8 years later...

January 25, 20XX,

In the Land of the Rising Sun, Yamato, or Japan, a young man was sleeping in his bed. His face could be compared to the god of beauty and desire—Adonis; glossy-black hair with tinted red lips and chiseled body that made him look like the personification of beauty. This young man was none other than Sirius Steorra. 8 years have passed since the meeting with the little girl. So many things in his life changed after that fateful encounter with her.

While Sirius was sleeping in his bed comfortably. A beautiful lass holding a whip barged into his room and whipped the sleeping Sirius. The sound of the whip echoed through the room.

*Whip* *Whoosh* *Whip* *Whoosh*

Sirius exclaimed in pain and cried in agony. “OUCH! STOP IT! IT FUCKING HURTS, YOU PSYCHO OF A LADY!”

He pleaded as the lass didn’t stop whipping him. It continued for quite a while until the lady stopped and grinned.

“Morning, Pooch.”

“DON’T CALL ME POOCH, YOU PSYCHO!! JUST BECAUSE YOUR PSYCHO FATHER GIFTED THAT WHIP TO YOU. DON’T USE IT ON A LIVING PERSON! IT’LL KILL ME!” Sirius’ eyebrows furrowed giving her a sharp glare

“Oh, stop whining, will you? There’s not even an ounce of wound or blood can be seen in your body, plus killing you is close to impossible with only this.” waving the whip that she’s holding.

As the girl said, Sirius’ body was left unscathed, no traces of blood, marks, or wounds were to be seen as if none of that happened. But, upon hearing the preposterous remarks from her, Sirius retorted in anger. “You know I can still feel pain! Regardless of whether my body was like this!”

“Nonsense, you’re the perfect description of a living human dummy.”

“Who’re you calling a living human dummy?!” Sirius narrowed his eyes, “You’re acting like this because of the pudding that I ate, yesterday?”

“No way~♥ I’m showering you with love~♥ Getting angry over a pudding that I was saving for that day so that I can eat after taking a shower? You know, I’m not that childish~♥.”

Her mouth arched upwards with a sharp gaze, looking at Sirius. The flame of raging fury that’s reflecting in her eyes was an undeniable fact that her anger stems from what Sirius mentioned, her pudding. It was the same girl whom Sirius met 8 years ago at the manor, the same girl who bought him out—Alice Schwartz.

Knowing her, Sirius understood the predicament that he’s facing right now. Two thoughts emerged in his mind: First, apologize deeply; Second, endure the everlasting pain she’ll inflict with her whip until she’s satisfied. He obviously chose the evident correct answer.

“Fine... I deeply apologize for eating your pudding yesterday. I, Sirius Steorra, will buy Alice Schwartz her pudding later after school, to compensate for the pudding that I’ve eaten, yesterday.”

“Umu, I accept your apology. However, if the same thing will happen in the future, there’ll be no second chances. Are we clear?” Then a whipping sound echoed through Sirius’ ears. He gulped nervously, as he could only look at the whip.

“Yes, M’lady. Thank you.”

Upon hearing his response, Alice became delighted by his response. From the cheery innocent child to a demon, Alice Schwartz, an 18-year-old beautiful woman with sky-blue eyes and silvery-blond hair, and the only daughter of the Schwartz family.

Schwartz family one of the founding families that created the institution that’s responsible for maintaining the Order—Magic Institution. The Magic Institution was one that governs the so-called Magicians, they are the people who can use magic in pursuit of knowledge and understanding the deep vast mysteries of the world, the people who protect the world in the dark, their own existence was left fantastical to the human society.

After the Great Exodus, a curse was bestowed upon the world’s origin which constricts the ability of a person to acquire mana nor can use magic. With the restriction, magicians were able to unshackle their ties to the world’s origin, creating their own origin.

Origin, a vessel that connects to the Aether which had the archives of all power in the vast cosmos. To connect to the Aether, one has to connect itself to the World’s Spirit to acquire the Origin to access the archives of magic. Regardless of that, magicians were able to find their way to unshackle their souls out of the World’s Spirit and create their own Origin, which is called the Astral body, a manifestation of the human soul.

Unshackling one’s soul causes a sacred sanction, it forbids them from entering a reincarnation wheel of the World’s spirit.

♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢

After Sirius gave a reply, Alice left his room, which gave him a sigh of relief. He muttered, “Getting angry over a pudding...”

Taking his time, he started stretching every muscle in his body. Afterward, he went out of his room and saw the scene of Alice eating her omelets, pairing them with a slice of toasted bread on the dining table. Sirius took the seat on the other side, far-away from the grump Alice who’s munching down on her breakfast.

“Alice, I said I’ll buy your pudding later. No need to be grumpy over a pudding. ”

Alice narrowed her eyes. “I’m not that pity of a person to let my mood go like this because of a mere pudding.”

“Huh? What is it then?”

“...” Alice stayed silent.

“A dream again, huh?” tapping his finger on the table.

“Yeah, but this one had something more to it.”

“Okay? So, what’s this about?”

“It’s about two trees in a garden.”

“Two of them, huh...? Trees and people both carry the possibility of perpetual life within themselves. Trees can metaphorically represent a human life from the roots, trunks, branches, and leaves...” Sirius held his chin as he contemplated.

Then he continued “... Roots represent the ideology of human core values, that allows us to find our footing in this world. The trunk represents the impervious and strong part of our life. Branches, the one that represents the different sections of our life. Then the leaves, which represent the abundance of opportunities.”

“Yep, I know that already. However, there’s something about that dream... It’s telling me to choose. However, this one is telling me to choose. If what you implied signifies a human’s life. Why is it telling me to choose?”

