Chapter 765 - t

The image of a bright sun framed by the vastness of space appeared in my mind. Its rays of light were harsh and blinding. I could feel its sheer weight doing its best to crush me with its gravitational fields. Overall, as much as it pained me to admit, it radiated an awe-inspiring presence worthy of a being described as divine.

But, for all its radiance and foreignness, there was something intimately familiar about it.

But what was it? It was just the sun in space.

Wait, space?

Apollo was a sun god, why would there be the concept of space at the root of his being?

I focused on the space Apollo's sun was in, and then I realized something.

What I was sensing wasn't space!

It was Chaos!

Apollo's true essence was rooted in the Chaos Sea!

The god's mastery of the Divine Runes and their immortality suddenly made sense.

I couldn't be one hundred percent sure, but if the god's true essence was tied to the stable regions of the Chaos Sea that represented their domains…

Then…

I immersed my will into Apollo's AIM, and used all the experience and expertise in manipulating raw chaos and reached for its brimming infinite potential.

It was difficult, if not downright impossible. Normally reaching someone's core through their AIM was impossible. Since their core, their personal reality was more akin to a nebulous and completely imaginary space.

But if my hypothesis was right, then a deity's AIM was more like a portal to the core of their being. Its vastness and the sheer difference in size and depth were probably what compelled mortals to obey when directly exposed to it.

But, since Apollo's AIM came from a place that actually existed…

My mana intermingled with his and as I reached for it with my will…

A huge familiar violet eye vaguely turned in my direction.

My scapula itched something fierce as I immediately stopped reaching for the Chaos energy around Apollo's true body in instinctive unadulterated terror.

The backlash of suddenly breaking the connection, made me fall to my knees, and blood pooled in my throat that had me coughing it to the ground.

"My lord! Are you alright?" The captain of the Apollo familia screamed in panic.

A side glance showed me that Apollo was in a similar condition to mine, except he was convulsing incoherently in the rapidly breaking down cage.

Did he sense what I did? I barely touched the wild chaos.

Still, serves him right.

But, what would normally make my day or the fact that I could move again didn't improve my mood.

"You! What have you done to my god!" Hyakinthos screamed.

But, I ignored him. It was difficult to pay attention when the memory of that eye was still wrecking my mind like an angry dragon with its implications.

Ugh, more nightmare fuel.

I had heard the saying before.

That when you looked into the abyss, the abyss looked back.

I just didn't expect the abyss to be Master Sura looking, no, searching for me.

Note to self, don't touch the chaos sea until you get strong enough to kick Master Sura's ass.

The question was, that violet eye, that apathetic searching eye…, was that even possible without tapping into the Chaos sea?

Breathe, Regis. Breathe. You had bigger problems now.

The crackling sound of ice snapped me out of my panic. And then I realized that the formulas I was maintaining to keep everyone contained were gone due to my shock.

That meant that in a few seconds, I would be totally surrounded by violent and angry adventurers. And I was still heaving into the ground, recuperating from the backlash.

Widening my eyes in surprise, I quickly recalled one of the marbles on the floor in front of my face and morphed it into a shield.

Just in time to block a kick coming my way which broke the shield and sent me me flying towards the wall.

"Answer me! What did you do!?" The very angry Level 3 who had broken out of his icy cage demanded.

Cough, Cough "I didn't do anything. Maybe your god is just defective?" I said throwing another marble at him.

Hyakinthos in worry for the god in his arms, jumped back.

Not that the marble did anything other than break against the floor since it was a bluff.

He growled in annoyance at the deception.

"Grrr, I won't repeat myself! If you don't answer, I'll just kill you!" The captain of the Apollo familia said, his AIM was filled with killing intent for the first time since we met.

Huh, kind of lukewarm.

"Try it," I said, having gotten myself under control and looked him straight in the eye. "But I warn you if you attack with the intent to kill. It will be the last thing you'll ever do."

He rolled his eyes in arrogance and bent his knees in preparation, his AIM sharpened with intention and will.

But he didn't move.

Drops of sweat dripped down his face onto the floor. His muscles were locked in a flight-fight response, as his eyes studied me in frustration searching for something. Most likely the reason why he couldn't bring himself to attack.

Adventurer instincts sure were something else, weren't they?

"Stop, my dear child," Apollo said weakly, saving him from death by putting a hand on his shoulder.

"My lord! Are you alright?"

"Yes, it seems that the reception was poo-, I mean, I just felt dizzy for a moment. I'm fine now." The god hurried to reassure his adventurer.

"I see. That's a relief. I was so worried that…"

While they were having their little moment, I vanished the chaos-infused wind blade formula trained on Hyakinthos neck from my mind and tried doing my best to reconstruct the formulas that were holding the rest of the adventurers at bay.

But the series of icy cracking noises reverberating through the alleyway told me that it was too late.

The ice was too fragmented to repair on such a short notice. The math being way to extensive for my still reeling mind.

A moment later, I was surrounded in all directions.

My back was against the wall, adventurers barred both sides of the alley and were also concentrating on the rooftop. A group of five adventurers stepped between their god and captain, and me.

"Well, well, well. I have over half of my familia in here. Do you still want to resist? You must be running out of these magical marbles of yours." Apollo said having reassured his captain.

It seemed that the ruse was still working at least.

"I'm fine," I answered coldly, summoning eight new ice marbles from within my cloak.

One of the adventurers in front of the god scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, the only reason you caught us earlier was because we were under orders not to harm you. We could easily take you down if we attack together."

Yeah no, I couldn't have that so…

One of the ice marbles that was on the ground suddenly jumped with blinding speed toward the adventurer. The recently morphed ice dagger traveled with so much speed that the adventurer couldn't react to the projectile.

The dagger flew past him scratching his cheek. The cut was so shallow and precise that it didn't even bleed.

"Don't get this backward, the only reason you're not all dead is because I wasn't willing to kill you." I had to show some teeth if I wanted them not to dog-pile me. I wouldn't have any choice but to really hurt them then.

The adventurers stiffened and shut up really fast at that.

"So cool…" The god being fussed over by his captain murmured.

I sighed. At this point, I was only making things worse.

The adventurers of his familia looked even more annoyed at hearing his god fawn over me.

"My lord, I'm here!" Suddenly, a blond elf landed next to Apollo.

Great, another one… And this one was Level 2.

"Lissos, I'm glad you're here. What took you so long?" The god said happy to have one more adventurer on his side.

"I received a tip from an informant. But it evidently was a false sighting." He said sparing me a glance before continuing. "It seems that Loki's little sword princess put on a cloak and was sneaking out to buy some snacks. What seems to be the problem here? Why aren't we just knocking him out?"

"My future child seems to have dangerous magic items. Less powerful than magic swords, but far more versatile. So we're being cautious." Apollo said with an infuriating 'what can you do' shrug.

The elf made a humming noise of acknowledgment. "If magic items are the problem. Why don't we just torch him? We do have enough mages and archers to outlast him." He said taking a look at his comrades. And then reassured his concerned looking god. "We should be able to notice him starting to panic when he begins to run out. So worry not my lord, for we'll gift him to you unarmed and unharmed."

"An excellent suggestion, my clever child," Apollo said with an excited smile and snapped his fingers. "Mages, archers, attack!"

"""Yes, my lord!!!"""

After the acknowledgment resonated in the alleyway, projectiles of all kinds started flying.

Not that they were a problem. The fire splashed harmlessly against my ice shields and in most cases, they were extinguished by the cold before they even impacted. The lightning was even easier to ground by creating a few ice rods around me and subtly coating them with iron dust. While the arrows and other projectiles simply smashed without effect against my barriers.

This was actually beneficial for me, I realized.

While Apollo and his children were talking, I was taking a look at the staves of the mages on the rooftop, to make sure they weren't something dangerous.

From what I saw, they were cheap magical items made with runes not that dissimilar to the magical lamps that illuminated Orario. They were just cranked up to eleven, and even then, I could feel they were horrendously inefficient.

I mean, they were eating up the power from their magic stone at a rapid pace and I could even feel that it was taxing their users to use something fierce.

So yes, this situation was good news. Since they were convinced that I was defending with a limited supply of magical items, then I was going to be the one to win this particular battle.

To keep the ruse, I let some of my shields break before replacing them from time to time.

Around the forty-second mark, even Frey who was hiding in his pendant started to get bored. So, with a mischievous feeling that he wholeheartedly approved of, I shifted the angle of shields ever so slightly.

