Emyln felt the magic hold on him cut off and he slumped down like a puppet who was let go by its master. He looked up to the man while kneeling, painting the picture of a devotee staring reverently at their lord, who stared back aloofly, inconsiderate of the man's measly affection.
“You can call me Riven,” he muttered calmly, and just as Emlyn blinked, he was gone.
“…..”
‘Wow.’
It took Emyln a few seconds to recollect himself, and after he did, he stood up slowly before walking around the room to observe it curiously. It was quite wide with only a wooden bed, which he had earlier laid on, at the edge of the wall with a surprisingly soft mattress.
A bit farther at the side of the wall was a small table placed together with a wooden chair, and the walls were painted black along with every other aesthetics, which showed its owner’s taste in color.
It had a wooden floor, and there were no windows, only three lamps, one on the ceiling, another placed on the table, and the last beside the bed. Despite giving off only a soft light, somehow the entire room was illuminated brightly as if a steady stream of sunlight flooded through.
Ignoring all the minor details, Emyln’s eyes met with the most interesting aspect of the room–food.
Maybe because of the chaotic discussion with the man earlier, he hadn’t noticed it; on the table lay a simple meal, a decent-sized bowl of vegetable soup with tomatoes, onions, potatoes, carrots, and some spice, its tantalizing look alone along with its rich aroma made Emlyn who hadn’t eaten for quite a while drool hungrily.
Besides the soup were two medium loaves of rye bread freshly baked, wafting a delicious earthy smell that mingled with the soup sending Emlyn in sweet delirium; a quarter-sized cheddar cheese to go with the bread and lastly a bowl of sliced peaches along with a medium-sized cup filled with what seemed to be chamomile tea and a bottle of water.
Dina felt her gratitude for the target escalate as tears of joy flowed through her heart at having been treated so generously.
Unlike Genad, that rude asshole, not only was this target cool, but he was also kind. Was all her suffering before coming here finally paying off?! A good target on the very first meet! Wait… this miracle was too suspicious!
Zero was pleased she still had the brain to figure that out: approve.gif
Oh but what does it matter?! There was good food, a good bed, and a nice place of rest; what was there to worry about?! Eh, she’ll simply indulge for now.
Zero: ……
Emlyn sat down on the chair and immediately began wolfing down his meal shamelessly. At first, he wanted to eat elegantly, but as soon as the wonderful combination of delicious bread with cheese and soup was tasted, he lost himself to bliss and could barely maintain basic manners as he ate cheerfully.
Inside, Dina was crying tears of joy as she mourned the past few days of trauma, which ripped her off the sweet pleasures of life, leaving Zero speechless. Wasn’t she being too carefree? Not that he cared.
After consuming everything, it was a bit of a mystery how the table, along with the male’s clothes, wasn’t a mess. But he somehow managed to do it, and as he leaned back lazily while drinking tea and eating peaches, he squinted his almond eyes in satisfaction, like a gluttonous cat.
The heavy meal, along with the comfortable environment, induced a heavy sleepiness that threatened to knock the lethargic male to the floor. Thus, with a low groan, he stood off from his chair, stretched, and fell into the bed seamlessly floating away into a dreamless sleep, all in one swift motion.
Seeing his host completely unconcerned with her next steps in completing the mission, Zero, despite understanding her predicament the last couple of days, couldn’t help but shake his head in disappointment.
He could already tell, she was so going to pay dearly for this leisurely attitude.
***
Emlyn eventually woke up with a blusterous yawn while stretching his stiff body. The sleep was so good he felt he had become one with the bed, merging into nothingness while stuck in a peaceful and eternal slumber. A wonderful dream that paled to the beauty of reality once closely scrutinized.
After taking a whole minute to boot up, Dina finally realized an oddity, “Zero, is it normal that I’m so casual with everything that happened in the trails?? No traumas? No… nothing?”
“Do you want something to happen?” he questioned indifferently.
“No, I’m just curious.”
“Well, you should ask yourself that. How do you feel with everything that happened?”
Dina was silent for a while, letting her mind wander off to the former dreadful events, and found out it was rather easy for her to survey the events without much change in emotions or drastic responses.
She may not have faced those terrors, but watching those horrific things physically while being susceptible to having those things happen to her… wasn’t fun.
It was terrible, traumatizing, and enough to scare any normal person with nightmares even more than killing others in the second world. But she wasn’t a normal person, even before the contract and now, she was far from that.
It was terrific but not enough to scar her for life, guess it was easier to say that her mental strength was high.
“Have you gotten your answers?” Zero asked calmly, bringing Dina from her thoughts.
“Hm, yes, I guess am just fucking weird.”
Zero: Fair enough.
“Ugh, I feel yucky,” Emlyn muttered as he crawled out of bed slowly. He wasn’t feeling sweaty or any physical traits that could trigger the need for it; however, the idea of not having bathed for days set off a feeling of physical repulsion that made him desire a bath earnestly.
As if to heed his calls, sitting on the table were three books, each neatly placed beside each other with names: ‘The Fundamentals of Magic,’ ‘How to Use Magic,’ and ‘General Cleanliness for Magical Creatures,’ respectively.
