"What's your magic?" A middle-aged man looked at the boy with a neutral expression.
"illusion..." The boy meekly muttered.
"What?"
"Illusion magic!"
The man furrowed his eyebrows. "That's... interesting. Use it on me."
The boy, as if expecting this to happen, didn't say anything and cast the magic on the middle-aged man.
CRACK
Not even a second had passed before the man broke it.
"This is too weak to be used in confrontation. The only place where I could think it could be used is when there is an element of surprise. Maybe instead of trying to join magic guilds, you should try applying to be a spy or something in the Magic Council."
"I see." The boy left the guild with a disappointed expression.
'That's the 9th rejection this month. At least this man was nice enough not to laugh, unlike others.' The boy let out a sigh.
The boy didn't know it at that time, but he was going to receive a life-changing opportunity soon.
---
"This...This is amazing." He looked at the contents of the old tomb he was holding.
He had accidentally stumbled on this hideout, which presumably belonged to a rogue mage.
"Maybe, if I submit this to the council, I will get a position." The boy's hands trembled as he thought about the possibility.
"But..." He looked at a line.
[ Conclusion: With this technique, one could increase their Ethernano reserves. ]
Looking at the earth-shattering claim, he at first didn't believe it. But...
"What if this is true? Won't this make my magic finally usable?" The boy started having dark thoughts.
He had been rejected too many times.
His magic was called useless more times than he could count.
He...
He had enough of the shitty world.
"This is it. I won't regret this decision." A determined expression appeared on the boy's face as he looked at the tomb.
---
"Please don't do this. No."
"I am sorry, but it's either you or me. Somebody has to die for the other to live in this world." Veyren's hands trembled as he pointed the knife towards the defenceless man's chest.
"I have a daughter at—" Before the man could finish his statement, Veyren plunged the knife into his chest, killing him.
He looked at the man's body for a few seconds. "i am sorry..." The red circle beneath him started rotating as foreign words climbed both men's and Veyren's bodies, connecting them.
"IT WORKS! IT WORKS!" After a few minutes, Veyren felt a qualitative change in his body. His mana had increased by a whole 10 per cent.
He was half-expecting that he had killed the innocent mage in vain, but the result reassured him.
This was the point when everything began for Veyren Kalt.
---
"Fuck. They finally caught whiff of me. I should have been more cautious." It has been a few years since Veyren started his discrete operations, and due to one slip-up, the whole magic council and the guilds under it, now on his tail.
Unlike last time, he took several precautions this time and took care of the next two mages that came before him in the best way possible.
It was only when a member from Fairy Tail came that things started changing.
He first thought it was just a kid who had somehow gotten an S-rank sneakily. It elated him as he had always wanted a way to go into big guilds. It was pretty convenient for him.
'...' So, when he saw the boy deal with the magical beast he had sent, Veyren was shaken to the core.
It took him a few seconds to shake himself out of the shocked state.
'This... I was barely able to track the magic bullet he shot... He didn't even seem serious.' He bit his lips as he looked at the obstacle in front of him.
He took a deep breath. "Well, it doesn't change things. Instead of confrontation, I just need to break him completely. He is just a kid, so it shouldn't be that hard." One thing that Veyren prided himself on was patience.
He had a lot of patience, and his magic rewarded that attribute of his.
The plan he made, and how he executed it, all made him use his skills to the limit. He didn't think a kid nearly half his age could make him go to such an extent.
'This will just become sweeter when I win.'
Veyren tried a lot of things to find a weakness in the boy.
The pigeons were a major part of his plan, but it wasn't the most important one.
'Got it. That spell is finally working on him. Now, he should speak all his thoughts without anything appearing abnormal.' Veyren smirked.
This was the key component that allowed him to predict Kazu's actions and entrap him in his plan.
"Why are you doing all this? It was you who put the body in the basement, right?" Kazu looked at him in disgust.
Veyren smiled. "It was to lure you here. You know it was a trap, yet you came. Maybe this is overconfidence that comes from being part of a big guild."
"That doesn't answer my question. What did you do with those two mages and all those countless people?"
Veyren stared at him for a few seconds. "Guess, it won't matter now even if I tell you. I took their soul. I have a way to increase my Ethernano capacity by merging other people's souls in my soul."
Kazu's eyes widened in shock. "... What happens to the souls of those people?"
Veyren raised an eyebrow. "It seems you are a bit knowledgeable. I thought you would be shocked at the fact that souls exist. Well, whatever. They won't be reincarnating again."
He looked at Kazu's horrified face and felt amusement at the situation.
'Guess, he really has a righteous heart. Unfortunately, he should be worrying more about himself rather than what happened to people before him.'
"You... you have been present since my time in Lusia. Right?"
"Close, but no. Since your time in Murkwell. In fact, seeing how amusing your reactions are, let me tell you something else, too. I was disguised as Richie and then Dave. Always watching you throughout."
Kazu's eyes widened in shock. "...How?"
"That's enough questions. I need to start preparing for the ritual of taking your soul. You seem to have pretty good magic aptitude. This is going to be a treat." Veyren kneeled on the ground and started drawing a magic circle with a reddish liquid that looked awfully similar to blood.
"You were the guy who was controlling the pigeons, right? Somehow causing whatever bizarre was happening with that, no?" Kazu continued talking, as if he didn't care about the magic circle the man was drawing.
Veyren shook his head. "Guess, you really are a kid. Don't bother about getting any backup. The magic device in your pocket is faulty. I was the one who gave you that. Did you forget?"
'I have learned that lesson the hard way from that damned man.' Veyren's expression briefly changed into annoyance.
Colour drained from Kazu's already pale face.
"I like that look on your face." Veyren continued drawing the magic circle with the special blood.
Within half a minute, he was done and stood up.
"This is it. Do you have any last words?"
Kazu just stared at him with a blank face. He didn't show any despair or any other emotion, which annoyed Veyren a bit.
"Did you know? I would be able to see your memories during your merge. So, it would be pretty easy to infiltrate your guild. I should actually thank you for that." This was one of the reasons why Veyren invested so much time on entrapping Kazu. It was all to enter it and slowly destroy it from within while strengthening himself.
Kazu looked at the man for a few seconds before opening his mouth.
"Has somebody told you before that you yap too much?"
This reply took Veyren off guard. He was expecting anger or some reaction, not the boy's nonchalance.
'Guess, he was not close to his guild members. Well, whatever. I will know in a bit.'
The red-magic circle illuminated before slowly rotating.
'Just need to wait for 3 seconds.' Veyren thought as he looked at Kazu, who was looking at him with a blank face.
'1.' Due to habit, Veyren started counting.
'2.' The last two mages had an expression full of despair during this, but Kazu was the first to not react at all.
'3.' The magic circle suddenly expanded, before lines of text started climbing up on Kazu's body.
"Farewell, kid," Veyren said.
Finally, Kazu's blank expression broke.
His lips stretched wide as they morphed into a wide grin.
Creepy.
It was a creepy smile.
"Finally, found you," Kazu said with that smile.
***
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