The roar of the engine sounded like the purr of a wild creature, and as the car passed through the streets, many people turned to admire it. Perhaps that was why these cars were so ostentatious; everyone wanted to see the envious and astonished faces of strangers on the street.
Séraphine played carelessly with her hat as she rested her feet on the front of the car, disregarding the safety measures for these vehicles.
"Tell me what the wounds on these bodies looked like," Séraphine asked Officer Norman, who had to think for a moment before speaking, his face scrunched up, as if the image of his memories disturbed him quite a bit.
"There are no complete bodies; they are all decapitated. Their bodies seem to have been bitten off and their heads torn off, but they are nowhere to be seen. There are also cuts on their abdomens, whatever did this also ate their livers," even with all his police experience, Norman felt nauseous while describing the scenes.
"Hmm, the behavior of eating the liver of a prey is normal for some creatures, especially those from the spirit world, but their heads? In general, the skull of any beast is too hard.
So, we are dealing with a creature that has a special need, which is very common in these cases: it wants souls. Some bastard summoned a spirit creature on the construction site, but did not take the necessary measures for this situation." Séraphine may be only 19 years old, but her witch training, cultural background, and especially her agile mind enabled her to formulate part of the story quickly.
Although it was a conjecture of hers, she felt she could go this way to deal with the creature.
"If it's on a construction site, did someone try to summon a Spirit Servant to save some Aureum?
It happens a lot in my homeland, those bastard landowners want productivity without paying too much and end up dabbling like that," Tania, visibly annoyed by some bad memories from her past, said these words, making Séraphine's green eyes sparkle with excitement.
"Sure! Probably, the foreman or landowner met a random individual who pretended to be a wizard or ritualist, and they performed a ritual that went awry. Summoning rituals are intricate; you will need to outline the requirements and payment details accurately and precisely.
Otherwise... these things happen. It seems that the bribes... I mean, the donations the police will receive this month will be quite high; such a mess can easily expose and ruin anyone." Séraphine smiled as she imagined this situation, and a little idea popped into her head.
"As a police officer, I must warn you that you are defaming the city police, Miss Rohan," Norman warned, but he did so more out of protocol and to wipe his hands clean than anything else.
What did he care about a rich man's potential problems? He just wanted to help close this case and go home to bed! Fortunately, the car stopped outside the construction site, but Norman's face turned pale as he saw the scene in front of him.
Crowds, barricades, yellow lines, and most of all, the nightmare of many in the city, reporters, dozens of them holding the most dangerous weapon of the new era, their hand-held cameras.
"Looks like I'm going to have a new clipping," Séraphine muttered before opening the door.
As she stepped out of the car, a lot of flashes hit her, but she was used to it; she just posed, put her witch hat on her head, and made kissing gestures with her hands.
"Miss Rohan! Do you plan to solve the lurid incident at the construction site? Do you have any idea what could have caused such grotesque events?" a reporter asked the two key questions before the others.
"Yes and yes, but now I have to solve this, so give me some space." With these words, Séraphine moved her two hands and made a farewell gesture with them.
Then the aether surged from her soul, boiling through her body and spreading outward in a flood of blue energy that gently pushed the journalists in front of her, separating them into two halves and clearing a path for her to walk freely.
Many more flashes hit her body, but Séraphine was unperturbed and continued to walk toward the barricade that kept out the unaffiliated.
As she entered, she could already imagine one of the headlines that would appear in tomorrow's newspaper, something that made her laugh. But her smile faded when a thin man with deep, dark circles and greasy hair approached her.
"It's a good thing you came! Those bloodsucking vermin are worse than lawyers, always hanging around where they're not needed," the man said before reaching out for Séraphine's hand, but she shook it away.
"What about your boss?" asked Séraphine sharply, causing the man in front of her to feel somewhat embarrassed and to lower his hand.
"This case is huge; he has to discuss with his superiors to avoid certain one-sided news that could cause problems," the man replied before gesturing for Séraphine to follow him.
"Well, still not saving enough for your purification ritual? I smell corruption on you, it's still the same, similar to sewer shit," Séraphine complained, covering her nose from the smell that only she could detect.
"I'm hearing this from someone with her cursed senses, 7 years old, huh? From what I hear, hardly anyone in this day and age endures the curse for such an unnecessary skill," the man retorted before coughing.
