My heart thumped loudly against my chest. I was now realizing I’ve become a potential target for whoever was controlling the storm in the sky. My body froze up, fearing the worst.

  Would it be arrogant to say I’m prepared for this? Maybe. Am I prepared? Definitely not. Even with my powers and knowledge, I simply lacked the know-how to capably deal with a terrorist attack.

  Another piece of debris was flung towards me. I saw it coming in fast, but I realized it fractions of a second too late to block or deflect it on time.

  Suddenly, something behind me pulled on my shirt, making the collar pull on my neck. For a moment, I thought I was being choked.

  Then I noticed my feet weren’t touching the ground.

  The sky was moving, and I noticed in my peripheral vision that buildings were moving downward. There was the frantic tap-tapping of footsteps, and just now the sounds of loud voices reached my ears.

  My legs were dangling in the air. I looked down to see my summoner running below me. That’s when I realized I was being carried and pulled away. By who? I didn’t know.

  More debris was sent our way, but I was ready this time, reacting as if I were playing a rhythm game, swiping away the incoming debris as they neared the ‘play area.’

  A larger chunk of debris shifted in the sky, turning like a spear aimed towards us. Since it was bigger, it’d be easier to deflect.

  Then the thing broke into hundreds of pieces, with a dust cloud forming as it broke.

  I was a little more prepared, but I didn’t know if I could react to all of those.

  The split debris started flying toward us, but was interrupted when a literal glacier had suddenly erected, accompanied by a torrent of fire engulfing the would-be assault headed our way.

  My summoner shouted something, and then I felt myself being flung and tossed through the air.

  I landed, back colliding with a bunch of hard and pointy things, accompanied by the sound of things breaking and crashing. It was extremely painful, but I don’t think a bone has been broken. I’ll need to go back to the temporary hospital to check.

  “Oww…” I voiced my displeasure, trying to organize my thoughts as I lay awkwardly in the pile of stuff-turned-junk.

  My summoner offered his hand and pulled me out, helping me stand.

  The pain still lingered, but it wasn’t completely unbearable. At worst, bruises would likely form across my back.

  When I could finally stand by myself, my eyes landed on someone peeking through the building’s doorway, looking in the direction of the storm in the sky. That person was the woman I had saved from the debris shot toward her. I wanted to voice my displeasure with her treating me like a ragdoll, but with everything going on, that would need to come later. This would be my 3rd near-death experience ever since my reincarnation, and I’ve been living for 5 days.

  Talk about a hectic week.

  I walked toward her when the pain subsided a bit, trying to follow her line of sight while also being hidden from the man in the storm.

  She talked for a few minutes, and honestly, it all sounded extremely important, but all the words fell on ignorant ears. I could only hope my summoner got all of that.

  I felt my summoner tap my shoulder and heard him speak something. Whatever it was, it caught the woman’s attention, with gaze suddenly fixed on me.

  What the hell did you say to her?

  Her expression looked like a child who realized the mountain of gifts under a Christmas tree was all for them. Eager, expectant, and ridiculously happy.

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  The problem is, I don’t know what gift she wants.

  I’m sorry, miss, but I can’t give you what you want. Nor can I fulfill your expectations.

  My only course of action was to shake my head, shutting down whatever thoughts about me were forming in her mind. Nobody likes having to fulfill unrealistic expectations, but being completely in the dark about them is another form of cruelty.

  She seemed confused, but I stared at her eyes with the most serious expression I could muster. My decision to deny her request was final until I knew exactly what she wanted.

  A sigh escaped my summoner’s mouth, and he went further into the building. The cacophony of noises told me he was rummaging for something.

  Do they have a universal symbol for healthcare and relief, like a Red Cross? If I knew that, she could help us get to the temporary hospital as quickly as possible. I needed to get my bruises treated, since my back’s starting to get sore.

  I need to inform Kiori of my intentions to visit the temporary hospital again to check my bruises.

