“Room 5b,” Anne mumbled as she reached the door beside Vice.

“Well, let’s get in,” Vice said as he pushed open the heavy metal door. The previously warm temperature was instantly replaced by a freezing cold, yet Vice didn’t shiver a tiny bit in its wake. “I did not expect that.”

“M-Me e-either,” Anne replied as she hugged herself tightly, her legs shaking and the almost invisible hairs on her arms standing tall.

“Take this,” Vice said and handed her a thick cloak from his spatial pouch. Brown fur lined the cloak’s neck area, and a thin aura of arcana could be sensed from the piece of clothing.

“Thanks, that feels so much warmer now,” Anne said. She gleefully twirled around like a ballerina.

Vice strolled into the cold room. Thousands of icicles were hung from the ceiling, which Vice estimated to be almost five meters high. Small drops of water continuously dripped from the icicles, however they froze almost immediately and turned into snowflakes. Vice reached his hand up to catch one of the snowflakes, marveling at its beauty for a moment. ‘They’re so intricate. I wonder why I feel so comfortable in this temperature, it’s almost like my body feels better with those icicles above me,’ Vice thought.

The room was rather large, yet there were only three real points of interest in it: The icicles from above, a large blue sigil on the floor, and an oak desk with a small pouch atop it.

“Do you think you have to put the corpse on the sigil?” Anne asked whilst she walked around it.

Vice stared at the sigil, which depicted a nail being struck down by a hammer. ‘Do I have to place the corpse there and then push my mana into it?’ Vice wondered as he sensed a tiny amount of arcana buzzing from within the sigil. He felt a tingling, or rather numbing sensation on his tongue as he stared at the sigil, and his nose was starting to become itchier the longer he looked at it.

“I guess so. I’ll put it on there now,” Vice replied before walking over to the blue sigil. As he got closer he could sense even more of the arcana hidden within the object. He then rummaged through his spatial pouch before removing the corpse held within.

Jason’s corpse hit the floor with a loud thud, and before Vice could even push his arcana into the sigil, the corpse was frozen solid. Sensing danger, Vice rushed over to Anne and pushed her away from the sigil. Hundreds of icicles smashed into the devil’s corpse, and the previously red skin was shimmering in a blue hue. The icicles lodged themselves into the frozen body and penetrated out into the sigil. A blinding light engulfed the room momentarily, to which Vice covered his eyes with his hands.

“What was that?” Anne shouted with a confused look on her face. “We could have died. What kind of bad joke was that supposed to be?.” she said angrily.

“I don’t know,” Vice replied as he still covered Anne with his whole body, his face only centimeters away from hers. A sweet lemon zest entered his nose as he stared at the girl. “Ahh, sorry,” Vice said before distancing himself a bit from Anne who began to pout.

‘Aww, that youthful love. How you make me reminisce about my own youth, Vice. Don’t succumb to it, I tell you it always ends badly. Always,’ Favian emphasized.

‘Was that heart ache that I just sensed from you? Impossible, I thought you were a heartless old man,’ Vice thought.

‘That’s…’ Favian sighed.

“The body is gone, well that’s not my problem anymore,” Vice said. The sigil had also similarly disappeared, leaving no traces of the body or even the icicles that had pierced into the floor. Vice soon turned his attention toward the oak desk, which spanned almost a quarter of the length of the room. As he walked to the desk, Vice noticed there was something he’d missed when he’d examined the room the first time.

‘Huh? Did I miss that or did that just appear there now?’ he thought to himself whilst rubbing his chin. On the table there was a piece of blank parchment paper, and beside it there were three identical brown pouches.

Vice picked up the parchment paper, which was a lot heavier than expected. He furrowed his brows as he tried to figure out what the paper’s use was, until an idea popped into his mind. ‘What if I try to insert some of my mana into the piece of paper? Words will probably write themselves onto it, right?’ he thought.

