanding my body and just how far I could go. Looking back, it was clear that that was the magical equivalent of magic training with training wheels on.

As I am quickly learning that the true danger of using mana comes not when your body runs out of mana naturally, as that is the apparent standard. The way you can see the risks of mana usage is when you channel mana relentlessly and essentially overtax your body to produce more mana. How does your body produce the energy to make more mana? Well apparently, from your own body. Which didn’t seem to affect me much at the start, as I was mostly burning through the rest of my body fat. Even then, Madame Bloom would make sure a snack or something was available for me immediately after my training. I would eat the salty treat, and think nothing of it, but now that I don’t have a salty treat immediately, I can feel the difference.

One little wobbly step, that was all it took for Lelia, the self-assigned gofer of the group, to reach into her oversized clothing and somehow pull out a six-inch sub wrapped in wax paper. Where she found it, I had no clue. I assume it was from a cafeteria of sorts, or maybe a bit longer as it was still warm, but the warmth that comes from body heat and not from a grill, particularly as it was warmer on one side. Still, it was food, and it looked edible so without even missing a step, I nodded and whispered a “thank you,” before continuing to follow Sinclair away from the haunted house and lower dorms sections. From there we saw the first few supply stores and grocery stores, as apparently a few shops made their business from feeding and catering to the students that were either too lazy, or incapable of going to the center of the oversized campus. Once through the first grouping of shops, all of which I looked at, but I could see Lelia glancing at them with a certain intensity that was hard to describe.

Getting a handle on Lelia was one of my top priorities, as she was taking up one of my two auxiliary slots, and while I could theoretically kick her out at will, I didn’t want to do that. Which was why I used this time to try to see what made her tick and see if she could in fact keep this spot on the team. That is why I watched her as she looked at the world.

As she looked around, I could see that she was using magic of some kind, as her eyes glowed with a faint golden hue. Not quite the brilliant luster one would expect from divine energy. Instead, this was a bit more subdued in nature, golden, but dirty golden, the type a collector might spot immediately as valuable, but most would just discard as trash. Her head was on a swivel, like a prairie dog that was scanning for threats. Which was why I almost got concerned when she suddenly stopped looking at one shop in particular. While she had her dirty-golden eyes cover everything in sight, her eyes and then her head focused on one building for a moment too long. At a glance, the building was nothing special, it was a brick shop that had been painted white, with wooden pillars to support an overhang, that was also painted white. White, like all the other stores in the area, even the coloring of the windowsills seemed to be agreed upon as they were a dark navy color. Nothing particularly noteworthy stood out about the building at a glance, but that didn’t stop Lelia from seeming to be drawn towards the store, as if it was the flame and she was the moth. I could even see her subtly shift her body toward the store, before she stopped herself and seemed to realize where she was and that we were marching forward, then shaking her head, the golden hue of her eyes faded and she managed to look completely ordinary as she fell back into line. Yet, I couldn’t help but feel that there was more to her than I was being allowed to see up until this point.

Perhaps my stare was a bit too intense, as I saw the moment that Lelia seemed to feel my gaze and turn to look at me. In that quick stare, her eyes flashed that dirty-golden color again, before dropping and letting Lelia give a dazzling smile, one that just missed her eyes, before giving a mischievous wink, before she looked forward pretending to be mindlessly following the officer who was now taking us past a larger set of houses. While these could have been for the students as well, I felt that this would be wrong as these looked well maintained. Not that the other dorms weren’t maintained in that they had trimmed lawns, and the exterior of their houses maintained, but these were different. These had trees and bushes that all sported mulch rings, indicating a level of care that most students wouldn’t bother with. Even the walkways to the house were well swept and maintained. Everything about these houses shouted that not only were they larger, but that the people who lived here cared. This was good, and was a nice change of pace, as I hoped that this was what our new team house would look like. That hope was soon dashed when we walked a few dozen paces forward and got to what could only be described as the old academic quarter of the school.

The buildings here were still solid structures, the earth told me of battered ground. Ground that had been fought over multiple times, in the way only my Earth Resonation* Skill could tell me the full story of. And worse, the place gave off a deeply sickening feel that made my back teeth feel hollow with lingering rot. Just being here, I felt something deeply repugnant build inside me. Suddenly I was glad that I only managed a few bites of my sandwich, as I suddenly felt an inexhaustible need to vomit.

Then before I know it, Lelia is pushing me, twisting me, and grabbing my hair? I think all of this, as the world spins and finally the tension that had been building within releases.

“Bleh!”

