Callous.

Gloria followed the Head Matron of the orphanage to the backyard. She instinctively called out to her. Diligentia turned around with a smile on her face like nothing was out of the ordinary. She asked, "Gloria, to what do I the pleasure of you calling on me?"

Diligentia had heard someone approaching and the voice confirmed that it was Gloria; who had seen Diligentia walking in the gardens and decided to have a conversation regarding the constant issue in her life, Valerian.

Gloria chuckled lightly and waved her hand saying, "If others heard you speaking in this manner, they would assume me to be a mean person, Sister Dil."

Diligentia wanted to puke every time Gloria acted familiar with her, but pretense was a tool that must be mastered in order to have a life free of avoidable inconveniences. She smiled in return and inquired in a gentle tone, "What happened?"

Gloria walked over, and every step that she took resonated with Diligentia's heartbeat. Just when she was about to speak, Gloria spotted Valerian sitting in the backyard and the smile plastered on her face vanished.

She cast a glance at Diligentia and asked, "What is this jinx doing here?"

Diligentia frowned slightly but regained her usual calm, "I asked him to take care of the weeds in the backyard. He is very efficient in his job. Thanks to you, Gloria."

Gloria was aware that Diligentia was putting up a facade in front of her but she did not have enough evidence to call her out. Diligentia has never revealed a loophole in her behavior. Gloria asked, "Why do you thank me, Head Matron?"

"Because of your arrangement this child has become a good gardener."

Gloria chuckled and wanted to say something when Diligentia interrupted, "Were you looking for me for a reason?"

Shaking her head Gloria replied, "No, I spotted you outside and thought I should accompany you."

A standard cover-up, and a lame one, thought Diligentia. Then she nodded, "I will go back to the office, I need to check a few bills before turning in for the day."

Gloria bowed to her slightly, and so did Valerian. After Diligentia left, Valerian picked up the garden shearer and began to trim the bushes and shrubs in the backyard. Gloria made sure that Diligentia was out of earshot when she asked, "Jinx, what did that bitch ask you?"

Even if Valerian was cursed, the organization in charge of the orphanage emphasized that he was a child first, and Gloria was aware that Diligentia had some unusual connection with an influential person in the organization, she did not want the child to reveal anything to Diligentia about his bullying.

Valerian was aware of the fears of the lady devil, more than that he hated how she had addressed Diligentia behind her back. However, he was weak, and Gloria often left him with bruises. He shivered when she talked to him and shook his head to indicate that Diligentia did not ask him anything.

Gloria scowled, "If I find that you have told her anything, I will make sure that before they put me away, I will put you away forever. Along with you, that slut Diligentia too. Humph."

Her brain was clouded with hatred, she walked closer to Valerian and kicked him in the chest. And continued to mercilessly kick him in the sides a dozen or so times. Valerian stayed on the ground tolerating the beating while occasionally grunting from pain. He had learned to tolerate all this because, if he wailed, Gloria will increase the strength of her attack.

He had tried to stay silent, but that made Gloria feel like she was not using enough strength, hence Valerian had come up with this method of emitting varying grunts to keep himself away from death.

After Gloria was done venting, she spat on the ground, "You cursed bastard, why won't you just die. You are nothing but a damned seed of your parent's actions. Trash."

Valerian could not say anything in turn, his heart has hardened from hearing the curses all of them have thrown at him. Quite contrary to the popular belief that when you grow hard-hearted you stop feeling, what does happen is that these callous emotions condense into a seed of hatred.

The seed of hatred has been slowly germinating inside young Valerian, he never showed it to anyone, but it was there. Once it grows brittle enough the hatred will come pouring out, destroying everything in its path, even Valerian.

Gloria saw that the child had fainted at some point, she clicked her tongue and walked away. Valerian did not wake up till the next couple of hours. The sun had set completely, as he sat up, his body echoed with the symphony of pain. The pain reminded him of every single time he had been beaten up by Gloria and her cronies.

The pain made him remember that he was alive, he dragged his bruised body back to the library. Valerian got inside the beddings and closed his eyes for a moment. Then he placed his palms on his chest and thought about the spell he had learned, 'Sanatio Lucis.'

The effect of this spell was to heal the minor wounds and activate the cells. He had just used it on the wilting flower in the backyard. The spell worked faster than the last time, and Valerian used it twice before he fainted from over-exhausting his mana reserve.

As he fell asleep, a jade green vine sprouted from the cracks in the floor and entangled with his body, healing it completely overnight.

Diligentia sat inside her room holding a crystal ball in her hands, called a communication crystal, she focused her mind and spoke in a soft tone, "Connexio animea, Rectus", a spell used to establish communication between two souls, and Rectus was Diligentia's sworn brother, a powerful Mage who contained a lot of knowledge. She wanted to contact him to ask about Valerian's condition.

The communication crystal began to emit a dim glow and soon a voice echoed in Diligentia's mind, "Dil."

"Rec.", said Diligentia.

Rectus asked, "What made you contact me so late, past your bedtime?"

"Stop teasing me, I have something important to discuss with you.", she said.

"Let me guess, someone bullied that little treasure of yours, again?", asked Rectus.

Diligentia replied, "I want to ask you if it is possible to cast magic spells without reciting the chants?" She ignored his words, her heart was anxious. She would not be able to sleep if she did not find answers to the questions raging war in her head.

Rectus thought for a few moments, "It is possible for an Arch Mage to cast multiple levels of spells without chanting. But you should be aware of that."

Diligentia replied, "I am aware of that, but what is the possibility for someone who is not an Arch Mage? And how does the Arch-Mage cast spells without chanting?"

"Zero, I believe, I have never seen anyone other than an Arch Mage able to cast spells without a chant. As for how it works, you need to understand the meaning behind the spell. It is not difficult but the understanding must be powerful enough to give you an image of the spell, how it originates, and what is the use of that particular spell. It is basic knowledge, but after you get a chant to provide you the initial imagery, people stop pondering on it until they want to exceed in levels."

Diligentia was occupied with her thoughts when Rectus asked, "Why are you suddenly asking me all this? Did you cast a spell without chanting?"

"No, good night. May Vita watch over you.", replied Diligentia and then said, "Contactus desine" the chant to disconnect the communication between two people.

Diligentia leaned back against the headrest of her bed and thought over the developments today has revealed. She was happy that Valerian could use magic, but she was also worried that if someone discovered that he was so talented, then it might bring him more harm.

Diligentia fell asleep, pondering over such details. That night, she had a nightmare of a young man standing in front of her, with sharp features, and a head full of silver hair. She could tell who this person was, however, the eyes of this person were brimming with hatred, and behind him laid corpses, broken and decapitated.

The image within the dream made Diligentia's soul tremble. She had never imagined herself to be this scared. She was not scared of the young man in her dream, but the reasons that made him what he seemed to be, calloused and numb, capable of only hating the world.