Reincarnation Of A Swordsman: The Omni Mage

"No, no, no... this isn't happening."

Her first instinct was to run, but she forced herself to calm down. She couldn't leave the others unaware. Swallowing her fear, she rushed to the bunk beside Kyle.

"Wake up!" Celine called out to Zara who slept on the lower bunk, vigorously shaking her to ensure she woke up. "Get up, now!"

"What the—Celine!" Zara grumbled, groggily swatting at her. "What's your problem?"

"It's the middle of the night," Lina muttered from above the bed, she had also woken up from Celine's loud call.

"Kyle's gone..." Celine simply said, getting the attention of the two girls. They both sat up immediately, Zara rubbing her eyes while Lina frowned. "Gone? What do you mean, gone?"

"I mean he's not here. His blanket is empty and I don't know where he is."

Lina rolled her eyes. "He probably went outside. Maybe he needed air or something."

Zara nodded in agreement, "Yeah, don't freak out. He's probably nearby."

Finn heard the voice coming from the main room and had already gotten up to find out what the problem was.

He came to the room only to see the three girls up and Kyle absent from the room. "What's going on?" he looked at them for answers.

Celine explained everything to him and how Kyle had seemingly disappeared. After listening to her explanation, Finn didn't waste time to decide.

"We will check for him."

They all agreed except Lina who wasn't in terms of using her nap time to find Kyle. "Fine, let's look. But I swear, if this is just him wandering off to get air or something, I'm going to kill him."

***

The four of them stepped outside meeting the chill of the night. The village was eerily quiet and the moon casted long shadows over the sandy ground. They immediately decided to split up slightly, calling Kyle's name in hushed tones as they searched around the immediate area.

"He's not here," Zara muttered after a few minutes of searching. "Where could he have gone?"

"Wait," Finn decided to stop. He gestured for the others to come closer, pointing at a faint trail of footprints in the sand. "These could be his."

"Are you sure?" Lina asked.

"No... But judging from the texture and density, they were left recently and it means that there's a high chance it belong to Kyle."

They accepted Finn's logic and decided to trace the footprint and see where it led to.

After several minutes of following the footprint, they eventually reached the Eastern Edge. They had reached the extreme end of the trail despite knowing where it will lead to for the hope that maybe the owner of the footprint had turned back upon reaching there.

Sadly, the footprint had ceased the moment they reached the edge of the forest, meaning that Kyle had gone into the forest.

"Why would he go into the forest? That doesn't make any sense," Celine couldn't help but question when they confirmed Kyle's location.

"That's the question, isn't it?" Finn said grimly, standing up. "But the fact is, he did."

They exchanged uneasy glances, the weight of the situation sinking in. Finn finally broke the silence. "Let's go back for now."

***

Back in the cottage, the mood was somber. Zara leaned against the table, her arms crossed, while Lina sat on the bed, staring at the floor. Celine paced restlessly and her mind was racing with possibilities.

"What do we do now?" she finally asked, breaking the silence. "We can't just leave him out there."

"What else? We go after him," Finn said.

Lina blinked in surprise. "Are you serious? He could be anywhere by now."

"And that's why we need to start searching," Finn said firmly. "Whatever reason he had for going into the forest, it must have been important. He needs our help."

Celine nodded, her earlier fear giving way to determination. "He's right. We can't let him face whatever's out there alone."

"I'm in," Zara said, her voice quieter than usual. "I'll admit, I'm not thrilled about wandering through the woods at night, but we owe it to him."

Lina hesitated for a moment before grinning. "Well, an adventure does sound exciting. And who knows? Maybe we'll find something cool out there."

Finn gave her a pointed look. "This isn't about finding something cool, Lina. Stay focused."

She shrugged, still smiling. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Then it's settled," Finn said. "Get ready. We leave in ten minutes."

***

While the rest of the team got ready to search for Kyle in the forest, the said person was still struggling to accept the reality of Void's revelation.

"You're absolutely sure about what you saw?" Kyle couldn't help but ask even though he knew that there was no reason for Void to fabricate such an elaborate lie.

"Yes, Kyle. The energy from that pool... it's not normal. It felt... alive. And those beasts? They're being drawn to it like moths to a flame. Something's happening there, something big."

Kyle clenched his fists and entered deep in thought. If the pool was exuding such immense mana, there was a possibility it was empowering the beasts and the consequences could be catastrophic, especially if left unchecked.

'If those weaker beasts keep evolving en masse...' Kyle shook his head, forcing the thought away.

Ding!

His deliberation was interrupted by a familiar ding from his system interface. A translucent screen materialized before his eyes, bearing a new quest notification.

[New Quest: A single act of courage can ripple through eternity. A potential mana origin source has been discovered, destabilizing the forest's ecosystem and driving the beasts into a frenzy. This energy is accelerating their evolution and could threaten nearby human settlements if left unchecked.

—Investigate the mana pool.

—Halt the beasts' evolution by any means necessary.

—Defeat all threats to restore balance to the forest.

[Rewards: 100 Skill Points, 1 Chaos Spellbook]

Kyle froze and his eyes were glued to the glowing text. The enormity of what he was reading washed over him in waves. His mind reeled as he processed each line, but one word stood out above the rest—the rewards.

"That's… insane," Kyle muttered under his breath.

Void leaned closer, peering at the interface. "And here I thought you were just imagining things. But nope, it's real. This is the kind of opportunity we dream about, Kyle."

Kyle shook his head in disbelief. "You're telling me to waltz into a den of evolved beasts, kill everything in sight, and somehow stop this Mana Origin Source from wreaking havoc?"

"Pretty much," Void said with a grin. "Don't forget the part where you walk out with a Chaos Spellbook and 100 skill points. That's the fun part."

Kyle was short of words but the rewards kept flashing in his mind. He had been on the verge of running moments ago, ready to abandon the battlefield and leave this mess to the academy. But this quest... it changed everything.

'One hundred skill points,' Kyle thought, narrowing his eyes. He knew exactly how valuable they were. Skill points were a resource he could barely acquire under normal circumstances. Even the lucky encounters where he received quests only saw him receive very few.

With that many points, he could easily master the wind technique that sat in his inventory. He didnt have to stress before he could use Air Steps. The price was previously out of reach for him but this could change it.

'And that's just one use,' Kyle thought. 'With this many points, I could level up my Lightning spells and even learn some more books from the library without effort.'

But the spellbook… That was the real temptation.

Kyle stared at the glowing words on the interface and his heart pounded. He knew the difference between a spell scroll and a spellbook all too well. Spell scrolls were limited—they provided the framework and method methods for a single spell.

A spellbook, on the other hand, was a treasure trove. It contained multiple spells, detailed explanations, and insights into a specific magic type.

And this one was Chaos.

Kyle had only recently awakened his Chaos element, and already, he knew its raw potential. But there was a problem—he had no spells to use with it. No techniques, no knowledge, nothing. His Chaos element was like a loaded weapon without a trigger.

'This could change everything,' Kyle thought with glowing eyes. 'If I can get my hands on that spellbook, I'll have an arsenal. I'll finally be able to use Chaos magic.'