When he covered his mouth with his hand, drops of black blood fell into it, causing the man to blink his eyes, but he didn't think about it anymore; he just continued to lead Séraphine through the construction site.
"The deadline will end in a few days, by then I will have a skill worthy of a witch, and you? A half-baked wizard who refuses to sell me the only valuable spell in your broken grimoire," Séraphine was not far behind and replied as viciously as the man.
"The Savage Continent 'Bullet' gesture is worth 500 Aureum, you want to buy it for 200, not even half, how can I sell it to you?" By the time the man asked this question, the duo had already arrived in front of the mansion under construction, where several bodies were covered with white sheets.
Only now, the whiteness of the sheets was stained with thick blood, but neither of them complained. Some people were taking notes and photographs; their uniforms were slightly different from those of the police, indicating that they were part of the forensic team.
"Good thing you came, we heard strange noises, but we don't know from where, so we refuse to investigate, we know it must be that thing they summoned to lure us in," a blonde woman approached them, holding a notepad.
"Kath, you're still as scary as ever," the man complained, causing the woman to give him a sideways glance.
"Roman, if you want to die, go ahead, I'm not a nosy fool like the main characters in those horror movies. Who goes looking for the source of a noise in the middle of the night when you know there's something scary in the dark? Only fools," Kath said, making Roman shake his head.
"But you'd rather be among mutilated corpses," Roman pointed to the fallen bodies, causing Kath to nod.
"The death of others fascinates me, not my own." Kath shook her shoulders before looking at Séraphine, who watched them argue with a smile on her face.
"Séraphine, please get rid of that thing, and if you can, let me cut it open. I want to see if it ate the heads of the victims, maybe we can do something with them," Kath said, making Séraphine nod before looking back at Roman.
"Get out of here, the spiritual energy in this place will only worsen your exposure to corruption, but if you sell me that spell..." Seeing Roman's desperate face, Séraphine felt she was about to break the man's defense, so she said the next sentence quite confidently.
"I'll give you 300, how about it?" Séraphine's words made Roman hesitate; he coughed again, and this time the two women could see the black blood falling on his hand.
"Those who want to awaken the Vision are all crazy? Fine, 300, but I won't guide you in your apprenticeship unless you add 50 more Aureum." Roman's answer made Séraphine cheer, and she patted Roman's shoulder.
"Ok, let me see what bug they summoned here. Tell me where the ritual circle is," at her request, Roman gave her brief directions.
Since this was a mansion under construction, some things were already relatively complete, so Séraphine had to go up to the second floor and enter a room full of construction debris to find the ritual circle she was looking for.
It was broken, but from the details she could see, Séraphine was able to confirm part of her hypothesis. Someone had summoned a Spirit Servant and not taken the proper measures to contain or support it, unleashing the massacre that hovered over this place.
Although she did not know what creature had been summoned, there was no fear in her green eyes, even as she watched the room he was in gradually sink into darkness.
The lamps set up by the police seemed to lose their glow as the walls of the room took on a color different from the gray of the cement used in its construction; they were tinged with a red hue.
A strange atmosphere hung in this place, with strange murmurs and creaking noises that made her frown. However, the worst was the walls, which were not just red; their texture changed to resemble freshly skinned flesh.
"You.... you belong to me... Visionary... your flesh... your blood... your soul... don't fight! Don't cry! Rejoice in the flesh! Rejoice in the pain!" a voice that came out of nowhere pierced Séraphine's ears and settled directly into her head, echoing constantly.
"You haven't learned anything in 7 years, have you?" Resisting the intense headache and discomfort caused by the scene before her, Séraphine removed the hat from her head and put her hand inside.
She took out a small vial containing a red, almost black liquid. With her teeth, she removed the wax seal that covered the mouth of the bottle and drank the entire contents in one gulp. At that moment, she felt a cold sensation rise from her stomach to her head, and slowly the strange visions and sounds began to subside.
"Just a few more days," she muttered before tucking the empty flask into her hat, grateful that this was a rare piece of space equipment that allowed her to carry a few personal items.
"Let's settle this, Mom wants to get paid well tonight," Séraphine tried to cheer herself up, patting her face lightly before putting the witch's hat back on her head.
But she was still in a bad mood, and it looked like she had a good punching bag to take it out on. The summoned creature, whatever it was, could be considered a poor victim of an incompetent summoner and should not be punished, but it broke a significant taboo in this world.
