11 Overnight 2

In the living room of the house Rhemi, a beautiful and refined woman, is currently carrying an assortment of herbs, spices, and meat.

It was Eliza.

A couple of meters from her is another woman wearing a uniform that of one for a maid.

"Madam, the vegetables are now cut." The maid spoke.

"Thank you, Illana. Set up the plating for Mar after I'm done." Eliza answered as she placed down the tray of assortments.

Illana bowed and left the kitchen.

Eliza began to reminisce, it was only a couple of weeks ago, but her somber expression made it seem like it was years ago.

There really is no replacing the care of a mother.

Opening the pot, which had a chicken and its stock, Eliza dumped the diced veggies, sprinkled the herbs and a marble-sized mana crystal.

With a plop, the mana crystal immediately sunk. Not waiting for another second, Eliza raised her index finger as it glowed white. She began to hex.

Due to the murky color of the stock, it wasn't visible to the naked eye. But the mana crystal slowly dissolved in the soup as if it was salt. Suddenly, as if the soup turned into a more vibrant color. Even the steam's color shifted into that of a blue one.

After a short while, the soup turned orange as the variety of vegetables became visible. With her still glowing finger, Eliza flicked her hands, and the stew began to swirl.

Then, her middle finger began to glow green as the blue steam coming from the soup suddenly stopped flowing out. As if covered with a glass lid, the blue steam gathered in a dome shape.

When the blue steam was thick enough to cover the soup, Eliza's ring finger began to glow blue as the blue mist suddenly swirled and coagulated into flakes. The blue flakes fell onto the stock giving a very contrasting accent to the chicken soup.

The light in her middle and ring finger faded away as regular steam escaped the pot.

For another ten minutes, Eliza kept stirring the pot with her hex until it thickened.

"Illana, dear, the soup is done, prepare the tray for Mar," she asked Illana, who was standing just outside the kitchen.

"Yes, madam." She answered as she grabbed a bowl and a ladle.

Eliza, on the other hand, took out a silver card the size of a credit card. It was an unadorned card with a metallic texture. Like one would do with unlocking their smartphone, she placed her thumb as it glowed silver. The card shone, and the injected mana became a complete image.

The image formed consisted of various logo that resembles an envelope, an open mouth connected to another open mouth, and a silhouette of a broken crystal.

Without moving her fingers, the image changed again. The image shifted into a list of text and runes.

The text moved again and stopped at a single line.

Dr. Sherman. And a couple of runes that seem to bear no meaning.

With her thoughts, Eliza confirmed the name, and the text disappeared, leaving only the runes. Suddenly a spell circle appeared around the silver card with the mystical runes as the center. It began to glow white.

As a mage, Eliza mainly uses hex. However, the reason why all these sub-specializations are under the name "arcanist" is due to the fact that magic is simply not mutually exclusive. However, people believed it better to specialize in one style than multiple due to the difference in practices.

Eliza began to cast a tier one level one spell with the silver card as a medium, and on her mind, a connection is made.

A swirling orb of mana appeared and began to spin. Eliza waited for almost a minute before the orb of mana disappeared, and a noise resounded in her head.

"Uh, hello? This is Michael Sherman. Who's this?" a portentous voice resounded in her head.

Eliza chuckled, hearing the trying hard doctor before answering. "Doctor, it's me, Eliza Rhemi. Sorry for calling you so early in the morning."

"Oh my! Dear Eliza, how is Marko?

"He's woken up." Eliza answered, lacking confidence.

"That's good news, ain't it? Seems like my worries about him ingesting a ma..."

"He lost his memories," Eliza decided to cut off the rambling doctor.

Michael choked on his words. After a short silence, he resumed, "I see. You should bring him here for a diagnosis."

"That's what me and my husband is planning, doctor. Are you free this afternoon?"

"Yeah, I can open up my schedule later." Michael answered after a short rustling of paper.

"Thank you, Doctor Sherman. I'll be serving him some thaumi chicken soup (mana flakes chicken soup), would that affect the diagnosis?"

"Not at all, if he really stayed up all night, feeding him that would be better. The focus would be his brain, so we'll need it active later."

"I understand, doctor. Is 09:00 a suitable time?"

"Sure."

"Thank you, doctor. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

The spell circle collapsed.

Putting the silver card back into her pocket, Eliza looked towards Illana, who's currently carrying a tray of food.

"It's ready, madam."

Eliza nodded as the two walked upstairs in the bedroom down the hall.

——

*Knock knock knock*

"Mar?" Eliza asked as she softly knocked.

After getting no response for a minute, Eliza realized that her son is still sleeping.

Eliza looked towards Illana with a notepad already in her hands. Stepping back, Eliza watched as the notepad in Illana's hands floated and glowed white.

Quickly, the notepad flipped to a specific page where words and runes are drawn. Once Illana found the page, she immediately grabbed the floating notepad, and her body began to glow. At the tip of her index finger, a small sphere of mana formed.

Pushing it towards the door, a deep sound resounded in the room.

Inside the room, Trex, who just fell asleep, was abruptly woken up.

For the first time, Trex experienced what headaches are and why people with those are so easily angered. Still, the feeling was new and such. He didn't get truly mad as the three laws of robotics still fresh in his mind.

Slowly, he stood up and unlocked the door.

Opening the door, the sight of a woman wearing a black dress with a white apron carrying a tray with a bowl, glass of milk, and a cookie. To her side is another woman wearing a maroon cardigan with a navy blue checkered undershirt and beige pants. Trex didn't know who the woman carrying the tray was, but the other is definitely his new mother.

"M… mother…" Trex spoke awkwardly, still not used to actually having a parent.

"Mar, sorry for waking you up, but we need to go somewhere." Eliza said with a smile. After seeing Trex nod, she looked towards Illana and added. "You should eat first."

With the cue, Illana handed over the tray to Trex.

Trex received it awkwardly.

"The soup there is a thaumi chicken soup, it will help you feel refreshed as if you slept for the night. Make sure you eat everything so you wouldn't feel tired during the doctor's visit later," Eliza swiftly reminded Trex.

Trex monotonously nodded once again.

Seeing the weird reaction, Eliza's eyes dimmed. Nodding towards Trex, she turned around and left with Illana, who didn't say anything.

"Madam, was that really Marko?" Illana asked with a befuddled gaze.

Feeling herself choke up, she just shook her head and did not answer. Nothing that her son did make her feel relieved now, whether it was from his reactions, attitude, and constantly awkward and monotonous gaze. Besides his face, nothing about Trex reminded her of her son.

Both Eliza and Illana felt something lurching within them.