"Gah!?""Wha-?""Aaaarg""Wh-hy?!"

The screams of surprise and pain around me were music to my ears. As the projectiles that were deflected, hit the adventurers surrounding me in their most sensitive parts with pinpoint accuracy.

Unfortunately, the rock going Apollo's way was deflected by his high-class adventurers.

I usually wouldn't attack a god, but I mean, I can't be criminally charged if they just stand in the splash zone.

Right?

"Everyone, stop!" Apollo yelled, his AIM flashing for a moment before immediately retracting to make himself heard.

"Hyakinthos, coordinate the ground parties to defend against any stray attacks."

"Yes, my lord. But it's dangerous out here, we can deal with him. There isn't any reason for you to risk yourself."

"And miss out on this exquisite performance? Vanish that thought. Lissos will be more than adequate to protect me from stray attacks."

The captain gritted his teeth in frustration for a moment but answered. "Yes, my lord."

Moments later, the barrage of elemental attacks and arrows resumed. But this time, Hyakinthos started calling out commands.

"Tanks step upfront, protect your comrades from the ricochets. The rest, create a zone for the injured and start administering potions. Supporters, you aren't useful here. Leave your potions here and half of you go to the manor and markets and return with more supplies. The other half, go gather the rest of the familia."

Little by little, a full-on raid was being organized before my eyes. For my part, I simply continued deflecting the attacks targeting the weaker parts of their formation.

Eventually, more mages came and replaced the now-drinking mind potions mages. Some of them actually had their own falna-granted magic, which made this more interesting.

Wood strained briefly against my shields before freezing and being destroyed. Sound waves were easily detected and resisted with an application of the hunter's ability.

More weak-looking fire, boring…

More flashy lightning, boooring…

Ugh, these dumbassess didn't even know how electricity worked, Just because you can generate a high voltage, it wasn't truly powerful if the amperage was so pathetic.

Oh hey, a laser. I transformed a shield into a clear triangular prism and angled it just right.

"Uoooo!""Aaaaarg, my eyes!""Hot hot hot!" The five shield bearers between Apollo and me screamed as the redirected laser burnt and blew them backward.

Oh, this was fun. I kinda wanted to do that again. Maybe they will send me another one?

The first ranked in Academy City was so lucky to be able to do this on command.

"You idiot mage, be careful how you aim that thing. What if you hit our Lord!?"

Or maybe not. Pity.

The barrage continued for a few more minutes before it began to die down. The archers had run out of arrows while the mages were on the verge of potion poisoning and mind down.

Seeing the attacks stop, I rose from my crouched position and stretched a bit. My body still hurt from the backlash and my lightning formula, but oddly enough. Having their entire familia barrage me with magic was just what I needed to find my center again.

To tell the truth, I found it pretty fun. It was interesting to see so many different types of magic.

I had to find a way to create effective lasers. But how could I go about it… I guess could use ice and fire as I did in the dungeon to explain magic to Lili and Ryuu. But it was kind of slow and unwieldy…

"Why are you trying so hard?" Apollo asked, frustration started to leak into his voice.

Oh right, I was kind of in the middle of a situation. Also, was he serious?

"To not get raped?" I said confused, stating the obvious.

"Rape? Why would I ever do that?" He answered flabbergasted. "I would certainly try to court you. I recognize that I might have come a bit too strong, but as a god with his Arcanum sealed, I don't have the power to force you to do anything you don't truly want. Much less when blessed with my falna. So don't stop being purposefully ambiguous, and tell me."

"You say that even when you controlled me earlier with your divinity." The balls on this guy.

"Please, you think the other deities didn't sense me using it? I'll have to deal with a mountain of paperwork later and have to explain myself in the upcoming Denatus. I'll even have to bare myself in front of all the other gods and explain myself. Now tell me, If your reason is valid, I even promise to back off."

Disbelief filled my entire being at his words. Did he really not know how he came across? Did Apollo really believe I would even believe him in the first place?

Still, I could make use of this. For a while, I have been subtly using a spell to end this farce. But with the huge area, I had to cover, I still had to win some time for it to take effect.

Besides I really didn't lose anything by telling him this. "I have two reasons for not wanting to join you. The first, as you already know is that since the moment I first saw you, I have found myself repulsed with your very existence. If you think I'll serve you in any capacity, then you're delusional. The universe will free-"

"Yes, yes, I already know you don't like me. You've made it clear. What's the second reason?" He asked, sounding oddly tired.

"Lady Astraea told me not to. That if I entered patronage with the incorrect deity I would suffer a fate worse than death. I still don't know who the correct deity is, but you're definitely not it."

"Astraea? What would she know? Wha-?" Apollo's tiredness turned to rage as he sensed that I believed what I just said. "That spineless naive coward rage quitter! Always so high in her stupid ideals of justice." He suddenly screamed out loud.

A gust of wind blew throughout the alleyway and with it came something else.

Hu oh…

"It wasn't enough, that she stole for herself some of the most beautiful, talented, and bright adventurers with her stupid idealistic views and then led them to their deaths." He continued to dig his, I mean, to rant out loud.

I had my senses trained on the adventurers around me, so I hadn't sensed her before.

"Then, like always, when things go south, she packs up and leaves. Leaving the rest of us to clean up the mess. Not only that but then she poisons the well as well." As Apollo regained his breath, he suddenly froze.

Right, Apollo was the god of music as well, wasn't he?

No wonder, he could sense how screwed up he was.

Apollo immediately unleashed his divinity and opened his mouth to give a command.

Do-

But he was slow. Way too slow.

Ryuu's magnificent figure landed silently in front of Apollo. Her green cloak flapped gently on her back, and as if the world stood at a stop and waited for her to act, Ryuu grabbed a pouch from her belt and rammed it head-first into Apollo's throat pouring the contents inside.

"My lord!" Hyakinthos exclaimed in shock and jumped at her. His hand clenched into a fist, prepared to swing.

Ryuu barely glanced at him before effortlessly weaving out of the way of his attack and contemptuously backhanding the shit out of him.

The captain slammed head first on the wall next to me, unconscious.

Apollo's AIM fluctuated chaotically as he puked his guts and whatever Ryuu had given him into the ground.

The adventurers around us froze in shock at seeing his captain so easily defeated and their god humiliated on the ground.

I had to ask Ryuu what did she give to Apollo. I didn't know doing that was even possible!

It didn't need to be said, but I was currently feeling really humbled.

I still had a lot to learn.

"Lady Astraea didn't leave because she wanted, you poor excuse of a god." Ryuu's cold voice echoed throughout the otherwise silent alley. "She left because I begged her to. Don't you dare insult her."

Then, she kicked him in the balls.

Never mind humbled, I was in awe. Even if I didn't have the deal with Astraea, I decided that I would still help her in the future if she ever needed my help.

I needed her to teach me her ways. No matter the cost.

Seeing their god being assaulted snapped the mages out of their shock. They decided to use the last of their mind to unleash some elemental attacks on her.

Not that I was going to let anything interrupt her. I wanted her to kick him in the nuts again.

She snapped her hand to the hilt of her sword, ready to defend herself. But a couple of my ice barriers shot in her direction and shielded her from the attacks.

She turned in my direction briefly and nodded with a confused silent thank you.

Both of us acknowledged that she didn't need my help. But I wanted to contribute to Apollo's ass-kicking. So, I gave her a pleading look and made it as if to kick with my leg.

She understood me as a certain amount of amused vindication began coloring the raging indignation being transmitted by her musical field.

She turned to the god puking his guts out and making sounds more typically produced by pigs being slaughtered and said. "Besides, how dare you talk about my lady fleeing and leaving you behind to clean up the mess, when I have never seen nor heard of your familia helping in our battle against Evilus. Your familia might lack the strength." She said giving an unimpressed look at the adventurers watching. "But if you could track down my friend, then you were clearly resourceful enough to help!" Then he kicked him again for good measure.

I was without words.

This was great. Ryuu was the best. The only way to make this better was a couch and some popcorn.

Well, alright, a kick to the face would probably still make this better.

Lissos gritted his teeth and said. "If you think we'll let you continue-."

"Your familia's cowardice potentially cost me my familia." Ryuu's cold words stopped the adventurers from rallying with their sub-commander's anger.

"Or considering your gods' disdain for my goddess, maybe you were an accomplice to some of their actions?"

