CHAPTER TWENTY
"It's quite a nasty curse but thankfully the magic circle is still holding up rather well"
Zarel commented as he inspected the silver magic circle on her palm.
"You say that all the time"
Kharis observed his actions while trying her best not to make any sudden movements.
"That's because it's true, I'm sure that sorceress had the hidden objective of killing you by planting such a thing in your body"
Zarel huffed.
"That Grisha guy was just too much of an idiot to realise it"
"I agree with you on that one"
Kharis chuckled.
"Who wouldn't"
"On another note, are you almost done?"
She watched as he altered some parts of the magic circle by manipulating natural energy.
"My arm will go numb soon"
"Be patient"
He ignored her complaints and continued on with his work.
"Is this really necessary, the magic circle was working fine before"
"Hidden spaces created by space manipulation sometimes have a different environment compared to the world outside the portal so we need to be prepared in case that happens"
"I am the one who engraved the magic circle so I'm responsible for making sure it remains useful"
Zarel explained without moving his eyes away from her palm.
"I'm almost do so just wait a bit"
Zarel spent the next few minutes altering a few aspects of the magic circle before inspecting its effects one last time and finally letting go of her hand.
"Are you done?"
Kharis asked after he stood up.
"Yes, this should be enough for now"
"Finally"
She was about to sigh in relief when his next words stopped her.
"There is just one more thing"
"What is it?"
She looked at him with very apparent caution.
"No need to look at me like that when it isn't something bad"
"It's one of those foul potions, isn't it?"
She asked, however he only replied to her with a smile.
"I will be right back"
He said before turning to leave.
"Where are you going, you haven't answered my question yet"
She tried to stop him but he ignored her and hurried out of the room.
"Looks like, it really is one of those disgusting potions"
Kharis sighed, it wasn't the first time he was giving her a potion, he always assured her that they were meant to enhance the effects of the magic circle but the potions he gave her always tasted so foul that it was hard to imagine that they were fighting a curse rather than aiding it.
"Here we are"
Zarel reappeared less than a minute later with a vial of green liquid in hand.
"What is that?"
Kharis pointed at the vial.
"Obviously, it's a potion"
Zarel walked back to his original position and sat down in front of her.
"Take it"
He handed her the potion.
"Absolutely not"
She shook her head.
"I promise that it won't be as bad as last time"
"I have a lot of past experiences and I'm pretty sure that's what you always say"
"No, it's not"
"I'm pretty sure it is"
Kharis retorted.
"I put in a lot of effort into making these potions you know"
Zarel sighed dramatically.
"What are you getting at?"
Kharis narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"You don't have to drink it if you don't want to but it's just..."
He sighed again while paying close attention to all her reactions.
"Just what?"
She could sense that the conversation was going down a very familiar direction.
"It's just that I put in so much effort and it's all going to go to waste"
He made sure to sound very pitiful while he spoke.
"Really?"
Kharis asked with an arched brow.
"What?"
He replied, feigning innocence.
"So this is how you want to play it"
Just as she had expected, he was going to guilt trip her into drinking the potion.
"Whatever do you mean"
"You evil ba..."
She quickly stopped mid sentence and calmed herself down.
"Did I do something wrong birdie?"
He continued to feign innocence.
"Just give me the stupid potion already"
"You should have said so right from the start"
He smiled and happily handed her the vial.
"It may be a bit bitter so it is probably best if you drink it all at once"
Kharis grimaced as she stared at the green liquid.
"I'm going to regret this"
She drank all of the contents in the vial and surely enough it tasted absolutely foul.
"I have tasted a lot of foul things in my life but this has to be one of the worst"
Her expression morphed into one of disgust.
"What did you put in there"
"It's a trade secret"
Zarel replied with a mischievous smile on his lips.
"Anyway, what's more important are the changes"
"Do you feel anything?"
"Now that you mention it?"
Kharis closed her eyes and focused on observing her body's condition.
"The effects of the curse have slowed down a bit and the magic circle seems to be drawing in a lot more energy from the air"
The magic circle served as a seal to restrict the effects of the curse and prevent it from going on a direct rampage throughout her body. The seal required a constant stream of natural energy as well as magic energy to maintain its efficiency, it was one of the things that made the magic circle as effective as it was, however, it was also one of its biggest loopholes. The seal works perfectly in an environment with abundant energy but in an area with low energy levels, the magic circle could lose most of its effectiveness or in the worse scenario it could stop working entirely. Zarel had spent many nights trying to create measures to prevent such a situation from ever occurring but he had only ever been able to come up with temporary solutions rather than completely eliminating the possibility.
"The potion seems to be working fine"
Zarel nodded in satisfaction at the success of his creation.
"It should last a while but I'll still carry some along just in case"
He mumbled in an inaudible voice.
