Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

Hitori pulled a glass from the crockery stand, he placed it on the dining table. Then he opened the cooling compartment and grabbed a Blue Curacao syrup. He picked a bottle of a translucent liquid, lemon juice. He mixed those two liquids till the color was bright blue.

He pulled a green bottle of Sprite and added it to the mixture-- creating his favorite mocktail-- Blue Lagoon.

He closed the door behind him and sat on his chair, placed his drink after taking a sip. Hitori was staring at the roof while sipping on his drink like whisky.

"Kuzu? House Guardian? Mages? And the reason? Unknown." Hitori sighed and took another sip.

He placed his drink on the table and leaned forward, then he opened Mahoutokoro's website. He scrolled down till he found a link that read: Apply for the Final (Third) Year-End Conquest Trials.

He opened the site. A form appeared on the screen that asked Hitori to fill in details about himself. His name, his parents, his grade, his date of birth, his wand's core, the grade he received last year, the School he specializes in, and his rank in the second trial.

After filling in the details, a new screen popped up. It told Hitori the date his match was scheduled, the platform number, the time, and the name of his opponent: Budo Bijutsu, a second-year student.

Kuzu extracted the pus from Gigi's foot for the third time, he turned to throw the tube out from the window, and when he turned back to Gigi-- his foot had swelled again-- the brown pus had formed under his foot in a second.

He glanced at Gigi. "We are going---"

"Are not going back," Gigi grunted, he tried to stand and walk but the pain was incredible. "Give me your shoulder, if you do not mind, we will make sure they can guy was Kamiya."

Kuzu needed to take Gigi back to Onogi's house and treat Gigi's strange injury as soon as possible, but he wanted to check on Akemi with Gigi, too. He stared blankly at Gigi. He watched as Gigi tried to get up again. Kuzu rose and stepped forward, he pulled Gigi's over his shoulder.

"I do not care what happens next."

"Make it quick," Gigi said.

Gigi limped out of the washroom on Kuzu's shoulder. Kuzu took him to the stairs. Gigi had difficulty climbing the stairs but he managed to do it somehow.

Kuzu thought they would just open the door, make sure it was Kuzu and Akemi, then get back to their portal. But unknown to them, Kamiya was not in the room right now.

In another polished white room, Kamiya got up and sat on a bed's corner. A nurse went to grab something for him, when she came back, she handed Kamiya a potion.

"It will help regain your voice. The potion will fix your larynx, your vocal cords-- overall, your throat," she said.

Kamiya nodded and gulped the potion down. He knew it would taste the worst, but he had to take the medicine to recover his confident and deep voice.

He placed the flask on a table and got up. "Thanks. I will come tomorrow."

"Yes. Be right on time." They both bowed to each other. Kamiya stepped out of the nurse's room and looked around him.

The corridors were full again, with no chaos, and no shouting or arguing like the previous times. Kamiya let out a sigh of relief and took the stairs to the first floor.

While he climbed the first floor, Kuzu and Gigi took the stairs to the second floor. Gigi complained about the stairs again.

Kamiya was walking through the first floor's corridor, and Kuzu and Gigi were walking through the second floor's corridor.

When they climbed the stairs to the third floor, Kamiya was already on the second floor.

Kuzu and Gigi struggled on the stairs and walked down the third floor's corridor, Kamiya was taking the third staircase.

Kuzu glanced around. There were guards equipped with wands, wandering on the third floor. "We need to sneak in," he whispered in Gigi's ears.

Gigi nodded and limped to the right side. A few feet before they would reach room 303, Kamiya climbed the stairs and found two men wearing suits, walking toward room 303.

His heart skipped a beat. He had never expected them to show up again, he never expected to meet them this soon! Although he wanted to kill Kuzu and Onogi, he still needed some time before he could bring himself to cast a curse from behind their backs.

He clenched his wand and drew it at Kuzu. He wondered why Gigi was limping over Kuzu's leg but then he thought: Does not matter.

Kamiya was not ready to curse them from behind their backs, but he was ready to turn those two into stones and then crack their bodies into several pieces.

They stopped near Akemi's room. "Turn to your right," Kuzu said.

Gigi was taking it slow but the guards already had their suspicion of them.

Gigi took a turn, and Kuzu reached forward to create the symbol.

Kamiya's heart started racing. He ought to make a move or else Kuzu will enter the room, and if he was here for the second time, he was not here to talk.

Kamiya took cover behind the same wall he hid behind before. Then he aimed past Gigi, at Kuzu's head.

Gigi tried to act normal around the guards who were coming closer to them with every passing moment. Although he was in pain, he glanced around, trying to act casual.

Kamiya opened his mouth as he lifted his wand.

When Gigi's casual glance reached the staircase, Kamiya pulled his wand and turned to the wall. Gigi saw something disappear in the dark.

"Kuzu," he said, "what is taking so long?" He asked.

"I don't know!" Kuzu exclaimed. "Fuck, he changed the fucking symbol!"

"What?!" Gigi turned to the corner again. This time, he caught a glimpse of Kamiya's glasses and a red glint in his eyes in the dark.

His eyes widened when he saw a wand pointed at him– no, Kamiya had pointed it past him– his target was Kuzu.

Gigi raised his hand, still staring at Kamiya, and pushed Kuzu, who was still trying to figure out the symbol.

When Gigi shouted, "Move!" The guards panicked and came to a sudden stop.

Kamiya chanted the spell with confidence and controlled movements. "Petrify!"

Gigi spread his arms to block the ray from hitting Kuzu. The beam struck Gigi in the heart and turned him to stone.

The guards' eyes widened at the sight. The four pairs of eyes turned to the dark corner from where the spell was cast. Kamiya stayed hidden behind the wall.

