Sai voiced out, overtaken by fury, rage, and spite, his fists clenched tightly and his teeth gritted in anger.
Upon seeing this, Von's lips curled into an even more mischievous grin. He knew that if there was ever a moment to manipulate Sai and drag him into emotional turmoil, it was now.
"Oh my, I seem to have struck a nerve. Looks like someone misses home. I'm sure you have dozens of questions to ask me, but no matter—you'll get all the answers you need once we successfully abduct you."
Hearing this, Sai finally understood why the gas had worked on him. It wasn't magical at all—it was tear gas from Earth.
Which meant that this Von of a guy had also been reincarnated into this world.
Sai needed to escape immediately.
He wobbled slightly, little by little, and before long, he found himself on the floor with one knee bent as heavy breaths escaped his lips. Yet Sai remained stubbornly resistant. He immediately plunged his sword into the soil and used it as support to slowly rise back to his feet.
Then, in a faint but determined voice—
"Ain't… no way… I'm letting you… take me out… without a fight."
"WAAAW! You're a feisty one. I'm sure we'll get along quite well," Von said as he slowly stepped closer toward Sai.
Sai was exhausted, weak, and tired—almost unconscious even—held up by sheer willpower alone.
Deep down, Sai knew he was completely defenseless against Von, but he couldn't allow himself to be taken away. Not yet.
He had to keep fighting.
Just as Von stretched his hand toward Sai, a distant voice suddenly echoed through the woods.
"OVER HERE!"
"Hmmm?!" Von muttered as he turned toward the direction of the voice.
"We've been discovered!" Wraith shouted.
Hearing this, Von immediately retreated toward Wraith, leaving Sai behind in the dust.
"Well, Sai, I'm afraid our meeting will have to be prolonged for quite a bit, so do make very good use of that curse of yours," Von said with a mischievous smirk creeping across his face.
"Why don't we just grab him and take him along?!" Wraith voiced out.
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE HE'S GONNA LET ME DO THAT SO EASILY?! BY THE TIME I'M DONE RESTRAINING HIM, WE'LL BE DONE FOR!" Von barked, referring to the academy officials rapidly approaching their location.
His tone softened almost instantly.
"Besides… we can't afford to make a scene."
"At least not yet," Von added lazily with a smug grin on his chin.
With a casual wave of his wand, a massive golden tornado-like gust swarmed around both Von and Wraith.
Sai's vision had become blurry, but he couldn't just let them escape so easily.
He had to do something.
And with the last ounce of strength left in his body, Sai uprooted his sword from the soil. The footsteps of the academy officials grew louder in his ears as he slowly forced himself upright.
"You two…"
"…aren't going anywhere…!"
"…Not on my watch!"
Sai hurled his sword toward the golden spiral.
Von's smirk widened.
A powerful slash instantly deflected the blade, sending Sai's sword flying back toward him while tearing up chunks of soil and grass along its path.
At that moment, it felt as though everything had gone silent.
The atmosphere around Sai became strangely tranquil.
"Damn… man, I'm weak… I'm tired… and I sure as hell can't move from here. I always knew I was strong… but I guess I've still got a long way to go…"
"Man… I could use a soda right about now," Sai muttered softly as he lowered his eyelids in preparation for the impact.
"Guard!"
A voice rang out from the side as a golden shield-like construct formed between Sai and the intruders, clearly powered by mana.
Sai immediately turned toward the spell caster.
It was Miss Bramble.
"Step aside, lad," Miss Bramble said as she swung her wand toward the disappearing figures of the two intruders.
"AHHHH!" Von screamed in pain as a powerful blast erupted from the tip of Miss Bramble's wand, leveling nearly a quarter of the forest.
"SHIT! They escaped!" Miss Bramble clicked her tongue before turning toward Sai with a subtle smile on her face.
"I didn't… need your help."
"I… had everything… under control there," Sai said while glaring at Miss Bramble, his tone filled with lingering hostility and resistance.
Sai's family had always followed one principle:
Anyone who needed saving simply wasn't strong enough to save themselves.
In simpler terms—
They were weak.
And as much as Sai despised most of his family's principles, he couldn't help but agree with this one.
"Wooooow there, lad, no need to get all feisty with me now. You're exhausted and need to recover. I would've healed you with magic, but your anti-magic ability won't allow it, so you'll have to recover naturally."
"And one of the fastest ways to do that is by taking it easy."
As Miss Bramble finished speaking, the school guards finally arrived.
"Miss Bramble! Is anyone hurt?" one of the men shouted.
They all looked average in build, and judging by their confidence, they were Grade Three sorcerers at best.
"Nope, no serious damage. Only one student was assaulted, and he's a pretty tough one too. The little lad held his own against them."
The men stared at Sai in astonishment.
One of them hurriedly approached Miss Bramble.
"Miss Bramble… what Grade do you think the intruders were?" he asked anxiously.
Miss Bramble looked upward while tapping her chin with her right index finger, her left arm folded beneath her chest as she pretended to think deeply.
"Well, the pink-haired fellow was emanating a tremendous amount of mana, but I could barely sense any from the other one. Maybe he took a hit or two from Sai over here."
Hearing this, Sai's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.
"I don't remember telling anyone besides Wraith about my mana-draining ability. How the hell does she know?" he thought.
"In other words, I'd say they were Grade One and Grade Two sorcerers."
The guards looked stunned.
"And we're only Grade Three sorcerers at best. If we had faced them directly, we would've lost miserably."
"No way this kid managed to hold them off on his own… Miss Bramble must be bluffing," a plain-looking, spiky yellow-haired sorcerer thought in disbelief.
"Alright, lads, this kid needs medical attention. We're gonna have to do things the old-fashioned way since we can't heal him."
One of the men looked at Sai in shock.
"Then that means he's the manaless new kid everyone's been talking about. Did he really hold his own against two Grade One sorcerers?"
One of the guards stepped forward to support Sai, but Sai immediately slapped his hand away. Mustering every ounce of strength left in his legs, he slowly stood upright and began walking back toward the academy premises.
"Well… he's a nice one," one of the sorcerers said sarcastically.
"He's still able to walk after fighting Grade One sorcerers… This kid's got potential," Miss Bramble thought with a faint grin tugging at the corner of her lips.
As Sai continued walking toward the academy, he couldn't help but notice the astonished expressions on the guards' faces.
They probably thought he had just survived some brutal life-or-death battle.
But in reality?
It was only tear gas.
Something from Earth.
Something that merely had a temporary effect on its victims.
To Sai, it felt pathetic.
Of all things that could immobilize him…
It had to be tear gas.
Sai grew furious at the thought. Compared to the devastating downfalls of protagonists in anime and web novels, this felt like a weak and embarrassing defeat.
And because of that—
He knew he needed to become stronger.
More than anything else…
He needed to surpass the limits of his own limits.
Still, countless thoughts raced through Sai's mind as he walked.
How had Von managed to recreate tear gas in this world?
And then there was something else.
Von had mentioned that the power to nullify magic was a bad omen.
Now that Sai thought about it, abilities like his weren't normal in this magical world. Such a power had apparently existed once before in the distant past, yet there were no records explaining what became of it.
Sai began to wonder—
Was this power truly a blessing?
Or did it signify something far more tragic?
Sai continued walking toward the academy while Miss Bramble and the security team followed closely behind him.
Bare-bodied, battered, and exhausted, Sai's thoughts swirled endlessly as confusion, frustration, and fury raged deep within his subconscious.
Then, in a low and subtle whisper, Sai muttered to himself—
"I HAVE TO GET STRONGER!"