Gorvan was sitting in his study, a letter in his hands: a priority delivery, the king’s seal on it.

A month had passed from the day he had discovered Silvy was an undead. It was incredible how fast a missive could move with the right seal. Common letters needed a month to cross the sea and another month to cross half of both continents, from Chilog to Emberford, the westernmost city of Ivirill, and from Mouver, a port city of Grumira, to the capital, Franginia.

Silvy, the gifted child, was an undead. The old [Archmage] hadn’t considered the possibility even in his wildest dreams, but it was real. How could he? This was beyond blasphemous.

Gorvan sighed. What’s done was done. No one could change the past, just shape the future, a grim one for that child.

Word of her existence had gotten out fast. In less than three days, the whole city knew about her, and now, a month later, she was still a hot topic. They called her many names, all degrading. People didn’t understand what had happened to that poor child, that she was a victim, how could they? Gorvan himself, an [Archmage] with years of studies on his back, barely understood what was going on, how all this was possible. A monster core inside a sapient? Madness. Who would even think about it? Someone did, obviously, but it was madness, nonetheless.

To make matters worse, his investigation had borne little fruits. This Brothel and any proof of its operations had disappeared, destroyed by the elves. Gorvan believed they had stolen the documents needed to replicate this horrible experiment, as few could resist the sweet power this creation could bring. And in all of this mess, Gorvan was sure Silvy didn’t understand the ramifications of her existence, being a child and a victim to boot.

Gorvan sighed again, tired, his old age weighing him down. He had always been a strict person, many peers making fun of him behind his back, leaving him lonely for many years. But that strictness was where he had found the strength to become an [Archmage], to never give up. Rules existed for a reason and should be followed, not doing so endangering the community. But fairness in these rules was of paramount importance. If they were not fair, what was the point of following them? And that was why he faced this dilemma.

Silvy. Was she guilty? Yes. She had attacked the governor, the investigation making it clear, a crime punishable by death. But her words made him inclined to believe her, with her attacking the governor because the “undead” situation was his responsibility. She shouldn’t follow vengeance, however, because doing so would make her lose herself, but Gorvan understood the sentiment. He wanted revenge against the elves, for killing his family, innocent civilians in a war not theirs to fight.

He closed his fists, the memory of that day too clear, too painful. Another deep breath, another sigh, and he was calm again.

Silvy was punishable by death for this attack alone, and yet, this was the smallest stain. Half-monster, half-sapient, her mere existence a danger to everything. But could mere existence be a crime? How was that fair? Especially because she had no role in it, didn’t ask for any of this. An orphan no one knew about, with no power to her name, becoming so crucial and dangerous to many people. He was surprised her mind hadn’t snapped by the sheer pressure, but maybe she had found some peace in the latest routine, the lessons with Lindrl.

But no one cared about her peace of mind. She had received a power she didn’t fully understand, from someone who didn’t care about her, and now she was left facing the consequences. She hadn’t stolen it, hadn’t earned it, but was hers, nonetheless. Another sigh, the [Archmage] reading the [King]’s letter for the hundredth time.

From the legitimate and sole ruler of the Human Empire [King] Klisser Foster.

Egregious [Archmage] Vroantu Gorvan, I’m pleased to hear your studies proceed smoothly.

Gorvan ignored the first page, full of formalities. He had always disliked writing and reading letters, considering it an incredibly tedious process. People had to respect the protocol, but that didn’t mean he had to lose his time in the privacy of his study by reading it. Half-way through the second page the real letter started, the [King] answering Gorvan’s first concern.

The news of the attack on Chilog has me stupefied. Preparations for war are underway, and I’ll personally guide the reinforcements. I expect to arrive in two months.

