As Amaya gazed around the area, she noticed how similar the landscape was to her home town. But where rolling hills and forest should be, there is only a pale imitation of that land. It is as if someone or something stripped the land of all life, vegetation and dirt.

Amaya felt a deep pain in her chest as she looked over the ruin of her home, and it matched one of her greatest fears, that she would destroy her and everything in it.

Amaya looked at the black pillars with anger, what were those pillars and how did they cause this desolation? Even if she couldn’t explain why, she knew that those pillars were the causes of her problems. The malevolent aura they emitted and the words of Emile confirmed to her that they shouldn’t be here.

“What are those pillars? Why do they seem so off?” Amya asked in a whisper.

Emile patted her back reassuringly and looked around. He stared at the giant snake for a while before turning his attention to Amaya.

He clicked his fingers and summoned two black thrones with cushions on them. He gestured for Amya to take a seat, and Amaya sat down. The throne was surprisingly comfortable and Amaya couldn’t help but relax into the back of it. Emile also produced two goblets filled with a black liquid that emitted small dark wisps. He handed one of the goblets to Amaya and took it tentatively but she didn’t drink it.

Amaya stared at the black liquid suspiciously, while Emile seemed friendly everything Amaya had been taught about dark mages and the unnatural colour of the drink put her off.

Emile laughed a little, “It’s good that you are suspicious but why would I try to harm you in such a convoluted way? Also, remember Elise and the rest are waiting for us outside.”

That calmed Amaya’s nerves and she took a drink. As she drank the liquid, Amaya felt a massive surge of energy and a warm feeling spreading throughout her body. She hadn’t felt this good in a long time, probably not since her awakening. She looked at Emile with disbelief.

“It’s incredible isn’t it?” He asked with a smile as he drank from his own goblet.

“It’s wonderful, I’ve never had anything so good before. What is it?”

“It's pure dark affinity liquid mana, while it always takes great, the reason you have such a great reaction is that your spirit is finally getting what it has been deprived of.”

“What do you mean?”

“You see, the cause of your condition isn’t actually physical. The physical symptoms are because the mana deprivation has gone beyond your spirit.” Emile pointed towards the pillars. “If I’m correct when the grimoire bonded, there wasn’t anyone to help you, correct?”

Amaya nodded as Emile continued.

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“Let me explain some fundamentals first.” Emile got up and created an image in the air.

“The conventional school of thought is that for humans there are three systems of magic. They are known in layman's terms as the body, the mind and the spirit. Technically, there are others such as the soul, but those are rare and difficult to learn.”

“But for now let’s focus on the main ‘systems’. The body system is mostly straightforward, here is the very simple version, the user absorbs the life force or natural energy into their body to strengthen it.”

“This is the system that knights and melee fighters use. In the southern continent, they have created a more intricate system by refining this energy, but let me not get on a tangent.”

“The mind system or “the mage system” uses arcane energy known as mana. Its users manipulate this energy to perform extraordinary feats. This system doesn’t strengthen the body by default, which is why most mages don’t have a body greater than an ordinary human.”

“The last system is the least common and most mystical. It's called the spirit system because it's linked to the spirit realm. The spirit itself is a part of your soul, it is a manifestation of who you are in the universe and spirit realm. You probably think that’s the soul but the soul is more than that. But to not confuse you, we leave that for the future.”

“The spirit realm exists in a separate plane of reality to the mortal realm which we call the Universe. While we are from the mortal realm and this is our home, we also have a link to the spirit realm. One school of thought is that the origin of the supernatural is from the spirit realm.”

“The spirit realm is a realm of pure energy, where concepts and ideas can manifest into a concrete existence. In fact, we have a small slice of the spirit world in our world. This is usually called the inner world, which is where we are.”

“While these systems seem to be mutually exclusive, they are actually intrinsically linked. The body sustains the flow of energies for the mind and spirit. The mind allows us to control those energies. The spirit holds the energies and refines them. ”

“Your condition is severe mana deprivation. The book you bonded with is a legendary artefact by an archmagus. When you touched the book, it linked with spirit.”

“Now the problem is that the book is significantly more powerful than you. Usually, when you bond with an animal or artefact, you create a link to your spirit. The bond is usually a symbiotic relationship where you provide energy for other beings and it provides you strength and power.”

“In your case, because of your lack of strength and knowledge, the book created an unequal link with you. Rather than syphon a small fraction of your energy, it’s taking nearly all the energy that your body absorbs and produces.”

Emile took a break from his speech and looked at Amaya to make sure she was following. Seeing that she didn’t seem confused, he pointed at the pillars.

“Those pillars are the link between you and the grimoire. There should only be one but the book took advantage of you to create more links. So rather than a symbiotic relationship, it is more akin to a parasite. Taking for your energy and leaving you barely alive.”

“You are basically a battery for it.”

Amaya felt more and more ill as Emile revealed the cause of her misery. But knowing why she was ill gave her some relief and having a target to blame lit the fire in her stomach.

“What can I do to stop that?” Amaya asked Emile and for the first time since she met him looked at Emile in the eyes. Her eyes which should have been a soft amber, like golden syrup, but looked like dry dirt finally had some light in them.

Emile saw this change and smiled at her.

“Don’t worry, the hard part has already been done by Elise. There aren’t many mages in the world who take on a dark affinity legendary artefact in spirit form. Once she bought you here, you are basically cured.”

“But I do have one thing to ask of you.”

“What?” Amaya asked without hesitation.

“Don’t faint.” Emile’s smile was too toothy for Amaya’s liking.