It was 5 am in the morning, I was busy working on my illustrations in the living room. Everyone was still asleep, I’m here grinding away at my work–

Not everyone.

Lucia was up.

Xe can move up to a range of 30 meters away from me without ‘falling off the ship’. Being an inquisitive pureborn, xe examined the various items around the home.

6 am. I decided to stop drawing.

I turned to Lucia who sat on the bean bag. There was a little impression.

Lucia has a corporeal form. Just that xe cannot be perceived by the normal person. Xe can move everyday objects as long as it isn’t crazy heavy.

So paranormal things happening in everyday life are caused by these tiny creatures? The scene of dozens of these pureborn demons haunting a mansion came to mind.

“Lucia.”

“Are you done?”

“Yes.”

“Then can you spare some time to answer my questions?”

“Sure.”

I appreciate the fact that xe did not disturb me until the end of my work. Xe was being considerate.

Hirs questions had to do with the world’s technology.

Lucia came from a more traditional world where people used gold as the normal currency of exchange. The image I had in mind of the kind of world xe grew up in is a Chinese fantasy where monsters roamed the forest.

Though I did my best to answer hirs question, it didn’t do much to help hir make sense of the world.

There were many things that I couldn’t explain due to hirs lack of certain common knowledge.

“You’ll understand it eventually. After all, you’ll be here for a while.”

“How long are you going to allow me to stay?”

“How long can you stay?”

“Until I find my dad.”

“Say if we do find your dad, I don’t know how to bring you to Tartarus.”

“There are gates that open in specific locations at specific times across the sea. The one to Tartarus is supposed to open just a few days from now. But because we’re going to save my dad, we’ll have to wait for another one to open up.”

“It’s like a crack in space time?”

“Yes.”

You’re saying Lucia can understand wormholes but not why people wear glasses?

That’s wild.

“Were you able to contact the angel?”

“Yes. And I forgot to tell you this but we’ll be going to meet him later.”

“Then.. be careful.”

“Thanks.”

Just then I saw a ball of brown hair come out of my room.

“Good morning big bro,” the elf said.

“Morning Lia,” I replied back.

“Grandma and grandoa is not up yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Then I’ll go take a bath first. Did you leave the heater on?”

“Yes.”

“It’s cold.”

“It is.”

Lia went to take a warm shower.

“That’s your etler?”

I nodded.

“You? Do you have siblings?”

“I’m the oldest in my family. I have a younger sister named Hannah.”

“Then you have a mom or aei.”

“I only have a mom.”

“No aei?”

“No.”

“Then have you informed her about this situation? Or is there no way to?”

Lucia shook hirs head.

“Then wouldn’t she be worried?”

“She’ll be even more worried if I told her that dad got kidnapped.”

Xe has a point.

“Good morning boy.”

“Good morning grandoa.”

“Morning.”

“Morning grandma.”

We went out to have breakfast at our usual spot after everyone washed the sleep from their faces.

Today was especially cold. The sky was clouded over with grey cumulus.

“I don’t seem to be affected by temperature.”

“Apparently not.”

Lucia had a change of clothes, xe wore a pure white dress today. I would have agreed that xe was a fairy if not for the other parts of her body which literally spelled out succubus.

Not that xe actually is one.

During breakfast, Lucia got to enjoy some of the bread, salad and warm drinks we ordered. I think to the naked eye, it would have seemed as if food was disappearing into thin air.

Nobody noticed the paranormal happenings. Lucia, sitting on the table, was also doing hirs best not to stand out.

Sometime in the middle of our meal, two guys approached us.

“Oh hey, nice to meet you here.”

“It’s the strange uncle!”

“Who are you calling a strange uncle huh?”

“Good morning Avner.”

It was Radingo and Ain.

“Are these your friends, Avner?”

“This is Randingo, and this is Ain. Yes, they’re my friends.”

Somewhat.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, nice to meet you two. How’s my boy? Is he behaving well?”

“He’s been a good help.”

“Avner, this pureborn here..”

“Xe’s Lucia.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll explain via text.”

I had only told Lucifer about it. So it’s to be expected that Ain and Randingo would be clueless. I suppose they’re going to leave to find that flower today, seeing how they were dressed to go hiking.

“So these are your other friends?”

“We’re from the same fleet.”

“What?”

“I’m not talking to you Lia.”

“I’ll go talk to them.”

I nodded.

Lucia flew over to Randingo and Ain’s place.

It wasn’t outside the boundary so xe wasn’t going to fall off. There are no angels around either.

Or, maybe there’s a submarine somewhere around? Either way, Randingo is a corvette so he should be able to weed them out.

[“You’ve got some explaining to do.”]

Let me enjoy my breakfast.

===

I didn’t get the chance to say much because I had to act normal. Lucia doing the explanation in my stead was a lifesaver– to an extent.

I just didn’t think xe would tell them that I was going to meet with Cain later this morning.

[“We’re going with you.”]

“Lucia.”

“I’m sorry.”

[“They’ll suspect me if you followed.”]