"Thanks for working so hard"
"I say this all the you don't ha..."
"I know but there are just so many things I'm grateful for"
Kharis interrupted him.
"Then you can thank me when we finally get rid of the curse"
He smiled and patted her head.
"Then I'll be more than happy to accept your thanks, you deserve to see what the world is like without any chains and you are free thank me after we achieve that"
"A world without chains"
She repeated in a daze.
"Seems like a worthy goal, doesn't it?"
He chuckled.
"Yes it does"
A smile of her own hung on her lips.
"Now that we have our goal, we should take the first step"
"How are we getting there?"
she asked.
"I think teleportation would be a better option this time"
Zarel got up and held out his hand.
"Shall we?"
Kharis stood up and hesitantly took his hand.
"I'm ready"
She braced herself for the sensation that was about to invade her senses.
"Let's go"
It took only a second but in that short timeframe, all her senses were lost and her mind was left to wander. Kharis had teleported many times before including when she was powerful enough to do so on her own, however, she still dreaded the feeling of complete helplessness that assailed her during the second that was required to get to her desired location.
"Where are we?"
Kharis opened her eyes and stared at the sea of trees around her.
"From the looks of things, we should be only a few steps away from the location on the map"
Zarel answered as he let go of her hand and took a step forward.
"The traces I found are just up ahead"
As they began walking further into the forest, Kharis stared at the odd-looking trees with a bit of caution. There wasn't a single beast in sight which was definitely unusual for an area this deep into the forest.
"Isn't it way too quiet?"
She commented, alerting Zarel who was walking beside her.
"The beasts in the forest should have noticed us already but I don't sense anything"
"It's probably because I marked the trees in the area"
He explained.
"To magical beasts, a dragon marking would probably seem like the markings of a higher beast trying to ward off intruders so unless a beast chooses to ignore the natural hierarchy, this area should be relatively safe"
"Where is the first teleportation location?"
Kharis asked as they continued forward.
"It's somewhere within the marked area, the knight shouldn't be in any danger since most beasts usually avoid angering those above them and the magic in the amulet can deal with any rogues"
"If we happen to be close by, the amulet will lead her to our location and if not, it will automatically begin the second teleportation after scanning the area"
"It's quite a useful item"
Kharis mumbled.
"Of course it is, all my treasures a far above the average high grade magic item"
His prideful look was apparent but Kharis found herself unable to retort as she knew his pride was well deserved. Every single item in the mountains of treasures within the dragon nest was far above the realm of ordinary, it was a treasure pile that would shock the continent to its core if discovered.
"Now that I think about it"
She suddenly remembered something at the thought of the amulet's teleportation functions.
"What was the use of spending an entire day on preparations when we were going to just teleport anyway"
She didn't want to listen to any more of his prideful ramblings so she decided to switch topics instead.
"Well someone among us just so happens to require food to survive so I was nice enough to prepare some rations since I don't want said someone to starve to death"
"Aren't I the best?"
He asked and Kharis rolled her eyes in response.
"Natural energy happens not to favour humans so much"
She was waiting for his reply when she noticed that his relaxed posture had grown tense.
"What's wrong?"
"Get behind me birdie"
He quickly stepped in front of her in an attempt to shield her with his body.
"Come out"
Zarel directed his words at the trees in front of them.
"I know you're there"
"So you noticed"
A low laughter resounded around them from an unknown source.
"I'm impressed"
"Who are you?"
Zarel's eyes cautiously darted around while trying to locate the presence he sensed.
"No need to be so cautious, I mean no harm"
A man in a purple robe appeared before them.
"So you're the one responsible for constant changes in the Natural energy levels of the forest"
The man tilted his head sideways and looked at Zarel with a bit of interest.
"How interesting, you're probably not from this continent either since you don't seem to be human"
The man came to that conclusion after only a moment of observation.
"It's my first time meeting someone from beyond the ocean"
Kharis widened her eyes in shock and even Zarel wasn't spared as he too was surprised.
"How did you..."
"Now now"
The man clapped his hands and smiled, interrupting Zarel before he could finish speaking.
"We all know that black forest isn't a suitable place for a conversation so how about we change locations"
The man waved his hands, causing a blue portal to appear behind him.
"You are here in search of the library right?"
"Let's have a friendly chat before I show you around"
The man turned around and walked into the portal after indicating for them to follow.
"What do you think?"
Zarel asked.
"Should we follow him?"
"I don't know but he's the only lead we have and something tells me that he has a close connection to the library"
"If you say so then I trust your judgement, however, stay close to me all times so I can protect you, okay?"
"Okay"
She nodded.
"Let's go"
Despite his reservations, Zarel chose to follow the man into the portal. After one last look at the forest, he walked into the portal with her hand in his.