by Virlyce
“No,” Alora said, “that’s what I should be asking you. I was in a normal place when I woke up. You’re…”—she gestured towards the ground—“here. What were you doing anyway?”
“I almost died,” Vur said with a sigh. “I never knew training could be so boring.”
“You were training?” Alora asked, blinking twice. “What were you training? A dog? I don’t see it.” She shielded her eyes from the sun and looked around, but the only thing in sight was burnt grass, fallen trees, and Apollonia’s slightly charred mansion. “It burnt to cinders, didn’t it?”
Vur snorted. “I was practicing with my lightning bolt,” he said and raised one finger. “Before, I could only do this.” A lightning bolt that was as thick as a tree struck a cloud in the sky, causing it to disperse. “Guess what I can do now.” He stared at Alora as if he were a puppy awaiting treats.
Alora scratched her nose. “I don’t know,” she said. “Tell me.”
Vur puffed his chest out. “I can do this.” He pointed his finger at the sky, and hundreds of lightning bolts surged out of his finger in a conical shape. Alora’s hair rose into the air in all directions as sparks of electricity leaked out of Vur, jumping across the already burnt land. Vur lowered his hand as the lightning dispersed. “Did you see?”
“No,” Alora said, rubbing her face with her palms. “You blinded me. Human eyes suck.”
Vur frowned, his chest deflating. “It was amazing, okay?” He nodded. “I think I know why people train even though it’s really boring.” A wrinkle appeared on his forehead as he stroked his chin. “I wish there was some way I could have all the benefits from training without actually training….”
“Psst.” Stella’s head popped out of Vur’s chest. “Get rid of Mervin with that wish.”
Vur’s eyes lit up. “Right! Mervin,” he said as he tapped his chest. The genie king fell out of Vur’s back, and Vur turned to catch Mervin before he could hit the ground. “Can you do that? I wish I could have all the benefits from training without actually training.”
Mervin’s face scrunched up as he tilted his head back and forth with his arms crossed. “Eh….” He relaxed his body and shrugged. “Nope, can’t do it. You’re basically asking me to draw out your full potential, but that’s impossible for me. You’re way, way, way, waaaay too strong; it feels like your potential has no limit. If you were as weak as a peasant, I could do it.”
Vur sighed. “Alright.”
“No! Not alright!” Stella shouted as she flew up and pulled on Vur’s ear. “He’s been following me everywhere for the past few days! I hate him, hate him, hate him! Please, Vur, make any wish. How about wish for him to make training easier for you or faster or funner or effectiver? Heck, if you get rid of Mervin right now, I’ll personally make training funner, entertaininger, and effectiver for you!”
“Those aren’t real words,” Mervin said. “It’s more fun, more entertaining, and more effective.”
“Get rid of him right now!” Stella wailed, pulling Vur’s ear even harder. “He watched me when I slept last night. Do you know how creepy that is!? I even tried to feed him to Toothy, but Toothy spat him out because of how slimy he is and tastes!”
“I was keeping your nightmares away,” Mervin said, his face red. “No need to thank me.”
Stella snatched a fireball out of Sheryl’s runes on Vur’s shoulder and threw it at Mervin. “You gave me nightmares! I woke up and saw this creepy face staring at me with a huge smile—I thought I was going to be murdered.”
“Wait a minute,” Vur said towards Mervin, covering Stella’s mouth with his finger. “What if I wish for you to teach me how to grant wishes?”
Mervin tilted his head. “Are you sure? I could do that, but then you’d turn into a beansprout after you grant a wish.”
“What if I polymorph myself back?”
“No, no,” Mervin said, shaking his head. “Beansprouts can’t cast magic. Once you turn into the beansprout, you’ll forget how to polymorph.”
Vur sighed. “Darn.”
11
Tafel opened the door to the dining room while yawning. She stepped inside and looked around before sitting next to Alice. “Where’s everyone else?” she asked, taking a piece of bread off of Alice’s plate. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Have you thought about our bet?” Alice asked, meeting Tafel’s eyes.