"N-" cough "Ne-" cough. Apollo tried to plead for his familia innocence. Ryuu ignored him and glanced with murderous intent at the now trembling adventurers.

"No…""No, we didn't""We just weren't strong enough""Lord Apollo told us to not involve ourselves other than relieving civilians."

The responses from the adventurers started coming in mass, saying that they weren't accomplices, that they were ordered to not take action, or that they were too weak to help.

Ryuu glanced at me in askance. As much as I wanted to shake my head and transmit that they were lying, I couldn't. I wouldn't cross that line. Knowing her, she would rampage and then regret it for the rest of her life when she learned the truth.

I wouldn't do that to her.

In the end, they weren't her target.

They were mine.

So with reluctance, I nodded my head and confirmed that they were telling the truth.

"I see, in that case. If you don't have the will to help, don't get in the way of those who do." She said walking up to me. "Come on, Regis. It's getting late and we have a lot to do." Then she jumped towards the rooftops.

Creating a quickly raising pillar of ice underneath me, I stepped on the rooftops. The Apollo adventurers stepped out of my way as I followed after her.

The Apollo familia didn't bother me for the rest of the day.

/////////////

"Did I do something unnecessary?" Ryuu's words took me by surprise.

We were running side by side through the rooftops on the way to the place Ryuu wanted to check today.

"What do you mean? You got me out of there. I should be thanking you."

"I could sense that you had a plan. I don't know if I ruined it by appearing like I did. I just couldn't let the insults towards my lady go." She said a little remorseful.

"Oh! No, no! Don't worry. The way you dealt with them was far more satisfying than what I had in mind." I said with a chuckle. "The way you kicked Apollo in the nuts was incredible."

Filling the entire area with CO2 was taking too much time anyway.

She blushed lightly. "I see."

"Wait, if you didn't know whether to jump in, that means that you were there for a while…" I looked at her in realization.

She avoided looking at me and jumped ahead without replying.

"Hey, don't jump away from me!" I said catching up with her.

Three buildings later of her doing her best to not look at me, she broke under my stare and replied reluctantly, "Since you trapped Apollo and the level 3 in ice."

"Wait, that long!? That's almost since the beginning!" She looked away at my exclamation and fled towards the next rooftop.

"I'm sorry. I was curious about how you would deal with them." She eventually said as if she had been caught taking cookies from the jar when she shouldn't. "Ah, but I only didn't interfere because I could sense that you had everything under control. If they had somehow taken you down, I would have definitely saved you."

I sensed a slight irregularity in her AIM. She didn't lie, but it wasn't the whole truth.

Wait, did she say that she sensed I wasn't going to lose?

"How could you tell?" I asked more curious than miffed that I could have avoided the whole situation.

"Your song. Apart from a moment where it almost transformed into something else, your tune was always strong and steady."

"But didn't that simply mean that I wasn't hurt at that moment?" I asked as we neared one of the big streets that divided the districts.

After we jumped from one side to the other, she said. "On its own yes, but when I sensed your and Apollo's familia song, I could tell that yours was still stronger."

Oh wow. That was impressive. If her ability let her determine who is stronger in any situation…

"I see you've been practicing. You'll have to tell me what you've learned because that sounds a lot like some kind of precognition" I said with a smile.

"I'm still discerning what it is exactly that I feel. There's a lot that I don't understand." She said fingering her pendant.

Wait, if she's spent the whole day practicing…

"You just got caught up experimenting with your new senses, didn't you?" I teased.

"Shut up." She said jumping away. Her blush spread to her ears.

She was so cute when she was embarrassed.

Eventually, I caught up with her again and asked. "By the way, I've been wondering, what exactly did you give to Apollo?"

"Ground cinnamon." She replied nonchalantly.

My eyes widened as I remembered a certain viral challenge from my original world.

"Pfff, Th-that's kind of genius, and hilarious. How did you come up with it? And why did you have a whole pouch of the stuff?"

"Lady Astraea told us to always carry a bag with us in case we found ourselves confronted with a god from Evilus. She told us that it was a sure way to disrupt their divinity without risk hurting them."

Lady Astraea sure had a devious side. I approved.

"You're not angry at me?" Ryuu asked a little unsure.

"Nah, not really. I'm a little annoyed at the situation, but it's not your fault. I'm also the last one who could tell you off for being distracted by your ability.

"I see." She said with a sigh and a curious look.

"By the way, where are we going?" We had been running for a while.

"We're here." She said, jumping down from the rooftop.

After landing beside her, a nondescript door that looked like it had been grown from the brick wall presented itself before us. A sign with stylish but spooky handwriting was glued to it.

It said 'Witch's Secret House'.Last edited: Apr 19, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Kathador, CILinkz, SotDRPAvenger and 135 othersMystic QuillApr 19, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks TisakuExperienced.Apr 19, 2025Add bookmark#149Mystic Quill said:Finally, since Apollo prohibited me from moving, I had to dedicate a fourth formula that pumped air in and out of my lungs. It didn't take a lot of particular willpower, but lungs in general were delicate. And since my chaotic ability had the annoying tendency to make a mess of things, when not controlled with mathematical precision. I had to dedicate an annoying amount of focus to make sure I didn't shred my lungs into pieces.-Or you could do the simple thing and just cycle the air pressure around your chest.-

Mystic Quill said:archer yelled as a fireball set a chain reaction. The shock waveoff a

Mystic Quill said:Breath, Regis. Breath. You had bigger problemsBreathe, Regis. Breathe

Mystic Quill said:lack the strength" She said

Chapter 22

"Ryuu! Wait! Give me a moment." I said catching my breath.

Ryuu, who was about to touch the stone knob from the weird looking door, recoiled slightly at my voice. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

I smiled wryly at her words. "I need a moment to heal."

I took a health potion from my pouch and chugged down a good third of it.

Even if my body didn't hurt as much as when I was electrocuting myself, I could still feel some residual damage from my spell and the backlash from trying to mess with Apollo's AIM.

"Ah sorry, I didn't notice." She said, wincing a little. "Do you want me to use my spell?"

"Don't bother." I said, shaking my head. "The potion is going to be more than enough. Can you tell me a little about what you know about this shop?"

As much as I wanted to see Ryuu's magic again, I felt I would be taking advantage of her as the damage wasn't that severe.

She squinted her eyes at me slightly, before nodding to herself seemingly satisfied, seemingly convinced at something and continued.

"The Witch's Secret House is a very special shop that sells magical wares. From staves, to mundane books about magic, and from time to time the rare grimoire."

"That seems pretty standard for a magical shop. What makes this place so special?" I had an idea of what was going on thanks to my sense, but was interested in what she knew.

"The shop wares are of extremely high quality. Some of the greatest mages of the city often buy here. But there's two things that make this place special." She said raising her index finger. "The first, is that the shop sells high quality artefacts made with neither the god's runes nor the mystery development ability."

"Oh." I said surprised. My interest officially piqued.

As far as I knew, enchantments in this world were the result of mortals using the strings of runes the gods gifted them to create quality of life objects. Like stoves, washing machines, lamps, etc. While the other was using development abilities to infuse an object with magical properties.

The most common development skill used for simple artifacts was Blacksmith. But, for the really high end stuff, the mystery development skill was necessary.

"Does the owner use Blacksmith then?" I asked.

But she shook her head. "That's what makes this shop special. Leona, the owner, is an ancient level 3 adventurer with mage and mixing."

What? Then, how does she...

The Mixing development skill gives the adventurer access to alchemy. It shouldn't allow one to create magical objects beyond potions and maybe materials with special properties...

No, considering the results I was getting from my ability, that didn't matter right now.

"What's the second reason?" I asked.

"The shop location changes almost every day. There's tons of stories and even legends around this place about how the shop will appear for those who are in need of it" She said raising a second finger, a hint of expectation in her voice. "I spent almost the entire day searching for it."

"So it was like that." I said as the weird numbers in my head started to make sense.

"You're not surprised?" She asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"Not really," I smiled wryly. "I mean, I'm not sensing anything beyond the door, apart from some spatial magic that is."

"What? Spatial magic... like portals and teleportation?" she said with a puzzled face.

"Yeah, the shop location is probably in a fixed place and the witch has managed to create a door that creates a portal." At least that's what I thought.

As to how she managed to do this with just mage and mixing...

Suddenly, I had a bad feeling.

