It was getting late, so I decided to head straight to Hew's cabin. Initially, I had wanted to visit Matt in the hospital and then check on the restaurant to settle the bill for the broken toilet. Surprisingly, there was some extra money in my bank account now, probably from payments for our music performance. It wasn't much, but it was enough to lift my spirits.

One thing that held me back from visiting Matt was the condition of my skin. I didn't want too many people to see my burnt skin. It was already looking better and would likely be fully healed by tomorrow, but both the burning and the rapid healing would be difficult to explain, so it was better to avoid having to provide any explanations.

As I made my way to Hew's cabin, my thoughts turned to Helen. Several aspects of her situation were troubling me.

Firstly, there was the fact that she had developed an affinity for white magic. Well, I shouldn't have been too surprised, given the way it happened. This was the typical process in Prom'Ethea, where children were exposed to various types of magic, and the fortunate ones would develop an affinity for a particular kind.

What surprised me more was that it seemed to work the same way here on Earth, or should I say, on Ter'Ra? Since when had magic worked like this here? Maybe it had always been this way, or perhaps it had only recently started. Could it be that there was no magic here before, explaining why this hadn't occurred earlier? Or maybe it had happened, and I just wasn't aware of it?

I couldn't provide answers to those questions, so I moved on to the next topic: the magical worms.

It was clear that the goblin who had kindly provided me with those worm eggs, directly injected into my digestive tube, was involved in a larger operation, or perhaps he wasn't acting alone.

Just the thought of it triggered my magic, and I watched as my hands began to darken.

"There will be a reckoning for that shit, but for now, I need to keep a cool head!" - I told myself.

So, who were they? Was he collaborating with a human group, or had some goblins infiltrated our society? However, the latter seemed a bit too subtle for goblins; it wasn't their typical approach. It was more likely that he was working for someone else.

One noteworthy detail was that he had a highly effective magic camouflage that allowed him to pass as a human. Achieving such a feat required a wizard of at least level thirty, possibly even higher. Should I return to that railway station and conduct an investigation? I could certainly use force if necessary, but that would undoubtedly attract a lot of attention.

I needed to carefully consider my options.

The third issue that gave me some pause didn't concern Helen but rather myself.

How to put it into words? Did it truly bother me that I came close to killing her? No. Was that even the right question? Did I almost kill her?

Well, I couldn't say for certain. Perhaps. I'll need to conduct some tests to truly grasp the extent of my abilities with black magic.

Was the absence of guilt or any sense of remorse for what I had done a problem?

Was I genuinely lacking empathy? I didn't feel like something was missing.

What exactly is empathy?

Reflecting on my actions, I had to cleanse her of those worms, and I did just that. What was wrong with that? She shouldn't have writhed and squirmed so much; it only complicated my task as I couldn't see clearly whether she was completely clean. So, I had to extend the procedure to ensure the results.

No, I don't think there's anything missing in me. She was simply too frail, that's all. Plus, Gonzo was right there with me. If I had gone too far, he would have intervened.

But did he really understand what was happening? It might have been that he simply trusted me. Had his trust been misplaced?

And that was what troubled me.

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After I veered off the main road and onto the small unpaved country road that led to Hew's cabin, I spotted a deer. I parked my bike by the roadside, removed my jacket, placed it on the bike, and transformed into my horned form.

Approaching the deer, I aimed to get close enough to examine it within my magical domain. Then, I began to 'cleanse' it with my magic, much like what I had done with Helen. Of course, this deer didn't have any worms, or at least not the magical kind. My intention was simply to test the effects of a full dose of my magic, and the unfortunate deer just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My magic was not entirely dark; it did contain traces of white magic within it. The issue lay in the fact that my magical channels weren't cleanly separated. Well, they used to be separated when I was White Flower, but the sudden surge of black magic power and the remake of my body had shattered any internal barriers, leaving my magic in a murky, gray state. I was fully aware of this, which is why I refrained from attempting to heal myself.

Very few people possessed different kinds of magic, and those who did typically had types of magic that complemented each other. However, White Flower had been a rare exception, capable of learning to harness and control even opposing types of magic. Therefore, I remained optimistic that I would achieve the same. After all, wasn't I, in a way, White Flower?

My magic channels had separated once before, a result of decades of her hard work to isolate and purify them. I hoped it wouldn't take me as long to achieve this separation. In the meantime, I had to exercise caution with spells that relied solely on one type of magic.

I planned to expedite this process through meditation, but for now, it was what it was.

However tainted it may have been, my magic could be categorized as black due to the overwhelming black magic power I had gained in the death node. It was more than sufficient for any black magic or neutral spells and certainly potent enough to eradicate those worms.

In hindsight, I considered that I perhaps should have conducted a preliminary examination before treating Helen just to better gauge the potential side effects.

My approach had been somewhat impulsive, driven by my preference to resolve issues promptly once identified. It had nothing to do with my feelings towards Helen.

Now, it was time to conduct a test on this unfortunate deer.

As I directed my magic to concentrate around it, it appeared as if a dark cloud was forming, encircling the deer. Streams of darkness emanated from me, flying and enveloping it like a swarm of piranhas, biting and infiltrating its body. It was quite a grim spectacle. Hopefully, nobody sees this; this was not something for the faint-hearted, and it might alter their perception of me if they see it.

I reassured myself, knowing that even casters can see magic only when it passes a certain threshold. That threshold should be even higher for non-casters.

Anyhow, if I was going to do another worm-cleaning, I was going to do it with direct contact as I did it with Helen, sparing me the dreadful show.

The deer made an unusual sound, jolting me out of my unproductive thoughts. It convulsed and thrashed about wildly as if attempting to rid itself of the magic's grip. Within seconds, it spotted me and made a feeble attempt to flee, but its movements were shaky and uncoordinated. After a few steps, it collapsed to the side, legs flailing in the air. It struggled to rise, only to fall again, and then it lifted its head to gaze at me before finally succumbing.

I approached it cautiously, then ceased my magic. I hadn't even touched it yet... it was dead. Damn it!

I stared into its lifeless, vacant eyes. I had expected it to spring back to life and dash away, but it remained motionless, frozen in its final spasm.

This shouldn't be possible. You can't simply kill something by bathing it in your magic. There were tales of Styxa, the Witch of the Mountain, who could supposedly do this to peasants' children, but most dismissed such stories as mere scare tactics to keep children close to home and out of harm's way.

I let out a sigh as I looked at the deer, my thoughts drifting to Helen. When I spoke about her feeling like dying, I meant it more in the sense of a feeling, not actual death.

I wrinkled my nose, unhappy with me. I'd poured enough magic into her to obliterate a worm her size, which, in hindsight, was a bit excessive.

I shrugged. I couldn't say I felt genuinely guilty about it. At that moment, I was singularly focused on my task—eliminating those wretched worms as quickly as possible. I didn't even spare a thought for her. Now I know better!

I shifted back into my Dolores form, hoisted the deer onto my shoulders, and made my way back to my bike. There was no way I was going to let this deer go to waste.

Nostalgia washed over me, recalling the times when Alice and I used to dine on the beasts she hunted. I had some decent culinary skills back then, along with the know-how of skinning and preparing the meat. Cala had learned those skills before Alice entered the picture, but once Alice arrived, it became her responsibility. She had since become significantly more proficient at it than I ever was.

With these thoughts in my head, I carefully positioned the deer across the front of my bike, put on my jacket, and revved the engine. In just five minutes, I arrived at the cabin. The gate had been left open, and I spotted the jeep parked to the right near the line of trees. It was early evening, with the sun still hovering just above the tree line on the horizon.