Originally, I had simply returned the grimoires I found back to their labyrinths. I had no need for physical copies; the knowledge was already stored in my database. If I ever needed one, I could simply replicate it.
But then I noticed Takson's intense curiosity about magic. I saw the look of genuine regret on his face whenever I'd had a clone dispose of a book. So, I changed my policy.
Now, whenever he had a spare moment, between his physical training and his divine magic practice, he would pour over the grimoires I had collected.
It was, I supposed, a hobby. I couldn't be sure.
My ability to read people was based on logical deduction, not true empathy. I didn't have a "mind-reading" function.
And he, in turn, never asked me to teach him the magic within them. Perhaps he was too shy, or perhaps it was a matter of pride. He simply read them, like a child lost in a storybook.
"Reminder: Set the book aside. There is a new commission," I said, interrupting his reading.
"Huh? Is it time for a test already?" he asked, placing the book into the travel pack I had fabricated for him. It was a "gift" he treasured, always setting it carefully aside before any battle.
The "test" was exactly what it sounded like. Every thirty days since he had begun combat training, I would accept an extermination quest from a nearby town or village.
He would complete the commission alone. I would merely observe, a proctor ensuring there were no fatal accidents.
"Correct," I said. "You have been in 'there' for two days. You are aware of this."
"Ah, haha..." He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. He knew.
To have spent so much time in the simulation and still be stuck on the second stage... it was a little shameful.
He conveniently forgot that he was still just a child, and that his physical age was a significant limiting factor.
Takson had a peculiar focus. Once he entered a combat state, the outside world ceased to exist. It was how he had been able to ignore his body's needs and fight for two days straight inside the virtual arena.
I handed him the commission scroll. He read it carefully.
"Spider-fiends... so that's the target this time?"
I remained silent. He understood. He packed the scroll and his holy book into his bag and picked up his axe.
"And this is the location?"
"Affirmative."
It was our usual routine. I would teleport him directly to the mission area. He had learned to ask for confirmation after one particularly embarrassing incident where he had nearly set off on foot for a quest location that was thousands of kilometers away.
"Alright, I'm heading out," he said with a determined look. "Don't worry, Teacher. I'll be back soon."
I didn't reply. I just watched his small figure disappear into the mountain forest.
He never asked about the demons in the virtual arena, just as he never questioned any of the strange things I did or produced.
His trust in me was absolute.
And I, in turn, operated on a simple principle: if he didn't ask, I had no reason to explain. That was how we had coexisted for the past six months.
Once my sensors confirmed he had entered the target's territory, I turned and walked in the opposite direction.
This time, I wouldn't be observing him personally. A clone would suffice.
Because according to my own scanners, there were a few other "pests" on this mountain that needed to be exterminated.
….
Inside a cave high up on the mountain, a strange figure stood amidst a gruesome scene. The floor was littered with the corpses of various animals and magical beasts, arranged in a wide circle.
At the center of the circle stood a gaunt man in a dark cloak and a mask stitched together from the hides of different creatures. A pair of sharp, black horns protruded from his head, marking him as a demon.
He held a hand out over the center of the room and began to chant.
A circle of black energy flared to life on the floor. It reached out with shadowy tendrils, dragging the carcasses of a large brown bear and an equally massive bird-like monster into its center.
The black energy enveloped them, and the demon watched with his hollow, pupil-less eyes as the two bodies were forcibly merged.
Like a child playing with clay, the energy molded the flesh and bone, twisting and reshaping the two distinct creatures into one grotesque new form: a chimera with the body of a bear, the talons of a bird, and a pair of leathery wings.
Once the shaping was complete, the black energy flowed into the newly-created body.
But a second later, the creature began to dissolve, its flesh melting into a puddle of viscous liquid before evaporating into nothingness.
"A failure," the man said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "It seems these two species are incompatible."
"But then, even I could not truly imagine what a stable fusion would look like."
Magic in this world was a function of imagination.
But it was not a wishing well. A mage could not create something they could not first clearly and completely visualize. And to visualize something, one needed knowledge.
To create fire, one had to understand the principles of combustion, the reaction of fuel and oxygen.
To fuse two creatures, one had to understand their biology. Imagination without knowledge was useless.
This demon had spent his three-hundred-year life studying one particular field of magic.
Fusion Magic.
Through countless gruesome experiments, he had become an expert biologist of sorts.
But his knowledge was still incomplete. He could combine mammals with other mammals, insects with other insects.
But to cross the barrier between different classifications of life... that was a puzzle he had yet to solve.
"More experiments are needed," he mused, stroking his chin.
Just then, his thoughts were interrupted as another demon burst into the cave.
"Master!" the newcomer shouted, his voice laced with panic.
….
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