The war. Was this any other moment, it would be Gorvan’s biggest concern. War meant prices going up, food shortages, disorders in the cities, and many more problems. And yet, he barely cared. His thoughts drifted again to the schedule written in the letter. Reaching Chilog in two months with an army? How much would that cost? Surely the king meant a vanguard, as bringing the full army from so far in only two months was a, to put it blandly, costly undertaking. Possible, yes, but hardly viable. Having already read about the war preparation, he moved on, reaching the fourth page of the letter, the one giving him a headache.

Regarding the regrettable accident that has befallen the child, Silvy. I cannot assess her myself, but I can see the value or the disaster she could bring.

My first order is to keep her alive, if possible. In what condition, that will depend on your judgment.

If she willingly remains in [Archmage] Mizhal Lindrl care, keep her there by any mean.

In case of the slightest problem, disable and imprison her. If you encounter heavy resistance, you have my permission to permanently remove the threat.

He passed a hand over his face, watching out the window. One full moon was visible tonight, its powerful light shedding some shadows around the courtyard, a single person walking around. What was he supposed to do? Speaking to Lindrl about this letter was a gamble. He knew that woman. Kal had taken him as his student a few years after Lindrl, and the two of them had developed a friendly rivalry. His younger self had been infatuated with her for a time, but quickly realized the madness hidden below her pretty face. Years had softened her enthusiasm for experiments, the restraints showed around Silvy proving that point, but it was still there. She might not subject a slime to torturing and feeding sessions for months as she had done before, but that didn’t mean she had changed completely. A light chuckle escaped Gorvan when thinking of that incident. That woman had been convinced she could tame a slime by beating it to an inch of its life and feeding it right after for months on end. She was so convinced that, after six months passed repeating the process, she had called Gorvan and Kal to the experimental chamber, freeing the slime in front of them. She had opened her arms wide and greeted the slime, only for it to explode mostly towards her face. The fun part was, the slime came from the sewers and grew on food found there, Lindrl having her mouth wide open the moment of the explosion. Needless to say, she had passed the next few hours throwing up, the horrible stink lingering around her for two weeks, no matter how many baths she took.

He shook his head, dispelling this old anecdote. Even if she was his senior, age made that woman more unreadable. Would she help? Oh, on the surface, she’d surely do it. Behind his back, though? That was a mystery.

Gorvan sighed again, this whole drama making him feel twenty years older, scanning the letter another time, hoping the words would change or enlighten him. This was why he hated involving himself in politics. If something went wrong, he would be responsible. If everything, for who knows what miracle, went right, the [King] would take all the credits for the foresight he had shown.

Bloody politics and politicians.

-----

A month had passed from Silvy’s imprisonment, imprisonment being the wrong and right word at the same time.

Living in the slums as a criminal, ending up in prison had been a real possibility, so she had imagined many times how horrible it would be. Guards hitting her, clothes barely covering her shivering self in the cold, dark cubicle with nothing but a bucket and some straws as a bed, eating insects for breakfast and losing any form of privacy.

Well, maybe criminals still ended up in those conditions, but not her. Her bed was comfy and lavender-scented, her clothes were clean, and she was free to go around. Inside the building, but she was so busy that even if she had the chance to go outside, she was not sure she’d take it.

In the morning, from seven o’clock to noon, Lindrl’s lessons would take place, the archmage helping her with spellcasting and teaching her about magic. She then spent the afternoon training in rune creation alone in her room, her mind fully concentrated in this endeavor. And at night, the hardest part of her training took place, copying the rune from inside the elemental core to another core with her senses cut off.

All in all, she was proud of her progress. After who knows how many hours training, she could draw a rune using only a quarter of her mana, the other three-quarters taken from the ambient. She had reached this level a week ago and had stopped making progress ever since. Lindrl had told her the problem was her [Mage] level, and Silvy believed her.

And this level had increased, going up by two, reaching seventeen.

