Ersa turned around to face Alan, who was standing on the opposite side of the shop, nervously eyeing them but not daring to approach yet. The atmosphere of the shop seemed to stop, and you could hear all of the gears turning. Ares noticed Ersa roll her eyes before she spoke.

"Well, I said I'd find you, but I didn't think you'd have the guts to do so." Ersa murmured this while pressing her finger against her temple, mulling over what she was going to say next. "Are you prepared to listen to what I have to say?" You already know I'm not going to do anything awful..." She returns her gaze to the rear, "At least, not according to my standards."

Ares uneasily motioned for Alan to come closer; he wanted his brother by his side in case the talk went south.

As Alan did so, the two shared an unusual look and made certain that none of them would be caught with a black magic user... well, a vivid black magic user like Ersa. After reassuring Ersa of their intentions, Ares turns to face her again and proceeds to explain...

"I simply don't understand why someone would use dark magic and travel to Upper Nimbia, especially because we don't get many people like you here." Ares said this partially to indicate to Alan that she was also a black magic user, but also to further inquire on what Ersa possibly wanted from this.

Ersa scoffed at the remark, "People like you? You say this as if you don't practice in black magic yourself?"

Ares instantly shook his head in disbelief. Before reiterating his assertion, his heart was racing faster than it had ever been. "You know what I mean, for my family and I - we seldom use our skills, hell - me and Alan are the only individuals who can conduct basic necromancy, while our sisters can also only do simple teleportation spells." Ares looked at Alan to make sure he didn't divulge too much information, which was met with a nod of the head. Alan looked to be gripping his own right arm tightly, as though he didn't want to appear nervous in front of Ersa.

"I know you aren't the strongest - you look incredibly... misled!" Ersa said promptly. Alan made a tiny giggle before Ares gave him a stern look that compelled him to stop. "But there was something about you that made you stand out."

"About my capacity to perform dark magic?" Ares addressed Ersa's question in a sharp voice.

Ersa paused for a moment, and a little wind filled the shop. "Well, I guess so, after all - the major reason I came here was to escape from all of the black magic users at Stelmaugh, and finding another black magic user here was pretty uncommon... but that's not completely why you attracted my attention," she said.

Ares narrowed his eyes and sarcastically said, "Is it my charming beauty?" while forming his hands to a box on his face, which caused Alan to audibly groan.

""Well, sure... but no," Ersa responded, much to Alan's relief - "Your looks were fascinating, after all, I'm not blind, We have a lot of similar facial traits, which isn't uncommon, especially among black magic users." She paused for a bit and then said "Quick question for you two, were you guys born in Upper Nimbia?"

Alan swiftly said, "In plain terms, I was, but my other siblings weren't."

"Where are you from originally?" With a sly grin, Ersa remarked.

"We were from Yunyang Kingdom, which is quite a long way away - but our parents had to relocate here in order to escape all the plotting and political turmoil, you know about it?" Alan said, looking away from Ares.

Ares was surprised since this was the first time he had heard of them arriving from Yunyang Kingdom - Ares had never given much consideration to his ancestors and had believed his parents had relocated here for financial reasons. Ares had heard about Yunyang Kingdom through clients, but never on a deeper level from his family members. The fundamental essence was that it was a pretty prominent location that was also on the mainland - the highly overpopulated place that had come to be ruled by a lot of light magic users and corrupt officials of society. Previously it had been a place for all forms of magic to be celebrated - but it was outlawed. Like most places in the world - Ares knew that Black Magic had been outlawed to some extent, but that place was completely devoid of any black magic users. That's why it was so surprising that their family came from their.

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Ersa intervened to separate the two. "Yes, I'm from there as well. It's not the best location... well, as a black magic user, it's an utter nightmare." Ersa turned to face Alan and Ares. "But don't worry, I left there when I was little to go to Strata City, you know - where Stelmaugh is."

"It's in Strata City!?" Ares exclaimed out loud, before being shushed to be more quiet by Alan, "The city that was on the mainland and so near to here on the Nimbian Isle?", in which Ersa shook her head. Strata City was highly diversified in terms of both people and magic, light magic and black magic users. People gathered from all over. However, practically everyone who entered Upper Nimbia felt it was hazardous. But it was there the whole time. A location for him to practise dark magic and develop his abilities. A destination he desperately desired to visit...

"Yes, then I may as well tell you why I came to this region of Nimbia that was so free of dark magic," Ersa continued before being interrupted by Ares.

"Would it be that you wanted to take a little rest before returning to Stelmaugh?" Ares inquired, to which Ersa responded with a shake of the head.

"To say escaping Stelmaugh to be provided a brief reprieve would be an understatement... I... wanted to discard anything Stelmaugh-related." Ares was taken aback by Ersa's casualand non-chalant attitude. How could someone with such strong black magic abilities choose to leave somewhere like that? "I spent my entire life in Strata, going to the best schools and mindlessly refining my talents," Ersa added. She talked in a forlorn tone, her gaze drawn to the glass - to the exterior of the business. As carriages transported people to their destinations, people played on the street, and everything outside was rather tranquil. "I never got to just pause and be myself."

Ares asked her a question "So, what brought you here? To just stay here forever?" in which - he got responded by a nod by Ersa.

"Yeah, my idea was easy - discard my Stelmaugh student identity here, and never talk about it again," Ersa said. Have a good time here, who knows - simply someplace that isn't at a constant competitive edge."

Ares sighed quietly as she began her statement, knowing that nothing good would ever happen to him after this if he said the wrong words.

"But then you showed up. And you were doing something different, at least that's what I felt." Ersa said, this time looking straight in the eyes of Ares.

Ares inquired once again. "Was it some sort of black magic vibe?"

"No, that was just intuition. I could tell you had a lot of ambition since you brought the necklace to me so effortlessly and without hesitation. And meeting with you in the café only confirmed your drive." Ersa remarked, prompting Alan to cross his arms. "I just know, that you so desperately want to become a master black magic practitioner."

Ares nodded, anticipating Ersa's next words. Alan decided to interject himself into the debate.

"What exactly did you mean to do here, Ersa?" Alan said.

Ares had never seen his furrowed-haired brother so shaken. It reminded him of a young innocent child whose mother was growing mad, which was exactly what was happening in this situation. Alan's eyes glared hard.

Ares shifted his gaze between Alan and Ersa, waiting for her response. He saw Ersa tapping the table lightly, wondering about what she would reply. Her tapping on the table sounded like grains of sand dropping, and it took her a quarter of a gear turn to figure out what she was going to say.

"You're not going to believe me." She stated this before returning her focus to Ares. "However, I promise to the moon god that I will not harm you or your family." I'm not like the other rapscallions... I simply saw an opportunity for us to change."

"What change?" Ares said.

"Simple." Ersa put her fingers up, pointing at Ares and then pointing back at herself. "Me and you, why don't we try to switch places in our lives, you go to Stelmaugh - and I help your brother out in case of you."

Ares paused for a while, time seemed to stop - and every gear shifting in Upper Nimbia seemed to come to a halt in Ares' mind. A simple proposition was made by Ersa... well, at least simple in concept. Ares thought of all the things that had to change, but... despite how difficult the consequences were, Ares didn't immediately say no. He thought about it for a while, and when he was ready to say an answer.

Alan's voice rang, "Absolutely not."

To Be Continued [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/987905342132351006/988145743208513566/to_be_continued....gif]