"So that's how it worked... I didn't even know that was possible. But where did he even find something like this to recognize it at a glance?" She mused to herself while narrowing her eyes at me, a hint of wonder and suspicion entering her field.

I was going to make it as if I hadn't heard that.

"Yeah, anyway. I guess you're searching for cues to the origin of those invisibility cloaks."

She nodded. "Yes, invisibility cloaks do appear in the black market, but they are rare and expensive. But, the assassins just had too many of them to have bought them there. This was one of the few places I could think could have made them in such numbers."

"That makes sense." I said, agreeing with her reasoning.

True invisibility cloaks were the fruit of mystery, and like the skill, they were incredibly rare.

After we examined the assassin's remains, we noted that all their cloaks ceased to work after a while.

Lili was really disappointed when she noticed the fabric losing its transparency on our way up.

But with the cloaks visible, we noticed that they were all identical. So it made sense that Ryuu spent all day looking for this shop since its peculiarities made them a believable origin for the cloaks.

Suddenly my senses pinged me of something and I looked back towards a nearby alley.

"Did you sense something Regis?" Ryuu asked, noticing my sudden movement.

But I shook my head and replied. "Don't worry. It was just a stray cat."

Feeling the healing potion having run its course, I stretched my arms and back. Still a little sore, but it was good enough.

"Anyway, I'm ready. Let's go." I said returning my attention to the door

She nodded seriously and opened the door.

A spike of magical energy registered to my senses and we found a spiral staircase beyond the door.

Despite the obvious bit of incredibly interesting magic that I noted into my Tome for review, I couldn't help the grimace on my face.

I had a really bad feeling about this.

////////////////////////

Ryuu Lion POV

The finely shaped but worn stone stairs seemed to stretch forever as we descended them. The light from the setting sun had long since left us as we descended underground. Only the dim and spooky green light of the magic lamps guided our path.

Not that the atmosphere of the place intimidated me. The dungeon and the war against Evilus had long since built up my resistance to such a thing.

No, what unsettled me was the melody I was hearing from my comrade.

A comrade...

The thought that I made a new comrade warmed my heart while simultaneously making it ache at the possibility of losing that warmth again.

No! He was strong! Stupidly strong and smart! He couldn't possibly die!

Alise was really strong as well...

I closed my eyes, and as I felt myself starting to spiral, I immersed myself in my own melody. The warm and hopeful tune of justice that beat within my heart soon reverberated throughout my body and cleared my mind.

A sad and pained smile stretched my lips as I remembered Alise and the rest, but at least it calmed me down.

I took a deep breath and exhaled in relief, glad that my new technique worked.

The day before, we had a really interesting conversation while we returned from the dungeon after our encounter with the minotaurs. It was about what I wanted to do with my newfound ability.

I might not get negatively influenced by my AIM anymore thanks to the magical earrings. But according to Regis, the magical jewelry he gifted me were supposed to be learning aids.

If I wanted to truly advance, I had to improve myself lest the learning aids become a crutch.

But I didn't know how to go about it.

So today, while I searched for the witch's shop, I spent time simply listening to everything with the help of my ability.

That's when I noticed that it had a certain quirk, it had the bad habit of listening and taking bits and pieces of the songs from the people around me.

That's when I remembered when Lili told me her struggles with the corruption caused by her god's wine.

With those bits of knowledge, and a long meditation session. I thought I managed to purge my own aura from the worst of the malice left behind by my enemies and filled it with the tunes I associated with my familia.

I knew that, in a way, I was just coping, and that it was selfish of me. But having their melodies resonate within me soothed my pain and it gave me courage.

Sometimes, I could feel as if their music was trying to talk to me... But I knew it was wishful thinking. I couldn't possibly talk with the dead.

Anyway, while it obviously wasn't perfect. At least like this, I felt I could move forward without losing myself.

Although, I had the gut feeling that I would still have to keep an eye on my AIM and mental state.

But I digressed.

With the music of my familia pushing me forward, this place couldn't possibly intimidate me.

What unnerved me, was the apprehension I could feel coming from Regis.

His melody was usually like the choir full of mischievous children back at the Ryuumila forest. It was a melody made of five distinct tunes that made it seem like they were trying to playfully run away to sing on their own. But paradoxically, the tune was like a clock, always on time. Always refined, with a precision that almost seemed otherworldly with its lack of imperfections.

But the song that always spoke of wonder, even in the midst of deadly battle, had suddenly shifted.

Regis, who had always been composed. The impossible mage who has overturned my understanding of the world in just a couple of days. Someone who with but a glance of a situation, usually already had a plan and a solution formulated to the last detail...

He was uneasy.

Why? What wasn't I seeing?

As much as I made myself seem knowledgeable about the shop. The truth was, that I had never been in it. I only knew it by its reputation and the stories about the place. So I couldn't possibly tell.

Eventually, we reached the end of the stairs where a door with a stained glass window formed the picture of a witch.

With a sideways look at my frowning companion, I opened the door. And was slapped in the face with the abundant magical energy that came from within.

I snapped my newfound senses shut at the overwhelming feedback I was getting. It was just for a moment, but the tune I got from the shop was overwhelming in its chaotic strength.

That wasn't the magical energy of a Level 3...

Shaking my head, I examined the room.

There were a couple bookshelves filling the wall on the right. They were full of books about legends, enchanting, runes, alchemy and magic.

I also spied what I could only conclude to be a grimoire on the top shelf. Its powerful aura impossible to miss with my elven sensitivity even with the shop overflowing with magical energy.

On the left were shelves with a wide variety of potions, all of them properly labelled. At a cursory look, I spotted the regular health, mind potions and antidotes that were used by every adventurer. But, there were also more exotic brews, like elixirs, poisons and potions that baffled me as they made me frown.

How did she make a potion that increases your speed if you were in the shade? Now I wasn't an expert or anything, but that seemed oddly specific to me. How did she even translate...

No, stop Ryuu. Best to not dig deeper into the madness.

Anyway, both sides of the entrance were filled with barrels. Staves of different sizes and styles were stuffed in them. All of them were topped by differently coloured magic stones that pricked my magical sense with their powerful presence.

Finally, facing the entrance was the witch wearing traditional robes. A powerful feeling pendant with a murky violet glass ball clung to her neck while a wide witch hat topped her head.

She was old and it was obvious that time hadn't been kind to her.

Even with most of her body covered by her robes, I could tell that her skin and face was ravaged by angry red lumps. What wasn't seemingly diseased was either disfigured or covered in wrinkles and old scars.

Suddenly I understood Regis' strange attitude, even with the ancient woman looking one foot away from death, frailness or weakness wasn't what I was getting from her.

Even with the expected aura from a Level 3, there was something uncanny about her.

Something that screamed danger.

She sat behind a big desk full of magical trinkets with a couple of bubbling cauldrons next to her. She was lazily stirring one with a glass rod while turning the page though a thick tome with the other when she noticed us.

"Oh? New customers?" The witch said, her voice broken by age but strong all the same.

"Good evening ma'am, and maybe. Could you answer some questions for us first?" I said politely. As unsettling as she was, impoliteness was beneath me.

"Of course my dear. What can this old witch do for you?"

Before answering, I focused on my necklace and opened my senses to the world ever so slightly.

The room came alive with a chaotic flurry of melodies and lights. They came from everywhere, the walls, every magic item, even some of the books and potions emanated light and a tune. So much so, that I could barely focus on the witch.

What was this place? I knew that I was still inexperienced with these senses, but even in the dungeon when I was in the middle of a huge melee with the minotaurs, they weren't this overwhelming.

Also, why was almost every magical item emanating its own distinct melody? I thought I could only sense living things with my senses...

But apparently that wasn't the case as similar to the dungeon, even the walls of the room resonated with the tune coming from the witch.

And why did the overall melody remind me of a pale and lifeless copy of Regis?

It was weird, but I was getting distracted. After somehow getting a lock on the witch's melody, I said "I would like to buy an invisibility cloak."

"Oh, that's a rare ware you're searching for." She replied, her eyes squinted at me from beneath her pointy hat.

"I'm in need of it. Can you make one?" I asked, making eye contact with the white-eyed witch.

White eyes... Was she blind? No, she was just reading. Maybe a skill?

"Unfortunately, I can't make one for you, young adventurer." She said, shaking her head after a moment.

I was having difficulties keeping my senses on her music with all the conflicting auras in the room, but I didn't hear any irregularities.

