They both are blanked at what had they done. It’s messed up.

If their meeting was strange enough and they don’t know what to say to each other, now it’s even worse.

Although Vi is the one who offered it, he thought he just wanted to give him a mouth work… Not the WHOLE course.

‘Is he half succubus…?’

Ray quietly muttered.

Vi heard it and his face went red. What succubus!? I am a human being!

After minutes of resting. Vi finally gets a bit clear headed. They are both in a sticky mess. Even the tent.

This is so embarrassing and awkward.

Vi kneeled and use the clean spell and sanitize spell on both of them. The dirt and sticky fluids are eaten away by mana slowly. In few seconds or so, they felt completely clean as if they had just taken a bath and dried completely. Even the tent seems like the colour got brighter after the accumulated dust over the years got washed away.

Vi hesitantly stood and wore his pants and shirts.

Ray too, did the same. It’s awkward.

‘I- uh…I will cook breakfast…’

Vi trotted out of the tent. He lights up the campfire and took out some ingredients out of his space bag.

Ray is lying down, while glancing out of the gap in the tent opening.

He can’t believe it.

What just happened.

Where am I, who am I, what am I?

Is it just a dream?

Ray looked at his childhood friend, family, and a crush in the past.

He has become so wild now…

Where’s the cute and innocent Vi? How could he suggest to ‘help’ him that way. It’s Vi’s fault to suggest it to him. How can he control himself!?

Vi noticed the stare and looked back. They both looked away, embarrassed.

Soon, the breakfast stew is done. There’s some shredded meat, mushrooms, some raisin like fruit and some other things.

‘Ray. It’s done’.

Ray come out of the tent, avoiding Vi’s eyes.

He scooped out one for himself and quietly sat and are it.

He was surprised as the stew…

Taste close to the one mother Anise used to make. But it tastes more refined and have a different uniqueness to it.

His eyes softened at the familiar taste.

He can’t remember the last time he genuinely thought a food is good. It’s like… The first time in years. He looked at Vi who’s also gulping down the stew.

He’s still cute, eating it quietly. And Ray can see Vi too is quite bashful and embarrassed around him now. It’s quite funny thinking he was afraid of him the night before, given how he almost…

It’s a 180°.

He realised he felt… Alive. He felt alive after years. He starts feeling again. He looked at Vi, the only person he deemed as important left. It really hurts, thinking about how he almost killed him.

He’s afraid, if he truly did it, and realised who he had killed, he might have killed himself right then and there last night.

He shook his thoughts way. Focusing his buds to appreciate the taste of the stew. He wanted to break the ice.

‘It’s really good,’ said Ray.

Vi was shocked beyond reason.

H-how could he mention it so casually!?

!?

He’s speaking little words and yet he can casually say about this out of all things?

Vi took a deep breath,

‘Y-yeah’.

‘It felt good too…’. Vi added, blushed on his face,

Ray face turns bright as tomato.

‘Ah- no- the stew!’.

Vi opened his eyes wide at the realisation and don’t know where to put his face as he close his face with his free hand.

‘Cough!’ Ray let out a cough.

He admits part of his fault at using ambiguous words. It’s so awkward between them.

Although… It did feel so so good… COUGH!

He doesn’t want to let his mind wander at what had happened in the tent.

‘Eat slowly’. Vi spoke as Ray seems to be choking on the soup.

Ray just nodded.

Now that he thinks about it. The plan was to… kill- him, and head back to the outpost.

Its few hours distance away from here. He’s supposed to report on the mission latest by tonight. It’s not safe here.

Ever since meeting Vi, it felt like… The memory of him with House of Blood is like some other person watching a television show. As if it’s not him.

He felt better than ever now. He can only see Vi as his saviour.

He needs to leave and hide with Vi. He’s not afraid of losing his own life.

But… He can’t let Vi die because of him. Not again. He won’t let him go away from his sight. He wants to make sure Vi is there with him.

‘It’s not safe here. We have to get out of this place’.

Vi hesitantly asked.

‘Why?’.

It’s a single word question. But it’s a heavy one.

‘I was sent here to get kill and retrieve something from Timaeus…’

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‘And any witness. They would find me if I betray them.’ He continued.

Vi understood enough, from the brief words.

Vi wasn’t the target. He’s just a random orphan from the slums taken in by the old man as a student so they never target him specifically. He just happened to be his student.

Vi doesn’t know why Timaeus is targeted. Vi knows in this fantasy medieval world, of course there are assassin’s and group doing dirty works.