This was only the tip of the iceberg that was her progress, however. She had learned [Sphere of Sensation] about a week and a half ago, increasing her fight prowess substantially. After every activation, Silvy could feel her surroundings, catching glimpses of it. This sphere had a five-meter diameter, like Hethe had said, and couldn’t pass through solid objects. Those objects had to be actually solid to stop it, though; the smallest crack would reveal what was hidden behind, more slowly, like a slime squeezing through. For example, Silvy couldn’t feel behind walls, the sphere stopping in front of them. But, if a door was in the way, then the sphere would pass through the slits, showing everything behind it.

Still, Silvy realized this Skill was far from perfect. The first time she had activated it, and the following ones, she had received a torrent of information, processing it only thanks to her double mind. The training required to handle and not being overwhelmed by this amount of sensations was probably quite intensive for a human. The icing on the cake, though, was that it didn’t use any mana, activation, and deactivation, free and without cooldown. Overall, it was a strong Skill that required a long time to learn and master, for a normal human. Even for her, but less so.

Another important progress was her magic prowess, having learned how to cast two basic spells, Gust of Wind and Flame creation, together with [Mana Blade] again in her arsenal. All three of them were basic spells, but amazement had struck Lindrl when she had discovered Silvy could learn them so fast.

Of course, this was because of Silvy’s night activities. Every day, from nine in the evening to seven in the morning, Silvy would try to copy the elemental core’s rune. Try being the key word here, as she had yet to replicate a single piece of it, the arrangement too complex for her. But that didn’t mean she had made no progress. Many lines of the rune inside her undead core had changed color, from white to red, blue, green, brown, and many others. They had yet to change position even once, at least as far as Silvy could tell, but she was making progress, nonetheless.

There was another trick to it, though. The elemental had known those spells for its whole life, casting them many times before. Silvy had this knowledge available, taken when the three minds had been one. That meant she did not start from nothing and worked her way up like everyone else. And yet, even with all these advantages, she had learned only two spells in a month, the basic ones for wind and fire elements. She trained during Lindrl’s lesson and without rest from noon, when Lindrl’s lesson stopped, to nine in the evening, for at least twelve hours every day. Not to mention that working on the core could also count as training, as it increased her magic prowess further. Even with almost twenty-four hours of uninterrupted training, she had only two basic spells to show as a result. How long would a normal person take to learn one spell? Not only they couldn’t train for so long, but they didn’t have her attunement, stolen from the elemental. Taking all this into consideration, it wasn’t hard to understand why good [Mages] were rare, learning a basic spell every six months probably considered incredible.

That’s one of the reasons [Mages] often specialized in a single element, Lindrl had told her. Every rune was different, challenging the imagination and mana control of a [Mage] in various ways each time. Given that the shape of an element was always the same, only bigger or smaller, a [Mage] who kept drawing the same shape would learn how to do it faster, casting spells of that element faster than the others.

Silvy didn’t feel bored by this repetition, but there had been a pleasant surprise during this month. Two weeks ago, Eiram and Vilza had visited her, clearly on edge at the beginning, but relaxing after discovering the child wasn’t a murderous monster. Silvy didn’t fault them, as standing near a stronger monster was scary, and being near a smart one was probably terrifying. They didn’t mention her being undead, neither they asked details, only chatting about their latest quests, but clearly knowing and not being thrilled about it. Ivor didn’t come, but Silvy wasn’t surprised, as she had always suspected he didn’t like her for whatever reason.

In between the lines, the two adventurers had informed Silvy that the whole city knew about her situation, many wanting her dead. Their reunion was short, and no one else visited after them, Silvy unsure if it was because they didn’t want to or Lindrl didn’t let them. She didn’t care either way, focusing on training. Even knowing her father’s identity, once one of her objectives, was not important anymore, as he was a betrayer, like everyone else.

A week ago, Lindrl had started teaching her how to hide her aura and how to see them. Silvy had quickly learned how to see them, having been able to do it in the past thanks to the elemental knowledge, but hiding her aura was much harder, similar to disconnecting herself from the surrounding mana. Changing the aura shape to lie and not being discovered was even harder, Lindrl explaining to Silvy that hiding your thoughts was much easier than faking them.

