Aurora Scroll

A magic circle flashed with bright light and two people appeared after breaking the laws of physics.

“I almost forgot,” Viers asked while hearing the rain outside the building. “How’s Alan?”

“He’s well. Already a Level 3 again. He’s been helping me a lot,” Iz replied.

Alan was Iz’s friend that Viers killed. To gain Iz’s corporation, he sold the mist user’s soul to her. Like Farley and the others, Alan also had a brand new body.

“In the future, the two of you might meet again. So it won't become a headache, I didn't tell him about you.”

“Let us hope there’s no unnecessary conflict between us.”

Viers did erase Alan’s memories concerning himself before he gave the soul to Izabella. If one got killed and then revived, it was natural to have the intent for revenge. Thankfully, Viers had a way with souls.

Iz knew this, so she didn't open that can of worms. She didn't want the two to fight and she needed their help to achieve her goal.

After they returned to Stormberg, Iz led Viers to a house she prepared. The lantern-lit road provided a modest illumination. Stormberg had almost constant rain. During the day, it was quite bleak. During the night, it got even darker.

“...Quite small but it will do.” Viers said, while looking at the 3x4 two-storied house before him.

“Hehehe,” Iz smiled confidently. “Feast your eyes.”

The moment she unlocked the door, Viers saw the inside was bigger than the outside. At least thrice as big. The inside was quite luxurious too.

“I stand corrected,” Viers said while looking at the rooms. “Magical… You enchanted this yourself?”

“I’ve been improving,” Iz said happily, proud of her work.

“Space enchantments are among the hardest. Impressive”

Yes. This is good. The better you are at enchantment, the better for me.

Viers sat on the sofa and made a mental call. “Boram, follow the card’s signal to our lodging. I found a place.”

“Yes, Master.”

While Viers did gladiator work for a shady cult, he left Boram somewhere else.

After the call ended, he looked at Iz who was listening and cocked his head. The enchantress who dressed like a witch gave a displeased grunt and transformed into a black cat.

It didn't take long until there was a knock on the door.

“It’s not locked. Come in.”

“Excuse me,” Boram entered after hearing Viers’ voice. “Wow, nice place.”

“This will be our lodging for the time being. And look who else is here.”

“Chacha?” Boram looked surprised.

“Meow…” Iz pretended to be a cat begrudgingly. “Nyaaa!?”

“But… how?” Boram asked after suddenly hugging the cat, startling her. He had a soft spot for the cat he picked up at Marakkus City.

“Let your master maintain his mysterious image, Boram. Go on, take Chacha and look around. Pick your own room, then take a bath with the cat. Remember, I want the cat to not have a single dirty spot on her so give her a really good scrub.”

“Okay. Come, kitty, kitty. Let’s pick the room you like the most.”

With her cat eyes, Izabella looked at Viers with irritation. Viers enjoyed messing with her too much.

***

“I feel violated.”

“I’m sure my pure disciple only has the best intentions in mind.”

Viers and Boram spent the day resting after their travels. After Boram fell asleep, the cat slipped into Viers’ room and became human again.

“I don't blame him. I blame you!”

“Heh. All right, to business then.”

“Fine. Tell me what you want to enchant. You kept it very mysterious in the message.”

Viers and Izabella had a give-and-take relationship. The more prestige Iz got in the Blood Church, the greater access he had. The stronger Iz became, the better enchantments flowed his way. As a member of the Yasterah cult, she was in a position to get things that were hard to get anywhere else. Viers already made use of this during their earlier trades.

That said, he wasn't at Iz’s beck and call. If the enchantress wanted his help, she had to make it worth his while.

“As agreed, for the duel, I want your help enchanting this, Vice-Vicar.”

Viers placed a broken spear on the table. Iz expected something more remarkable and the spear was anything but at first glance. Not until she examined it did she let out a gasp.

“Have I gone crazy? Th-this is a divine item!”

“It may be, but a broken one. The spear’s original strength has been spent. What’s left is an impossibly sharp and sturdy spearhead.”

Viers called it the Spear of Leonidas. The spearhead had the pattern of damascus steel and the shaft was only a fourth remaining. Viers had used this spear as a short sword.

Viers told his story while Iz touched the weapon with shaking fingers as if she was touching an artwork that should not be touched.

“A relic of my past. During Aletro’s trial, I lent it to Jaime. He used it to defeat his nemesis. Later, I also used it in the battle with Anne to match her divine item.”

“That event changed our lives…”

Hearing the mention of Aletro made Iz recalled some memories.

“I agree. Even though it has lost its previous might, it remains an exceptional object. An empty receptacle, waiting to be filled with power. Previously, your skill wasn't high enough so I didn't ask. But if it's the current you…”

With challenging eyes, Viers locked gaze with Izabella.

“I want you to engrave this spear with your greatest enchantments.”

“I’ll give it my best,” Izabella said. “I’ll make you a weapon that will strike fear into any Level 5!