I vomit, both hands now free of all encumbrances planted firmly on the ground, as I try to hold myself up. I pause there, balancing for moment, wondering why this feels so easy. Then a glance out of the corner of my eyes shows me the details I am missing. Lelia, the team member with the deftest of hands apparently has both my still opened sandwich and wrapping cradled in her right hand, while her left is holding my hair with her left. All the while her golden eyes are sparkling as she looks at me. Then looking from me, as if following some invisible thread, she follows the sight up to the center of the buildings, right at the heart of where I feel that something is very, very wrong with this place.

“You can feel that?” Sinclair, our Royal Order of Watcher escort, asks as a look of surprise fills his face. Judging by his reaction, I realize that while my act of vomiting was unexpected, it didn’t come as a complete surprise to the ROW member.

I nod, then raise one shaky hand up and point at the center of this whole training area. Following my gesture, Sinclair only glances for a second before turning back to look at me, that’s when I can see he truly takes a moment to evaluate me. I must admit this is not the best position to be judged, but I finally feel my energy coursing back through me. Not much, I am definitely not full, but it is enough for me to use Trash. Not wanting to do too much too quickly, I focus on cleaning myself, the traces of vomit on my lips, any splashes that might have gotten my hands, and I can finally get rid of those sticky bloods stains on my back. Everything is cleaned up, as I rise to my feet and take a breath. Once steady, I turn to look at Lelia and give her a nod. She holds for a second longer, then finally releases my hair, while also dropping her golden vision for the moment.

Again, I make the mental note to ask her what power she is using exactly, and what it is capable of. Is it like Junior’s Crow Mouth, in that this is a unique Skill she has? Or is this an awakened bloodline power that I am not aware of. Regardless of the situation, I make a note to check in with her about her unique abilities and Skills later, thinking that Lelia might be more valuable as a team member than I originally thought, but before I can get too lost into this train of thought Sinclair pulls me back.

“You have an amazing ability to sense corruption,” Sinclair stated, “this is the first test we have for new healers, and one that we are going to have to work on desensitizing you to, if you can feel the corruption from here.”

At that statement, Sinclair seemed to pause as he clearly thought about going through the rest of this corrupted town. From what I could tell the corruption went out from an epicenter about a block and a half away. The fact that I could feel the corruption from here likely meant something, what that something was, I didn’t know, but I intended to find out.

“Come with me,” Sinclair said as he backtracked and began leading us back the way we had just come, apparently having no concerns about getting us to our housing anytime soon. Meanwhile it was Junior who felt the need to ask a question first, as Luna and Lucia both took up flanking positions next to me, to make sure I didn’t have any relapses.

“What exactly was that?” Junior asked, his voice speaking out for the team.

“Your future,” was all Sinclair provided at first. Then after a half dozen steps, and few seconds of awkward tension, he finally added, “if you make it to your Hell Week, then you will find out firsthand.”

Like that, we were directed back to the school, going once again to the large and well-maintained houses. Though this time I could see and feel the difference, from where the land of the apparent training village ended, and the actual campus began. It was a slow change that didn’t have an exact moment of when the corruption began, but I could feel the moment it was completely gone and it all seemed to stem from that very row of well-maintained houses.

Again, there were more mysteries here, but I knew one thing, I would have to go back to that city. If for nothing else than to make sure I wasn’t a liability to my team when we were forced to go to such places. Which I knew for a fact we would, as that was what we were being trained for, the whole reason that this campus existed to face those places and to cleanse them.

Yet, it seemed stupid to have so much corruption so close to the campus, but that would have to be a question for another time. For now, I needed to try to figure out this campus and where exactly we were supposed to go. I was also on the lookout for another unexpected detour meant to test us in some unfathomable way.

I should be offended, but it was Sinclair’s clear surprise and shift in his overall demeanor after my body’s reaction to the corrupted land that seemed to have made him less rigid as he lead us back through the town.

Then the most important thing of all happened, once we were back, and I seemed to relax slightly, Lelia offered me the rest of my sandwich. Which should have offended me, but I was so hungry that I finished it in no time.

“Right this will be your new dwelling, for the time being” Sinclair declared, before gesturing to a two story stone structure that had seen better days. It was not a complete death trap, but it clearly could use some maintenance.

Seeing the structure, I realized I might have gotten my hopes up with this alleged upgrade. Still, it was a place and that was all we could hope for, at the moment.

“These will be your temporary lodging as your main quarters are being handled. These are the transitional dorms used for students who are waiting to get their final assignments,” Sinclair provided, and like that the tension that had been building within us all released at once. Then we entered the buildings and saw what horrors awaited us, while we waited for our permanent dwellings to be completed.