Luke started walking through the forest only to find out that it was raining. With the night sky added by the leaves of trees, the forest was dark as they come. If it wasn't for his eyes, he would have been lost. Still, walking through the rain isn't something Luke wanted to do so he decided to take shelter in one of the biggest trees he can find to hide under it.
When he was about to sit down on the patch of grass, he sensed a premonition that a water spike will puncture his stomach as he immediately turned around only to find the water spike missing a couple of inches from his body.
"It seems that man is planning on killing me…" Luke muttered as he opened his eyes to look for any signs of life. Only to find that the water coming from the rain is alive. He felt an overwhelming sense of danger as the water drops slowly turned into water spikes. Slicing and puncturing anything it comes into contact with. Luke gritted his teeth as he used shadow jump multiple times to get out of the rain only for a blue-haired man to come out of nowhere with both of his swords crashing toward Luke. With a swift turn of his body, the swords missed and landed on the soft ground before Luke immediately stabbed forward only for the man to dissolve into some kind of sticky mud. With Luke's arms stuck on the humanoid mud, the same blue-haired man appeared behind Luke.
The blue-haired man slashed his sword downward only to be blocked by Luke's mirage who in turn charged forward with both daggers aimed at the man's neck. The man swings his neck to the side as the daggers was dangerously near to hitting him. After dodging the attack, the man slashes in an x- pattern, hitting Luke's mirage across the chest before vanishing. The man was about to puncture Luke's back with the sword only for a black void to swallow the sword whole as the man immediately lets go of it in fear of what will happen if it absorbs his arm.
The man retreated and parried the five knives thrown by Luke who was able to remove his hand from the mud created by the man. Both of them stared at each other deeply waiting for each other's next move. Luke has spent almost half of his aura while one-fourth of his qi was used when summoning the mirage. The blue-haired man is a dangerous fighter with great sword skills, efficient control of water magic, and the ability to create a clone made of water that has different properties. Luckily, Luke was able to control the first ability of the Carwennan. Which allows him to create a black void that can absorb attacks and items. It can be used as storage as the sword absorbed by the void was still intact and wasn't damaged. Also, he didn't use the ability of the wolf fang's dagger as it's a valuable trump card to kill the man once and for all.
"Give me my sword and I'll forget about this" the blue haired man demanded as Luke smirked
"No, give me something in exchange, or else, I'll be running away. That type of sword can reach about 100 gold coins in the auction" Luke said with a mischievous tone.
"Tsk…fine. But you shall never tell anyone what you saw or else I'll hunt you down" the man warned but Luke shrugged
"That's funny since you can't even hit me" Luke snickered as the man's expression was scrunched with a frown.
"I'll give you a hundred gold coins. That should be enough right?"
"Hmm? one hundred and twenty-five gold coins?"
"I said! a hundred gold coins!"
"Oh, a hundred and fifty gold coins! Sorry, I have a hearing problem. Can you repeat that again?" Luke wickedly smiled as the man gritted his teeth before nodding weakly
The man reached into his pockets before throwing a single red gem towards Luke who immediately grabbed it. He inspected for any signs of dangerous spells that might harm him but it was simply a beautiful red gem.
"I see…you have the true sight. No, it appears to be different than the one I have seen before" the man muttered before reaching into his pockets to reveal a small book before he search through the small book for information.
"Eyes of the truthful time…one of the strongest eyes in the continent. No wonder you seem to be able to dodge my attacks that come out of nowhere. An attack that creates no noise and doesn't use any mana yet you were able to dodge it" the man briefly looked at Luke before closing the book and returning it back to his pocket.
"You seem to have an interest in my eyes" Luke wondered before pocketing the gem. Although he doesn't know how much it's worth, it can still be sold at a high price just from, observing its pristine condition and its shine. Something the nobles look for from a luxurious gem.
"It's natural to have interest in such eyes. Though it cannot be extracted from you directly, they can still kill you as there is a chance that your eye's ability to manifest on the killer. Anyways, where's my sword?" the man gravely asked before Luke manifested a black void beside him before inserting his hand inside it and grabbing the sword. Luke inspected the sword for a while before chucking it on the floor as it stuck on the soft ground.
"There. Well, it was quite fun but I must go" Luke smirked before vanishing as the man didn't move. A grim expression appeared on his face as he didn't think Luke would be that sly. The handle of the sword is covered with some kind of violet-colored liquid but the man knows that it is a deadly poison. He tried removing it by using his control over the water but it didn't wash off no matter what he does. He tried using water spikes but the poison still remained as he gritted his teeth in anger before shouting in anger.
"I'll kill you!!" as the nearby water puddles bubbled while the man's expression contorted from the anger he felt.
In the mansion, the pink mana started swirling all around on top of the mansion as Catalinna immediately entered Vania's room. Only to find that a few citizens are starting to wake up from their homes. Their eyes are dazed and they walked like a dead man dragging their feet through the road. They have been charmed as they are heading to the mansion. Out of nowhere, the pink mana turn into fiery red as every single charmed citizen roared like a beast before attacking anyone they see. Catalinna wanted to wake Vania up but something stopped her. It was a serpent reaching the height of 5 meters and crawling just in front of Vania's feet, appearing to be guarding her. Catalinna didn't think that Vania obtained a familiar that quick at just a 2-star mage. It was the same familiar that stayed with Vania until her imminent death against Cain and his group.
It was a serpent familiar that has the blood of a mythical beast jormungandr. It has a high level of regeneration, high resistance to physical attacks, unnatural strength and agility, and lastly can breathe poison. Catalinna only wrote the serpent in the novel since Cain can easily kill Vania if it wasn't for the serpent and all the beasts that keeps on attacking him. Since Cain was immune to any negative effects which were given by the system.
