After that, Riam disappeared most of the nights. And I spent those nights either sleeping or practicing silence. I got a few meetings with the voice within, and he developed a better body with similar features to mine in each one.

And I told Riam about him, but she had no idea, and we had to just wait.

And I wouldn't lie. I slipped to the forest several times but returned quickly when I found no evidence of Heal around.

I chose to trust Riam's words because I grew closer to her.

Riam left most nights but trained me in the morning. Game after game, I grew better at chess with each day. And in a few months, I won the first game against Riam.

And it felt amazing.

Riam surrendered with a genuine smile, as if she had been waiting for the time I would be able to defeat her.

And after that one time, I kept on winning, and the matches kept getting shorter. After each game, I would rearrange the pieces from the final winning piece to the first play, move by move, as if the game was saved in my head.

And I was surprised by how easily chess made me perceive my skills. Telekinesis became second nature, and I was no longer limited to wire Telekinesis. My bubble bomb became much faster than before, and I started feeling my open mana pores better.

After upgrading to the B-Tier, I got extra ten pores opened, my ten toes. Like what I had been told, the first mana pores to open were the pointier ends.

Having 21 opened mana pores, I was struggling to find that one mana pore which wasn't on my fingertips or my toes. But Riam told me it was fine and I shouldn't think much about it.

... ... ...

Days came and went, and months passed, and Riam didn't become just a tutor to me but a part of a family who I thought of introducing to my mother one day.

Riam didn't just teach me. She got me food and sewed me clothes when I got taller. She recited tales about the middle continent, getting my motivation higher.

Riam got me many puzzles, a cube that was made of smaller cubes with different colors. Hundred pieces I had to arrange it into a complete shape. She always got me a puzzle making me forget about time and never get bored.

But, there was a day that went blank.

A day that started with a cry from Neive.

Neive had come to my house crying and trembling. The old storyteller passed away.

All the children and the older people cried, and it was my first time seeing a funeral.

Everyone wore black and threw dark roses into a dug hole by the village gates.

The Libraman stood in front of the villagers, tears flowing as he opened a book and read.

"Thin-Ra-Siin Said: A man should die eventually. And another should take its place. Life is a circle I made for everyone to know each other and for everyone to know me. The dead bodies should be buried, and their souls should rise into the sky, where the devil will take and place them into a new body."

Everybody cried except for Riam and me.

I looked up at Riam, who was sternly staring at the hole getting buried with roses.

Maybe Riam saw that painful scene differently.

I grew to understand how long Riam had lived and how many times she had died. I once saw her in the kitchen, her eyes never blinking, hardly staring at anything, and I believed her mind was the same.

One night she would be a freak talking about things nobody else saw. Another night she would be a dead unmoving body with two open eyes, staring hardly at anything.

And when I noticed how Riam was looking at the hole, I couldn't hold a thought from crossing.

And Riam ensured that thought.

"Yes, I do envy the dead."

I stared at the hole for some time, and a tear flowed down my cheek. The old man was good, but I wasn't crying over him.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I was crying because I came to understand that the cool, strong, and sturdy Riam was just a dead soul in a living body.

Her wish was either to kill the dragon who kept killing her or to die once and for all.

A life like that was something I would never wish for.

I cried because I couldn't do anything for Riam, even though she had done many things for me.

"It's fine. One day, you will be helping me. I'm counting on you."

A thing I didn't want to do. A day when I would need to face an extraordinary existence.

I wanted to help Riam but didn't want to face such a thing.

But I nodded to Riam.

Even though I had my indecision, nodding was the best answer to help Riam right now.

"you really do have awareness."

That night, Riam told me that I was already ready to do the next stage of training.

And she took me to the forest this time.

To a lake.

The lake was far in the forest, a place I hadn't been to before.

And the lake was quiet and abnormally lifeless.

There, Riam taught me how to swim. Then explained the training to me.

"Just sink, and release your mana."

And I didn't question her.

I heard her explanation as I sank.

"the denser your mana is, the sturdier what you make."

Mana followed my imagination. And Riam said that the better I felt the water, the better I would imagine a denser mana.

My mana floater upward.

No matter how much I would release, they would float upward, smudging the lake's surface like oil.

But she told me to feel the water, to meditate inside it...

My mana should flow like water. It should sink around me.

And I kept on spending hours swimming, floating, and releasing my mana... for months...

And one night, a box popped into my head.

Sinking mana Is acquired. Your mana is dense enough to sink in water.

I left the lake smiling at Riam.

