Selene sat on the floor, blinking at the two men, puzzled by the calm expressions on their faces. She had expected to wake up to angry crowds or a priest chanting to exorcise her from Selene's body. But Magnus and Alaric simply watched her with a sense of calm that left her bewildered.
Did the spell not work? Or maybe he didn't actually see my memories? she wondered.
Noticing her confusion, Magnus tried to lighten the mood. "Your world is… quite interesting," he said, amused.
Selene's eyes widened. "You really saw my memories?" she asked, surprised. Then her face turned serious. "Aren't you… going to exorcise me or something?"
Magnus raised an eyebrow. "And why would I do that?"
"Well, I'm a spirit from another world that's inhabited your daughter's body. I thought that if you knew, you'd try to exorcise me or torture me to find out where the real Selene is."
Magnus chuckled softly. "What would that accomplish? You are Selene now, and I can only hope that wherever she may be, she's safe." He sighed. "Besides, I have no right to demand that answer. I haven't been a father to her for so long that even if she were here, I doubt she'd want me in her life."
He took a deep breath, looking at her with regret and sadness. "And I wouldn't hurt you, because it's clear that you didn't possess Selene's body on purpose. If you hadn't, the real Selene… well, she would have suffered horribly these past few days."
His hands clenched at the memory of what he'd seen—her encounters with the maids, with Thorn, and the painful scenes from Galen's memories.
Selene stared at him, stunned, then lowered her gaze, realizing his words were true. If she hadn't possessed Selene's body, the real Selene would have endured all of that and she doubted a child would have been able to find a way out of those situations.
After a long silence, Magnus collected himself, coughed, and looked back at her. "If you truly want to survive here, you'll need to improve that plan you wrote about in your journal."
Selene's cheeks flushed. He saw that, too? She nodded, listening as Magnus continued.
"Finding teachers for both magic and combat will be difficult," he said. "The incidents with Thorn and Galen have complicated matters." He paused, looking thoughtful. "If you want to learn magic, Alaric and I will teach you. We're busy, so you'll have to help us with our work in return."
Selene thought for a moment. It seemed like a fair deal. "Alright," she agreed. "But… what about combat training?"
Both men exchanged incredulous looks. Alaric began listing all the injuries she'd inflicted on Galen. Selene fidgeted, pressing her index fingers together. "Well… it wasn't entirely my fault."
Remembering their conversation the day before, Alaric asked, "You mentioned some sort of sword fighting style. What did you call it again?"
"Fencing," Selene replied. "It's a swordplay technique, but in my world, it's a sport, not used in real combat."
Alaric frowned. "Swordplay as a game?"
He looked to Magnus, who explained, "In her world, people don't use swords in battle. They have a different weapon called a gun, and swordsmanship has been reduced to a form of sport."
Intrigued, Alaric's curiosity got the better of him. "I'd like to see what one of these 'guns' looks like."
Magnus gave Selene a knowing look. She realized he was hinting at, so she opened her store interface and purchased a gun magazine to show them. Alaric gasped as a magazine appeared out of thin air, and the three spent the afternoon flipping through it together, fascinated by the weapons and technology of her world.
After dinner, Selene retired to her room.
Later, in Magnus's study, Alaric poured him a glass of wine. Magnus sat on the couch, flipping through the magazine again. When he finished, he placed it on the glass table and picked up his wine.
Alaric glanced at the magazine and asked, "Are you considering making those weapons for our men?"
Magnus took a sip of his wine, then replied thoughtfully, "Maybe."
Alaric nodded. "Selene's knowledge might be valuable for our future."
Magnus's expression darkened. "I won't use her for that. My priority is helping her survive whatever comes her way."
Realizing his poor choice of words, Alaric apologized. "I didn't mean to imply that. I was only thinking of her future—she has knowledge of both her world and ours."
