A yawn escaped his mouth. Lar still slept peacefully next to him. Without waking her up, he carefully put his two feet on the floor and got right on up.
Well then, what do we have here? As for Silvy, she slept in an unfortunate position. She somehow ended up sleeping on the floor rather than the bed itself. At least she didn’t appear unhappy whilst she kept sleeping there on the cold dark floor. He walked over and crouched near her noticing her smiling even a little.
He wandered out of the chamber full of beds into a long dark hall. Nobody else was around. Candlelights flickered in and out near some statues depicting sorcerers and sorceresses.
Whilst all alone, he wandered without any real goal in mind except to see what more he might encounter within this tower since he felt well-rested.
In due time, he reached the third floor but his body became worn far quicker than he preferred. His body was still quite sore from all of the fighting and injuries he sustained during the last few days. He figured as long as he could avoid any further scuffles for a while, he’d end up being just fine.
Rather than go up to the next floor, he decided to investigate the third floor which had an incredible amount of bookshelves lined up against each other. A library of this scale impressed him even if he could only see a part of it from where he stood.
While the majority of this place was dark, there far away a bit of light existed with a darkened cloaked figure. He thought to see who exactly this person would end up being so he walked by row after row of bookshelves. With still a bit of distance between them, he couldn’t fully tell who they were although he thought he might know them. He became increasingly close to them as he passed by hundreds of books all neatly placed together on the shelves to his left and right.
A person could spend an entire lifetime in a place like this and still not fully grasp a small fraction of the knowledge contained within it. Perhaps they could read them all through at least one time, but to truly understand each book would require far too much time for a single average human lifespan. Maybe a familiar could since they had longer lifespans than humans but he somehow doubted that even they would live long enough lives to achieve such a thing. There was simply too much knowledge to learn for one particular individual being.
The cloaked figure appeared to be a woman. They sat at a desk with the wall of the tower in front of them. They kept a lit candle on the desk with a few backup candles beside it to keep it company in case it were to go out. Even candles could get lonely so she made the right decision in keeping a few of its friends around.
“And who might this be?” he said startling them.
They nearly jumped out of their chair as they yelped a little. They turned around quickly whilst pulling down their hood exposing their white-haired ponytail. The one and only Yorais sighed as she realized it was him. “Careful Kiran. You nearly made my soul flee from my body.”
“Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine.” She sighed again and closed a book on the desk. She stood up and held her elbow as the hand graced the side of her face. “I’m admittedly a bit easy to spook. That has always been a weakness of mine. But we need not go on about that.” She allowed her arm to fall back to her side and gave him a serious glare. “Frankly Kiran, I am a bit perplexed.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t you oh me. You need to tell me right now why you are just now appearing because I am struggling to make sense of things. You never came through the portal and by the time those monsters began to come through, I figured you must’ve died on the other side. So how is it then, that you are here as you are now?”
She appeared quite skeptical of him so rather than give her just the necessary details, he gave her a thorough retelling including his encounter with the mysterious person called Eugene and how they helped him reach the fourth domain from an empty and dark place that existed outside of reality itself.
“According to him, the reason why I ended up there is due to having a damaged soul.”
Yorais held up a finger to her chin contemplating many of the things he explained to her. She clearly understood everything he had said but it really was odd to her. It was odd to him as well and he had experienced it all.
“Portals are incredibly complex. The magic required to summon them is also something few ever dare dabble in. I on the other hand pride myself on creating stable portals but apparently for you, it did not work in your favor. And frankly, even if your soul is damaged, which I also find to be odd, I don’t see why that would matter.”
“What does it even mean to have a damaged soul anyways?”
“You’re asking the wrong person.” Even someone as knowledgeable as Yorais lacked answers to certain questions. “I wish I had an answer for you but I do not. This Eugene you speak of should’ve told you what exactly that meant.” It’s sadly too late to ask now. However, if I were to ever encounter them again, then I could ask them then.
“Kiran, I’m going to ask a very personal question. You don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to, but it could help illuminate things for me. Do you happen to dabble in soul magic?”
“Soul magic?”
