Chapter 5: Orchids

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Boris’s POV, after Ryner took the MC to his room.

“Everyone besides Boris may go to their rooms and rest, no point in making you all stand here silently. You’ve been through enough today.” The king said

Everyone behind me bowed, and took their leave to their rooms. I turned back to the king to see his finger tapping on the arm rest on his chair. He waited for the others to leave before continuing.

“Do you know if the child can use pure mana like zephyr?”

“I haven’t had the chance to see if he can, but he did use gravity magic.”

“Gravity magic?”

The king was befuddled, then again so was I when I saw it. Zephyr only had access to pure mana, and he was already the strongest mage at the time with that alone. It’s insane to think the kid might be able to do more than that.

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Please, Ryner isn’t here Boris. Address me like you normally would.”

I let out a small chuckle, and adjusted my posture so I’m back to slightly slouching like usual again.

“Will do, Varon.”

“That’s better, now how do we deal with this? It’s unprecedented. The black tattoo is supposed to show the user can only use pure mana.”

“Honestly Varon, I don't know. If we think about it, Zephyr was the only mage we’ve ever seen with a black tattoo. It’s possible that his and the kids' abilities may differ. At this point it’s just a matter of finding out how much.”

The king paused for a moment to think. It really is unexpected, we were meant to find the World’s book and instead we found a new incarnation of the black tattoo. To top it off he used an actual type of magic unlike his predecessor.

If I wasn’t mentally exhausted, I’d be thinking as hard as Varon right now. At the moment though I really don’t care, I need to go back to sleep. Actually I guess I need to start working on the funeral.

I never thought one of us would die, we got too confident. Where the hell did that thing come from? Amy’s dead, Fae is probably not gonna be able to do much for a while.

Who can blame her, Amy and her went through too much together. I’m surprised she could hold her tears back for so long while I was talking to the king. I’ll have to trust Tristen with her, he’s the only one she can depend on for now.

After all, their situations are similar.

“Alright, you know I don’t like to give you order’s Boris but this time I have to. After a few days rest, and after Amy’s funeral, you will have to work right away. You will see what the boy can do, and if it goes the way I’m thinking. Adventuring might be something you’ll have to take a break from.”

My eyes widened with disbelief, and my voice got a bit louder.

“What? With all due respect Varon, adventuring is my life. I can’t just stop, and what would I tell my party?”

“I understand where you're coming from Boris, I do. I wouldn’t take the measure if it wasn’t needed. The issue here isn’t the black tattoo but the fact the child used gravity magic. A black tattoo holder that can use a known type of magic is insane.”

“The issue being if the child can use gravity magic and not pure mana, then he may be able to use more than just that. It is a black tattoo after all.”

What the fuck is Varon talking about? The kid used one known type, what else does he think the kid can…oh. Fuck.

I need to sleep.

***

MC POV

While I was still trying to figure out what the magic pot was used for, Ryner came back to my room with a metal cart with food on top of it. After rolling it next to the big table with the fruit basket, I saw it had a bunch of meat and other types of food.

“I didn’t know what you would like, so I made sure you were able to choose anything you like. Don’t be afraid to eat as much as you want, and if you need anything else, you can ask me for anything.”

After thinking for a second I decided to ask him what the magic pot is for.

“There is something, can you tell me what this magic pot is for?”

“Magic pot?” He seemed confused, so I took him into the room where the pot was.

His eyes squinted as he looked even more confused than before.

“That’s uh, that’s not a magic pot. It’s called a toilet, you’re supposed to sit on it and pee or poop.”

“Oh…that’s weird, I just went outside the carriage while Boris and the others were bringing me here. What does the lever that makes the water swirl do though?”

“It makes the toilet fresh for when you need to use it again.”

After Ryner explained and told me to use the toilet from now on when I need to relieve myself, he encouraged me to eat. He took the cart back out of my room once I was done eating, and Before he left he told me that when I wake up tomorrow I’m free to explore the castle.

My stomach was full and I started to get tired, layed in the bed, and fell asleep almost immediately. Once I woke up, I put on some clothes I found on the couch that I’m pretty sure Ryner put there while I was sleeping. It was a long sleeve blue shirt with a V shape for the collar, some brown pants that were slightly baggy, and some black slip on shoes.

After I put the clothes on I went on the terrace to see what was outside. I didn’t see much yesterday due to it already being night when we arrived.

What I could see was a giant city, with a long stone road and nice buildings with wood tiled roofs. There were a lot of people walking around, it seemed like this area was a market. People were buying food and some people were looking at weapons.

I could even see an old lady haggling for some fruit. The merchant seemed pretty annoyed but it was fun to watch. I'm rooting for the lady.

Oh yeah Ryner said I could explore the castle when I woke up, I should go do that. I’m curious how big this place is anyway. The end of this castle was nowhere to be seen when I was on the terrace.

Creeping my way out the room's door, I couldn't see anybody in the hallway. I decided to go in a direction I haven't been, no point in exploring where I’ve already seen. The hall had a couple turns I could’ve gone down, but I decided to keep going straight until I had no other option.

Eventually I reached a point where I had to turn right. After I went down that hall for a bit I saw a small sign on the wall to my left. Disappointment was the only thing I felt when I saw it though.

“I can’t read.” I whispered to myself.

Why the hell did I think I could? Whatever. I'm just gonna continue walking aimlessly, I’ll figure it out.

After a few more turns, I came up on a door that looked a bit different than the others. It was metal instead of wood, and it had a metal frame that was bolted by the corners against the wall. Opening it had me end up in an outside area.

The castle seemed to have built its walls around the area. There was a small stone path leading up to some pretty orchid trees going around in a giant circle, water was flowing around them in a sunken part of the ground.

A small wood bridge was visible that would take me past the water and the trees. I went towards it while trying to see what the trees were circling by looking through the gaps of the stumps. A small girl with silver hair was standing by herself.

What’s she doing out here by herself?

As I got closer to the small bridge the girl started to bring her hands above herself. After a couple of seconds of me being confused something started to appear above her. Pink fire started to rage in the air, the girls hands were shaking a bit as the flames got bigger.

When I got to the bridge I decided to just watch for a bit, the fire wasn’t like Boris’s magic. It was mesmerizing. The blue orbs I saw when I was in the ruins paled in comparison, and that was the least I could say about how beautiful this scene is.

Although it was quickly interrupted by the flames blowing up in a flash, pushing the girl back a couple feet in the fall. As she was using her arms to pick herself up she looked back and saw me.

“Who are you?”