In the folly of the disavowed lingers a beast—mourns and claws, it awaits, for it vowed. The yearning yarn—were it twine, shall it evanish. Seeketh ye shall, the earnest of all, among the giant's ravine—shadow shan't desert ye even where the mightiest were declined.

The book Ricker eluded to and the page that was marked, not by him, had an image of an ancient text, one that Aeryth knew not.

Aeryth had seen the collections of books in Caroline's office, and fortunately, she had the book and dictionary to decipher the text. Of course, Aeryth didn't ask her to do it.

Now that it was deciphered, Aeryth had a hard time understanding why she bothered to put so much effort into a drunk man's words. Of course, it meant nothing. It meant less than nothing because she spent like four hours decoding this.

At least, she was done. It was morning. She went to sleep after taking a shower in the middle of the night once she finished with this stupid endeavor and woke up late.

She yawned, stretching her back. She missed her sword practice in the morning as well. She had been missing it for a while now. Not a positive habit. She very much intended to change it as soon as possible.

I can go to the library, return the book now, and then do my shift. I should ask Caroline if I can work.

She went to the canteen building. The breakfast was bread and egg. She reminded herself to be grateful that she had been given the shelter.

Aeryth took her usual spot. Soon, Vik came to her side. "Good Morning, Vik." Aeryth greeted him.

He blinked. "Mornin', Aeryth," he took the seat opposite of her. "So, uh, you didn't come for work yesterday too. You take a new job or something?"

"I had some work to do. I'll ask Caroline if I can start my shift today."

Vik nodded. "I see. Glad to hear that."

"Why are you so glad?" Aeryth knitted her brow in confusion.

"Well, the boy who takes your job is..." he surveyed the surroundings, "Well, he's bad at it. Always complaining, screeching to calm people down." Vik sighed. "That's not even the worst of it. He made all the red register entries in the blue."

Aeryth chuckled. "And you have to help him fix that, I presume? Or… are you expecting me to do something about it?"

"Yeah, we had to work an extra hour yesterday. Can’t leave the new wilting in misery, can I?"

"I don't see why not. Kindness at the expense of your own time seems stupid," Aeryth replied.

"Didn't think you had a hard stance like that."

"I don't understand why people believe I am some kind of saint. I can punch a man in front of his son and then proceed to ask the said son if I should kill him. Dead Serious in looking in his eyes." Aeryth shook her head as Vik broke into a fit of laughter. At this point, she felt it was ridiculous. Even the stranger last night seemed to think the same.

"I'd rather believe if you said you gave away your house to a beggar than you hitting someone and threatening to kill anyone."

Aeryth sighed. "Why do you even think that?"

"I mean..." Vik again looked around the room. "Don't tell anyone, but everyone here thinks of you as a precious kitten who doesn't like to talk but has a heart of gold. I mean, you didn't even try to hurt Mira back for what she tried to do with you and that Truman guy," he belched. "But you didn't, so we rightfully assumed you're the kind and forgiving type. Then, you just feel gentle and caring? I don’t know. Wait.. that sounds weird. I’ll make it clear. I am not trying to hit on you or anything. I got a girlfriend." Vik grinned proudly.

Aeryth nodded. "If I try to make MIra’s life harder, that's another thing in my schedule and only serves to make my own life harder.”

"See. If it were me, I would've thrown her down the stairs like five times by now. And smiled proudly each time. Reasons do not change the reality. And the reality is that you don’t hate Mira even after what she did." Vik smiled. "You, uh, not going to eat?"

Aeryth sighed. "Think whatever you like. I simply don’t have time to take pretty revenge. And I prefer to eat in silence."

"Right. Then, go ahead, I shall not bother you any longer."

Aeryth nodded. She stopped. This was as good a time as any. She looked around, and no one was close enough to hear her voice.

"I wanted to ask... when is Sera's birthday, do you know?" Aeryth wispered.

