Luz remained completely mesmerized by
the floating light above the table.
The small glowing sphere slowly drifted through the air like a tiny star born from the night itself.
Its soft glow reflected directly in her eyes.
And honestly…
She looked like a child discovering magic for the very first time.
Which, technically, was exactly what this was.
"Wooooow…" Luz whispered again without blinking
.
King was staring too now.
Though mostly with the offended expression of someone who hated not understanding something.
"Alright," he declared while pointing dramatically at the glyph. "I have decided this glowing paper shall now belong to me."
"No," Eda and I answered immediately at the same time.
King crossed his arms.
"Tyrants."
Meanwhile, Eda leaned closer to the table with narrowed eyes.
For once…
She actually looked serious.
Very serious.
Her gaze shifted between the floating light and the symbol drawn on the paper several times.
Then finally—
"…How?" she asked quietly.
The room became calmer for a moment.
Eda gently tapped the paper with one finger.
Nothing happened.
She frowned deeper.
"It's just a drawing," she muttered.
…Well.
Technically speaking, it wasn't.
But I obviously wasn't going to explain the entire truth.
Not yet.
Because unlike regular magic…
Glyphs weren't simply spells.
They were the language of the Titan itself.
A way to communicate directly with the magic naturally flowing through the Isles.
And honestly?
That information was far too dangerous to casually reveal right now.
Especially when even I didn't fully understand everything yet.
So instead, I simply leaned back slightly in my chair.
"The secret," I said calmly,
"is hidden within magic itself."
Luz immediately looked at me with complete focus again.
Even Eda raised an eyebrow.
"In every spell cast by witches…" I continued,
"there are patterns."
I pointed at the glyph on the table.
"Shapes. Structures. Symbols."
Luz's eyes widened slightly.
Then suddenly realization appeared on her face.
"Wait…" she whispered.
I nodded slowly.
"At the core of every spell… there's a glyph hidden somewhere inside it."
Silence filled the room.
Eda crossed her arms while thinking deeply.
"So you're telling me…" she muttered,
"these symbols are basically fragments of magic itself?"
"Something like that."
Well.
That wasn't exactly the full truth either.
But it was close enough.
Luz stared at the glowing glyph with even more fascination now.
As if her brain had just unlocked an entirely new universe of possibilities.
Which honestly…
It probably had.
Then suddenly—
"THAT'S SO COOL."
…Yep.
There was the Luz reaction.
She immediately grabbed a notebook from seemingly nowhere and started writing aggressively.
"Hidden symbols inside spells… magic language… environmental casting…" she muttered at terrifying speed.
I blinked slowly.
"When did you even get a notebook?"
"I always carry emergency notebooks."
…Of course she did.
Eda suddenly smirked slightly before taking another sip from her weird smoking mug.
"You know," she said casually,
"if this glyph thing really works the way you say…"
She looked toward Luz.
"Then maybe learning regular magic wouldn't be a waste for you after all."
Luz blinked.
"Huh?"
I nodded slightly.
"Even if we can't use witch magic directly…" I explained,
"understanding how spells work could help us understand glyphs better."
Luz slowly looked toward Eda.
Then toward me.
Then back toward the glowing glyph.
And suddenly—
Her eyes started sparkling again.
Oh no.
That meant excitement overload.
"You mean…" she whispered dramatically,
"I can study REAL magic?"
Eda smirked proudly.
"Kid, you literally live in the Demon Realm now."
Luz immediately slammed both hands on the table.
"I'M GONNA BECOME THE GREATEST HUMAN WITCH EVER."
King jumped onto the table too.
"SECOND greatest."
"Keep dreaming," Luz answered instantly.
Honestly…
Seeing them like this was strangely relaxing.
For the first time since arriving here…
Things felt almost normal.
…Well.
As normal as life inside a sentient owl house could possibly be.
Then Luz suddenly turned back toward me.
"Oh right!" she said quickly. "How did you even discover glyphs in the first place?"
…Ah.
Dangerous question.
Very dangerous question.
Because the real answer would sound completely insane.
"Well, I learned it from a cartoon in another universe" was probably not the smartest thing to say.
So instead, I calmly stood up from my chair.
"I observed magic carefully," I answered.
"Every spell leaves traces behind if you pay enough attention."
Not entirely a lie.
Just… heavily simplified.
Luz looked impressed immediately.
"That's actually genius…" she muttered.
No.
The real genius was the future version of you.
But I kept that thought to myself.
Then I stretched slightly before grabbing my coat from nearby.
Luz blinked.
"Huh?"
"Where are you going?"
I put the folded glyph papers carefully into my pocket.
"There's somewhere I need to go."
Eda immediately looked suspicious.
"That sounds mysterious."
"Because it is."
Well… partially.
The truth was simple.
If I wanted to survive the future of the Boiling Isles…
I needed more glyphs.
More knowledge.
And most importantly—
I needed to start preparing now before things became truly dangerous.
Because the story had already started changing.
And unknown variables were beginning to appear everywhere.
The strange people from the alley.
The changes in events.
Even Fury almost catching us yesterday.
Things were no longer following the original path perfectly.
Which meant from now on…
I couldn't rely solely on what I already knew.
