I awoke to [Buddy] simulating an alarm clock, reminding me that the [System] was capable of auditory phenomenons, but that my [Tutorial] just turned them off so the ‘notifications’ would be less distracting.

It was relatively early, but I honestly had no clue at what time I ended up going to sleep, so I was unsure of how long I had actually been sleeping. But since it was ‘early’ I decided to take a shower: and even though my clothes kept me clean, nothing beats a shower in the morning to wake you up (especially whenf you can feel your bone-deep exhaustion still present within you).

I got dressed, once again in the same clothes, still completely immaculate, and headed to the cafeteria hoping that I’d get the chance to have a tranquil breakfast.

As soon as I stepped out of the dorm I had the sudden realization that I didn’t see that sweet revolver anywhere in my room, but just attributed it to Grog having put it back with the rest of the training weapons.

It seemed that this early in the morning was a period of relative quiet for the [Guild], with most [Adventurers] still being asleep or already having departed for new [Quests].

The ‘VIP’ section we were reclused to was, for once, the one with the most activity, with the staff taking advantage of the opportunity, of the current slow flow of things to do, to catch a moment to relax (outside of their mandatory break).

Unfortunately, that meant that I managed to catch a lot of attention as soon as I arrived, but at least I was lucky enough to find an empty table to sit at in peace, after having grabbed, and filled, a tray of my own.

Unfortunately, said ‘peace’ wasn’t bound to last.

“Screw [Serendipity] and [Luck], they’re both bags of dicks.”

One of the prettiest women I had ever seen was walking towards me, with her green hair, so dark that almost seemed black, swishing freely at every step.

She was wearing what looked like a messy combination of back scarfs that draped all over her body, which generously highlighted her body, and these new clothes were a far cry from the typical [Witch]’s set that she had on yesterday, a black robe that somehow still hugged her curves, but the wide-brimmed hat was still present.

“[Luck] must be really be watching over me if I get the chance to catch you, all on your lonesome, so early in the morning!” Said a cheery Merga.

Now, since meeting them all I had thought that she was the tamest, and most caring out of all the [Teachers] assigned to us; my [Precognitive Aura] thought differently.

Warning signs were blaring in my mind, signaling me to stay the heck away from this woman.

Not comprehending why, I concentrated on my [Ability], while also responding to her greeting: “Good morning, Miss Merga, I don’t think we’ve had the opportunity of being introduced…”.

“Oh, pish posh! Please, just call me Merga, and I already know plenty about you, Darwin.”

[Precognitive Aura] came back with a response, warning me that what Merga felt towards me was something that closely resembled that twisted sense of ‘interest’ that the [Goddess of Luck] seemed to regard me with.

That, and her choice of words until now, made part of her objectives pretty clear: She was here deliberately to mess with me, maybe with even a [Quest] from the previously mentioned [Goddess] to do so.

Through your actions, you have been awarded +1 [Acuity].

Through your prayers, you have been awarded +2 [Serendipity].

Look at you, detecting “all” my ploys.

What could I POSSIBLY do now?

“I don’t like how she worded that.”

Me neither.

“Ah, it seems I was already discovered… I guess I’ll go with plan B”, Merga had apparently been alerted by [Luck] about my deduction.

“So [Luck] is your [Patron]? What did she ask you to do?” All pretenses at being subtle were dropped, and I decided to be direct.

“Goodness, how distrustful you are! Yes, as you have surmised [Luck] is my [Patron]”, she said, but suddenly we were both cocooned by the [Matrix] of a [Spell], “and I know she’s yours too” she added in a whisper, and then released us from the [Spell], “but don’t worry, she doesn’t force people to do things that they wouldn’t do of their own volition; you, most of all, should know that by now”.

“Noted. But what is it that you want to do with me”, was my response, now even leerier of her.

“Oh! But of course, it’s to see just how interesting you can manage to be, you ‘special boy’!” Her bright smile seemed to illuminate the room; but I was not swayed, if anything I was annoyed by her phrasing, her motives were even clearer now: She truly just wanted to mess with me to her heart’s content.

