Chapter 15: Offer

"Excuse me, my lady, but do I know you?"

I had no idea how, but this feeble girl was somehow capable of dragging me around. Literally, dragging an athletic man like me, against his will to the point where my legs left the marks in the mud of the road. No matter what was the source of her strength, this alone managed to pique my curiosity in her. 

"I can see the depths of your despair…"

Her eyes continued to penetrate deeply into my skull as if there was something fascinating in my face. Her full, red lips slightly parting, indicating that the girl was focusing on something. Her hand…

Only now did I realise that this strange young woman managed to put her fingers on top of my cheek without me even noticing that fact! Yet, instead of flaring up and rising my guard… For the first time in what seemed like ages, I calmed down.

It wasn't as if all the feelings that fueled my actions for the past three months disappeared. I could still feel those fires burning deep within my soul, yet, they no longer continued to consume me.

Slowly retracing her fingers away from my face, the girl continued to stay in place, looking at me with that curious expression and both surprised and satisfied smile on her lips.

"First thing first, I'm glad I chanced upon you before that darkness could consume your heart. Once you would allow your will to waver even once… You would be a goner."

Finally retracting her hand back to its natural position by her waist, the girl changed her mind about that move in its middle, reaching forth and grabbing my own hand instead.

"I can tell that you have something that you desperately want to achieve. And I can tell you right away, that relying on external tools to obtain whatever it is that you wish to reach for, won't work. Unless you claim it with your own strength, you will remain a servant of the chance, always looking to free yourself from the burden of maintaining the item you would be using."

Pulling her arm up, this insane girl didn't pay any mind to how mystical her words sounded before. With one, confident move, she once again pulled on my arm, forcibly placing my palm on her collarbone… or rather on a red crystal of her necklace that was hanging from her neck.

"How cute… But that proves my earlier guess."

There was simply no way for someone as starved for everything that a human could desire to not get flustered in this situation. Just a few centimetres below my wrist, the girl's collarbone gave way to her supple breasts! No normal guy of my age would be calm in such a moment!

"Listen."

For the first time since I first saw her, the girl took on a serious expression. Letting go of my wrist, she placed her hands on my shoulders.

"If you want to solve your problem, you can become a wizard like most of the men would do. But for some reason, I can tell that you don't have several years to solve your problem. That's why I can train you to be a witch instead."

With a mischievous smile returning to her red lips, the girl finally moved away from my personal space, giving me a chance to recover from the shock that she served me just a moment ago. Taking a moment for her words to sink in my brain, I shook my head in an attempt to mix all the new information and produce some kind of reaction.

"A witch? What do you mean?"

The last few trips to the different worlds already taught me one thing. Cultivation as I knew it from earth… was just a tiny tip of the iceberg when it came to manipulating that new form of energy. And it was quite a primitive method at that. According to what I managed to learn, all that was actually necessary for one to use this strange energy was the intent.

Materialised with formulas, actions, moves or even thoughts, it was capable of cutting a small part of that free energy and changing it to make it feel some kind of purpose. But even that kind of knowledge didn't empower me to simply guess what kind of intent was in play in that "witchcraft" that the girl mentioned.

"Striking right to the point, aren't you?"

Smiling in response to my words, the girl once again grabbed my hand and instead of answering, pulled me through the streets of the city. Feeling her delicate fingers on my wrist, I couldn't help but notice that this time, the spark that woke me up before, didn't disappear. For some strange reason, just the presence of this girl had an insane effect on me, forcibly pulling me out of my depressed state, into one where I was ready to take any action I would deem necessary.

Only after a few long whiles that took the girl to guide me towards one of the buildings in the city I understood what was going on. With how this strange female freely operated on my money-bag, relieving two golden coins at the building's counter from their duty, I could tell that she took me to something akin to a hotel from the earth.

Even though for a moment that realisation sparked some… less gentlemanly ideas in my head for a moment, I wasn't given any time to seriously consider my options. After pulling me upstairs, the girl opened one of the doors marked with some runes that I couldn't understand if not for my language pack before pushing me on one chair and sitting down on another one, just across a small table.

"What I can offer you for this money, is a crash-course of witchcraft, magic based on feelings. This is what struck me when I first saw you… For a man, your feelings capacity is way greater than most of the females that I have seen in my life… Let me put it in this way. I will help you solve your problem now, and you will owe me a favour for that. Sometime in the future… I might come to you to regain my favour. But before you start worrying, let me tell you one thing."

Leaning over the table, this strange girl grabbed my chink with her hand before holding it in place and whispering directly to my ear.

"I can teach you how to save your mother. If there is just the bare minimum of time left, that is."