The guards moved toward Kazuki, their faces impassive masks of duty. Behind them, Captain Valerius gestured toward the chair with its leather restraints and metal buckles, a cruel smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"Secure him," the captain ordered. "Lady Reina, your presence is no longer required."
Reina stood her ground, chin lifted in defiance. "This is a mistake, Captain. This man may hold the key to understanding the attacks. Torturing him could destroy valuable information."
"Information he refuses to willingly provide," Valerius countered. "Step aside, physician. This is now a military matter."
The guards flanked Kazuki, large hands gripping his upper arms with bruising force. He could smell their sweat, see the dispassionate resignation in their eyes—men following orders, nothing personal. One pushed him forward while the other maintained his grip.
Kazuki's fingers closed around the small silver key in his pocket. With practiced dexterity that surprised even himself—some muscle memory from his fragmented past, perhaps—he maneuvered it into the lock of his left manacle while the guards were distracted by the tension between Reina and Valerius.
A nearly imperceptible click, and the manacle loosened around his wrist. He kept his hands together, maintaining the illusion that he remained fully bound. His heart pounded in his chest, adrenaline surging through his system. He needed to time this perfectly.
"I'll report this to the Archduke," Reina was saying, her voice tight with anger. "You overstep your authority, Captain."
"My authority extends to the security of this castle and the kingdom it represents," Valerius snapped. "Guards, proceed!"
The two men tightened their grip on Kazuki, dragging him toward the chair. His mind raced through possible escape routes, calculating odds of success with the clinical precision that seemed to be a remnant of his medical training. The door was blocked by two more guards. The windows were too high and likely barred. His only advantage was the element of surprise—and it was rapidly disappearing.
As they reached the ominous chair, something shifted within Kazuki—a primal instinct for survival coupled with a deeper, stranger sensation, like fingers of ice tracing patterns along his spine. Fear, yes, but something more. Something awakening.
"No!" he shouted, twisting violently and throwing off his loosened manacle. "Stay away from me!"
The words emerged from his throat with unusual force, reverberating in the stone chamber with an almost physical presence. And in that moment, as the guards lunged to recapture him, something extraordinary happened.
Their hands passed through him.
Not deflected, not glancing off—literally "through" him, as if he were made of smoke without substance. The guards stumbled, off-balance and disoriented by the unexpected lack of resistance. One guard fell forward, his entire arm passing through Kazuki's torso without impact.
Kazuki stared in shock at his own body, which appeared solid to his eyes yet was apparently intangible to others. Captain Valerius bellowed in outrage, drawing his sword and charging forward. The blade swept through Kazuki's shoulder without leaving so much as a whisper of sensation.
"Sorcery!" Valerius spat, his face contorted with rage and something else—fear. "Seize him! Use the binding chains!"
One guard fumbled with a set of glowing chains from his belt, but when he threw them toward Kazuki, they too passed harmlessly through him, clattering against the far wall.
Reina watched with wide eyes, her analytical mind visibly processing what she was witnessing. "Captain, stop! This is beyond our understanding!"
Kazuki backed away, staring at his hands, which looked perfectly solid to him. He could feel the floor beneath his feet, the fabric of his clothing against his skin. Yet when one of the guards made another attempt to grab him, the man's fingers slipped through Kazuki's arm like it was nothing more than an illusion.
"What's happening to me?" Kazuki whispered, panic rising in his chest. The sensation along his spine intensified, spreading outward through his limbs in pulsing waves. It wasn't painful, exactly, but deeply disorienting—like feeling his body exist in two places simultaneously.
Valerius had retreated to the door, barking orders to the guards outside. "Fetch the court mages! Send for Magister Eldon immediately!"
The room erupted into chaos. Two guards made continuous attempts to contain Kazuki, only to find their hands, weapons, and magical implements passing straight through him. Another guard was frantically searching through a trunk of specialized equipment, pulling out amulets and enchanted bindings that Kazuki suspected were designed for magical prisoners.
Through it all, Reina remained still, her amber eyes fixed on Kazuki with a mixture of scientific fascination and growing concern. She made no move to help capture him, but neither did she attempt to assist his escape. She was observing, analyzing, reaching for something hidden within the folds of her green dress.
"Kazuki," she said calmly, her voice cutting through the disorder. "Try to control your breathing. The spell appears to be responding to your emotional state."
It was true—as his panic had increased, so had the intensity of the strange effect. He could feel it pulsing in time with his rapid heartbeat, spreading from some core deep within him that he couldn't identify.
"I don't know how to stop it," he admitted, his voice tight with fear. "I don't even know what's happening!"
"You're phase-shifting," Reina explained, her tone professional but gentle, like a doctor explaining a diagnosis to a frightened patient. "Your physical form is temporarily existing between dimensional states. It's an extremely rare form of magic—one only read about in theoretical texts."
Valerius had returned to the room, his sword still drawn though he now knew it was useless. "Lady Reina, if you understand what's happening, I order you to contain it!"
She ignored him, keeping her focus on Kazuki. "The more agitated you become, the more extensively you shift out of phase with our dimension. Try to calm yourself."
Kazuki nodded, attempting to slow his breathing despite the chaos surrounding him. As he concentrated, he felt the strange sensation begin to recede slightly—only to surge back when one of the guards hurled an enchanted net that passed straight through him and entangled another guard instead.
"I can't—" he started, then stopped as he noticed Reina's subtle movements. Her fingers were tracing patterns in the air, leaving faint blue trails that dissipated almost instantly. Her lips moved in nearly silent incantation.
Water. She was gathering water—from the air itself, from the pitcher on the table, from the very stones of the castle. Droplets coalesced around her fingertips, forming intricate, flowing patterns that seemed to bend light itself.