It ate the souls of its victims. This removed any trace of doubt or pity Séraphine might feel for the creature that was no longer in its natural habitat, for even if it harmed humans, it could easily be defeated and banished to the spirit world.
But no longer. Just as when a lion tastes human flesh and decides that humans will now be its prey, a spirit being that has dared to eat souls will become a recidivist and thus harm humanity.
Séraphine could have her own opinion about some things, like everyone else, but she was still a human witch, so she would not hesitate to turn against even Ronnie, a friend of hers, if necessary.
With such thoughts and ideas in her head, Séraphine followed the creature, her green eyes shining unnaturally in the darkness. The world before her was no longer just the construction site in front of her; she had removed the natural veil of reality.
Her curse, her ability, for which she had suffered torture and even the threat of mental and physical corruption for nearly seven years in a ritual that was more self-mutilation than training for an ability so loved and hated in the past.
Vision. The ability to see the 'real' world as some humans had recorded it in the past, or perhaps just another layer of the complicated reality in which humans lived.
But it also served Séraphine to see the intersections between the physical world and the spiritual world, so that, to her eyes, there were now several clouds of red mist in the air, spiritual residue —a trail she could follow.
Although she had to constantly see the strange things that lay behind the veil of the world, her years of mental torture had helped her to endure and ignore them; anyway, they were not as frightening as what was constantly haunting her because of her current condition.
"Looks like you finally opened your eyes, I'm dying of boredom," the girlish voice suddenly came from behind her, but she didn't believe it.
Although she was in a completely dark corridor, where the only source of light was her emerald green eyes, she saw a white cat, which seemed to be the only difference in the darkness.
"Musu, do you know where the spirit creature I'm looking for is?" asked Séraphine, who was used to this situation.
"That poor bastard? On the third floor, but be careful, he broke the stairs that lead you there. He can smell you, he's afraid of you," the childish voice came from the cat again, though if you noticed the tone, it was more of a cat.
"That's good, I'll let you bite off a piece of him when I kill him," Séraphine promised, making the cat lick her front paws in anticipation.
"What are you waiting for? I'll get you!" The cat ran ahead of Séraphine and disappeared into the darkness, leaving a trail of blue footprints for the witch to follow.
"One day I'll catch you," Séraphine said, knowing the strange cat could hear her.
Following Musu's footprints, Séraphine ignored a floating eye that oozed blood and flew constantly around her, a strange snake with a human face, a stone that cried like a baby, and what appeared to be a dancing diamond, though she did not know why diamonds could dance.
The world behind the veil was strange, psychedelic, weird, and nonsensical; not even the spiritual world could compare in strangeness to the things the real world hid.
Although Séraphine's eyes burned from keeping her Vision open, she knew she had to keep this ability active, especially after drinking that expensive potion earlier; she had to make the most of the time she had available.
She soon caught up with Musu, and sure enough, the stairs leading to the third floor were completely shattered, making it impossible for any normal person to climb them alone.
Too bad she wasn't a normal person. Wasting no time in chatting with a talking cat, Séraphine prepared to cast a spell, which is why her eyes stopped glowing, indicating that she had stopped using her abilities.
The real world was dark again, but without the strange things happening behind the veil, so Séraphine needed light, so she snapped her fingers. The boiling aether passed through her body again, flowing into her right hand and finally turning into a ball of blue light that brought illumination to the place.
"To think that this would be my first personal spell..." Séraphine looked quizzically and somewhat gleefully at the ball of blue light floating in her palm before gently pushing it away and letting it float above her head.
Even though she had just cast a spell and her body was still a little warm from channeling the aether that was surging from her soul, she decided to cast another spell that would allow her to ascend to the third floor.
She felt the aether rush through her body again, raising her temperature to a level that made her uncomfortable and even caused beads of sweat to form on her forehead. The air even rippled slightly from the heat, but she didn't care at the moment.
Her right hand made a staircase gesture, with her index and middle fingers simulating the two legs going up diagonally. The aether projected out from her body as blue energy, transforming into a rudimentary staircase of pure energy that reached up to the third floor.
Her head ached, not from the strange visions from earlier, but from the mental effort involved in this gesture, for she was of intermediate level, and they were complicated for her at this level.
