After a bit of contemplation, Modak opened the door. He wasn’t entirely sure if she was trustworthy. This whole situation that Modak had found himself in was so weird and complicated, and after all of Ryan’s yelling last night while Alicia was leaving, he felt a bit unsure. But in the end, he figured it should be fine to at least hear her out.

  “Sorry if it’s a bit messy in here,” Modak apologized as he closed the door behind Alicia, who quickly shook her head.

  “Nothing to worry about. You should see how Runar kept his dormitory at the tower,” she laughed lightly while being guided to Modak’s room. As he ushered his brothers away, the orc quickly closed the door behind him. Modak pointed toward his chair awkwardly.

  “Please, uhm … take a seat.”

  “Don’t mind if I do,” Alicia replied, sitting down as she waved her hand around. Modak could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, and Alicia quickly explained, “I just soundproofed the room. It looks like your siblings are a little nosy.”

  “Ah … yeah, sorry about that. So … what would you like to talk about?”

  Alicia glanced around Modak’s room, soon spotting the small tape placed onto the edge of the table, carefully picking it up to take a closer look. “I’m here to take a look at this.”

  As she did, Modak remembered something that Runar had briefly mentioned before. “So … you’re interested in the tapes?”

  “Well, if they work as Runar mentioned, I certainly am. Do you mind giving me a quick explanation?”

  Modak slowly nodded. He figured he might as well. Rather, he was just unable to stop his excitement right now. No matter what happened yesterday, he was still talking to the Mistress of the Magic Tower, and she was interested in something he made. How could he not get excited about something like that?

  He hurried and gave her the exact explanation, trying to go into as much detail as he wanted to. Obviously, Alicia would be able to keep up with any terminology and numbers that he threw out, and Modak was sure she was also going to understand all the projects that he used as reference. Alicia listened to everything that he was saying, asking questions to make sure she understood the whole thing properly. And then, once Modak was done, she smiled curiously.

  “I see … I see, so this could potentially work quite well,” Alicia muttered, looking at Modak. “You said you were planning on turning this process into a paper, correct?”

  Modak nervously nodded. “Yes, that was the idea. I … I’m also using some of the things that I’ve worked out to help with a robotics problem my friend has, but that’s separate from this.”

  Alicia crossed her legs, her smile never having left her lips. “I see. In that case, do you think you might want to write that paper in cooperation with the Magic Tower?”

  “… What?” He wasn’t able to believe what he was hearing. “I … I don’t even have an ounce of mana, how would I be able to work with the Magic Tower?”

  “The actual ability to use mana is secondary to the ability to understand it. While we are mostly in the business of researching magic in its more classic means and uses, we have been expanding more and more into the field of magic engineering. And these tapes could be an incredible tool.”

  Modak was confused. “An incredible tool? What do you mean?”

  Alicia raised her finger up, and a magic circle appeared in the air, just floating there without being activated. “A large portion of spells are cast through the specific aggravation, manipulation, and definition of mana. A magic circle like this only works in this specific way, because each part does its job of the larger pattern, doing what it should to define the mana in these very minuscule ways that come together into a bigger picture. And, what you are doing here with this tape is creating very particular and precise patterns of mana. Not only that, but I imagine that once the recorded audio is displayed, it has some mana infused into the sound just by its very nature, so if refined and improved, it could even replace chanting.”

  Unsure if he was understanding right, Modak looked at the woman in front of him. He looked at one of the most powerful magic users currently alive, who was sitting on an old chair in his cramped bedroom. “You … you think that my mana tape can be used as a spellcasting conduit?”

  Alicia stood up and smiled up at the orc in front of her. “I think it’s a possibility. Wouldn’t you like to try and find out?”

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Healing

  After barely parking properly, Silvia jumped out of her sister’s car that she had borrowed. She rushed up to the café’s door, but it was locked and that sorry, we’re spontaneously closed today sign that was on the door far too often just laughed in her face. Anxiously, Silvia ran around the building to get to the door leading directly into the flat, then loudly knocked on the door.

