Maia

(A/N: Make sure to throw a few nice words in the comment section.)

He turned off the shower, walked out to the mirror naked, and took a good look at his new self.

"This face of mine doesn't look half bad yet I must improve this body to live a natural long life." He said as he moved his black hair to the back.

He walked out of the bathroom unbothered by how wet he was and thought about putting on new clothes. Once the idea crossed his mind, his eyes moved towards the wardrobe which was incorporated into the wall.

"So this is where people store their garments. I better find myself a cloak if I am heading out to explore." He thought.

However, once he opened the wardrobe, the expressionless look on his face turned into an annoyed frown.

"What's a corpse doing here?" He thought while looking at the naked body of a young girl handed inside the wardrobe like one of its clothing items.

*Bzzzzzt*

"Ashton! Open up!"

And to make things worse, someone was knocking on the door to his apartment calling him Ashton. The voice was that of a man and he seemed anxious.

Well, isn't that just the worst-case scenario?

Thinking fast, he grabbed what seemed to be a coat and put it on his body.

Slowly, he advanced to the door and looked for a method to see what's beyond but there was no such a thing. He slowly reached out for the door's handle and twisted it until it made the sound of opening.

"Yo, Ash." The voice spoke once again as Balefire dragged the door open and looked at whoever spoke.

What he saw was a young woman dressed in some tiny garments of questionable taste. Balefire instinctively looked left and right before feeling profoundly uncomfortable.

"What's up, man?" The man's voice spoke once again but Balefire still failed to point out the source.

"Young miss, have you seen by any chance someone who spoke just now?" Balefire asked with a confused look.

On the other hand, the young lady in the exposing garments gave him a very unamused look.

"Very funny." She said completely not happy about his question.

Balefire could have sworn that the man's voice came from her this time. It perplexed him and it showed on his face until he started to realize something.

"Apologies." He said.

"Whatever, man. Get me the shit." The young lady said as she waved her hand at him with one of those mirror-like devices.

"The… shit?" Balefire couldn't figure out what she meant by "shit".

"The shit, man! I ain't paying you 200 creds unless you show me the shit you promised to give me. The things Lisa wore in her last post." The young lady spoke in her disturbing manly voice, "I'm having a cam stream in an hour. Hurry up already."

The things Lisa wore? paying him 200 creds?

So he's some sort of a trader.

"I'll check… inside…" He said and immediately closed the door.

He has a corpse in there, he can't let anyone see it yet. He at least knows that much.

But where can he find the things Lisa wore?

The muscle memory wasn't of any help and the room doesn't have much space so it should be somewhere very close.

There was a lot of trash around but he was easily able to find a bag of an unknown material with a sticky piece of paper on it.

"Maia… 200 creds!"

Balefire wasn't able to read easily but he figured out this sentence from the memory of the man called Ashton. He immediately walked back to the door and offered the bag.

"Is that it…" He asked as he handed out the bag but the young woman was no longer there.

Actually, she was there but she was with a man who pinned her against the wall opposite to Balefire's door and started dropping his pants while pressing her head against the wall and her waist to his.

"The fuck!" Once the man noticed Balefire behind him, he turned his head with an angry expression, "Get back inside, you fat fuck!"

Unfriendly as the remark was, the man took it even further as he threw whatever in his hands at Balefire which was merely something very light and harmless.

On the other hand, the young woman freed herself from the man's grasp.

"Just… not here." She said as she moved her hand towards the door right next to her and it made a sound reacting to an item in her hand.

Right away, that door was unlocked and she pushed the man holding her in the door.

"The fuck are you doing, bitch?" The man reacted as he didn't even mind pulling up his pants when his man parts were completely exposed.

"Be with you in a second." She said and closed the door before turning around and fixing her clothes.

Balefire could easily notice the bulge between her legs when her tight skirt was pulled up. He was no stupid but he had no awareness of the concept of the other genders aside from male and female but he didn't want to say something that may expose him so he acted like he didn't see anything.

His inside thoughts, however, were in awe of what he saw. Back in the day when he lived as an apprentice court Necromancer, he saw the kings and lords indulge themselves in the pleasures of both women and men. Some of these men would dress as women, behave like women, and even perform sexual services like women so Balefire wasn't a stranger to the concept. However, his eyes were never tricked before in determining the gender of whoever is in front of him.

The reason for that is the girl right there looks exactly like a girl. Her skin was white, her build wasn't large, her shoulders weren't broad, and her chest showed signs of having small breasts which were ordinary. Her waist was also curvy and her hips were round and girly.

Her face was cuter than most of the women he knew but it looked unique since he was unfamiliar with its Asian features but it felt very pleasant to look at. What made the girl even more beautiful was her silky brown hair and her hazel clear eyes.

