Re: Love & Magic

“I could do better…,” Zevien mumbled as his body trembled slightly. He looked at Tarto and asked, “did you know this would happen when you told me to kill them and steal the contents of the storage box?”

“Zevy boy, are you blaming it on me?” Tarto said to Zevien with narrowed eyes. He approached Zevie and floated just a few centimeters away from Zevien’s face before saying, “the fault lies in you. You failed to think of the consequences after deciding to do the deed. You must have already thought of other ways to go about this situation by now, but it’s too late. Let this serve you as a lesson so that you don’t become overconfident and jeopardize the lives of your close ones here because of your decisions.”

“Also, you can’t transform into that overpowered form again like in the villa where you saved Vernisia. It was not solely your doing, as I also helped at that time. If you go way over your limit again, you cannot stop the overflowing power from the shaman seed. You have to become more powerful before that trigger can properly manifest.”

After saying this, Tarto disappeared, leaving Zevien with a mess of feelings inside him.

“One more thing. I saw them forcefully taking Henry inside the carriage and deemed that your plan failed. The rest, you can only know when you enter the labyrinth again.” Tarto’s voice resounded in Zevien’s ears after he disappeared.

…

Inside Inviolable Blood Garden magic labyrinth…

“Arghh!! Y-you-,” Leon looked on with dread as burning darkness swallowed him. The entire Ufar Merchant House was burned with only black ash remaining on the ground.

Henry was stupefied at the event that happened in front of him. Only he was alive in the middle of this burned mansion inside a transparent barrier with a black hue.

Suddenly, he felt something and looked at his wrist. A mark with a pair of beastly eyes and three whiskers below the eyes was gradually disappearing and entirely vanished in three seconds, ‘w-what was that?’

A commotion had already occurred as the town guards escorted Henry for questioning. He was tested by putting his hand on a truth crystal, and since he truly didn’t know how this all happened, they let him go and deemed Zevien as the perpetrator since he had threatened Leon before leaving, and many people knew about it.

The chief guard clicked his tongue in annoyance. ‘Leon didn’t even pay half the amount even though I overlooked him kidnapping this Henry guy. Could it be that the young man who threatened him did this? It looks like Leon made a wrong decision this time, heh.’

On the other hand, Henry quickly returned to his house five kilometers away from the town while believing that Zevien was the one who saved his life. Alas, even Zevien didn’t know that all this happened.

After returning to his house, Henry decided to never return to that town. He decided to sell his flowers at another town six kilometers away in the west direction from his home.

…

“Fuck, fuck!!” Zevien slapped himself with anger and guilt. Why didn’t he think about Henry? He failed to think they could draw his sketch since he roamed the town and visited the adventure guild.

He failed to think before doing the deed as he underestimated this world and didn’t think about it then as he was consumed by the loot he gained.

‘His family….I hope they don’t do anything to them,’ Zevien thought as he was worried and anxious. He wanted to enter inside the labyrinth right now, but that was impossible.

*knock…knock…knock…*

“What happened, bro?” Dan asked from outside of Zevien’s room after hearing him cursing.

Zevien sighed and went to open the door.

Seeing Zevien with red eyes and slap marks on his cheeks, Dan was startled, “what happened?”

Zevien shook his head as he went to wash his face before telling Dan everything.

After hearing the whole situation, Dan remained silent as he also didn’t know what to say. After a minute, he asked, “how close were you to them?”

“Close?” Zevien’s expression turned sad as he sadly smiled, “They were good, very good, and kind. I had dinner with them, and they were very welcoming. They had two cute little kids, brave ones. I guess…they were more than just acquaintances. But…,” Zevien gritted his teeth as he spoke heavily, “I was the one responsible for their trouble, even if they were strangers. How would you feel if someone died because of you?…Damn!”

“If we don’t create a line to know where we stand, then we won’t know which side or which type of people we are,” Zevien sighed, “this is one of the things that old man Mordar told me. I can not brush this off just because I didn’t know them well.”

“Old man Mordar?” Dan heard this name the first time.

“He was an old man around sixty years old who visited the orphanage when I was fourteen. He told me and taught me many things about the world. He didn’t tell me what I had to become but told me what I would become if I made certain decisions. Good and evil exist together, but what defines them for you is decided by your own moral compass. How you create your own moral compass depends on the choices you make and the decisions you take,” Zevien said as he remembered the words of the old man Mordar.

“I made a mistake,” Zevien mumbled, “I think Tarto was testing me as well, and I failed miserably.”

“If it makes you feel any better, then let me tell you that I am also angry with you, “Dan said as he got up from the bed, “want me to punch you?”

“Do it,” Zevien nodded with a somber expression.

*smack!*

Dan punched with his full force as Zevien’s jaw nearly broke.

“Damn it!! I should have infused mana in the fist,” Dan cried loudly as his hand instantly swelled. “How fucking tough is your body right now?!” He asked, looking at Zevien speechlessly.

Zevien rubbed his jaw lightly before sighing.