Chapter 49: Beasts and Buckles

Meroe stood before them now once again in all her fearful brilliance. Jake was used to being around other systems users like his brothers or even Mimi, but the very aura Meroe seemed to exude was something else entirely.

Jake wasn’t sure she had ever actually seen the woman’s system at work, nor was he certain if anyone had, but her mere presence told him she was not someone he wanted to anger in any sort of form, and so he stayed neutral to her approach. Despite Argax and Aster being bound by the shadows of her apprentice.

“Photis,” Jake greeted with trepidation, “Lovely to see you again.”

Meroe let out a loud and boisterous laugh at the seething of her apprentice, never knowing anyone to be able to get under the woman’s skin the way he had at the tournament when he had knocked her flat out.

“Hello again, Alexcyn,” Meroe greeted the boy, paying no mind to any of the other people around him, “I see you’ve caught yourself in quite a bit of a scandal here.”