W-why did I get so upset? Why did I get like this over Zoe? If she's just… my sister. I thought, with an awkward silence that had formed after Markus's words. But what the hell is wrong with me?
Reflecting on the heat and anger I started to feel when I confronted Markus, I decided not to say anything else to him for the rest of the night, which Markus also did, making the atmosphere very heavy. For my part, I just stared into the darkness, as my own stupidity gnawed at my head over and over again.
Wait... What if I got this way because I like Zoe? I thought, before nauseating images flooded my mind, images that forced me to shake my head violently from side to side.
No! What the fuck are you thinking, you idiot! I shouted in my mind, feeling how that question created even more images where I stopped seeing Zoe as my sister.
Control yourself! She's your sister! YOUR SISTER! I finally said, calming down, and making myself swear in that very moment with rage that I would never again allow those thoughts to cross my mind.
Unable to take it anymore, and feeling suffocated in that silent torture, I decided to go down an hour before my watch shift ended, giving Markus the excuse that I wasn't feeling well. He, looking at me, simply accepted, telling me to take care as I was already starting down the stairs, annoyed with myself.
Arriving at the second level and opening the door to the room, everything was dark, because the sun had not yet peeked out. Feeling completely dirty from the things I had thought, I went straight to the shower without thinking much about it, but when I wanted to open the door, it opened, revealing Zoe, who was only wearing a couple of towels to cover her hair and part of her body.
Damn it! Why now?
Time seemed to stop, and we stood still for a couple of seconds, looking at each other without knowing what to do, until Zoe quickly closed the door, hiding and leaning against it as she spoke with a trembling voice.
"D-drake? W-what are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry, I came back because I wasn't feeling well." I babbled, as a familiar heat thanks to Angélica rose up my neck to my face.
"Ah… I see." She said nervously. "I'll be out, so please leave the room for a moment." She continued, to which I nodded without thinking, almost desperate to escape the situation.
Closing the door that led to the hallway, I heard the bathroom door open, followed by footsteps that made my heart tremble.
Why!? Why is my body reacting like this!? It makes no sense! I said in my mind, trying to calm my instincts.
With Zoe telling me from the other side to come in, I entered without looking at her directly, to prevent her from seeing the face I had at that moment.
Entering the bathroom, the air was still humid, smelling of soap and her, only making things worse.
Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Get out of my head!
…
A whole week went by, and that confusing, carnal, and instinctive feeling towards Zoe diminished almost as mysteriously as it arrived, bringing peace to my soul.
Opening my eyes, I was hit by a faint ray of sunlight that slipped through the upper window of our room, forcing me to close them again in discomfort.
Getting to my feet still half-awake, I noticed that Zoe was no longer in the room, wondering if she had gone out by herself.
I walked clumsily to the bathroom, and after taking off all my clothes I started to think about the things my sister might be doing out there, until the hot water from the shower brought me back to the present.
Coming out of the shower naked, I dried myself with one of the towels we had in the bathroom, until I stopped dead when I happened to see a figure in the mirror.
Wait… and who is this guy? I said in my mind with a mischievous smile.
Fuck… And since when did I get so hot? I thought, smiling as I saw my boyish body increasingly transform into a more manly one.
I guess eating my vegetables since I was little did pay off. I joked, as I flexed and posed the small muscles that were beginning to form all over my body from years of training.
In a better mood, I finished drying myself and putting on the clothes I always wore. Once dressed, I grabbed one of the rings from the small table next to the bed to put it on. Looking at it directly as I held out my hand, I knew this was the one that worked as a key, the pass to all the caravan's services. Then, I took Kadian's, the one that emitted that faint but constant signal to my parents.
Turning to the side, I reached out to grab the memento Angélica had left me, which were two feathers connected with a red thread for the hair.
Smiling at how they looked on me, I focused on the converter that was still on the table, the one he had given to Paul and me. Checking it, I noticed that the gem now had a more bluish color, making me wonder how much mana it had already accumulated over all these years.
Finally ready to go out with my usual equipment, I took Belarus, which was resting against the wall next to my bed.
Alright, now let's go find Zoe. I thought cheerfully as I headed for the wagon's exit.
