Bwoosh!

A dagger made of red flame was illuminating the dark ruins, the boy was practicing his breathing technique, trying to improve the duration of his conjuring skill.

“Huft… It’s hard trying to maintain the flow of mana. I keep messing up the rhythm of my breathing…”

“You have to keep practicing until you get it.” The grimoire was flying when it opened itself and wrote the words it wanted to say.

“I can only maintain the form for only three minutes now…” The boy was anxious, he had to take revenge today or he won’t have a chance to do so in the future.

He couldn’t put down his anger, just thinking about how happy Ted’s and his gang member's faces were when they were drunk using the money he and the kids hardly earned everyday, how he beat them up and finally got two of his siblings dead in their hands was making him go crazy.

He had to settle this grudge once and for all. If not, how could he sleep at night in peace?

He still felt extreme guilt for being unable to protect them.

“You have to train your physique too, especially your lungs.”

“Huft, I still have a long way to go… but at least, I have to make the duration a bit longer before tonight.” The boy’s expression turned solemn and continued his training again.

…

Time went by, it was already evening, the boy finally stopped training, he felt fatigued and hungry. He had to take a break.

“Let’s grab something to eat.” The boy said as he put his robe on.

With a nod, the grimoire flew into his robe, and the two of them headed to the marketplace in search of food.

The boy made sure to pay attention to his surroundings while loitering around the food stands this time around. He wouldn’t allow himself to make the same mistake again.

He soon found an opportunity to swipe away a slice of bread from a stand. He quickly made his way back to the old ruins of the city before he started munching on it.

“Huft, finally ate something.” The boy said as he patted his belly. “Okay, let’s try it again!”

The boy sat cross legged on the floor and then started to circulate his breathing according to the technique. It took him 5 seconds to form a dagger or a sword because those were the ones that were stable enough to be used in battle.

Because when the first time he did it, the form of the sword he conjured was unstable, it flickered every second and vanished right away. But now he could make them stable enough and the duration had already improved to five minutes.

“Okay! Now let’s try using the breathing technique while running!”

“Wait a moment. I told you that you have to train your physique and lungs first. You’re putting yourself in danger.”

The boy was silent. He looked at his hands that were bandaged all over. The memory of him getting beaten that night, how he failed to protect Adle and Roxel flooded in his mind again, he clenched his fist real hard and looked at the grimoire.

“I need to- no! I have to!” The boy said, anger filled his eyes.

The grimoire was stunned, it just stood still in the air without moving an inch, it was silent for some time, but then it gave up and said, “Okay, up to you!”

The grimoire shook itself feeling upset. It thought that the boy needed to experience it himself to know that doing something anxiously like this would bring him nothing but danger.

The ruins he was in right now were quite large so he could do the practice. So, the boy started his practice while the grimoire kept giving him advice so he could improve faster.

The boy started running at his highest speed in a circle, the grimoire flying at his side, instructed him.

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“Now!”

The boy started using the breathing technique while running. “Breath in accordance with the rhythm of the breathing technique, breath in the neutral mana from the surroundings.

At first he was fine, he managed to pull in a little neutral mana, but then…

“Pak!”

Cough, cough!

The boy stumbled to the ground, he clenched his chest in pain, and vomited some blood.

The grimoire was waiting on the side, after it slapped the boy on the head and forcefully stopped the boy from trying any longer.

The boy was still on the ground, he only moved after some time. “Thanks. I’m sorry, I was too emotional.”

The boy knew why the grimoire slapped him and forcefully stopped him from going any longer. Because his lungs were not strong enough to handle the burden, if he were to continue practicing before, his lungs would have exploded.

“You are too impatient. You are always doing everything recklessly, cool your head down!”

“...I’m sorry.”

The grimoire was silent, if it was a human, it definitely would sigh right now. “Even though I never went outside of the ruins before I met you, I know how reckless your actions are. Learn how to be clear headed.”

