Chapter 4: The Study / Our Secrets

Evan brought Rin down into the basement with him

“Why are we in the basement?” Rin asked

“The door to the study is down here.” Evan said

“Dad… this place is a bit scary” Rin said, holding on to her father's hand tightly

“Rin, honey, relax. Nothing down here can hurt you. I wouldn’t let it.” Evan said

Evan walked up to a wall

“Dad, that’s a wall…..” Rin said

“I know. Gimme a second.” Evan said

He put his hand up to the wall and activated the mana circuits.

“Are you sure you haven’t gone crazy?” Rin asked

“Aha. Got it.” Evan said, pressing a button

The wall dissolved

“Dad? What happened to the wall? What’s that bright light? It’s pure white…. It looks Like a Door.” Rin said

“It is, now follow right behind me, don’t let go of my hand. I don’t want you scared down here.” Evan said

“Actually, You wanna float with me?” Evan asked, remembering that it used to calm her down a lot.

“We haven’t floated in a long time! I’d love to!” Rin said, remembering the times in which he had done this for her before. It wasn’t very often. And it was usually because of something big.

“What is floating anyway? I never see it anywhere except comics, manga and a few of the games Tori and Tomi have shown me. I’ve asked before, and looked it up on the internet, but I never found anything. Except something about an electronic magnet that I didn’t understand. The only thing that fit everything perfectly would be saying it’s magic. Well, except one problem that the internet told me. Magic doesn’t exist. So what is this?” Rin asked, floating in the air weightlessly.

Her dad was In front of her, legs crossed, one hand was holding Rin, the other was just tapping.He seemed to be thinking of something.

“Sweetie, What would you prefer to do, if you had to choose? Would you rather learn the secrets of the universe, or be a uhh, kinda normalish student.” Evan asked

“Dad? Well, Um….. probably a normal student.” Rin said after thinking for a minute.

“That’s a relief. I can explain some stuff, but I won’t give you access to any of the knowledge that can help you any further than the second floor of the study.” Evan said.

They walked into a library, it seemed to have an endless amount of floors.

“Dad, what are you talking about?” Rin asked

“If you want more than what I’ll tell you in a minute, you can probably find a decent chunk of the general information you're looking for on the first two floors. This… this is an entry pass. You can use it to enter and exit all you want.” Evan said. He gave her something similar to an ID card on a lanyard, putting it around her neck.

“Dad what is this? You still haven’t told me where we are.” Rin asked, looking around.

“You asked me earlier to explain how I made us float, right?” Evan asked

“Yes…” Rin said

“Well, what you found out was right. It is magic. You can learn about it in general on floor one, and basic spells are on floor 2. I've blocked off the second floor until you are prepared for it. You can’t go higher than floor 2, ever, otherwise you won’t be able to live a normal life. You wouldn’t really be able to anyway, but still. If it’s Like this, nobody from some magic world will bother you, and you can reap the rewards of having magic. Also, please don’t tell your brother about this. There’s a bunch of rules, so try to learn them. I modified a version of this book for you, it might help with understanding what’s going on a bit better.” Evan said

He handed her a rather plain looking book. It was more of a manuscript, or notes, than an actual book. The pages weren’t even attached. She read the title. The god and The Demon. This was only a copy of the original book.

“I’m...confused.” Rin said.

“Well, that’s not too surprising. It will take some time to get used to.” Evan said

“Are you really my dad? No, you are. How could the thing in front of me not be him. That was a dumb question. Um. What is magic? Oh, right! You said it’s here.” Rin said

Rin looked through the notes that her father had given her, flipping through the pages, slowly.

“Um. So, according to this, you and mom are gods?” Rin asked, after reading the first chapter

“Yeah. You may not understand much. You aren’t even in middle school yet, but… you can spend as much of your free time here as you like. I’ll be teaching you some basic magic while you’re here so you’re ready. And When you become 11, No...12, I’ll start to slowly open your mana valves. You don’t really have much skill with magic in that regard. I guess as Kane’s daughter you share some of his characteristics. You resemble your mother more than your father though.” Evan said

“Are you not my dad? Is mom not mom, either, then?” Rin asked

“We are. Just not the ones who gave birth to you. Not that it should matter that much. Though, that's the reason you don’t have very good potential with magic. Kane, your birth father, despite having a core, is still a mortal, due to how his core works. A mortal that’s incredibly bad at using magic, too. I guess he’s technically immortal and mortal though. Your mother is- Uh. Well. Your mother is an artificial intelligence. Do you know what that is, Rin?” Evan asked

“Dad, this sounds like how you talk before your long lectures or before you ramble on about stuff I don’t understand. I kinda wanna read this. Actually, could you read with me? So I can ask questions while I listen to you read it for me?” Rin asked, holding up the copy of the god and the demon that he had given her.

“True, it is a pain to learn this stuff. I’d wager you don’t even know what ¾ of the words in that mean. Let alone sentences or paragraphs. I’ll explain it as I read it out loud. It may have been a better idea to make this more story like. I might have to edit it a bit.” Evan said

“When were you going to tell me all of this?” Rin asked

“I was hoping to gradually ease you into it. That’s why I brought you here, today. It’s better to tell you this stuff so it doesn’t seem all that interesting when you get a bit older. Though, I guess it does lose a little of its “magic”.” Evan said

“Will any of this hurt my brother? Is magic a bad thing for Renji? You mentioned not letting him know about it. Is it dangerous?” Rin asked

“Do you mind helping me and your mom with taking care of Renji? We might have other problems come up occasionally, so we may be gone for a few days every once in a while.” Evan said

“Of course. I’ll never let anything in the entire world get in his way!” Rin said, smiling like a fool.

“Don’t baby him, though.” Evan said, patting Rin on the head

Evan sat down, leaning against a wall.

“Come on, I’ll help you read. If you don’t understand something, just ask.” Evan said, patting the floor next to him

They read for the rest of the afternoon...