Ring

It's been a few days since I came to this mansion, and I've been training with Mars. However, in doing so, I started to realize why Eden hates him so much.

That guy is crazy obsessed with vampires, trying to get a sample of their flesh every time he meets her.

Additionally, he procrastinates excessively, never teaching anything.

I was sitting under a tree, covering myself from the sunlight, and Mars was there in the middle of the ground, lying on his back and looking at the sky.

"So are you going to teach me?" I asked.

"You said it yourself that nobody can protect you. Even I can't, so teach yourself magic." Mars said, screaming while looking at the sky.

What the hell is he talking about? I thought that his words had meaning and he would teach me somehow in a smart way, but looking at him for those few days, I am starting to believe that he's insane.

"Why don't you come and sit here? The sun's heat is very helpful for some undead." Mars explained.

"Yeah, I don't want to; it just doesn't feel good," I replied, still disappointed.

Hearing footsteps, I turned around to see the maid with long black hair walking towards me, following the trees. She put a plate down in front of me.

The plate had some food on it and, most importantly, a note.

"Miss Eden sends you her regards; she told you that she's sorry that the lord made you learn with Mars." The maid explained in her monotone voice.

I looked at her and nodded. "Thank you, Lilith."

The maid, Lilith, nodded before walking back into the forest. Looking back at the plate, I picked up the note to read it, but Mars was in front of me instantly.

"Lilith is really scary; she shows no emotions, no matter what I tell her." Mars kept staring at the forest for a bit before turning his head to the plate. "Anyway, what did she get you?"

His mouth was dripping, so I just let him eat it.

As I took the note, I noticed that it was from Eden.

"Hello Taro, Thank you for everything, and I hope that you're enjoying your stay in the mansion for now. Father sent me on another mission, but when I am back, I will make sure to get you a proper teacher. Mars isn't a bad teacher per se, but his personality doesn't match well with anyone."

"What are you reading?" Mars said, half of his mouth full.

I crumbled the paper and put it in my pocket. "It's nothing. However, I am being serious. Why don't you want to teach me? I want to learn; it's not like I am not going to listen to you or anything."

Mars kept eating, ignoring me. After finishing most of the things on the plate, he looked at me and said, "You said you wanted to learn it to protect yourself... That's noble; however, you need to realize magic is bigger than your trivial matters—it's what makes our world work. I like why you want it, but if that's the sole reason, then you're not going to be a good mage. So there's no point in teaching you."

"... Are you kidding me?" I stood up, looking down at him. "I've waited these past few days, having hope in you. Wanting to improve myself, and now you are just saying this?"

I couldn't help but scream. I left Dorothea and my old life. I left the house and warmth for this shitty place where everything might kill me.

"That's how life works, kid; I am not going to lie to you," Mars said, standing up as well, cleaning his shirt.

"You... You know what? I had hope in you, thinking that you would be someone better. After everything Eden said, I should've known that you were some arrogant prick who can't stand by his words. Why did you make me wait all those days if you were never going to teach me? Did you enjoy wasting my time?" I poured my heart out.

"I... I enjoyed your company," Mars said, looking me in the eyes.

I stepped back, shaking my head. "You're not normal."

Walking back to the forest, I headed to the mansion. How could I have forgotten? Those people aren't humans; they are monsters who will never understand any of this. I hoped that I could trust them. But nobody here is on my side; I just helped someone they were close to, and now they're helping me back.

Otherwise, nobody really cares; there's no teacher for me here. Only a place to sleep and eat; it's not a place where I can improve or change. If I want to do it, I have to do it myself.

Mars looked at my back, not saying a word as he walked back to his hut.

Seeing the mansion in front of me, I stepped in, and then, looking around, I started noticing the garden. There stood a boy around my age; he was crouching, looking at a specific flower, not saying anything.

"Taro, you're here early. Did something happen with Mars?" Conall asked, without looking away from the flower.

"Conall, can you ask your father if I can get a new teacher? Eden would've done that for me, but she's not here." I replied.

Conall hummed. "Yeah, she's on a mission right now, I guess. Why would you need a new teacher anyway?" He looked in my direction, then tilted his head. "Mars might be a bit annoying, but he's a nice person overall."

"He doesn't want to teach me magic since I want to use it to protect myself," I replied.

Conall laughed, getting up on his feet. "Well, of course, he's sensitive to that topic. I was a child when he came to the mansion, begging my father to let him learn magic. If you tell him you want to use it for a reason other than discovering the world or learning the truth, then he won't say anything."

I clenched my fists. "He just wasted my time. So can you help me?"

Conall nodded with a smile. "I don't think I can get you a teacher, since Father won't trust me. But I have something for you."

I looked at Conall, confused. Then he took me inside the mansion, opening a secret entrance in the wall, which led to a chamber.

"What is this place?" I asked about following him still.

"It's our treasury; most the items here isn't that impressive, but the good stuff is the legendary magical items." Saying that he took the lamp in his hand and held it higher, which made the light cover a small chest on top of a box. "It's here. I used to play with it when I was a child."

He took the box and handed it to me. Taking it, I rotated it around in my hand, feeling the wooden texture, before looking at him again and asking, "What is this?"

"A magical item that lets you use magic without learning it—of course, it's basic magic that will make you a low-tier mage at best. However, if you use it too much, you will get used to it and basically learn magic without trying much."

I opened the box, which showed a black ring made of a hard substance. There were runes written on it that I couldn't decipher.

"How about we test this? Follow me!"

Getting out of the dark chamber, Conall took me into a training room inside the mansion; there were swords hung on the wall, and in the middle was a big arena with light coming out of the windows.

"Huh?" I let out as Conall stood on the opposite end and took one sword.

He smiled. "Use the item, and I will fight you using a sword. I want to see how good you can be on your first try."

I took one of my gloves off.

I looked down at the box; opening it, I took the ring out. I put it on, and as I did, I felt a weird pull around me.

Like gravity was pushing me in every direction, then it stopped. My breathing felt weird, and my eyes were sharper and cleaner.

I put my glove back on and flexed my hand.

Then, before I could comprehend what was happening fully, a sword slice came flying at me.

As I instinctively moved to protect myself, a loud cutting sound came out.

Opening my eyes, I saw that the sword that Conall was holding was cut into pieces by what seemed to be air.

"You have to be kidding me..." Conall had a shocked expression, looking at me with surprise.