Traveling Together
The footsteps in the first-floor corridor then stopped.
The two men in black robes who were walking among them looked up and cautiously glanced towards the stairwell on the second floor.
There, Bai Jingxuan lay motionless on the ground, like a turtle hiding its head and refusing to get up.
Although she knew it was futile—whether she played dead or pretended to be unaware, it wouldn't change the fact that she had already been exposed—she still found it hard to accept that her escape attempt had failed in this way.
To suddenly have a relapse of an old illness at this time would be extremely inappropriate.
She suffers from a congenital disease that hospitals cannot diagnose, the cause of which is unknown, and there are no cases like her in her family's genetic pedigree, yet it happened to her alone.
The clinical manifestations of this disease are as follows: sudden loss of control of limb muscles, accompanied by weakness, as if there is localized paralysis. Unlike epilepsy in the traditional sense, Bai Jingxuan's mind remains clear during this process, and she can perceive changes in time and the external environment normally.
The attacks are unpredictable, and there are no known medications that can alleviate them. The only saving grace is that the attacks usually only affect skeletal muscles and typically last only a few minutes. Bai Jingxuan remembers her caregiver saying that if a similar condition affected the heart muscle, she might not be alive today.
At this critical juncture, regardless of which part of her body it affects, it makes no difference to Bai Jingxuan.
The two men in black robes who had heard the noise came up the stairs and saw her lying on the steps.
She even saw a man in black robes take out what looked like a communication device and begin reporting his findings to someone.
She tried to stand up and continue running, but the effects of her illness were clearly not over yet; it would take at least several more minutes for her legs to return to control.
She tried to crawl using her hands to support her body, but she couldn't possibly outpace two able-bodied humans.
I'm probably doomed. Being found by these people is unlikely to be a good thing. It's just a pity that I haven't become a magical girl yet.
Bai Jingxuan thought to herself.
She stopped struggling, closed her eyes, and accepted her fate.
Then, a pair of hands reached under her armpits and lifted her high up.
Immediately afterwards, she felt her body being lifted sideways, as if someone had hoisted her onto their shoulder.
"It's not time to give up yet!"
A trembling voice called out in my ear.
When she opened her eyes, all she saw was the corridor rushing past her and two black-robed figures running and chasing her in the distance.
Wasn't I captured by them?
Bai Jingxuan was momentarily stunned, not quite understanding her situation. She tried turning her head to look at the person carrying her. Even though she could only see the back of their head, the vaguely recognizable figure still allowed her to identify who it was.
"Uncle Tian?"
The caregiver was a male named Tian Sheng. Although he wasn't usually responsible for taking care of her, the two had interacted before and were fairly familiar with each other.
But where did he come from, and why is he leading me in escape?
She didn't ask the question, so Tian Sheng wouldn't know what she was thinking. But perhaps coincidentally, Tian Sheng was also pondering this very thing at that moment:
Why was I running away with this child? Why did I come out of that storage room?
Why not just stay inside and wait for rescue? Why come out and risk your life?
He knew Bai Jingxuan and was aware of the child's plight, and he did feel some sympathy for her. However, this level of sympathy was far from enough to make him risk his life.
But when he hid in the storage room and saw the child lying motionless on the stairs, seemingly contemplating suicide, his feet moved first.
He pushed open the door, which was only slightly ajar, and strode forward.
He hoisted the girl onto his shoulders before the terrorists could grab her, and then began to run down the second-floor corridor.
Faced with Tian Sheng's sudden appearance, the men in black robes only hesitated for a moment before taking off and following without hesitation. The two groups then began a chase through the corridor.
Tian Sheng was not an athlete, and his running speed was not particularly outstanding compared to that of an average adult male, putting him in a weak and passive position during the chase.
The men in black robes following closely behind were different. They were clearly well-trained and ran faster than Tian Sheng, so even though they started later, the distance between them was constantly decreasing.
Even more dangerously, when Tian Sheng slightly turned his gaze to look behind him, he noticed a faint purplish-black light flashing in the hands of the black-robed man.
That's a sign that the Spell Formula is about to be used.
It seems I can't delay any longer, he thought to himself.
"Hold on tight! If you fall again, I won't have time to turn back and save you!"
Ignoring the girl's confused cries, he loudly gave an order. Then he released his grip on Bai Jingxuan's shirt, instead tucking her legs into the crook of his arm, and pulled two dice-like square objects from his breast pocket.
This is the medium he prepared for the Spell Formula.
For an ordinary Mage to study, master, and use Spell Formula, the basic elements needed are magic power, soul, and medium.
Magic is the energy source of Spell Formula. Only by stimulating and supplying magic to activate the Spell Formula inscription can the Spell Formula produce its effect.
The soul is the means of manipulating Spell Formula. Only by relying on the guidance of the soul to ensure the stability and direction of the Spell Formula's effect can the final result of the Spell Formula meet one's needs.
The medium is the central hub of the Spell Formula. Mage rely on pre-collected materials, spend a lot of magic power, resources and time to inscribe the Spell Formula, and then collect and integrate the final result into a small device.
Using modern firearms as an analogy, magic is the bullet, the soul is the hand, and the medium is the gun. Only by using the hand to pull the trigger of the gun can a bullet be fired and cause damage.
However, for Mage, their mediums are all painstakingly inscribed with their own magic power, so they have a very high degree of consistency with their own magic power fluctuations and cannot be given to outsiders to use.
The medium also has its durability. As it is used more often, the efficiency of its Spell Formula release will decrease, and eventually it will become unusable.
On that day, the Mage have no choice but to create the medium corresponding to that Spell Formula again.
This has resulted in a relatively small number of Mage in modern society. After all, to engage in the research of Spell Formula, one must first possess relatively extraordinary magical talent, while most ordinary people have too little magical power; second, one must have a high level of education to learn the complex theories of magical Spell Formula; and third, one must have the corresponding channels to access knowledge of magical Spell Formula. On top of all this, having sufficient financial resources to purchase the magical materials needed to create the medium is simply too difficult.
Ultimately, many Mage struggling to make ends meet are forced to turn to crime.
Tian Sheng considered himself a law-abiding citizen. The money he used to buy materials came from his own hard work, which is why his progress was relatively slow. So far, he has only just barely crossed the threshold of becoming Peeker.
The three stages of Mage are: Peering Stage, contact, and Control Stage; he is the weakest of the weakest rookies.
It was unrealistic for him to fight the terrorists behind him head-on; all he could do was stall for time.
Right now, he took out his Spell Formula medium, intending to use Spell Formula that even a novice could master— the Magic Barrier.