  “Ryan! Runar! Open up!” she exclaimed. Silvia knew that they were here; Ryan had told her that much at least, but he had stopped replying at some point. Plus, Modak wasn’t looking at his phone either, even after Silvia tried to call him maybe a dozen times.

  That anxiety was far too much for her to deal with right now. She knew that Ryan was in the Channel, and today of all days, an overgrown giant covered in stone rampaged through that part of town? Plus, the one that took that giant down was that demon that worked for Runar, Yamada. One of the few things that Ryan had told her was that they were on their way home and would meet a healer, so she shouldn’t worry. But how could she not worry when Ryan apparently needed a healer for something?

  But before she knew it, the door in front of her opened up, and Runar stood right in front of her. “Calm down, will you?”

  “Calm down? How do you expect me to—”

  “No, I’m just saying to be quiet. The flat is soundproofed, so at least wait with that until you’re inside.” Runar stepped to the side and let the elf inside, and she didn’t hesitate to rush past him and up the stairs, pushing open the door into the main flat. She looked around, hearing voices from the living room and quickly ran inside.

  There, sitting on a chair in his underwear, was a blood-covered Ryan. In front of him, a figure completely cloaked in white was holding a golden ring in front of the ugly wound on his leg.

  “Silvia?” Ryan let out, surprised, grimacing lightly as the golden ring gave off a little bit of light.

  “Is that all you have to say? What the hell happened?” A wave of emotions came over her, but in the end Silvia could only feel a mixture of relief and anger. After all, Ryan kept on getting hurt over and over again. Runar stepped into the living room after Silvia.

  “… The situation is a lot more serious than I expected. The Shadows really want the Spirit Keeper class,” he explained, as Silvia snapped her head toward her friend’s uncle.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be the head of the family? Shouldn’t you be aware of how bad things are?”

  Runar slowly and hesitantly shook his head. “Just being the patriarch doesn’t make me some kind of absolute, all-knowing power. There’s a lot more for me to take care of than just track what the White Shadow Society is doing all the time. Plus, they have a new head, and he seems to be pretty … reckless.”

  “No shit, using a spirit core the way that they’ve been trying to isn’t a great sign that he’s got all his marbles in order,” Ryan scoffed, trying to lightly shift his weight on the chair as the healer kept silently treating the gunshot wound on his leg. His flesh was wriggling weirdly and uncomfortably as it grew back together, but it wasn’t particularly painful. Just something that he had to get used to.

  “It’s not that. He’s not crazy. I mean … he might be, but he’s just a kid that was put into a really fucked-up situation. He’s maybe … eight years old?”

  “Excuse me?” Ryan flinched as he heard his uncle’s words, almost jumping up when he felt a sharp, cramping pain in his leg.

  The healer pushed him back down onto the seat properly, yelling out, “Karim! Samba, ta!”

  Runar sighed, “He’s saying to stay still. Healing isn’t an easy job.”

  “Mali, bora ka ji-ik …” the healer grumbled, continuing to move the glowing golden ring around the wound.

  With an apologetic smile, Runar looked over at him. “Loria si ta porak. Idja ruti ma-lek.”

  “… Ma-rik.”

  “Ma-sag, zhu as al.” With a slight laugh, Runar retorted. Or at least, that’s what it sounded like to Ryan and Silvia, who could barely even recognize the language the two were speaking. Though, as if suddenly even more motivated, the hooded healer continued his work.

  “Anyway,” Runar started again, “yes, he’s a kid. All the leaders of the White Shadow Society are. It’s a bit complicated, but … each leader is chosen not by the current members or the former leader, but by a curse that is passed down from one to another. It’s a curse that takes the form of a class. It’s kind of similar to the Spirit Keeper, where only one exists at a time. Their class is called ‘White Curse’s Child.’ ”

  “Okay, so what makes that curse so special that it would make a reckless, stupid little kid the leader of a secret society?” Silvia asked as she stepped up to Ryan’s side, trying to see if there was anything she could do. And as Ryan directed her toward the large bag filled with protein bars on the coffee table, Runar explained.

