Light sorcerers were possessed by things that emitted light. Kunon didn’t have a very large sample size because light sorcerers were rare, but the common trait for their apparitions seemed to be luminescent matter. No, perhaps it would be more accurate to call it white matter. Well, he could think about that later.
Why was Clavis’s something normally invisible? Why could Kunon only see it when Clavis cast a spell? Kunon still understood very little about the Glass Eye, but he’d never seen a case like this before. There was nothing else that even resembled it. This gave Kunon much to think about. Most importantly, it increased the chance that there was meaning to the things that followed people around. It was possible that he was seeing them for a reason, and that they weren’t simply random.
He could think that all he liked, of course, but he still had nothing to prove it. He couldn’t yet discard the possibility that they didn’t mean anything at all. But for now, at least, he had a new case to consider—a something that was only visible under certain circumstances. What did that mean? Despite the lack of evidence, it seemed significant.
Perhaps Clavis wasn’t normally a sorcerer and only became one temporarily when he cast a spell.
That was a plausible theory. The opposite was also possible: Maybe sorcerers didn’t perform magic at all but ordered their something to do it for them. In other words, sorcerers could only use magic because they were possessed by something.
Or maybe…
Kunon’s mind continued to race, and he entered his own little world as he followed the others.
“Ah, I detected something,” Soff said.
After searching the fourteenth floor, the group had decided to proceed further down, and they were now on the fifteenth floor.
The teachers were all using different kinds of detection magic, and just now, Soff had sensed something. He had been using his wind magic to check for variations in temperature, and he’d just found an abnormality.
Kunon, who had been deep in thought, returned his attention to the search upon Soff’s comment.
“Then let’s head that way,” Clavis said before illuminating a large swath of the dungeon with his balls of light.
“I’m not sensing any movement… It does feel like some kind of plant…”
Soff studied it, observing it with the air instead of the wind.
Something small was sprawled on the floor. It didn’t feel like a flesh-and-blood creature, but rather some kind of vegetation. As soon as the group arrived in the general area, they found it.
“I think that’s our target,” said Clavis.
The object sprawled limply, withering on the floor, was undoubtedly a flower. It had light-pink petals, green leaves, and exposed roots. It looked like it had either been dropped by someone, or had used its roots as legs to walk there before collapsing. It was so small, lying there alone in the expanse of the dungeon.
“…Professor Clavis, can I approach it?” Keevan asked, hesitant to go near it without permission.
He was the member of their group who was most interested in the divine flower. It was clear even in the dark that his face was alight with curiosity.
“Yes, as long as you show no hostility,” Clavis said.
As long as you show no hostility. Clavis’s nonchalant words made the flower sound like a wild animal. Did the strange warning not bother Keevan? Or did he simply not care?
The teacher eagerly knelt before the flower and studied it closely.
“Hmm… I’ve never seen a flower like this.”
Once he was done observing, he took out a pen and gently poked the stalk. He probably intended to pick up the flower to get a better look at it. However…
“Whuh?!”
…the flower began to glow faintly, and before anyone knew it, there was a blinding flash.
“Ngh?!”
The whole group had been staring directly at the strange flower. Unfortunately, that meant they all got an eyeful of the bright light. Over the last few hours, their eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the dungeon. The light was too much for them, forcing them to tightly shut their eyelids. It felt like they’d been stabbed.
“Whoa there.”
One member of the group was perfectly fine, however.
The flower had used the diversion to scamper off into the dungeon at full speed, using its roots as legs like a wild animal.
It didn’t get far, however, before it was trapped in a ball of water.
Kunon couldn’t see to begin with, so the flash of light had no effect on him.
“Thanks. I let my guard down.”
The flower floated in the air, stuck inside an A-ori.
Soff, Keevan, and Lulomet were still immobilized after being caught off guard by the flash of light. Clavis, on the other hand, was just as unaffected as Kunon; he must have avoided it somehow. He looked totally unperturbed as he started to lay a spell atop Kunon’s A-ori. But just then…
“Huh?”
Kunon, who had been touching the flower with magic, noticed something was wrong before anyone else.
It was expanding.
The light inside the A-ori was getting bigger.
“Dispel it now! I’ll put up a shield!” Clavis ordered, and Kunon dispelled the A-ori.
Right then, something green expanded past the light and exploded from the flower. Hard clumps scattered in all directions, including toward Kunon and the others.
But they ended up splatting against an invisible wall, painting the space before them green.
“Phew… That was close,” Kunon said, though he was blind and wasn’t sure what exactly had happened.
If he could trust his senses, it seemed like the divine flower had exploded. The expanding light within the A-ori had transformed into green material and been flung in all directions. If Kunon hadn’t released the flower, the explosion would have been much more powerful. The more pressure it was under, the stronger the blast would have been.
Soff, Keevan, and Lulomet were still blinded and hadn’t seen anything. It was likely that only Clavis, the sole member of their team to react, had witnessed it.
In response, he had created an invisible barrier of light that completely guarded them against the explosion of greenery. It probably would have held strong even if Kunon hadn’t freed the divine flower, thus weakening the eventual explosion. The vast stores of magic poured into it made it very stable—it might be clear like glass, but it was far less brittle.
“You have good reflexes, Kunon,” said Clavis.
“That flower got us good,” remarked Soff. “I can still barely see.”
“I knew it could light up,” Lulomet added. “I should have prepared.”