In Jerome's office, Kalen was freshly dressed with new clothes.
Jerome sat quietly at his desk while Althea drank a cup of tea in silence.
Between Jerome and Althea, it seemed as if neither wanted to speak to the other. Kalen could sense that the atmosphere was strange... but he had no idea why. Maybe they had a history, or maybe they just didn't like each other, but in the end the mood was broken when Adaire entered the room.
At that moment, Kalen felt the atmosphere deteriorate, but Althea's face remained impassive.
Adaire noticed Kalen and then her eyes fell on Althea.
"What are you doing here?"
The young woman set the teacup down on the table and smiled at Adaire.
"I just came to visit... Can't I?"
Adaire walked over to the couch opposite her and sat down.
"Get to the point, I don't have all day. Tell me what your mother needs to tell me"
Althea continued to smile, but the tone in which she spoke was darker than her previous soft one.
"It's time you returned the favor."
Adaire stood up at her request and sighed.
"Is that all? Then you may go. I repaid that favor many years ago, but now you are trying to take advantage of me"
Kalen was surprised the moment Althea unexpectedly rose from the chair, and even more surprised when he saw the hysterical look on Adaire's face.
"Taking advantage? You're the one who took advantage! ...Adaire, comply or it will end badly for you!"
Adaire chuckled softly, further annoying Althea who began to emit a slight murderous intent into the atmosphere.
Kalen couldn't understand why her behavior had changed so much in just a few sentences. But he understood that there was something between them, some sort of past understanding.
"You're Althea, aren't you? You have a bad habit, Isprim, you should get out of your house and stop using your 'daughters' to run your errands"
Althea drew her sword and pointed it at Adaire.
"Don't you dare speak of my mother!"
Adaire smacked her lips and then held up her hand, and before Kalen understood what was happening, Adaire snapped her fingers and Althea's head exploded... no, it was more like it vanished.
"W-what?" exclaimed Kalen, not having processed that the beautiful young woman he had met an hour ago was now dead at his feet.
Adaire got up from the couch before leaving the room.
"Jerome, clean up the mess"
The butler nodded.
Kalen watched Adaire walk away as if nothing had happened, but he felt as if what had just happened was too important.
"Adaire! Wait!"
The witch stopped and turned to face Kalen.
"What's wrong?" asked Adaire.
"What was that all about, wasn't that the seduction witch?" asked Kalen.
Adaire just scoffed and crossed his arms.
"She introduced herself like that? I can't understand her"
Adaire snapped again and a photograph appeared in her hand, which she handed to Kalen. Kalen took the photo and looked at it before looking back at Adaire.
"Who is this?"
The photo showed an older version of Althea surrounded by women kneeling in praise.
"The true Witch of Seduction, Isprim"
Kalen frowned as he looked at the photo again.
"So, Althea... was her daughter?"
Adaire nodded but denied it at the same time.
"Yes... but no. Althea is biologically his daughter, but she is nothing more than a shell for Isprim's consciousness. Her real daughter died at birth... how disgusting. She just breeds daughters to use as disposable bodies"
Kalen handed the photo back to Adaire as he processed the information.
Adaire turned to go back to her room.
"Don't bother, this is not a problem you should be involved in... just ignore it. You are too weak to face the real Isprim"
Kalen suddenly remembered the attackers who had killed each other.
"What would happen if I met the real seduction witch?"
There was silence for a few seconds before Adaire answered.
"You would kill yourself instantly. She wouldn't even have to move an arm to end your life"
Kalen was silent as he watched Adaire disappear down the hall. Then he turned and went back to Jerome's office.
'Yeah... I shouldn't get involved in things that don't concern me'
As soon as he entered Jerome's office, he saw that Althea's... or Isprim's body had disappeared.
Jerome had already cleaned it up, and now only her sword remained on Jerome's desk.
The butler saw him enter and snapped his fingers.
"Use it"
The black sword that had once belonged to Althea floated into Kalen's hands.
"Really?"
Jerome nodded.
"You were attacked today... it was quicker than we thought"
Kalen studied the surface of the black sword and looked at Jerome.
"You know about the attack?"
Jerome nodded again.
"That's what I wanted to talk about. Your next task will be to eliminate the criminal organization that settled in the city when Lady Adaire went on holiday"
Kalen frowned.
"By myself?"
Jerome crossed his arms.
"Any problems?"
Kalen shook his head.
"No... Any conditions?"
"None, you can do it in your own way. But by the end of the week the organization must not exist anymore"
Kalen nodded. "I understand"
***
A few days later, Kalen was back in the courtyard of the mansion, holding the black sword and keeping his eyes closed.
He had been practicing several things, including using the new sword, learning to improve his use of the monk's bandage, and practicing with his hired spirit.
But what he focused on most was training with the sword while improving his use of the aura.
The day Jerome gave him the sword, Kalen knew it was a relic. But compared to the one he had received as a reward for the first test, he didn't know the description of the black sword.
But Jerome put his doubts to rest.
There was a way to retrieve the description of the relics by using a special paper with strange symbols on it.
So, Kalen went to the city and bought one of these papers for a moderate amount of money... it was not cheap, but with the reward the king had given him, it was enough.
The name of the black sword was the Crescent Sword, and it had a rather unique feature in that it could grow or shrink as Kalen wished.
It was not perfect, though, as it took time and was not possible in the middle of a fight. Still, it worked to Kalen's advantage, as he did not have to carry a scabbard for it but could carry it concealed like a dagger.
Now Kalen had only one problem, and that was that he had only learned to use the dagger. But he had never fought with a sword.
After all, he was an assassin, not a swordsman.
However, with his speed, it was best that the sword was neither too short nor too long, just a medium size so that it would not slow him down or hinder his movement.
So, Kalen trained with swords of different sizes until he found the optimal one, and when he did, he began to familiarize himself with the sword.
He had no one to practice with, so he had no choice but to swing the sword in the air and move as if he were imagining fighting someone.
It had only been a few days though, so he felt no real improvement in his skills, maybe just the fact that he felt more comfortable with the sword.
As he did so, the spirit hovered beside him, watching him fight the air.
Kalen also took the time to improve the abilities of his hired spirit, as it was rather useless at the moment.
The spirit could only transform into simple geometric shapes, and Kalen had no use for a perfect cube or sphere.
He had already thought of several uses for the Spirit's ability, but for now it was impossible. And since the spirit was a being of its own, and its consciousness was not dependent on Kalen, it could train on its own until its mana was exhausted.
So, Kalen gave it the order to practice on its own as long as its mana was full, and it accepted.
Kalen could not understand his spirit's thoughts, he did not have Talika's ability, so he simply communicated by understanding his gestures, even if the spirit understood him.
Either way, Kalen couldn't wait for the spirit to grow, and with it his abilities, but that would take time, who knows how long.
In the meantime, Kalen could only concentrate on what was important, which was training to get rid of the criminal organization that had infiltrated the city in Adaire's absence.
He had no idea how many people he would have to face, but surely it would be too many. The attackers who had ambushed him earlier were only a small group sent to kill him, but surely there were many more challengers behind them... Kalen just hoped there were no Creators, otherwise he would be screwed.
With that in mind, Kalen resumed swinging his sword through the air as the moon slowly set high in the night sky.