So, it seems this wasn't the place where the invisibility cloaks were made after all.

"I see, that's unfortunate." I replied and called out towards my companion. "Regis, is there anything here that interests you?"

But only his footsteps as he wandered around the room reached my ears.

Uhm..., Why wasn't he saying anything? Usually this is when he would cue me if I read the situation right.

Turning towards him, I saw him in front of the barrel full of magic staves. His hands were clenched shut and trembling slightly.

"...here too?" I heard him mutter to himself, his voice sounding devastated to my elven ears.

What was wrong with him?

Alarmed, I focused my senses on him, but I heard very little.

Where usually a song of magic and wonder played out for everyone to hear, there was nothing. Just an oppressive pressure emanated from him, like the calm before a storm...

"Regis, is something wrong?" I asked worried as a sense of incongruity filled me.

The witch next to me suddenly tensed, the chair creaking against the floor drawing my eyes at her. But all her attention remained on my pale looking companion.

I didn't like the sudden glint that entered her milky eyes and the way her face shifted. It held the greedy face of someone who had just found an unbelievable treasure.

I subtly palmed my sword, my instincts screaming at me.

Regis didn't reply to my question. Instead, he kneeled to the floor and inspected the barrel. Then, his head snapped towards the bookshelves and started walking towards them. He ignored the books and inspected the bookshelf instead.

A quick glance sideways revealed the disgusting visage of the witch salivating, lost in her fantasies and looking at my friend like a piece of meat.

Restraining myself from cutting her in half, I tried to see what it was that Regis was looking for. Squinting my eyes, suddenly I soon saw what it was.

Runes.

There were runes engraved on the bookshelf. But... they were… wrong?

Something that was taught to every elf in the forest was to identify how runes looked. Even if we didn't learn how to use them, knowing when a contract was genuine was vital. The runes that I now noticed all over the shop were all slightly wrong.

Why? Was that the secret of the witch enchanting? No, they simply shouldn't work. Regis' reaction wouldn't make sense if that was the case.

"Oi, Witch." I heard suddenly Regis say, his voice as hard as a diamond and his language lacking his usual politeness. "How many people did you kill to accomplish this?"

Wha-? Sacrifice? What was he talking about?

"And worse, how many small children did you burn to power it all?" He growled, the smell of ozone reached my nose as my hair stood on end.

"That's certainly an accusation to make, boy. To my knowledge I have never sacrificed anyone, all I ever accomplished was thanks to my studies and efforts." The witch said a little taken aback, but her field felt smooth like butter without any irregularity that would tell me she was lying.

"I see, so that's how you avoided giving yourself out whenever a deity asked about your methods. You probably don't even let any of the more per ones in here either." He said, his voice cold and clinical. His usual enthusiasm at discovering something new was nowhere in sight.

"Hmmm, I don't have any idea about what you could possibly be talking about." Her words continued ringing true to my ears, confusing me.

"Stop pretending, witch! Your runes are similar enough to the divine to possess meaning but different enough to be malleable and avoid the eldritch consequences of messing up. It's a novel idea, I can give you that." He said a tiny bit of emotion returning to his voice which quickly turned to a growl. "But to create such a new runic language you would either need the support of a large society, or the sacrifice of countless people to power it."

"That's an interesting hypothesis. But again completely unfounded, I had no need for such methods. Was that perhaps how you made those interesting magical items on your person?" The witch calmly asked teasingly.

My hand clutched my pendant and I looked at Regis, suddenly having a bad feeling.

It was something I had been curious about too. How did he learn to create magical objects? Where did he learn all this knowledge I had never heard of? And why was he still accusing the witch when I could feel her telling the truth.

Not that I doubted him, but I had to recognise that the mage held a lot of sectrets.

Regis field suddenly unfurled angrily and chaotically. Lightning, fire and wind jolted around his body for a moment, before he found my eyes and his magic died down and took a deep breath.

But as his music reached me, I realized that he didn't calm down. Not truly, his fury just went cold.

I had never seen him like this...

"My craft is given meaning by my soul and experiences, and then is powered by whoever is using them. But yours, your items are universal, aren't they?" He squinted at her and continued. "Your origin is space related, probably something along the lines of a concept like Boundaries. Certainly an excellent origin for an alchemist. So then why? Why did you have to twist it like this?"

"Again, boy. I have no idea what you're talking about. Do you have any proof of your accusations?" Regis glared at the witch.

"Your appearance." He replied instantly. "It tells me that you just tried to incorporate other people's personal realities to your own and kept yourself alive through sheer brute force with powerful healing elixirs. But even then, I can tell it wasn't enough, aren't I right, Undead?"

Undead? Like skeletons and zombies? What was he talking about? The witch was still alive, I could hear her heartbeat.

"Kukuku, those are some hurtful things you're saying. I might be old, but I still possess a living body." The witch truthfully said to my senses.

"Why do I even bother..." I heard him mutter and felt his melody shift, his battle intent crystalizing, making me tense and grip my sword tighter.

"Regis? What...?" I asked for clarification.

He gave me a quick sideways glance, his eyes widened imperceptibly and said. "Don't let her puppet misdirect you, Ryuu. Her true body is the necklace." And then unleashed a lance of lightning suddenly lashed out from his side.

Two staves flew from the barrels and intercepted the lightning, grounding it to the floor.

"Kukuku," The witch laughed. "I guess I shouldn't have expected to fool someone as blessed as you. Aren't I right, child of the root?"

I was so lost. But, thankfully my body still reacted and I jumped back and unsheathed my sword. Just to barely duck in time to dodge the gust of wind that Regis threw my way.

"Wa-" Any outrage or question I could have at his spell aimed my way was immediately silenced as I heard the glass breaking behind me.

Disturbing bubbling and steaming noises emanated from behind me.

I realised with some dread that I had dodged in the direction of the shelf with the potions.

"Ryuu, to me, now!" Regis yelled. Hearing the urgency in his voice, I sprinted to his side.

"Kukuku, such foolishness, such delicious youth..." Every stave of the room rose and pointed itself at us. "You certainly are knowledgeable. But, I question your wisdom though? Someone like you should know better than to attack a witch in her workshop."

An elemental barrage that left the entire Apollo familia siege from earlier in the dust was unleashed upon us.

Iron sand surged from Regis' enchanted pouch in a torrent, forming buzzing tendrils and quickly enveloping us in a defensive cocoon. Impacts from all sides rang an instant later making me cover my ears as the loud static noises and impacts threatened to deafen me.

"Regis, what is happening?!" I asked.

"The witch is a witch." He said, gritting his teeth in concentration.

'That doesn't explain anything!' I wanted to scream, but that wouldn't be useful and I didn't want to distract him either.

I tried to peer through the iron sand to search for an opening I could use. I saw as fireballs, lightning and different projectiles were being thrown our way. Most of them were being dispelled before they even reached us. From time to time, one or two would gong against an iron tendril.

But, I couldn't see an opening. Even with my agility, I would take some damage if I tried to leave. Luminous wind would require Regis to open the shield which would give the witch an opening.

In the end, there was only one thing I could do.

[Noah Heal]

The bright green circle flared in front of my hand and exercised its effect on my tired companion.

"Thanks Ryuu, that's helpful."

My Noah Heal spell not only healed damage, but also helped regenerate some stamina. Since Regis had been in the encounter with the Apollo familia, I figured out this would be useful.

Still, we were in a stalemate. The dense magical energy in the shop had barely diminished since the start of the fight, and while I could see that Regis was getting better at countering the barrage, some projectiles still got past him before being shredded by the iron sand.

And even with my spell, I could see drops from sweat starting to fall from his face. His magic was visibly straining and tiring him out.

I had to do something, but my mind came with nothing. In the end, I didn't know enough about the situation to know what to do.

So I asked someone who seemed to know. "Regis, what can I do?"

"Continue healing me, also try to pinpoint the witch's exact position. I'm barely managing to track her magic. Also when you do, be ready to cover for me."

"Got it."

Trying to access my senses through the pendant while I maintained my magic, might have been one of the more difficult things I had ever done. But my endless practice and mastery of concurrent casting made it possible.

Just to hear my own field singing Regis' heart and story in a masterful and beautiful melody. One full of his struggles, his triumphs and his dea-.

Wha-? How? Why didn't he warn me that my healing magic sounded so devoted and embarrassing?