Dina: …..
Dina: I’m sorry I have to do all that just to take a bath??
Zero: Indeed.
“…..”
***
Three hours later, Emlyn sighed lightly while putting aside the last book.
Probably because of the last world, Dina understood most of the contents of the book, and although some eluded her, she was confident in her skills to manifest the cleansing magic soon.
There were three factors to consider when using magic in this world: Concentration, Compatibility, and Magical energy.
Concentration was the ability to isolate every other thought or to diminish it to place complete focus on the magic. This was difficult, especially for newbies, since even a minor intrusive thought was deadly enough to ruin everything, but once at expert level, you would sing a whole song in your head and still manage to maintain focus.
Compatibility was the ability of magical beings to do magic. It mostly concerned how cooperative certain magic was to you, which mostly wasn't an issue for most witches, who seemed like the sugar babies of the gods having crazy compatibility with every magic possible.
But for other magical creatures who tended to have more compatibility with a certain element and not with another, it was critical.
Incubus witches, for example, had an insane amount of attraction magic (if we water down the meaning) and were one of the few unlucky witches who had a huge buff on one aspect of magic but, because of that, struggled with the rest of them.
But witches were still witches and the gods who seemed to hold an unfair favoritism for them made sure they were more blessed magically than any race. Thus, even the incubus witches' less compatibility with other magic could put other magic creatures’ compatibility to shame.
Magic, just like every other action, required energy, but unlike others, it was linked to the soul, and thus, when someone used up their energy momentarily, they’d need a while to replenish it naturally or with the usage of items, although not recommended. If you did deplete it permanently then you die.
The less control a being has of magic the more magical energy they tend to waste for even the simplest of actions. And although compatibility worked wonders in diminishing this, control was still an important factor that cannot be ignored.
Control was mostly centered on understanding how to perform the magic while things like compatibility and concentration were great boosters of it. This is where magical spells come in.
If items boosted control through a spike in combatability, albeit momentarily, then spells boosted concentration and tended to have a permanent effect if followed and practiced carefully. Spells were figures that isolated a magic thought while diminishing every other thought.
A good spell depended on its maker, obviously, the better the spell, the better effect, and once a bad spell is learned, it worked like trauma, permanently etched unless something miraculous helped the poor fellow.
That was when the spell became a curse. Not all curses are spells, but some spells become curses, which is why learning random spells without verification of what it does is never recommended, even during desperate situations, as it could simply make you more desperate.
Having said that, although the fact remains that compatibility was a huge cheat for magic users, it didn’t mean one could perform magic without concentration; it just simply meant concentration became easier for you and, thus, better control of magic.
Concentration also did somewhat increase compatibility with magic, as the easier you find a magic element to control, the more compatibility you have. Technically, yes, but also no, as unlike people having inbuilt compatibility, if you mistakenly enter a situation where your concentration plummets, your compatibility does as well.
Thus, in a way, all three factors intertwined with each other, working harmoniously. One important fact, though, was that whether magic came easily or not for you, only practice helped in improvement. Even a snail could catch up to a lazy leopard eventually and the gods were fair…. Mostly.
Everything was now up to Emlyn; albeit a bit lacking, he had compatibility as the blessed child of the gods. Now, along with studying spells, understanding, and practicing them, he’d be doing magic in no time!
The problem was that using spells required proper understanding, and with the crazy amount of magic terms that floated right above her head, Dina was lost. Spells worked like chemistry; to understand exactly how water formed, you’d need to learn its elements, the elements that formed its elements, the bonds, and more.
Just like that, spells broke down the magic to pieces, allowing for complete understanding. But just like Chemistry which could be tricked with a little bit of sneakiness, spells could be as well!
Dina, using this technique, stealthily maneuvered through the confusing terms and took the risk to form the spell anyway. The bureau wouldn’t let some cursed spell screw up her life now would they?
Zero: They wouldn’t but they’d make sure you pay heavily for it.
Dina: Don’t be scary QAQ
Either way, Dina was confident in her calculations. As a robotics one of the major sacrifices was taking huge risks, so maybe all that training had steeled her heart completely.
Shockingly, after merely a few trials it worked! The cleansing spell was special; it didn’t work by engulfing one with water or whatnot; it just made you clean, refreshing your physical being–giving one that wonderful feeling of brushing and taking a nice bath.
Even his clothes had been cleaned! Emlyn exclaimed in excitement. Wasn’t magic awesome? And it was so easy! Probably the compatibility thing, but who cared?!
***
Riven, who had watched the male from beginning to end, couldn’t help but hum lightly as he pondered. Maneuvering spells was no new thing; the recklessness to try such definitely wasn’t, but the possibility to do it with ease was indeed interesting.
It's not spectacular, but it's worth taking note of. Observing the male who had someone gotten lost after leaving his room, in his mind, he thought casually that it wouldn’t be bad to teach him to pass the time.
Emlyn, who was wandering the castle aimlessly like a lost idiot, blinked, and his entire person was shifted to a different location.
***
He sat blankly as he tried to comprehend what happened. He had left earlier to find the target and then got lost and then varnished to a different place the next second; magic was really fascinating.
