Goes On

The eerie darkness finally tore apart No. 12's barrier yet she retained her calm in spite of it. Her previously nervous appearance disappeared as her eyes showed a steady and cold expression.

The young maid lightly tapped her foot in front of her, this seemingly weak notion didn't seem all that important yet at the moment that the tip of her shoe made contact with the floor, the darkness that was enshrouding her entire figure suddenly disappeared. This shockwave cleansed the surroundings as Gwen's magic was taken and mercilessly torn apart, causing the previous calm of the room to come back.

"Lady Gwendolyn, you should really stop trying out these spells as you please! You're going to hurt yourself one of these days!"

"Don't worry about me, I learned a healing spell! Worst case scenario I got a tiny scar," Gwen panned her hand up and down trying to downplay the entire situation.

"But what about me? Lord Nio will tear me to shreds if he finds out I let you get hurt!" No. 12's anxious tone finally let Gwen know of her true intentions.

"That's why, what he won't know won't hurt him! Besides, Father's too busy with the family business after all. There's no way he's looking at me right now! Now, let's go! I need people who specialize in dark and light magic to limit test this new spell!"

"Fine…" No. 12 gave up trying to put some common sense into Gwen as she meekly followed right behind her.

~~~

In the manor, Felix was currently wearing a calm yet polite expression on his face yet his heart was trying to beat out of his chest. The sheer pressure of the man in front of him barely let him control himself. From his reputation as the undisputed strongest and his authority within the continent, a single word from him could cause civil unrest.

In front of Nio, there was a crystal ball showing Gwen trying out her new spell as numerous people used their spells in turn. Most of their spells were eaten by the Gwen's spell yet there was one outlier that somehow wasn't affected. Gwen took note of this in her booklet and continued on researching even further.

"Felix, how's my daughter?"

"Lord Nio, she's… doing well. Her studies are admittingly a little lacking yet when it comes to practical swordsmanship and magic she is extremely devoted."

"Then, how much of your talent has been taken away?"

Felix's expression slightly tore apart yet he felt difficulty in speaking, "Only a fraction of a percent…"

Nio looked at the crystal ball again and saw just how vividly large the scope of this spell was. The effects and range of it were extremely pronounced as even the person who wasn't previously affected was now troubled.

"You must be really talented then. Only a mere fraction of a percent can already do this much. Such a shame, if your father didn't sell you then you could've possibly reached even greater heights." Contrary to Felix's expectations, Nio's eyes didn't hold greed or desire, only focusing on how well his 5th child was doing.

"It's not just my talent. It's also her natural aptitude with it."

Nio gave Felix a certain look, "Oh? Do tell me."'

Felix subconsciously clenched his fists, "Although she isn't the best in terms of skill and control, her creativity is leagues beyond what I could even be capable of. I believe my talent's in good hands."

"Child, do you resent your father and me? Do not lie."

Felix was struck and frozen in place. He felt as if the entire world was stuck with time unable to move forward. He wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible yet he was forced to answer.

Gathering up the strength from every fiber of his being he finally softly said, "Y-Yes…"

"Then do you agree with our methods? Seeing as you're the only other person who knows about it."

Felix was once again forced to answer, "I hate it but I understand. I'll take what's mine after everything's said and done." As Felix said 'mine,' he looked at Gwen, who was still joyfully experimenting with her new spell.

"As long as you understand, even if you tear down the entire Aria family apart or even want me to give you my forbidden knowledge, I won't hesitate to give it to you."

Nio looked at the crystal ball once more and sighed, Gwen was currently panicking as she injured one of the people helping her, she immediately cast a spell that returned him back to his initial state, it was as if time rewound itself.

"Isn't Gwen having too much fun? She gets to use all the spells she'll ever want and receive no backlash. Immunity from The Corruption really is as absurd as it sounds. Even if I spent eons trying to make you immune to The Corruption, I would without a shred of doubt fail. If only your lie was the truth."

Back when they were children, Felix lied about how the contract worked. Felix never received anything from it, it only served to take from him. This was why it never reacted to his emotions. If it truly did work that way, there would've been a reaction every waking moment of his daily life.

"As long as she's having fun." Felix weakly mumbled to himself. After gathering enough courage, "Lord Nio, may I ask for a favor?"

"What is it?" Nio's eyes were still glued on the crystal ball in front of him. He was enjoying seeing Gwen wantonly use spells as she wished.

Felix had thought long and hard about this, despite only being 8 years old, mana had accelerated his development, causing him to mature faster than his peers, "After this contract, can you seal my memories?"

Nio's ears perked up, realizing what Felix was up to, "That's no issue. Now, hurry on back. And just as your father wanted, make her fall for you. You're way behind schedule."

Felix rose up from his seat and bowed before Nio. He left the suffocating atmosphere and tried to gasp for air as he reached outside. His proper posture and decorum were all thrown out the window as he tried to handle the backlash from being around Nio.

Nio obviously noticed this yet only nodded at how far Felix was going to take it. He laid his eyes once more on the crystal ball, showing Gwen use the spell once more, yet this time, accurately covering five people with the spell, the coverage of this spell was essentially as large as they were. She leaped in joy as everyone else felt extremely drained at how energetic Gwen was.

"Isn't the best with skill and control? Felix, maybe you should take a closer look."