And honestly?
That made this world even more dangerous than before.
Luz tilted her head curiously.
"Can I come with you?"
…Ah.
I hesitated for a second.
Then I smiled slightly.
"Not this time."
Instant disappointment appeared on her face.
Honestly…
It was almost impressive how expressive she was.
"But," I continued calmly,
"while I'm gone…"
I pointed toward Eda.
"You should learn everything you can about magic from her."
Eda proudly placed her hands on her hips.
"Finally. Someone recognizes my greatness."
King immediately pointed at himself too.
"I ALSO DEMAND RECOGNITION."
"No one asked."
"CRUELTY."
Luz looked between me and Eda for a few seconds before finally nodding with determination.
"Alright."
Then she smiled brightly again.
"But when you come back…"
She pointed dramatically at me.
"You are teaching me more glyphs."
I couldn't stop a small laugh from escaping.
"Yeah yeah. We'll see."
And honestly?
Seeing her this excited about learning magic…
Made me strangely motivated too.
I slowly left the table while Luz was already bombarding Eda with questions about magic.
"So magic circles appear automatically?"
"Do all witches use the same kind of magic?"
"Can you summon dragons?"
Eda blinked several times.
"Whoa whoa, easy there kid. One disaster at a time."
Meanwhile, King had already gone back to eating without the slightest shame.
"Personally, I believe the important question is whether one can summon loyal subjects for their king."
Silence.
Then suddenly Hooty's head popped out from the wall.
"I CAN BRING YOU SUBJECTS IF YOU WANT."
"NO," Eda immediately shouted.
…Yeah.
This house was definitely insane.
I calmly grabbed my jacket before heading toward the door.
But just before I stepped outside—
"Pierc."
I slightly turned my head.
Luz was looking at me with concern.
"Be careful out there, okay?" she said softly.
…Ah.
I stayed silent for a second before smiling slightly.
"Don't worry."
"I'll come back as soon as possible. I can't wait to see what discoveries you'll show me when I return."
"Hehe, you don't need to worry either," Luz answered proudly.
"When you come back, you're gonna be shocked by my progress."
I looked at them one last time.
Luz.
Eda.
King.
Even Hooty.
…Yeah.
I would come back.
Then I finally stepped out of the Owl House.
The door slowly closed behind me with a faint creak while the fresh air of the Boiling Isles brushed against my face.
The sun was already high in the sky now.
And honestly…
Seeing this landscape with my own eyes still felt surreal.
The gigantic bone-shaped mountains.
The twisted trees.
The boiling sea in the distance.
Even after all this time…
I still sometimes struggled to accept that this world had become my reality.
I slowly walked down the wooden stairs in front of the house before pulling several crumpled papers from my pocket.
Different glyphs were drawn all over them.
Several types of glyphs.
I stared at them silently for a few seconds.
…It wasn't enough.
Not even close.
Right now, I relied far too much on pre-prepared papers.
And during the fight against Fury…
That weakness had almost gotten me killed.
I tightened my grip slightly around the papers.
I needed to become faster.
More precise.
And above all… stronger.
Before the real problems began.
Because soon…
Enemies far worse than Fury would appear.
And all the events that would eventually shake the entire Boiling Isles.
…Except now, because of all the changes I had already caused…
I could no longer be certain events would unfold the same way I remembered.
And that…
Was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
I let out a small sigh before putting the papers back into my pocket.
"Alright…" I muttered.
"First step: get stronger."
But for that…
There was somewhere I absolutely needed to go.
And that place was none other than Alador Blight's laboratory.
Amity's father.
With his help, I could finally put my plans into motion.
But meeting him wouldn't be easy.
After all, if I remembered correctly, he was one of the greatest scientists on the Boiling Isles.
He wouldn't waste his time on a complete stranger.
At least… normally.
Because unlike everyone else, I knew someone who could help me make contact with him.
Amity.
After all, she was his daughter.
With her help, meeting him wouldn't be impossible.
Though honestly… it still wouldn't be easy.
Amity and I weren't close enough for her to casually let me meet her father.
But thankfully…
I already had an opening.
After our meeting at the potion stand, she had bought me those sunglasses.
And afterward, she even told me that if I ever found more strange human objects, I could bring them to her.
And that…
Was my entrance ticket.
Instead of asking for money…
I would ask her to help me meet her father for an invention.
Simple.
Perfect.
Now all I had to do…
Was find her.
I pulled out a map of the Boiling Isles from my pocket.
I had borrowed it from the small bookshelf inside the bedroom.
This time…
I wasn't getting lost again.
I stared at one particular location on the map before nodding slightly.
"There."
Hexside School.
At this hour, she was probably there already.
It was still pretty far away though.
…But if I started moving now, I could probably make it before classes ended.
So maybe…
I could greatly speed up my progress.
I began walking through the forest path.
Leaves softly crunched beneath my feet while the woods around me grew denser and denser.
And honestly?
The place was beautiful.
But also slightly terrifying.
Eyes occasionally appeared within the bushes before vanishing instantly.
Strange creatures crawled along the trees.
Good grief…
I should probably hurry as fast as possible
If I didn't want to get eaten by whatever was hiding in this forest.