Chereads / The one who craves / Chapter 23 - Taking the initiative

Chapter 23 - Taking the initiative

'A demon?'

How could he know where a demon is? Does he come with a radar or something? With a skeptical tone, he queried, {You can sense demons? What else can you sense, ghosts?}

Ghosts… What does this guy think of me? Responding with annoyance, he said, {Of course not. I can only sense species with potent soul energy, and demons fall in that category.}

Hmm. {What other species can you sense their soul energy?}

Chóros momentarily became quiet before he answered. {Elves, Vampires, and dragons which I can sense even if they are miles away from me. I can also sense quite a few things that are extraordinary in nature, but that's for another time. Now, I want you to tail that demon for 20 minutes before he gets out of my range. You have to hurry.}

'Haa, and how do you think I should be able to do that when I'm being monitored?'

He expressed his puzzlement, {I hope you didn't forget that someone else is currently in the room with me. Even if I do fool Aelfryn, do you think I can hide myself from a demon? Who knows if their senses are even more sensitive than a vampire.}

{Demons sense differently than the other species. They sense the emotions of their prey, especially negative ones. Those emotions are quite easily picked up by a demon, so you won't have to worry about getting caught if you hide them well. As for the elf… Go to the bathroom, I have an idea.}

Chóros regarded himself as a seeker of knowledge. He had researched uncountable creatures, artifacts, energies, and mysteries beyond, yet within the world and dimensions. Even though he didn't have that much time studying a demon's body and functions, he had his fair amount of knowledge about them. Though he still had a lot to learn.

{Hmm, alright.}

Coy moved his hand which he used to veil his eyes from the source of light coming from the candles on the scones and sat on the bed. Aelfryn noticed him and asked, "Eh, already?"

Standing up from his bed, he traveled towards the bathroom while answering Aelfryn, "I'm going to take the bathroom."

He entered the bathroom and closed it, leaving Aelfryn with a tilted head, confused. "Vampires do bathroom deeds too?"

In the bathroom, there was a toilet seat, a mirror, a small window which behind it was an alley, and a bathtub. Coy, who didn't come for any of these, asked the awaited question, {Okay, what now?} He spoke through their contract link so that Aelfryn could not hear them.

With a rushed tone, Chóros instructed, {I'm going to teach you a tier 1 spell from the space element, I will tell you on the way why you have a space element so just follow my instructions. Casting a spell requires four factors, mana manipulation, the element, the tier, and the runes. We don't have that much time for you to learn the spell yourself, as such I'm going to cast it myself, even though it could potentially put me in a hibernation phase for a day.

What you have to do is draw an adequate amount of mana from your core towards your hand, following the path of your magic circuit. I will stop you when you draw the amount of mana required. As for that elf noticing your mana fluctuations, don't worry about it.}

{Alright,} agreed Coy.

He closed his eyes and peered deep into his heart, where his red core was wrapped around by a white thread, and a small yellow speck orbiting around it at proximity. Coy was puzzled by the speck before he remembered about his fire spirit, Hesper. Following the previous procedure, he willed the mana inside his core to be drawn, just like scooping water from a bottomless well filled with mana. Not long after, a reddish liquid like gas flowed out from his core, washed over Chóros and Hesper who brightened for a moment before returning to its initial state. Eventually the mana peeked out of his heart where a lump of spiritual organ was located.

{Great, guide that mana by moving it towards that node, then to your left arm. This process is quite easy, so it won't be an issue for you,} encouraged Chóros.

Heading his words, Coy did as he was told. He willed his mana to move past the node, toward his left arm, where it was met by another node. 'These must be the nodes father was talking about,' Coy thought. The memory of his father explaining to him about the magic circuits was rooted into his mind since it happened only a day ago.

Chóros took advantage of the mana coming out of the core, continuously washing over him. When Coy went past the second node, which was located at the left elbow, the reddish mana accelerated, seeping out of his hand. If not for Chóros reminding him that such a reaction was normal, he might have restarted the process once again.

A dim lit silver circle the size of his body was currently floating in front of him, where behind it was the window in which the back of it was the alley.

{Tsk tsk, you need to work on your mana manipulation, it's too slow. Anyway, go past that circle then walk through the wall where the window is located,} berated Chóros. However, he was lying. Coy's mana manipulation was refined with little being wasted into the surrounding, and a bit fast than other beginners, probably of him using magic enhancement when he trained with Athan and Luna. He discouraged him because the Coy now didn't have that much of common magic sense of this world yet, as such, he could further improve his already exquisite mana manipulation to a higher degree. Chóros was aware of what was happening to Coy during the time his memories were sealed.

Coy was now used to Chóros dropping negative words. He stared at the circle, mesmerised by its dim glimmer, before phasing throughout it. A strange feeling morphed within himself when he passed it. He checked his hand and his eyes viewed a pair of pale hands, the left wearing a pair of silver rings, while the other wore a couple of matching copper ring and bracelet.

He retracted his eyes and looked at the mirror in the bathroom. It reflected his face with no unusual features visible on them. 'What changed?' he thought to himself.

{I look the same as I was a moment ago, what did the spell even do?} asked Coy.

Chóros offered with a sneer, {Heh, go touch the wall where the window is.}

Following his words, he tried to touch the window and watched as his hand passed through the whole structure.

"Magic, huh, it never fails to amaze me," whispered Coy. His hand received no feeling of sensation at all, it was as if the wall was not even there. It seems like with magic, anything is possible.

{Go walkthrough it, I will stop the spell once you do that.} suggested Chóros. Since he was the one who cast it, and still had Coy's mana washed over him, he could end the spell's work at any given time.

Coy knew the floor he was at, but he didn't care. A second floor landing is a child's play to a vampire, even if they were of a younger age. With anticipation in his heart, he passed by the wall and free fell to the ground on the alley, landing on the moist concrete ground. Chóros also terminated the spell.

{Hurry now, the demon will leave my range in 20 seconds!} urged Chóros. He needed to know the answer to why a demon was roaming among the human kingdom.

Now that he was out of Aelfryn's hearing vicinity, he could freely speak with his mouth. "Wait, let me try this."

He quickly controlled his mana out of the core and guided it to his right hand, before inputting it on the bracelet. Not a second passed as his figure was draped by a dark fog, hiding him. The fog lasted for a brief period before a tall figure with short blonde hair, amber eyes and long ears appeared. His black suit grew in size with him.

"Hoh, I believe this is the body of your past life. Although the face remains, your hair, eyes and ears are off," commented Chóros.

"No trace would lead to me, a vampire if I do this," he said, clenching his hands back and forth. He looked up before jumping on the walls with flexible movement, ascending to the top. Once he was on the wooden shingles roof next to the Inn's building, he said, "Lead me."

"Hahaha, sure thing, vampire."