Tafel flinched. “Why is that the first thing you bring up?” She shook her head. “Let’s eat first, okay?”
“Hmm.” Alice stared at Tafel with a lukewarm expression before grabbing a knife. She dipped it into a piece of warm butter and spread a layer over a piece of bread. The two ate in relative silence, just the sounds of chewing echoing through the room. Alice waited until Tafel was about to swallow before saying, “Vur’s training outside.”
Tafel choked. Bits of food flew out of her mouth and nose as she coughed and sputtered before glaring at Alice. Tafel wiped her face with a napkin, maintaining eye contact with the guild master, who had a smug smile plastered across her face. “That wasn’t a very funny joke,” Tafel said with a snort. “Vur never trains. I bet he’s taking a nap.”
“Really?” Alice asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why don’t you take a look at the garden outside?”
Tafel stared at Alice, trying to read the guild master’s expression. In the end, Tafel opened a portal beside her and stuck her head inside. The other end of the portal was connected to the sky above the garden. Below her, Vur was napping while Alora, Stella, and Mervin were chatting on a patch of grass that was surrounded by an area that seemed like a wildfire had run through it. Tafel furrowed her brow before pulling her head back and closing the portal. She grabbed her cup and drank a sip of water before facing Alice. “I was right. Vur’s taking a nap.”
“You’re not even going to question why the land’s burnt like that?” Alice asked. “It’s because Vur stayed up all night shooting lightning bolts out of his fingers.” She smirked at Tafel. “I noticed last night while you were sleeping, and I even gave him valuable advice on the benefits of training. To me, it seemed like he was upset at tying with Mary in power. Maybe he sees her as a rival and doesn’t want to fall behind.”
The cup in Tafel’s hand shattered, spilling water over her clothes, but she ignored it, her hand clenched into a fist. “Ri…val?”
“You’re making a really ugly face right now,” Alice said. “H-hey?”
Tafel stood up without saying a word.
“Where are you going?” Alice asked as she stood up, chasing after Tafel, who had stomped towards the door. “It’s pretty obvious that you’re mad, but if you’re thinking of venting your anger on either Mary or Vur, you’re going to lose.”
“I’m not mad!” Tafel said and bit her lower lip. “I’m going to train. In the garden. Where Vur is sleeping. With giant exploding fireballs that make lots of noise. I’m going to lose to Mary? Do you think that’s such an obvious conclusion?” She reached into a portal and pulled out a reddish stick with a red jewel mounted at its tip. “If I can’t beat her as a spellblade, then I’ll go back to being a black mage.”
“You remember she can cut apart magic, right?” Alice asked, sweat running down her forehead. Heat radiated off of Tafel, distorting the air around her and causing the room to feel like a sauna. “How is giving up the only thing that can hurt her going to help you beat her?”
“I thought about it a lot. Mary’s really strong, but that’s all she is: strong and fast. For her really outrageous abilities, she needs blood to use them, right?” Tafel gripped her staff. “She cut her tongue and spat blood on it to cut apart my magic. If there’s one thing I’m confident in, it’s my absurd amount of mana. It might not be as much as Vur’s since my imprint didn’t awaken, but it’s most definitely more than the amount of blood Mary has in her body, right? I’ll make her bleed to death from self-inflicted injuries with an overwhelming number of spells.”
Alice wiped her forehead with the back
of her arm. “Speaking of evil empresses that have to be removed from thrones…, are you sure you should be leading a kingdom?”
Tafel glared at Alice. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Alice cleared her throat. “Nothing,” she said. “Please stop radiating heat. You’re melting the floor tiles. And you’re making a lot of assumptions about Mary. What if she has a healing ability that replenishes her blood? She has an imprint too that’s supposedly on the same level as yours and Vur’s. Aren’t you taking her a bit too lightly?”
“I’m not,” Tafel said, shaking her head as the air around her cooled. “That’s why I have to practice. I have to engrain these phoenix abilities into myself until I’m doing them without thinking. I’m not like Vur who grew up with an imprint. I know I’m not strong enough to be his rival, but I refuse to let him see Mary as his!” The air around her heated up again as she left the room, heading towards the garden outside.
