"You... Dimitri, what about the Mage Tower?"
Dimitri raised his eyebrows and asked, "What about it?"
Adeline looked at the ground for a second in defeat. He has no intention of going there, does he?
The whole reason why he went there in the first place was because of the mistreatnt of refugees in the Empire. The only place he could flee to was the Mage Tower, no one would teach him magic in the Empire.
The Mage Tower was his last resort and magic was his only salvation.
But now, a lot of things have changed. Adeline had to admit it changed for the better. She helped a lot of people, she saved Dimitri from so much trauma... But what now?
Maybe she could convince him.
She raised her head, eting Dimitri’s curious gaze. "The Mage Tower... it’s an incredible place, Dimitri. With your talent, you’d do so well there! You’d be able to learn magic at a level you can’t even imagine."
Dimitri frowned. Her words had an effect, but not the one she intended. "Why do you want to go there, Adeline?" he asked, "It’s so far from the Empire... and I heard the trials to get in are dangerous. Do you want to leave?"
Adeline realised that he had taken it in the wrong way.
She hadn’t considered that he might interpret her encouragent as a wish for him to go away. That was the last thing she wanted.
"No, Dimitri. That isn’t what I ant. I felt like your magic talent was wasted here. The Mage Tower will teach you so much, they know so many techniques and secrets. I just thought... You would reach your full potential there."
Dimitri’s gaze softened, he understood what she ant. But he didn’t care, he didn’t want to be the strongest in the world. He just wanted to be strong enough to protect her. Most importantly, he didn’t want to leave her.
He nodded and resud training but his thoughts were elsewhere.
He was thinking about how she needed backing, he thought about how the Holy Temple would co after her.
Would going to the Mage Tower be the right thing to do? If he succeeded there, he was sure to beco a powerful ally to her...
He felt deeply conflicted. He turned to look at Adeline who sat down and watched him spar. She didn’t look worried or mad. She smiled at him and encouraged him while he practised.
Adeline also decided that she couldn’t push him. He went to the Mage Tower because of desperation. She couldn’t say for sure if it was his dream or ambition to go there, he went there because of survival.
Now he has the chance to do what he wants, and how could she deny him that?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When Annora woke up, she realised that she wasn’t in the cave anymore. The last thing she rembered was so mysterious hooded man saving her.
She took a look at her surroundings. There was barely any light. Only candles lit the room. She was all cleaned up and on a fairly comfortable bed. It was better than the one she had at the Holy Temple anyway.
The priests would indulge themselves in all kinds of materialistic things while preaching about being selfless... Or how worldly comforts are a distraction.
She got down and started walking out of the hallway, it was disturbing that the room she was in didn’t have a door. Whatever, she was glad that she was alive.
The hall was dimly lit with candles too. She didn’t feel too safe. Although her holy powers were barely existent, she could still sense the ominous feeling in the air.
She gulped and kept on walking, she could hear a few voices at the end of the hallway.
"A lot has changed, we don’t know why... As for this sword..."
It was the hooded man! Her eyes widened. He turned to face her. He wasn’t too surprised, he wasn’t mad that she was eavesdropping. But he didn’t say anything either.
Not being able to see his eyes or face made her uncomfortable. He looked scary, to say the least. There was darkness in him. Just who was he?
"You have changed, Annora."
"H- How do you know my na?!" She quickly stepped back. There was nowhere to run anyway. Why was she here? What did they want from her?
"I know a lot of things. I know that you know things that you weren’t supposed to know." He reached and grabbed her hand. It was so tight that her blood started pooling in her hands.
Taking the sword he took from Edward, he pierced her hand slightly. Blood started oozing out. The woman he was talking to wore a hood over her head as well.
Her hand was pierced twice in the sa place, the pain was agonising.
She stepped forward and muttered sothing. Forbidden magic...
The purple glow from her hands made her blood shine. In the dim lighting, her blood looked like it was brown but with the light that ca from forbidden magic, it was glowing... Almost like a neo-purple.
"Just what have you done, Annora? Your blood contains traces of forbidden magic. Was coming back that important to you?"
He- He knew? How did he know?
"Wh- What are you talking about?"
With force, he threw her arm away. There was anger in him, and if he didn’t control it, he would take it out on her.
"The precious Holy power... You traded it away for this magic... Hahaha..." He started laughing crazily.
"How do you know all this?!" She scread. This was a secret... A secret she told no one...
"So... Edward ca back too? You gave up your ability to have Holy Power to co back... Forbidden magic always demands a sacrifice. Now begs the question, what did he sacrifice?"
"Sacrifice?" Annora’s gaze wavered. She was now thinking about what Edward might have sacrificed.
The man in front of her chuckled in a low breath, his hands slowly reached for his hood... And slowly pulled it off...
Annora gasped, her eyes widened, and the instinct to run away started to take over her. His face...
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