Chapter : 24 Unexpected Lesson

Nevata turned to her food, walking closer to the dining table. Probed her surroundings and then quickly packed some of her food for Oric who hasn't eaten once after being held captive in the underground research lab.

As she descended the stairs, she heard painful cries and moaning so she hastened her steps. The more she descended, the clearer the cries became "Oric?" she muttered as she increased her pace.

She had rushed through the huge library and finally reached the research lab.

There she had realised that Oric was bleeding; seemingly in a lot of pain.

Quickly, she rushed to him trying to help by pouring the potion that Aggrwill told her to be giving him but when she tried pouring it into his mouth, Oric fought back.

But Nevata also being stubbon forced the potion into Oric's mouth but that was when he changed, his blue eyes lit up as he roared at her like an actual creature from the abyss. Which sent shivers down her spine as she lost balance causing the potion to fall to the ground with a splash.

"Oric… wh… what's gotten into you" she said, as she slowly stood up and tried to approach the monster that was rampaging like an actual chained zombie.

"My daughter, if only your wish is to die again, approach that monster with that frail heart of yours"

Quickly, Nevata halted in her steps and turned around only to see Aggrwill

"What do you mean?" she inquired.

"By now you should have noticed the energy around us getting thinner and thinner?"

"Around us?"

"At this moment he isn't Oric"

"What…?" she inquired strangely.

"Don't panic" he said as he walked to Oric.

He slit his own wrist and allowed his blood, which was sufusing an ancient aura perceivable to the chained zombie; pour into Oric's mouth-- his raw blood which had condensed ancient energy.

Oric's pupils widened as he started savoring the energy-filled blood being released from Aggrwill's right hand like the famished monster he was.

After a few seconds Oric quickly went to sleep-- like nothing ever happened.

"w…wh…what have you done to Oric?" she asked Her father shamedly, but he spoke no words, leaving the place as silent as a grave yard

"TELL ME!!!!" she inquired again with more vigor.

"Hush!"

 Nevata was restless after the scene she had just experienced, Oric had just shown her a side she never anticipated, or perhaps a bit of what she had ought to expect.

"You may have the answers to the questions you seek" said Aggrwill with a light tone

Quickly Nevata froze as she recalled what Oric had done to all those monsters that attacked him during the night of blood lust. Suddenly shutting her mouth.

"You recall something similar?" Aggrwill narrowed his eyes for a split second then added

"You don't have to tell me, I'm only trying to cure his illness before his time runs out"

"w…what do you mean, time runs out?" she asked with curiosity in her eyes.

"Let's leave this chapter for tonight, lets start with your training,," Aggrwill said as he started to walk out of the cave research lab and continued

"Follow me"

"What?! How? I thought it was still night" she kept trying to figure things out but then everything came to clarity when Aggrwill opened the exit allowing sun rays to hit his undead body.

As the sun rays hit his body it started to receive light burns but it looked like he had lost the ability to feel pain

"hmm?" he turned to Nevata "lets go"

The two came out, father and daughter. As the daughter still couldn't wrap her head around what was really happening she ambled forward nonetheless.

"what if it becomes day and night according to his will?" she said to herself.

They walked for a long time with only silence as the accompany. As they walked further away from the tree house a shade of darkness welcomed their journey.

As they kept moving the landscape kept getting stranger and stanger spotting monsters that nevata had never seen or experienced before, she quickly walked closer to aggrwill to assure her protection

Expecting Aggrwill to talk he never did and hours had passed.

Suddenly Nevata broke the silence.

"Aggrwill?"

But getting no response she continued "Aggrwill!!",

"…."

"AGGRWILLLL"

"….."

"Hmmm…. Dad?" she finally said

"do you know what mana really is?" he asked with a dense tone.

"well it's what helps me summon my fire and water elements" she said but still got no response from her father

"....."

So she added "or basically the basic energy that makes up this world…?"