Kuzu grabbed the door to stay on his feet, he saw Gigi turning into a cement statue, and he followed the direction from where the beam was fired.

Kamiya took a deep breath and revealed himself from the shadows. Firing another Petrifying spell. "Petrify!"

Kuzu jerked his arm and pulled out a blade, he raised the blade and blocked the beam. Although the beam turned his blade and his wrist to stone, as long as he could move, he was alright.

His nose twitched when he saw those glasses and the messy hair. He pulled his upper lip in anger. "You were right, Gigi, it is Kamiya!"

Kuzu pushed and bolted towards the shadows. Kamiya panicked, he started firing all the spells he knew– including the brown (Kekkan/Ketsueki no Noroi) and the black beams (Shinigami no Noroi).

Kuzu dodged the ones that looked uglier while he blocked the cement color beam of the Petrifying spell. The guards were confused, Kuzu looked like a scientist, but he was under attack.

Should they stop the mage, who was about to kill a scientist– which would result in a battle? Or should they stop the scientist, who was here on the sole mission of killing that mage?

"Kamiya!!" Kuzu shouted as he threw his blade at Kamiya.

Kamiya pushed himself to the wall, the blade slid past his glasses and stabbed the wooden railing.

Kamiya's eyes widened. "Fuck." He took a look behind and saw Kuzu running at him. He looked straight at the staircase that led to the fourth floor, then down at the staircase that led to the second floor.

He bobbed his head and rushed towards the stairs. "The scientist!" he shouted, Kuzu slowed. "The scientist is here! Run for your lives! Hide in your rooms! Lock the doors!"

Kuzu raised his eyes, then narrowed them in anger. "Motherfucker!"

By that time, Kamiya had fled to the second floor's corridor. The guards were sure what they had to do, they pointed their wands at Kuzu, all at once.

"Petrify!"

"Bakuhatsu!"

"Neru!"

"Muishiki!"

Kuzu blocked the spells and enchantments with a battlesuit that acted as a barrier to protect him from the spells– the same as the Duergar's armor set– Activating this armor would lower its durability, they wanted to save it for later, repairing it costs a fortune.

"Fireball!"

"Freeze-Dry!"

"Hydro pump!"

"Thunderbolt, thunder smash!"

"Electrify!"

The elemental spells were a chore to dodge. Kuzu raced to Gigi and grabbed his arm. He pulled him to cover his body from the spells that would break him.

Kuzu had to find a way to get off this mess. The stairs were not a good option, holding Gigi meant he could not fight, Kamiya would be waiting for him downstairs.

His eyes caught the glass panels on the other side of the corridor. He was sure they were not polycarbonate, since mages did not use science, but he was sure they were enchanted to increase their durability.

Yet, Kuzu bolted towards the glass. He pierced through the glass with his short sword first, then banged his shoulder against the panels. The glass shattered down to the reception as Kuzu fell with it.

Kamiya was about to take the first floor's stairs when he spotted Kuzu through the panel as if he was part of Galileo's experiment and was thrown from the Tower of Pisa.

Kamiya thought this would be Kuzu's end. Either Gigi's body would be shattered or Kuzu's bones would be dislocated when he falls from that height, so he continued running down the stairs.

But when he reached the first floor, he saw Kuzu gliding over a glider in the middle of the space like the Green Goblin. He was carrying Gigi like a princess before he threw him into his dimensional storage and landed swiftly.

Kamiya had to make a hard decision, whether to go back or to go down. He decided to face his fears and end this once and for all.

Kuzu glanced around him, the guards at the gate noticed him due to the chaos he created. Thankfully no one was roaming in the plaza or the glass would have cut them.

He spotted the receptionist sitting on her chair with a sharp and thick piece of glass stabbed in the middle of her face.

He found the doctors had come out and the patients were locked inside their rooms. When he glanced at the corridors, he saw guards on each floor pointing their wands at him from the panels that they had rolled up.

Kamiya jumped off the last stair and spotted Kuzu, his eyes fell on Kamiya as a frown formed on his face. Kuzu pulled his thumb to his neck and sliced it. "You are dead, Kamiya."

Kamiya shuddered. He was thinking of casting a spell when the guards shouted, "Stay put! Hold your wand down and stay put! We have got this undercover, so stay put."

Kamiya glanced at the floors which were filled with three to four guards. Even if he cast a killing curse and even if he kills Kuzu, he will have to spend the rest of his life in prison.

But he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Akemi, and… maybe he will get himself a girlfriend, but if getting a girlfriend means distracting himself from Akemi and paying more attention to his girlfriend instead of his sister, he will die a virgin.

Kamiya found the perfect timing when Kuzu looked for a way to escape, he escaped through the back door. The guards tried to stop him but Kamiya was long gone.

Kuzu took that distraction as an advantage and made a run for the washroom. The guards noticed him, and they sent the men on the first floor to confront him and the guards on the gate to chase him.

Kuzu kicked open the washroom's door and raced to the portal stall. "Fuck the mission," he muttered as he jumped into the portal, back to Onogi's house in the corner of the science prefecture.

The guards reached just the next moment to find nothing but a toilet seat.

"Where is he?"

"He is not here."

"Then what? Did he flush himself through that toilet hole?"

"Maybe, he was a scientist, they are crazy over experiments."

That man threw this man a disgusted and a disappointed glare. "Find that mage and bring him," he ordered, "and call Hanzai-san. Tell him to come over after he is done with his sweet breakfast."

The man gave the toilet seat a last stare before walking out of the washroom.

When everyone was in the conference room discussing the event of four o'clock, the first of January 2053, Kamiya made his appearance from the front gate.

He glanced around, and when the coast was clear, he raced to room 303.