9.1

There he was, the great-grandson of the white witch stepped into the light in front of the throne. Tall-bodied, short-haired, covered in simple knight's armor, but with bluish crystalline cloaks of rather intricate design. At his waist a two-handed long sword. Jaw raised, chest puffed out, back erect and posture straight, like all arrogant conceit who would never stop until he achieved what he desired.

Clara wanted her disciple to know defeat so that he could get his head back on straight. After all, for warriors, the stronger the opponent the greater the results of combat. As one who was distressed at having to ask a favor, she added:

"I ask you to accept the confrontation; in return, I will give you my knowledge no matter how long it takes you to learn it....."

Clara's great-grandson, as someone whose pride had been offended in the worst way, added:

"The three of you can attack me at the same time if you wish, you may have a better chance. But if you do not defeat me, I will not allow you to train with her, and I myself will send you away forever."

Edith, terrified, moved behind the little boy and covered her head at the forceful words of the imposing burly fighter. At the same time she realized something. No matter how many times it had happened in the past, she could not get used to the feeling of fear she felt and always ended up hiding behind Rey. She even wondered to herself, that if it hadn't been for the hatred she felt knowing she was destined for someone else, would she have had the courage to run away and look for him? "What was I thinking to do such a crazy thing?". Feeling ashamed of herself, she needed to say something out loud:

"Rey. Don't hate me for depending on you so much without being able to do anything in return."

White heaved her chest as one who feared nothing, for despite her size, she alone had been victorious in facing several enemies before reaching the castle entrance.

Rey with a cautious tone and after giving Edith a smile, added:

"I'll take care of him. Don't worry."

The words and his demeanor caused the small feline to give way, Edith to let him go and his opponent to drop the weapon he was carrying and adopt a fighting pose.

As was now usual, Rey stood in a position that left his fractured arm hidden and the good one in front. With a smile on his face, the anxious opponent erected a defensive barrier of water. He created two swords from the same liquid and rushed at the little guy, but halfway through he was forced to retreat. With a leap backwards, rather as if knocked down by an external force, he crouched on the ground and tried to cover his chest wound with his remaining arm.

Rey, he showed a face as if he had seen something unexpected:

"Oh! Congratulations, you are the only being who has managed to get to receive my most powerful attack and still be left on his feet."

Enraged, the guy stopped covering the gigantic wound that opened on the side of his chest cavity and spat blood every time he moved. Generating another sword, he tried to stand up to attack with all his remaining strength, but he could not. A monstrous hand pierced his chest from back to front and held his still beating heart in front of his face.

Rey, who had not even moved from where he was, disappeared, surprising even his two companions who were left with their mouths open.

Edith, as one who was trying to understand, said:

"So that was the way you would be prepared if someone appeared from nowhere and attacked you. All this time you were hiding your real body."

Munch-munch, nom-nom, yum-nom, glup. Rey swallowed, flashed a smile and made his hand return to normal to drop his opponent on the ground.

"It's an ineffective trick in the eyes of an expert and it comes with great risks."

Rey became so intoned that he was forced to cough a few times. "If I were forced to fight either of the old women or the Dulahan, I would have lost. The two of them can see through my shadows with ease," Rey thought.

Instead, the Parcae believed otherwise. Edith's eyes widened at the words of the little monster, who knew well how to hide his abilities. To her, he looked invincible, well prepared and as if he could do anything if he set his mind to it. Does such a person have any weaknesses? Seeing someone so perfect was intimidating, yet knowing that such an individual is on your side in a fight was comforting. "But like warriors, his arrogance and hubris may lead to his downfall someday," she thought.

Clara shook her face, at her disciple's defeat, and then continued:

"Aura Control is not an ineffective trick at all. I can see that you have endured extreme physical training to make you resistant to pain, that you are loyal to willpower, control your murderous intentions and have a fighting spirit. Little guy, give yourself a little more credit. If I were your mom, I'd be proud of you. You're growing up smart, you can understand the intentions of others and hold your own in an interesting fight against an adult. In other words, all this time you were baiting my great-grandson's moves. To set a person up with the idea that they have the fight won and then have you do something as complex as disappearing makes, in a way, that idea become impossible to believe."

