When I opened my eyes, I was staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. I raised my body and checked my hand before anything else, only when I saw the ivory ring was untouched did I exhale a sigh of relief.

“Are you awake?” A woman’s voice filled my ears, her gentle enunciation muddled my thoughts as a sense of comfort swept over me.

I came to my senses after hearing it and realized there were several things wrong with the situation and I refused to be wrapped up in the soothing voice.

“Don’t use your gift on me,” I practically growled in alarm, jumping to my feet and placing my back against the wall nearest to me in order to face any attacks properly.

The woman in my room had long, naturally gray, hair but a youthful appearance in spite of that. Her eyes were dark and faintly chilling, but her skin was radiant in contrast. A small grin was present on her red lips as she looked at me. She dressed formally, with a long black coat, pants, and heels, but she definitely wasn't ordinary.

“I apologize if I offended you, I only wished to ease you into things,” she said.

“That wasn’t the way to do it.” I remained guarded while my eyes darted around the room in search of an exit.

Besides the window behind me, the only other way out was through the door she was sitting near.

“I’m aware and as I’ve said, I’m sorry,” She apologized again. "I couldn't gauge how you react and so I acted without thinking."

“You’re with Rosemary and the others, right?” Ignoring her ‘kind’ words, I got right to the heart of the matter.

“Yes, my name is Evanora Prower.”

The name sounded familiar for some reason. I slightly lowered my head in thought, but kept my eyes on Evanora just in case she tried to attack me.

‘That’s it!’ My eyes widened unconsciously as I recalled the school my mother attended.

“Who are you really? Why is your name associated with the school my mother went to?”

"That’s what I’m here to speak to you about. How about you sit down?” She gestured to the bed, but I shook my head.

She didn’t insist and began speaking once more, “I’ve thought about the best way to explain this to you, but even now I find it difficult… Have you heard about the precursor theory?”

“Yeah, something about gifted being around hundreds of years ago or something.” I narrowed my eyes.

“Since you know that it will certainly make explaining easier.”

“I’m all ears,” I relaxed a little and edged toward my bed.

I sat down but I hid one arm behind my back and extended one of my scarlet blades just in case.

…

A little while later, Evanora told me a story that was hard to believe to say the least.

The precursor theory was beginning to be accepted, but her story, if it was the truth, confirmed it to be a fact.

Apparently, the first individuals with gifts had appeared thousands of years ago through unknown means. A lot of mythical and legendary figures were based in reality, but their existences had become obscured over the years and entered the realm of fantasy. There were wars, battles, and powerful people littered throughout history, but had either been lost to time or intentionally erased.

There were two important things I took from Evanora, all the gifted of the modern era were said to be descendants of the so-called precursors, but not every descendant was guaranteed to awaken. Apparently, Evanora suspected that my gift came from an ancient and powerful witch who wasn’t a kind person at all, but she didn’t go into any further detail. Even when I asked, she seemed to be unwilling to speak any further and changed the subject.

The second and possibly most concerning detail was the fact that the precursors still existed. Meaning that there were groups of all sorts of people hiding in plain sight which was worrying to say the least. What sort of wealth and influence would they have built up until now? To give me a sense of perspective, Evanora revealed that her current net worth was upwards of 7.2 billion US dollars and that wasn’t taking any of the artifacts she gathered over the years into account.

I didn’t say it aloud, but what frightened me the most was the fact that Evanora was hundreds of years old. Just thinking about the level of the power she must’ve had made me nervous, but I tried my best to hide it from showing.

“...Let’s say that’s all true. Why did you come to tell me this?”

“Let me preface my next words with another apology. I have made a great deal of effort to investigate your life and for that, I ask your forgiveness.”

“That’s not too surprising,” I said, restraining my annoyance behind a thin smile. Between the Iron Wyvern Guild’s dealing with the government and her, I really felt as if I was being toyed with by other people. With where my gift and other abilities stood, I couldn't do much to resist for now. I was counted myself fortunate that no one had forced me to do anything so far.

