Chapter 59: Fan Club
Though my first impression of these guys was not exactly the best, it's known that really powerful people in stories tend to be eccentric. After all, having weird quirks about them gives them an excuse to not use their powers or help the protagonist for basically free.
Not that anything like that happens in this shitty game, but still.
After looking at the mess that they had become, I spoke up a question, interrupting their arguing.
"Um, since you said that you've made great advancements in Dark Arts, do you mind if I see a bit of them?"
Jerry stood up and brushed the dust off with a confident smile.
"Of course! Behold, my powers!"
I felt it probably wasn't a good idea to use overwhelming power in such a cramped area. From what I remember of Bryson, he spread out a wide black mist that indiscriminately came to life as tentacles the moment any living thing came near it.
However, I decided to trust this overly enthusiastic guy.
He held out one hand, with his palm facing the sky. Nick furrowed his brows as he was doing that.
"Jerry, don't overdo i-"
"Gah!"
Jerry grimaced while his knees buckled. However, in his hands were a few faint black mist tendrils that dispersed after a second. No, I don't think they even lasted an entire second. They extended to reach roughly a quarter of a meter high, but compared to what Bryson was capable of in the game, this was basically nothing.
Nick let out a helpless sigh as he held Jerry up.
"I told you not to put more power in the spell when you clearly can't handle it!"
Jerry sucked in a cold breath with a bitter smile.
"But I was able to do that much before, and I thought the break I had was enough..."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Was the process interrupted by something?"
Nick shook his head, but there was still a proud expression on his face.
"Ah, no. It may have not looked like much itself, but the black mist he had created was as strong as steel, which would act as a lethal weapon!"
...What about just using an actual steel weapon?
Sure, it's not as covert, but you don't get crippled after a second of using it and can actually use it for a good while. Well, I probably shouldn't say that to him though.
Nick rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Well, since you've already seen the entrance, why don't you take a look at what we have here."
I gave a short nod. Jerry stumbled back up with Nick's help and led the two of them inside. Upon making my way in, I saw at least a dozen more people in black cloaks all sitting around a wooden table and talking to each other. On the table were scattered and messy books along with old-fashioned papers that had an orange-ish color to it.
As for the room itself, it was made of wood, while several lanterns placed around made it rather bright, unlike the cult-like setting they had.
When we walked in, I noticed most of the group had turned to us and waved with smiles on their faces.
"Ah, is it a new member?"
"How much does he know?"
"Hey, before you get fooled by the others, you should learn my technique!"
All of them were rather enthusiastic. It gave me a really strange feeling.
I came here expecting a cult, but instead, it was more like...
Hm. How can I describe this?
Ah, I got it. Like a hardcore fan club.
"So far, I haven't learned how to use Dark Arts, and I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to be joining. But hello, anyways."
Several people nodded, though a few complaints arose.
"What? You might as well stay, you've already put in the effort of matching the outfit!"
"Eh? Why aren't you staying? Trust me, Dark Arts will quickly take over magic in the future!"
"Haha, after seeing a bit of our prowess, you will surely be convinced!"
After letting out a soft sigh, I let out a laugh.
"Then what have you found out about Dark Arts so far?"
Nick cleared his throat.
"Before that, we may as well take a seat."
Ah, I guess there's no harm there.
Nick and Jerry made their way to their seats while I took an empty one. From there, one of the members started to speak with a confident smile, not obscured by the hood covering his face.
"Dark Arts is only possible when you block out the feeling of your own body, focusing only on the outside. After that, you must sharpen your focus to a point in your own mind, then call it out!"
A girl next to me coughed and whispered.
"He basically just means to relax all your muscles the best you can then try to imagine moving something out from inside your head."
"Hey! Why are you telling him that? The way I said it was so much cooler!"
The guy who initially spoke stood up and pointed at her accusingly. As for the girl, she only let out a soft sigh before retaliating.
"The way you say it is way too confusing! You always make it hard for the newbie to start out."
The guy scoffed.
"That may be true, but more importantly it has to sound cool! Clarity is a lesser priority!"
My eyebrow twitched. These guys really were something else.
"Thank you both for guiding me either way."
They both seemed rather flattered and sat back down. While everyone was staring at me, I just waved dismissively.
"Ah, just ignore me for now. Why don't you just go on and do your normal activities? I'm quite curious."
Nick let out a hum.
"In all honesty, we don't truly do anything."
Jerry immediately slammed his hand on the table right after.
"Preposterous! We discuss only the most important matters and trade the truths we have seen in the Dark Arts!"
A bitter smile formed on Nick's face.
"Er, but we usually just talk about our daily lives. As for the truths in Dark Arts, we have to take long breaks before we cast them and it takes a while to find anything worth talking about."
Jerry fell silent after. He raised a finger with determination, pointing it aggressively at Nick. It looked like he was ready to defend his point with vigor.
"Ok, that may be true, but like what he said earlier that doesn't sound cool at all!"
Nick let out a laugh.
"Still, it's better to be transparent..."