He was in a wide room, and before he stood the target, Riven, with head bent slightly as his entire concentration focused on an old book with plain black covers.
Emlyn stood up slowly, observing the room with rampant attention; he had never seen a magician’s lad despite his descent as a witch, mostly due to being born in the modern age. It was like the textbook definition of one but mesmerizing regardless.
In the midst was a large wooden table filled with books and scrolls, and there was an ink pen and fountain kept beside a book whose pages were filled with fresh ink writings.
There was also a bunch of items on the table Emlyn concluded were artifacts due to the magic they radiated; wooden plates and glass bottles filled with unknown liquid and solids; some were bland while others emitted a distinct charm both physically and magically, and another set screamed: do not approach.
Riven seemed to be mixing something, and after he was done, levitation magic to neatly pour it into a small glass bottle on the table before closing it. His actions couldn’t be more casual, like using magic was but normal thing, and despite her exposure to magic in the last world, Dina still couldn’t help but be fascinated.
Maybe it was because, despite living with two magical creatures, they had, for some reason, barely used magic for their day-to-day activities. Unlike Riven, who had infused it into his daily life and habits, making it second nature.
Every minor action of his was done magically, whether turning the pages of the book or even reading it, he simply had the books turning over with his eyes elsewhere, but Dina could guess that somehow he was reading and using the book’s content.
There were two shelves and a cabinet in the room. One is in front of the table at a minor distance, the second is beside the table, and the last is opposite the table.
The front shelf held various books, ones with eye-catching covers and others with plain black covers; it also held quills and inks. Dina suspected the black plain ones were jotters when she saw a quill writing down things in the book by itself.
The second shelf was larger than the first and contained more books each arranged neatly with its spine facing outwards for easier access. There was a component for scrolls, another for what seemed to be ancient tomes, and the last for manuscripts.
As for the cabinet, it was glass-fronted and filled with multiple compartments holding different items, including artifacts, empty glass bottles, plates, equipment like mortar and pestle, a cauldron, beakers, spatulas, and various others. It was like watching a movie come to life–surreal and beautiful.
It gave off an ancient feeling with a touch of modernity, and just like his room, it had no windows. But it was just as bright, with hung lamps and lanterns that had different patterns on them, giving as much light as needed and imprinting a certain mystique to the lab.
“Hello, Riven,” Emlyn greeted cordially, his tone awkward, holding the unease of a youth suddenly thrust into a strange and unfamiliar environment.
Riven responded with a slight nod, his slender pale fingers suddenly pointed at the recently filled glass bottle as he ordered, “Drink.”
Without hesitation, the male drank it down as if to illustrate his loyalty. It was… tasteless but with a hint of mint within that refreshed the body and mind.
“Your body has been tainted by demonic energy, but your mental state seems surprisingly stable considering what you've been through,” Riven stated faintly; every action of it held a coolness to it, which exaggerated could be said to cause sleepiness by simply following them.
However, Dina couldn't care less about this as alarm bells rang through her head. He read her mind?! Does he—
“Your memories and Emlyn's are different. Trust your employers,” Zero quickly pitched in consoling the panicked female.
Phew. Then what he read was merely Emlyn’s memories. Thankfully, she was becoming more versed in avoiding her internal emotions affecting her external performance, and all Emlyn did was don a blank look as he muttered, “Oh.”
“I must have a strong mind, but that's normal for magical creatures,” he spoke calmly.
He was indeed right; the mental strength of a magical being was far greater than a nonmagical one, and they could withstand the sight of greater cruelty than them.
“I see,” the busy man responded, quickly moving on to his work without regard to the other male.
Emlyn, however, was not having that; he walked a bit closer and, with a cheerful demeanor, spoke patiently, “Thank you, Riven. Is there anything I can help you with?”
To his surprise, the white-haired wizard paused, facing him with a blank face, dazzling Emlyn with his handsome features. He responded curtly, “Yes.”
Emlyn's eyes sparkled brightly as he asked excitedly, “Wh—”
Suddenly, his eyes widened drastically, the lights within falling off to be replaced with immense disbelief as they stared at the blood that dripped from his mouth to his outstretched hands which quivered in shock
He coughed out a large amount of blood, falling with a thud to his knees as his eyes stared up at the still-busy male with disbelief.
The silver-haired freak didn't even look at him! Merely continuing with whatever he was doing, disregarding his existence or even the fact he was dying…or that he had sent him off to death.
It was terrible. Dina, who had died multiple times, had felt so many emotions, but not this—oh no, no, not this infuriating shame that overwhelmed her entire being from having been treated even worse than a killed bug.
No words were spoken, and Emlyn, whose face was etched with permanent grief as he stared at the face profile of the nonchalant male who couldn't even be bothered to look at him, opened his mouth to speak only for more blood to splutter out staining his clothes.
A heavy force overwhelmed him, and reaching out instinctively to oppose the force, he could do nothing but slump to the floor powerlessly, pitiful tears staining his fair face as his lovely golden brown orbs lost their lights.
Oh, why did she conclude so early that this target was better? Riven, you will regret this.