I took a careful step away from Emyrith. The doorknob still glowed bright red; wisps of white smoke curled up.

  “We don’t have time for this.” Emyrith said. Then he began to move.

  He reached in his briefcase, taking out a piece of chalk. He bent down and began to draw on the floor.

  A giant circle, surrounded by a layer of intersecting circles and triangles.

  My brain was barely digesting the chain of events that led to me being locked in a room where a full grown man ordered me to take off my clothes. Least of all, from a man that my dad said that I could trust. And it hadn’t even gotten to the superheated doorknob yet.

  So I definitely wasn’t ready for what he said next.

  “Mr. Hallow,” He began, still drawing. “I was appointed as your representative in the matter of Miru Shin’s Will.”

  Miru Shin.

  “That’s my mom’s name.”

  For a second, Emyrith stopped drawing and looked up. The lights were off, but the man’s eyes were practically glowing.

  Scratch that. They were glowing.

  “Yes. Your mother’s Will.” He said.

  I said nothing for a long while.

  The word ‘Mom’. It holds different meaning to different people. For me…

  My mother went missing when I was five. Went out for groceries and never came back.

  The police took the missing persons report, but I saw the way they looked at my dad. I knew better than to think they’d look.

  They never found the body. No clues, nothing. For the longest time, I believed that she would come back someday. That she’d have a crazy tale about this unbelievable adventure, filled with fire-breathing dragons, and magic swords.

  Then I got older and better.

  My dad and I don’t talk about her. That’s not something we do. It’s an old wound, scabbed over a thousand times. Talking about it wouldn’t make it hurt any less; some wounds get better with time, not this one.

  A sense of loss that was a dull ache on the best of days, and a sharp laceration on others. The pain floated familiar memories into my head, Mom tucking me into bed, flipping over a stack of thick korean gambling cards called hwatu, and using the random assortment of pictures to piece together a bedtime story with birds, tigers, and a woman holding a red umbrella.

  The memory floated away to wherever it came from, leaving me feeling empty inside. It’s worse, because I don’t remember much. Even in that particular memory, my mom’s face is blurred out. I only remember what happened, never the sound of her voice or even what she looked like.

  I don’t think I’ll ever lose this feeling you know? This empty hole, it aches and bleeds. I don’t think I’ll ever stop missing her. It’s the reason I got into my first fight, the reason why I always got clingy in my situationships (don’t ask), and the reason why my dad and I don’t talk about anything important. It’s my achilles heel.

  And never, ever had someone mentioned her name to me. Ever.

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  While the silence stretched on, Emyrith hadn’t stopped. He’d finished drawing on the circle, and started talking to himself. I only caught the end of his words.

  “...know how he will manifest, whether it is evocation or summoning. It’s best to leave that out.”

  I cleared my throat to get his attention. “How come I never heard of this Will until now?”

  “Because the Will wasn’t to be executed until you turned eighteen. But circumstances had changed. The same circumstances which leaves us very little time.” He answered, stressing the last three words. “Mr. Hallow, I understand you have questions. Questions that deserve answers. But many of those questions could be answered by trusting me."

  “One last question then.”

  He nodded, and I continued.

  “All you told me is that my mom left me a Will. Which my dad never told me about. Then you tell me to get naked while you’re drawing some crop-circles on the floor.” I shook my head, “Exactly what is supposed to make sense about any of this?”

  “Because they’re all connected, Mr. Hallow.” Slowly, Emyrith pointed at the doorknob. “Even that. Everything will make sense.”

  The doorknob.

  ‘Listen to him,’ My dad had said.

  “Godammit,” I swore, but my mind was made up. Not because of logic. There was no logic here. Just gut feeling, that there was a ring of truth to Emyrith’s words and desperation in my dad’s. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Take off your clothes and step into the circle.” He answered.

  I hesitated, looking out the window.

  We were in the finishing dredges of December. Fat snowflakes drifted down lazily, blanketing the outside world in white. The marble floors would be freezing, and even now the cold air nipped at my skin through the thin white button-up.

  It hadn’t even been thirty seconds and doubts flooded my mind. Was this a prank? Some kind of trick? Someone coming out to yell ‘You fell for it! Naked in the middle of Winter!’ and I’d be some poster-child of an internet meme for suckers floating around somewhere?

  “It’s freezing.”

  “The cold isn’t the worst thing to brave, Mr. Hallow.”

  “Easy for you to say.” I grumbled.

  “But the best case scenario, I am telling the truth, Mr. Hallow. And everything will make sense.”

  “Circle logic.” But I was already unbuttoning my shirt. “You didn’t tell me exactly what is supposed to make sense, except that trusting you is the right answer. But to find out if trusting you is the best case scenario, I have to trust you first. Yet, I don’t even know what the best case scenario is supposed to be.”

  Emyrith nodded. “Understandable.”

  I sighed, my hands pausing right before undoing my belt. “If anyone walks through that door now, they’re going to take one look and call the cops.”

  He shrugged. “An acceptable risk.”

  “You’re insane.” I said.

  Then I took off my pants.

  ? The Broken Arcanist [Weak to Strong | Necro | Progression LitRPG] ?

  by Aleth08

  A dying heart. A shattered legacy. A debt written in blood.

  The world he walks was saved by blood once before, and it has never been kind to what survives on borrowed mercy.

  Release Schedule: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday [After the initial run]

  What to expect:

  [+] Weak to Strong

  [+] Necromancer MC

  [+] Morally Grey Pragmatic MC

  [+] LitRPG-Cultivation Blend

  [+] Arcana Based Powers System

  [+] Romance [Not Harem]

  [+] Third-Person Limited Narration