Magnus sighed, nodding in understanding. "But there's one thing she seems to misunderstand about our world. The leveling system here is different from the game. In the game, characters' levels are often ten times or more the age of a person."
Alaric looked shocked. "Ten times? That's… staggering."
Magnus nodded. "We could use this misinformation to our advantage. Let her believe the system is as she knows it; her unique talents might just give her an edge."
Alaric murmured thoughtfully, "With those skills, she's already eligible to attend Ravencroft Academy."
Magnus nodded. "Yes, I'd like to see just how far she can go before it's time for her to enter the academy."
Meanwhile, Selene sat on her bed in her room, furiously punching her pillow.
"Idiot! Absolute idiot!" she hissed, her voice muffled by the fabric. "What was I thinking, blurting that?"
She rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. "Unlike all those clever isekai protagonists, I just had to be the first one to expose myself and in just a few days too."
Her fingers drummed against the blanket as she contemplated the situation. "I should've been surrounded by angry priests chanting to exorcise me or at least someone throwing holy water at my face… but instead?" She scoffed. "Magnus just sat there, calm as anything."
With a sigh, she pulled her pillow over her face and screamed. "If he'd been some cold-hearted tyrant, a maniac, or a sociopath, I'd be dead already. Why did I get lucky with him?" She paused, staring at the ceiling. "Or… am I just deluding myself?"
She sat up slowly, crossing her arms and muttering, "He knows too much now. And he also knows I can buy things from my world…" She shivered. "If he's really after power, I could be locked up in a cage for the rest of my life."
Yet, despite her fears, something deep down whispered that maybe, just maybe, she could trust him. But she quickly squashed that thought, deciding it was best to remain vigilant.
"It's too soon to trust anyone, especially since I don't know much about him. I'll watch him, gather information, and be ready for anything." She sat back and determined she continued, "If he ever tries anything, I'll escape."
Her mind drifted to her earlier outburst. "Why did I lose control like that?" She buried her face in her hands. "I'm spiritually a 21-year-old, not 12. I acted like a brat throwing a tantrum. That's so embarrassing."
She ran through possible reasons, mumbling, "Maybe it's PTSD from the truck accident… or that stupid 'Ruthlessness' skill is messing with me… or—" she froze, "maybe the real Selene's soul is still in here somewhere."
The thought made her shiver. "Who knows?" she murmured, shaking her head. "Whatever it is, I need to learn to control my emotions. No more outbursts. No more mistakes."
Over the next three weeks, Selene assisted Magnus and Alaric with their work. True to his word, Alaric began teaching her magic. With her quick learning abilities and high knowledge attribute, Selene unlocked elemental magic skills faster than either of them expected, leaving both men astonished.
Selene also taught Magnus fencing, and before long, he became a skilled sparring partner, helping her improve her own swordsmanship. As a thank you, she bought each of them a typewriter, which they found fascinating.
In her downtime, Selene explored her store interface further and opened the "Hatchables" section. "This is just like those games," she muttered excitedly, scrolling through the list.
She remembered how, back on Earth, players could buy and hatch creature eggs, sometimes earning experience points or even real money if they sold rare creatures.
"Huh, so I can buy specific eggs here," she noted. "Though they're all at low levels…" She tilted her head, considering. "Well, it's better than nothing. Leveling up is a pain anyway."
Later, she was in the training yard, practicing with her unholy purple flames to refine the soul essence of the creatures she'd summoned. Magnus and Alaric stood nearby, watching with fascination.
Magnus raised an eyebrow. "She's already level 32," he murmured to Alaric, who looked genuinely disturbed.
"Level 32?!" Alaric's jaw dropped. "In three weeks?" It took him until he was 22 years old to reach that level with actual blood, sweat and tears, only to see a little girl who is in the midst of puberty reach that level.
He began to question his entire existence.
Hearing his despair, Selene smirked, calling out, "Don't worry, Alaric! Some people just take a little longer." She winked playfully, and he shot her an exasperated look.