“Are they identical to each other?”

“From what I recall, they’re identical to each other but I’m far from it so I can’t tell.”

“I have no idea if it’s telling you to choose one, then perhaps, it’s telling you to choose a life to take. If we’re talking about the tree’s metaphor in human life. Or, perhaps it’s guiding you to something. But first, we need to head out.”

“Well, it can signify anything, not just human life. Dreams can be a passageway of sending a message like an oracle, but if it’s telling you to choose and you have no idea of what it can lead then...” Sirius then saw the time at the clock that was hanging on the wall.

“Oh, we don’t have time. Let’s go. We’ll talk about that fancy dream of yours, later.”

“Alright, but don’t forget about the pudding you owe me, okay?”

“Yes, princess. This humble servant of yours will never back out of a promise.”

♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢

Sirius and Alice left their 2-LDK apartment.

Sirius was wearing a denim blue blazer, white-red striped necktie, and cloud-grey pants for his uniform. On top of that, he’s also wearing a face mask to cover the lower part of his face and contact lenses for his heterochromatic eyes. As for Alice, she’s wearing a denim blue blazer, white-red ribbon, and cloud-grey skirt, unlike Sirius she likes flaunting her appearance to other people. Because of that, Alice was garnering attention from the passerby onlookers who were enchanted by her beauty as they walk on the side of the road.

“Fufufu~ Another day of people getting captivated by yours truly, Alice the goddess. Fufufu~♥”

“Alice... Have some shame when you talk about yourself in the third-person view. I can’t endure listening to you in that way. Please stop.”

“Beh, you’re just jealous of this goddess because many people are getting bewitched by my beauty. Fufufu~♥”

“What a narcissist. Like father, like daughter, what a troublesome father-daughter duo.” Sirius muttered under his breath.

“You said something?”

“Nothing.”

Afterward, they finally reached the school campus. Sirius and Alice entered the class together. Upon entering, Alice got approached by several female students greeting and praising her. Meanwhile, for Sirius, he went straight to his seat, ignoring everyone around him.

Alice was having a great time, as she listens to the wonderful soothing praises of her classmates to which lighten her mood and forget about the pudding incident. Alice was one of the famous people in the school for her extraordinary achievements, as well excelling in every subject and physical activity, they call her the goddess who can do everything, matching that with her unparalleled beauty—They call her the ‘Saint’, she’s extremely fond of the title that was given to her by the whole school.

On the contrary, Sirius is the same as Alice in terms of achievements; however, his reclusive personality made him harder to approach. Therefore, for the last 3 years, none of his classmates made a conversation with him unless it’s school-related. Lastly, the only person who can approach him was none other than Alice.

Both Alice and Sirius have been living in Japan for 3 years, for a particular missing involving an Umbra. The Magic Institution transferred them here to monitor a Tengu Umbra, an Umbra that took the form of a Tengu which is a Japanese bird monster that seeks havoc.

After the Exodus, shadow-like gruesome creatures that manifest from the darkness, mimicking old gods from myths that are created by humans with their appearances and powers, appeared out of nowhere started seeking chaos in the world. For them to make appearances, they take possession of a living human as they devour the life essence and soul along with it, turning into these old gods.

Although they take the appearances of the gods from the human myth, it varies from differs from every country. As for where they came from, no one knows but there’s a hypothesis that the World Spirit sent them; however, other than that, there were none.

After Alice entertained her classmates, she sat on the desk table next to Sirius.

“Pooch, it’s been already 3 years have passed, and you still don’t have friends until now.”

Sirius frowned. “I’m fine with it. I’d rather sleep than befriending them.”

“What a sleepy-head. But you’re more proactive when it comes to our homeroom teacher Sayaka-sensei. For the past year, you have been chasing her even though she has a fiancee.”

“When did I say about chasing her? I recall nothing about mentioning that.”

“Oh, please. I’ve always known that you’re meeting her on weekends after our patrol. You’re always leaving me alone, that’s why I followed you one time.”

“Okay? But, I'm not chasing her.”

“MILF for life, right?”

“Of course.” Sirius nodded his head in complete agreement.

“Disgusting, then you’re admitting that I’m correct?” Alice irked upon seeing his agreement.

“Huh? Am I really that untrustworthy in your eyes? Come on, we have always been together for the past years.”

“Utterly shameless. You dare to spout the word ‘trust’ in your mouth when I can’t even trust you from my pudding.”

“It’s just a pudding...”

“Nonetheless, I’m still correct about that.”

“Fine, fine. However, I’m not interested in Sayaka-sensei. She may be a beautiful woman with a wonderful body and huge bosoms but she loves her fiancee dearly. I still have my morals.”

“Morals...” Alice gave Sirius a sharp glare. “How about our neighbor, Miyazaki-san? I can still recall, what you did.”

“Miyazaki-san may have a husband, but he’s not taking care of her at all. As a gentleman, I have the responsibility of taking care of all women who are in need of a caring warmth of a man. It’s quite a tiring job, to be honest, I’m too much of a hard worker.”

“...”

Suddenly, an unexpected earthquake shook the classroom with a tremendous surge of mana, which erupted from every corner of the room. When Sirius noticed it, the time moved relatively slowly as he checked his surroundings. A surge of blue light crawled across the entire room. Symbols, lines, and geometric patterns emerged from the center and expanding rapidly to the entire classroom.

It grew brighter and brighter as it envelops the entire classroom. Upon noticing that, Sirius saw the rapidly expanding magic circle. He knew he doesn’t have time to escape. Instead, he swiftly moved to Alice’s side, grabbing her hand. Then a loud sound came from the magic circle. In a blink of an eye, all the people inside the classroom vanished.