The human deeply sighed before continuing, “Anyway, we’re going up these stairs.” Ahead of us was a plain large stone spiral staircase that seemed to continue both up and down endlessly. Noticing me eyeing both directions, the human proceeded to continue her explanation. “The first years live just up there, and the third years at the very top, leaving us second years smack-dab in the middle. If we go down a floor, we’ll be in the lobby. It’s an open space where people can hang out and just relax.”
“What floor are we on?”
“The second one—meant only for accessing the stairs. I mean, there are some chairs and couches here as a rest area, but nobody really stays here to relax. They either go to their room or to the lobby.”
“There aren’t any portals here?”
“Usually, the portals are just for the lobby or the dorms themselves. There’s a portal for the first-year dorm, the second-year dorm, and so on and so forth.”
“Hmm, so nobody’s here?” I asked.
“Well, more people will probably pass by when school starts, but yeah, right now, there’s nobody. Either way, let’s go up the stairs norm— Hey!”
Immediately, I crouched, storing energy in my legs, preparing myself to jump. I can maybe use this opportunity to test just how much I’ve recovered by judging how high I’m able to jump. At my normal strength, I’d probably be able to easily jump through the ceiling of this tower, but at my current reduced strength, there shouldn’t be any fear of that. Here I—
Just before I was about to jump, a whack landed on my head. I quickly saw that it originated from the palm of the human. If I hadn’t been so focused on the jump, I would’ve been able to react to it.
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?!” she shrieked.
“That there’s nobody around?” I asked, puzzled.
“Good to know your ears are working! I also said we should climb the stairs normally!”
“I elected to ignore that since I deemed it a ridiculous request, considering how pointless a task climbing these stairs is when I could simply jump up there.”
“How many times do I have to explain that you’re supposed to be a human here?!” she practically screamed. “Unless humans were different in your realm, we don’t just casually jump entire flights of stairs without using magic!”
“I wasn’t trying to jump that far, just to the floor where my dwelling’s in.”
“That’s essentially two very long flights of stairs up! That’s not—”
I’d grown tired of her jabbering, so in an effort to shut her up and prove my point, I grabbed the human by the waist, bent my legs, and jumped, interrupting her before she could finish her sentence.
The familiar feeling of air whipping by my face brought calmness to my heart. I was also pleasantly happy to find that my strength had recovered enough for me to easily jump to the floor that the human had pointed out.
Said human, though, seemed less than pleased and was screaming as we flew up and landed on a ledge slightly above the destination floor.
“That right there?” I asked, pointing at a level platform where the stairs temporarily stopped at before ascending further.
She simply nodded silently.
Hmm. Not good with heights, are you? Then, I jumped down to the platform and lowered her.
“For the record,” she started, seemingly regaining her voice. “I’m not scared of heights. What I am scared of is someone shooting up several floors all at once without any warning.”
“Humph. Whatever you say.”
She patted down her uniform and straightened it before clearing her throat. “So, this is the second-year girls’ dorm. Getting in is pretty simple. All you have to do is walk forward. I know this looks like a stone wall, but—”
“It’s obviously an enchanted wall. Judging by the spells cast on it, these uniforms act as keys to allow us in without being repelled.”
“Yeah...that’s right. Wow, you can figure that out just by looking?”
“Cognitive Advantage. I can understand the basics of anything with a simple glance. That includes the fundamental compositions of enchantments. For deeper analysis like I did with that invisible hallway though, it takes more time and some actual analysis magic.”
The human froze for a second, her eyes looking at the limiter around my neck. She thinks that if I can look at the limiter, I can break the binding spell on it, doesn’t she? In all honesty, I’d considered that possibility when I’d looked at myself in the mirror in the vampire’s office. But I’d immediately understood that, though I might be able to break it with enough preparation, there’d be grave consequences that most likely even this human didn’t know about.
The binding spell was very abhorrent, and it gave the impression that it’d been designed for prisoners. It had several layers to it to ensure that whoever was wearing the limiter wouldn’t ever be at their full strength as long as they had it on.
The first layer greatly siphoned the wearer’s mana, outpacing its natural regeneration. Mana was essentially the lifeblood of all organisms. It fueled not just magic but physical abilities as well; one could train and increase their muscle strength and speed, of course, but any advanced maneuvers would draw upon their mana pool just as a spell would. Thus, limiting my mana not only weakens me as a spellcaster but as a fighter as well.
The second layer created a tracking device of sorts so that the wearer’s location could be known at all times. Even if I ran away, they’d be able to pursue me to the ends of the world and find me in an instant no matter how well I hid.
The third layer was an anti-tampering layer that would alert the overseer if the enchantment was altered in even the most minuscule way. It’d also immediately alert the overseer if anyone even tried to tamper with the physical construction of the limiter.
The final layer was the most despicable one. It was more or less a fail-safe powered by the siphoned mana. It’d take all the stored mana and turn it into a concentrated blast that’d eradicate the wearer.