"Sera?" He said loudly. Aeryth kicked him in the foot.

"Quiet," she said, looking down at her plate.

"Ouch." He breathed a few times, trying to calm his heart. "Sera's birthday?" he knitted his brow.

"Yeah."

"Lemme thinks..." he scratched his chin. "Can tell ya if you treat me to lunch."

"Deal." Aeryth agreed.

He blinked. "This is the cue where you're supposed to kick and curse me for being greedy."

"You're helping me. Treating you to lunch only seems fair. And your cordial presence has been nice in my life."

Vik's eyes were as big as the owl. He blinked. Looked up at the ceiling. "Hey, Ella... what did I do to earn this."

Aeryth focused on her plate. Vik was almost done at this point.

"There’s still some time, so rest easy, " Vik walked away.

Aeryth ate in silence. She heard the rumors around her, of course.

"Really!" one of the boys asked in shock.

Aeryth looked their way, and it would seem that's where Vik had gone next. She wondered what would've earned such a shock. The rest of their conversation was mostly dim.

I need to learn about affinity control next. Enhancement or imbuing?

Aeryth didn't fully understand how affinity worked. She knew, despite being against it, that Sera would teach her once she had the time. Aeryth wanted to do it on her own, but she had no way of learning it. How did the normal blessed even learn these things? On that note, Aeryth realized she had not met a single blessed person just wandering around, confused about what to do next. \

After breakfast, she went to her room, took the books, and returned to Caroline's office.

The library went as it always did. Little interaction with people. A few regulars asked why she had been missing as of late and if her health was okay now. The small gesture reminded Aeryth of her village. How they would visit and ask about people's health if they were missing for long.

There was only one issue in the library. The rowdy group from before had gotten even worse.

"Please maintain silence in the library," Aeryth said for the fifth time since morning. They hushed down. How long? Aeryth sighed as she checked the register for any long pending dues except for Ricker. She dreaded what would happen to him. Even worse, she felt for the few who had not yet returned the borrowed books.

Another thing curious about Ricker—now that she pondered a little—was that it made no sense for someone like him to borrow a book about monsters. He seemed less than studious, to say the least. And then, what he said yesterday.

She wanted to write off those words as the rambling of a drunkard, yet she couldn't help but feel there was more to it. Why would he ask her to read that page? What did it mean?

I can always look for him now that I know where he lives. Though, that's not necessary right now. I should focus on magic and things related to that. And wait for the news about the lance. Gu Yuan said It would take a few weeks, right?

Soon, it was time for the lunch.

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The rowdy group left, shouting and being a nuisance. Few people were glancing her way to fix this, but Aeryth just gestured for them to stay calm.

Aeryth sighed. It was a ticking bomb. Aeryth knew. And now, Vik was closing the books and bringing them to shelves. He seemed worried and spent.

He looked her way.

Aeryth sighed. She put up the lunch break sign and made her way to the table. Numbers of the book on the table were far too many for the group, and that came after the fact of how rudely they were sprawled.

"I'll help," Aeryth said.

“No worries, Aeryth, but this is mine and Kayla’s job. Leave it to us.”

Kayla helped Vik with carrying the books, asking her not to worry about it.

Aeryth sighed as she watched them leave. "This is going to end badly."

She talked to the Guardsman, but he waved off, saying that was not his part of the job. If the fight starts, he will take care of it.

Aeryth sighed. Since Vik was going to be busy, Aeryth decided to see if she could get registered with the Realm Travelling Commission right now.

— — —

"It will take a few days to get your license." The receptionist said.

Aeryth nodded. "Thank you."

"Let's go!" Sera said. Gu Yuan beside her sighed.

"I have to complete my shift, I am afraid. I'm sorry, Sera. I know you want to help, but I have been missing almost every day for the past few days."

"Fine," Sera looked at Gu Yuan, "I am sure he can handle the counter for a few hours, right?"

"I was under the assumption that I am here to teach her about affinity control."