Yesterday we had arrived at a small town, one of the many stops the caravan made to resupply. Pushing the door and stepping outside, I looked back out of habit, seeing nothing more than a simple wooden wagon, one that was no more than two meters high.
Even though Zoe and Markus tried to explain to me exactly how it worked, I still don't understand how this type of magic works. I thought, confused, trying to understand how something so big could be stored in something so small.
Once outside, I stretched my muscles while touching the little grass that was in the place, until closing my eyes I activated Perception, managing to locate Zoe not too far from where I was.
Let's see what my little sister is up to.
Zoe Rainhard's Point of View
"Thank you." I said to the kind human who had brought me a cup of hot tea.
I never thought that traveling without Mork and Ness would be so annoying. I thought as I took a light sip of my drink, and thoughtfully observed the distant rocky mountains that showed the border with the Kingdom of Dunumese.
We had reached our first stop on the way to Skiple, and eager to breathe fresh air I decided not to sleep, waiting for the exact moment we would arrive at the town to finally get out of the confinement I felt.
Now I was sitting at one of the tables in the town's inn, a rustic but cozy place. The sunlight on the horizon was rising more and more, managing to pass through a part of the plants that adorned the establishment.
Sighing, I watched as several people began to get out of the other carriages, where you could distinguish the wealth of those who were traveling near ours.
I don't have many memories of when I lived in Clifland castle as a child, but I'm sure that no person who lived there would dare to travel in such a rustic way as I am doing now. I thought, with a sarcastic smile as I remembered things from the past.
Taking another small sip of tea, my smile turned melancholic, as my mind flew back to Drake and his strange behavior of the last few weeks. His irritability, his confusion and his desire to get closer to me.
I didn't expect the Mating Season to affect him that way. I thought, feeling a lump in my throat from the guilt of hiding the truth about his mood swings from him.
In our race, when the women reach 50 years of age we begin to secrete pheromones, pheromones that aggressively incite the males of our race to mate with us for a season, something that is natural for us, but not for Drake, who grew up apart from the customs of his race.
I was glad he didn't know anything about this…. I continued, looking at the tea leaves floating at the bottom of the glass. Because if he knew, he would also know that we are not biological siblings, since those pheromones shouldn't affect him, as he believes we are direct relatives.
I sighed, pushing those thoughts away before they ended up consuming me. Well, not everything has gone wrong so far, since I was worried that Drake would use the Dragon God Fragment in the battles against the monsters, but luckily he hasn't done it so far.
Pensive about what happened in the last few weeks and especially about what happened between Drake and Markus, my finger distractedly traced the patterns of the wood grain on the table, until a hand rested gently on my back. Huh? Is he awake already?
Without turning, a familiar warmth ran through my body instantly, knowing exactly who was behind me without using magic. A small joy blossomed in my chest, but I quickly hid it behind a mask of neutrality before turning around.
"Well, well. I see you've finally woken up?" I joked, raising an eyebrow at seeing him with a different aura.
Drake had cleaned himself up completely, the sparkle in his eyes was not the same as in the last few weeks, and besides, he clearly showed a more jovial attitude.
Letting out a light laugh at my words, he sat in the chair across from me.
"Ha ha. So? What do you think of the town?" He asked, before calling the inn staff to order a cold drink.
"Mmm… it's nice." I replied, looking outside the window again. "Because even though everything is drier than at home, I missed a sparsely populated place like this."
"It's true, the journey is being more uncomfortable than I had anticipated." He said nodding, before the drink he had ordered arrived. "By the way Zoe, for several days I've been wanting to ask you a favor."
"Huh? And what is that?" I asked with curiosity.
"You see, I wanted you to help me with this." He said, while taking a small, irregular white crystal from one of his pockets, upon observing it in detail, I noticed that it was the runic crystal Kadian had given him for passing his Augury.
Surprised by his sudden proposal, a mocking smile took over my lips.
"Oh, really?" I tilted my head to stare at him. "Don't tell me the great Drake Helkar who boasts about his skills and experiences to Jael and Kaito couldn't decipher a simple runic crystal on his own?"
Upon hearing my words and the way I said them, Drake's face turned a deep red.