“Yes, it is a different kind of magic from all other kinds of magic that use mana. It instead—as its name suggests—utilizes your own soul or the souls of others. The fact that you are unaware of it makes me believe you aren’t dabbling in it. Which is good by the way. Soul magic is not something those who still possess morals should ever willingly dabble in or pursue for any reason.”
He was completely in the dark regarding it. Although, as he began to think about that strange presence he could tap into even within the fourth domain when all other forms of magic would not work, it made a chill coarse through his spine.
Is it possible that is this soul magic she speaks of? He swallowed the saliva gathering in his throat thinking that this force he could use even in this domain might very well be this soul magic she spoke of.
“Is something on your mind?”
Should I even tell her about it? He looked into her eyes still questioning whether to tell her about this strange power he knew nothing about. Yorais didn’t come across as untrustworthy to him. But then again, Noreko didn’t either and he ended up being the worst of the worst. Someone like her could use this information against him. And yet, he wanted to know. He really wanted to know.
“Before he betrayed us, did Noreko ever tell you about how he was helping me regain some of my memories from my past?”
She nodded her head.
“Did he tell you about how some of those memories might’ve shown me to be in a questionable light?”
She sighed and put her hands behind her back to grasp onto the back of the wooden chair. “I am aware.”
“Before I go on, I would just like to say that I am very much different from whoever I once was. Given that, I think it’s very much possible that my past self dabbled in this soul magic.”
“Oh really?” she said crossing her arms.
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“I think. The thing is, there’s been this strange presence or force that I’ve been able to will into existence let’s say. I don’t really understand it but it’s been very useful during times in which there was little other choice than to use it. It also works in this domain even though normal magic doesn’t.”
She squinted her eyes, uncrossed her arms, and put her arms back to her side. “We should confirm it then to see if this is in fact what we think it is. Go ahead and use it on me if you will.”
“Uh, are you sure about that?”
“Just do so gently. You need only barely use it.”
“Only if you’re certain.”
“I’ll be fine, I promise you.”
Are you sure about that? That presence or force he could tap into had turned entire individuals and pairs of banespawn into a mist of blood and shred through them viciously. Although admittedly, it did require a lot of force and focus to make it do that. Still, the thought of using it on her concerned him. He still regretted having ever used it on Lar when they first met knowing what it could do now and how much fear it caused those who experienced it to possess.
Since she was adamant about him trying it out a bit towards her, he began to tap into it. Rather than growing it in its intensity like he did when directing it towards the banespawn in the arena, he calmly took hold of it and directed it towards her allowing it to touch her very body and soul.
“Stop!”
He stopped tapping into it and backed away a couple of steps from her. Her eyes widened and she pulled her arms back to grip the desk behind her.
“Yorais, are you alright? I’m sorry if—”
“I-I don’t believe you actually hurt me. I merely feel violated in a way I can seldom describe to you.”
Ah crap. This is what I feared. “Does this at least confirm what you think this is?”
“I need not merely think,” she said while no longer gripping the edge of the desk. She looked him directly in the eyes with a cold stern look within them. “There is no doubt in my mind that whatever that was, was some form or manifestation of soul magic.”
So that’s what this has been this entire time. To learn that it had to deal with souls was somewhat disturbing to him as he understood full well of the sacred nature of souls and their sanctity.
“Kiran, you need to listen to me.”
“I’m listening.”
“Don’t tell anyone about this. You hear me? Not even to your companion Lar. No one can know that you are capable of performing soul magic.”
“I might have to make an exception for Lar,” he said.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” she said adamantly.
“I know souls aren’t to be trifled with but is it that big of a deal for others to know that I’m capable of utilizing soul magic?”
“It’s incredibly taboo and contains a heavy stigma, for good reason I might add.” She sighed and began to speak again. “This past self of yours certainly dabbled in it. It is not something someone can merely do on accident. It requires one to actively pursue and learn through cruel and unusual means. And given the forbidden nature of soul magic, the reality of the situation is that if people find out that you can perform it, they will make certain assumptions and I guarantee it will make life harder for you.”
“So what should I do about it then? It’s saved me nearly a handful of times at this point. Should I avoid using it under any circumstance even if it means I die?”
