CHAPTER 2

Hundred of years pass as Ace practice what his mother gave him. Although hundred of years passed his face looked like he's just in his early 20s.

"Maybe it's one of mother's spells" Ace thought to himself while doing his everyday training. Taught by his father, series of self-defense and body improving exercises.

After training his body in the morning the rest of the day is practicing what her mother gave him.

After the hundred years of repeated cycle of training, his body defines phisically fit while his practice towards magic grew strong and he can even control the mist from the inside and make a path to go outside. But he dismissed the idea of getting out.

He is too cautious if he is not strong enough to go outside, explore and find his parents.

When he is bored, he will open a path for wild animals to go inside the mist and playing with them until he gets tired, he will kill it and make a food out of it. Because of the cooking books in the library, he can cook any food he wants and the ingredients are in the garden.

There are times that wild animals go through the mist but being teleported outside the mist after sometime.

When Ace studied the mist spell her mother cast on the area, it seems that the spell consist of myriads of techniques mixed with each other creating the mist. Teleporting techniques, hallucinations, light transparency and things are slow outside the mist. The days and nights are longer inside the mist. That is the one thing he couldn't understand the element that bends when he open a path through the outside of the mist must be connected to each other.

"Seems like mother did not give me any information about this element" as he thought to himself.

Days pass inside the mist.

At the moment. While making his dinner, he suddenly sense something far outside the mist slowly approaching "Aura of four persons!" he thought to himself. Days have pass inside the mist and the one of the four aura slowly arrived at the edge of the mist.

Outside the mist.

There's a wounded woman hiding near the mist, by the looks of it she is being chased by the three middle aged men.

"It seems like i might be able to escape from them" she said then she cough black blood. Before the blood fell on the floor it suddenly stay mid air then the woman stored the blood in a bottle to clear her tracks.

The woman's upperface is covered by a mask while her nose and red lips are quite alluring. Her cheeks are pale with reddish hue. Her clothes are battered revealing her pale skin, her body is quite fit but her secductive body curves are hidden inside her loose clothes.

She looked at the mist closely as she examine it "What a formidable spell" she thought surprisingly.

"If this spell is created by someone strong, maybe i can tell her or him my situation. Maybe he or she is willing to help me."

Then suddenly her body transformed, her skin wrinkled on the outside making her look old. The. She transmitted messages inside the mist using her mind.

"Please help me. I'm begging you please save me." These words were send three times inside the mist.

At the garden of the mansion.

Ace just finished planting some new flowers on the garden resting on his inclined chair in clarity basking in the rich moonlight projected by the mist, suddenly he heard a voice.

"Please help me. I'm begging you please save me" These words rang inside his head three times. When he trace where the voice came from he sees a kind looking old woman crying for help near the mist.

Remembering what her mother told him not to go outside even though he is strong enough to control the mist, thinking he is not ready yet Ace hesitated for a while but being kind hearted as he is, he can't let the woman die outside while calling him for help.

He open a path infront of the old woman then the woman weakly walk into the mist. After crossing the mist, the old woman look surprised as she arrived in a different place. Looking at thr garden full of fruits and vegetables, beautiful flowers and towering trees. She suddenly thought of her hometown far away from this place.

As she was thinking something, Ace arrived swiftly and slightly looking cautiously at the old woman with battered clothes.

"Grandma let's go inside and change your clothes. I will treat your wounds" Ace said with politeness.

Suddenly the old woman faints losing control of the spell when she fell unconscious due to loss of blood, she slowly turn into her original appearance.

Ace was fast as he caught the lady. Noticing the changes he knew that it was a spell. Carrying the lady, he brought her inside the house.

Arriving inside a guest room, he turned on the water to prepare a bath for the lady. He left the room and came back shortly brought a set of clothes for the lady. It's his mother's clothed. But his mother didn't used the clothes so he can lend them to her.

As he noticed earlier, the lady is mask on the upper part of her face he tried to get the mask off but its like a self magic controlled by the wearer, if its forcefully taken off, the one who takes off the mask will face a backfire of his or her own magic. So he did continue to remove the mask. He didn't want any troublesome things just for the sake of a face. He is just curious thinking what would others looked like.This is the first time Ace saw another person ever since he was trapped inside the mist. Moreover she's a woman that's why he is curious.

Removing her clothes, Ace was quite level headed and he is not that affected of the lady's voluptuous body. Because every part of the human body is inside his brain he can only see flesh and bones.

After removing her clothes, without any garment covering the body of the lady, Ace carried her in the bathroom and starting to wash her clear while treating her wounds. While washing the lady, wounds on her body are covered with white light and visibly closing wounds.

While washing the body of the lady, Ace couldn't help feeling weird. So he finish cleaning her and put her clothes on before going out of the room.

"That was... Sigh maybe I'm affected of something. Something called instinct" he murmured to himself as chuckled. He washed himself again and changed in his sleeping clothes.

"At least something new happened on this day, even though its the end of this day." he said as he chuckled to himself.

The next morning.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Early in the day a lady scream from the top of her lungs, her face is red from embarrassment as she discovered that she's in another set of clothes, thinking about the handsome young man who came inviting her inside the mansion and then she suddenly fainted. Looking at her face in the mirror her wounds are treated, she seems healthy like nothing happened at all. But when she think that the man washed her body and changed her clothes, her face became red again.

Suddenly, "What happened?" Ace ask as he opened the door with a calm handsome face. As he thought that this would happen.

"You!" The lady was about to snap when she suddenly thought that he saves her.

She arranged her self then said with a prideful tone "Thank you for saving me, mister. I owe you one. I promise that i will repay you someday" Then she suddenly feel painful in her heart.

"Ah how can i forget my situation" she thoughy to her self. She remembered that she is afflicted by a curse causing her to cough out black blood.

She weakly sat on the bed. Having her hand between her breast where her heart is located feeling an unbearable pain she buried her face in the pillow and screamed.

After a while the pain faded leaving her pale half face.

Ace waited until the pain fades away before asking questions. Because he was curious, he treated her wounds last night perfectly and check her body a few times and there's nothing wrong with her. But looking at her now, she looked like someone who needs urgent treatment.

When she finally came to she looked at Ace and weakly said "Sorry for the display of something unsightly. "

"It's okay. But how can you be so ill? I treated you last night perfectly, I didn't see anything wrong. Including your heart. Why are you in so much pain?" Ace bombarded question at the lady. Then he remembered courtesy taught be his father.

"I am Ace Nicolai Clandestine. Sorry for the late introduction." Ace said with a slight smile on his face.

"You're a Clandestine? No wonder you treated my wounds so easily." The lady said surprisingly. A sigh of relief can be seen on her face.

"I am Zaire. Zaire Ji'anger."