A large tiger growled but Ollie just charged at it. Ayame went for its left side while I sneaked up behind it. It raised its claws and swung it down towards Ollie but I commanded its shadow to restrain it.

Ayame cut off its legs as red sparks gathered around Ollie. Meanwhile, green butterflies came out of Rushia’s palm. A giant skeletal hand came out of the spot where the green butterflies gathered and it smacked the Crystal Beast away.

The red sparks around Ollie wrapped around her sword and after she swung it down, they headed straight towards the Crystal Beast and cleaved it in half. A crystal remained after it crumbled to dust and Ollie made a peace sign.

“YEAH!!!” she shouted.

“I see. Those red sparks are an interesting form of energy”, Rushia said as she took down notes.

“Really?” Ollie asked.

“Yes. They seem to be able to deconstruct the objects it touches, both living and nonliving. The interesting part is the source of the energy.”

Rushia walked around Ollie as she observed intensely.

“That energy is from your Life Force. However, your Life Force recovers what you lost from using the red sparks in just a few moments. The rate of recovery changes and I have several theories for its pattern”, Rushia said.

“I see… I don’t understand a thing”, Ollie nodded.

“Just leave her alone, Ollie. Rushia is a mage who’s obsessed with learning magic”, Ayame told her.

“To gather knowledge is the basic instinct of a mage. I want to understand the mystery of life and in order to do that, I need to learn more about its shadow, death.”

“Is that why you study Necromancy?” I asked.

“Yes. Necromancy deals with placing an artificial Life Force on a dead body after you place a soul there. Most of the time, I am creating an artificial body out of my mana and then placing a Life Force and a contracted ghost on it.”

“Wait… The skeletons you summon aren’t real?” Ollie frowned.

“It would bring many issues if I were going to dig up graves and steal skeletons, right? Necromancy has been advanced and those methods are outdated. While a dead body will be more durable and efficient than an artificial and temporary body, the inconveniences such as getting permission to use the dead body and then finding a place to store it will make any necromancer choose to learn how to make artificial bodies.”

“But how could Necromancy make you learn more about life?” I raised my hand.

“Don’t you get it? Necromancy right now is making an artificial body and placing a Life Force on it.”

“But alchemy lets you do that as you make homunculi, right? Isn’t that a better alternative when you wanna make lives?” Ollie asked.

“Rushia doesn’t want to just create life. She wants to learn how to bring back the dead”, Ayame joined the conversation.

Rushia’s smile faded after she heard Ayame talk. However, her usual poker face returned as a green butterfly appeared and landed on her finger.

“It is possible to summon ghosts but those aren’t the people you know. They are just fragments of their identities and will slowly deteriorate over time. Placing a ghost in an artificial body is possible but they are not the same people.”

The butterfly disappeared and Rushia faced us.

“If I learn more about the Life Force, then spending an eternal life with the people you love is not a dream anymore, right?”

###

We continued traveling south towards the gathering of the Dark Corruption. It became stronger ever since we started our journey and I had a bad feeling about it. Not only that, there has been something different ever since I absorbed Vox’s Dark Corruption.

How was Vox able to control himself when he had the Dark Corruption? I asked.

It must be because of the Silver Tongue. There are still many things we don’t know in this world, Anya answered.

The Dark Corruption can be affected by that? I asked.

You’ve seen how Vox was able to command his people. It is possible. Ollie’s body was somehow immune because she couldn’t digest the food with Dark Corruption. It’s an energy we don’t know anything about so we have to be careful.

Such as Vox’s Dark Corruption being different from the usual, Noir chimed in.

What do you mean by that? Anya asked.

I don’t know! I know nothing.

An empty feeling appeared in my heart.

Cause we are nothing, Noir told me.

“We’ll be staying at this inn for tonight”, Ayame said as she stopped in front of a wooden building.

I could see the effects of the Dark Corruption in this town. The town guards looked tired but they were still patrolling and observing every single demon. Children didn’t stray from their parents and everyone was carrying some sort of weapon.

We entered the inn and Ayame booked some rooms. As usual, I was in a separate room from them which was completely understandable.

“Do your own thing until dinner. Secure your supplies and buy what you need to buy. Just have a receipt so the government can reimburse it once this quest is done”, Ayame told us.

Ollie and Ayame went out of the inn while I headed towards my room.

When I laid down on my bed, I took out a copy of the paper that Mel gave us. I still didn’t understand the random lines no matter how hard I tried to think.

Anya transformed into her human form and laid down beside me. She also looked at the paper and frowned.

“You could’ve just asked and I could’ve given it to you”, I told her.

“Don’t worry, I still won’t understand it”, Anya said.

I sat up and stared at the paper. If Amelia was here, she would’ve solved it already.

“But she’s not here so there’s nothing I can do about it”, I muttered.

“Who?” Anya asked.

“Amelia.”

“You’re concerned about her?”

“I’m not. I know she’s capable of surviving without me over there. On the other hand, I think I relied on her too much when it comes to these things.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

“I have to use my own power if I want to survive…”

Anya stood up and walked in front of me. She stared straight into my eyes while her face was serious.

“Mikage… Is something happening to you?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“I have a bad feeling… I can’t explain it but because of the connection I have with you, I know that there’s something more going on. And I had this feeling eight times already in my years of existence.”

“That isn’t a lot.”

“I only had eight masters before you…”

She then grabbed my hand and I could feel her slightly shaking.

“You can tell me anything. I’m the legendary Anya Melfissa. You are my ninth master. We can overcome anything together. Okay?” she whimpered.

I patted her head after I stood up from my bed. Anya really was an amazing partner. However, I could only do one thing.

“Don’t worry. Nothing is happening”, I assured her.

After telling those words to her, I walked out of the room to get fresh air.

That’s a nice answer for her. You’re pretty smooth with words, Mikage, Noir said.

Before I could reply to him, I saw a green-haired young woman walking towards me.

“Oh. Mikage. I was about to get you”, Rushia said.

“What do you need?” I asked.

“Why don’t we head somewhere private?”

“I actually needed some alone time right now so maybe next time.”

“Alright. Can you just answer my questions? It’ll be quick.”

“Sure.”

“Mikage Kamishiro… What are you?”

Her question caught me off guard and then green butterflies appeared around her. She was glaring at me and I had an idea on what was happening.

“You should’ve died back then in Vox’s castle. You lost too much blood and you overworked your body. However, your Life Force didn’t decrease by one bit and you’re fully healed right now. What are you?” she asked.

“I… I’m Mikage Kamishiro, the administrative officer of the Westa Knight Order’s 13th unit.”

“You didn’t say you’re a human.”

She continued glaring at me but I didn’t step down. For some reason, I wasn’t afraid. While she could beat me now that Anya wasn’t nearby, I wasn’t even the slightest bit intimidated.

No…

I knew the reason…

I couldn’t die at all.

“Are you an enemy?” she asked.

“I don’t know…”

Rushia sighed and the butterflies disappeared.

“If you ever become a threat, I’ll personally cut you down. I’ll protect the Demon Realm no matter what the cost is”, she said.

She walked near me and gripped my arms tightly. Her mana oozed out as green butterflies formed around her again.

“I also haven’t forgotten that you called me ‘flat!’ I’M BOING BOING! GOT THAT?!” Rushia shouted.

Looks like I’ll have to think twice when I should use those emergency words again….