"And that was the last time I saw my brother" Erin said quietly
Her voice trembled
"From that day" she lowered her head "the villagers kept asking me to use god magic again and again"
"So how did you become adventurers?" Auel asked
"Umm, one day the village got attacked by a group of people, and then I ran away"
"Attacked?" Auel frowned "Do you remember what they looked like?"
"I-I don't remember"
Auel's eyes sharpened
"Everyone got killed?"
"I don't think so, because I remembered when I check it in the next day, there are several clothes and weapons laying on the ground"
"Like their body disappear?"
"Y-yeah, maybe because of god magic"
So, God magic can summon an angel can annihilate a single village in a night. I need to check it
"Stay here and take a rest" Auel stood up and walked toward the door
"W-where are you going?"
"To ask that bastard some questions"
He walked outside and shut the door behind him
Outside, Sihr was already there, leaning lazily against the wooden fence with his usual irritating smile.
"Need anything?"
Auel frowned
"How far can god magic do?" Auel asked
Sihr tilted his head
"Hm... far~ enough to ruin your day"
Auel clicked his tongue
"Can it bring people back to life?"
"Yes"
The answer came so casually that Auel froze
"Then why don't you resurrect the hero to help the world?"
Sihr chuckled
"Why should I?" His tone never changed
Auel become more annoyed
"I mean there is no need for the hero to be resurrected, the whole problem that the world have right now is because of humans"
"Corruption. Slavery. War. Greed. Human trafficking. Genocide, everything is caused by human"
"What do you think the hero will do to save the world? Kill all bad guys? I don't think he could do that"
"So, you're fine with everything that happen with this world"
"Hmm~… yes" he smiled "I don't really care what happen to human"
Auel's expression darkened
"What the hell are your goal?"
Sihr straightened
"I want to know the limit of human"
"Well, to be specific I want to know exactly how someone achieve something higher"
"You mean Batara?"
He grinned
"Yes, I want to know how human or a low race become Batara"
"I became Batara because I made contact with Gaia"
"But that makes me wonder can someone ascend without Gaia's direct interference"
Auel stayed silence
"So, for the first time I teach someone to use god magic, but of course it's really hard for a mere human to use it"
"Until a certain group interested in god magic, and eventually they kept learning to use it"
He said it as casually as discussing the weather
"And finally, it was a succeed, they could use it"
"But you know what make me shocked me?"
"They didn't die in the process"
Auel's eyes widened
"What do you mean by that?"
"They got no mark on their body when using the magic, so basically they only need a lot amount of mana to use it"
"And then this group started to conquer the world"
"Destroying every single kingdom who didn't want to submit to them"
"Until, one of the Batara that these kingdom worship annoyed and create a law to the world"
"A law that only Batara may use God magic freely. Any other being who uses it will be consumed by the marks until death"
Auel frowned
"Hang on, so you can create that kind of rule too?"
Sihr laughed
"Well~ nope. The reason is that guy is not a normal Batara"
"What do you mean?"
"He is the first ever Batara that Gaia ever chose"
"So there also hierarchy in Batara?"
"Hmm… I don't like to say it a hierarchy"
"But basically, if someone made a contact with Gaia, they will get a little bit of Gaia's power"
"The more you made contact with Gaia you will receive more of its power"
"So, because he is the first ever Batara he made a lot contact with Gaia more times than anyone else, which mean his power is beyond what I can understanding"
What in the hell are these creature
"So, you telling me that you search for someone who able to use god magic?"
"Yep"
"And now that person is Erin?"
"Cor~rect"
"But I know her limit, I won't ask her like those stupid villagers"
He snapped his finger and out of nowhere two scrolls appear on his hands
"Here, take these" Sihr threw to Auel
Auel took it and opened one of it
"What is this?"
It's fully covered with a weird inscription
"That is for Erin, it to remove her marks in an instant, so you can save her if she ever uses another god magic"
Sihr shrugged
"But be careful it could fail"
"What!"
"I mean, the mark is not created by me so it's hard to get rid of it"
"Tch… and what about this one" Auel lifted the other scroll
"Ohh… that's your quest paper; I have stamped it"
"You can go back if you guys feel better, I want go somewhere else"
Sihr turned and began walking toward the grassfield
Without looking back, he lazily waved a hand
Then he stepped into the tall grass, the blades swallowed him piece by piece until no trace of him remained
Though the field wasn't nearly tall enough to hide a grown man, Sihr was simply... gone
Left by Sihr alone, Auel went back inside to the hut
By the time he came back, Rikka was already awake
Auel explained everything Erin had told him, along with his conversation with Sihr
"DAMMIT" Rikka slammed his fist onto the table "that guy just do whatever he wanted"
"There is nothing else we can do" Auel said "even if we refused the quest from the start, he must have a way to trapped us into this nonsense"
"But it's just crazy, he wanted Erin to keep using this crazy magic just to satisfy himself"
"So, what you gonna do, kill him?"
