"I planned to clear up the misunderstanding once we reached the city," the young man said suddenly, his azure eyes steady under the moon's pale luminescence.
"Eh?" Jasmine blinked, "Mis…understanding?" her emerald eyes fluttered in confusion.
"Yes. Misunderstanding," he repeated, "About why I used the Mana Curse spell on you… and about me falling from space."
"......"
Jasmine couldn't process what the young man was saying anymore. But something did get through her skull. It was the mention of the Mana Curse spell.
Jasmine's silence and her unblinking stare fixed on him told the young man that he had successfully managed to grab her attention.
So, he began his explanation, his posture relaxed yet commanding, "Well, first of all, let me introduce myself. I'm Alex," he paused briefly after revealing his name. But Jasmine's stare told him that she didn't care about his identity. She was only interested in what he was going to say next. So, he went on, "The reason why I used the Mana Curse spell on you is very simple. I'm sure I already told you earlier, I don't know anything about this place. That is one reason. But there is another reason as well. I needed a companion not a guide. Like a friend."
The young man or rather, Alex paused, his azure gaze locking onto hers. Both him and Jasmine just kept staring at each other.
After a whole minute of unblinking staring contest, Jasmine broke the silence, "Sir...I'm sure this is the worst nonsense that I've ever heard in my entire life." She said with a straight face.
"Are you tired of living?"
"........"
Jasmine immediately shut up as Alex threatened her just as nonchalantly as ever.
However, in the next moment, "As I was saying," Alex continued unfazed, his voice resuming its calm flow as if the interruption meant nothing to him, "I needed a companion or rather, a friend. But making a friend in this world is just a death sentence. And as a first-circle mage, asking a stranger to be my companion would only result in them wanting to beat the crap out of me when they sense that I am only a weakling. Not that they could do it. But dealing with that would be a hassle—"
"Sir..." Jasmine cut in again, her emerald eyes flickering with a storm of confusion.
"What is it?" his stoic facade didn't change but his voice was laced with mild annoyance.
"Sir... Why are you... talking as if you're a first-circle mage. Aren't you... a seventh-circle mage?" Jasmine asked as she was totally confused, her words tumbling out in a rush.
"That's because I 'am' a first-circle mage." Alex bluntly dropped another bomb.
But unlike the first time, this bomb didn't result in Jasmine's furious outburst but even more confusion.
"Sir... please stop joking," she pleaded.
"I'm not joking," Alex asserted, his azure gaze piercing hers with unyielding sincerity.
"Then are you seriously telling me to believe," she pointed to her left, toward the paralysed ten kings, without taking her gaze away from Alex, "that a first-circle mage can hold still ten level-five mana beasts in their position with just the Mana Telekinesis spell?" her finger trembled slightly as it gestured to the frozen behemoths.
Her logic was on point. Because, to everyone's knowledge, a first-circle mage possessed only a negligible amount of Mana. And with that amount, forget about restraining a level-five mana beast, a first-circle mage wouldn't be able to hold still a level-one mana beast in their position.
Yet, Alex was saying he could hold still ten level-five mana beasts without lifting a finger, all while having a casual conversation with Jasmine, as a freaking first-circle weakling.
Now, that was some ultra-high level nonsense.
But then, Alex affirmed her, "Yes, I am."
"But that—"
Before Jasmine could fire another one of her confused or enraged questions, Alex spoke again, as if he knew what she was going to say, "I used my Aura to strengthen my Mana. And, I also increased my Mana by influencing the Mana in the atmosphere."
'...Increasing his Mana by influencing the Mana in the atmosphere? Isn't that... COMPLETELY BULLSHIT?!' The thought exploded in her mind, her fists clenching at the audacity of such a claim.
"It's not bullshit." Alex suddenly spoke.
Jasmine flinched, eyes widening in shock, 'Eh?! How did he know?' Her body jerked back slightly as if slapped by an invisible hand. 'I didn't say that out loud, did I?' Panic flickered in her chest.
"Your reactions have become way too obvious."
"......."
Jasmine's shocked expression turned solemn immediately.
But she didn't have enough time to ponder about her own expression as Alex spoke again, "Anyway, enough about that. Now you know why I used the Mana Curse spell. You were just unlucky that you were the first person that I met."
Jasmine fully understood her situation at that moment.
Although Jasmine didn't want to believe any of Alex's claim about being a first-circle mage, she didn't have anything that could prove him wrong either. Even now, Jasmine could sense using her Mana Sense spell that Alex was a first-circle mage.
