“So loud...” Alira groaned, a grimace on her pale face.

  “Oh. Sorry, miss,” Maria said, her voice barely a whisper. Alira looked down at her side to see the girl sitting on a small stool beside her bed. For a moment, she wondered if she should give the bed to Maria from how tired the young girl appeared. She looked more like a sick patient than Alira.

  Alira gave her a small pat on the head with a small smile. “It’s okay. I’m alright, now.”

  “M-My apologies, as well, miss Alira,” Lillian blurted.

  Alira waved her hand weakly to tell her it was fine. That one small movement seemed to have consumed all of her energy as she found herself wanting to slump back into the soft, clean bed. How tiring. Her Academy life had begun less than a week ago, yet she’d already managed to get herself wrecked thoroughly.

  She sure hoped her remaining days would go easy on her.

  A physician soon arrived, walking up to stand next to her bed. “You’re my first patient of your intake, Miss Ravon. How’re you feeling?”

  “Exactly how I look.”

  The physician snickered. “Terrible, I suppose.” Something shifted in the air. He let out a hasty cough and added, “Ahem. My apologies. I meant it as a light-hearted joke. Please don’t take it the wrong way, young misses.”

  Young misses? Why was he apologizing to more than just the person in question? Alira grumbled internally but didn’t have the strength to care enough about it.

  The physician continued, taking notes of Alira’s current state.

  “Mana overuse,” he explained. “From what I’ve heard, you actually managed to drain a sliver from the Vesper Reign forest’s mana supply!”

  Far more excitement tainted his voice than someone in his professional position should show. The physician seemed to realize it himself as he awkwardly cleared his throat.

  “Understandably, doing so has overloaded your body, considering your mana affinity. Your friends mentioned that fire was involved, but no injuries indicating such are found on your body. In fact, your body has suffered no damage at all. The artifact or whatever it was you have on you is very effective. There’s nothing to worry about your physical condition, Miss Ravon. A good rest is all you need to get back on your feet,” he said with a reassuring nod.

  “Your soul, on the other hand, w—”

  A loud bang interrupted the physician as a woman in her mid-twenties barged into the private room, slamming the door open. She had her hair gathered messily behind, wearing a tilted pince-nez.

  “H-Healer here!” She wheezed, still catching her breath as she scanned the room. When her gaze settled on Alira, her expression went from hurried to concerned. “Oh my, you look—” She caught herself, glancing at Lillian's direction. “I mean, let me cast a healing spell for you.”

  The physician chuckled with a soft blush that would have been unnoticeable if not for his pale skin. “Miss Delia, that would be unnecessary. Miss Ravon here is as fit as a fiddle—only her mana core has been exhausted. Please check on the state of her soul instead.”

  “Yes!” Delia replied. “Allow me to place a calming spell on you first.”

  Healing and buffing were unique magic from Ancient Times that fell under the umbrella of Abstract Element. At least that was what Alira knew from the few minutes she succeeded in trying to listen in class. As a rare type of mage, most people would live their entire life without ever seeing, let alone being able to afford a healer.

  Delia spoke a string of mumbo-jumbos in Ancient Tongue Alira couldn’t comprehend and sent a wave of light crushing onto her. The warm silver glow poured into her to smooth her nerves as her body relaxed, along with her thoughts that positively slowed down. The aches were still there, and the exhaustion didn’t lessen. Yet somehow, she felt much better than before.

  She recovered enough of her spirit to notice that a few shining flower-like objects in small glass jars worn on Delia’s belt withered and lost their light. She mentally thanked them for their sacrifices.

  “Can you tell me your Corruption value, miss?” Delia asked.

  Alira nodded and summoned her judgement scroll, [This Pure Soul of Staywes asks for Judgement.]

  ※

  Name [Alira Ravon]

  Soul Corruption [5.2%]

  ※

  “It’s only about five.”

  “That’s great. You three were in the vicinity of Fellsworns for quite a while, especially you. I was really worried about you, but I couldn’t provide any aid to your soul without permission, as the laws stated. May I?”

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  “Please,” Alira said.

  Delia spoke a different spell. This time, Alira heard a couple of familiar words in Ancient Tongue. Something about mana affinity. Raine often used that spell after he formed his second circle with Heal as his secondary element.

  Alira felt a ticklish sensation and saw a downward arrow appearing next to the Corruption value. Mana affinity roughly determined how much Corruption the mage could resist. After all, Corruption came from a type of corrupted mana that the Fellsworns produced from their contact with the Outers. Delia gave her a boost that slightly increased her mana affinity for a period, and this lowered the Corruption value at a faster rate than it normally did.

  “Teacher is very concerned about you, as well,” Delia said with a difficult smile.

  Alira looked at Delia and asked, “Teacher?”

  “Yes, Sir Cion,” she replied, “he was very worried for you. Oh, and so was his Grace. Especially His Grace. Please recover well. Teacher said the duke wants to have a word with you when you’re feeling well enough.”

  Delia was overflowing with concern, likely to deliver the ‘worries’ the duke apparently showed. Alira would have failed to resist rolling her eyes if it weren’t for the clueless Healer. Worried, my foot. He knew damn well nothing could happen to her ‘thanks’ to his bind.