Alice scratched her head and turned towards the side where a suit of armor was standing with its back resting on the wall. “She was a lot easier to provoke than I thought.”
“Isn’t she?” Mr. Skelly asked, raising the helmet covering his head. “Do you really think this’ll work?”
“That ancient book on devil summoning was right, wasn’t it?” Alice asked. “Then I don’t see a reason why this book’s methods wouldn’t work.”
Mr. Skelly rubbed his chin. “Well, it can’t hurt to try,” he said and shrugged. “But to think you’d help Tafel get stronger. I didn’t expect that from you after hearing about how thoroughly she beat you in a fight.”
“What?” Alice asked, placing her hands on her hips. “Just what kind of person do you think I am? Tafel’s a precious party member of mine. I might be a little bitter about losing to her, but she worked hard to get to where she is. She also received a lot of help and had a great background, but let’s ignore that for now. I want her to get stronger and become a true demon lord even if it means she leaves me behind.”
Mr. Skelly patted Alice’s head and smiled. “This is why I love you.”
“That hurts!” Alice said, pushing his hand away, her face flush as she glared at him. “Don’t rub my scalp with metal armor.”
“But to think there’d be a book on becoming a demon lord that was written thousands of years ago,” Mr. Skelly said, his voice low. “I thought demons were exclusive to the central continent. They’re not a naturally occurring species, you know? They’re humans who’ve robbed fairies of their mana.”
Alice shrugged. “Civilizations rise and fall. Maybe someone will independently develop a way to summon demons as well. It’s not impossible.”
“Yes, it’s not impossible, but it’s certainly very fishy…,” Mr. Skelly said. “Well, it doesn’t matter. Are we going to the library again today?”
***
“Oh, hey, Tafel,” Alora said and waved at the approaching demon. “Had a nice nap?”
“What are you doing?” Tafel asked, biting her lower lip while raising her eyebrow.
“I’m drawing doodles on Vur’s face. It’s not some weird summoning ritual, don’t worry,” Alora said, blinking twice. She stared at Tafel before leaning over, placing the piece of charcoal in her hand next to Vur’s cheek. Without breaking eye contact with the demon, Alora drew a picture of a dog in one fluid motion. After seeing Tafel’s expression, Alora furrowed her brow. “Does it bother you? Human faces are so unexpressive, it’s hard to tell.”
Tafel pointed at her eyes. “This is an expression that says, ‘Wow, that was a very impressive dog you just drew.’ I kind of wish I took art lessons when I was little after seeing that.”
“Lessons?” Alora asked, tilting her head. “I inherited this talent naturally from my grandpa—or so Grandma says. Maybe I can give you some lessons.”
Tafel’s expression darkened. “Right, I forgot. You’re Vur’s family,” she said and sighed. “And if your teaching is anything like Vur’s, I have a feeling I won’t get anywhere, so I’ll have to pass. I appreciate the offer though.”
“What do you mean? You’re Vur’s family too,” Alora said. She paused. “Are you not? Mary seems more related to Vur than you, honestly. She’s as simple and strong and—oh! I know what that expression means. That’s the one where you want to kill someone, right?”
“As a loving wife, I don’t make expressions like that,” Tafel said while smiling.
“Really? I was sure you were radiating bloodlust just now,” Alora said and rubbed her chin. “Hmm, reading expressions is harder than I thought. Dragons are so much easier to understand. When Mom’s mad, she glares at me. When Mom’s sad, she glares at me. When Mom’s confused, she glares at me. When Mom’s sleepy, she glares at me. When Mom’s excited, her tail wags. See how much easier that is?”
“No.”
Alora clicked her tongue. “That’s because you’re not a dragon. You’re a phoenix, right?” She snorted. “Those dumb birds can’t even smile because of their beaks.”
“You’d think that’d be the case,” Tafel said, furrowing her brow as she recalled Minerva’s odd ability to manipulate her upper beak and lower beak as if they were lips. “And phoenixes aren’t dumb birds. We’re very smart.”