And Silvy had perfectly hidden who she was, what she had become. She had been a good girl, following Lindrl’s orders and tips, punctual to her lessons, showing interest in the history of the Empire and the geography of the surrounding land, absorbing knowledge like a sponge.

Lindrl, for her part, had rarely watched Silvy’s aura to discern the truth, deciding to trust the child, using it only on important questions such as “Do you hate the Empire?” or “Do you hate humans?”. Silvy didn’t lie at either, the truth being “No.” to both.

Hating humans made no sense, as the undeads were born from them. Silvy considered humans like babies, crying and fighting for their place in the world, struggling against an unbeatable end. A parent didn’t hate his newborn child for crying in the middle of the night, as that was necessary for it. How could Silvy hate humans for their struggles? They would grow up when they died, learning what it meant to be loyal, their faults forgiven by their mother.

Hating the empire equally made no sense. Lindrl kept reassuring Silvy that the king was most likely unaware of this whole ordeal, but that wasn’t the point. Without the Empire, Silvy would’ve never seen the truth, the beauty of the void, felt the hunger encompassing the world. She’d have lived as a normal human, probably growing up to be a petty criminal, killed in some alley by her unavoidable mistakes. She was grateful to the Empire, having changed her life for the better.

Knocking awoke Silvy from her idle thoughts, Lindrl opening the door a second later.

“Can you come with me, dear?”

Silvy got down from the bed and followed the archmage. A month living with her meant Silvy could pick up some clues from her body, and she was sure the woman was not thrilled by what was going on. Thinking about it, Silvy was sure someone had knocked on Lindrl’s door two hours ago…

They entered the room, Gorvan already sitting on a couch. “Hello, Silvy. Please, take a seat.” he said, gesturing to the couch, Lindrl sitting next to him and Silvy in front. “I’ll ask you some questions now, and I’d like you to answer truthfully, using the truth tablet.” He waved at the blue smooth item positioned in front of Silvy.

Silvy nodded, touching the tablet. Lindrl had already questioned her in the past a few times, but she felt this was different, official. She just hoped the questions wouldn’t be difficult, as answering them truthfully might bring her trouble.

“First question. Do you wish to destroy humanity?” Gorvan asked, his face grave and his black eyes slightly shining. Lindrl’s eyes were also shining, sign that both of them were checking her aura.

This was the first question?! What were the next ones, then? “No.” Silvy answered, everyone visibly relaxing after that, the truth tablet confirming her statement a moment later.

Destroying humanity was a sure way to fail… everything. Living sapients died and formed undeads, humans being a great source of them. Destroying them would mean losing the source of the undeads, which meant not being able to save all living beings by letting them become undead. It was a delicate balance. Sapient species would resist her salvation, meaning she would need an army to fight them, an army made of undeads, created by sapients themselves. Moreover, she wanted to save, not destroy them.

“Do you wish to change, in any form, the human race?” Gorvan asked.

“No.” Silvy answered. Changing humans? He probably meant transforming all humans in half-monsters like her, something she had no intention of doing. Her plans for humans were simple and didn’t involve changing their form in any way.

“Do you have aggressive compulsions towards humans?” Gorvan asked.

“No.” Silvy answered. Against some, sure. Against the human race? No.

“Are you a monster or a half-elf?” Gorvan asked, his voice deeper than before.

Silvy stopped at the question. What was she? Following the latest level up in [Chimera] and the relative Skill, she had felt more and more like an undead, but she could still remember being a half-elf. She still felt like one, and also undead.

“Both I guess.” Silvy answered, the [Archmages] and truth tablet confirming her statement.

“What are your thoughts about the Empire?”

Another hard question. It was true their experiment made her undead, and she was grateful for that, but there was a small part of her that still resented them for doing it. It was a small, distant piece, but it still kept nagging her, telling her it was wrong.

