Chapter 200 - Vol. 3 - Epilogue

Three Days Later

Recently, the group had arrived back at Jade, and the difference in vibe and ambiance was so noticeable that Ash recoiled as she reentered it. As Ash had spent so much of her life here, she'd gotten used to it, but after her time in Onyx, everything here was so bright and vibrant that it felt blinding just walking through these streets. 

However, she had to, as she had a place she needed to inspect before they went to head for Amber.

"So, is this it?" She asked. Satsuhiro stepped up. The two of them were standing outside of a small house in the Spirit Gardens District. At first glance, no one would really believe this to be the home of a Savior, but apparently, it had belonged to Vermia. 

"Supposedly," Satsuhiro shrugged. "I don't expect we'll find anything life-changing in here, but let's see." 

"Anything we find helps," Ash said with a focused expression. "Let's see what's inside." 

"Alright then," Satsuhiro replied and with that, Ash walked up and unlocked the door, with the key Vermia had given to her. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the necromancer's house. 

And immediately, she began coughing. 

"Shit," Ash said, "no open windows or what? The air in here is so... stagnant." 

"Well, sooner we find anything of use, the sooner we can get out," Satsuhiro told her as he cast a fire spell and kept a small flame in the palm of his right hand. Ash nodded. 

Initially, it seemed like a regular place, but as Ash's eyes scanned the area, she quickly found a few leftover black books on a kitchen table.  Well, that screams "dark magic" to me.  So, she walked over and found three dust-covered tomes laying there. She wiped the dirt off of one to reveal a cover that read,  The Mysteries of Life and Death. 

"Okay," Ash nodded to herself, "looks like I've got something here." 

At the same time, Satsuhiro was searching the nearby cupboards. He didn't find anything of use and then he said: 

"I'm gonna go search her room. She's probably got something in her drawers." 

"Her drawers?" Ash asked with a smirk. "Looking for any old panties to sniff or something? Didn't think you'd be into that sort of shit." 

"Shut up," Satsuhiro replied as Ash barked out a laugh. As Satsuhiro walked away, her eyes went back to the book in front of her.  Okay, so what do we have here? 

As she opened the first of the books up, her eyes fell on a few bulky, intimidating paragraphs that she had no intention of trying to decipher. Instead, she waited until eventually, she landed on a page that made a bar appear over her head. 

Okay, so this is a spell. Which one though?

So, she looked to the book to read about what she was currently learning. 

Pain Amplification

Harm yourself with any nearby weapon as you speak the incantation for this spell. Upon completion, all Dark magic will be enhanced, strengthening them for 30 seconds (stacks with other enhancements). The more dire the wound, the stronger the enhancement. 

INT Required: 30

Mana Cost: 50

Incantation: May the blood I allow to fall be cursed, staining this world and marking it with my hatred.

Ash blinked. 

Whoa. 

As she read through it again though, she focused specifically on the "stacks with other enhancements" part.

So, this makes my spells even stronger? My Dark ones anyway... Well, it's a good thing that those are the ones I'm looking to learn. 

"Ash, I found something, come over here," Satsuhiro called out. 

"What is it?" Ash replied from the other room as she closed the book and walked over to him. She entered what appeared to be Vermia's bedroom. However, what she didn't expect to see was that Satsuhiro had apparently pulled some lever and revealed a hidden room of some sort, as a closet had shifted forwards and given way to it. 

"What the hell?" Ash asked. 

"Yeah... I came here once, several years ago," Satsuhiro said. "She would always go into this room but she'd tell me not to follow, so I wouldn't." 

"You never got curious?" Ash asked with a raised brow. 

"She was my teacher at the time," he shrugged. "I wasn't about to piss her off, and I developed a taste for Fire magic pretty early into my career. I didn't really care about what secrets she was keeping here. But," he stopped, "before we go in here, Ash, remember. This woman casually killed people for the sake of her research. Some evil, some not, some innocent, some not. If it weren't for her being a Savior, the Council would have placed a bounty on her head ages ago. What I'm trying to say here is to be ready. We might see some literal locked up skeletons." 

"Yeah, I get you," Ash nodded. "Let's check." 

"Alright." 

With that, the two of them entered the hidden space and, immediately, they came across some things. Three skeletons, long-dead, with their wrists chained to a wall. In front of them was a runic drawing of some sort, and to the left, there was a small altar with a book on it. 

"Well, sucks for whoever they were," Ash muttered as she walked over to the nearby book. 

"Vermia, Vermia," Satsuhiro shook his head. "Good riddance." 

As Ash went to inspect the nearby book, she narrowed her brows. 

"Wait," she muttered. 

"What is it?"

"This book... It's blank." 

"Really?" Satsuhiro's cane tapped against the floor as he walked over to see. "Ah..." 

"So, what's that about?" 

"This was probably where she invented her spells," Satsuhiro told her. 

Right. She'd said something about that before. 

"How did she do it?" 

"Well, as far as I know, there are two ways to create a spell. One is naturally, through your own living body, due to a time of great need, the other is like this," he gestured at the room around them. "Artificially, or 'forcing' a spell to be made. I don't know the details of it myself, as I've never concerned myself with spell creation, but yeah, that's likely what this room was for." 