"You got it?" Riam asked.

And I nodded.

That night brought a celebration.

Riam brought a cake, a small cylindrical cake that I didn't know how she had made because we never had flour.

She placed the cake on the kitchen table and sat on the chair, each one of us looking at the other.

It was night. The house was lit with candles made of wax and cherries, my favorite smell. And Riam was in front of me, smiling but also looking awkward.

"Well, I actually wanted to congratulate you for all your hard work. you surpassed all my expectations, both in body and mind. I didn't think that you would be over a hundred and sixty centimeters by the age of twelve. You will grow up to become a handsome and powerful man, two things many women fall for. And it's fine to enjoy such mortal pleasures later on, but never make them an essential part of your life."

Riam talked sarcastically, but her voice kept on shifting into seriousness. And I didn't ask why but knew I should remember her words.

I nodded.

"Good," Riam said, scrapped her hair with one finger, then added. "I want to tell you a few serious things. Ruth, so listen closely."

I stayed silent.

"The people who will take you to the capital have to be close now. They might be here any day now. They must be strong people, and you shouldn't hide your potential from them. If they asked you if you were the one who killed the witch, just nod and say yes. And if they tried to test you, just win the test. I think they will take Heal along with you, so don't stress yourself over that."

I flinched.

"yes, I think girls like her typically grow up in such times. She is a unique girl. I understand why she is hiding from you. She likes you as well, that's very apparent, and one day will show you her other side, so stay patient and be on her side," I felt hot and embarrassed, but I nodded. "and sleep with her when you are a few years older."

"No!" A sharp yelp escaped my mouth.

"Just kidding, Ruth. For god's sake, children these days are hard to play with."

Riam chuckled, then looked at the cake.

"It's hard to say it, but I grew closer to you. And I need to tell you a few more things. I'm happy you don't know many people here. Those people could never become your friends. You are just too different. But, I? believe that there will be a day when you have some excellent friends, people you deserve. And when the time comes, appreciate whatever help they offer because you will need help in your life. Having such people around can take a while, so be prepared to live alone for some time. I believe you have already adapted to that, but I think it is better to ensure you know it."

I was adapted to being alone.

But, something felt off with Riam because she talked as if she was going somewhere.

Don't go, Riam. I said, making Riam blink.

"heh, that was cute," Riam chuckled. "Well, don't worry, I only go temporarily. I will die soon. I hope you don't mind. But we will meet again, I promise."

Then we stopped talking. Riam just looked at me and pointed at the cake with four fingers. She told me to eat it all, so she could celebrate, not leaving a single part behind.

It was a small cake, half a grip size, red in color, and with no odor.

I extended my fingers to touch the cake when Riam touched my hand.

"one last thing," she said as she pulled her hand back. "A fact you should bury deep in your heart Ruth... A good manipulator doesn't need a body."

Riam then leaned her chin on the back of her hands and stared at me with a smile.

"go on, eat. Let's celebrate."

Something was off.

I stared at the cake, then at Riam, who smiled at me.

Riam was reading my mind.

It didn't add up.

The speech Riam made was odd, and this cake was odd. We had no flour. It was hard to make a cake. I ate cake once in my life, and it was a gift from Zeniva, and that happened only once.

And this cake was red and had no odor.

And Riam was listening to my thoughts, yet never commenting.

I cleared my mouth and asked Riam in my head, both of my dark eyes fixated on her, fixated on nothing else but her.

Riam, nothing will happen to you, right?

"Nothing," Riam said comfortably.

I took the cake with both hands, ate it, munched it a few times, and then gulped it.

Riam smiled.

And a window popped up in my head.

Congratulations!

You offered a human body to make a deal with The Devil!

My lips parted, my hands dropped, and in less than a second, a huge red monster with long horns appeared behind Riam.

The monster I had once seen in the witch's house opened his mouth wide enough to eat the whole table and gulped half of Riam and the table in a moment.

Blood splashed all over me as the rest of Riam's lower body gushed blood like a fountain.

And in the next moment, the monster opened his mouth wider than before and gulped the rest of Riam, the chair under her, and the rest of the table.

And then, the monster appeared smaller. as tall as a human adult. The monster looked at me with a glowing snake's eyes and smiled.

"Enjoy my gift, little boy."

Then the monster disappeared into thin air.

And the only left in the house was me, wide open, blank-headed, unable to process how quickly everything happened, and scared of the second I would apprehend that.

Riam lied to me...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

I screamed and cried until I lost consciousness.