  It’d be nice if I could recreate that healing phenomenon the nurse used when the old man hospitalized me.

  I recalled the pleasant sensation on my body as she used her magic on my injured form, and the intense green light illuminating the room.

  Could I recreate that? But I’ve only experienced it once.

  One of my worries about replicating something with an incomplete understanding would be an undesirable consequence or having it not produce the desired results. Producing food is another one of many concerned applications of my power, as I’m uncertain about being able to recreate foods I love based on taste and experience alone. What if my train of thought trails off, and I end up adding a quality to the food that makes it poisonous to my body? What if I just end up making something plastic that looks convincingly like the real thing? It’s doubts like these that make me hesitant to use my power to greater extents or explore unknown possibilities.

  Can I really use that as an excuse now?

  I’ve used my ability to levitate my summoner’s sleeping body, only caring about giving a good night’s rest without disturbing his sleep. I aggressively used telekinesis against Electric Blue because I didn’t want to die. And I headbutted her before attaching a ball and chain to her limbs, before trapping her under cardboard boxes, because I thought she was scheming to make my life more miserable through her connections.

  I made those things happen with certainty because I was focused.

  There was no worrying about the cuff on her leg being too tight or the possibility of rust.

  There was no doubt that I wouldn’t drop my summoner as he slept.

  And there was no hesitation when I overpowered Electric Blue using telekinesis along with ice and earth as ammunition.

  I recalled the sensation of the nurse’s healing, making my hand emanate that same green glow and reaching toward my back. It was a little awkward reaching behind my back, but I made sure to cover as much of my back as possible, then stopped when it was sufficient.

  Did it work?

  Just to make sure, I pressed where I believed the bruise would be the biggest.

  There was a sudden flash of pain.

  “Ow!” I shouted instinctively, wincing at the touch.

  Welp. That confirms that visualizations with insufficient understanding or application can’t properly manifest. I’ll need to figure out healing to understand why that didn’t work.

  Guess getting to the hospital is our only option.

  I heard my summoner speak something, peaking from the other room he was in.

  The room he brought us into looked like a bar, making the place I was thrown into the storage room with a back entrance.

  We gathered around a shelf he directed us to, before moving to a spot behind the counter and doing something. Suddenly, the shelf moved on its own, revealing a secret passage.

  Black Ponytail made a reaction, acting differently when it was revealed. Inside was a tunnel lined with bricks, with a symbol placed every few feet. Following her line of sight, the symbol itself held some significance.

  She directed us to follow her through the tunnels, and I produced a ball of light to illuminate the halls when it got too dark. The woman looked fascinated by the ball of light before regaining her composure and guiding us through the tunnels.

  I wondered what everyone was so obsessed about, regarding tunnels and secret escape routes.

  After a few turns and halls, we finally reached a door. The woman turned the handle and tried pushing, but it didn’t budge. She tried again with a pull before leaning further into the push.

  Ok, I have plenty of options to break down this door to get to the other side. Let me just figure out which-

  The woman sprinted a short distance before ramming her shoulder into the stubborn door, splintering it and falling to the ground, surrounded by its remains.

  I looked to my summoner, who was equally surprised.

  …

  We followed the woman out of the empty building before stepping somewhere I was vaguely familiar with. It wasn’t until I saw people running about that I realized where we were, near the temporary hospital.

  This time, my summoner took the lead, taking us to its base of operations. That was when I realized we had forgotten to save the people knocked unconscious by the earlier attack, but with the tunnels, doing that would be easier.

  I was about to attempt to convince my summoner that we should use the tunnels to escort any survivors safely when Ms. Black Ponytail suddenly sprinted down the aisle of bedridden patients. Concerned, both of us ran after her.

  The armored woman was standing at the foot of the bed of Ms. Grey.

  I observed her face, and there was an unmistakable fury in her eyes, accompanied by her clenching her fist.