She seemed to notice my worsening mood, but continued in spite of it, “What I require is your help.”

I showed confusion, or at least. My expression must have made it obvious that I didn’t understand what she meant by “help.”

“Why would you need my help? You must be way stronger than me, right?”

“My personal strength aside, I am lacking as a teacher and have stagnated as a learner. As you may have guessed from my earlier story, my purpose in creating schools was to locate any women with the blood of witches. I presume your mother was a possible candidate but failed to awaken like many others. The women who do awaken are inducted into the group I lead. I attempt to teach them the best way to control their power, but there is a limit to what I’m able to successfully impart.”

“And you think that I’m a better teacher than you?” I asked, adding a doubtful laugh as I tried to picture it.

“As I’ve said, I am lacking as a teacher...” Evanora reached into her coat and produced a rolled-up scroll, unfurling it in front of me and revealing a set of basic runes. “Do you understand the honorian alphabet?”

“That’s what you call it?” I asked, squinting my eyes. “It’s hard for me to understand the simplified version, but I’m more familiar with the complicated variant.”

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As I finished speaking, I saw Evanora’s eyes flash with astonishment.

“I only assumed the version you knew was an alternate version but to think you’d say something so…- Does this really seem like a simplified version to you?”

“Um–” I trailed, only continuing because her excited gaze seemed to urge me on. “Well, simple may be the wrong term. It’s more like someone made a hasty improvisation of the original language rather than a simpler one.”

I gulped after I finished explaining my perspective. After all, if she were to get offended she could easily kill me. Thinking that, I hurriedly retracted the scarlet blade I kept readied behind me while hoping she didn’t notice.

“Casper, if I were to ask you to inscribe the runic alphabet you’re familiar with, would you be able to do it? All I require is simple letters and numbers.”

Seeing her enthusiasm skyrocket, I could only steady myself as I prepared to say something that could result in a bad ending for me.

“How… much is it worth to you?” I asked while feeling the urge to shrink away.

Her expression turned serious and I could almost feel my heart stop completely as she stared at me.

“Hmm–” She pondered. “At the very least, one and a half million dollars.”

‘A few million!’ I screamed inwardly, attempting to keep my composure.

It was safe to say I failed as Evanora misread my expression as disappointment.

“Is that not enough?” She asked.

“No!” I shouted without thinking. “It’s more than enough–in fact, I think I may be up-selling you just a bit since there is still a lot I don’t know regarding the runes.”

I wanted to negotiate for more, but if she discovered I cheated her I wasn't confident that she would let me off.

“That’s of no concern to me. As long as there is enough to learn the foundations of the alphabet, I feel that I’ve gauged the worth correctly. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Y-Yes, I guess so.” I laughed wryly, feeling my mood improve by a tremendous amount.

“Then do we have a deal?”

“Yes, of course!” I smiled.

However, my face soon relaxed as the feeling of exhilaration passed.

“I need to know one thing though.” I steeled myself up as my thoughts returned to the one detail Evanora held out on. “The witch you think I descended from, who is she? If you can’t tell me that much then I won’t help you.”

Evanora let out a deep sigh, her excited smile faded as her gaze hardened.

“Given your abilities, I believe you are a distant descendant of the Eventide Witch, Eve,” She spoke somberly, a tinge of anger, fear, and desolation surfaced in her tone and on her face.

At least, that’s the impression I got.

“Like the biblical Eve?”

“Perhaps, or maybe she found the name to be fitting in her own twisted way. Listen carefully, she is one of the vilest people to ever walk this earth. She is the sole cause of the Black Death.”

I blinked rapidly as I attempted to process what she said.

“Then doesn’t that mean-”

“From what my predecessors taught me, her act of genocide was an attempt to gain the notice of some higher being. She was eventually stopped at a great cost, but she wasn't killed until much later. Her actions made witches hated beyond belief and most of the other precursors hunted us down, fearing that similar events may occur once again if we were left unchecked. They were so effective in ending us that I don’t know of any other surviving witches who are as old as me.”

“Then– are you still being hunted?” I asked cautiously.