"I-it's not that!" He replied, a little flustered. "I never tried, okay? I just… thought it was time to investigate it, and I wanted to do it with you, because you already have a rune."
Letting out a small laugh, I saw how he shrank slightly in his seat, clearly embarrassed. "Relax, I was just kidding." I said, with a more sincere smile, which only made Drake blush more.
"But, it's okay Drake. Of course I'll help you."
…
Runic Crystals are incredibly scarce nowadays, as their creation is attributed to Liberto Ozdem, the first God of Spirits, and the same one who discovered the Liberto Fruit. Kadian had access to that type of Crystals only because he was royalty, so, from his recent travels before Boris's betrayal, he kept two crystals along with other things in secret places to prevent them from being stolen from his room in the castle, so when we fled the capital of Clifland, we had to visit those places to retrieve them.
According to the records in the books, Liberto lived in the Tree of the Beginning, and it was there that he realized that mana crystals with an extreme level of compression could be altered, to thus force a person's body to acquire a rune when this mana was released.
The process is a bit risky, because if you don't have enough strength to control the mana it releases, you can suffer failures or changes in your mana core, something that would affect the rest of your body.
"Listen Drake, a Rune is generated in the body in a similar way to creating a spell." I said, sitting on a rock near a tree, a little away from the caravan and the people. "When the mana from the crystal is released, you have to control it and divert it to a point in your body, and if you keep it there, it will become a rune."
"What? But that doesn't sound as complicated as you said at the inn?" He said with a confused face.
"Yes, I know it doesn't sound complicated, because it really isn't." I admitted, seeing how his confusion only grew. "These crystals are already programmed to become a rune, the real danger is in the control."
"I understand, or I think I do. But if it's like a spell, does that mean I can decide which rune I want?" He asked with curiosity as his eyes shone as if this were a wish.
"No no no, that's not how it works." I replied shaking my head. "Runes are not chosen Drake. It's more like it chooses you. It adapts and is formed from the nature of your own mana, so you never know exactly how it will turn out."
Nodding, although with a grimace of doubt, Drake took out the crystal to grab it with both hands.
I hope everything goes well. I told myself, a little worried before activating Perception.
Focusing on the surroundings, I felt how the ambient mana flowed around us, before finally focusing on Drake.
Closing his eyes, Drake began to flow pure mana from his core, then directing it towards his hands and imbuing it into the crystal. Upon direct exposure, it responded almost immediately, glowing faintly with a purple light that extinguished after a few seconds.
Space mana…. I thought, recognizing the nature of the magic lock.
"Stop, you won't be able to open it." I told him, making Drake stop and quickly get confused. "That Runic Crystal requires space mana, and you won't be able to reach it until you at least reach Legend rank, since our race can only feel that type of mana when we reach that degree of understanding."
Getting to my feet, I let out a sigh of resignation. "Well, at least we tried." I said out loud, more to myself than to him. Increasing the range of my Perception, I started to look for what we could do in the town until the caravan departed at night.
"Wait." He said, cutting off my thoughts and steps. "Huh? What's wrong?" I turned to look at him, and as I did, I noticed his head was down, with a fixed gaze on the ground while it was clear he was thinking about something.
"I can open it." He continued in a low voice, looking up to meet my eyes directly and then standing up. "I can open it but… I will need you not to be scared or surprised by what is going to happen."
What? But what is he talking about? I thought, a little nervous because of the strange behavior he had, since it was not at all common to see him in such a serious state.
As I wanted to get closer to ask him directly what was wrong I stopped instantly, because of a clear change in him….
D-Dr-Drake?
His warm and familiar presence that I always recognized as well as my own had been extinguished in an instant, causing an icy chill to run down my spine as my breath caught.
I retreated instinctively, tripping on a tree root and falling heavily to the ground.
My eyes, wide with panic, saw the same Drake next to the rock, but… covered by a completely different mana, an oppressive and violent mana that I felt thanks to Perception, a mana I didn't want to remember, a mana that was the same as that of the demon who murdered my parents.
"I-it can't be." I whispered weakly, until desperation overwhelmed me as I remembered those moments that had traumatized me. "N-no… No NOO! NOOOO!!"
.
.
.
Next chapter: 29.5: Infiltrating Clifland