"Does Ater need sleep?" Dante asked himself as he sat awake in his chair. He was in the center of a large room in the police station. The blinds were drawn on all the windows, and the door was closed. The perfect darkness was pierced by a candle burning on the floor in front of Dante's feet. The detective had stared at it for so long that the flame had imprinted itself on his vision. Even when he looked away, the fire still flickered before his eyes.

Seraphina slept on an improvised bed in the corner of the room. Dante couldn't sleep. He couldn't relax with the thought that Ater might still be following him. That Ater might still be watching him. He shuddered with discomfort, 'This guy is really getting on my nerves.'

The next morning, Seraphina rose from her 'bed,' stiff and with a sore neck. The room was still dark due to the drawn blinds. She felt her way to the window and let the morning sunlight into the police station. The light fell on the long-dead candle and on Dante, who was still staring at its extinguished flame. Seraphina raised her hands in front of her face and stared at them for a while. "It really happened," she said to the detective in a hoarse voice. "Mhm," he confirmed briefly.

Dante stood up from his chair and put on his worn coat. "Let's go," he commanded. Seraphina didn't ask where.

The two found themselves in front of the Sapienza University again. The police were bustling around. They shouted, called to each other, carried documents, took notes, and dealt with the other beauties of serving the public. Dante showed his credentials to the officer guarding the entrance. He let them through.

Dante led the way to the office. They stepped over the rope that was strung across the entrance to the room. A wooden sign hanging from the rope read "Police Investigation in Progress."

"Oh, Mr. Detective, you again!" greeted young officer Faraday. Dante nodded and cleared his throat: "What... What happened here?" he feigned ignorance. He hadn't told anyone about what had happened to him. He didn't plan to either. As far as Dante knew, young Faraday could be Ater in disguise!

"Another Mund's murder, sir! This time Professor Stebins..."

'Hmm, Stebins. The old fox did use a pseudonym!' Dante noted to himself.

"Um... Why is the lady I brought in for questioning with you?" asked the curious Faraday. Dante ignored him. He approached the shelves and started examining them. He waved to Faraday to indicate that their conversation was over. The officer touched his hat in respect and went on his way. There were two forensic officers in the room meticulously examining the floor on the other side. Once he was sure no one was watching, Dante went to the northern part of the room and slipped his fingers under the third plank from the right. The plank lifted easily; it was clearly moved often. From there, Dante pulled out a large folder full of papers. The folder bore a symbol of a tree... It looked familiar to Dante. He took off the necklace from his neck and compared the symbol on it with the one on the folder. 'Identical,' he thought. He put the necklace back on and handed the heavy folder to Seraphina. Without a word, he turned and left the room with Seraphina hurrying after him. Dante couldn't bear to stay there a moment longer. He felt responsible for this murder. After all, Ater had been following HIM!

When they reached the street, Dante pulled an old, crumpled cigar from his pocket. He started patting himself down, unable to find his lighter. "Damn, I left it in the station," he said aloud. Seraphina raised a finger in the air, and a tiny flame ignited above her nail. Dante lit his cigar. "So, you use fire?" Seraphina just nodded. They continued to walk. "Thanks," Dante said briefly.

When the duo returned to the station, they didn't waste a moment and got straight to reading. They pulled out a pile of documents from the folder. Dante picked up a shorter one. The title read: "The Legend of Bereginiy - Retold Truth by Professor Rusuf." Dante read it aloud, and Seraphina looked up. "That's an old Mund legend about our goddess, Bereginiy. Every Mund knows it by heart... What's it doing here?"

Dante put down the document. "Tell me the legend before I read this."

Seraphina began: "A few thousand years ago, there was only one tribe on the Continent, the Veteres. Back then, the Mundi lived without magic, relying on their own strength and resourcefulness to survive. The island was ruled by the nature goddess, Bereginiy. She had a daughter, Oloro. Oloro was kidnapped by evil spirits, and Bereginiy turned to the men of the Veteres tribe for help. The Great Chief answered her call and personally rescued Oloro's daughter by defeating the evil spirits. As a reward, the goddess Bereginiy taught the Mundi how to use the magic that resides in nature."

Dante immediately noticed a flaw in that story. 'Nature magic, my ass,' he thought. He turned to the document and began to read.

"I am sure everyone is familiar with the Legend of Bereginiy, or at least the version our parents taught us.