But having a way, she climbed the ladder created by her aether to the blissful third floor; the ball of light floating behind her allowed her to see in the dense darkness, but also made her a target for the spirit creature, but Séraphine had confidence.
And a weapon. She drew a revolver from her hat, six enchanted bullets in the barrel, ready to eliminate any threat she couldn't face while she allowed her body temperature to regulate.
Her footsteps echoed as she walked slowly and calmly, as if this mansion under construction were her own; she didn't care about subtleties or possible risks —the only thing on her mind was to vent her anger and collect a juicy paycheck.
She especially hoped that the wealthy owner of this place would give her money under the table to keep her from speaking. She already knew how these people operated, not only because she was a detective, but also because she was relatively new to the business.
But her parents were the rich guys in those stories you heard on the radio or saw in the movies. Although she felt contempt for the man who owned this place, who might be the reason for this situation, she wouldn't complain if she got a good amount of Aureum for her silence.
Then she paused, her eyes narrowing as she looked out into the hallway where the glow of her orb did not reach and where there was nothing but darkness.
Except for two huge red orbs staring back at her. She knew they were the eyes of that creature, and she could feel the fear, but also the greed in that gaze. Séraphine licked her lips and raised her weapon, pointing it into the darkness.
"Can you speak? Tell me, who summoned you? Do you even know, or has the hunger for aether clouded your judgment?" asked Séraphine, trying to get a little more information, but the creature's only response was a guttural scream.
Without hesitation, Séraphine squeezed the trigger of the revolver six times at a dizzying speed. The sound of the shots echoed through the corridor, followed by the sound of impact.
Cries of pain came from the creature, but instead of fleeing, those red eyes turned heavily toward her, allowing themselves to be illuminated by the orb of light created by Séraphine, revealing its true appearance.
It was a two-meter-tall humanoid figure, and that was where its resemblance to humans began to end. His head had only those huge, glowing red eyes and a mouth full of drooling fangs.
His blue skin was covered in black blood that spilled from six holes in his torso, and although he was naked, he had no distinguishing marks to indicate his gender. His limbs were stocky and muscular, and he had no hair or body hair.
A perfect Spirit Servant when well invoked. He did not leave hair lying around, did not attract undue attention from certain individuals with special interests, and had a mouth that could accept the normal sacrifices necessary for this being to exist properly on the physical plane.
But Séraphine noticed something: his thinness. He was skinny, his skin seemed to stick to his bones, and his muscles bulged grotesquely. In addition, his drooling mouth was stained with red blood, a sign of his crime.
Filled with hunger, pain, and rage, the Spirit Servant ran heavily toward Séraphine with outstretched hands, his long fingernails covered in dried blood, showing how terrible they could be, but the witch felt no fear.
Why should she be afraid of a starving Spirit Servant? She simply made a gesture with her left hand, and boiling aether projected through her fist, shooting toward the creature.
The aether, tinted a brilliant blue as always, struck the Spirit Servant's chest like a sledgehammer, and the thud was very clear, along with the sound of cracking bones.
The creature retreated a few paces, enough time for Séraphine to quickly load her revolver. Though it pained her to waste these enchanted bullets, she fired at the creature anyway, this time hitting it in the center of its chest, where she knew its core was.
The creature fell to its knees before Séraphine, the red light in its eyes fading and returning to its original gold color. The Spirit Servant looked sadly at the witch, who, feeling no pity for him, cast the final spell to end this brief encounter.
Séraphine waved her left hand in a stinging gesture, the temperature of her body rising to the point where she felt like she was on fire, but she gritted her teeth and allowed the aether to flow through her once more before exiting her.
This time, the blue energy became thin and sharp-edged as it flew toward the creature, striking it again in the center of its chest. Black blood splattered everywhere, but Séraphine stepped back to avoid being stained.
As she watched the spirit servant die before her, Séraphine's green eyes narrowed, and a few memories came to her, but she shook her head and let them pass.
She didn't want to fall into the whirlwind of memories and melancholy because of her actions; she just wanted to collect her pay, plus her rightful bribe. Was that too much to ask? She could only sigh.
"The life of a witch in Blume city is no doubt boring," she said to no one in particular, but she knew that many beings behind the veil near her, as well as in the spirit world, attracted by the failed ritual, could hear her.
She just wanted to blow off some steam.