Aeryth knitted her brow. She didn't like where this was going. She was supposed to hide her powers. Sera might have forgotten all about it.

"I am sorry, but can I talk to Sera alone for a moment."

Gu Yuan nodded as they stepped out of the building. He walked ahead of them.

"Sera," Aeryth whispered. "I thought you wouldn't share about my affinity with anyone. Did you tell him about it?"

Sera knitted her brow. "No. I have not. But he knows. That's why he offered in the first place. Affinity Authority is very different and complicated than mana. Something beyond me."

Aeryth nodded. "He knows?" Aeryth's confusion grew. "Maybe Light told him?"

"Or Lady Sia. Light is buddy-buddy with Lady Sia, so she must've told her, and Lady Sia would've told Gu Yuan to help you out."

"Within reason, I suppose."

He's trustworthy. I can only imagine that to be the case.

The noble lady knew about her. It didn't sit well with Aeryth. Not that there was anything she could do about it. It was Light's decision, to begin with, to decide whom should know, as she was the one who cautioned Aeryth and knew better about the dangers than Aeryth.

"Gu Yuan, are you free in the evening?" Sera asked.

"I can make some time. We cannot start now, I presume?"

"Affirmative," Sera said with a toothy grin, "See ya in the evening then."

"Okay. I will complete matters unconcerned to this arrangement for now."

He took a side path and left as Aeryth and Sera made their way to the library.

"So, how's everything coming along?"

Aeryth mused. She created the rune that she learned last night, filled with the tiniest amount of mana, and patted Sera, who stumbled forward. Almost falling.

"Great Actually.” Aeryth grinned, “I learned a new trick."

“Tell me all about it."

So, Sera stayed in the library for the second shift while Aeryth explained the weird encounter with the stranger.

"That's weird. Like I never see anyone, never, in Granny's shop."

Aeryth withheld the fact that she was going to meet the said stranger next week. She had a feeling that Sera would insist on meeting this stranger, and Aeryth didn't know if the stranger would take kindly of that.

"Woah, that sounds so cool. I have never heard of anyone cooking the rice in one strike." Sera whispered in awe. "I wanna meet her."

"I will cook the rice in one strike, one day. Very soon," Aeryth said.

"By that time, I will have broken Granny's cooker, better yet, melted it into a puddle."

The rowdy group didn't return after lunch, so most of it was pleasant except for a few renewals, whom Sera was scared off by staring angrily because, according to Sera, they were the ones invading the storytime.

Then, she went over the incident during the collection duty, ending it with the translation.

"That's a bunch of jibberish. How do you even remember that? Oh, I know. You spent the whole night reciting the words to commit them to your memory."

Aeryth could only chuckle at that. She had a good memory, but not a long one. She was already starting to forget the spell-breaking fundamentals and foundations of spells. One more week without revising, and she would not remember a thing.

— — —

"What color do you imagine life?" Gu Yuan asked.

"Red..." Aeryth replied unsurely. "Red. I think."

"Perfectly acceptable, as it is a blood type mutation," Gu Yuan nodded.

“It should be red because it is a blood type mutation?” Aeryth asked.

“No. What you envision is solely dependent on your mind, but it is a blood type mutation, so natural to think red as the color of life.”

“What color would you imagine?” Aeryth asked. She couldn’t imagine any other color representing life.

Gu Yuan swept his eyes around the field. “Green…”

They were in the open grass fields between the districts. No one was here except for them.

Aeryth knitted her brow. Green made sense, but her mind rejected the idea like it was a curse.

"I will go over the basics once."

Aeryth nodded.

"It won't hurt you, Sera, to sit still and listen."

"Why would I hear your yapping when practicality is the only thing important?"

"As such, we have a melted street in the middle of District Four," Gu Yuan nodded. Sera propped herself up on her elbow, face twisted into a disgusted snarl.

