Tristan had given her a rundown of what she should expect in the pocket dimension, right before adding that her knowledge might be a bit outdated, so she should not have absolute trust on it.

She put so much emphasis on the last part, that it ended up being the thing Velvet remembered best.

Not like she forgot anything, since she remembered it all, but every time she thought about the traps and stuff, it was always followed by “Do not fully trust”, in Tristan’s voice, even when she tried to push the warning back.

That being said, the most important thing Tristan had told her was that defiance mages always trusted their inventions more than they trusted other mages, so, instead of having affiliated mages going back and forth over the pocket dimension, they preferred to install traps and detectors.

Of course, that didn’t mean that it was impossible to cross someone else. Mages still lived here, after all.

And yes, she mentioned that using Tristan’s voice.

Some mages prefer living on nocturnal hours, while some prefer the day shift, but I entered once the day ones were out already, and the night ones had already gone to sleep.

Of course, that doesn’t mean- Ah, enough! I know! Velvet shook her head, pushing Tristan’s voice down again.

She was still following Tarderebusque’s instructions, zig-zagging over the hallways, walking deeper into the pocket dimension.

The deeper she went, the less doors to bedrooms were, and the more fake hallways and traps were.

Velvet almost fell on some of them, especially the ones with delusion spells.

Fake hallways that called for her, telling her that everything she wanted could be obtained by going into them, and that they were the correct path.

She had walked towards them, until Tarderebusque stopped and smacked her. And, by that, she meant slammed over her head, which, considering the demon had a variable number of corners, made its hits hurt quite a bit.

But they stopped the hypnotic lure, saving Velvet, so she wasn’t complaining.

I didn’t even realize I was being mind controlled… She pondered. That’s one of the differences between official mages and novice ones. They can kill you without you even noticing, or needing to be present.

And the head of the Traversa family has two Escas, which is nothing compared to the Archmage that took Dianthus, or the Director.

And then there’s me, with only half Esca, and now without the Devil’s Blood buff.

The effects of the blood she drank from Frenese were over already. In the past, she had been able to confront both Doireann and Lox at the same time, with a bit of cheating, of course. But, if the same exact situation happened now…

Doireann was probably from the Selection previous to her, or maybe the one before it, and had a three quarter open Esca, while Lox was older, and at the peak of the not-fully-opened Esca group.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Velvet was aware that there was something mages needed to do upon reaching almost a full Esca for it to be wholly open, but she didn’t know exactly what it was. Even so, deep down she knew that the answer was always close to her, within the voice of corruption, just at the tip of her fingers.

A river she would cross when and if she reached it.

Anyway, going back to Doireann and Lox, if that fight happened now, she would probably lose.

Well, not exactly lose, since she still had several petitions of her deal with Frenese, and the Devil could defeat both of them in an instant, but doing so would make the fact that she had a deal with him public, which was detrimental.

Luckily, Lox’s stab wound was quite deep, so he would be out of commission for a while longer. The same couldn’t be said about Doireann, who was already healed and free.

I should ambush her when I have the time, it would be bad if she teams with Nebura to get revenge. She hadn’t forgotten the half-Conceptualized spell that Doireann had, the Coronet Colosseum, which completely closed off a zone with three mages inside while making them fight an extremely unfair fight.

Even when it was incomplete, and had a short duration, it was still an awful spell to fight under when one was on the weakened side.

She didn’t want to imagine what the ultimate and complete form of the spell, named Embodiment, was, even when only the head of her family, the Phorellas, could summon it.

And, the reason she brought up the Concept-Structure-Embody thing that Tristan taught her was…

“Huh.” She said, when Tarderebusque suddenly stopped, right in front of two immense iron doors.

That was it, the deepest zone of the Traversa family’s pocket dimension.

The room that held a mage family's biggest secret, the culmination of their lifetime’s work. The room where the documents registering the research of the Traversa’s Conceptualization, Structuralization and Embodiment of their Esca Overturn resided.

The room behind an immense door, a door that could only be opened by the Traversa’s family head. Not even a teleporting mage could enter while it was closed.

Of course, Velvet thought, pulling out another of Tristan’s artifacts, Opening and destroying something are different concepts.

…

Yesterday.

“Tristan…” She had asked, while they were discussing the incursion. “You're a Traversa, aren’t you?”

“Indeed.”

Velvet wasn’t surprised. She was still a knowledge mage, always hoarding information, always keeping track of every single detail.

“Did you leave because they wouldn’t teach you the full Embodiment spell? Or was it another factor?” She didn't have high hopes of Tristan answering that, but trying was free.

“Oh, they only taught me the Conceptualization, but I left for another, simpler reason.” Tristan said, playing with the concealing artifact. “I advanced faster without their meddling.”

“That’s a kinda selfish reason to rob them…” She complained, even when she was still planning to do it.

“Velvet, any mage will put themselves first above all, including you. If you had something the Traversas wanted, they would try to take it from you by all means necessary, so don't think too hard about it.” Tristan waved her hand. “In mage’s society, only the smartest ones advance.”

“I know that, after all, I got Frenense’s Book, and with it, a stalker troupe as complementary, unasked for side dish.” Velvet said, rolling her eyes.

Tristan grinned, letting out a short laugh. “Hm, well, there’s still someone who does the opposite, putting someone else before him. But…”

“Ceres is just the foolest of them all. Do not follow his steps.”

…

Velvet smiled, watching the doors slowly melt, and Tarderebusque floating inside, before taking a step back.

Now the pretenses were all over. They had ten minutes before the family head showed up.

There was only a silly, little problem remaining.

“You know?” She spoke to the air. “It was nice, taking a stroll together. But… you’re too silent of a date.”

Mages were selfish beings, always putting themselves first.

“Ah, guess I will apologize then. I'm usually much more talkative in romantic endeavors, I promise.” A voice said, followed by the sound of steps.

Velvet slowly turned around, with her hands behind her back. “That’s not the best thing to say after spoiling a date, you know?”

If you had something the Traversas wanted, they would try to take it from you by all means necessary. Tristan’s voice sounded in her mind.

That phase had another meaning. If someone inside the Traversa’s family wanted something, betraying the family was always a possibility.

This was the mage’s world, where only the smartest prevailed.

And, for someone whom the Traversa’s Embodiment would never be replicable, due to the difference in Paradigms, the opportunity of peeking at the registers and documents and selling or trading them for an actual spell they could use was…

A golden opportunity only fools would ignore.

“Hello Harlan. Did no one tell you curiosity killed the cat?” Even when Velvet's appearance was concealed, and she took care of acting differently, calling her chaser by name was a pleasure she wouldn’t take from herself.

“Well, yes. But knowledge mages calculate risks, and…” Harlan Traversa, the knowledge mage that had sold Velvet the material bundle a few days ago, returned her gaze.

“This cat can take on someone with half an Esca.”