After the raven Sora was now officially named, it was time that Alice asked Zack what the boy was going to do since he was now awake and recovered.
"So… what are your plans from this forth on?" Alice made her inquiry while eyeing the boy Zack with keen interest.
"I'm not sure if I'm being honest." Zack spoke with uncertainty, a hint of sadness present in his voice, "With Sanders gone, Bianca and I don't exactly have somewhere to call home, and I still need to train on how to use this magic of mine properly."
"Then, may he stay with us, Master?" Bianca suggested with a pleading look in her green eyes, "He has nowhere to go, and I can't bear the thought of him being separated from me ever again."
"Such a clingy child. One student is trouble enough, especially you, girl, with how troublesome and mischievous you are." Alice grinned playfully at her, causing Bianca to have another of her sheepish grin, "Of course, if your boyfriend promises to behave, then I'll accommodate another freeloader in my humble abode."
"Don't worry, Lady Alice." Zack said, "I'm not like this airhead if that's what you're asking."
"Hey!!" The girl was fuming with annoyance.
"Then it's settled." Alice clapped her hand, "You Zack, are going to be an apprentice of mine along with the girl. But let me warn you… just because you are the first boy in quite a while to possess a Brand does not mean that I'm going to go easy on you. My lessons are not for the faint of the heart. You think you got what it takes to see through them all?"
"Yes." Zack spoke without hesitation, "I'll do whatever it takes… to ensure that the tragedy back at Sanders… Bianca won't ever suffer the same fate ever again."
"Zack…" A tear threatened to fall on one of Bianca's eyes but she decided to be strong and smiled bravely instead. "I too, feel the same way, Master. No one deserved to experience the revolting horror that we've been through. With our magic, we can prevent such calamities from happening in the future."
Thanks to Alice's guidance and training for the past four months, Bianca was not the same weak village girl that she was back at Sanders. The sick experience that she underwent molded her into a lady with the conviction to help others and bring justice to this cruel world that they lived in.
"Bianca…" Naturally, Zack was surprised by Bianca displaying such a resilient attitude for a girl like her. Back in the village, the girl was quite a carefree spirit with little to no care for her surroundings. Never did he expect that a change of view shall come into a positive light despite the horror that she was forcefully put through.
This no doubt brought a smile on Zack's face, "Then, as your loyal Knight, I shall turn your dreams into a reality."
"A Knight?" Bianca was confused, "But you now have a Brand, right? Why settle for becoming under me when you could be a Witch… to be my equal? Wasn't your dream to become a Witch?"
"Well, I now have magic, so wish come true, then." Zack grinned in response, "And being your Knight, I want to support you and be by your side genuinely at all times."
"R-really?" Bianca twirled her hair shyly, "V-very well then if that's what you wish, oh loyal knight of mine. I am nothing if not magnanimous, hehe."
"Caw!!!" Sora joined in and cawed approvingly.
"All right, then lessons shall resume tomorrow." Alice said and decided to go back inside her house, "I shall leave you two alone for some catching up. If you need me, I'll be at the laboratory inside."
The pair plus a raven were then left to their own devices. Zack and Bianca chatted merrily with one another like old times while Sora was content in listening happily at their conversations.
******
After talking for quite some time, Zack and Bianca decided to enter the house and take some rest in preparation for the lesson the next day.
"…And then, Master Alice had that hilarious look on her face when I incinerated her training dummies completely!!" Bianca was still talking merrily as they now found themselves in the living room, "But they're not just any training dummies, though. They are self-regenerating ones that would patch themselves up entirely in one piece. But apparently, my flames were so much more powerful that its regenerative capabilities weren't able to keep up!!"
"That's quite an impressive feat." Zack was in awe by her story, "Even when you just recently became a Witch, you displayed signs of great potential."
"Hehe, that's right!" Bianca puffed her chest proudly in the display, "Master also said the same thing. How about you, Zack? Is your magic awesome as well?"
"Well…" The boy was hesitant about what he was about to answer.
Awesome was kind of the wrong term to describe his magic. More like horrifying, really. When he unlocked the King's Brand, not only was he able to immediately utilize it, but he also cast destructive spells that were purely meant for the victims to suffer a painful and terrible death. From what he surmised, his arsenal of spells so far included the magic to conjure some kind of violet energy and manipulate it to his will. Said magic was used to cut down his enemies, like what he did to the first group of bandits that he murdered. It was like a blade that effectively became an extension of his both arms.
Then, another of his magic was controlling the magical energy and accumulating it in one spot, resulting in it being unstable and overloaded, which would ultimately explode in the end. If Zack remembered correctly, he performed such a gruesome deed against the bandit Skjorn when he was about to flee from him. He also did it to the two wild witches, with their head's exploding in a bloody fashion.
Next was his ability to swat away magical projectiles that were being thrown at him. This was evident when the Wild Witches cast their fire spells, but it was merely swatted like a bug on the side. The same also applied to Bianca earlier during their initial meeting.
Although, when he swatted the spells away, Zack still felt some certain amount of pain from it. This most likely meant that he was not completely immune from a spell's damage, and he was not sure if this certain ability of his would hold on against some of the more powerful spells.
Last but definitely not least was his horrifying ability to absorb a Witch's Mana. The Wild Witch Hilda underwent a most painful death thanks to this sick act. The voice inside his head also mentioned that this ability may only be performed under the right circumstances. Zack wondered what all these circumstances were."
'How remarkably insightful of you, boy.' Speak of the devil, said voice made itself known and praised him, 'You truly are astonishing for such grand display and masterful use despite being your first time.'
'Your compliments are unneeded.' Zack communicated telepathically, 'I did what I had to do. If I were given a chance to do it again, then I would take it in a heartbeat. Those wretched fools… those sick bastards tainted Bianca and destroyed our home, so let their souls suffer in the deepest pits of Hell.'
'That my boy… we can completely agree…'
While Zack seemed to be spacing out at first glance, Bianca eyed him with concern and asked, "Are you okay, Zack?"
"Oh, I'm fine, Bianca." Zack snapped out of his daze and tried to assure her, "It's nothing to worry about."
"It's about what happened in Sanders, isn't it?"
Bianca instantly dived into the dark topic without so much of a hesitation, much to Zack's surprise.