Gu Yuan raised a finger, and a bubble manifested over it. "This is your affinity. An aspect of reality that you've control over."

Inside it, a smaller red-hued bubble formed, floating and bouncing.

"The aspect is far too broad—life, in your case. We are surrounded by it. Its presence is overwhelmingly present yet unoppressive. Such is the case for almost every aspect of reality, as it is a natural part of the world we live in. This smaller bubble is your authority over the aspect. How much of the said aspect do you domain over—can you mold or shape, create or destroy? That we need to find out."

Aeryth nodded.

The bubble inside of it expanded, almost filling up the entirety, "You can either go the broad path and control everything in the aspect," the bubble shrank, becoming a dot in it, "or master an individual skill within it, with which you might be able to overwhelm someone with hundreds of skills. Of course, neither path is better. The choices exist to suit individuals, rather than being a better or worse one."

"It's possible to focus on a single ability and then move toward a wider path after mastering it, or do I have to make a choice right now?" Aeryth asked.

"No. It's for information. Unless you take oaths, no one can bind you to one specific path. You will decide over a period, understanding magic and yourself. What you wish to do, and how much can you handle." The point expanded, becoming a web, as it encaptured the entire bubble. "This web is how you essentially gain control over the affinity. Right now, you have one specific power, and from here, you'll expand and try to touch every apex within the aspect."

"I think I understand."

Sera let out a bored yawn. "Get to the interesting part. Why are we wasting breath over this again?"

Gu Yuan ignored her. "For now, our purpose is to find out what apex you have inherited as the starting point."

"I have self-regeneration. So it could be related to healing?"

"No. Healing itself is a broad term. Regeneration... that itself can the power to bring something to its initial plane."

"Or she could be boosting and mutating her self-healing factor?" Sera cut in.

"That... is a possibility," Gu Yuan nodded, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "But. How did you come up with it?"

"I am offended!"

"These possibilities only serve to present how misunderstood someone’s power can be. But we have two possibilities. Let’s test which one is correct.” Gu Yuan hesitated.

"Is there a problem?" Aeryth asked.

"Ah," Sera nodded. "I brought him here for the explanation. You get everything, right?"

Aeryth nodded. "I believe I do."

"Then," Gu Yuan walked a few steps back, "Sera will show you the practical part."

Sera walked behind Aeryth. "Don't be alarmed. You will feel a little pain, okay?"

Aeryth nodded.

Sera grabbed Aeryth's shoulder, pressing her thumb on the shoulder blades. Aeryth felt hot as if lava was flowing beneath her skin.

"Close your eyes," Gu Yuan said. His voice was different. Heavier, sharper.

Aeryth followed his words without hesitation. It was assuring in a wrong way.

"What color do you imagine life to be? Its shape. Fragrance. Shine"

"Red... a flower?" Aeryth said as it formed in her mind upon Gu Yuan's words. It was magic. She could smell blood. The flower was dull.

"Anything else you imagine?"

"A seed, blooming in the dreary, cracked soil, blossoming into a beautiful red chrysanthemum. Mourning, drab blood seeps from its nucleus as it wets the drought earth." Aeryth replied.

"For now, focus on the red,” Gu Yuan said after a long pause. “The rest of the images will serve a purpose in the future. What's the color of mana?"

Aeryth knitted her brows. "Blue? White? White with a slight tinge of blue at the fringes."

"Hn..." Sera made a sound.

"Not now, Sera."

Sera clamped her mouth shut, audibly.

"Take hold of the white mana in your veins. Stop it. Make it go slower. Command it to move as you wish for it to.”

Aeryth nodded. She stopped the flow of mana in her body and slowly started again. She moved it faster. It was not the blood that she was controlling, but the mana. It was more ethereal, though to visualize, she imagined it like a white liquid in her veins.

"Let me know when you can fully control every ounce of mana in your body."

"Even those that flow into my brain?"

