"...a warlock," Flo said, her voice tinged with surprise, just during the brief pause between two songs.

Joe, baffled like the rest of us, furrowed his brow. "I beg your pardon?"

He looked around in confusion.

Forced to follow her gaze, I spotted a tall, young boy, roughly the same size as Joe, with dark hair, a prominent nose, and menacing black eyes.

He hesitated, his gaze locked onto mine, and just as Joe began to ask, "Do you know..."

I sensed that familiar tingle, the sensation you get in the game when someone's probing your magic.

The response to his 'identify' spell didn't appear to please him, but it wasn't exactly fear-inducing. He abruptly grabbed an empty wine bottle by the neck and smashed it against the table, muttering, "Now, what do we have here, bitch?"

It was rather eerie. I couldn't help but wonder what level Flo was. Unfortunately, I hadn't checked that in the game.

Joe, increasingly bewildered, finished his sentence, "...him?"

A girl let out a scream, causing the dancers to halt mid-move and look around in surprise. The once cozy, dimly lit dance room now resembled more of a fight-club alley.

The warlock advanced toward me, seemingly unperturbed by the commotion, his gaze fixed on White Flower... well, me.

Joe, my supposed white knight in shining armor, made an attempt to intervene, saying, "Hey? What are you doing?"

The instant the warlock turned his attention to Joe, he swiftly sidestepped away from me, and with a yell, he instructed, "Run!"

To my amazement, Joe heeded his own advice and bolted, not exactly displaying chivalry, and sought refuge among the other partygoers.

Regrettably, Flo took her sweet time deciding on a course of action. By the time she attempted to follow Joe, it was too late; the warlock sneered and blocked her path.

"No, you stay!" he commanded. Then he cast a curse on me, a spell I recognized from Mephisto.

I was stunned. It only now hit me what Flo had said earlier: a warlock! A Mephi warlock was here!?

"A player? Is this some guy taking Mephi way too far?" I wondered.

But how could that even be possible? My brain was working overtime, attempting to make sense of the situation.

In the blink of an eye, Flo managed to undo the curse on herself.

She acted so swiftly that it revealed impressive skills; I was astonished to realize that she could dispel curses!

Their actions unfolded so rapidly that I could hardly keep up. She attempted to cast a spell on him, but as she raised her hand, he struck her with the broken bottle, slicing her hand. The pain shot through me as it was my own flesh that was being cut.

Flo recoiled with a cry of pain, her spell going awry, and she took another step back. He continued his relentless assault, unleashing fiery spells, and Flo retreated further. She managed to free herself from the curse once more but then stumbled on the stairs, blood flowing from her wounded hand. Panic gripped both of us.

His spells echoed like firecrackers, their explosive force rattling the windows. Flo alternated between healing and dispelling curses while he relentlessly cast spells and struck. The sheer power of his fireblasts shattered the walls, and he outmatched me significantly in both strength and speed.

"Run, head up the stairs!" I yelled in my mind, not offering much help.

He forced Flo to stumble once more, kicking my feet out from under me, and she screamed in agony as she collided with the stairs, her knees taking the brunt of the impact. While she tried to rise, he seized my hair with his left hand and flung me backward.

I felt like a crash dummy as I hurtled through the air.

I was feeling feeble, utterly powerless. With one hand, he could toss me aside like a ragdoll. It was akin to a nightmarish scenario where I couldn't budge, only able to witness my impending doom.

His right knee collided with my side, sending me sprawling, and I saw flashes of green from the searing pain. However, the anticipated blow with the bottle never materialized.

Flo swiftly pivoted, and I beheld Matthew wrestling with the warlock, tightly grasping the warlock's right hand and pulling him away from me.

Taking advantage of this momentary relief, Flo struck the warlock in the stomach with her right hand, casting an ice lance spell. It seemed to be her first more aggressive spell, and it dawned on me that they had both been refraining from employing truly damaging spells thus far.

The spell had sufficient force to push the warlock back several paces, perhaps prompting him to reconsider the confrontation. He gazed at me, an expression of astonishment etched on his face as his stomach turned into a frozen mass.

Regrettably, it was only a glancing blow; most of the spell's force veered off course, flash-freezing the fish tank to the left, shattering the glass into countless fragments. The image of a frozen fish with its mouth agape left an indelible mark in my mind.

With the warlock's grip on me loosening, Flo seized Matthew's hand and pulled him away, urging, "Come!"

She raced up the stairs, pulling him along. He took the steps two at a time, and once we reached the top, he was the one leading the way.

Amidst the chaos and the warlock's piercing screams, a fiery explosion echoed through the room. The ice-blocked aquarium shattered into countless fragments.