"Ash… Ash!"

But her voice… her voice ruined it all.

"Yes." Balefire woke up from the slow-motion daydream he was in and handed her the bag trying to suppress his thoughts from appearing on his face.

"Maia 200 creds, huh!" She read the sticky note and held out her mirror-like gadget.

"Hm?" Balefire made a hesitant face.

"Hold out your phone." She said.

Phone. So that's what it is called.

"I'll bring it right away."

He stepped back in and found the phone which was plugged into a wire before figuring out how to take it out and returned with it to the girl called Maia.

He was cluelessly holding his phone with both hands and handed it over to Maia. She looked at him as if he was some sort of an idiot.

"Just hold it up." She said.

"Like that?"

"The other side."

"Understood."

She gave him a weird look while she passed the back of her phone across his.

*ding*

"Confirm the transaction." She said.

"Huh?"

Balefire saw the text appearing on the screen and looked at it trying to figure out the meaning of those words.

He could pull up some words of the body's memory but he didn't fully understand.

"Are you fucking reading the agreement policy? Just tap Agree and Confirm." She said.

"Oh… alright."

He did as she said and tapped the largest words on the screen in wonder how everything reacted to his touch and before he knew it, a message appeared that he received 150 Crypto Credits on his account.

"Oh… I see… I see… but that's only 150." He said.

"Yeah… about that." Maia seemed a little bit awkward, "I only have the upkeep and enough creds to pay the rent next week. I'm streaming tonight again so… I'll send you a free pass to watch."

"I…" Balefire didn't know what to say since he couldn't understand anything but he then nodded, "I'll be neighborly and cause you no difficulties this time."

"Thanks, Ash." Maia said and teasingly bumped him on the chest, "You're one of the good guys."

Maia retreated back to her room leaving Balefire still processing the strange encounter. He held his chest where she bumped him and thought for a bit.

Something about her made him smile.

Did he just smile? He touched his face.

Did he just talk to people? He touched his lips.

How long has it been?

Maybe…

No, he can't make assumptions too early. Not because someone friendly spoke to him in that new skin he is wearing means he is any less of a monster. One day, his true colors shall appear and he shall become that thing once again.

Until then… he should just keep to himself.

Balefire closed his door and walked in once again. There is a lot to do.

"The memories of this body shall fade soon. Before that happens, I need to uncover as much as I can about this world." He thought and looked towards the gadget called the Phone which is still in his hands.

This thing contains a lot of mystery… and that money thing called credits as well.

It was a clean slate, one side made of glass and the other made of thin metal. There was no distinctive marking on it except for words written on the back of it.

"M- M- … myPhone." He read what seemed to be like a branding on the device.

*ding*

The phone made a sound and the screen lit up showing an image of a purple circle on a black background reacting to every bit of noise the phone detected.

"What is this?" Balefire asked.

He didn't know how but the words he spoke right now started to turn into words written on the screen. By the following second, a voice replied to him.

<Sorry, what are you asking?>

A clueless and terrified look appeared on Balefire's face as he couldn't just believe this gadget… no, this artifact can actually speak.

"Who are you?" He asked.

<Hello, I am your myPhone assistant. How can I help you?>

Balefire jolted off the device and threw it at the bed in panic.

"A genie! They have genies in their artifacts!"

It all made sense now. The great kings of the ancient kingdoms utilized genies and other beings of great power to do their bidding. Those genies were to be trapped in artifacts and serve the kings as their assistants.

Is this civilization that advanced?

"No matter, I have to acquire some Mana from the Genie. This will help me greatly." Balefire said so as he stretched his arms ahead and opened his hands wide before muttering, "By the power of the ancient pact and heavenly crown. I, agent of the Nether, command thee to submit and obey. Channel Magic!"

His spell was almost perfect and his soul from inside was stirred by the fluctuation of the spell's effect. The spell has indeed formed but as it found its target… its light blinked a few times before… completely dying out.

No Mana? That's the first thing Balefire questioned.

The Genie must have no Mana… or did its artificer seal it away perfectly.

"No, wait!" Balefire frowned, "There is no natural Mana around me… like no natural Mana at all."

No natural Mana? Theoretically, it is possible. Practically, impossible. Where there is life, there is always Mana.

The scale of a phenomenon causing such a thing must be worldwide.

To a wizard, this world is a worst-case scenario to be reborn in. If he dies once again, this time will be direct to the Nether.

But then again, if not for Magic, how did such a world develop to the point where there are genies in their day-to-day artifacts?

Wait…

Is that even a genie?

All the fears in Balefire's heart started to vanish slowly as he approached the phone and called its voice command.

He intended to get to the bottom of this.

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A/n: The character of Maia is inspired by @pigmananal on Twitter (model permission acquired). Check out her hot content.