He already thinks about it with his imaginations and felt he’s halfway through the answer. Although he can’t understand why Ray is alive, what happens to the others, is mother Anise still alive?

Although he clearly sees the orphanage in ruins and burnt to ashes around with his own eyes.

‘They might come here to check if I didn’t report to them.’

‘I won’t work for them anymore.’. Ray made his firm resolution. For Vi – the only one he has left.

‘Ray…’ Vi felt grateful. It felt like, Ray had finally left the dark side. Although he’s mad and sad at Timaeus death, his mentor, but he knew it wasn’t Ray’s fault.

“Can they find you when run?”.

‘They can. They had tracking spell on me’,

‘You hide first. I will report the mission and come back later; I swear. I need to remove the tracking. Maybe… A month or two…’

Ray pondered about his plans. The upper echelons may have a way to remove it, since they know how to embed it.

Or at least he can try to get the formula of the spell and find someone to help him – forcefully if he has to.

He has to say he’s one of the top assassins in the house so he can definitely do it with enough planning. It would be dangerous but still possible.

Ray opened his space bag and look at the pendant with crystal in his hand.

It must be something important for someone to hire them to steal it. He wondered if he should tell Vi about the one who hired them.

It’s a scholar - Cayn, who was acquainted with Timaeus – his own classmate back in the academy.

As far as he knew, Cayn hired them 2 months after the annual magic association convention where many magicians; after filtering thousands of applications; share or show-off their new magic.

It’s not necessary to share the how to – as they are regarded as property and secret of a magician.

The association hands out Magus Prize to the most outstanding one, giving money, prestige, and access to advanced and forbidden spells in the field of the mage’s interest available in their repertoire.

Vi looked at the pendant. He remembers it’s the pendant that teacher always wears even in his sleep.

Is that the item they seek?

‘I will meet you at town of Sasteras up North at their adventurer guild one month from now. If I am not there, then 2 months… If not… I would leave a letter for you.’

Vi listened attentively.

‘If there’s nothing’

‘Don’t wait for me anymore’

Vi gloomed at what he just heard.

There is always another way. Tracking? Its principle is magic and he’s good at it. He probably could find a way.

‘Ray, I can try to remove the marking. I am good at magic you see.’

Ray knows Vi had grown strong. Strong enough to survive his assault for so long.

If Vi wasn’t as cautious that night he would have died from the very first fireball Ray shot at him.

“Let me try”, Vi pleaded.

Vi sat next to ray, as he moves his face closer to Ray. He swallowed his saliva, seeing how close Vi is. Those soft lips…

Ray opened his mouth and lifts his tongue; Vi could see a mark with a 4-pointed star shape under it.

Vi used Inspect spell to check what it is.

It seems that the spell uses Ray’s mana signature as its source to maintain a very faint signal constant. The spell is fully embedded in his body in a sense.

It seems difficult to remove it completely. As Vi look closely at the spell structure and try to reverse engineer it, Ray jaws is starting to hurt and his tongue is sore.

Vi ignored it and keep thinking about the things. It seems that they the spell slowly integrates in the body.

It probably takes months to a year for it to truly become embedded. It’s possible to remove it fairly easily before that happens but now…

Vi thought for a moment. He could mask the signal for now. As for removing, he can’t do it. Maybe with enough research on this kind of formula, he could.

‘I can try to mask the signal. You don’t have to come back to them’.

Ray nodded.

Vi meditated. Referring to related formulas written in his soul library to create a brand-new spell catered to mask Ray’s tracking spell effect in mind.

The only way to fully mask the tracking signal is… To have a greater amount of mana than the total Ray had, covering the mana signature from his body.

Mana capacity varies from people to people. Talented ones have 2 to 5 times more mana than regular people. And legendary sages have 10 times more.

Ray actually had 3 times more capacity than average. But it’s alright. Because Vi have 6 times more than average.

He consumed around 1/3 of his mana. Forming a seal on top of the star symbol under Ray’s tongue. Now there’s a circular pattern surrounding the star.

All left is to inject enough of his mana into the seal to cover Ray’s mana signature. But if he did that now, the people Ray worked with would think he’s dead and would come to run there to check.

As Vi adjust the seal formula and observing the mana flow out of the seal, he can conclude it takes around 2 days for it to deplete below minimum level if he charge it to full and need to be topped up.

Thankfully Vi has a bizarre rate of mana regeneration. And within time of sleep, without need for meditation, he could regenerate all of his total mana capacity back from zero.