"He used a fire spell to melt the ice. I was too rattled, and my spell mostly missed. I should have frozen him solid," Flo lamented.

"Doesn't a frozen belly kill him?" I asked, still in a state of confusion and fear.

"It hurt him, but he won't die from it," Flo replied.

She dashed down the corridor and swung open a door but did not enter and ran toward the end of the hall.

"No, no!" Matthew objected, clutching my hand with his larger, warmer one and urging me towards the room. "Let's barricade ourselves in the room."

Heavy footsteps echoed on the stairs, and at the same time, a couple emerged from a nearby room, looking bewildered. Smoke billowed up from below, and sounds of coughing reached our ears.

A guy, who I thought was Nick, one of my colleagues, came sprinting up from the lower floor. Flo nearly blasted him in her panic. She quickly darted into the room, and Matthew followed her in.

Once I was inside, Matthew swiftly closed the door. "We'll barricade ourselves in here until the police arrive."

He began pushing a cupboard to block the door, but Flo rushed to the window and flung it open.

She shook her head. "I'm not staying," she declared.

As I struggled to hoist myself up on the ledge, Matthew sprinted over and intercepted me, gripping my hand.

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"Where are you going, Dolores? You're injured! We should wait for the police and an ambulance! Let me at least try to wrap a bandage around your hand; you're losing blood! Where can I find..."

He glanced at my blood-soaked hand and was about to check for more injuries when Flo shook her head and made a disapproving noise.

"Matt, this is nothing! I don't want to stay here near that guy."

In the next moment, I was completely healed. He was utterly stunned.

"Your, your..."

He pointed at my face, seemingly baffled. As he released my hand, Flo perched on the windowsill and nimbly shifted my feet to the other side. He steadied me as she climbed down a trellis leaning against the wall.

The ladder had been there to support some roses climbing the wall almost to this height. It creaked like a living thing as she stepped on it but held. He muttered something but followed.

Flo leaped down from a couple of meters high, and I winced internally, fearing she might have broken something. I certainly had some bruises and scratches from the thorny roses, but she healed me in an instant. Unfortunately, my blouse was beyond saving. I sighed to myself, thinking that this reminded me of Cala; it seemed like Flo had something against blouses. A few seconds later, he made it down, too, with a bloody finger. She healed him immediately, without a word.

He stood there, staring at his finger and then back at me.

Moments later, we were leaping over small hedges, putting more distance between us and the house. I could hear sirens wailing in the distance, accompanied by the flashing blue lights, but we had already distanced ourselves significantly.

"Shouldn't we go back?" he pondered.

Flo gazed at him and broke into a smile. She drew him closer and planted a real, unexpected kiss on his lips. It took me by surprise, and I think he felt the same. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins, my heart pounding in my chest. The panic had faded, and she seemed alive and joyful.

"No," she finally replied, "I feel safer far away from there. Thank you for saving me!"

He stood taller than me, his keen blue eyes scrutinizing me. I had to admit, there was a hint of charm in them. His brow furrowed.

Flo arched an eyebrow. "What now? Do I get complaints?"

His cheeks flushed, and he stammered, "Your... your burns are gone? Your face is completely healed?"

She chuckled, looking taken aback. "Oh, is that your concern?" She shrugged. "I suppose those were unintended side effects."

I let out a shocked squeal, "Whaaaat? What did you do? Nobody can magically heal here! That's insane! What have you done?"

He stammered again, "You... you... call that unintended side effects?"

She sighed, then chuckled softly. "I'll have to make the burns reappear. I've heard that magical healing is impossible here."

She mostly disregarded my exclamations.

He nodded, affirming, "That's right. How did you manage it? You healed my finger, too? It's... it's extraordinary!"

She let out a sigh. "Can you keep a secret?"

I think she did cast something, perhaps a spell of some sort, as she continued, "Will you promise to keep my healing a secret? Everything about me a secret?"

"I... of course, if that's what you want! I'll keep it all a secret," he replied, letting out a sigh. "But seriously, everything about you? Are you some kind of... a superhero?"

She chuckled once more. "No, definitely not."

He leaned in, curiosity getting the better of him. "Who was that guy? What did he want from you?"

She took his hand in hers. It felt strange to feel those thick, warm fingers in my hand. She seemed to be fond of it and squeezed it gently.

"I don't know. You see," she turned her head toward him, looking deep into his eyes.

I couldn't say I liked his face, but she seemed to find it... appealing? Yes, I could sense her feelings.

Uh, deep in my thoughts, analyzing her feelings, I missed a part of what she said.

"...until half an hour ago, I was wondering if other people in this world could perform magic. Well, now I know better; he was one of those people. He was a warlock."

She's me, isn't she? It's strange how I can chat with him while thinking about something completely different!