The legend itself, although it has some accurate details, is incomplete and fundamentally inaccurate. I spent 14 years with my former teacher, Doctor Ater Arbor, in his house within the Black Tree. During those 14 years, I didn't learn fucking anything from that man who barely spoke one word a month. However, I did learn a lot from the books that were in his house. They sparked enough curiosity in me to continue my research even after my turbulent separation from Ater. After much struggle, I believe I managed to piece together this puzzle and obtain the complete, perfect truth.

Oloro was indeed kidnapped by Evil Spirits, beings that have been exterminated to this day. For some reason, the goddess Bereginiy was powerless against them and turned to the Mundi, believing they would have a chance against them. Only one Mund responded to the call. A young warrior named Vivus. He descended into the caves deep within the island, and after two weeks, he emerged carrying Oloro. In gratitude, Bereginiy allowed Vivus to stay with them for four years. During those four years, two things happened. Vivus learned to wield the earthly powers of the nature goddess; Vivus learned magic. The second thing that blossomed from his stay with the goddesses was the love between Oloro and Vivus. After four years, the goddess Bereginiy gave them her blessing and sent them back to the Veteres tribe...

When they returned to the tribe, Vivus excitedly demonstrated his newly learned abilities to the Mundi and told them he could teach them how to use them. However, Vivus was not the best teacher and failed to teach them how to master all branches of magic. Oloro soon became pregnant and gave birth to their son, Liber, who was a demigod. Vivus was made the tribe's chief and remained in that position until he died, 115 years later. Oloro, being a goddess, did not age but stayed with the tribe to care for her son even after the death of her husband and savior.

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Liber hated his parents. He watched his father age while his mother remained young. "Why don't you help father?" Liber asked his mother, "he'll die at this rate." Oloro nodded: "Death gives life meaning. I am envious of him for being able to experience it." Liber was disgusted by this logic. Liber was disgusted by his indifferent mother and his mortal father. But Liber was also mortal. Every day he looked at himself in the mirror, and every day he saw more flaws. After his father's death, Liber swore he wouldn't let himself end up like him. Liber would defeat death.

After five years of struggle, he would succeed in his endeavor. He would invent a new type of magic, blood magic. With its help, Liber managed to summon the few Evil Spirits that had survived his father's encounter and bind them to himself. "How come you never age?" young Liber asked them. "Without aging, existence is tasteless. We are searching for a cure for our affliction," the evil spirits replied. "I want us to make a trade. I will give you my mortality," Liber said with a smile. "And in return?" the Spirits asked.

"Your immortality." "

Dante looked up from the document for a moment. Seraphina sat, her mouth agape, listening to his reading aloud. "This is incredible!" Dante nodded with a smile on his face. He was pleased that he managed to distract her from the recent loss of her father. He continued reading.

"The spirits agreed to this deal. They took Liber's mortality and gave him their immortality. The evil spirits retreated back into their caves and happily died after a few decades.

Oloro was horrified by her son's decision. She was so disgusted that she left the Veteres tribe and returned to her mother, the goddess Bereginiy. 'Now I am a whole god! I want to see my grandmother!' Liber shouted after his mother. She stopped and turned to him. Her last words to her son were: 'Immortality does not make you a god but a slave.'

A hundred years later, Liber was still alive. He continued his research on blood magic, and it occupied his attention.

Two hundred years later, Liber was still alive. He spent his days training with the desire to master all branches of magic. After a century, he succeeded.

Three hundred years later, Liber did not want to be alive. He stopped talking to people. He owed flowers to every friend at their grave. Liber was not a god. 'People are condemned to pain, and death is the cure for that pain. I am a patient who has destroyed his own cure,' Liber concluded.

Four hundred years later, Liber tried to kill himself. Again. And again. And again. Without success.

Five hundred years later, Liber had a visitor. People from the Mundi tribe climbed the mountain, hoping that the legends about the immortal sage were true. 'The village was attacked by Evil Spirits! Please help us, oh wise one!' the villagers begged him. Liber's eyes lit up with hope for the first time in centuries. The Evil Spirits had returned! Perhaps he could trade with them again and get his mortality back.