While capacity is important to cast a single greater and more complex spell, but mana regeneration is also a factor that’s important.

Mana regeneration is factored by your talents – having better active and passive absorption rate from the environment, and mana production rate from your own cells. Mana consumption efficiency and mana concentration in the environment is also a factor to be counted.

The higher the mana capacity, the higher the mana produced by the cells – this has linear relationship with a consistent 1 to 0.6 ratio for human race. And each species of beings has unique ratio in them.

The elves have 1 to 0.9 ratio for example. But Vi’s cells mana production is over exaggerated from the normal ratio to a whopping 1 to 5.1 ratio. Either Vi is a special human, or he was not a part of human race at all.

Basically, his mana regeneration, relative to his 6x mana capacity, is close to 9 times faster!

Vi estimated if he meditated to absorb mana, it only requires an hour or so to fully fill the 6x mana capacity he has.

So, he has zero problem to top up the mana lost in the seal.

‘The seal is done. I will complete them later’.

Ray finally be able to close his jaws. He wonders if Vi’s jaw hurt like this when he was –Why his mind keeps wandering there?

Ray glanced at Vi with soft eyes.

‘Thank you’.

Ray gave Vi a hug.

Ray wanted to tell Vi about everything from start to finish.

‘Vi’.

‘Back then, I-’. Ray choked on his word, as his mind refuse to let him remember it.

‘We-’.

He can’t tell him. He doesn’t want to recall everything either.

…

Ray fell silent, looking away.

Vi waited for a whole 20 seconds.

‘It’s okay if you can’t say anything. Take your time Ray. I will wait. It’s alright’.

Ray is grateful to Vi.

‘Can I take a look at teacher’s pendant?’, Vi asked.

He wants to know what secret lies behind it. What warrant his teacher to be killed.

Ray took it out, and give it to Vi. He felt guilty. He knows Vi’s hurt. But he can’t take his actions back.

It belonged to Vi’s teacher, naturally, it’s only right for him to keep it. Although Ray already thought of a plan to run away. He needs to place to the pendant back on Timaeus body.

He took it out and give it to Vi.

Vi observe it carefully as he held the crystal close to his eyes and let his mana flow into them. There’s a lock that requires specific mana signature – like fingerprints – to unlock them. With a flow of his mana, he felt it opened easily.

Vi realized his teacher had given him access to this. He felt sobbing.

He felt the crystal contain a spell formula etched into it. Figuring out what spell it is… but it seems… vague.

He can vaguely guess it has function to store spells, store and process various senses, memory, integrating soul to memory to body function, and… a very broad capacity for algorithmic function and yet it’s empty?

This is-

This is something he had once rambles about to his teacher. He was a game programmer in his past life, and did take some courses for simple AI. Although he can’t remember much about AI but he knew the concept.

He shared about this idea years ago – to store and process spells, store memory and sense, and integrate them to their soul and body, creating broad options over certain circumstances, and training it to choose best option given the data and whatever else he was saying.

He was just rambling about it… he didn’t know his teacher really would create a spell close to an AI. The first AI magic. Each of the component is a completely new spells to form the AI.

…

In fact, Timaeus won the Magus Prize this year - because of his revolutionary golems as they fought each other using variety of magic, and do complex reactive actions like shielding, dodging, and counter-attacking. As if it can think on its own.

Never, in the history of Erde, golems can be used in such a complex manner. Usually, they can be made to do simple instructions. But Timaeus golems are like a human being in combat!

It attracts envy and jealousy of many others, many flock to him to want to know the secret. Some theorised Timaeus used a forbidden Soul magic but there’s no life detected in the golems. Timaeus refused to share them, as he felt like most of the credit should go to his student. Unfortunately, it ultimately led to his death.

…

Language of the World is akin to a programming language affecting the reality of the world, and to use it to make an AI... what result would it achieve?

The AI frame contained in the formula is basic, and it can’t grow to become an independent entity – probably.

If this new field of MAI (Magic AI) become advanced enough, comparing it to sci-fi AI that can take over a planet, a super MAI that used the very Language of the World could grow to become a literal God! There’s no way, right?

Maybe he won’t live long enough to see such a thing on this world.

Vi shuddered at his imagination. He pulled himself back to reality.

“What’s in them?”.

‘It’s… a new spell’.

‘It’s…’. he wondered for a moment to find an understandable word for Ray. Algorithmic magic? He made up that classification of course since the Magic Association don’t have one.

“A new field of magic”.