“Okay…”

The grimoire shook itself like a person shaking their head. “You can’t do it again until you properly train your physique!”

“I’ll listen to you… let’s just concentrate to improve the duration for now.” The boy said. He was still a bit pale from coughing up blood, but he felt much better after calming down his breathing rhythm again.

…

“Huft… I think it’s about time…”

The boy opened his eyes and stood up. He patted the dirt on his robe and looked toward the grimoire.

“Let’s go!”

The grimoire went inside his robe and the both of them went outside, it was already near midnight. The sky was dark with no moon in sight, the clouds were veiling the vast sky, blocking all sorts of lights from enveloping the world.

As if trying to say there would be something bad happening tonight.

They walked out from the ruins area and headed to the slums, to where the house was.

“Ted and his bunch must be feeling angry and confused, they had no idea where we went.” The boy thought to himself, he clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. “I’m going to make you guys pay for your sins!”

Not long after, they arrived at the slums district, but there was something abnormal that night, there were people crowding in, and the voice of guards could be heard from a distance.

“Hey! Back off! We need to investigate the crime scene! You people will ruin the evidence!”

“Go back! This is not something you should be watching! You are hindering the investigation!”

The boy looked confused, he looked at his surroundings, there were many guards in the slums near midnight.

It was very absurd since guards were a very lazy bunch, unless this was something big that the higher ups took notice of.

When the boy walked closer to the crowd, he heard people were discussing.

“So the rumors are true, there is a serial killer in the capital!”

“Of course it is true! Do you live under a rock? The capital has been in uproar ever since the third victim was discovered! Apparently all the victims have one thing in common which makes them identify those cases as a serial killer case! The same things which occur on every victim are all of them are women and some part of their bodies would always be missing!”

“The killer took their bodies’ parts?!”

“Yeah! Including organs! I heard they were a mess, one of the victims...”

The other guy felt uncomfortable, he touched his belly and signaled the other guy to stop. “Ugh, okay, no need for the details, I can’t stomach it.”

“Then why are you here if you are afraid of seeing them?”

The boy heard all the commotions, but since he was in a hurry, he kept walking to his destination.

“Seeing someone dying in the slums is everyday occurrence, but a brutal murder cases like those are not common even in here. I think it started around a week ago? The first victim was discovered in a back alley just 2 blocks away from the guard post! How brazen.”

The boy thought to himself, recollecting the past event that he heard accidentally when he was pickpocketing around the market.

Rumors and news traveled fast around the marketplace, it was no wonder why the boy knew many things that were happening in the capital.

“What is the motive…? Ah forget about it, I have to think of a way to attack Ted and his bunch.” The boy thought to himself. It wasn’t that the boy was apathetic to other people’s lives, but he had already seen many people die and no one cared about them in the slums and not to mention that he had other pressing matters in hands right now.

…

Finally, he arrived at his destination. He was near the house, but he snuck in using the hole in the back wall from before and hid himself in the courtyard to prepare.

“There will be no one going out right now. We have to make a plan.” The boy said in a low voice, talking to the grimoire.

“Let’s scout where they are at.”

“I know where they are at this time, Ted would be on his drinking table located in the living room with his bunch, but sometimes there are some people in the first room after the living room.”

“You remember the house’s layout?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s get those guys in the separate room first, but before that, you need to get a weapon, since your conjurer skill takes a lot of stamina, better for you to use them in critical moments.” The grimoire said, analyzing the most feasible plan.

The boy was slightly taken aback. “Whoa, this grimoire is a rare treasure among rare treasures.” But then he remembered. “Eh, how come I didn’t think of that?” The boy said.

“I didn’t think about that either before we arrived here, we just have to make do. Do you have any idea?”

The boy sighed. “My impatience must have been affecting you… Fortunately there would be something useful in the back room, Ted and his thugs never really cared about the house.” The boy nodded his head and continued, “There’s a broken window in the back room, let’s go in from there.”