“And what does ‘plan B’ entails?” I was already dreading the response.

“To start with, by seeing your advancement after expanding your knowledge on the type of [Spell-Weaving] you seem inclined to execute.”

“And how do you aim to accomplish that?” I already knew the answer, but I was hoping that I was wrong just this once.

“By tutoring you while we extensively study the material I have readied for you, of course!” A sadistic gleam was evident in her smile now, and I didn’t even need my [Emphatic Aura] to detect it.

It was unjust. It was unfair. It made me want to shout blasphemies at the world from its very top, and denounce everyone that thought of something as stupid as ‘karma’ of being real.

Or as I eloquently put it: “Fuck”.

* * *

I was being dragged towards my impending doom by the peppy [Witch], who was way too happy to remind me that she was my [Teacher] after all, after seeing my crestfallen expression.

“Oh, woe me, destined to such cruelties!”

Now you are just being overly dramatic.

I decided to ignore my unhelpful companion to better ponder over-

I can still hear you, stop talking to yourself as if I was not part of the discourse.

Alas, my obtuse companion proved itself to not be enough to distract me from the horrible acts that I would soon be subjected-

You need to get over yourself.

“And you need to shut up!”

“Here we are: my study for personal use!” said Merga, making me notice that she had stopped dragging me around.

Now, I’m not sure what you are supposed to expect when going to a [Witch]’s lair, but a messy room filled with scrolls and diagrams on one side, what looked like alchemical ingredients on the other, and a massive cauldron that dominated the center of the space, was exactly it.

“Get yourself comfortable on the free desk next to my research table, since it will take just a moment to find the books that I had previously picked for you”, and with that, she started going through her scrolls, revealing the piles of books hidden beneath.

Guessing that her ‘research table’ must have been under the pile of paper where she was rummaging in, I started seating myself in front of the only available surface free of things there was, where a chair seemed to have already been ready to accommodate me, when I got suddenly spooked by a broom, leaning close to where I was, that started scooting away from me on its own.

“What the hell!?” I said while jumping away from it, wary that I hadn’t detected anything unusual from it. Until now, that is.

“Uh?” a distracted Merga looked between me and the broom, “ah, that’s just [Sweepy], ignore it and just sit down, it's harmless… unless I instruct it to be otherwise”.

The fact that it was a known entity did little to dissuade my worries, so I [Inspected] it: what I got were a bunch of question marks, indicating that even stupid broom was stronger than me, except for its name, what it was, and its owner.

Name:

Sweepy

Owner:

Merga ???

Type:

Familiar; ???

Affinity:

???

“Right, I notice that even with… [Kenny], the lantern, I couldn’t detect its matrix once summoned. And I guess I couldn’t detect [Sweepy]’s [Mana] because it wasn’t actively doing anything? That could prove dangerous in the future.”

You have successfully renamed your created familiar into [Kenny, the lantern].

You and your stupid naming convention… but I guess it is no worse than “Sweepy” for a broom.

Also, do not worry, if it had had hostile intentions, you would have detected it with [Precognitive Aura].

Just to be sure, though, in the future you should keep [Unavoidable Detection] running in the background.

That was a great idea that I was ashamed of not thinking about before. But it also got me thinking about the why of my [Aura] not reacting to the [familiar] on its own… maybe it had to be a more impactful thing. Or maybe it only detected ‘active’ things. Something that I had to better look into later.

I launched a weak [Unavoidable Detection], without [Mana], and without a specific target in mind, except for the fact that it had the ‘ability’ to move.

Merga and [Sweepy] were quickly ‘tagged’, and, disturbingly enough, a bunch of the ‘ingredients’ also did, but all those that were highlighted were inside closed containers (and, at that point, I had to wonder if it wasn’t so that they would remain conserved for longer, but to instead hinder their escape).

I reluctantly seated myself next to the broom; and after a while, I could feel it analyzing me, but every time I tried to focus on the sensation, it would stop.

Since I had made [Kenny] with the image of a friendly raven to shape its personality, I started wondering just what image could have created such a skittish and reclusive personality in the broom.