When enough time had elapsed, the subject got up from the ground without any wounds. He felt anger in his face and wanted to attack again, but out of respect for his teacher there he stopped and simply added:

"A victory is a victory, but there was no honor in it".

"Would it be honorable for an adult to beat a child?" said Edith with a tone of retort.

Rey focused his gaze in the direction of the Parcae and at the silence of the defeated, said the following words:

"It was not a combat between an adult and a child. It was a combat between two warriors. I am aware that my fighting methods are not honorable. I cannot afford to lose. Not when my life depends on it."

The Parcae was silent.

Clara, recognizing Rey's words as those of the castle's creator, added in a nostalgic tone:

"To be honest, hearing you speak, seeing you here and observing your fighting style brings back a lot of memories. It makes me want to ask myself again what kind of life did you have to have so far to be capable of such a feat even when you were so young? But, no questions asked and leaving nostalgia behind, I'll keep my promise. I will teach you how to cry out, though I fear it will be no easy task and could take you a long time.

"How long?" asked Rey.

"To be exact, a lifetime of meditation and practice by a normal human would suffice to reach the intermediate rank in sorcery."

"I don't have that much time to perfect the art. At least not in this circle" Pointing to Edith. "Not to mention that I have to leave her in the Tartarus before returning to the upper circle. I just want to go through the initiation process."

Clara, as one who spoke with rationale, said:

"The initiation process does not require more than a few decades if guided correctly. Regarding the Tartarus, Mnnn... You must leave Purgatory and go up to the heaven of hell, there you can find it."

As soon as he finished, he put his hands behind his back and began to walk.

"In the meantime, why don't we show your companions around and accommodate them."

Rey stated in advance; immediately, other women, similarly dressed, came forward and led the Parcae to the site, while White stepped into the path of the burly fellow as if to confront him.

With everyone already in the room, having a purpose, the white witch proceeded to say aloud:

"Come with me" As she led the way.

The little boy silently accompanied the woman who led him through the place to the back exit of the castle, which adjoined an entire immense lake as bright as that at the entrance of the circle.

"Welcome to my workroom," said Clara. "This lake is formed by the waters that come out of the tip of the mountain, same that come from Heaven and that later hide the dismembered body of Lete and reach hell. Here we will practice your meditation and begin the arts of sorcery. But first you must get rid of your clothes and take a bath to remove the impurities from your body while I prepare a special concoction that will help you cleanse your insides. We must also fix those broken bones, the pneumonia you are developing from not breathing properly and heal the wounds on your body."

Rey nodded and proceeded to carry out to the letter the words of his new instructor. After stripping off his clothes, he entered the water and, dunking himself several times, scrubbed himself with his bare hands until he understood that he was clean. The water had healing properties, helped with his recovery, and the liquid he was given to drink helped him even more. After placing the fractured bone of his hand in an anatomical position, it was released normally.

Clara, as one finishing a long and exhaustive task, said:

"I must emphasize that if, for any reason, the process, once started, does not end correctly, you will die. If it ends incorrectly, your life will be reduced by at least eighty percent. At best, you will have to live with physical disabilities or even your body will create autoimmune diseases in which your body would devour itself or you would end up cursed. Do you agree to proceed?" Rey affirmed.

She undressed, it wasn't much she had, so, just taking off her crown, unbuttoning the snaps of the short dress and removing her sandals, was enough. After folding everything to one side, Clara entered the water with the little boy. Running her hands around Rey's shoulders, she put him on his back to help him float.

"Lie down in the water. Let your body float..." she said.

Ignoring the awkwardness of having to watch the little guy's limb rise, she continued:

"Relax your limbs, on no account move or open your eyes until you fall into a state of lucid dreaming."

Once she noticed that her disciple was ready, she continued:

"With the exception of a few individuals, we are all born with twenty-four blocked energy vortices. Many arts focus on unlocking some of these specific vortices so that you can use energy and also have affinities with some particular elements, but sorcery requires unlocking them all at once. Only then will you be able to offer your pure energy to whoever accepts it to exist."