A few hours have passed, and nightfall was already here.
Villagers in Galister didn't bother coming out for the rest of the day, likely afraid of the newcomer, and finding out she was a witch from the way she dressed.
Now, the cottage was quiet—too quiet.
Elen had lit a fire in the hearth as Seraphina slept curled up on a borrowed blanket in the living room with her staff propped against the wall like a loyal watchdog.
Her hat sat neatly on the chair beside her while Brunhilda lay in her bed, eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling in her room.
["You can only get a Grimoire if the world recognizes you as worthy. So that means slaying a Mythical Creature." Yeah, no big deal! Just kill a dragon or something before I hit puberty. Man, that just sounds impossible!]
She rolled onto her side, clutching the blanket tighter, but sleep wouldn't come, not when her mind was racing with questions.
[If I'm gonna be stuck with zero Soul Points, then I need intel. Monsters, affinities, anything that can give me a head start. And lucky for me, I know exactly where Mom keeps her secret stash of contraband books she used to read to me when I was younger.]
Brunhilda slipped out of bed as her glasses nearly fell off her face.
The floorboards creaked under her weight, and she froze, opening her door.
Seraphina tossed and turned in her sleep, mumbling something about roasted carrots before rolling over.
[Whew. Crisis averted. Operation Book Heist is go!]
She tiptoed past the living room, carefully stepping around a loose plank she knew squeaked like a dying rat.
Peeking at Seraphina, the witch's face was peaceful in the firelight with her blonde hair spread across the blanket.
Brunhilda swallowed hard and pressed on, sneaking into her parents' room.
It was darker here, only the tiniest bit of light seeping through the window.
She crouched by the bed with her small fingers reaching under it until they bumped against cold wood.
[Gotcha.]
She tugged and pulled until the edge of a heavy leather book was pulled into view.
The cover was plain, but stamped with a sigil of crossed swords.
Across the spine, it read; Bestiary of Arcana: A Compendium of Mythical Creatures.
Brunhilda's grin spread ear to ear.
"Jackpot."
She slowly crawled out of their room before opening the book on the living room floor, flipping through pages of hand-painted illustrations.
There were beasts with scales like iron, birds with wings of flame, and shadowy things with too many eyes.
Each entry was crammed with notes about their strengths, weaknesses, and most importantly, how many Soul Points they yielded when slain.
Her heart was beating faster the deeper she went.
[So this is basically the hunting guide for Soul Point grinding... Mom, you hypocrite! You hate magic, but you've got an XP farming manual under your bed!]
One page in particular caught her attention.
It was marked with a folded corner, like someone had returned to it often.
It was a massive creature; a wolf the size of a house, with jagged fangs and black and blue fur. Its eyes glowed red even in the illustration.
"Fenralis, the Dusk Wolf. A mythical beast said to prowl the borderlands between villages and wildlands. Few live to tell of its hunts. Soul Point yield: Unknown." Whispered Brunhilda.
Her glasses slid down her nose as she gawked.
[Unknown Soul Point yield? No way in Ezbrand's beard could a commoner like me take that thing down. But... maybe if I had help... or something I could use to defeat it? Oh, what am I saying! I need to be more realistic here.]
Brunhilda was so caught up staring at the book that she didn't even notice the creak of the floorboards behind her.
"Awake at this hour, Brunhilda?"
The voice breached through the living room like a spell as Brunhilda yelped, slamming the book shut so hard that dust puffed out of its pages.
Her glasses nearly flew off her face as she whipped around.
Seraphina stood in the firelight with her staff in hand.
[Wha?! No way! I was careful! How did she sneak up on me with a stick the size of a lamppost in her hand?!]
"I-I was just... uh..." Brunhilda clutched the book to her chest like it might shield her from a spell or something. "Reading?"
Seraphina tilted her head as her expression became unreadable for a moment—then she smiled.
"You have quite the appetite for knowledge."
She came closer with her bare feet silent against the floorboards.
"Are you sure that tome is for children if you're reading it so secretively?"
Brunhilda swallowed hard.
"U-Uh... It's my mom's!"
Seraphina chuckled, crouching beside her. She didn't try to take the book but only rested her chin in her hand as she looked at the title.
"Bestiary of Arcana..." She muttered. "Not the kind of bedtime story I expected in this house."
Brunhilda frowned, pushing her glasses back up.
"Mom used to read parts of it to me when I was little. The... less scary parts."
"Oh?" Seraphina smirked. "And now you're hunting for the scarier ones?"