And he was right, if he went to somebody for a favor or ask them to be his traveling companion, they would surely mistake him for a weakling and the situation would turn into a mess. So, forcing the first person he met to be his companion was his only choice. And that unlucky first person had turned out be Jasmine herself.
Jasmine's face darkened once again.
"Even if you feel wronged, you simply don't have the power to escape your fate. The sooner you accept it, the better," Alex advised.
"I did feel that I was wronged." Jasmine admitted, her voice a low murmur laced with bitter resignation, "But... I also know what reality is."
"......."
Alex didn't expect that kind of response from Jasmine.
"This is all happening because I am too weak." Jasmine whispered through clenched teeth, her fingers curling in on themselves as rage surged through her veins. Her anger was not for Alex, but herself.
"Alright then," Alex nodded slightly, "Let's move on to the next misunderstanding — the one about me falling from space. I already told you it was true, but you probably didn't believe me—"
"Not the first time, yes. But, now I do." Jasmine cut in to say her piece. It wasn't because she fully believed Alex — but because if such a thing were true, it must involve some secret technique. And she knew he wasn't going to casually reveal it. So, it was better to stop him before he started rambling nonsense again.
"...That makes things easier." Alex murmured, before shifting topics. "Now, let's talk about your training."
"Hmm?..." Jasmine blinked, and then suddenly, it hit her. "Sir… you… were serious about that?" Her voice wavered with cautious hope.
"Yes," Alex replied simply.
"Then… please teach me that technique to increase Mana."
Jasmine was greedy as always.
All the fear, misunderstandings, and danger evaporated from her mind in the face of obtaining more power.
"I will," Alex said, "but you're incapable of learning it right now."
"Eh?... Why?" she blurted, confused.
"You need to be able to use Aura first. And… you can't use Aura, can you?"
"........"
Jasmine could only stare at Alex's impassive face because his hunch was accurate. She could not use Aura.
But Jasmine didn't remain silent for long, "Sir, I need an Aura Stone to awaken my Aura."
"Not happening."
Surprisingly, Alex didn't get angry.
Jasmine eyebrows rose, "Sir, you said it yourself that if I can't use Aura, I won't be able to learn your technique."
"Using an Aura Stone to awaken one's Aura is foolish." Alex replied. "They will never be able get past the fifth stage with that method. So, I'll teach you a different method to awaken your Aura."
Although Alex cleared her doubts, he failed to realise that he just created even more doubts for Jasmine instead.
"Without an Aura Stone?..." Jasmine muttered, fingers lifting to rub her temple. "Aura… can be awakened another way? And… 'get past' fifth stage? But isn't the fifth stage the final stage an aura-master can reach?..." Her head was filled with 'never heard of' things.
"What do you mean fifth stage is the last stage?" Alex questioned, clearly baffled.
"Aa... Sir, fifth stage is the final stage that an aura-master can reach," Jasmine woke up from her reverie and spoke, "And also... I've never heard of anyone awakening their Aura without using an Aura Stone."
"Well, that's to be expected for using an Aura Stone." Alex seemed to understand Jasmine's confusion. He continued, "And it seems, people don't really know that there are far more effective methods to awaken one's Aura."
"Eh?... Sir, you're not making any sense." Jasmine narrowed her eyes.
"Everything will make sense in a minute. Watch closely," saying that, Alex turned towards those paralysed ten kings.
On the other hand, Jasmine just couldn't understand anything that Alex was saying. What will make sense in a minute? What was he going to show her? Question after question, puzzle after puzzle were piling up inside her head.
And soon, curiosity overrode Jasmine's confusion, urging her to turn toward the ten kings as well.
However, as soon as her gaze fell on the ten kings... She was shocked to the core.
The bodies of the ten kings were shrinking. They were being compressed to be exact.
The layers of golden Mana wrapped around those mighty beings tightened, crushing them with suffocating pressure from all sides. And they could not oppose that pressure at all. They seemed liked powerless ants before Alex's might.
CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Grrrr... Ugrrr...
Sonuds of cracking bones and low gasped growls of agony filled the air.
Within seconds, each of those mighty ten kings were compressed into grotesque, two-meter spheres of mangled flesh. Blood burst outward in a gruesome rain, splattering across the crater floor and painting it deep crimson.
The ten kings, rulers of Gutudia Forest, died without a struggle.
The awe and respect that Jasmine felt toward Alex when she saw him restraining the ten kings was still there. But the event that she had just witnessed was just too shocking for her.
Her mind shut down.
