‘A soul pattern ritual done by a rank 4 wizard…I don’t think I will comprehend the runes she used. If something unfortunate happens, we will both die.’ Angele pursed his lips.
‘Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.’ Henn sounded confident. ‘You will pass the ritual with no problems. Vivian will truly treat you as her son by then.’
‘What about the rank 2 spell model you have promised me?’ Angele asked.
‘I will certainly give it to you but transmitting it will cost me a huge amount of energy. I will have to rest for a long time afterward. Are you sure you want it now?’ Henn asked.
‘Of course. It is a fair trade.’ Angele remained calm as he responded in a light tone.
‘Alright. I will transmit it to you after you pass the ritual.’ Henn stopped talking right after she said this.
Angele walked around the room checking the whole structure quickly. He washed his body with water, then going to his bed, he began to rest.
Over the next successive ten days, Angele patiently waited in the ruins. Finally, Vivian had completely finished all preparations for the ritual.
The magic circle looked like an enhanced version of the one Angele had used in the stone room. He stepped into the circle. The light it produced was still the same yellow and red.
Upon confirming her assumptions, Vivian began to treat Angele much better than before. She even allowed Angele access on the majority of the facilities in the ruin, though she still had her doubts since the entire matter itself was too difficult to believe. This sudden and almost 180-degree turn in Vivian’s attitude toward him caused Angele to feel discomfort when he noticed this during the course of the next several days.
Angele was still a stranger to Vivian, so she still talked to the young man in an emotionless tone. But she was treating Angele like her own son at present after the ritual. Angele could feel the expectations she had on him and knew that Vivian was overjoyed. Such was the genuine love of a mother to her son.
Whenever she talked to Angele, Vivian would always wear a gentle smile on her face.
********************************
Five days after the ritual.
Vivian and Angele walked through the tunnel together, their footsteps echoing throughout.
"So, I have shown you the basic facilities in the ruin. Now I will take you to the more dangerous areas. In those areas, there will be mutated beasts roaming and the sulfur content in the air is denser. I would not want you entering those areas accidentally." Vivian led the way in front explaining the situation to Angele.
"I have not completely explored every area yet due to it having too many unknown factors, so remember don’t enter the unexplored areas just because you are curious."
"Sure." Angele nodded. If a rank 4 wizard said that those areas were dangerous, he would definitely not test his luck.
Vivian led Angele to the southern area of the ruin where almost every part was restricted.
Angele saw an empty prison and a large black rock inside a special room. These two places had caught his attention.
After showing Angele the restricted areas, Vivian brought him to a large empty room where the wall facing them was covered with black veins and leaves.
A gray human face was surrounded by the veins at the center of the wall, as though these veins were preventing it from awakening.
Angele carefully observed the face and even had Zero scanned it, but he realized that it was only an engraving and no life energy was detected.
"Walls with engravings like this are built using special materials." Vivian smiled. "This wall can absorb any damage dealt by even level-3 spells. You can come here and practice your spells when you have time."
Angele no
dded. "Understood, master Vivian."
"You can just call me Vivian, or…" Vivian hesitated. She herself knew it was too early to tell Angele that she was his mother. "Well, you can call me ‘sister’."
Angele’s expression changed. He knew Vivian would sooner or later tell him about the ‘truth’ but still, it would be hard for him to call her ‘sister’.
Vivian, who noticed Angele’s hesitation, waved her hand. She could discern what Angele was thinking. "I’m not forcing you to call me ‘sister’. Don’t worry too much about it.
"Also, I have a private library here where I put most of my collections inside. You can go read the books if you want to but don’t go over your mentality limitations," she added.
"Yes," Angele politely replied.
"Come on, don’t be so serious." Vivian rubbed Angele’s cheeks and even patted his head several times.
Angele was not used to being treated like a kid. Nevertheless, he did not try to dodge or escape it.
"Learn to smile more but do not force it. Do you know about the wizards’ saying, ‘Smiling will help loosen up your mood’? Your facial expression will affect your feelings so smiling will cheer you up even when you are feeling depressed," Vivian spoke in a light tone. "That is what I do whenever I am sad…" She stared at Angele seemingly reminiscing about the past.
*CHI*
The noise sounded like a match being ignited.
A blazing green fire bead appeared above Vivian’s right shoulder. This almost fist-sized fire bead was slowly spinning, yet Angele could not feel any heat coming from it.
Vivian checked the green fire bead.
"Alright. I must go to the Elemental Hand headquarters now. There is something I need to deal with. Feel free to explore the ruin but do not go to the dangerous areas I have told you about. You can also leave the ruins if you must, but I will be happier if you can spend more time with me." There was an attractive smile on her face.
"Well…sure." Vivian attempted to rub Angele’s cheeks once again, but he now tried to escape.
"You are so adorable…" Vivian chuckled. "I have to leave now. Have fun in the ruin."
She turned around and her long robe started scorching. Flames swallowed her body and shrank into a small fireball which then exploded and disappeared into the air.
‘Head to the library first. You will find something you need there.’ Henn’s voice echoed in Angele’s ears.
"Sure." Angele turned around and headed to the library.
‘Did you see a completely sealed room in the restricted part of the library? If you did, just…’ Henn suddenly stopped speaking.
*PA*
Someone tapped on Angele’s shoulder from behind.
"Wait! There is one more thing!" Vivian’s voice came from behind.
Angele trembled in shock due to him being caught unaware. He quickly turned around and looked at Vivian.
A crystal statuette of a scorpion was being held in her right which she then handed it over to Angele.
"Take it. This is the magic device I promised you." Vivian stopped smiling; her expression became stern. "I do not know why but I think you are being tracked down by an untamed soul. This device will help you hide your mentality wave. The soul is somewhat familiar to me…almost as if it is someone from the Axis of Time. You said you explored the abandoned ruin of the organization, right? Anyway, this magic device will prevent the soul from tracking you down. Members of Axis of Time are all completely deranged. Some of them committed suicide in groups and some even had cannibalistic tendencies. I will do a detailed check on your body later so don’t worry."
"Thank you." Angele accepted the crystal scorpion.
"You’re very much welcome." Vivian chuckled as she lightly rubbed Angele’s cheeks.
*CHI*
Red flames surrounded her once again and she disappeared into the air after turning into a fireball.
Angele looked at the crystal scorpion. A line of sharp spikes was on its back; its entire appearance looked exactly like the soul pattern of Vivian’s son.
‘Henn, does this thing work on you?’ He carefully rubbed the surface of the crystal which was cold and smooth. He could still smell the fragrance of Vivian’s body scent from it.
No one responded.
‘Henn?’ Angele was confused.
He looked at the crystal. After thinking for several seconds, he quickly placed the crystal scorpion on the ground.
‘…The statuette…you…throw…it away! Hurry…!" Henn’s voice was unclear, and she sounded nervous.
Angele, who had finally understood the current situation, moved ten steps away.
Henn’s voice became clear again.
‘… Damn it! Damn it!’ She cursed several times showing how enraged she was. ‘F*ck this thing! This statuette can completely block my connection to you! What on earth has she been doing all these years…?! Where did she find this?!’
‘Huh? It works?’ Angele narrowed his eyes in curiosity.
‘Your soul will be weakened by this item! I advise you not to carry it around with you. Most importantly, it will cut the connection between us.’ Henn warned in a cold tone.
‘This is a good magic device. I really need it.’ Angele walked to the statuette and picked it up. Henn’s voice disappeared once again.
‘She is definitely lying, ha…’ Angele shook his head as he kept the crystal scorpion statuette in his pouch. He turned around and continued to head to the library.