It was raining.

Cori ran a hand over the cold glass of the window overlooking the yard. Her eyes were red and swollen. She wondered how to escape her situation. Her hand ran over the glass as tears streaked down her face.

A man was standing in the rain, his arm stretched outwards. He was holding a scroll the rain wouldn’t appear to touch. In fact, the scroll was glistening. Its feeble golden halo rejected the downpour.

Vidio furrowed his eyebrows as he squinted slightly.

A Quest promulgated by the Mana Congregation, he sighed.

Beritius was wearing dark clothes that gave him the most collected look. Vidio’s tunic, on the contrary, was creased and stained. Vidio’s face was poorly shaved. An onlooker could easily mistake him for some tramp instead of a member of the Mana Congregation. Vidio was a bird from another feather than Beritius and his finely shaved beard.

On one side stood an untidy youngster, on the other stood a nobleman.

Vidio relaxed his muscles as he ceased to let Mana flow through his body. He inhaled, stretched an arm and grabbed the scroll without any comment. His gesture betrayed no fear nor anxiety. Despite Beritius’ extremely oppressive Aura, Vidio’s expression remained just as lazy and listless.

Swine know no etiquette for sure… Beritius knew that Cori had a thing for this man, but he wouldn’t see what could possibly be so attractive about that shabby-looking one.

Vidio’s eyes quickly ran over Beritius before reading the entire scroll through. “You’re free to go now,” Vidio said smiling. He didn’t cast him a second glance. Beritius could be considered one of the biggest shots in the Mana Congregation. He already took part in the national branch of the Mana Congregation, while Vidio wasn’t even Master yet. Therefore, Vidio’s manners were to be considered quite disrespectful. If the Congregation hadn’t had such strict rules following a fellow’s murder, most likely Beritius would have already ripped his head off.

Even though Beritius could hardly bear the presence of the dishevelled, rude man, he made up his mind he would wait there anyway, just to witness Vidio’s expression change drastically as he read the Quest scroll.

“So apparently,” Vidio said as he put the scroll inside his Interspace Ring, “the Congregation wants me to clear a Dungeon and pick up some materials for our blacksmiths, huh? Second Phase Late stage monsters likely to be there, huh? Sounds fine. Count me in, fellow. No problem.”

Beritius was about to cough up blood. The unconceivable allusion to some sort of fellowship had shocked him. Nevertheless, he forced a smile and remarked: “Yeah, you’re definitely gonna enjoy it. I’d love to help you, but I’ve been so busy lately. Things to do, you know, when you take part in the Council…”

Vidio interposed immediately. That dude’s words bored him to death every time. “No problem. I’m sure that in your age, you always need to pay attention to waste the least energies. I see. Like, if you were too strained, your thing down there couldn’t raise its head, fellow. Oh, and by the way, if you need anything, I have some friends in the Alchemy Department, you know… you only need to ask and they’ll take me a couple of those Elixirs that can bring some youth out of even the oldest ones…”

As Vidio’s foul speech went on, Beritius felt an increasing urge to bite off the heart of that insolent man while still pulsing. He panted coldly and turned around. He was aware that, whatever he would say, that oaf would find a way to make him lose his temper anyway.

Never chat with idiots, they drag you down to their level and then beat you out of experience; this was what Beritius concluded.

After some more small talk, Beritius walked away and left Vidio with his almost finished bottle.

Cori hadn’t stopped weeping yet. She was upset about her near future. She just couldn’t handle it. She was her father’s only daughter, so there was no way out of an arranged marriage. None could have taken her place.

The corners of Vidio’s mouth curled up in an enigmatic smile as he perceived Cori sigh from the upper floors. Vidio shook his head, and the mist clouding his heart vanished.

Vidio snapped his fingers.

Bzzz

Something that felt like a shake made Cori let out a faint cry: “Ahhh!” She didn’t realize what had happened. She felt some kind of a calling though, that lead her gaze afar out of the window.

As she gazed into the gloomy view, Cori caught sight of a silhouette whose back was taking firm slow steps. It walked towards the horizon and show no sign to be about to turn back. Suddenly, the silhouette stretched up the right arm, thumb raised, without stopping walking away.

In that move, Cori recognized her Vidio. She could hear his voice tell her: “Everything’s gonna be alright,” as if he had seen her cry and tried to comfort her. The woman wiped away her tears and rubbed at her cheeks. She smiled. Even though he could not see Cori, Vidio felt her gaze and her smile fixed on him, and his heart melted.

The scenery changed again.

Vidio was fiddling with a skull that most likely had once belonged to some wild beast. He was walking through a forest. “Fuck this Quest. It’s a bore. A Dungeon filled with Demons, huh? Why can’t they be Succubus for once?”

He threw the skull through the air and kicked it to shatters. Then he cleared his throat as an evil smile spread over his face. He turned left and right repeatedly before digging some kind of book out of his Interspace Ring.

Helial leaned slightly forward to read the title of the ancient volume his master was studying. It must be some manual on the Dungeon or some Skills.

“How does the title go? Pic collection of naked milfs - All pics are sneak pics.”

Grug

Helial fell to the ground, cursing.

As one memory of his Master’s followed another, Helial couldn’t help wondering what kind of Skill could have led to his exile in Floralivory City. For how much he pondered though, he could only say to himself that his Master’s memories would lead him to any answer he sought, eventually.

“With this pace, it’s just a matter of time before he acquires this famous Skill.” A sudden idea flashed in Helial’s mind. “Damn, this means that fucking Devil wants me to see the Skill that got Vidio exiled. How could Vidio have created something so interesting?” Helial pondered how things might unfold, but in vain. He still had too little information.

Meanwhile, the kid had gone back to Helial’s Soul and was scrutinizing a string of pots suspended over gliding flames. He was wearing one of his bizarre chef hats. It was a rabbit pattern one this time. The pot was simmering with vegetables. It smelled very nice. The Devil kept stirring. From time to time, he would take a sip of the sup with a wooden spoon. “Not very salty,” he said scornfully, “but I can’t say the same about Vidio’s language for sure. Well, so much the better for Shithead. He’s already grasped a great deal of stuff really...” The Devil seemed to get lost deep in his thoughts: “Have you come to an answer about the Skill?”

With a clap, the Devil made his cuisine tools disappear. He had just grown bored of cooking. Another wave of his hand, and the scenery changed drastically around him. Now the kid was standing on a hilltop overlooking a clearing whose only ceiling was a sky full of stars.

“Another million years like this and I’ll be a nostalgic too…” the Devil said gloomily.

He took a few steps forward. He set himself at the right centre of the clearing. He lay on the fresh night grass, his hands under his head like a pillow. He heaved a sigh. “I tried to deny Destiny all my life, but I didn’t really do a good job, did I? Vidio, huh? Very, very interesting.”

The Devil stretched an arm beside him, expecting another hand to hold his. He did it instinctively. It was an habit he just couldn’t help, even after a million years. No hand touched the Devil’s. He clenched his fist and shook his head helplessly. He kept star-gazing. Those stars had witnessed every change the world had undergone beneath them. And still, after millions of years, they dazzled unchanged.