  “Oh, I mean, reckless, yeah. Stupid … no. The curse is a rough one. It strips the afflicted of all physical strength, and basically makes their lifespan a fraction of what it had been. This kid won’t make it to eighteen. He’ll be lucky to turn fifteen, even.” Runar’s voice was filled with a lot of complicated emotions about this fact. And it was obvious; no matter how bad the things the White Shadow Society did were, the fact their leader was a literal child that would never reach Ryan and Silvia’s age tainted everything with an air of bitterness. “But … in return, the White Curse’s Child is gifted with intelligence beyond compare. And I say this knowing exactly how it sounds, but there’s nobody more cunning, intelligent, and capable than the current White Curse’s Child.”

  “… You’re kidding.” Ryan glanced over at Silvia to make sure he heard right, as the elf was opening a protein bar for him.

  Trying to sum things up, Silvia looked at Runar hesitantly. “So we’re dealing with a massively influential secret society led by a superintelligent, immature little kid?”

  “Mhm. Usually, the White Curse’s Child was always guided by some kind of council, even if the kid would always have all the power in the end. However, that council was overthrown in the period between the death of the last White Curse’s Child and the birth of the next. So now, the kid’s in charge without any proper guidance,” Runar explained, clearly not particularly happy about the situation. “But I guess even with the council, they’ve always been a bit insane. Just smarter about it. Every Blanchard’s got some screws loose, to be honest.”

  Ryan listened as he hungrily bit into the protein bar, feeling Silvia’s hand on his shoulder, not even fully registering what Runar just said. Ryan was bad with names in the first place, but the name “Blanchard” stuck out, and a moment later, he realized why.

  “Runar … are the Blanchards a lamia family?”

  Surprised, Runar nodded his head. “Yeah, they are. How did you know?”

  “… One of them goes to our school, Christopher. Actually, he was here not too long ago, while you had that phone call about Liam, and I was watching the shop,” Ryan explained, and the moment he said that name, Runar’s expression dropped.

  “Christopher Blanchard was here? In the café? What did he want? What did he—”

  “He didn’t do anything, he just ordered something and went on his way. Sure, he was a bit weird, but I thought he was just being weird. Not that he was staring into my soul because he wanted to steal my class …”

  “Wait …” Silvia started, putting a few things together. “Was he the one that gave Vanda the fragment?”

  Ryan snapped his head toward Silvia, and then hurriedly looked over at Runar for confirmation. “Was it? Did that bastard do that to Gaia?”

  Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Runar nodded his head. “Yes, or at least we think so. We don’t know exactly what his class is, but it’s somehow related to contracts. Hence, why that Vanda girl wasn’t able to talk about him; she entered some kind of binding contract supported by the system.”

  “Okay, well … that explains it at least,” Ryan muttered. “Do you think they have any more fragments or cores?”

  Runar shrugged. “I’m not sure. It would surprise me, but you never know. The fact they only used Gaia’s fragments to do all of this gives me hope that they don’t.”

  With some level of relief that Runar thought so too, Ryan let out a long sigh as the healer suddenly stood up.

  “Kora ga lak,” he said, carefully placing the golden ring into his cloak.

  “Ah, he says he’s done. Get yourself cleaned up in a bit and take it easy. I think Tiar is helping you out with replenishing your blood quicker, but still, just rest for a day or two,” Runar translated, and Ryan looked down a bit surprised. There was still blood covering his leg, but the pain from the bullet wound was basically completely gone. It was the same as it was with his belly earlier. No pain, just some discomfort and soreness.

  “Tiar?” Silvia asked, a bit confused, trying to catch up to what was really happening. Ryan quickly held up his left arm.

  “It’s them, the symbiote. We decided on Tiar,” Ryan explained, and the symbiote happily replied.

