Chapter 30: Unglorious return

"I still can't believe that I couldn't quite grasp it…"

Raising my hands to the air in the vivid expression of my disappointment in my own abilities, I could see how Ayda's face tensed up. Between the two of us, I could say that she was the one more nervous about the moment approaching us.

"I'm sorry…"

This girl was taking this defeat too personally. While we managed to turn me into a wizard an entire week ago, with all the other matters we had to deal with, I was now nearing the limit of how long I could stay in this world. While unlocking the other type of magic resulted in system granting me the option to move back to this world as I wished, I never managed to find out what it is to be a true mage.

Despite all Ayda's efforts to use her knowledge and later to find out more, the secret of turning that scrap part of wizardry ability that I managed to grasp and my witchcraft into the true, ancient magic, remained outside of our reach.

"It's not your fault. We couldn't expect that it would be our ignorance to end up foiling our plans. Or rather, while I might have failed to become a true mage, I still do believe I filled my purpose here."

Rustling the soft hair of this girl, I think I managed to shed a little smile for the very first time since the events back at my home.

Yet…

Just the thought of my home and what awaited me in the next few moments was enough to get a rinse out of me. With my muscles tensing anxiously, Ayda felt what was going on.

"You will be all right. I trained you surprisingly well if I'm free to put such claim out."

This time it was Ayda's time to caress my face with those delicate fingers of hers. Maybe it was due to how spent a relatively long while together, but this simple act of compassion of this girl somehow managed to calm me down a bit.

But the trauma before the big day was still there. After all, in just a few moments, I would attempt to put my newly gained skills into use in a desperate attempt to save my mom!

"Do you remember everything?"

Ayda's help wasn't limited to just teaching him the witchcraft and attempting to break the enigma over the true magic. While for a long time I was already quite certain that she knew the idea of what I was about to go through, once I shared the rest of the details with her, this crafty girl decided on something.

After yet another session of borderline seduction, she actually analyzed the entire situation and helped to come up with a potentially perfect way of solving my situation. From the very first second, I would step back on earth's soil, instead of following my instincts and rushing towards my mom, I would follow the specific steps of the plan that we came up with together.

"Yeah. The set-up, execution and save. In this order exactly and no other."

It was something that anyone could come up with as long as they spent some time thinking about the matter. After all, what would be the point of going back to earth if I were to focus on saving my mom so much that I would ignore any danger that someone might actually kill me before I would accomplish my goal?

"Great. I already left a small… gift for you. Once the right time will come, it will reveal itself. I hope you will find great use of it."

Seeing her speak those words with a hint of nostalgia and thoughtfulness in her eyes, I couldn't help but wonder what exactly did she do. I didn't receive anything physical from her, but I wasn't under some kind of spell that would make me better either. While the topic was interesting, I couldn't afford to waste the time on pondering over it. With only hours left of the time-freeze, if anything were to go against the plan and would require me to return to this place to modify my set of abilities, this remaining time of freeze would be absolutely vital.

"While I don't really understand… thanks, I guess?"

Throwing those strange doubts to the back of my head, I smiled gently at the girl in front of me. Her insanely revealing attire that caught my attention before, was now nothing but the usual frame that she appeared in. As lovely as it was to be able to always find comfort in the sight of her curves, I considered it more to be just an element of her general cuteness rather than something extremely arousing.

"Good luck."

Knowing that there was no time to waste, Ayda didn't dawdle on the topic either. Right before I was about to turn around and cross the gate that I summoned in advance, she suddenly jumped forward, grabbed me by my shoulders before pressing her lips against my mouth.

It was… a strange experience.

Obviously, the sensation of her closeness and her warmth, her smell, her touch but most and foremost, the taste of her lips that squished lightly when pressed against mine, seemed to be all normal, making it a perfect, goodbye kiss.

But for some reason, there was something missing in it. Some kind of crucial point that I wasn't able to pinpoint on the spot. And before I would even have the chance, Ayda relaxed her hold on my neck before placing her hands on my shoulders.

"I wish you all the best, Krist."

Suddenly pushing me back, the girl smiled with her usual, mischievous smile. Even though no words were exchanged, I could tell what she wanted to accomplish.

The moment right before cutting the wire and jumping on the grenade was the moment when all the hesitations and doubts would be the strongest. Instead of allowing my cowardice to make the better out of my determination, Ayda proved that she was really willing to support me all the way, even if that meant kicking me in the butt.

And then, I placed my foot on the dusty floor of my basement. For a second, I could see the rubble slowly filling up the room due to how the hole I made to access its doors wasn't by any means stable.

Then, I jumped forward.

There was no time to waste. My mother was lying nearby, right on the verge of dying and only my swift reaction could save her.