Vincent unlocked the door only to find Isabell sitting cross legged in a chair. "What's this? I didn't know getting rich overnight could turn a girl such as yourself into a demure lady."

Isabell directed a glare his way and ran out the door. Looking at her taking short steps with her thighs joined together, a realization dawned upon him. He didn't know how to react and just scratched his head. Alba on the other hand, couldn't stifle her laughter.

The girl had finally laughed and Vincent looked at her with interest. The girl hurriedly covered her mouth with her palms and went to freshen up.

The early hour passed by quickly. Vincent and Isabell were seated across each other with serious looks on their faces. He looked at her straight in the eyes and asked, "How do we settle this?"

"Let's flip a coin." The girl proposed something unbelievable to settle such a serious manner. Vincent couldn't make sense of what went through her mind. He didn't know what made her answer in such a manner but he did know that he wasn't willing to decide this matter with a coin flip.

"How about we play a game of cards instead? I believe both of us can be convinced of the result better this way."

"Sure. Sounds fun."

"What can you play?"

"I've never played cards before. You decide and teach me how to play it."

Vincent wanted to pull his hair out. Dealing with a person like her proved to be something he was incapable of. Forcing down his urge to complain, he taught her how to play poker. Unlike her usual attitude, she took the matter of learning poker seriously. Her speed and sharpness at learning also surprised Vincent. He could have sworn that a ghost had possessed her. How else would she suddenly become so smart?

Getting serious, Vincent shuffled the cards and distributed it. Isabell checked her cards one by one and laughed uproariously. The smug look on her face told Vincent that she had a good hand. Sadly for her, he had no intention of playing fair. He was cheating for her own good after all. Vincent couldn't believe how kind he was, to be willing to throw away his upright moral character for the sake of a stupid girl.

The girl showcased her hand in a flashy manner. The confidence emanating from her was unbelievable, she did have a full house after all. Vincent put on a tense expression and checked his hand. Morphing into a sad expression he showcased his hands as well and observed her expression closely.

The girl couldn't believe her eyes. The astronomically rare event where a straight flush made its appearance took place. Vincent took great pleasure in watching Isabell's smug face crumble into one of utter confusion. If only she were an experienced player, she would have called him out on cheating. Too bad, Vincent was someone who managed to cheat Brian and Rachel for years and not get caught a single time. The newbie couldn't even begin to grasp where the reason behind her loss lay.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"The universe wants you to take the ring. Be a good girl and accept your defeat." Vincent imitated the way his master spoke and decreed to her the will of the universe. The young witch could do naught but accept the ring as her share of the loot.

The trio had breakfast together and Isabell couldn't help but send snarky comments his way to make apparent her dissatisfaction. "You get to eat such good food every day and you still took the better loot from a poor girl like me? Have you no shame?"

As for Vincent, he pretended to not have heard her and continued eating.

***************

Isabell had forgotten all about the event in the morning and was showing off the ring to Alba somewhere in the woods. The latter had truly seen but a tiny portion of the world and was fascinated by the witch's antics.

Vincent was reading the witch's grimoire. After reading for half the day, he concluded something. It was utter trash for a wizard like him. Witches entered into contract with spirits and supplied them with mana to use their powers. A wizard couldn't communicate with any spirit let alone enter into contract with one. This knowledge was the only useful thing he gleamed from the grimoire in addition to learning that the stone Alba took had a spirit in it.

Putting the grimoire aside, he checked the spell scroll. It was a very old scroll and was written in ancient Dragonian, the language originated from and used by dragons. The language had been lost in the passage of time and only a portion of it were still understood by few people. Fortunately, Vincent had basic knowledge about the language. As for beings who still had complete grasp of the knowledge, it would be a select few except for dragons.

The spell inscribed in the scroll was a tier three spell called 'Cry of the Banshee'. It imitated a banshee's scream and sent a shocking sound wave in the user's preferred direction. It was the first time Vincent was seeing a sound based attack spell and his interest was piqued. He began studying the scroll intensely. The only problem was that his limited mastery of Dragonian stopped him in his tracks in no time.

Making a mental note about borrowing books about the ancient language from Zach, he moved his attention to the potion. It was blood red in color and had nothing of note other than it's thickness. He added determining the potion's effects to the top of his to do list and grabbed the journal.

"11th October, 1119

The day has finally come. I have been called to join the war. I want to do nothing more than to run away from this place and hide somewhere until this madness ends. Sadly, I cannot do so for my own sisters will be sent to hunt me if I were to run. It's a far better end to die in the war against the wizards.

I just hope that I will be fortunate enough to survive. If only I had a few more years, I would have advanced to become a gold ranked witch and my safety would have been given a higher priority. But there are no ifs in life and I must do my best instead of thinking about such things.

May the moon look after us."

Reading just the first entry gave a huge shock to Vincent. It looked like the diary belonged to a witch of 4th circle. From the looks of it, the date was roughly about 200 years ago. This coincided with the great magic war waged between shamans, wizards and witches. What he held in his hands was a piece of history buried away from the masses. He hadn't learnt anything about this and now a door into the past had opened up before him. How could he not be excited?

Vincent chased away all unnecessary thoughts and dove back into the journal. In his mind, the value of this inconspicuous book far exceeded the other loots.