[“Avner, I know you’re strong. But you have to understand that you’re up against an advantageous party. It’s a trap.”]

[“I’ll contact the 7SEAS team if it really does become a trap.”]

[“Look man, you’re playing with fire here. Why not just tell Lucia to report it to the authorities? Go to the demon association and tell them that there’s a missing pureborn. Let them handle it.”]

It was the same thing Lucifer said.

The location of the demon associate is quite a shady place, from the info Randell gave me.

[“If I don’t get a satisfactory answer I’ll consider it.”]

[“Damn it. Fine. Don’t come to me crying when something happens.”]

[“I won't.”]

“What did they say?”

“Apparently I can bring you to the demon association. There, you can report about your missing father and a contract would most probably be made out. Still, I’ll see what I can do first. We’ll go to the demon association if we don’t get the information we need from my teacher.”

“Teacher?”

“The person who I said is an angel is my teacher.”

“So, your mentor?”

“That also.”

Lucia looked at me with a hard to decipher expression.

“I trust you, Shin.”

“Actually, Lucia, where did you get that name from?”

“Your cabin.”

“My name is in the cabin?”

“Yes. Both names, Shin and Avner. But Shin was on top so I thought that was your real name.”

“I’m Avner though?”

I have no idea what’s going on inside my head.

After acquiring permission from my grandma and grandoa, I left for school. Though, before they allowed me to step out of the condominium unit, they forced some healthy homemade food items on me.

Am I seriously going to visit Lynda again? I don't want to. Maybe I’ll just tell Cain to help me pass it over to her after this.

I strictly forbade Lia to join as the topic of conversation could get quite out of hand.

With an eco bag in hand, I took the ELRT.

Lucia, who probably has a phobia or trains now warned me to be careful. I double checked to make sure I brought all my consumables and supplies before stepping into the school gates.

{YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A MINE}

{WARNING: YOU HAVE STEPPED ON A MINE}

This isn't the first time Cain has caught me off guard like this.

Lucia’s body size changed to a normal human’s. Xe’s height was a full 10 centimeters shorter than mine.

“Avner.. what’s going on?” xe panicked.

“Calm down. We’ll go find my teacher.”

“But.. we’re under attack?”

“Not until they initiate a fight.”

Xe was semi translucent, and there’s this red phantasmal string which connected me to hir. I wasn’t sure if there’s such a rule stating that Lucia can’t leave my range past a certain distance.

Hopefully not, otherwise, if such a rule does exist, I hope the range would be large at least.

I came to the open roof.

“Avner.”

“Mister Cain, morning,” I greeted.

“Morning to you too,” he responded.

I turned to Lucia standing behind me.

“Do you see hir?”

“See who?”

Lucia crossed hirs arms and shook hirs head. So xe’s invisible to everyone but me?

“Nevermind then. Mister Cain, about the info.”

“I apologize for this, Avner. This was by Eugine’s request.”

Request?

A different voice boomed from behind me.

“It’s been a while since we last saw each other. Avner.”

Eugine came out from behind one of the rooftop structures.

“I heard the story. You had to remove the coronet because you needed to activate your system. That was a blunder on our part, I hope you overlook our mistake,” Eugine said sincerely.

I nodded.

“Let’s first clear up a few things. What exactly is your purpose for needing the angel’s database?”

“It’s to find a pureborn demon that was captured.”

“Is it for a contract?”

“A personal request.”

“How does it all tie in with finding specific fleets then?”

“From what I know. The puredorn demon was captured by a fleet of 5 submarines. One of them is a demon. I thought finding them through your help could narrow the search.”

“5 submarines? That’s a rather unique fleet. Alright. If that’s what you want, I’ll dig into the archive and get into contact with them. For now..”

Eugine took out a gold chain and held it out to me.

“I’m sorry. I’m not wearing it. Are there any alternatives?” I asserted.

“I knew you would say that.”

Eugine placed the chain back into his pocket with a smile.

“Then let’s make a deal.”

“What deal?”

Eugine took out a device and placed it on the ground. It began to glitch.

“Avner, that’s an interdictor,” Lucia said.

Before I could ask hir about what an interdictor is, Eugine continued.

“One test, one contract. For the test. If you can defeat 5 elites without killing any of them, I’ll let you off scott free. The contract will be discussed later if you turn out to be as good as Cain tells me to be.”

Contract?

Five angels drew close from different directions. Each had their own weapon.

“Five?”

Eugine nodded with a smile.

Defeating 5 might be possible. But defeating them while sparing their lives?

“I gave you a choice. You chose this Avner.”

“What do you mean by contract?”

I dug into my jacket to prepare the consumables.

It’s a bummer how I need to feel the gem to know what item it is.

“That will be discussed when you are able to pass this first test. Don’t pull the cart before the horse.”

How do I incapacitated five people?

“Lucia, is there a range limit,” I whispered.

“Range limit?”

“Will you fall off if I fight?”

“I don’t think so. I’m still in the cabin.”

“Hold on tight then.”

I drew Arondight in one hand and held the bombs Abby packaged in the other.