Lady Astraea! Why did you even make the skill like this?

Did he even hear it like I do?

Suddenly, I remembered how perplexed he seemed when I first healed back in the dungeon.

He definitely heard...

Gaaah, this was so embarrassing. I could feel the heat emanating from my ears.

No, wait, Ryuu stop it. You're in battle, you need to find the witch.

Trying to ignore Regis' melody, even if I was curious to know more about him, I tried to track the witch's position.

I quickly found her body, it had long since been knocked out and ravaged by the elements. It was bleeding out, lifeless, behind the desk next to the cauldrons.

Regis must have nailed her with a spell a while ago.

But the barrage of potions and magic at us didn't stop. The magic in the shop was as strong as ever.

Dozens of different songs passed through my ears confusing me and making it difficult to find the core of the witch.

"Kukuku, do you think killing my body would be enough?" The voice of the witch reverberated throughout the room. "Ah? Such beautiful magic, such a beautiful soul. Boy, you'll be mine!"

As I was trying to make sense of her position. No, probably because I was trying to sense her position, it was why I sensed it before Regis could. The walls of the room music was stronger than before.

Guided by instinct more than anything else, I looked upward. And there it was, where before there was the usual glow of a magic lamp. Now, the gem of the witch pendant was perched where the magic stone laid before.

But, the lamp the witch's core clung to wasn't a regular one. The glass was twisted in such a way that the light was slowly forming letters on the ceiling.

The image of Regis doing something similar with ice and fire flitted through my mind, and I realised that whatever magic the Witch was going to use was near completion.

There wasn't any time.

"Regis! Let me jump!"

He gave me a side eye, but nodded. I shivered momentarily as I felt my body take some electrical charge. But I took that as his signal and jumped.

The iron sand tendrils that formed the defensive cocoon parted harmlessly around me as I passed through. Sword in hand, I thrusted it through the pearl.

The magical circle broke instants before completing.

The barrage of magic below stopped instants later as I landed from my attack.

"Is it over?" I heard Regis pant, his hands on his knees.

"No." I replied, the music coming from the room was still going strong despite having broken the witch's core.

"Kukuku, a pity. You just had to be that perceptive." The voice of the witch reverberated throughout the room.

Searching for her position, I saw as the fragments of her core started pulling themselves together and fusing into another unified whole.

"Regis, there! It's regenerating!" I yelled, I was tempted to attack, but with my physical attack having been ineffective, I was hopeful that Regis could do something with his magic.

He turned towards where I was facing. Squinted his eyes and concentration and made a crossbow-like gesture with his hand. Iron sand coalesced at the tip of his finger, was melted, quenched and shot like lightning in an instant.

My ears rang as the projectile thundered across the room and shattered the gem a second time.

"Fufufu, it's futile. But that was interesting, using lightning to hurl a projectile at the speed of sound. Show me more!" The witch said as her core regenerated moments later.

The staves across the room started floating again, and I returned to Regis' side just in time for him to put his iron sand up to intercept the magic projectiles.

"What do we do? She keeps regenerating." I asked, as a drop of sweat fell down my cheek.

"That core is the source of her magic. I'm sure of it." He replied, his eyes narrowed in concentration as the tendrils of his cocoon lashed out at the incoming magic. "But, there's something else I can't quite tune my senses to. Something that powers her regeneration."

Something else that powers her regeneration? But there wasn't anything else in the room...

When we destroyed her core, the potions, staves and magical items dropped to the ground. They were still singing with their own melodies, but it was clear that the witch lost control of them for a moment.

The only thing that still emanated the witch tune was...

The room!

"Regis, it's the room! That's the only other melody that was like the witch's when we destroyed her core!"

"That's possible...? No, got it." He said a little flabbergasted but quickly mastered himself and then said. "You destroy the core, leave the room to me. Make sure to dash back quickly after striking. Be ready, I'll give you an opening."

"Understood."

The magical barrage that followed was different from before, less fire and lightning and more stone, wood and rays of esoteric effects. Forcing Regis to summon more solid defences and his iron tendrils to lash out more frequently at they struggled to counter the more esoteric magics.

"Kukuku, so fire, lightning and iron are the elements you specialise in. Such a waste of a mindset for such a talent. Let's see how you deal with this."

Her words were punctuated by a putrid smell filling the room that my instincts recognised instantly.

Poison.

"Regis!"

"I'm on it." He coughed wetly, but a blast of wind lashed out with his words.

The smell and poison went away, but it was clear that it had an effect on him. Since he was still coughing and his iron sand slowed down a little.

Crap, he was unblessed. Even with the little dose it could still be really dangerous on him.

The chant for my healing spell rang out throughout the room before I realised what I was doing.

[Noah heal]

"Ryuu, cough cough I'm ready. Go for the core." He said, completely ignoring the pain he should have been in.

But, he was still poisoned, so I had to keep healing him...

His dark green eyes made contact with my own and I shivered at the sight.

"U-Understood." I paid as little attention to my spell as I could and focused on my senses to read the battle for the position of the witch.

His eyes were dead... shivers

I hated them.

The chaotic battlefield unfurled itself in the form of a melody. Regis' distinct furious song thundered the loudest in the room, but at the edges of his song I could hear mine trying its best to support him, giving him a solid footing to perform.

A solid footing, that I could feel another more sinister melody doing its best to erode. Doing my best to follow that melody, my eyes snapped towards the bookshelf. More specifically behind a book about legends that I now realised was a hollow. Just a book cover without the pages.

This time I didn't even need to speak, the moment I found the core. My body was already charged with lightning. So, I cut off my healing spell and charged.

Three lightning fast steps later, I could feel the glassy orb break through the handle of my sword.

I jumped back next to Regis and shouted. "Now!"

Regis' fivefold fragmented melody suddenly shifted and melded into one greater whole.

Its strength and complexity, incomparable to the previous one.

As the iron sand movements shifted around us and turned into volatile dark purple mass, I realised something.

"Ah, so this is your origin." The rapidly shifting mass was as musically beautiful to my ears as it was domineering to my adventurer instincts.

Instincts that were screaming at me, touch that and you'll die.

Make contact and you'll be undone.

The violet mass formed a rapidly speeding vortex around us and then expanded.

Regis grunted loudly when it made contact with the walls. Lightning, fire, earth, ice and wind chaotically flared around us.

Although, none of it harmed us in any way.

Replaying the effects in my head, I understood how it happened.

The fire was quickly extinguished with the ice, the pressure of the ice sublimating was countered with the wind, while the lightning struck the rocks that flew our way.

It was such a bizarre phenomenon that my mind unconsciously started working to figure out the why's.

Listening to the song, I realised that the spell was a risky one. As strong as it seemed, it wasn't robust. The fact that so many unnecessary steps were necessary probably meant that Regis hadn't completely perfected it yet.

As the shiver inducing vortex of death was dispelled, I could see that the room was completely wiped out. All the furniture and wares had been disintegrated and the rectangular shape of the room turned circular with us in the middle.

There was no place for the witch to hide her core anymore. Not that there was any kind of core remaining either.

There was no parrying or enduring that, death and obliteration were the only possible result of that spell.

Except, the grimoire remained unscathed on the floor.

How!

But even with that oddity, for a moment I thought that was it. The witch was dead. I couldn't hear the song anymore and the walls were silent.

But as if to mock us, I felt it a moment later.

A humming melody, poorly defined but there all the same. Not coming from the walls, but from the very space of the room. And it was increasing in strength by the moment.

"Kukuku, oh that, oh my, that, that was great. But I'll not be so easily defeated, oh blessed one." The voice of the witch said as the walls started to fill out, wood emerged from the walls and soon enough the shop was exactly as it was before we emerged.

Just, it was empty. There weren't any potions and staves anymore. Only the grimoire and the reformed witch core sitting on a stand on the desk remained.

Regis lashed out with a bolt of chaos towards the orb, disintegrating it completely. But it regenerated in less of a second.

"Oh, don't be so boring. As interesting as your chaos is, don't you have anything else?" The witch drawled mockingly, and was that a hint of disappointment? "Oh well, I was getting tired of this, and you two destroyed my shop and my body. I'll take your souls in exchange now. Equivalent exchange and all that, you know how it works. But don't worry, I'm going to make good use of that delightful magic of yours."

Runes appeared on the walls forming magic circles. First one, then another, and countless more soon followed being rapidly charged with magical energy.