"Hm... Anywhere we could learn about that?" 

"Amber," Satsuhiro replied. "It's where all the greatest mages live and have lived. It's known as the realm of the arcane for a reason. Once we get there, you should probably expect for your magical capabilities to be greatly increased." 

"Hm. Gotcha," Ash nodded. "Well, shit, looks like that's all we've got here. She didn't leave much behind, huh?" 

"No, there are a few other spellbooks in her bedroom, I just thought we should check this out first. Oh, and this, come here," he said, turning around and walking out of this section. 

Ash followed him and he took some clothes from a nearby closet. It was a black dress of some sort, covered in golden embroidery. It looked like something an edgy noble would wear, which fit Vermia well. 

"Hmph. Dresses aren't really my thing," Ash said. 

"This one should be," he replied. "It's enchanted." 

"Enchanted? What do you mean?" 

"Once a mage really hones their craft, they can apply enchantments of their preferred school of magic onto different items. The Council had once given me some enchanted gear, to help with my Fire magic, but I had to give it back to them when I retired. Well, when I first retired, I mean. Anyway, I'm not sure what this dress does, but I can tell it has some effect. Why don't we clean it up when we get back home and you put it on? See what it does, and all." 

"Sure," Ash shrugged. "Can't imagine fighting in this though, but whatever." 

By the time everything was said and done, they walked out of Vermia's house carrying five different spellbooks and that strange black dress. 

As Ash walked through the streets with Satsuhiro, she took a deep breath. 

"When are we leaving?" 

"Tonight," he responded. 

"Okay... In that case, can I go somewhere real quick? Before we go." 

"Sure," Satsuhiro nodded. 

On that note, as Ash dropped these things off back at the Savior House, she tried to leave the place as quickly as she could, just in case the person she had in mind was going to go to sleep or something, as old people tended to do. 

Before she could though, she was walking back out onto the streets, just outside, when a voice called out to her. 

"Ash?" 

Hearing Luvine's voice, Ash turned around and saw the half-demon girl standing by the door. She was wearing an oversized grey shirt and some black shoes that looked almost like boots. 

"Yeah?" She walked back. 

"Where are you going?" She asked curiously before jogging up to her. In her hands, she was holding a stuffed doll that belonged to Opah, that the other girl had shared with her.

Ash crouched in front of her. 

"Just uh... I wanted to go visit someone. Before we go. I'll be back in a bit." 

"Oh..." She looked down for a second. "C-Can I come with you?" 

"Yeah?" Ash asked with a little smile. "Why's that?" 

"I... wanna see the city." 

"... Gotcha," Ash said standing back up. "Come on then. But if you run off you're going right back to the house. Stay next to me." 

"Okay!" Luvine replied nodding eagerly, and the two started walking down the street. 

It took a while, especially since Ash didn't quite remember the way, but eventually, after Luvine finished gazing at the elegant architecture of the city around them, they arrived at an old church. Ash checked and found the door to be unlocked. 

Opening it, Luvine followed her in as she walked through. 

She found an old man, a little smaller than she remembered him looking, knelt by an altar to the back. Ash took a deep breath and walked up to him, with Luvine by her side. 

Kairo heard them and stood, turning around to face her and Ash swore he looked just a little older. 

"Ash," he said with a smile, "back already?" 

"... Yeah," Ash nodded. "For a little bit, anyway." 

Then, she heard a small sniffle sound and looked down to see Luvine tearing up. 

"Hm? What happened? Dust got in your eyes?" 

"Uhm... No, he reminded me of someone..." Luvine muttered. 

"Okay. How about you sit down for a bit?" Ash asked. "I'll, uh, get you something to read, I dunno." 

She nodded and did as Ash said, while Ash walked over to Kairo. 

"How did your trip go?" 

"... It went. That's about all I can fucking say," she shrugged. "Just figured I'd see you again before I come back one day to a clump of dust or something. I'll be leaving soon, too, so yeah." 

"I see. Well," he turned towards Luvine, "this place is far too boring for a child. How about we go to get something to eat?"

At that, Ash smirked. 

"All this time's passed and you're still just trying to get me to eat. Seriously?" 

"I'm trying to get you to pay for my dinner, this is different," Kairo replied and at that, Ash laughed loudly. 

"Fine, fine. Come on, Luvine. Let's go." 

"R-Right," Luvine said, hopping off the bench and running up to her. 

"And who's this little treasure?" Kairo asked. 

"Just... just someone who needed a friend," Ash replied. "About as much as I did." 

"It's nice to meet you," Luvine said, bowing. 

"Hahaha, how polite," Kairo chuckled. "It's a pleasure, little one. My name is Kairo." 

"Okay, okay," Ash said, "enough. Now that you brought up food, I'm fucking hungry. Let's go." 

And so, as Kairo told Luvine to not curse as much as Ash did and the little girl nodded that she wouldn't, the small group left the church behind. 

And, even though it was Kairo who had told her of where her parents could be before she got to Onyx, they were the last thing on her mind right now.