Familiars are usually obtained through taming a wild beast or signing a pact with a beast that has intelligence but there are some cases where familiars can manifest through one's soul. A manifestation of what they want to become and what they aspire to be. It seems that Vania is determined to be helpful to everyone and someone that can be trusted when fighting. Which resulted in the creation of a familiar that can fight exceptionally with unrelenting force. She can't attack Vania's familiar since it might retaliate and hurt Vania in the resulting scuffle. Familiars such as these are valuable to the master since their lives are tied with their master. If the familiar dies, the master will have his/her soul damaged and broken. This is why familiars like the serpent outclassed Vania in the fighting department since it's a guardian familiar. The one who guards their master faithfully forever. Unlike those that are tamed in the wild or signed a pact. Since the masters of those familiars are generally stronger than the familiar.
Catalinna went outside the mansion to stop the ever-growing chaos as the charmed citizens clawed at each other with their bare hands and bit anyone they can reach into. A few knights arrived but with the ever-growing number of charmed civilians added by the fact that they can't simply kill them. They were slowly pushed back with their only way of fighting back is through punching and kicking. Catalinna, in her disguise, went outside and started knocking people out. With a single punch from her left fist, the civilian falls to the ground unconscious. A few knights noticed her but they didn't dare come near.
After a minute or two, the red mana spiraling in the sky vanished and was replaced by the starry night. All of the civilians are either passed out or fatigued as the charm status inflicted upon them was gone. The few returned to normal, wondering what happened while others fall to the ground from exhaustion. Seeing that there are more knights arriving at the area, Catalinna immediately dashed away into the dark alleyway as she doesn't want to be investigated about what happened. Few knights followed her as a small figure wearing a cloak can be seen on top of a house gazing coldly below before vanishing.
Inside the mansion, Lawrence is calmly sitting on a chair facing Vania who has finished breaking through to a 2-star mage. The serpent openly glared at him but he didn't mind it as he was worried that Vania might get scared by her familiar and in the off chance that she loses consciousness, he can help her. Vania was removed from her dazed state as she slowly blinked her eyes. She looked down at the cold feeling on her feet only to find a large black serpent circling around her as she nearly screamed in shock and fear.
"E-eh?! B-boss! What is t-this thing?" she trembled, shivering from the sensation of the serpent's skin hitting her bare calf and feet.
"Calm down Vania. It's your familiar, it won't hurt you"
"R-really? What's a familiar?"
"A some type of pet"
Vania looked at the serpent that almost took half of the room's space with its sleek shining sharp body and fangs with a green liquid dripping to the floor and melting a piece of wood. "Um..boss. Are y-you sure? Isn't this too dangerous to be a pet?" she looked anxiously at the serpent while waiting for his answer.
"Well, it's stronger than you and I might have a hard time fighting that familiar of yours" Lawrence replied honestly. Even he was flabbergasted by how strong the serpent is, as upon him entering the room, it coiled its body like a spring before smashing towards Lawrence with its fangs bared. Luckily, Lawrence was able to use a gravity barrier to stop the serpent who immediately returned back to guard Vania. Still, it took almost 25% of his mana just to block that single attack.
"Really!?" She yelled excitedly before coughing awkwardly upon noticing Lawrence's gaze before staring at the serpent. "Oh, so you are really strong. What's your name?" Vania asked the serpent who glanced at her before laying down on the floor with its eyes closed.
"Eh! W-what is happening, boss?" She worriedly asked while gently shaking the serpent who didn't react to her insistent shaking and tugging.
"It's resting. Don't worry, it would wake up tomorrow. You also have to sleep. Additionally, you have to be careful with your familiar since if it dies. You will be heavily affected by it." Lawrence replied as he doesn't want Vania to overly rely on the serpent. Although the serpent is terrifyingly strong, it's better for Vania to improve herself and have the skills necessary to fight.
"Yes..boss." she muttered
The next day, Lawrence went downstairs as he saw Catalinna and Vania eating silently at the dining table. Samantha wasn't there as he thought that she might be in the basement perfecting the cure for red rot. He also didn't see Geiryst for a couple of days but he didn't think much of it. The door opens and he saw Luke wearing dirtied clothes with a drained expression.
"W-what happened?" Vania asked, concerned about Luke's state who smiled at her before sitting on a nearby chair.
"Someone abducted me." Luke replied calmly while eating a piece of food from the dining table.
"How? and do you know them?" Lawrence asked, still confused about how. With Luke's abilities and experience in assassinating, he's someone that can get away with any situation. Added by his eyes, the enemy would be lucky enough to even hit him. Much less pinned him down to be able to abduct him.
"A blue-haired dude. He has a cloth over his eyes and he can use water magic. He's an elemental, maybe a half-elemental" Luke described the man as both Catalinna and Lawrence went silent. Vania looked at Luke confusedly before glancing at Catalinna and Lawrence who seems to be thinking about something.
A single thought entered both of their minds. Cain has arrived in the Sekai Empire and that man is one of Cain's future friends and the one who died at the hands of Vania during their fight. His name is Azure Retaw, a half-elemental half-human who has the Eyes of Twisting Space. He has the ability to teleport anywhere with no fixed range. This means he can teleport to the central continent in a second and return. Still, the sacrifice of the ability is that he can't see momentarily. He was controlled by Vania and was forced to fight Cain together with the serpent. In the end, Cain has to kill his friend as Azure's mind was wiped clean from the strong charm spell used on him. After killing his friend, Cain obtained his eyes and was one of the keys to defeating Vania and the chaos one.