"This is Cecilia’s house," says Derek. "Remember what you promised me on our trip here." I nod solemnly. I will do my best, but there’s one question that might make me break my promise. Derek knocks on the door. After a moment, I hear the lock being fiddled with and the door opens. The woman, who I infer is Cecilia, is delighted to see Derek, and they embrace in a hug. "Hi! It’s great to see you! What are you doing here?" Derek steps aside, revealing my figure to her. Her face pales when she sees me. Timidly, she asks, "Who is this?"

"My name is not important. I have come to ask you a few questions." Like others before her, she seems intimidated by my voice. She seems hesitant to speak, but the awkward silence is eventually too much for her and she invites us inside.

Once we were seated and she had made tea, I began my questions. "What do you know about trans-dimensional magic?" Her face scrunches in confusion, before lighting up in realization.

"Do you meaning summoning magic? That’s a weird thing to call it, but technically it’s accurate. It calls brings from other dimensions to serve the caster. It’s pretty complicated. I had to spend 5 years in a magic college just to learn the most basic spell!"

"I see. Did you learn about Heaven in the college? About dimensions outside of the norm?"

She thinks for a moment and replies, "Do you mean Elysium? It’s an idyllic afterlife the gods created for their loyal followers." So she doesn’t know. My fist clenches in anger. How could these "gods" so freely play with the natural order like this?

"So far your answers have been helpful. I have but one final question for you." My tone intensifies and clearly frightens her and Derek a bit. "About two months ago… did you happen to cast a summoning spell, only for it to produce no results?"

Both Derek and Cecilia take a moment to think about this. Derek slowly grows a horrified look on his face as he realizes why I’m asking the question. He tried to speak, but too late. "Actually, I did! It was supposed to summon a divine familiar to accompany me. Weird that you knew that. Why do you ask?" I shoot up from my chair. My anger boils to an almost feral state. Derek stands up and tries to calm me down. He doesn’t help at all.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

This… this bitch… this fucking piece of shit is part of the reason I’m in this situation. I’m going to fucking kill her! "Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You…" I reach for my Primal Cutter, but before I strike Cecilia dead I have a moment of lucidity. This is not the way. "Thou shalt not murder." I force myself to calm down, but I am still fuming with rage. "You summoners have no care for consequences, do you? You toy with the lives of others to benefit yourself!"

At this she finally realizes the severity of the situation. I socket a focus into my gauntlet and force her back into her seat with a telekinetic spell. While she is confined, I pull out a device I designed at the tower from my pouch. It looks a bit like a wine bottle opener. I stab it into her neck and say, "This device will stop Vis from flowing through your body. May you never cast another spell again." She cried in pain as blood spurts from her neck and the device locks itself in place. Derek moves to attack me, but seems to realize the futility of such an action.

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"What the hell is wrong with you?" Derek is fuming as we leave the house of Cecilia. "You said you wouldn’t hurt her!"

"Things change."

"How could you do that to her!? Magic is how she makes a living! It’s her career!"

I turn to face him. "Think about it for a moment. If you came face to face with the person who denied you an afterlife, nay, the person who damned your soul forever, would you not act even harsher than I did? Would you not have KILLED her? Besides, I made it clear to you my goal was to stop dimensional magic. You knew full well what you were getting into."

Derek ponders this for a while as we continue walking. "I had no idea your situation was that bad… that still makes what you did unacceptable! I refuse to be a part of this!" As if on queue, the moment he says this, a force of armed guards big enough to cover the street run up to block our path. A man clad in chain mail steps forward ahead of the guards.

"Halt, criminal! The High King of Ctalek demands your apprehension for the murder of a Royal Knight!"

I turn back to Derek and say, "If you truly plan to abandon my cause, now would be a good time to run."