"You...want me to teach you rituals?"

  I glared at Alvir's puzzled expression. "That's what I said, did splitting your mind between so many rats turn you into an idiot?"

  "No, I've long since learned to respect my limits," Alvir shook his head. "Just, this is a bit sudden. We're making good progress on your magical studies, sure, but you're not such of a prodigy that we can afford to split your focus. Especially with rituals. You couldn't have picked something simpler like aether?"

  "The fuck is that?"

  "Not telling," he gave me a knowing smirk.

  I grit my teeth, but I tried to reel myself in a bit. I was being too hostile. Even if this bitch of a witch deserved so much worse, that was no way to get him to agree to teaching me more.

  "Please, oh wise one, impart upon me your wisdom," I said, derision oozing out with each word.

  There. Better. Probably.

  Alvir hummed and tapped his chin. "Well, I guess I could teach you a bit, but to be honest its not exactly my realm of expertise. I know the basics, like the circles for fire or finding the nearest water source and the like, but I'm guessing this sudden interest is driven by your mad dash for power rather than practicality"

  I pursed my lips, that sounded like another dead end. He gave me a calculating gaze and let out a hum.

  "Though I do know someone more...knowledgeable," He said. "I just don't know how willing Terra would be to help."

  I flinched hard at the name he uttered, something that earned a raised brow but he didn't comment. I let out a sigh. "Another witch?"

  "One who specializes in divination, yes. Magic alone isn't enough to mimic the blessings of seers of course, so she's spent however many decades dedicating herself to the art of Deals to compensate."

  "With demons?" I grumbled.

  "No, actually." The surprise on my face must've been quite amusing. "Though I don't know how kindly the woman would take to me divulging her secrets...bleh, is it really a secret if most of the coven already knows?"

  I leaned in, pure curiosity warring with my normal reticence, but this was something new. Something my memories from the game didn't even mention. "What does she make Deals with then?"

  "The World, and if she's really desperate, then she'll summon a fae."

  I scrunched my brow. "Come on, faeries, really? Do you think I was born yesterday or some shit?"

  "Believe it or don't, doesn't matter to me." He shrugged.

  I didn't need my elven senses to tell he was full of bullshit, but deals with the World? I...hadn't considered that, though it did make some sort of sense. If the World stopped orcs and the like from forcing deals unto others, then why wouldn't it make a few of its own? It was something worth trying, if I could figure out where to even start.

  "So can you get me in contact with her then?"

  "Hah!" Alvir laughed. "Fuck no! Not unless you're willing to get inducted to the whole coven. You might be my apprentice but...actually, that would make you more suspicious than not. Though I could ask our ever so glorious leader to bring you in formally?"

  He said that last bit fully expecting me to refuse, if the slightly mocking edge was any sign. Unfortunate for the both of us then that I cared more for getting rid of the imp than good sense.

  I looked him in the eye with a steel that turned his smile into a frown.

  Waiting, that was all I could do now.

  I wasn't...afraid per say, meeting the coven was a matter of course the longer I decided to stay in Anik. It was soothing in a way, having some control of my introduction to the gathering of evil. While Alvir was a bastard, I wholeheartedly believed him when he stated that there was worse out there.

  I just had to be careful, balancing necessity alongside the razors edge of safety.

  Alvir was capable of ending me with just a command to his minions, and I had to assume that there were at least three more that were just as dangerous. None of them possessing the strange affection for me as the rat-king did for his apprentice.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  But to feel fear?

  No. For once in my fucking life I knew exactly what I was getting into, and a coward had no place on the path I was treading.

  That was a lie, I had no fucking clue what I was doing, but I didn't recognize that at the time. A mix of rage, trauma, and desperation clouded any sensible plans I could've made to learn rituals besides this.

  Truthfully, I didn't know what I expected, that it would be a transactional relationship? That they would use me as I used them?

  Demons worked on that premise, not the witches that bonded with them.

  But I was committed, and damned be the consequences. There was a time, not so long ago, where I held a deep fear for a potential introduction to the coven. Was I brave or dumb for throwing that fear aside?

  Likely the latter, but what was done was done and now I had other shit to do.

  I was rather brusque with the innkeeper as I walked past his tavern/lounge to reach the stairway leading to my room, but he took it with grace. He was happy enough with the gold I gave him that I probably could've beat the shit out of his daughter and he'd still greet me with a smile.

  Greedy shit.