  :D

  Silvia smiled lightly. “Well, nice to meet you then, Tiar.”

  :) :) :)

  The healer continued packing up his things, like different effigies and trinkets that were scattered around on the floor, placing them back into his cloak before walking over to Runar. “Porili-ka, mago si-ra ta por. Jhua zi gorun lumir.”

  Runar replied with a quick nod, “Lumir isu-ga dir maron.” He slightly bowed down, as if trying to show the healer respect. “Barig unag heplan.”

  Turning around toward Ryan, the healer briefly nodded to him and then made his way out of the living room, leaving the flat a few moments later. Runar quickly turned toward the two. “He’s going to be sticking around for a while in case we have any more … emergencies. But White Mages, and pure healers like him in general, are rare, so he’ll have to leave in a couple of weeks. Until then, we’re going to have to try and train Ryan up a bit.”

  “Didn’t you just say I should rest?” Ryan asked with a raised brow, but Runar shrugged.

  “Sure, but we do need to take some precautions. Our first priority is to get you to level 10 so that we can get the Shadows off your back since they won’t be able to get your class anymore. We also need you to unlock some physical stats just as some extra insurance, but with Tiar helping you out, that shouldn’t be an issue.”

  Ryan slowly got up, feeling much more sturdy on his legs than he expected, especially considering he had a hole in one of them not too long ago. He looked at his uncle, walking past him into the hallway. “But first I guess I should just get cleaned up and then take care of Gaia, right?”

  “Right. I’ll order you some food while you’re in the shower. Does pizza sound good?”

  “Oh yeah, pizza sounds great right now. Get the biggest you can order,” Ryan immediately said as he made his way to the bathroom to take a shower. Once he was gone, Runar looked at Silvia.

  “Do you want something to eat as well?”

  The elf thought about it for a moment, and in the end just shrugged. “Sure. Oh, but I’m vegetarian, so—”

  “I got you, don’t worry,” Runar replied, finishing the text that he was writing to someone. To Silvia, it didn’t look like he had ordered anything, but she figured Runar knew what he was doing. He sat down on one of the chairs, looking up at the elf. “I know that this all is a bit rough to watch. But … this is also exactly why I didn’t want to get Ryan involved. This whole world is—”

  “But it’s too late for that now,” Silvia replied immediately. “You can’t expect Ryan to just move on after everything that you’ve told him. And you can’t expect Modak and me to just let him go through this alone.”

  Runar leaned more into the backrest of the chair, glancing Silvia up and down. “Why are you even going so far for him? You’ve known him for barely half a year.”

  The elf slowly moved over and sat down on the couch. “I don’t know. Does it really matter for how long we’ve known each other? Ryan and Modak are my best friends. I don’t believe that time is the most important part for that kind of connection.”

  The two looked at each other for a few moments, locking eyes. In the end, Runar was the one that gave in, letting out a long sigh. “Fine, you’re right, I guess. Anyway … there’s something I meant to suggest to you. You’re the one that made what Ryan was wearing in the dungeon, right?”

  Silvia slowly nodded her head. “Yeah, why? Was there something wrong with it? It was my first time making something like that, but—”

  “No, no, nothing was wrong with it. Rather, it’s the opposite; for what you were working with, it was pretty high-quality. Do you want to keep making some things for Ryan?”

  Silvia seemed a bit taken aback. “Uh … yeah, I wouldn’t mind that at all. But don’t you have your own people to do that kind of thing already?”

  “Well, sure, but we’ve kind of got people for everything already. We don’t have any particular openings, but considering that you’re already Ryan’s aide, we could just make you his exclusive equipment designer. You would work with some others that do the actual production, though. They’re Awakened and can strengthen things they make. And we would need to teach you a few more things so you know what materials we have access to … But it shouldn’t be too much work.”

  Silvia thought about it for a moment. If that meant she could make something for Ryan that could actually stop him from getting hurt all the damn time, Silvia would really jump at that opportunity. It was just, “… Would that be the only thing I could do for him?”