The Devil Within

I walked towards the ogre. It seemed afraid, it's no surprise. Compared to me, this ogre is nothing. A grain of sand under my boot. All of a sudden, it swung at me with its blade. A large blade, but it doesn't know how to use it.

I caught the blade in my hand and stopped it dead. It began to crack as I held my grip.

"Demonic Arts." I chanted, "Touch of Destruction."

Black energy leaked from my hand and seeped into the blade. It cracked even more under the pressure of my grip and my energy. It shattered into many pieces within the next instant. The ogre now had no weapons to defend with.

I darted at it and gripped it by the arm. My fingers dug into the ogre and made it bleed. With a sharp tug, I tore off its entire arm in a massive spray of crimson. Then I smacked it with its own arm. It staggered back.

"You have no way to win this fight." I told it, "You might as well give up now."

I thrust my arm forward and pierced the ogre's gut. It went through like it was paper.

"Detonation." I chanted.

All of a sudden, the ogre's body bloated up immensely. It kept growing and growing, until it exploded in a burst of dark energy. My arm was now soaked to the shoulder in blood. I'm going to have to wash this dress when I get back. I picked up the damaged bag that it was carrying, and tied it to my belt.

"Can't forget the reason we came here." I told myself, "Now, time to see if he's alive."

I walked over to Keita's body and listened carefully. I could still hear breathing, albeit only short breaths. He was covered in bloodied scratches and gashes, he didn't take the impact so well. It was a little expected, I did warn him after all.

"Keita." I called, "You're the first person outside of my family to talk to me in such a friendly manner. Even though I essentially kidnapped you and imposed myself on you, you still treated me as an ally. You're my first, and only friend. For that reason, I refuse to let you die here."

I suddenly noticed something. The wounds on his body, they were healing. I could see his gashes stitching themselves back together. This isn't normal, was it a side effect of him being magical? No, if that was the case, then my own wounds would heal like that. It must be some outside force. Within seconds, the wounds on his body were gone, almost as if they never existed in the first place.

"You really are a strange one." I commented.

Without thinking about much else, I picked him up and slung him over my shoulder. It was like carrying an empty sack. With Keita now in tow, I made my way out of the cave. That is, until I reached the blocked cavern. I laid my hand on the mass of rubble that blocked the way.

"Demonic Arts." I chanted, "Touch of Destruction."

Black energy once again leaked from my hand, and it blew the rubble away like it was dust. I continued to walk through the cavern, until I finally made it to the outside. My aura vanished, and my eye calmed down. I'd have to find another eyepatch before I can return to town. For now, I guess I could just use some bandages.

I placed Keita on the ground and looked in my pouch. From it I pulled out a roll of bandages, they were here in case someone needed some basic medical attention, but they'll do for this purpose.

I began to unravel the roll, and started to wrap the bandages around my head, making sure to cover my eye. Once I had rolled it around about eight times, I pulled out a knife and cut the bandage, then I tied it up at the back. It was tight enough not to fall off suddenly. Now I could get back into town safely.

With Keita back on my shoulder, I made the trek back into town. The streets were quiet. I continued to walk until I made it back to my home. After unlocking the door, I placed Keita on my bed and sat down. Even if his wounds were healed, there might still be something. What had me curious was what I felt from him.

When his wounds were healing, I felt an enormous presence. It was only for a split second, but it was powerful. It wasn't his own power, it must have been an outside force for definite. Suddenly, I heard her again.

"Come on." she whispered, "Did you really think that I'd believe you saved that boy simply because he's your friend? What's your real reason? Do you want to make him into our toy? Do you want to keep him as a pet? Or is it a more…personal reason?"

"Shut up." I told her, "I'm not like you, I don't make people my pets, or treat them as toys."

"Then that only leaves the one option." she replied, "I didn't know that that heart of yours could still be that way, what with everything that man put us through."

"I said shut up!" I barked at her. I couldn't hear her anymore.

Seriously, anyone would think that I was crazy, talking to myself like this. But, she made a point…what was the real reason that I saved him? Because he was nice to me? Because he's sticking with me?

Without thinking, I walked up to him and looked at him. His sleeping face was so cute. Wait…what am I thinking? But I couldn't help myself, I had no resistance to that peaceful looking face of his. I crouched down and poked his cheek. It was soft, like a bit of springy dough. I poked it again. He didn't even stir.

"Hmm…" I whispered, "Could you be the one I was looking for? The one who'd be willing to stand alongside someone like me? I hope that you try."

I stroked his hair and stood up. Then I walked out of the house. I made my way down to the guild. It was quiet there, and there was only a few other adventurers. I saw Erika sitting at a small desk near the bar. So I went there.

"Welcome." Erika called, "You're that new adventurer from yesterday. How are you enjoying things so far?"

"They're going well enough." I replied, "I have something for you."

I pulled out the notice and handed it to her. She opened it up and read it.

"The cave had an ogre inside of it." I told Erika, "Along with many goblins. They're all dead. I have the ogre's treasure pouch as proof."

I unhooked the pouch from my belt and showed it to Erika. She nodded.

"Congratulations for defeating such a powerful monster on your first adventure." Erika responded, "Though that was to be expected of a Gold adventurer like yourself. As the contract agrees, fifty gold for your trouble. Along with an extra five for defeating that ogre."

She pulled out a pouch and laid out fifty-five gold coins in front of me. I took them and put them in my purse.

"Where's your partner?" Erika questioned, "The Magus."

"He's resting." I replied, "He used up all of his mana and the ogre smacked him. He's fine though, he just needs to sleep a bit."

With that I left, and returned to my home. I went into the kitchen, and put the kettle on the oven top. A metal frame with some wood to act as fuel. It was safely bordered off and no flame would escape and cause a fire. Not wanting to find a match, I put my finger to one of the wood chips.

"Flare." I chanted.

Suddenly, the chips burst into flames. First tier magic is great for small things like this. I filled the kettle with water from the well outside and put it on the fire. It began to heat up. Meanwhile, I grabbed some tea leaves and ground them up finely. By the time that I was done, the kettle began whistling.

I grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and put the tea leaves in, half and half. Then I poured the boiling water in near enough to the top of each mug. With a spoon, I stirred the tea leaves in. Then I grabbed a glass bottle of milk and cracked it open, pouring a little into each mug. The drink was going a brownish beige colour. Unfortunately, the merchants had no sugar this week, so it looks like we'll be going without.

With two mugs of tea prepared, I put them on a tray and began to walk to my room. I could hear stirring from inside. Looks like he's awake.