  I learned long ago that he was scamming the shit out of me, three months in his inn would've costed seventeen silver at most. A gold was equivalent to fifty-six silver at the moment (it got a re-evaluation every year), and thirty-three copper equaled a silver.

  I didn't know why the fuck the empire wanted to make their mathematically challenged population suffer by setting such random conversions, but I assumed it was a product of the Caesar's mental faculties.

  Or his court was filled with sadists, though they had to suffer the inconvenience all the same, so maybe it wasn't associated with the senators and their ilk.

  Not that my opinion of them improved with the thought.

  I shut the door behind me as I entered my room, a rat of white and black scurrying inside before it closed. I let out a sigh as I looked at the agent of evil, and it stood on its hind legs to give me a chitter. I grumbled and picked up the thing, placing it on my shoulder.

  "You better not interrupt my training, or I'll feed you to Xae."

  The rat let out something like a chuckle, followed by a dutiful squeak. Good enough.

  I sat on my bed and crossed my legs, letting out a sigh as I closed my eyes to get a better image of my spirit. Not that I needed to. I'd gotten to the point where I could keep my eyes open and see my inner self without too much issue, it was just the principle of the thing.

  Felt like I was meditating, and meditation brought focus.

  There were seven droplets circulating around my system. Truthfully I could've had more. It hurt, a lot, but not nearly as much as before. Adding more just meant the pain was distributed to more places at once, not necessarily that the pain was worse.

  Well, a full body burn definitely hurt more than a scorched palm, but my point had some merit.

  The only reason I wasn't adding more was to avoid having two overlap at once. That happened when I had about twenty circulating through my system at the same time, and when they did I felt like the pathway would actually burst. Not that I was panicking, couldn't panic when you weren't capable of thinking.

  Having seven still risked crossover, but the chance was much lower.

  I didn't know how it was possible for that to happen until I inspected my spirit more thoroughly. Apparently, the flow of my rivers didn't follow any set pattern, slowing down or speeding up as it so pleased.

  I could fuck around with it if I breathed right, but the process for that was a bitch.

  So I was waiting until the pain wasn't so agonizing before adding more, because the chance of being debilitated in the middle of a fight wasn't acceptable.

  Though I needed a few for growth, so in the end I compromised.

  So a bit acceptable.

  Now I was trying to actually grasp the pieces of shit. There wasn't a point to having them in my system if I couldn't do anything with the bastards. It was routine for the end of my day to try that shit since forming a droplet wasn't a challenge anymore.

  Took about a minute.

  I was making progress, though not nearly at the pace I liked. Where my normal mana followed my every command without question, the droplets resisted with a fury. It was a pain in the ass.

  I could influence them though, and that revelation soothed my worries of this pursuit being a waste of time. I couldn't grab hold of them, but I could slow them down some. Once I could hold them still, I imagined I wouldn't be far from actually making use of the droplets.

  After, of course, I'd try to munch on my demon.

  No luck there, unfortunately.

  Then came the interesting part of my day, I grabbed a bowl that had plenty of bloodstains to mark its interior. I didn't bother washing it considering its purpose, though the hunger from the rat on my shoulder was a compelling argument for sanitation.

  I pet the rat a bit before continuing my training. "What do you even get out of drinking blood? You're not a demon, or a ritual circle...actually, could you carve ritual circles on your body? Or make tattoos?"

  The rat blinked and turned to face me, seeming to genuinely contemplate the question. It shrugged.

  "Something to look into later then. Though I don't know how the fuck it would be practical considering it still needs blood, or whatever the fuck else rituals feast on."

  The rat nodded, and I turned back to my training.

  I raised my palm above the bowl. Then I slit it open.

  Blood left my hand and pooled into the bowl. Once I was satisfied I closed the wound with a quick application of mend. It was pretty great for small scrapes considering my tolerance at that point. Meant I could focus on what was important.

  I...thought at the blood, as hard as I could, trying to establish a connection.

  It took a while, but eventually I felt something, a feeling that was growing increasingly familiar with each passing day. I willed some mana into the feeling.

  Nothing happened.

  At first.

  Slowly, the blood began a reverse stream, heading up towards my palm. It took all my concentration not to lose control and let it stain the bed. Added motivation! Yay.

  I stopped pulling from the bowl once it was three quarters empty, knowing that if I took anymore then I was prone to failure. I held it there, a sphere of blood floating a few centimetre above my palm.

  The amount of effort just to control this measly amount of blood was monumental.

  But it would listen, because it was mine.