"what is the Arcane" he asked

"well I don't know. Maybe the title of a book in your old dusty house" she said in a rude tone as she kept following her dad.

"wait….that's weird. We've been walking for a very long time but no monster has approached us" she said in her thought as she realised that all living organisms cleared the path or rushed out of the radius marked by Aggrwill's aura.

"Dad where are we going?" she asked again but still got no reply

"Why do you think mana was created" he asked

"Well, I just think it came along with everything followed by life just like the creation story says even though we have different stories and still trying our best to find the real meaning behind it" she said

"Creation story?" Aggrwill asked.

"Yes, the story about us beings…" she added

"What do you think controls and makes the laws of our mythology" he questioned her again

"well…mana?" she answered with a bit of hesitation

"wrong…" he said

"Sorry what?" she was baffled

"I'll asked again what do you think mana was created to do exactly"

"well it just came… I don't know? We use it and that's all that really matters… like literally as long as we use it to do our dirty work what else matters" she said in frustration while swinging her arms in an unpredictable rhythm.

"…" silence creeped in but she soon broke the silence

"say something!!!!!!, hellooo!" she then walked

The two kept walking for miles until they reached a darker zone which was densed with energy, and killing intent.

Suddenly Aggrwill halted in his steps "I'll ask again what is mana to you?"

"A…" Before Nevata could even voice out a word, she saw her right arm flying off, away from her body with blood spilling out of her open wound.

She turned to her wound with a frozen face while her blood kept spilling painting her face and the ground red.

"Aaaaaaaaarghhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed but then Aggrwill didn't mind raising his claws and brought them down causing a huge energy slash at Nevata but she narrowly dodged his death slash from above by jumping out of the way. Using her left arm, she summoned water blades and projected them towards Aggrwill only to have thwm evaporate as they reached his body. Without sparing her a single moment of respite, Aggrwill raised his claws up changing the landscape to a slope in the process and causing Nevata to be thrown of her feet. Aggrwill finished his combo by bringing his claws down causing the landscape to fall towards the ground.

When Nevata saw this she almost froze as she watched the power of Aggrwill unfold before her eyes "so this is his power, wait? He isn't even trying" as she saw Aggrwill standing at the same place.

Nevata morphed into her Nexie form and started fleeing away but noticing that she was losing a lot of blood she quickly flew deeper into the forest and settled down at a tree next to a water pond. She held the blood back by leveraging her control over the water element then she tore a piece of her leather cloth. Gritting her teeth, she tied her wound causing her a lot of pain and the blood to stop "aMmmm…!"

Sh.shs..hs!

Nevata heard a sound coming from the bushes she quickly turned as she extracted water from the pond while slowly taking steps back ready to face whatever monstrosity that would lunge out

"come out Aggrwill I know that you are hiding in there" she taunted.

Suddenly, as she took more steps back she felt her back pushing against something, quickly she turned only to find tree.

"haaa he isn't here I have to go get Oric!" 

She took flight heading towards Oric.

Out of nowhere, a huge tree's vine slammed her into the pond causing her to cough out blood as she splashed into the pond.

Inside the pond, small vines coiled around her dragging her down. She struggled about to resist and escape but then a sharp spike-like vine impaled her from the back draining the vestiges of her energy.

The vines then brought her motionless body out of the water. Throwing her to the ground as her blood pooled beneath her.

"I have to get to Oric" she thought despite the nerve-wracking pain coursing through her being

The monster rotated her body to be face to face with none other than Aggrwill who stayed there stoic and calm as though nothing ever happened.

"Never give your enemy your blind spots" he said Gzinging coldly at the dying daughter

Nevata's lips cracked into a smile as she spat her blood at Aggrwill

"never let your guard down"

 Conjuring the last of her mana, she projected the nearby pond at Aggrwill but then all her high-pressure projectiles passed through Aggrwill like he wasn't even there.

"space and time huh…" she said as her view started to blur. She finally lost consciousness.