CHAPTER 55: THE INTERVIEW

“However,” she exhaled. “Let’s leave me and Joyce’s life story for later. There’s a more important thing to discuss right now.”

Soren tilted his head, “More important?”

He felt the air shift, everyone for some reason had turned serious. Even Cassia who was childishly enjoying her chocolate cake had put her plate down. All of them were staring squarely at him.

“Is there something on my face,” Soren asked awkwardly.

“So you wish to join our guild,” Cassia spoke in a solemn voice, unlike her nature. “What is your goal in doing so?”

Soren glanced around for a second and saw them all awaiting his answer. He sighed.

“I wish to get stronger. I want to become a magus.”

She nodded, “A fair and reasonable goal. But why should we allow you into our guild? The goal you speak of is something personal, however, our goal as a guild is to aid our Mistress in uncovering the truth behind Yarian’s Celestial Fate. You don’t seem to share in that goal.”

“Who said I didn’t? It’s a fun and interesting goal—why wouldn’t I want to?” Soren smiled. He noticed Joyce who was sitting to the left of Cassia giggling, much to her annoyance. Myrin chuckled as well—he glanced at Cassia.

“Cassia, your logic doesn’t work on him. He’s a maniac that chases after thrills—even dangerous ones. I don’t think he values his life enough.”

“I do value my life,” Soren retorted. “But at the end of the day, a life full of safety but no fun is not valuable to me. I’ve already spent most of my childhood listening to what other people want from me—screw that.”

“An interesting outlook,” Joyce replied. “But what if the danger is so high, it's improbable you’ll have fun?”

“Then you simply run away and don’t look back.”

Cassia’s face contorted as Myrin’s laughs filled the room. “How foolish…”

Soren shrugged. Wiping the annoyance off her face, she continued. “Let’s move past this then. You said you want to be a magus. Does this mean you want our Mistress to teach you?”

The room fell into silence. Soren could see Myrin’s smirk from the corner of his eye. Not sensing an answer, Cassia sighed. “Our Mistress so far has rejected every aspiring magus that had arrived at her doorstep. Even the famed scholars of Luvinica who all are a few hundred years old have begged for her teachings, and none of them were accepted as students. The headmaster of Luvinica once offered her the role of Dean and even Chancellor, and she still rejected his offers.

“The point is, her standards are high—like really high.”

“But you and Myrin are her students, no?” Soren frowned.

Cassia grinned as she leaned her hands against her hips and puffed her cheeks. “Why of course. I’m extremely talented, you know?”

“So then it’s still possible, no?”

Myrin chuckled. “It’s not a matter of yes or no. It’s a matter of fate. Our mistress will only accept you as her student if you are fated to be.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

Myrin shrugged. “Not even I know what machinations she follows.”

“Don’t worry about it too much,” Tina interrupted. “Even if she doesn’t accept you as a formal student, that doesn’t mean she won't teach you. We have all received guidance from her. Your first goal is to pass this interview and join the guild officially.”

“I see. Well then let’s carry on.” Soren said while leaning back against the sofa. “Ask your questions.”

“I’ll go first,” Joyce said joyfully. “Are you a Phantasm?”

Soren nodded, “Yes.” He pulled out his Soul Weapon, its delipidated state raised her eyebrows. “It’s called The Records. It has two abilities, [Record] and [Eyes of the Fairy] …” He continued his explanation.

“How intriguing…” Cassia commented. “This could prove immensely useful in dungeon dives.”

Myrin nodded. “It’s a lot more versatile than you think. He was able to navigate Yadria’s illusionary barrier as well as many other stupendous feats. It’s also very fitting for his goal.”

“Indeed,” she replied. “Scholars of magecraft are usually the ones stuck compiling grimoires, while magi utilize them as their affinities see fit.” She smiled devilishly at Myrin. “Do you see what I am proposing here?”

Myrin nodded, ignoring the odd stares from the others.

“What are you two plotting?” Soren asked.

“It’s fairly simple,” Cassia replied. “A magi’s number one flaw is the search for a compatible grimoire. You could have the most amazing affinities of them all, but without a grimoire fitted with magecraft you could use, your abilities are useless. And grimoires themselves are fairly complicated—you need to be able to master your understanding of material runes and its rules to create spellforms that match your affinity. And this also demands experimentation. Just simply creating a spellform isn’t enough—something that sounds good on paper might not always be practical.

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“Because of this, the magi of Luvinica that are most successful tend to be ones with affinities that are common or well known. This is called the Loringer effect, coined after Archmage Loringer who studied this phenomena. After all, if you were born with affinities that are uncommon or rare, the chances of finding a suitable grimoire are slim to none. Most tend to resolve themselves into becoming magi scholars rather than fully fledged magi; they will spend their lives researching their own affinities and compiling a grimoire out of that research. But even if they succeed, a first generation grimoire is still nothing compared to more documented grimoires. Applications of Magma Combat for example, is a famous grimoire with hundreds of copies. Do you know what edition it's currently in?”

Soren decided not to throw a guess.

“543rd Edition. It has been amended 543 times over the course of 400 years.”

Soren’s eyes widened in shock. “I am guessing there are even older grimoires?”