Valerius noticed too late. "Lady Reina, what are you—"
"Forgive me, Kazuki," she said softly. "But for everyone's safety, including your own."
She thrust her hands forward, and the gathered water transformed into a shimmering wave that engulfed Kazuki entirely. Unlike everything else, the water didn't pass through him—instead, it wrapped around him like a living cocoon, impossibly cold yet somehow gentle.
His mind clouded immediately, thoughts growing sluggish. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him was Reina's concerned face and her lips forming words he couldn't hear.
The darkness took him, but not before he felt something stir in the depths of his fragmented mind—a presence, watching from behind the mental barriers, amused by the unfolding drama.
---
Consciousness returned gradually, sensations filtering back one by one. Softness beneath him—a proper bed, not the straw pallet of his cell. Warmth from sunlight on his face. The scent of herbs and something floral. No pain, no restraints.
Kazuki opened his eyes cautiously, wincing at the brightness streaming through tall windows. He was in a bedchamber far more luxurious than his dungeon cell—spacious, with stone walls hung with tapestries depicting woodland scenes. The bed was large and comfortable, with clean linens and fur coverings.
But the illusion of freedom was quickly dispelled by the two armored guards flanking the door, their expressions vigilant beneath their helmets. Beyond them, through the partially open door, he could see two more guards in the hallway outside.
His clothing had been changed—the rough prisoner's garb replaced by a fine linen shirt and trousers of dark blue. His body felt refreshed, clean, as if he'd been bathed while unconscious. The thought made him uncomfortable.
"How long was I unconscious?" he asked, his voice raspy from disuse.
One of the guards straightened but didn't reply. The other opened the door wider and spoke briefly to someone outside. A moment later, Reina entered, carrying a leather satchel. She wore a simpler dress today, practical gray wool with minimal embroidery, her dark hair braided and pinned back from her face.
"Just over a day," she answered, approaching the bed. "How do you feel?"
Kazuki sat up slowly, taking stock of his body. "Surprisingly well. No pain, no lingering effects. What did you do to me?"
"A water binding spell—my specialty," she explained, setting her satchel on a nearby table. "It induces a temporary stasis in the target's nervous system. Normally used for medical procedures when anesthetics are unavailable."
"Your... specialty?" Kazuki repeated, remembering how the water had responded to her commands with unnatural precision.
A small smile lifted the corner of her mouth. "We'll get to that. First, you should know that your situation has changed considerably."
She nodded toward the guards, who withdrew outside at her gesture, though they left the door ajar. They were giving her privacy but remaining within earshot—a compromise that suggested her authority extended only so far.
"The Archduke wants to meet you," she continued once they were relatively alone. "What happened in the interrogation chamber caused quite a stir in the castle. Captain Valerius gave his report, but His Grace wants to evaluate you personally."
"What exactly did happen?" Kazuki asked, the memory of his body becoming intangible still vivid in his mind. "How did I do that?"
Reina studied him, her amber eyes searching his face. "You truly don't know, do you?" When he shook his head, she sighed. "That complicates matters. I had hoped you were simply concealing knowledge of your abilities."
She sat on the edge of the bed, close enough for private conversation but maintaining professional distance. "What you experienced is what we call an Original Spell. Have you encountered that term in your studies of our world?"
Kazuki thought back to the book she'd provided in his cell. "No, I don't think so."
"I'm not surprised. They're rare enough that children's primers don't typically cover them." She folded her hands in her lap. "Let me explain something fundamental about our world. People here are born with two bodies—a physical body, which you can see and touch, and a metaphysical body, which exists alongside it."
Kazuki listened intently, the physician part of his mind automatically cataloging this information against his fragmented knowledge of human physiology.
"Within the metaphysical body," Reina continued, "there exists what we call a Gate. This Gate serves as the connection point between a person's internal mana—their life energy—and the external mana that flows through the world around us. Are you following so far?"
"I think so," Kazuki replied. "It's like... a bridge between internal and external energy sources?"
"A good analogy," she nodded. "Now, most people are born with blank Gates. They need to use tools—wands, spell rings, enchanted foci—to channel and shape mana into specific patterns we call spells. The tool creates an artificial structure that the mana flows through, producing predictable, controlled effects."
She paused, ensuring he understood before continuing. "But some people are born different. They have patterns already engraved into their Gates—inherent, unique magical signatures that shape how mana flows through them naturally, without external tools. These are Original Spells."
Kazuki frowned, processing this. "And you think I have one of these Original Spells? But I'm not from this world—how is that possible?"
"That's what makes this so extraordinary," Reina replied, unable to fully conceal her academic excitement. "By all accounts, you shouldn't have a Gate at all. Yet not only do you appear to have one, but it contains an Original Spell of remarkable power—one related to dimensional manipulation, if my analysis is correct."
"You said these Original Spells aren't just single effects?"
"Correct. They're better understood as magical frameworks—a range of related abilities centered around a specific principle or element. For example," she hesitated, then continued, "my own Original Spell relates to water. I can manipulate water in various ways—purify it, shape it, infuse it with other properties—but all applications stem from the same fundamental affinity."
"That's how you were able to restrain me," Kazuki realized. "Your water actually affected me when nothing else could."
"Yes. I suspect it worked because water naturally exists in multiple states and can flow between dimensions more easily than solid matter." She leaned forward slightly. "Based on what we witnessed, your Original Spell appears to involve phase-shifting—temporarily moving your physical form partially out of alignment with our dimensional reality. When you shouted for everyone to stay away, you instinctively activated this ability."
Kazuki glanced down at his hands, which looked perfectly solid and normal. "Could I do it again?"