- I do! - Arthur ended up jumping up and down with excitement as he answered, like a child the image he formed of summoning flames in the middle of the sea cheered him up until he forgot his earlier disappointment immediately.
- So, I'll be your teacher, but... Aren't you forgetting something? - Samantha was laughing at Arthur's reaction as she reminded him.
- Forgetting what? - Arthur stopped to think for a moment, and his childish face took on a contemplative, which given his immaturity ended up giving him a funny image that made Samantha hold back the urge to laugh. After a few moments, still with a serious expression, he nodded and looked at Samantha, his previously serious look replaced by a reluctant one when he asked. - Are you talking about the price?
- That's right. - Samantha replied as her gaze seemed to wander.
- Er... The price... What's the price of your lessons? - Arthur asked a little anxiously.
- Well, I don't ask for much... I just need you to protect the future me... Of course it's difficult, but when you have 3 or 4 marks it will be a possible task. - Said Samantha with a serious look on her face, then she seemed to think of something and spoke. - Besides, a mark of mine can only be passed on as an inheritance, so I must mark you and probably your sister too.
- ...
Arthur couldn't answer for a while, he didn't really know what to say. After hearing the price he was deeply confused, he didn't even know what to say, but ended up mumbling almost like a robot. - Pro... Protect you? - After that Arthur was a little dazed and looked at Samantha a little scared, just remembering that she had gotten rid of someone scarier than Cocabiel that he had seen in his memories was enough for him to understand how ridiculous this task was.
Looking at the boy's reaction Samantha couldn't contain her laughter and could only clear up Arthur's confusion once he had calmed down again, so with a slight smile still on her face she said. - Arthur, explaining this to you now doesn't make sense; you're too weak to understand what this job means right now, but I promise you that you'll have the strength for it and maybe, if we get along, you'll even do it willingly for your new "sister"? - When Arthur heard Samantha's explanation, he calmed down, but he became curious about one possibility after hearing Samantha's explanation. - Can sorcerers revive? - He became excited after this idea popped into his mind and asked.
- No, it's impossible. - Samantha didn't think for a second while answering this question, which showed her certainty about the fact.
- So... Why do you say I need to protect a new you? - Arthur was really confused and curious now.
- Well, if I were dead, it wouldn't really make sense, but since I'm alive I'll end up with a new body soon... - Samantha said with a slight joking tone, yet the surprise on Arthur's face couldn't be hidden. - You're alive? - Arthur asked a little startled, and before waiting for her to reply, he asked. - Can all souls who teach be resurrected? - Arthur asked with obvious curiosity and expectation in his voice.
- No, I'm one of the special cases, it has to do with the seal... Well, I'll explain that when the time comes. - Said Samantha as she seemed to ramble, then she turned her eyes to Arthur's and asked. - "Do you agree to help me with this?
- "Yes," Arthur replied almost immediately, with determination on his face.
- So, deal done! Now I need to make the mark... This is going to hurt a bit, as this is my personal mark, I have placed a restriction on passing it on, and I can only do this after your soul has become accustomed to mine, in short, your soul must recognize me as a relative, as if I were your sister for example. - After speaking this far, a mark appeared in his eyes, this symbol was like a Triquetra, and appeared to be on fire, after which colored flames appeared in his hands and headed towards Arthur's body. At first Arthur felt fine and the sensation that the flame gave his body was extremely relaxing, however, this sensation changed when the spreading flame reached the height of his eyes, tears began to pour from his eyes, and the sensation was indescribable. The pain was so intense that for a while, Arthur couldn't even scream. He just collapsed to the ground and began to struggle as tears kept falling.
- It's going to hurt, it's really going hurt Arthur, but it must be done; my mark can only be passed on to someone with familiarity... I have no choice but to put you under and make you my "little brother". - Samantha said this with a look of pity and sadness but continued to put the energy into her body.
As time passed, the tremors slowly subsided until they finally stopped several minutes later, and Arthur, who was convulsing on the floor, lay motionless in the same spot while the flames continued to enter his eyes, this went on for several dozen minutes more; when the colored flames finally stopped entering Arthur's eyes and became part of Samantha's clothes again, Samantha got up from her throne and walked over to Arthur who was lying on the ground, she approached and placed her left index finger on her own forehead, and then placed the index finger of her right hand on Arthur's forehead, right in the middle of his eyebrows just as she had done on her own face.
- Now that you have a bond with me as a brother, that's enough. - She said in a gentle, calm voice, even though Arthur wasn't awake she still spoke to him calmly while looking into the face of the boy who was fast asleep. - Now I'm going to give you a very problematic mark... Looking at your memories, I think you can handle it better than I did, so it's best this mark to go first, despite the risks. - Samantha said this while looking at Arthur with a touch of concern and then she said. - I wanted to teach you calmly, but we don't have time, soon the seal... - Samantha stopped talking at this point, but a sad look was on her face as she looked at Arthur. - I'll make it work... You're my little brother now, I'm not going to destroy anything this time, least of all you. - Samantha said as she looked at Arthur with a determined look before starting to say something in Latin, and as she began to speak her voice became oppressive again, just as it was when she was stopping Zeus.
- In constanti evolutione, sine fine et limite... ... - Samantha continued mumbling for a few minutes, it took her a little over two minutes to finish speaking in Latin and as soon as she finished Arthur's eyes opened, and they were as red as Samantha's. When she saw Arthur's eyes she continued. – Satus et finis firmamentum. – Samantha stopped again and looked into Arthur's open eyes as if expecting something, and after a few moments the space they were in began to change, the flames that filled the whole space began to stir and moved towards Arthur's open eyes, as if they were being sucked into their orbits the flames continued to flow, seeing that everything was normal Samantha stood still waiting for everything to calm down again; a few hours passed in this space before this phenomenon finally stopped, then looking at Arthur who now had a small flame snake wandering over his irises she uttered another word in Latin. – Locus!
After pronouncing space in Latin, Samantha's gaze became slightly downcast, and the symbol in her eyes created a colored light that flowed into Arthur's eyes, when the light touched the snake it remained motionless, it seemed that something forced it to stop wandering through Arthur's iris, After just a few minutes, the symbol of a flaming Triquetra appeared in his eyes, and as soon as it appeared, Arthur's body convulsed for a few seconds before stopping abruptly and his eyes closing. After his eyes closed Arthur woke up abruptly and sat up, noticing the darkness around him he tried to look around, but he realized he couldn't see anything and tried to get up immediately, but he ended up falling and only now realized how sore his body was.
"This is already the second chapter where the last paragraph has disappeared when viewed on cell phones. To avoid this, I've decided to duplicate this message at the end of each chapter, hoping it will resolve the issue. If you're reading this, I apologize if it's intrusive, but it's a better solution than leaving the chapter incomplete."