“It’s a term of endearment,” Alora said as she picked up another piece of charcoal. She leaned over Vur’s chest and doodled on a scene of a dragon eating a phoenix. “Phoenixes call us stupid lizards, and we call them dumb birds. Then we kill each other when a territorial dispute breaks out, but that hasn’t happened in a very long time. There aren’t many of us left—there’s no point in killing each other.”
“You’re talking as if you were around back then,” Tafel said. “Didn’t you say you were only fifty years old or so? Have you ever met a phoenix?”
“I don’t have to meet a phoenix to know they’re dumb,” Alora said, rolling her eyes. “Just knowing their concept is enough: Feathers are flammable. Phoenixes produce flames. Phoenixes are their own worst enemy, are they not?”
“They’re not!” Tafel said. “It’s similar to how dragons are still able to fly despite being so heavy. It makes no sense to have such a dense body given how much time you spend in the air.”
“Are you calling me fat?”
Tafel bit her lower lip. “Were you the one who was sensitive about your weight back then?”
“What? You couldn’t tell? Are you saying all dragons look alike now too?”
“That’s not what I’m saying!” Tafel said and stamped her foot. “Stop twisting my words around. You’re the one who called me a dumb bird first.” She slammed the butt of her staff into the ground. “I’m going to start practicing now. Were you watching over Vur last night? Was he actually training?”
“No,” Alora said, causing Tafel’s expression to relax. “I was asleep all of last night and most of the evening and afternoon too. But I’m sure Vur was training a dog, but he accidently burnt it to ashes while punishing it with lightning, and he blinded me to get rid of the evidence or something like that.”
“…Are you sure you’re not misunderstanding something?”
“Mom says I misunderstand things a lot when it comes to taking care of the annoying trio like when she says to babysit them, I sit on top of them and don’t let them move, but she doesn’t know I’m doing it on purpose to make her stop delegating duties to me,” Alora said. “So, on the outside, it looks like I misunderstand a lot of things, but I’m actually pretty smart, you know?”
Tafel scratched her head. Did Vur actually train or not? She crouched next to her husband and frowned before placing her hands on his shoulder and shaking him awake. “Vur,” she said. “If you sleep outside, you’ll catch a cold.”
Vur blinked his bleary eyes. “Dragons don’t catch colds,” he said before brushing off Tafel’s hands as he yawned. He rolled over to the side and resumed snoring.
Tafel rolled him back onto his back and shook him awake again. “Vur, what were you doing last night?”
Tafel blinked. In the time it took her to regain her senses, Vur had fallen back asleep. She shook him awake again. “Why?”
“Because I can,” Vur said. “I want to sleep.”
“Wait, one last question,” Tafel said. “Did you succeed?”
“Not yet.” A tiny wrinkle appeared on Vur’s forehead. “Soon.”
Tafel shook her head, a wry smile on her lips. “Alora said you were training a dog, were you? And Alice said you were training your spells. Was she right?”
Vur frowned. “You said one last question.”
“This is really the last one.”
“But there were two.”
Tafel sighed. “Just answer them both, please.”
“I forgot what you asked,” Vur said, rolling over and breaking free from Tafel’s grip. “No more.”
“You’re not going to wake him up again?” Alora asked as Tafel stood up.
Tafel shook her head. “I woke him up repeatedly at night once for … reasons, and he hugged me in such a way that I couldn’t move an inch to even try to wake him up or break free.” Her expression darkened as she lowered her trembling gaze. “I couldn’t escape for two days.”
12
Tafel brought her hand close to her forehead and evaporated the sweat on her brow. She splayed her fingers out in front of her face and exhaled. “That’s pretty convenient,” she said and nodded.
“Why do you sweat?” Alora asked, munching on a rectangular piece of wood. Her teeth left indents on its surface and stripped away splinters that she spat out of her mouth. “You’re a phoenix, right? Those dumb birds shouldn’t sweat. Things only sweat when they become overheated like staying in a pool of lava for a few hours after Mom told you to get out—which I’ve totally never done by the way. Don’t phoenixes have a better way of cooling off?”
