My legs moved forward by themselves, I merely kept my head down as my crimson hair flailed in the wind.

The pungent odour of smoke filled my lungs yet It felt crispy rather than sickly after so many years of adaption.

Before I know it, I was looking down the deep, dark depths of the ravine.

The wind blow past my face, lifting my hair as it threw itself around wildly. My vermillion eyes shone with red and my legs dangled over the edge.

The rock beneath me was hard and sharp. I sighed as I layed myself down. I had stagnated.

I hate this body. I looked at the sullen white sky, tinted silver. This body was a curse. I stared down at my hands.

This body holds no affinity to magic. Any 'magic' it can produce is merely a lightning blast. I've become aware recently that as I get older and meet stronger beings, my self-made magic will be nothing more than a party trick. Although this body holds a strong connection to World-Energy, even that is not perfect.

I remember my failures at grasping the technique from earlier and gritted my teeth.

Why did I expect to do it first try? Was I being just straight-up childish?

No.

I need to get stronger.

I looked around me.

The land was silent.

I kicked a rock into the ravine, no sound emerged.

I sighed. Boredom increasing by the second.

I began to walk away whilst I stretched my arms.

"Stop."

I felt a slimy hand grasp my right shoulder, the imprint lay firm as it stuck there. I looked back and made contact with two invisible eyes.

I could feel its prescence.

Rather than the cold, pressurizing demeanor of my mentor, this creature, monster, whatever it was gave off a feeling of uncomfortable contact. The kind that made your skin crawl.

It felt as though a small writhing liquid was running over and under my body. It was not cold nor cooling but merely slimy and a sickly kind of warm.

I could not move. I tried yet couldn't. Every attempt only reinforced this belief.

I had not even registered the fact that it could now speak.

My mouth barely squeazed out an inaudible stutter.

"Wh-ht."

The creature turned its head in my mind.

"Do you want power."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Its voice was almost not there, it felt like its voice seethed and hissed from the deepest parts of my fibre. I nearly forgot the words it spoke after a few seconds like a dream.

I had to hold my head together within my mind to remember everything it said.

"They're lying to you."

They're lying to you.

"You do have talent in magic."

You do have talent in magic.

"Not ordinary magic."

Not ordinary magic.

"Magic from t̷̤̻̣̫͚̣͔̱͈̑͗̍̉̏̾̏͠͠͝ḩ̸̡̢̡̩̻͎̝̹̘͍͖͈͖̈́̓͂̾͂̔̔͆́̉̄̽̎͋ͅe̸̢̬̼͎̪͈̠͍͎͑͌̐͝ ̵̡̖̳͎̗͉̙̾̋̂̓̀͂̒́̿́̐̽͘ͅợ̶̡͈̻̻̫̫̬̈́̊͒͋̀͌̀̂̓ẗ̸̯͙͍̲̼̺̥̱̼̲̈͠͠͠h̶̺̞̖̱̉̇̒̌͘͝e̶̡̡͚̥̭̼̘͎̜̱̿̊̒̆̀̍͑̈́̒̽̍̊̕͝͝."

Magic from the oath?

I tried to remember the words that fit into his last sentence yet I couldn't remember it.

It was if some force inside my was pushing this beings words away, pleading me, to not go further into my mind in the desperate worry that I might discover something that I should not. Ever.

But my mind was still in a desperate stray.

I was talented at a type of magic?

I had already lost the contents of most of the conversation as it was now only accesible in fragments and split words. I only remembered two things.

They were lying to me.

I was talented at a type of magic.

A small smile grew on my face.

I essentially forgot about the existence of the creature before I took 4 joyous strides forward. The feeling of moist slime surrounding me,trapping me and cornering me soon fell behind me.

As I turned through the fields. I saw a distant figure slowly jogging towards me.

She stopped infront of me, her hair that was a shade lighter than the nearby snow was glittering.

Her eyes were dreamy and obscure.

She asked me within small breaths for air.

"Are, you, ok-ay?"

I looked down.

Surprised that someone did care for me.

The wind blew my hair back.

My eyes were washed with a blissful gold.

"Oh!" She squealed and covered her mouth with both her hands.

"You're crying."

I touched my face but she touched it before me. A cotton glove harrased my skin.

I was still somewhat stunned.

Wait. What? I was crying?

After she removed her glove. I felt my face down.

Moisture remained.

I removed my hand.

I looked to a small enclosement. Far from the ravine.

"Would you like to go somewhere?" I asked as I stared into the distance.

"Sure."

Her eyes were dazed with curiosity, and her stumbling figure made me wonder if this was the same demon that ran me down in a duel.

We trod through the remnants of snow and blasting winds before we reached a small gap between 6 trees. The wind was cut off and all that was left of the winter remnants was the water that lightly dripped down form our boots.

"It's nice here." I mumbled.

She nodded quietly.

Silence ensued yet I felt it was not awkward, but rather calming and a step down from reality.

Just as I was about to let myself fall into this step down from reality she oponend her mouth ever so slightly, holding her white hair ever so gently.

"This place is nice. At first, I didn't like the weird smell or the odd man in the study. But now, I think that it's- it's unique. I also really think this place reminds me of my home. Home. Home."

She stopped talking and seemed to be looking at some far-away land.

I cut her from her transe.

"Hey idiot."

She let her eyes widen freely infront of me.It was almost amusing to watch.

"You're the one crying now."

I laughed. I laughed freely as she guility wiped her tears off her face.

I laughed as the wind passed. My laughing smiling face as all my worries flew by with the last of the winter wind.

And as the wind passed, the landscape changed, becoming a field of browned lime-grass. The trees grew ever so slightly, it looked like a shaky video with the odd way they grew. The landscape then soon became, orange. The grass turned first, and then the trees became hybrids of orange and green. Before becoming orange and red.

And then the leaves browned. The leaves started falling two, leaving the ground covered in assorted patterns.

And then the winter returned. Sweeping away the leaves and refurbishing the land in a silver paint-job. A fresh layer of white just for the floor.

The sky remained a steamy white and torrented silver throughout the years.

"Are you ready?"

Two old men watched, one in enthusiam and one in cold silence. A tinge of curiosity leaking out, I bet.

I watched as a matured girl stood before me. Her white hair was a shade lighter than the snow.

I nodded, smiling and at the same time meeting her eyes. Her eyes showed the professionalism of a warrior yet I saw below that a small curve rise ever so subtly on her face. This caused my smirk to grow even larger.

My parted hair flew back as Vorgio stood still. A moment of suspense arising.

"Go."