  “Is Sir Cion fine?” Alira did feel bad for the poor mage to whom all her injuries were transferred. It must have been a not-so-fun surprise to find a bloody hole on your shoulder in the middle of the night.

  Delia tilted her head to the side, almost like a confused puppy. “Why wouldn’t Teacher be fine? Who could ever make Sir Cion unwell?”

  Alira forced a laugh, waving her hand dismissively. ‘Oh, I was just asking.’

  After ensuring Alira was truly alright, Delia finally took her leave. No doubt, being a unicorn like all the healers were, she had far more important places to be. The physician immediately perked up, hastily concluding his reports. He was practically bouncing as he rattled off his list of recovery advices. He hurried out of the room with an invisible wagging tail behind him, obviously planning to chase after the lady.

  Lillian—who knew why she was even here, acting a nursing staff—exchanged several wordless eye contacts with Alira. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before deciding on ‘I will go inform Sir Raine,’ and left.

  “Miss, you should rest now,” Maria insisted, trying to get Alira to lie down.

  “Alright,” Alira said with a small nod. “You should get some rest, too. Sorry for making you worried about me.”

  Maria shook her head, her brown hair flipping from side to side like a puppy’s floppy ears. “No, no. I’m fine. Don’t apologize, miss. How would you have known that there would be a sudden attack?”

  Alira only gave her a stiff laugh, hoping she didn’t sound as awkward as she felt. Maria made sure to tuck her in before she left, saying she would go grab something for Alira to eat.

  Finally alone with her thoughts, she exhaled at everything that had just happened.

  Warm orange beams showered inside through the windows on each side of the bed. Alira slowly sat up, slipping out of the tight cocoon Maria shoved her into. Only then did she realize she still had the artifact in her death grip.

  She brought the mirror up to her face, taking a closer look. On its back were a pair of grey bell-shaped flowers that bloomed from the same stem that had split into two. One of them was wilted, perhaps to foreshadow the death of one of the main characters in the novel.

  She had only wanted to take the artifact away from Raine in order to push him down the path of alchemy, but things wouldn’t be so simple. Alira knew it would only get more difficult since she had ripped off the novel and all the characters within from their fate. The butterfly effect was to be expected from her selfish action.

  Would I really be able to break this bind before the deadline?

  She really didn’t like how Raine was her only bet at this moment. She needed plan B.

  { Awake? I have a feeling that you are. }

  “Shh!” Alira jerked, dropping the mirror onto the bed. It slid right off the smooth, silken blanket, hitting the floor with a clang.

  Think about the devil, and he shall appear.

  She seriously considered ignoring Xia to avoid any of the troubles he could bring. She willed to have the Bridge raised and shut him up, but the next instant she felt it being slammed back down. Shit. She probably shouldn't have done that since lowering the bridge on her side only told him that she was, in fact, awake.

  { That’s rude, sweetie. I thought you knew me. Shouldn’t you know how I deal with rude people? Or are you into that? }

  His words were smooth, his voice flowing almost in a sing-song tone. But Alira did know him. She knew he wasn’t half as happy as he sounded. She also knew what he did to those who offended him. And, unfortunately, she wasn’t into that.

  “What do you want?” Alira asked, picking up the mirror flat on the cold floor.

  { Ouch. You wound me, sweetie. You used me when you needed...now that you don’t, you speak with such bitterness. }

  Alira held herself back from questioning why he was calling her ‘sweetie’ as much as she wanted to. She decided that she’d rather not know.

  It was the best choice to ignore Xia. He was a powerful mage sure, but it wasn’t like he could send her back home. There was no reason for her to bother with him. Though, he might know some powerful spatial mages. Alira wasn’t entirely sure if there was a spatial mage strong enough to travel between worlds.

  She simply gave a monotone hum, motioning him to get to the point. The mirror trembled slightly, and a rich laugh rang inside her skull.

  { How did you do it? }

  “Do what?” Alira rolled her shoulders, although she knew he couldn’t see. A hum replied—one as flat as hers.

  “Ah. You mean when I wielded your, what was it, Imperial Dragon Flame or something, as if it was easy?” Alira paused as if she were actually deep in thought. “I don’t know. Ask your flame or something. How would I know—I don’t even know what my first element is yet.”

  { You don’t want to say it? Will you be willing if I tell you what your first element is? }

  “Huh?”

  { It’s Gold, little tabby. }

  Alira’s eyes widened. She was fully awake now. How on Staywes did he know she was a cat? Alira turned the mirror away from her despite knowing he actually couldn’t see.

  { Hmm. I can almost see your surprised face. Calm your paws. I’m just sniffing out cat fur. }

  Like that was any less weird or creepy. Alira brought her nose to the mirror. The same scents she caught when binding with the artifact were still there. A blend of sourness and sweetness. The same smell she caught onto when she was regaining her consciousness. The smell of a tangerine. So it was him.

  “You can tell what breed I am from the smell alone?”

  { Nope. Tabby’s just the only cat breed that I know. }

  Alira rubbed her aching brows. A Grand Mage was bad enough to deal with. Now she had an Imperial Mage, one that could apparently take on three Grand Mages, on her tail as well.

  What a headache.