“Music to my ears. I’ll let you decide what’s best but there’s a gimmick that I want in the finished product. I want you to include this.”

Viers placed a severed hand on the table. Human hand. On the backside, there was a rune.

“This is Max’s hand,” Viers said. “You know him as Ivory Flame.”

“Oh, that guy,” Iz didn't react much about the mutilated hand. She had seen worse. “So you killed him too?”

“As Fate would have it. We met again outside of the Book World.”

“A rune… Not of the dwarven kind. Peculiar…” Iz was in her workmode.

“The rune made him able to do short-range teleportation. So here’s the thing…”

Viers told the enchanter his wishes. Iz already had some ideas how the result would be and consulted Viers. He fine-tuned Iz’s draft so it would better suit his style. They went back and forth several times. From her passionate eyes to her energized voice, the enchanter was clearly having a field day. Her passion was enchanting and she had been given a great raw material.

After they finished, Iz left in a hurry. She couldn't wait to start her greatest project.

“This will be even better than the arrow. Count on it!” She said after her figure had stepped out of the door.

“Break a leg,” Viers replied but he was pretty sure Iz didn't hear him.

“Now then,” Viers closed the opened door, locked it, put an additional magical protection in the room, and tapped his badges.

Futon, Faiya, and Dia emerged.

“Hello, my lovelies. I have gifts for you.”

The three showed their happiness with their body language.

“Fire Candies for Faiya, Five-flavors Cloud for Futon, fertilizer mix made from 100% Level 3s for Dia, and a bunch of other stuff.”

A bundle as big as ten kilos of laundry appeared. Some of them were things that Iz gave him earlier.

“Also, thanks for the help, Futon. You’ve been really helpful. Have plenty of rest.”

“Fuu!” Futon puffed himself up.

“I know you can still keep going, but a true warrior knows how to rest their body when the opportunity arises. Now then, there’s also a special gift for Dia.”

“Mmm?” Dia was already stuffing her mouth with Light Berries. Her cheeks were puffed out like a squirrel and slightly glowing.

“This is an affinity-granting item,” Viers extended a small statue. The bird was embracing a sphere bigger than its body. The sphere encapsulated a swirl of rainbow clouds that resembled an eye.

“Cost an arm and a leg, according to Iz. With this, you will have space affinity on top of your wood.”

“Yaaay!” Dia raised her hands. “Finally kin found it!”

“The space affinity is only 2, so don't expect much. We’ll seek upgrades in the future.”

“Don't mind, don't mind. Thank you, kin. With this Dia can blink-blink kin and friends better.”

To get this thing, Viers gave six names of the Blood Church members that were actually agents of various other organizations. Two had loyalties to their sworn rival, the Estellian Church. Exposing the spies and informants gave Izabella a ton of merit.

A guy knows a guy that knows a guy. The net of Viers’ soul search reached far and wide; its benefits kept on flowing.

Using those merits and a couple of others, Iz procured the item for Viers which he intended for Dia from the start. Space 2 was the best they could afford. Even though it won't be much use in a fight, Viers thought it would most fit Dia.

The dryad was in charge of Viers’ continent-spanning -eventually- teleportation network, a costly but very important infrastructure. That was mostly thanks to the Biome Master perk. Dia was able to open and close entrances to the Biome. Viers cooked up the idea of Gate Plant to exploit that feature. Something that was unreplicable with other Biomes because it was a plant Biome and Dia was sort of a plant.

Affinity 2 was pretty low on the scale of power. The lower the affinity, the weaker and more costly the resulting Arte. Dia wouldn't be able to displace enemies to the sea floor or rend space to erase her enemies. However, Dia should be able to do trick space wizardry and execute the insidious ideas in her master’s mind.

Power was paramount, but Viers and his allies had plenty of battle strength. Viers’ idea of power wasn't so one-dimensional.

“Yaaa!”

“Now, now, don't be jealous. Sometimes one of you gets the better stuff but that’s because it's their exclusive opportunity. You once got Twilight Fire and Futon Royal Thunder. This time it's Dia’s turn, understand?”

Viers assisted Dia using the consumable item and held her hand as she did baby steps with her newfound affinity.

“Remember, your wood 5 affinity and the Artes you’ve polished should be your only choice in battle. Don't try using space until you pass my quality check. You don't even have a single space Arte.”

“Un,” Dia nodded. “This is for support outside of battle. I remember kin’s advice.”

“Good girl.”

All right. Looks like there’s no problem with her second affinity awakening. The cash-in from all the support I gave her is satisfactory. Spear of Leonidas is also getting an upgrade. What a good day.

Viers put a lot of responsibility on Izabella not because of some mundane reason like friendship.

It was just the soul contract he put on her that bound her so tight that she would choke to death if she tried to betray or cheat Viers.

Viers knew it. Izabella knew it.

Based on what she had seen, most of the contracts with real devils from the Nine Hells were less strict.