“My instinct is to say yes, but at the same time, you are rather unique. You do not necessarily have the baggage of whatever past you lost. For that reason, it is possible, maybe, that you are capable of handling it responsibly, but my advice to you would be to use extreme caution. It’s also possible, although I cannot say definitively since I personally do not have the knowledge or ability to use soul magic, that by using it you are very well possibly further compromising your soul. And if this Eugene person you told me about earlier is correct, your soul is already damaged and if using soul magic damages it further, you may die.”
Well then. This sure is great news. He scratched his head trying to fully comprehend all that he was learning.
“Hmph!” He turned his head over his shoulder only to see Abigail with her hands on her hips as she pouted towards them. “And what secretive talks are the two of you seemingly having right now within this library? Don’t even begin to try to act as if you two aren’t having any!”
“How good of you to visit us Abby,” he said.
“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t like being called that.”
He began to count on his hand. “At least a few times at this point.”
Yorais cleared her throat. “Can you two stop acting like you’re both related? Abigail, what is it that you want?”
“I don’t know. I just thought I would see what was going on and then I see you two all standing around in this creepy library all alone muttering strangely together. I wasn’t wrong was I that you two were talking about something others aren’t supposed to hear.”
“Even if that is in fact true, it makes no difference. What we spoke about is between us.”
“Whatever.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you,” he said towards her. Those eyes of hers had some animosity towards him, but he thought it was nothing more than a playful facade.
“Yeah, what’s the deal with that, huh? You never came out of that portal so how is it that you’re here?”
“You want the long version or the short version?”
“Give it to me in whatever way you like.”
Rather than spend the next day and a half retelling the events from when he entered the portal to arriving at this tower, he gave her a brief summary of everything. She nodded her head along only getting lost once during the entire summary.
Abigail began to lean against a bookcase kicking one leg over the other. She tucked her arms beneath her bosom and tilted her head towards him. “You know Kiran, you really are an enigma. It’s like the world bends to you and gets propelled forward at your will.”
“I never asked for it.”
She nodded her head. “Well listen, I know you and I have our differences, but I’m here to help you if you need it considering all that you’ve done for the coalition. Although, there’s admittedly been plenty of controversy surrounding you since your disappearance and even before we left Liall.”
‘There has been?”
“She’s right,” Yorais said. “That is the curse that someone such as you must bear. Your actions whether good or bad have changed humanity’s trajectory on this planet. And as you can imagine, many have begun to see you as a problem.”
There wasn’t much doubt that he was playing a major role in things. This fact meant that staying unknown for the foreseeable future might not work out all that well. Frankly, he didn’t want to be known to such a degree, but if so many people were taking sides regarding him, he doubted he could possess any anonymity. Killing the queen alone had done that, but more and more events revolving around him only ensured his notoriety’s continual rise.
“So what of Noreko,” he said changing the topic. “Has he been found?”
“There’s no telling what that evil bastard is up to,” Abigail went on to say. She uncrossed her arms and stopped leaning against the bookcase. “We’ve tried to keep an eye out and try to see any signs of him, but there really isn’t anything to work with. I wish we knew whose face he had taken. If we had that, we could at least know who to look out for but, alas, we have nothing.”
He eyed Yorais who was eager to say her own thoughts on the matter. “If we’re lucky he has died.”
“Do you think that’s possible?” Abigail said.
“I think it is but considering how powerful he is, I doubt he has died.”
Knowing that Noreko could be practically anyone did put a lot of unrest in him and others. The magic that allowed him to change his face made for a convenient way of staying hidden. Although Kiran then realized that if magic was not working properly in the fourth domain, then perhaps they weren’t capable of keeping their appearance sealed. “Do you think he’s still able to conceal himself even though magic doesn’t work here?”
“I doubt being here negates the spell-craft that enabled it originally,” Yorais said. “I don’t think however that he will be able to change appearances again which could prove useful so if we can find out who he is, we’ll not have to worry about them switching faces again.”
“Um Yorais,” Abigail said looking a bit uneasy.
“Is there any way we can leave this library? I’m getting a bit tired of standing here in all of this darkness without anyone else being around.”
“If you insist. We can continue our conversation elsewhere.”
They left the library walking towards the center of the room and then continuing to take the path leading out as Yorais held up the candle for them to illuminate their way out of the library.