In a garden with lush green trees and flowers of silvery blue petals, two women sat in silence.
They both didn't look at each other, nor did they speak.
A small feather tinted with a bluish gold aura fell from the sky, landing on the palm of the woman with long black hairs whose ends seemed to have been dyed orange; her eyes, a perfect shade of light red, moved to gaze up.
Seeing no one above, she sighed and asked in a small whisper.
"Did you ever blame the one who gave you this cruel fate?"
"To bear this burden without any choice for centuries… Did you ever think it was unjust?"
The woman smiled upon hearing this question, her eyes hidden behind the silver crown filled with unknown patterns and flowery designs glowed softly as the suns light reflected upon them.
"I had been asked this question countless times, yet I never blamed him."
She turned to face Morgana and said softly after.
"I had a choice… That I could accept this fate or reject it. Just like you had chosen to know one of the truths this world has to offer by your own will, I too had decided my own fate."
"I was never treated unjustly, I just fell for his words… his ideas… and the hope he carried amidst the ruins of this world."
Morgana fell silent, her eyes still downcast, looking at the ground.
The woman seeing this gave her a gentle pat on the back and stood up.
The garden seemed to resonate with the woman's graceful movements as the flowers started to shine in a silvery blue glow, illuminating the space around them. The petals danced in the wind as the world around the woman seemed to have started to fill with eternal bliss.
Morgana looked at her in a daze.
She could feel it…
She could feel her fate more clearly than she ever had in her life.
The river of fate seemed to wash over her as she was near her.
The one chosen by him.
The one chosen by a god.
And the one who had carried a heavy burden from birth.
Yet she smiled brightly.
Morgana wished to be like her one day… To never regret her choices.
This was the reason… She accepted the truth.
*****
"Here, take this." I handed Morgana one of the skewers I bought from the stall near us.
She took it in her hand and held it in a soft grip.
"Thank you." She said and leaned forward from the bench she had been sitting on till now.
The sun had set completely, leaving only the moon behind.
I stared at her as she took small bites from the skewer. Her face remains as hard as a rock, showing no emotions. I truly wondered what truth she had been told that could shake her this much.
Morgana's previous outburst was not even filled with any emotions; rather, they seem to have been done with uncertainty, making it hard to tell her true self.
"Is it bad?" I asked.
Morgana nodded, taking another bite.
"It's good." She answered back.
Her words and actions were not in sync.
I smiled, pleased with my own observation, and took a seat beside her.
"Are you not eating?" She asked without looking at me.
"No, I don't have any appetite right now."
"Suit yourself."
Sigh…
"Take this." Out of the blue, Morgana took out five heavy books from somewhere and placed them beside her.
I stared at the bunch of books; suddenly I could feel sweat building at the back of my neck.
Licking my lips, I asked with a bit of hesitation.
"What is this?"
"Books, have you not seen them before?" She said, tilting her head.
Left speechless by her absurd question, I slowly shook my head, trying to make sense of what she was saying.
"I know what books are… But what are these books about?"
Morgana took another bite from the skewer, her lips for a moment going up, making a small smile.
"These four books are monster encyclopedias; they may not always contain their weakness, as that is hard to tell… but they contain general information regarding them. Like at what kind of environment they live in or what kind of abilities or even elements they are widely known to use."
"I, I see." I nodded.
"You should memorize them as soon as possible… and keep these books safe; they have been given specifically for you." She said with her brows furrowed up.
"And what about this one?" I pointed to the fifth book with an old, worn-out cover, as if it had been used several times.
"It's a language book… containing runic knowledge and the runes alphabet needed to use it. This language is what we use for rituals, a type of magic that can be used by anyone."
My eyes widened; her words echoed in my ears.
She spoke of a magic that doesn't necessarily need to be performed by awakeners.
Excitedly I inquired for more to know. "How does that work?!"
Seeing stars shining in my eyes, Morgana nodded and said in a small voice,.
"Have you ever heard of the term 'World of Abstract'?"
"I have indeed heard it, but what is it? Is it a different dimension, just like how spirits have one?" I nodded and asked back.
Morgana thought for a moment, then after a moment of silence answered back.
"Calling it a dimension is both correct and incorrect at the same time… World of Abstract is just as it sounds, containing all the rules, order, chaos, and concepts of this universe." She told.
"It's an abstract conceptual place…" I frowned and muttered slowly under my breath, then asked curiously. "But what does that have to do with rituals?"
"Everything… It has the most important connection with rituals. If I had to give an example, I would say that if our world is a theatre stage, then the world of Abstract is the backstage containing all the rules and truth hidden in it."
I nodded, understanding her words with the example she gave.
"So, the rituals are something that we use to borrow power from the world of Abstract. Am I getting it correct?"
Morgana nodded.
"Yes, you understand it correctly, but it is actually way harder than you imagine… Rituals are not efficient and take a long time to prepare to be used in the middle of any fight. And the chance of a ritual failing and giving unwanted results is very high as well for our world."
My curiosity piqued as Morgana didn't say for everyone or every place but rather our world. This also was told by the Witch, who said our world has too many restrictions placed on it.
