Spirits [2]

Here I am standing on the rooftop of the Hepburn manor in the dead of night. Rosaline's sleeping in the best guestroom the Hepburns could offer while the rest of the guests are given relatively inferior rooms.

After making sure no one was near, I took off my blindfold and called out.

"Anianya, can you come out?"

A strong gale blew from all directions before merging into a single spot. A burst of light shone and faded away, revealing a small girl with fairy-like wings.

"What a flashy entrance," I commented.

The wind spirit scoffed, "Did you like it?"

Without hesitating, I shrugged and gave my verdict, "Eh, 6 out of 10."

The spirit pouted.

"Let's talk Ani. Can I call you Ani? Your name is kinda hard to remember."

She nodded her pea-sized head. It looked adorable.

"You mentioned earlier that I'm the child of Aeolus. How were you able to know that I was blessed by him?"

"It's because I'm a wind spirit, you dummy! Both of us are children of Lord Aeolus. We're family!!"

Family. Hearing that word still stings my heart, but... I do feel a sense of kinship with her. As if we're siblings of some sort.

Her presence comforted me. But... this isn't good. This comfort is calming my thirst for vengeance. If I lose my motivation to find that 'thing', then what am I doing this all for? This deep-seated rage for vengeance is the only thing that keeps me going, it's the only thing giving me purpose.

I shook my head and tried to ignore the kinship I was feeling. I had more questions to ask Ani, but I should ask them quickly, or else I might lose my way.

These questions I had... I need them answered. If I could more about Aeolus, it might give me a reference point for growing my wind abilities.

"You said earlier that you were a high-ranking spirit. How high are you in the spirit ranking or whatever you call it, and what are the ranks?"

Ani happily obliged and answered my inquiries.

There are only three ranks among all of the elemental spirits. The lowest is the Humilis spirits. They are the most common spirits around. They are as numerous as the stars in the sky, although they couldn't be seen by normal means.

The next rank is the Nobilis spirits. Ani is a Nobilis spirit herself, a quite powerful wind spirit when compared to her Humilis cousins.

She also informed me that the festival of the Hepburn territory was only visited by Humilis spirits ever since the festival was even created. The reason why a Nobilis like her even visited is to apparently see the child of the wind for herself—me.

"So, why didn't you visit me before? Why visit me now of all times?"

"When we spirits manifest ourselves into the physical plane, we cause quite a bit of disturbance."

"You mean, that flashy entrance earlier wasn't on purpose?"

Ani scratched the back of her head and said, "Well... spirits can sort of choose how the disturbance manifests."

I asked her what was the last and highest ranking among the spirits.

"They are the Regis. There is only a handful of them for each element of the world. "

"How many Regis are there that serve Aeolus?"

"Three."

Three Regis spirits. Three kings of the wind, and a God above them whom they serve.

I smirked at the new knowledge I got. The mythology of this world is pretty interesting, especially since it's not just fictional stories concocted by old men trying to control the populace.

Just when I was about to ask another question, I sensed something disturbing the air nearby. It floated up and landed on the same roof I was standing on.

Whatever it was, it had a humanoid shape, and when I glanced at Ani, it seemed she saw what I sensed.

"Show yourself," I said.

"Hehe, amazing." The figure revealed itself.

It was Flora Hepburn. She appeared out of thin air as if an invisibility cloak was removed. Is this...?

"You're a mage?" I asked the eavesdropper to confirm my suspicions.

"Is it your first time seeing magic up close?"

It was my first time seeing invisibility magic, sure. But I didn't need to tell her that. Instead, I just responded with a question.

"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to confirm my suspicions."

"Confirm what exactly?"

"That the butler of a Blessed One is also a Blessed One." She giggled.

Didn't expect her to be frank and honestly answer my questions. But what made her suspect that in the first place. I was sure that no one saw me when I temporarily lifted my blindfold earlier.

"How did you find out?" I decided to just ask her instead of speculating. She's been honest so far, it wouldn't hurt to ask more.

As expected, she gave an honest answer.

"I am a mage. We mages are quite sensitive to energies in our surroundings. And you little Blessed One, shared the same atmosphere that dear Lady Rosaline has! An air that is quite unique with Blessed Ones."

Flora asked me a question right after.

"By the way, how did you see through my concealment spell?"

I grinned, "Now why the fuck would I tell you that?"

Her expression suddenly turned dark. Seems like she wasn't amused at my response.

"Now that's not fair, is it? I've been quite honest with your inquiries and yet you aren't even returning the favor?"

"So what? I don't fucking care."

That's right. Fuck you.

"Oh well. No matter. I'll extract the information from you soon enough."

What? Extract? Is she...?

Four spirits manifested behind her after she flicked her hand. I could feel the spirits have some sort of link with Flora. And that's not all, they were all Humilis wind spirits.

"You want to know something neat? I am not just some run-of-the-mill mage. I am a spirit mage. You could probably tell from the four balls of light behind me, that the spirits are on my side. Although, I can see that you have a spirit with you too. Whatever, 4 against 1? The odds are on my side."

She flicked her hand once again and order the four wind spirits.

"Capture him for me."