Hm. This really doesn't feel like a cult. After looking to the left and right, I asked them a question.
"So, have any of you found any new breakthroughs?"
A member on the smaller side suddenly raised her arm and exclaimed.
"Oh! I found that if you focus really hard, then the Dark Arts become even stronger!"
Another one nodded fervently.
"Ah, good discovery, good discovery!"
As my faith in them started to wane, I heard a voice that randomly appeared in my head.
"I understand how they appear, but they truly do understand Dark Arts at a deeper level."
A heavy sigh escaped me. It was the book guy talking to me. If he was going to go as far as to speak up for them, then I suppose I could stay a bit longer.
Though, the conversation immediately derailed to unrelated matters.
"I think I've been overdoing it lately, my head hurts a bit."
"Ah, you must take care of your mind properly, else how will you perform the Dark Arts?!"
"Yes, yes, I just overestimated myself by my past performance."
One member let out a drawn-out humming sound.
"Man, I forgot that I was invited to dinner by one of my neighbors. It was so embarrassing when they had to come to my door to remind me!"
"Ah, speaking of, I actually forgot that I had invited people ironically enough!"
The two of them began laughing, while others began joining in and explaining things that they had forgotten. Eventually, feeling something a little off-putting, I interjected.
"Say, have you all been forgetting things recently?"
They didn't seem too concerned and responded nonchalantly.
"Hm, yes a few, but not that much recently."
"I've only forgotten one thing this past week."
"Ah, I've been too clumsy these last few days and even forgot which way the exit to my house!"
The side of my face twitched. This sounded rather concerning, and honestly, was making me see Dark Arts in a bleak light.
"I don't think that level of memory loss is normal."
Nick let out a chuckle and responded rather quickly.
"What do you mean? All of us have forgotten a tiny thing like that before."
I put my elbows on the table and put them in front of my mask.
"But I've never experienced this level, nor have the people around me. Have you ever tried to think of what else you have been doing around the time the memory loss started to happen?"
Nick looked confused but still spoke.
"Well, I recall it was somewhat more frequent a year or so ago. Ah, that was also when I started practicing Dark Arts."
A bitter smile formed on my face. He was basically explaining to me the problem at this point.
The girl next to me let out a small gasp.
"Wait, you aren't trying to say that the Dark Arts cause us to lose our memory, are you?"
I shifted my gaze down.
"That is one possibility to explain the memory loss."
Jerry stood up and seemed rather against it.
"What? There's no way! The Dark Arts are too amazing for something like that to happen! I... I think!"
Silence fell among the group, but everyone was turning their heads, trading glances. Whispers gradually rose, which quickly transferred to talking.
"What? That can't be the case! But... it is entirely plausible."
"My wife was saying that it was strange I kept forgetting the arguments we had."
"But if it truly does mess with our memory, then what does... what does all of this mean?"
Huh, nobody is blaming me? That's what I expect their first reaction to be, anger at least. But it appeared that they didn't even consider having hostile intentions toward me.
I slowly raised my hand, bringing the attention towards me.
"Look, I'm not saying that you have to stop using Dark Arts altogether. Besides, you can still meet up without needing to talk about Dark Arts, but something else instead. This has definitely been meaningful."
A sigh escaped me.
"But from what I'm hearing, it appears there is a side effect to this magic. Of course, I can't know for sure still, but I hope you all just be a little warier of using this kind of stuff."
Right after, the voice of the book echoed in my head.
"What? Why are you doing this? You're treating memory erasure as though it is a pressing matter. While Dark Arts have an effect on memories, they will mostly target the ones that cause stress and only starts with recent memories. After time passes, it will go to ones that are so far back, they've basically been forgotten anyway."
This book was treating memories rather lightly, huh?
I couldn't help but feel a little angry.
Nick let out a long sigh and muttered.
"Now that I think about it, the signs were all there, but I just didn't wish to look at them. It appeared as though none of us wished to look at them. But... I can't give up on them until I know for sure that it has side effects!"
A sad smile formed on my face. The book had already confirmed it to me, but I felt like these guys wouldn't believe the book. Instead, I decided to handle it myself. If it was only recent memories, then...
"Then what if I test it? From there, if I find myself with missing memories, or if you can find missing points, then we will confirm that they do indeed cause memory loss."
Silence fell once more. But after a minute, Nick nodded.
"...Ok. I will believe it then."
The rest of them began to nod along to it as well, although clearly reluctant to give up something they were so passionate about. There was also the book saying words to me, but I ignored him completely. His words were in my head itself, but everything he said went out of both ears immediately.
With a small smile, I began to follow the instructions they gave on performing Dark Arts, ignoring my body. However, I made my focus incredibly weak, because I knew Bryson had the potential to unleash really deadly Dark Arts spells.
After all, I didn't want to hurt the others here.
While that happened, I reached for my mask and attempted to adjust it.
Hm. I wonder if Jess is wondering where I am?
Man, I still have to walk all the way back home. I wish I could just teleport there.
Then, my vision suddenly blurred. And after, I saw my room.
Eh? I really did teleport back home?
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