"Regis, what do we do?" I asked, starting to panic a little. I was out of ideas as to how to kill that thing and the door had long since disappeared.

An earth shattering noise that shook the room and fragmented the circles on the walls was his reply.

"That core is definitely her body. I can feel her intent and magic coming from it. There's something else that 's keeping us from killing her." He said with his eyes closed.

The room kept shaking as Regis with a hand on the floor sent wave after wave of concussive forces.

"Do you think you can outlast me, boy?" The voice of the disembodied witch said. "You might be a priceless specimen with a great soul, but your mortal body will break down long before my legend!"

Badum Badum.

What was this? It was like my heart was pumping blood directly into my ears.

Badum Badum.

There was a battle going on outside, countless magic circles were formed and consequently broken on the walls, floor and ceiling of the shop. But I couldn't focus on it.

A certain restless energy filled my body, but It wasn't Limit off. I was far from the state necessary to trigger it.

My hands started shaking, this, this was a moment of significance, of resolution and I knew something for certain.

If I didn't figure it out, we were probably going to die.

That's what my gut was telling me.

Replaying the witch's sentence in my mind. Then it came to me.

Legend.

This state of mine came from when the witch uttered that word.

Why was it important?

My eyes laid on the surviving book on the floor.

How did it survive Regis' attack? That thing was destruction incarnate. As potent and magically dense the book was, it should have been obliterated.

Then again, the witch should also have been obliterated, and it was. But then, it came back.

"Like a legend." A voice that sounded suspiciously like Lady Astraea spoke in the root of my being. "For legendary songs and stories are like the stars. They come and go, but they never truly die."

"Witch! You killed countless people to get this power, didn't you!" I said.

"What of it?" The gem replied. "Not my fault idiotic adventurers reproduce and leave their children orphaned and alone. Ready and easy for me to harvest. Most of them were going to die anyway, it was just more efficient this way." The music coming from the gem wasn't disturbed, meaning that she said that truthfully.

Right, as a familia I realised, we might have been too tunnel focused. Going after the obvious bad guys and not solving the root of the problem that created those individuals in the first place.

That someone like her existed was proof of how broken our society was.

I would have to do better in the future.

Search for those preying on the weakest. And find a way to help the vulnerable to fall to monsters like this.

But that was for later. For there was an evil in front of me that the Astraea familia wouldn't hesitate to obliterate.

The music of my familia reverberated through my body and before I knew it, I was singing.

"In the sky of a now distant forest.

Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky.

Respond to my foolish voice,

give me now divine protection of starfire.

Give the mercy of light to the one that abandoned you.

Come, wandering wind,

the wandering traveler.

Cross the sky and run through the wilderness,

run faster than anything else.

Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy."

[Luminous Wind]

Orbs of wind and light filled the room, but they didn't strike. For something told me it wasn't the way.

"Oh! A new spell. Kind of boring though, just some dust and wind." I ignored the witch mocking words.

Instead, I let the song of the Astraea familia, the legend of our justice flow through my magic into the wind.

My melody, for the first time played out in the physical world. Announcing to the world that I wasn't dead. No, that the Astraea weren't dead.

I'll continue my familia's justice. I'll make it so that even when I die, our justice continues to play out and affect the world.

That way, my friends, no, our legend will never die.

"What do you think you're doing little girl? Giving us a performance? Ugh, it's kind of nauseantic though. I can just feel the naivete and hypocrisy radiating from it."

Regis gave me a confused side eye that then widened in surprise. For the witch hadn't noticed yet, but her speed with the runes had decreased slightly.

A tiny bit of wonder entered his eyes which combined with the wind and feeling of my familia on my back put a little smile on my face.

My music emanating from the orbs was starting to run out of tempo. My inexperience with the technique showing.

So, I dispelled all the orbs but one and gathered it in front of me. I gave Regis a smile and nodded towards the book on the floor and the core sitting on the table.

He nodded back and stood up from the floor and the shop stopped shaking. Magic circles started forming again on the walls.

"Oh, ran out of mind already boy?"

"Tell me something, witch, if you could start over again, would you?"

"Haa? Of course not, little mage. Would you throw all your efforts and knowledge to the trash for nothing?"

"Nothing, eh? Yeah, I guessed I wouldn't do it for nothing." And threw another bolt of chaos towards her core.

"Have you learned nothing, that won't wo-, Urk!" The witch grunted in pain. "You elf! What are you doing?" She shrieked at me with disbelief and anger.

For I was shredding the grimoire with my wind orb. This book, I realised, was the crystallization of her legend. Or so my instincts were telling me.

And legends could never die, at least not with physical attacks, for they are immaterial things. And as long as one person remembered, they would remain.

But this thing, this thing was just an anchor. An anchor piggybacking its resilience and channeling its power to regenerate the witch.

Pity then, that the Astraea familia had a long history of ending monsters like her.

The singing orb penetrated the book cover without resistance and finally the disgusting song of the witch came to an end.

Finally, we could breathe and I wanted to see if I could get some answers because I was still so lost.

But it was not to be, because moments later, Regis instead of sitting down to rest and cure the poison he started walking towards the empty desk of the witch.

"Regis! What are you doing?!" I said running towards him. "There's blood dripping from your nose. Don't you have an antidote?" It wouldn't cure him completely, but it would help.

"While I usually don't use it, I have a decent control over poisons. I'll finish purging it in a while." He replied without emotion.

Of course he could use poison too? Is there anything he didn't have control over? No, that didn't matter right now.

"But you must be in tremendous pain! What could be so important that it can't wait for you to get bett– a trapdoor?" There was indeed a trap door beneath the desk.

"Ryuu, you might not want to come with me here."

As if.

I was getting tired of being out of the loop. And underneath there it may be some intel on Evilus. "Are you underestimating me, Regis?"

He sighed at my response and said. "No, I know you're capable. I just would rather spare you the nightmares." I shivered slightly at his emotionless tone. But, I wasn't going to leave him alone.

"I'm coming with you." His eyes regained some life at my response but they seemed to age as they took me in.

"I see, then let's go."

Later at night, I would kind of regret following him that time.

But, at the same time, no I didn't.

No one deserved to have to clean up all that alone.

No one.

////////////

Eina Pov

"Come on Tim. Kiss her already..."

I sleepily flipped the page, my body heavy from a day full of hard work.

"Grrr, yeah I know you love her, now stop talking and kiss her."

My drooping eyes flew through the page, reading at a pace that would put normal people to shame.

"Come on already, Yawn Julia is tired of you talking for five pages straight, she's more than ready. Come one, hug and kiss her already. Yes that's it, come on, just a few centimetres more..."

Knock Knock

"Gah!" The book flew through the air and fell on the bed.

"Nonono. What page was I on?" Why did someone have to knock now! Stupid book had been edging me for days...

Ugh, who knocked at this time anyway? It was really late. My sister was studying in the school district and anyone else Who knew where I lived wouldn't come at this time.

The image of a sleep deprived Regis flashed through my mind.

"Shit. Uuuuh I'm tired." But, I told Regis that he could come by if he was in a pinch.

I just didn't expect him to take my offer so quickly!

With great effort, a little groan escaped my lips as I stood up from the bed and went to open the door. But I stopped myself before exiting the bedroom. My body wearing nothing but a thin pyjama was being reflected on the full body mirror.

"I should probably put on a jacket, at least." And did a one eighty towards the wardrobe.

Decently clothed, I reached the door to my apartment and called out. "Regis?"

"It's me." I heard his voice through the door.

Opening just enough to peek, to confirm it was him. You never know with Orario's current state. But, green eyes met my own. That combined with his characteristic cloak and weird magical aura that seemed to permeate his surroundings convinced me that it was him.

So, I let him in.

"I'm sorry to disturb you this late." He said, sounding genuinely remorseful.

"Nu uh." I said lightly. "Don't worry, I wouldn't have offered my place for you to rest if I didn't want you here."

But what could have happened if he decided to come? When I offered earlier in the day he seemed confident that he would be alright...

"You can hang your cloak on the rack. Are you alright? Have you eaten? Do you need anything?" I asked, the manners my family pounded into me kicking in despite the day of backbreaking work.

Now that he was in my well lit living room, I took him in. His clothes were dirtier than in the morning, but he didn't seem hurt. Just a little tired maybe?

"I'm not hungry, Miss Eina." He said, his voice sounding weird as if disgusted by my offer. "But, thanks for offering."