Vice allowed his mana to revolve around his body until it reached his hands. Purple strands of mana left his fingers and floated around the paper. ‘Hmm, why isn’t it working?’ he thought to himself. The strands of mana circled the paper constantly, but were unable to touch it. Vice then decided to increase the amount of mana he released from his fingers, which netted him a positive result because the strands of mana were much closer to touching the parchment paper.

“Ahh what is this,” Vice said angrily. No matter how much more mana he used, the strands weren’t able to get any closer and instead they floated only a couple of millimeters away from the paper.

‘This is really starting to piss me off,’ Vice thought after which he immediately cast his spell Chaotic Roulette. Purple wisps of energy flew around his fingertips, and a purple tornado of air revolved in his palms. Vice glared at the paper, and thrust his spell at it. ‘If this doesn’t work, then I have no clue what fucking will.’

The gust of wind instantly proved effective when it smashed into the parchment paper. Black ink revealed itself on the paper. Vice jumped back as the words darted out of the parchment and flew into his brain. An uncomfortable sensation similar to when Virtue had transferred coordinates to Vice was felt by him. He held his head tightly and groaned loudly under the pressure.

‘I fucking hate that feeling with a passion,’ Vice thought as he finally got back to his bearings.

‘Vice, my darling prodigy,’ Cally’s voice suddenly boomed within Vice’s mind. ‘You have successfully passed one of my more crude tests. Well done, your reward is hidden inside this desk. Had you not figured out this puzzle then you would have been very disappointed with the rewards in those pouches. I’ve also transferred one of my spells to you: Telepathy. Well done, Vice.’

“What’s wrong, Vice? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Anne said.

“I’m fine, you saw, didn’t you? The paper’s contents just flew inside me. I’m just coping with the after effects right now,” Vice replied. He slowly moved onto his knees and rummaged through the desk. He searched for what Master Cally had said was hidden within the it. Only a short while later did Vice find a drawer that had already been slightly opened.

‘That wasn’t open before Favian, right?’ he asked.

‘That’s right. It opened once you figured out that parchment paper’s little trick,’ Favian replied.

The inside of the drawer was small, and a tiny blue pouch was placed inside of it. Vice grabbed the pouch, and his eyes lit up when he saw the contents of the spatial pouch.

“What’s in it?” Anne asked as she curiously peered over Vice’s shoulder.

“It’s a grimoire. I don’t know what it’s about yet, but it looks expensive and useful,” Vice said in a happy voice. “Oh right, I want to try something really quickly, just stand still and focus on me.”

“Huh? O-Okay,” Anne replied.

Vice allowed the mana in his body to circulate until it reached his brain, and from there he let strands of his mana exit and connect to Anne who was stood only a small distance away from him.

Can you hear me? Vice asked.

Anne opened her eyes wide as she stared at Vice. “Was that just you?” she asked.

Yup, that’s me. Master Cally transferred me the Telepathy spell as a reward. Seems good doesn’t it?

“That’s amazing. Wait… Does that mean you can read my thoughts?” Anne asked.

I don’t know. Let me try that out.

Vice thickened the mana which he projected out to connect his brain to Anne’s, and allowed it to seep into every crevice within her mind rather than just linking it to his own as he’d done before. For some reason this method was ingrained into his body and spirit without him having ever done it. It was almost like finding out he could breath after having been a cold corpse for years.

‘What is this feeling? My heart is burning so brightly. I can’t feel my legs either, and it feels like my palms are sweating,’ Vice thought to himself.

“Think about something Anne,” Vice said, to which the girl nodded.

I want to have dinner with you now. Anne’s voice boomed inside Vice’s head.

“Did you just say you want to have dinner with me right now?” he asked.

“Wow, yes that’s exactly what I just thought. Vice, that’s just amazing, you can read other peoples’ minds,” Anne enthusiastically said. “Wait, you’re not allowed to read my mind without my permission okay?”