Meaning that it was the perfect opportunity for the [Witch] to startle me.

“Found them all!” She shouted, causing me to almost leap out of my chair (but that I was able to camouflage as me snapping to attention).

She turned towards me and showed me the instruments that would dictate my torture in the passing hours: two piles of a dozen books, one tower held in each hand.

“This here is most of what I have on [Summoning familiars], [building Constructs], and [Soul Bonding]. I hope it’s enough, for now”, the cheeriness in her voice was too evident, revealing that the suddenness of her exclamation had been on purpose.

But, for now, all I could do was suck it up, and trudge forward.

“What do you mean ‘for now’!?”

…Or my big mouth could help me in digging a deeper hole for myself.

“Is this not enough for you? I guess I’ll look for even more in the [Library] for the next time we’ll have a lesson together”, she responded, purposely misinterpreting my questions.

…A much deeper hole.

“And, while I’m at it, I’ll find something more suitable for you than a ‘gun’. Urgh!” She seemed to feel genuine distaste towards my choice of weapon.

“What!? NO!!! I don’t want to get rid of my gun! I loved how it felt!” I must admit that I was decidedly whiny when I said that.

“Please, it’s a half-assed project that was discarded early on during its ideation because it offered little to no utility”, she dismissed my complaints with a wave of her hand and a roll of her eyes.

“B-but.. but Grog said that the weapon suited me, and that he was good at pairing people with their most suitable weapon!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, that oaf couldn’t match the color blue to the one in the sky. All he’s good for is for helping in training the [Body stats], and generally pushing a person to his limits: really, he’s just a friendly, powerful, meat-head, with delusions of grandeur, that we keep around to test people… and we love him just the way he is”, she started by being a bit derogatory, but then her tone remarkably softened by the end of her discourse, hinting at a previously unknown intimacy between my [Teachers].

“I guess…” I was feeling decidedly surly about having my weapon changed so soon, especially after training with it for hours. But I had to admit that until now Merga seemed to be the one, among my [Teachers], that more heavily invested her teaching into what would improve upon what I already had, or was beginning to show.

So maybe I would end up liking what she had in store for me.

“Here’s hoping!”

“Don’t worry, I already know that a quarterstaff, topped with a [focus crystal], will suit you well enough… even though it will look more like a normal mage’s staff in your hands…”

I could stop myself from sending a withering glare, that promised violence, at her.

“Oooh, stop it you naughty boy, or you’ll make me act up~” she started fanning herself, sending me a gaze that made instead another part of my body suddenly act up.

I had to admit that she was smoking hot, but the fact that she was in cahoots with [Luck] ultimately made me scoot my chair away from her.

This only made her smile increase in its seductiveness, and maybe make it appear even more genuine than it previously was.

“Ok, I guess I’ll look for an appropriate ‘rod’ for you, while you can start with ‘familiars and you’, from the first pile of books… later sweety!” And she went to exit the room.

But caught the occasion the delicately trail her hand along my arm while stepping past me, causing my slight blush to fully bloom.

With a delighted but subdued laugh, she exited the room, leaving me with the books, which were a nice deterrent from the inopportune thoughts that I was having at the moment.

“She’s scarier than I thought, and for a completely different reason than I first surmised!”

Please, if it was not for your raging hormones you would have noticed how she manipulated you into thinking that maybe being alone with a bunch of books would not be that bad, compared to being alone in a room with her.

Well, as “alone” as you can be with her familiar next to you

For a brief moment, I thought she left the [familiar] her to check on whether I would act on her seduction or not, but quickly dismissed it.

What I ended up thinking about was how unfair both the worlds I ended up inhabiting were, where one was forced to study the words of dead guys that wanted to make their subjects as thorough as possible by injecting them with useless details and sophisms that nobody asked for-

The first page of ‘familiars and you’ had bright orange tabby-cat drawn on it in a cutesy way, together with the title and the author: Merga the [Depth Witch].

“Maybe… this will not be as bad as I thought.”