Liber descended into the village and stood before the Evil Spirits. 'I want my mortality back!' he shouted. They laughed at him: 'Our great-great-grandfathers told our great-grandfathers that they managed to trade their immortality for someone's mortality. We didn't believe such a stupid man existed!' the spirits mocked him. Liber defeated the evil spirits. The Mundi proclaimed him the new chief. Liber knew that immortality was tied to blood. With the help of blood magic, he managed to make the exchange with the Evil Spirits in the first place, binding their immortality to his blood. But now he wanted to destroy that bond. However, no magic was strong enough to do such a feat.

Six hundred years later, Liber descended into the caves from where the Evil Spirits once came. He descended deeper and deeper into the earth's interior. There, he found what he was looking for. A source of magic strong enough to break his immortality. A source of magic unrelated to nature. Eldricka. Magic strong enough to erase immortality."

Dante stopped reading. "This is truly fascinating! I had a feeling that blood and Eldricka were not related to that 'nature magic' theme." Seraphina nodded. She was a bit embarrassed that it had never occurred to her.

"With the help of Eldricka and blood magic, Liber shattered his immortality. His soul aged, but his body did not. 'Why do you still beat?' Liber asked his heart. 'Because I said so,' Liber answered. 'Who are you?' Liber asked. 'I am me. I am you. You are me. We are one,' Liber answered. Eldricka had learned to be alive. And she liked it.

Liber's soul continued to age until it was completely spent and simply extinguished. Liber's body was now Eldricka's to use. By nature, she was animalistic. And she was a hunter, with the entire world as her prey. She descended into the Munda village. Liber had been alone for so long that the Mundi had forgotten about him. A massacre of the Veteres tribe ensued. The stench of the corpses was so strong that it reached the goddess Oloro. She descended and saw the body of her son, but not his soul. Oloro could not defeat Eldricka. Instead, the goddess restored immortality to Liber's soul, who awoke back in his body and took control of it. After many centuries, he saw his mother standing before him.

"You made a big mistake," she scolded him motherly, running her fingers through his hair. "Bind Eldricka exclusively to your blood. Only your lineage must be able to host her." Liber nodded and obeyed his mother. He bound Eldricka to his blood.

"In Eldricka lies immortality. Have a child. Train them not to fall under the influence of this wild magic and when your time comes, pass Eldricka to them and rest in peace. Teach them to do the same with their children."

"This is not all of Eldricka... The place where I found her, there's more! Much more! If someone else goes down there..." Oloro nodded. "Your grandmother will take care of that."

The goddess Bereginiy raised an enormous tree whose roots descended all the way to the source of the magic. The roots absorbed the remaining Eldricka, which would spend the rest of the world's time trapped in the hard bark of this oak. Due to the magic's influence, the color of the tree became perfectly black. That's why the Mundi called it the Black Tree.

Since then, every Great Chief had many children. The chosen child grew up with him, subjected to rigorous training from a very young age. Only a will and body of steel could serve as a cage for Eldricka. When the Great Chief judged the time was right, he would pass Eldricka to his successor, and he himself would die. Some sooner, some later, but all were grateful for the privilege of death."

That was the end of the document. Dante looked at Seraphina in her piercing brown eyes. "Ater has Eldricka... He probably didn't go through the 'rigorous training,'" said Dante. Seraphina agreed with him, "He must be under her influence."

"How did he get it? Liber bound it to his blood. Ater isn't Liber's descendant, is he?" Dante asked.

"How would I know? Maybe there's more in these documents."

Dante picked up a paper. Attached to it was a picture of a bald Mundi. He was very tall, wearing both a coat and a cloak in the picture. On the back of the picture, it read: "Ater Arbor, Master of Blood and Prince's Physician. Vienna, 1xxx." Dante began connecting the clues in his mind. Ater, Eldricka, Blood, Pioneers...

"Ater is the Prince's physician who came to Europe as a Master of Blood and one of the Six Pioneers. After some time, he broke the connection between Eldricka and Liber's blood. He took Eldricka into himself, probably not knowing about her past and its consequences... It seems the Doctor held out well for a while. Rusuf stayed alive beside him for fourteen years. But something changed. And now he is in Rome."

Seraphina nodded. She had to admit, Dante was an incredible detective.

"But I don't understand... Why? Why did he take Eldricka? Why is he killing his former friends? Why did he have to kill Rusuf after living with him for fourteen years? Why didn't Oloro stop Ater? Or Bereginiy?"

Dante shrugged.