Silvy shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t hate it, I don’t love it.” Even if she was grateful, she didn’t love it, and even if a small part of her resented them, she didn’t hate them.

“Are you willing to remain in this building for a few more months, without going outside?” Gorvan asked, releasing the breath he didn’t realize was holding.

“Yes.” Silvy answered without hesitation. A few more months here meant learning magic without worries. As far as she knew, sending a letter to the capital would take a bit less than two months, and the answer would take the same. Even if the [King] left the capital the same day the letter arrived, the journey would take even more time, letting Silvy grow her power, not to mention it was unlikely the King would move, anyway.

“Good.” Gorvan said. “Those were all the questions I had, for now. I’ll take my leave. Lindrl, Silvy.” he nodded to the two women, leaving them alone in the room a moment later.

“That last question was strange. Why a few more months?” Silvy asked, curious.

“Gorvan received a letter from the [King]. He’s bound to arrive in two months from now, personally passing judgment on you when he arrives.” Lindrl said, calmly sipping on her tea.

Pass judgment, received a letter… Silvy mind spun with worries. She’d be killed or experimented on, right?! Both attractive options, Silvy grimly thought. She needed to escape, not exactly right now, but before the [King] arrived. Luckily, Gorvan hadn’t mentioned the king before asking that last question, or they would have found out her plan for sure.

Where to begin. Lindrl’s building wasn’t locked, as far she was aware. She’d check tonight, but getting out of here wouldn’t be hard, the biggest problem getting out of the mages’ guild and the city itself.

The guild would be the hardest part. Below it was a giant rune, accomplishing different purposes, Silvy knowing two of them. One, as Lindrl had told her, was to help Kal gathering mana to not die, and the other was checking people going in and out of the guild’s grounds. Every [Archmage] had access to this second function, so everyone could see her moving around. Lindrl had told her Gorvan and Kal didn’t use it often, Lindrl being the one mostly in charge of it, as she had created an item reporting “interesting” auras, whatever interesting meant, discovering Silvy through that the first and second time she had visited.

Silvy could see, currently, two ways to face this problem.

First option, destroy the rune. This was the worst one. She knew the rune was underground, and probably Kal’s tower led to it, but how could she reach it without being discovered? That was arguably harder than getting outside the guild. Destroying the rune also meant alerting every [Archmage], the opposite of what she wanted to accomplish.

The second option was distracting Lindrl, so she didn’t realize Silvy was running away, but that was hard. Also, Gorvan knew that Silvy was here, so he was bound to monitor her. She didn’t know if Kal knew, but she had no means to reach him, anyway. That meant she had to distract two [Archmages]: impossible. Unless she had allies.

And that made Silvy realized another important point. She was cut off in more ways than one. Not only she didn’t know many people outside, who probably wouldn’t help her anyway, but any contact had to pass through Lindrl, as she would have to ask permission.

Every plan shut down, she realized escaping would be difficult. Although… maybe there was another option. What if she learned how to hide her aura before the two-months deadline? Could the giant rune see her then? She’d have to ask Lindrl, but how to do it without sounding suspicious? Maybe she’d ask about magic items and their making, changing the conversation to the rune below the guild. She’d have to think about it some more.

Alright, first part of the plan decided. She’d focus her training on hiding her aura. In the meantime, she’d think of a way to distract two, maybe three [Archmages] at once. The library might be helpful, and she’d ask Lindrl if she could visit it.

The second problem was getting out of the city, but she considered it easier. Assuming she got out of the guild unseen, she could walk out of the gates during the day, maybe covered with a cloak or something. During the night might be a problem, her mana control too bad to climb the sixty-meter tall walls. This was a secondary problem anyway, getting out of the guild her first concern, needing information paramount to do it: that meant getting out of Lindrl’s house.