“No, I’m not sure if there are any others aware of us, but the emergence of gifted as well as ruins has helped to keep us hidden.” Evanora seemed sad as she finished speaking, but soon shook her head and regained her calm.

“Enough of that, how soon can you impart the runes to me?”

“Well, right now, if you want.” I shrugged coolly, but my mind was a wreck.

I hardly expected so much information to appear and I couldn’t do much with it except attempt to process it. If she suspected that I’m the descendant of such a horrible person, did she think I could be a threat?

‘No.’ That wasn’t important.

The precursors who hunted the witches were much more worrying. After all, if they discovered that the “Eventide Witch” had a living descendant who awakened to a gift I doubt they’d be willing to ignore me. The more I thought about it, the worse my mind became.

‘Ah, she said they haven’t shown any sign of still killing witches so I’m in the clear… probably.’ I felt a sense of relief once the thought formed.

“Here,” Evanora’s voice brought me back to reality.

She handed me a blank scroll and a quill pen which I accepted before beginning to transcribe the runes.

“Oh, can I ask how you found me?” I inquired, shooting her a brief glance.

“Rosemary contacted me through Rusalka and informed me your behavior had changed. I was already planning to visit you once you grew a little more comfortable with them, but the plan changed… I hate repeating myself but I’m sorry for instructing them to track you with the fruit basket you received. We only meant to ensure your safety without alarming you.”

“Water under the bridge,” I replied. “At least it wasn’t poison,” I added.

“Good.” She nodded, “As for how I found you today, well…” She laughed dryly.

I raised my head and waited for her to finish.

“After entering your apartment, all I needed was a strand of hair to locate you.”

I felt my lips curl into a frown and Evanora hastily spoke upon seeing my reaction.

“I give you my word that we didn’t look through any of your belongings. I simply retrieved a hair from your pillow, that’s all.”

“And what about Sunny?” I questioned sternly. “Did you ask her to try and sleep with me?”

“What?” Evanora clearly took offense and spoke sternly, “Of course not. I don’t see any of those girls as simple pawns and I’d never ask them to do something so unbecoming. If one of Rosemary’s daughters wished to be intimate with you, it was through her own volition.”

“I see, sorry for assuming otherwise then,” I responded.

My chest lightened up a little bit since it did seem that they did have good intentions. She didn’t even ask me to join up with her or anything which further boosted my opinion, though I was still a bit hesitant overall.

“Ah, how exactly will you go about paying me?” I asked. “I mean, is it legal to just hand over a million dollars?”

I finished writing down the runes and handed them over to Evanora who nodded with satisfaction.

“When you live to be as old as me, you learn that there is either a loophole or a favor that you can call in. Don’t worry, you’ll have the money within three days.” She smiled before standing up.

“Now, I’ll leave you to get some rest. I’d hate to see your hair become as gray as mine,” she departed with those words leaving me a bit dumbstruck.

“Gray?” I repeated, but she was already gone.

After getting a strange feeling, I moved to the bathroom mirror to check and was shocked to see three strands of gray hair had appeared.

“What the hell?” I frowned.

I didn’t notice them before and no one made any comments so they must’ve appeared only recently. I guess killing those men really did have an effect on me. I was slightly annoyed as I plucked the hairs out before finally calming down.

“Alexandra!” I shouted like I had received an epiphany.

With the money I should be receiving from Evanora, I was more than clear of all my debt, but that didn’t mean I wished to sever ties with the Iron Wyvern guild just yet. As soon as my money rolled in, I decided I would call her and get things settled.

For now, I opened up the grimoire of death and began to search through it, finding something new and extremely worrying as I did.

Your innate ability undergoes a change…

Due to the change in your innate ability, certain abilities are can no longer be purchased while new ones will soon be available.

Your promise with the dead prevents you from accessing any abilities within this book. Should you fail, all souls in your possession will be depleted in order to soothe the vengeful spirits around you.

If you successfully resolve a longstanding grudge held by tormented souls, you will receive an incredible reward.

Current Souls:1230

I frowned deeply.