The teacher Amara watched the commotion and sighed.
"Lugh, I'm going to have to talk to Professor Jang again," she thought.
Lugh glanced at Tanya's expression. 'Is she scared?' he wondered, seizing the opportunity to tease her.
"Tanya, look! It's right there, on your desk!"
"Kyaa!" Tanya screamed. "Where is it?! Where?!" She jumped onto her chair.
Lugh couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
Tanya realized it was a lie and glared at him furiously.
"I didn't know nobles from the Nyroxe House were afraid of insects," Lugh teased, struggling to suppress his laughter.
"This isn't funny," Tanya retorted, irritated.
"Oh, really? Then why am I laughing?"
Every time Lugh mocked her, it made Tanya even angrier. Finally, she snapped:
"You're so annoying! That's why your parents abandoned you!"
The whole class fell silent.
[Oops, she hit where it hurts,] said the sinister voice that only Lugh could hear.
Tanya realized she had crossed a line and looked at Lugh. His expression had changed—he was stunned by her words, his gaze lost, and his lips tightly pressed together.
Lugh had never known what happened to his parents. At first, it had bothered him, but as he grew up, he tried not to think about it.
Who were they?
What happened to them?
Did they hate me?
Did they abandon me?
Those questions haunted him, but when he was with his uncle, he felt loved and protected. His uncle was like both a father and a mother to him.
Lugh remained silent, lost in thought.
"Tanya Nyroxe!" Amara yelled, turning to look at Lugh and then back at Tanya. She was about to continue her scolding when…
Ding-dong! The bell signaling the end of class interrupted her.
Tanya was about to apologize, but Lugh ran out of the classroom. Amara and Tanya watched him leave in a hurry, both thinking that Tanya's comment had deeply hurt him.
Amara stayed behind to give Tanya a stern lecture, scolding her for her inappropriate remark. Tanya knew she was in the wrong…
---
Lugh, oblivious to everything around him, ran straight home with a single thought in his mind: 'Who are you? Or rather, what are you?'
---
Before he had time to leave the classroom completely:
[Oops, she hit where it hurts.]
Amid all the chaos, Lugh had forgotten about the voice speaking in his head. 'I'm losing my mind,' he thought.
[Perhaps. Humans are imperfect beings, but that's what makes them what they are,] the sinister voice responded.
'What? So it's true? I'm crazy, now I'm talking to myself,' he thought.
[Don't be foolish, boy. I'm not you. There's no humanity in me; I'm just an object created by a god.]
'An object? How can an object be inside my head? Wait… did you say "god"?' he asked in his mind.
[I'm not in your head. I'm the book you bought, and I'm speaking to you through a temporary connection I established to communicate.]
'A temporary connection?' Lugh asked.
[Magic, boy, magic.]
---
When Lugh arrived home, he climbed the stairs to his room, exhausted from the excitement and fatigue. He shut the door and pulled the book from his bag, placing it on his desk.
"Alright, talk now, Mr. Book," Lugh said excitedly as he sat down.
[Interesting room. An organized chaos filled with curiosities… quite peculiar,] commented the voice of the grimoire, observing every corner.
"Yeah, well, I always get distracted by something new. I start projects and leave them unfinished," Lugh admitted with a shrug.
[Curious. But let's save the small talk for another time and get straight to the point.]
"So, what are you? You're definitely not an ordinary book."
[I am a grimoire, a book filled with vast magical knowledge, created to guide the disciple of my creator.]
"That's amazing! I can't believe it. Magic, like at fairs?"
The grimoire felt offended.
[Comparing me to fair tricks? That's a great insult to my creator.]
"It was a joke, don't take it seriously," Lugh apologized. Then, curious, he asked, "Are you like an AI?"
[AI?] the grimoire asked.
"It's artificial intelligence made with computer algorithms," Lugh explained.
[I was created through magical procedures, not technology. I have a soul—something machines will never have.]
"A soul? So, you're like a living being?"
[I am a being with a soul, but I'm limited by my vessel.]
"Incredible! So, is it easy to create a soul? Who created you?"
[My creator was a human, an entity that evolved into a god, although other gods only consider them a demigod.]
Lugh was ecstatic. "This is incredible!"
[I want to propose a deal to you.]
"A deal?"
[I want you to give me a human body. In exchange, I can register you as the grimoire's owner and provide answers about your parents.]
"What?!" Lugh shouted.