But, as he took off and hung his cloak and was faced with his unfairly beautiful visage, I was reminded that not all damage was always physical.

"I'll go look for some blankets, please make yourself at home here." I escaped the room.

Walking through the hallways towards my storage room, I rubbed my arms. Suddenly feeling the chill of the night.

"I did replace the magic stone on the heater, didn't I?" I mused aloud, even if I knew that I did and that I was just trying to distract myself.

Regis's eyes... They looked haunted. He told me that he spent the nights outside witnessing horrible crimes on the regular. While disgusted when he told me, he seemed fine in the morning.

What could he have possibly seen that left him in his current state?

What kind of horrors walk the street during the night!?

I shook my head to avoid thinking about the question. It might be cowardly of me, but...

I was too exhausted, I didn't want to know.

Returning to the living room with the blankets and some cushions. I tried to put on a lighthearted smile and said. "The bathroom is at the end of the hallway to the right, also feel free to use the kitchen if you need it." I didn't need to fake the yawn. "I was going to sleep before you knocked. We'll talk tomorrow okay."

A small smile showed on his face. "I see, thank you, Miss Eina. You're too kind. Have a good night." My smile wavered slightly, but I managed to say good night before walking away..

That smile, that compliment, for some reason, it felt like a dagger to the heart.

I knew it was wrong of me, as his advisor I should help him. But, I was tired and my instincts were screaming at me.

In the end, I couldn't bring myself to ask what was wrong.

I could help him better in the morning after a cup of coffee. My brain reasonably convinced me.

So I returned to my room.

As I took the jacket off and tucked myself in my bed, I still didn't know if my instincts were screaming due to fear or future regret.

/////////////////

Future regret, I decided. It was definitely pretty much an immediate future regret.

Lightning arcs burned and melted the ice that coated the floor of my living room, the couch was on fire while the wooden chairs and tables trembled and made noise against the ground.

Foggy breath escaped my mouth as I yelled in surprise as a gust of cold wind thrashing my bed hair and frosting the tips.

As for the source of all this mayhem.

"Regis! Wake up Regis! Damnit!" I yelled at the obviously suffering from nightmares boy trembling on the ground, his magical aura flaring chaotically.

I could have avoided this. If I hadn't been a coward, If I had summoned even a bit more energy, I could have helped him!

I tried to enter the room, but was immediately barred by the icy orb of light that had woke me up.

"Frey! Let me go! We have to wake him up. He's going to end up hurting himself." And destroy my house. I was still paying the loan dammit.

He didn't move and instead charged himself full of mana in warning. I gritted my teeth in helplessness. What was worse was that I could tell that the spirit was doing this out of worry for me.

"Regis, wake up!" I yelled my heart out.

Suddenly, as if the chaotic situation from a minute ago was a lie, peace returned to my apartment in an instant. The snow melted, the fire was extinguished, the chairs stopped rattling against the floor and the lightning went away.

"Miss Eina?" Regis muttered sleepily. "Is something wrong?"

"You ask if something is wrong?" I said in disbelief and some hysteria.

"Yeah?" Then he opened his eyes and looked around the destroyed living room.

"Oh, oh shit." The resignation and depression were clear in his voice.

"I'm so sorry Miss Eina, give me a moment please, I can fix this." He put a hand on the floor and then I was treated to a surreal sight.

My completely trashed apartment filled itself full of motion again. The furniture returned to their original place, the burned out sections of my house that were made of wood regrew in an instant as if new. The water damage reversed itself, and the damage to the stone floor was smoothed out.

It was as if time rewound itself. The only proof that something had happened at all, was some damage to the carpet that he left as it was.

Then he took a pouch of his bag and left it at the table. "I'm sorry about the carpet, There should be enough money in here to replace it.

After saying that, all his things that were all over the room, flew towards him and neatly packed themselves neatly in his bag.

Then he turned to me and said "Again, I'm really sorry Miss Eina. I'll see myself out. " He said, his head down.

By the time I snapped out of my shock at the spectacle, he was already at the door adjusting the cloak and ready to leave.

No, I couldn't just let him leave like this.

"Regis, wait!" I said, grabbing the pouch he left at the table as I ran towards him.

He didn't wait.

"I said wait! Dammit!" I yelled and managed to grab the tail end of his cloak as he was about to jump.

"Do you need anything Miss Eina? It's still late, you should go back to sleep." He said, not turning to look at me.

"Do you think you can just leave money and expect me to be happy?" He froze at my question.

"I don't want your money." I said harshly, His back dropped slightly making me wince.

Calm down Eina.

With a lighter voice, I continued "Instead, I expect you to be at the guild in the morning, and then, after my shift, you'll escort me and help me buy a new one, am I understood?"

He perked up at my words and finally faced me, a small self deprecating smile on his face. "Alright, I'll be there." Then, as he turned back he uttered.

"As always, Miss Eina is too kind."

"Wha-" But he was already in the air. The winds followed behind him.

As the cold breeze of the night robbed me of my warmth, making me shiver.

But this time, his compliment made my heart fill me with warmth.Last edited: Jun 1, 2025 Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Kathador, CILinkz, SotDRPAvenger and 97 othersMystic QuillMay 31, 2025Reader modeAdd bookmark Threadmarks trashtakerThe (un)lucky Patreon Saint of borrowed fortuneMay 31, 2025Add bookmark#155I'm a bit confused on what happened at the end Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:CitizenErased, Random Omnipotent Being, Mystic Quill and 2 othersVodkasheepVersed in the lewd.May 31, 2025Add bookmark#156trashtaker said:I'm a bit confused on what happened at the endI'm guessing the witch follows the path of the mapopriest and collected orphan tears in her basement or something.

Long story short they found bad news and the story just skipped to the reaction for whatever reason. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:SotDRPAvenger, XenomorphicFrog, Shance and 12 othersOtakuAQWORLD Veteran,mild-introvertJun 1, 2025Add bookmark#157well who knew there was a lich in orairo(shame on ya gods shame on ya atleast there has to be a curious god that want to know the rumors about that witch),and the mc keep on applying that rizz on miss eina(and ryu),just saying thanks for the chapter Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Deasentri, Astel Aurion, ARK7860 and 5 othersMacdaddyJohn BostockJun 1, 2025Add bookmark#158Thanks for the chapter Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Mystic QuillTisakuExperienced.Jun 1, 2025Add bookmark#159Mystic Quill said:index finger."The first, is. "

Mystic Quill said:of the more perspective ones in here either."perceptive

Mystic Quill said:An elemental barrage that left the entire Apollo familia siege from earlier in evidence was unleashed upon us.-?-

Mystic Quill said:But that was interesting, using lightning to impulse a projectile at the speedhurl

Mystic Quill said:expect you to be on the guild in the morning,at Like Quote ReplyReportMystic QuillGetting sticky.Jun 1, 2025Add bookmark#160Tisaku said:. "

perceptive

-?-

hurl

atClick to expand...Fixed, thanks. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:TisakuVox De HarlequinSelf-Taught Black Magic InitiateJun 2, 2025Add bookmark#161So you're also incorporating elements of Idol Theory, huh.

Very interesting.

I'm anticipating Regis translating the Legend that has followed him from the trials to the world of Orario. Like Quote ReplyReport Reactions:Astel Aurion, ARK7860 and Mystic QuillThreadmarks Chapter 23 Threadmarks Mystic QuillGetting sticky.Jun 25, 2025Add bookmark#162Chapter 23

Regis Pov.

"Hurya!"

Lili yelled as she thrust her icy sharp fingers into the orc's fat belly. The orc's flesh offered little resistance to the armaments inspired by the war shadows' knife-like fingers, and it reached its magic stone.

But the dungeon wouldn't leave a single monster alone on purpose.

But Lili clearly sensed, as the Imps immediately jumped at her back when the porcine monster burst into ash. The ambush tactics were embedded in their beings, urging them to action.

But I wasn't bothered nor alarmed at the sight. Lili had gone a long way over the course of this last month under my tutelage.

Without moving, the ice coating her arms sublimated and rushed to her back where translucent butterfly-like wings formed. Wings that fluttered for a moment and released ice particles into the air before they beat with strength propelling Lili into the air while pushing the particles in the imps direction.

Soon enough, the imps were on the floor. Their hands around their necks and coughing their lungs out as the sharp particles of ice shredded their lungs.