"A warlock?" he questioned.

She let out a sigh. "I was too taken aback to sense him, too surprised, and I spoke aloud, too loudly. He heard me, and that's what set everything in motion. It was my mistake. It shouldn't have come to that."

"Wait, wait, wait!" he interjected rapidly. "What do you mean by 'sense him'? How could you do that?"

"Oh," she sighed, "I felt his magical aura, not him. To cast a spell, you need something that people call mana. I refer to it as magic; it's the same thing. Almost all spellcasters produce mana. Their bodies can contain a certain amount, but it's limited. Most of the mana they produce lingers in the air around the caster, forming their magical aura. This aura is also magic and can be controlled, but it's not easy. Some aura users can do incredible things with it, but for most spellcasters, it's just like body odor, like sweat. Our warlock had rudimentary control over his aura, but I sensed it. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Oh, you can detect them the same way Cala does?" - I wondered

She confirmed it to me.

"Yes!"

He nodded.

"I think I can. What did he want?"

"That's a good question. Initially, he probed to check if I had magic. He sensed a bit, and he assumed I was weak. Once again, that was both his and my mistake. I should have either concealed it completely or intimidated him. After I hit him with a more powerful spell, I think he decided the fight was too risky."

"Oh. Would you mind explaining a bit more?" he inquired.

She smiled, and we strolled hand in hand, heading toward the park behind my house. She sighed and guided him to a bench overlooking the lake.

"I'll explain; just give me a moment," she said, glancing around. "I like this place. Look how marvelous the stars reflect in the lake! No moons today?"

“Flo, there is only one moon here!”

“The moon will come out later. Why?”

She shrugged. "Just for seeing it reflected in the lake."

“So you are kind of a …? Mage? Witch?”

She balanced her feet under the bench and watched him. “Does it matter?”

Her eyes had a glint in them, and I saw it in his eyes.

"Damn! My alter ego seems to like this Neanderthal! I'm in real trouble here. What can I do?"

I tried to ignore her shenanigans and focus on something else. I'll need to rethink and process this whole situation. Does the warlock know who I am? I have no idea who he is. Maybe a friend of a colleague. Will he come looking for me at my place? Why did he attack me? Are there more like him?

*

Cala stopped, resting with a hand against a wall.

“If I do some crazy shit, just kill me!” - she said.

She was barely standing.

Alice struggled to carry Tina. A short distance behind them, Spartacius dropped to his knees, his strength failing. Alice was carrying Tina because it hadn't crossed her mind that she needed to help her. Now Alice had to turn back to support Spartacius.

She wanted to help, but Alice was already there. Why hadn't she thought of assisting Spartacius? Her thoughts spun in confusion. What remained clear to her was that Alice was her friend, and she had to be there for her.

With this realization sinking in, Cala clutched her katars more tightly. This was her unique way of providing support.

She moved closer to Alice, ready to protect her from any threat.

Spartacius grumbled:

“Just let me die.”

The Lynx rolled his eyes tiredly.

"The way is clear ahead; put the two on my back," - he said to Alice.

Since Dolores had left, White Flower had disappeared, too, and they had no healing. Besides that, Cala had started to behave strangely. She appeared to have forgotten much of her knowledge and struggled to hold more than one thought in her mind at a time.

For instance, if you instructed her to carry Spartacius, she would comply. However, she might then forget she was holding him and attempt to engage in a fight while still carrying him. To resolve this, you'd have to direct her to put him down first and then instruct her to join the battle.

In the end, Alice decided to tell her to guard them. That seemed to work.

It took them a while to grasp the situation, and afterward, they engaged in extensive discussions, attempting to decide what to do. The Lynx suggested attempting to sneak outside, but Alice believed it was too risky. Cala was content to simply stand by and listen.

However, their situation took a turn for the worse when more orcs arrived, forcing them to make a hasty retreat. The caverns were an extensive labyrinth, a sprawling network of tunnels and chambers, all orc-infested.

They had been sleep-deprived for what felt like an eternity. They no longer had time for anything. Not even to properly sit and eat. The constant fear of orc attacks loomed, and Cala had, on several occasions, leaped to shield Tina or Spartacius from those accursed orc arrows. That was one thing she could understand and do, but in other matters, her thinking had become simplistic and limited.

Alice glanced worriedly at Cala.

“Come, we must go further! Take care with those katars!”

Cala complied, an arrow still protruding from her shoulder bone. She had forgotten to ask Alice to pull it out.

“Alice! Arrow!”

Alice turned, saw the arrow, and sighed.

“Oh, sure! Don't let it stay so long; please speak sooner!”

Cala sighed, a lost look on her face. Why did Spartacius remember and she did not? Why was he sane and she not? Why was everything so unfair?