The culprit of Silvy’s state of mind, which the child didn’t realize had told her something that most likely shouldn’t have, Lindrl the [Archmage], was calmly sipping her tea, studying Silvy out of the corner of her eyes. This child’s facial expressions had become more subtle from when she had met her. Where a lie could be spotted by most adults before, she could now maintain a neutral expression when talking. Of course, she did not need to watch her expressions to understand her present turmoil. Her aura was a mess, swinging wildly from left to right like a flame in a tornado.

A shiver ran through Lindrl’s body. This child was full of surprises, no matter how many days they interacted. A whole month had passed, Silvy going from barely knowing the basics of magic to a [Mage] capable of casting two basic spells with a quarter of her mana, meaning she was a [Mage] between level twenty-two and twenty-four. And yes, she had a class, Lindrl was sure of it, even if she had never asked. How she wanted to study her...

“Lindrl, may I go outside? This interrogation confirmed I’m not a danger, right?” Silvy asked, hopeful.

Lindrl took a few seconds to answer, maintaining her facade. “I guess you can. I’ll talk to Gorvan tomorrow, but you won’t be able to go outside the guild even if he says yes. Ah, people might be… less than welcoming. If someone picks a fight with you, ignore them. Or at least don’t kill them.” Lindrl answered, content with this child’s first move.

She could almost hear Silvy’s mind working at full speed for a way out of this predicament. Lindrl was not supposed to say anything about the letter, but where was the fun in that? Gorvan would probably keep it secret from everyone, so she’d have to play a few cards to help Silvy out.

Lindrl lovingly looked at Silvy’s back, her figure disappearing behind the door. You’ve got two months, sweetheart, before the king arrives and passes judgment. Can you do it? What will you do this time? How will you surprise me? A beautiful smile blossomed on Lindrl’s face, a smile many men would die for.

Well, that had been easy, Silvy thought. Tomorrow, she’d go to the library and search for… what, exactly? What could distract three [Archmages]? An intermediate spell? Putting aside if she could master it in time, what would it accomplish? No, she had to find something else… but what?! The night and following morning passed in a flash, Silvy not slacking off in the slightest and training as every other day while thinking about her problem, confirming the front door was unlocked, and when Lindrl told her she could go outside, she was out in a moment.

They had repaired the meadow, the burnt places replaced by green and vibrant grass, the broken trees replanted and regrown, every building in one piece again. Kal’s tower was in one piece again, Silvy idly wondering when they had repaired it, as she had heard no noise from there.

People were moving around, life having gone back to normal after so long. Until they noticed Silvy.

People stopped in place one after the other, pointing and whispering between themselves, the child attracting a lot of attention, hearing some comments made by the crowd.

“That’s the monster, right?!”

“Shh! She might hear you!”

“Is it going to attack?! Why is it going around?!”

A sizable crowd was following her around, Silvy mildly annoyed by it. At least, no one had stopped her-

“Hey, you! Are you the monster?” a young man asked, probably around twenty-five, his bearing screaming noble to everyone, his small brown beard trimmed and cared for, stepping in front of Silvy and barring her way.

“I’m not a monster.” Silvy answered, her voice calm, trying to walk around him.

“You are the one with the monster core inside, right? Why are you still alive?” the man asked, stepping again in her path, two more men of similar age now at his side.

“What do you mean?” Silvy asked, abandoning her hopes of avoiding this guy.

“I would be ashamed of being a monster like you!” the man at the noble’s left said, spitting on the ground.

“Indeed. Why don’t you kill yourself? You’d do a favor to everyone.” the noble guy told her with a condescending tone.

Silvy sighed, trying to turn around and move away. Poor humans, so afraid of the unknown. She could understand them, though. They were alone, like she was right now, with no undead around her to warm up this cold world. Humans were always alone, unable to link with others, full of desires and spite, never understanding what it meant to be part of a family.

Turning around, she noticed a few more [Mages] had blocked her way, encircling her.

“We should kill her ourselves. After all, monsters need to be purged.” the noble guy said, riling up his friends.