"If you awaken your Aura using the method I teach you, you'll be able to do this as well."
"Uh!!!" Jasmine jolted at Alex's words. It was her typical surprised reaction again.
"So, do you believe me now?" Alex asked.
Jasmine knew what Alex was talking about but didn't answer. Instead, She turned toward him slowly.
As her gaze fell on Alex, Jasmine noticed that he was standing casually.
'He basically... didn't lift a finger. Yet... finished off the ten kings...' Jasmine trembled inwardly. 'Right...' she shook her head, a bitter smile forming on her lips, 'It's not a matter of 'if I believe him or not', but I have no choice but to believe him and... obey him. No matter what nonsense he spews, I am just too weak to—'
"What happened now?" Alex questioned calmly. His patience was really something else.
'What a weird... monster!' Jasmine thought as she gazed upon his stoic face before answering, "Nothing, sir," she paused briefly.
Alex studied her sudden shift in tone — but then something else caught him off guard, although his composure didn't waver.
Jasmine bowed slightly.
"Sir," she said softly, voice trembling yet firm, "I will do as you say from now on. And although it is not within my right to say this, but I hope that you will not mind if I say it."
She took a deep breath.
"...Please, don't kill me before I can avenge my parents."
"......"
**********--------------**********
BANG!!!
"Sir Cardinal!" A frantic bellow echoed as the door to a dark room slammed open.
A short figure barged into the room, heaving labored breaths. Sweat rolled down his face in rivulets that gleamed faintly in the shadows, his eyes wide with an excitement that bordered on madness.
A tattered black robe clung to his gaunt frame, its hem trembled with every breath he drew. His skin carried the lifeless pallor of cold ash, stretched thin over hollow cheeks. Beneath his eyes, two swollen, dark bulges sank deep into his features, giving the middle-aged man the look of someone who had bargained far too long with nightmares.
In his right hand, he clutched a bizarre artifact nearly a foot in length. Veins bulged beneath his skin as he gripped its silvery metallic base with ferocity.
Mounted atop that base was an eight inches long transparent and colorless crystal, radiating a brilliant golden luminescence that cast elongated shadows dancing like malevolent spirits across the walls.
That dark room was no ordinary chamber but a hidden sanctum carved deep inside a cave; its air thick with the musty scent of damp soil and rotten flesh. A horrifying aura was coming out from inside that room.
That room was almost devoid of any furniture or adornments. But, there was something noticeable there. It was a colossal statue in the far side of the room. Its entire form was drenched in blood-red hues, ten arms splayed in grotesque symmetry, each wielding a distinct weapon of terror, from jagged blades to coiled whips; its posture radiated an unimaginable madness born of insatiable ambition and defiance; its entire figure pulsed with unholy life.
The statue's aura was daunting enough to make the heavens tremble in its presence. It was a monstrosity, a beacon of dread that filled the room with an intangible weight.
As the middle-aged man's gaze fell upon the monstrous statue, terror surged through him, coiling around his heart and squeezing until his breath hitched; until his body trembled uncontrollably. Yet beneath that fear lurked an unshakeable faith... belief... and devotion.
He dropped to his knees with reverent haste, his head bowing low in instinctive submission as if the gesture were etched into his very soul.
"Bishop... can you not see that I am praying to the lord?" a voice boomed from the front, laced with arrogant gravity, deep and resonant like the rumble of an approaching storm that made the air feel heavier and more oppressive.
The middle aged man or rather, the Bishop of Plague, jolted at the voice. His bowed head snapped upward, his eyes locking onto the back of a figure kneeling before the monstrous statue.
He had his head bowed and hands extended toward the monstrous statue as though in pure submission. Candles burned around him in an eerie circle. Strange herbs that exuded an ominous aura lay scattered with intentional placement. And within the crimson ritual pattern drawn on the floor before him, human hearts were arranged as sacrificial offerings.
The man was the Cardinal of Death. He was swathed in black robes far more ornate than the Bishop of Plague, embroidered with cryptic runes that shimmered in the golden glow of that strange artifact. A hood swallowed his face, denying even a glimpse of his features.
And suddenly, the Bishop of Plague flinched again, his body tensing as a fresh wave of horror crashed over him.
Thud!
The Bishop of Plague slammed his forehead against the stone floor with forceful reverence. Yet, the impact didn't hurt him in the slightest. Still prostrate, he held the strange glowing artifact aloft with both hands and cried out, "Sir Cardinal! Please forgive my intrusion! I bring urgent news! That cockroach is still alive!"