Rikka gritted his teeth
"Argh"
"Umm… Auel you said Sihr gave you a scroll, right? M-may I see it?"
"Yes" Auel gave her the scroll "here, can you read it?"
Erin opened it and examined the inscription
"I don't get it, but I think Loran can help"
"Loran?" Rikka frowned "didn't you told me that he is blind"
"Y-yes, but I can tell him about what this inscription looks like and maybe he remember something"
"Do you want to asked him today?" Auel asked
"I-I think so"
"The let's get back now; Rikka and I will submit the quest and you will Loran about that scroll"
Then they went back to the kingdom and went separate ways, Auel and Rikka to the guild bar, while Erin to Loran's house
"Hey, what do you think we are?" Rikka asked Auel on the way to the guild bar
Auel glanced at him
"What do you mean?"
"About this gods thing, I'm not really believe in them at first, but after fought that nightmare and hear you explanation that make me realize"
Rikka stared ahead
"What actually are we?"
He clenched his fists
"Are we just, some kind of Gods toy?"
"We can't even beat that nightmare if Erin didn't use her power, but also that's mean her life is at the stake"
Auel silent
"I don't really know, let's just forget about this and try to not get involved with that guy again"
"Good afternoon, how can I help you?" the receptionist greeted politely
"We're here to submit a quest" Auel handed over the scroll
"Well thank you, please wait while I prepare your reward"
The receptionist went to take their reward
"Thank you for waiting, here is your reward" she handled them the reward "are there anything else you need?"
"Yes, I want to know about something?" Auel asked
"What is it?"
"Are there any adventurer named Narru?"
"May I know his rank?"
Auel and Rikka exchanged glances
Then "I'm sorry we don't know, we just want to know if he becomes an adventurer or not"
"Ok, please wait here for a while"
The receptionist went to check the book of adventurer's member from all the guild bar
She used a magic to fasten the search
Then he came back to them "I'm sorry but, I cannot find someone called Narru"
"Well, thank you" Auel said
The receptionist went to accompany another adventurer
"So, Erin's brother…" Rikka asked
"I don't know, let's wish him the best"
On the other side, Erin knocked Loran's house
Not long after, someone opened the door, it was Loran
"Who is it?"
"Ahh, it's me Erin"
"Mmm, what bring you here, Laura is still working at the library"
"Oh, no… I'm here to asked you about something"
"Well, let's talk inside then"
Loran welcomed her and went straight to the living room
"Tea?"
"N-no, thank you"
"Ok then" he took a sip "so what are you want to talk about?"
"So, I just got a magic scroll, and I want to ask about it"
"Scroll? Can you read it for me?"
"W-well, that's the problem, I cannot read it"
"You mean, that the inscription is not like from the other magic scroll?"
"Y-yes"
"Hmm… Where did you get that scroll?"
"Ah, S-someone gave me this scroll" Erin shook her head "h-he said that this scroll can improve my magic power"
"Well, wait a minute" Loran stood up and walked toward the bookshelf, slowly his hand moved, searching
His fingers traced along the spines until he pulled one free
"Here take this" Loran handled a book "this book has every single language in this world, maybe it can help you to understand what's inside that scroll"
"Well, I don't know if that inscription also written in this book, but you can ask me later"
Erin took the book "T-thank you"
After escorting her outside
Erin immediately went home to translated the scroll
Loran closed the front door and his face darkened
He returned to the living room
The moment he opened the door someone was already there
A man lounged on the couch with his feet on the table
It was Sihr
"Hi~ long time no see" Sihr smiled
Loran stared at him, his eyes fully open, showing his moon eyes, stars gleaming on his eyes
"Come on, why so serious?"
"You're the one who gave her the scroll right?" Loran closed the door and the air became colder
"That's right"
"Why?"
"What else, of course for my experiment, she is the best subject ever"
"Did you know, she still alive after using the god magic"
"Well, not for a long time for sure, but she is better"
"Way~ better than you"
"I remember that you always wanted to use god magic, but always failed"
"Until you saw Gaia yourself and then you can use it freely"
He stood up and laughed "But you saw that girl? That girl doesn't need to saw Gaia, and the best part is she didn't know her at all"
He kept laughing "And you need to sacrifice your eyes to do that"
Loran silenced
"You know that we cannot interfere with human anymore, right?"
Sihr tilted his head
"Who said that?" he became serious "That old man?"
"Then why he didn't stop me like last time?"
"You said that we cannot interfere with human, but now you are lived with them"
"Didn't that mean you breaking that rule too?"
"And have you forgotten, that this world almost collapsed because that old man interfered with human"
Sihr stared at Loran's eyes
"You're mad at me because I thought people to use god magic, but you're fine with that old man almost destroyed the world?"
The air kept getting colder
Then the front door opened, steps slowly getting closer
The door opened
"Hey, Loran, you there?"
It was Laura
She looked at Loran sat on the couch while drinking his tea, alone in that room
"What's the problem?" He asked
"The library wants to talk to you"