She nodded, “Yes, but they are kept secret by organizations and don’t have any copies. Occasionally, a secretive grimoire gets leaked somehow, which results in a bidding war, or sometimes—actual war.”

“War?!” He couldn’t believe it. There were entire battles being fought over a damn book?

Tina rolled her eyes, “Stop trying to hype it up so much. Our Soul Manuals are just as desired.”

Cassia chuckled and ignored her, prompting Soren to ask. “What’s a Soul Manual?”

“Soul Manuals are the equivalent to Grimoires but for Sentinels.” Tina replied. “They hold techniques that allow us to manipulate our Soul Frames in distinct ways.”

“Back to the real topic,” Cassia said—the attitude rolling out of her tongue smoothly. “With the dilemma that I just presented, being a magus is not just about talent, it's also a matter of luck. Without the right affinities, you are screwed.”

“But this is where you come in,” Myrin interrupted Cassia’s flow. “You don’t need to care what affinities you hold. Even if they are rare, your abilities will allow you to research them much more quickly than anyone else facing the same issue!”

Soren lowered his head. He’s right… It finally made sense to him why Myrin was so proactive in teaching him during his trip to Yadria. His abilities were practically made for being a magus. His heart began to race as excitement bubbled within his throat.

“You don’t even need a grimoire,” Joyce said. “Your Soul Weapon already is one.”

Cassia crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. “How unfair. I want his Soul Weapon.”

“Keep your jealousy in check, I only have a few days left to live, remember?”

“Oh yeah…” She remembered. “Nevermind, return to sender.”

Soren chuckled. “I assume you already have one too, correct? A Soul Weapon.”

Cassia squinted her eyes, “Very astute of you.”

“Well it wouldn’t make sense otherwise if Myrin already had one and you didn’t.”

She nodded, “Yes I do have a Soul Weapon. But I won’t be showing it to you until you are accepted to the guild. Which leaves me with my final question.

“Where the hell did you come from?”

The room fell silent once more. Even Myrin this time was anticipating an answer. Seeing this, Soren couldn’t help but smile. He had already considered this countless times during his trip—that one day, he might need to disclose his origins. Although it wasn’t that big of a deal to him when he first arrived, his journey across Yadria as well as his meeting with that demon changed his perspective a bit.

Soren couldn’t just absorb knowledge. He also needed to make sure knowledge about himself didn’t get out. That demon had called him a fairy and was able to detect this obscure quality about him that he himself didn’t know. And the same could be said with Myrin who could occasionally listen in on his thoughts. He hated this lack of control. He hated the fact that he was being read like an open book.

But he also realized that there were times when it was best to give in rather than stubbornly clinging to one’s ego.

“I have told Tina, Myrin, and Tyrel this before. I come from another world. A world called Earth.”

“Earth?” Cassia lifted her brow. “I have never heard of it.”

“It is beyond the Endless Sea,” Myrin said. “A faraway realm, similar to where the Vynasians come from. Though I doubt they share any similarities with one another.”

“Regardless of where this world is,” Soren replied, “just know that it is a world that is highly advanced in technology and culture. Magecraft didn’t exist there—at least not that I was aware of.” Until now, he wanted to add on, but decided not to. It was obvious with Scribe-of-Worlds still being a major threat, there had to be other anomalies and mysteries on Earth that he was unaware of.

“No magecraft?” Myrin rubbed his chin. He frowned and glanced over at Cassia who was just as perplexed. “Is that even possible?”

Her eyes turned into razor sharp slits, like a predator eyeing food. “How interesting…” She smiled devilishly. “I want to visit this world.”

Myrin chuckled, “We still haven’t even discovered where the Vynasians come from after all these centuries…”

“Either way,” she interrupted. “Let’s say I believe your story. If magecraft wasn’t a common thing in your world, how did you arrive here in Yarian?”

Soren frowned. “A ritual. One that I found onli—I mean, I found it in an archive.”

“Do you still have the details of that ritual?” Tina asked and Soren nodded in return.

“Let’s leave it to the mistress,” Cassia said. “Her expertise in Runology is far better than mine. Besides, I wouldn’t want him to recite an incantation or something here, that’s a bit dangerous.”

“Agreed,” replied Myrin.

Suddenly, they heard the door leading to the lounge swing open. A bronze-skinned, middle-aged man wearing a vest paired with a white shirt underneath stepped inside. He brushed his silver hair back while frowning. A shorter woman wearing glasses followed him inside.

“Nicholas! Candice!” Cassia said joyfully.

The woman walked past the gentleman and waved a bag of groceries, “We brought fresh bread.” She glanced at who was sitting on the sofas—her eyes widened. “Oho? Myrin, Tina? You’re back from the trip?!”

She ran up to Tina and gave her a hug, “It’s nice to see you again~” Cassia on the other hand was more preoccupied with looking through the bag of groceries.

Tina tried to form a smile, “I missed you as well…”

She then glanced over at where Soren was sitting, “A new face?”

“Yes, and he might be joining our guild soon.” replied Myrin. He glanced over at Cassia who was taking a whiff of the bread inside the bag. “Even the fiery little dragon witch seems convinced of him.” He chuckled.