Brunhilda flushed, shaking her head desperately.
"N-No! I just... wanted to know. About Grimoires. About Soul Points. About... everything, I guess?!"
Her voice had desperation to it as Seraphina's gaze softened. She looked like she understood the hunger for knowledge, given that maternal look in her eye.
She reached out, gently touching the closed book.
"Curiosity can be dangerous, Brunhilda Blackwood, and you won't find the knowledge you're looking for in this book, unless it's about the beasts of Arcana. However..." Her smile turned, now sly. "Knowledge is also the first step toward magic."
Brunhilda's breath caught in her throat.
[Wait—what? Did she just say... toward magic?]
Seraphina tapped the cover with her fingertip.
"Fenralis, the Dusk Wolf, is a powerful beast that is said to have a fate value so high that even all of mortal kind joining together wouldn't be able to stop it."
"Huh?" Brunhilda widened her eyes. "What is fate value again? I've always heard about it but... I never asked."
Seraphina smiled, sitting crisscross on the floor in front of her.
"Fate value is similar to Soul Points, but replace the leveling up part with reputation."
"Huh?" Muttered Brunhilda, tilting her head.
"Those with a high reputation, regardless of what it is, are known to have high fate value. You can be the evilest man in the world, or the most kind woman in existence, and it'll affect your fate value. Those with high value are naturally protected by fate itself."
"S-So are you saying you can't defeat the big bad wolf because fate protects it?"
"Mmm." Seraphina nodded her head. "There are three classes of value. Commoner class, like you and the people of this village, Noble class, like kings or queens, or maybe even powerful sorcerers, and then God Class, which is where Fenralis ranks."
Brunhilda's jaw dropped so far she thought her glasses might just fall right off her nose.
"G-God Class?! You mean like... actual gods?! As in lightning bolts, smiting mortals, and turning people into frogs if they don't do their chores?!"
Seraphina chuckled, shaking her head.
"Not quite. 'God Class' is less about divinity and more about influence. A being that the world itself bends around. Fenralis is one of them. A hunter of hunters, eternal and untouchable. Even if you gathered every mage in Arcana, the wolf would still run free."
Brunhilda tightened her grip on the book.
[So basically... boss fight DLC locked until endgame!]
She chewed her lip before lowering her voice.
"But if it's unbeatable, then why does this book even say anything about Soul Points? What's the point if nobody can... y'know, slay it?"
Seraphina leaned back.
"Because we mortals are stubborn. They dream of impossible victories. To record Fenralis is to acknowledge both the danger and the hope. Even if the yield is unknown, it tempts those desperate—or foolish—enough to try."
Brunhilda frowned, hugging her knees.
"...Then I guess I'm in the foolish category."
Seraphina tilted her head. "
"Why do you say that?"
Brunhilda sighed to herself.
"I don't have Soul Points, I don't have a Grimoire, and I notice how everyone looks at me like I'm broken. If the only way the world will recognize me is by fighting something impossible... then I want to fight something impossible!"
Her little fists trembled on her knees as she felt mildly ashamed.
Seraphina just studied her—like a witch peering into the heart of a cauldron, but then she smiled.
"...You remind me of someone." She muttered.
Brunhilda blinked, looking up at her.
"Who?"
"My younger self."
That caught her off guard.
"Wait—you mean even you didn't start with Soul Points?"
"No witch is born with power. We train, sometimes even die, and suffer for it. That is why the world fears us—we refused to stay ordinary."
Brunhilda swallowed hard.
[She makes it sound so easy. Like just 'refuse to be ordinary' and boom—you're a witch. If only.]
Seraphina reached out, grasping a strand of Brunhilda's hair from her face.
"Keep reading, little Blackwood. The bestiary will not hand you strength, but it may open your eyes. And when dawn comes..." Her smile turned mischievous. "We'll see if you're still brave enough to chase a wolf of dusk."
Brunhilda froze as heat rushed to her cheeks.
"W-Wait! You mean, you're actually gonna..."
Seraphina only stood still before standing up and walking back toward her blanket.
"Sleep now. Tomorrow, we'll likely speak of fate and fools."
The witch would lie down once more, pulling the blanket over her shoulder as though nothing had happened.
Brunhilda sat there, wide awake, clutching the bestiary hard.
[Did she just offer to help me fight a God-Class monster? Or was that, like, witch talk for 'go do your homework'?]
Either way, there was no chance she was sleeping tonight.