"Even those. It is in their nature to flow, but if you cut off the supply of mana for a short while, it will not affect your brain."

Aeryth nodded. After a few minutes of focusing inside her, controlling the sense and the mana that seeped from her heartstone, she managed to cut off all the flow of mana into her brain. It was all in her chest, which almost felt stabbing pain from the phantom source.

"Now, let it flow in your dominant hand."

Aeryth nodded. She didn't understand what was the purpose Sera served here.

She let it flow into her left hand and through another vein, looping to the heart stone. She could feel the headache spreading like a web due to the lack of mana in her brain.

Sera's thumb dug deeper as the flames in them grew vigilant.

"Imagine your blood slowly mixing into your mana, the red mixing with the blue and white."

Aeryth tried. It didn't work. She imagined the blood in her nerves mixing with her mana, turning into a lighter shade of red, closer to pink. But to no effect.

"It's not working."

"Hm..." Gu Yuan knitted his brow. "Well, trying again. This is one of the harder steps. Adding the affinity into your mana. The process can be different. Let your instincts guide you. You understand your powers better than others."

Aeryth tried again. Imagining the blood mixing with mana. She tried again. Over and over. "It's not working. I even tried to imagine different things." She said after half an hour of trying.

Sera crouched behind her, still holding onto her shoulder. "That's a shame. How about you take off your bracelet, maybe that will give us some idea?"

"No."

"No."

Aeryth and Gu Yuan said at the same time.

"It's dangerous. Light said I should never take it off."

"I agree," Gu Yuan added. "Let's stop here for now, then. I will look into it. This is one of the safest methods and should work for everyone."

"Yeah, I did it the same way."

Aeryth didn't say anything. The bracelet gave her an idea. An inkling of why it might not be working as intended. "Let's try again."

Sera happily obliged.

Aeryth closed her eyes. She imagined the blood and mana mixing, but instead of twining as she tried initially, she imagined the red swallowing the white and blue without changing in the slightest. Just like the time when her blood mixed with dead spirit ashes but didn’t turn a shade darker, despite the book stating it as fact.

This time it worked. The man turned red. Aeryth tried to control it. But couldn't. It was far too violent and untamable. Her nerves shivered. A jolt of pain kicked away all her control. She felt as if her heart was expanding out of her chest.

A whip of flame kicked the violent thing out of her body.

"As I expected," Sera breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, your affinity is far too proud. Like lightning, but worse. Far, far cruel and unkind."

“It is life, after all,” Gu Yuan chuckled.

Aeryth looked at him curiously.

"I cannot feel an ounce of mana in you," Gu Yuan replied. "Since Sera is directly in contact with you, and you are not rejecting her, she can feel your presence."

Aeryth nodded. The first time, Aeryth looked at Sera's pale face. Her eyes gave away how shocked she was of Aeryth's affinity. "Are you alright?"

"Okay." Sera grinned. "But, oh boy, are you blessed. Cruelly blessed, should I say?"

Aeryth “Thank…” The nerves in her left arm throbbed. Her jaws clenched, trying to hold in the pained groan.

"Are you hurt?" Gu Yuan asked.

"A little bit. Let's try again." Aeryth said.

Gu Yuan shook his head. "No. We will wait. There should not be physical damage, as such, you will recover in a few minutes. We are here to make sure you do not hurt yourself."

Aeryth nodded. She looked up at the sky. It was dark already. "But it's night already."

"That's is of no concern. I have nothing to do, neither does Sera. We will accompany you until you've learned it."

Aeryth looked up at Sera. "You were there in my room, when I broke the orb, right?"

"Yeah. I was. Though, you were mumbling someone else's name. It was my fault, to begin with, so this time, to not blunder anymore, I got Mr. Responsible with me." Sera said with a sad smile.

"Thank you..." Aeryth whispered. She couldn't just tell Sera she didn't need her help. Not after Sera was doing so much for her. What did she even get from this? Aeryth couldn't understand.