But by whom? Or are the restrictions natural?
"How does it work? Do you have any knowledge regarding that?" I asked not with much hope; the information being told by her was very high-level and not known to many.
So, it won't be wrong to assume that Morgana herself was not aware of this.
"I do know how they work, just basic. I am not very good with rituals." She nodded and spoke in a soft tone, the skewer in her hand already eaten completely.
Throwing it away with precision to the side of the dustbin, she again turned to face me.
"The book contains some basic rituals and even some knowledge on their usage in our life… You should also read them later. But for now, listen closely…"
I raised my hand, stopping her mid-sentence.
"Let's go back to my house now… It's getting late, and, well, the knowledge you are giving is way too precious to be told in the open."
"Ah… you are correct." Morgana leaned back, her hand, which had been pressing the bench, moved back towards her lap as she dusted off her skirt.
Gracefully she stood up; behind her the fountain suddenly started to sprinkle water, creating a wonderful spectacle to watch. I could hear kids going near it with joyous, filled laughter.
Enjoying the beautiful scenery for a few seconds, I stood up as well and stored the books in my bracelet.
'Good thing this is as big as a room.' I thought to myself.
As we walked back, I suddenly asked curiously.
"Lady Morgana, you are highly knowledgeable regarding several things… Did you learn them after joining the Temple?" I asked.
Maybe I can join Temple as well… for such knowledge. Provisional joining or something of a similar nature.
Morgana, to my surprise, gently shook her head in denial. "I was an orphan and had been adopted by a great figure later on; due to this, I had the opportunity to meet many people and learn several things from many of them… One of them was the Master of the Tower of Babel's—"
"What's Tower of Babel?" I asked, making Morgana's eyes widen in surprise.
She turned to face me, her face not far from mine. She squinted her eyes in a menacing glare and told me. "Please, forget what I said."
I froze as I remembered what Franz had told me before— Morgana sometimes mumbled out unknown terms without knowing.
No, wait, maybe it's not that important…
"Um, I would forget it, but can you not tell me even a bit?" I pleaded with her, trying to do the same thing she had done to me.
"Please, teacher…" I asked to see her with a frozen expression.
"She possesses a great amount of knowledge on rituals… and has also made original rituals herself. I am not telling anything more."
'So, it's a woman… maybe a zenith like Elias or at least a transcendent like Morgana, if she is some kind of Tower master.' I thought to myself.
"Alright, I don't remember what you said from this moment." I responded with a small smile and nod of appreciation towards her.
Morgana's eyes twitched; once again she came to realize that Asher, in the end, was someone she could never understand.
*****
Reaching the entrance to my house, I saw the door was locked from the inside. I gave Morgana a small gaze before knocking on the door.
Knock—
Knock—
Waiting in silence, the door opened with a soft click. From inside, a woman with a small stature came out; her gaze moved up to see me.
"Oh, Asher, you are back. I thought you would come after some days now." Elda said sarcastically with a gentle smile.
Sigh…
"Very funny, Elda, but lucky for you, I came early. We have a guest as well." I pointed at the back, making Elda's gaze move towards Morgana.
"Lady Morgana, It's a pleasure to meet you once again!" Elda's eyes shot wide open as she saw her; she lowered her head in a small bow and added,.
"Once again, thank you for the help you had given me last time."
Morgana gently shook her head and spoke in a warm tone, which certainly had not been directed at me for a while now.
"No, I just did my duty, and Asher was the one who did the most, not me."
"Can we come inside now?" I asked, breaking her heartfelt reunion.
Elda turned her gaze towards me in confusion, unable to understand what I meant. Then realized that we all were still outside the house.
"Ah, yes, come in, please."
"We will be in my office." I said and led Morgana upstairs, who followed without any questions asked.
As I closed the door for no instructions and took my seat, I came to a deep realization.
'Isn't it happening too naturally? Morgana and I had been going on a walk or eating, and then we came to the upper floors like it was a normal thing to do'…
I shuddered as I felt a chill run down my spine.
Morgana gazed at me with a questionable look and asked,. "What happened?"
"N-No, nothing. I just thought something useless for a moment. Please sit, and let's continue."
Morgana nodded and took her seat in front of me.
"For a ritual, the main things needed are ingredients and sacrifice… Ingredients can only be related to origin, and the thing you are doing the rituals for to make a connection and sacrifice can be of different kinds and depends upon the contents of the ritual, but it can also be compensated with your own origin." She said, without wasting any time.
"So, if we just give the necessary origin, the rituals can work?" I asked.
"You can, but unlike artifacts, they won't suck your origin by themselves; you need to release it, something that can only be done as a transcendent."
"Hmm… It's getting late; you should read the books for more information regarding them. I have made sure to provide you the information you might need the most." She added.
I slowly shifted in my seat, feeling down now the lecture was coming to an end.
"Now, then, my next question… how do our abilities come to exist?" Morgana asked, taking me by surprise.
"Has the class not ended?" I frowned and asked, with my head resting on my palm.
For the first time since coming here, Morgana gave a genuine mischievous smile that was not subtle or
hidden behind the mask of her cold expression and spoke with a clear voice.
"The class has just started."