Erika's Story

We stepped out of the labyrinth. There was snow everywhere and it was quite cold. It's not all that surprising since we were on top of a mountain. It was getting dark.

"Oh there's my stuff!" Erika exclaimed.

Next to the entrance was an incredibly large backpack that was roughly about four times the size of Erika.

"Alright. I hope you didn't forget the deal we made. You said you would carry my bags if I became your master."

"No, I didn't forget."

I picked up the bag on my back. It was just as heavy as it looked. It was a good thing I had somewhat supernatural strength due to being undead because this would be torturous if I was mortal.

"Thank goodness! That bag was really hurting my back."

"What's in this thing exactly?" I asked.

She simply replied with, "everything."

That actually seemed about right, considering how big this thing was.

"How exactly did you get up here with this thing? Not to mention you aren't wearing a jacket or anything."

"Oh... Well I was walking along the road at the base of the mountain, when I noticed a weird shape up here, so I simply just walked all the way up and it turned out to be this dungeon."

I can't believe she managed that. Getting up here wasn’t easy at all. Also if she wasn't careful she could get hypothermia.

We walked a bit down the mountain when something came to my mind,

"hey, wha-?"

She was face down in the snow fast asleep. I couldn’t blame her. After our ordeal, I'm sure she was exhausted.

"I guess I'll just ask her in the morning." I said to myself.

I pulled out the sleeping bag from her backpack and covered her with it. I then proceeded to start a campfire with some sticks from some nearby pine trees. The last thing I need is for her to get sick or even freeze to death. I had a lot of questions for her in the morning.

✨✨✨

Eventually the sun began to rise. I noticed Erika had a pan in her bag. There were still a lot of the potatoes from earlier in my satchel. I figured I might as well cook some of them. I'm sure she'd be hungry when she woke up.

I diced up the potatoes in the pan and fried them up over the fire. Unfortunately I don't have anything to season these with. She'll just have to be happy with how they are.

Erika suddenly sat up and rubbed her eyes. She let out a yawn. Her hair was a bit messy.

"Good morning, Mr. Arno." She said cheerfully

"Here, eat this. We have a long trek down this mountain. You'll need your strength."

I handed her the pan of fried potatoes.

"Thank you. I never thought having a thrall would be like having a maid." She said while taking a bite.

I didn’t particularly like having to serve this girl, but I didn’t particularly have a choice at the moment… There was another pressing matter at hand though, for some reason it didn't seem like her mana was regenerating at all because I still couldn’t use magic. Could this be some kind of negative effect from the ritual?

"Girl, you said you were a sorceress, right? What kind of magic can you do?"

"I can do this," she said, proceeding to hold out her hand.

In the palm of her hand a small ball of light about the size of a marble formed.

"Pretty neat, huh?" She exclaimed proudly.

"What does it do exactly?" I asked.

"Lights up the dark."

"Why didn't you use that when we were in the dungeon?"

"Oh... Well I kind of just forgot."

"Alright... What else can you do?"

"That's it."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that's it. That's the only spell I know."

Light ball was probably the lowest level spell a person could learn. It's so simple even a toddler or even an infant could learn it. It uses so little magic that I'm not even sure if you could consider it real magic.

This meant... the reason I couldn't use magic wasn't because she was drained of her mana, it's because she hardly had any mana to begin with.

"But you said you were a sorceress?" I said, confused.

"Aren't I? I can cast that spell and actually I'm on my way to enroll at the Royal Mage Academy."

"Wait what!? You intend to enroll at the most prestigious sorcery school in the West Kingdom and all you can cast is light ball?" I exclaimed, a bit surprised by her naiveness.

"Yeah," She simply remarked, oblivious to my shock.

I attended the Royal Mage Academy myself when I was a young adult. Only the best sorcerers in the world get accepted. From what this girl has demonstrated to me, she’s about on par with a toddler in terms of magic.

I thought my luck was starting to turn around, but I might have been wrong… Unfortunately, I can’t just find a new host either. When a binding seal is first created between a thrall and a master it is unbreakable at first. Over time the seal weakens as the master ages. This girl is still quite young. I believe she said she was eighteen. Whether I like it or not, I'm stuck with her for at least fifty years, if not longer.

I rested my head on my hand.

"What makes you think you would get accepted into that school, with just one spell?"

"Well that's why I went into the labyrinth. I thought if I found some kind of magic item, they'd be impressed. Besides, why wouldn't they accept me? They’re a school, isn't it their job to teach me the stuff I don't know?"

"Listen Girl, I don't want to burst your bubble, but they’re looking for only the top mages in the world. Where you are now, you would only make a fool of yourself."

Erika's face suddenly got a bit serious.

"I have to try though. I made a promise that I can't break no matter what."

Now that I think about it, the Royal Mage Academy has a vault of forbidden magic texts. If I could get into that school and get access to it. It might have the secret I’ve been looking for to resurrect myself back to my original form. If I could get her accepted into that academy that would be my ticket in. I would have to train her though and it would definitely take some time to get her up to par with the school’s standards, but honestly I had nothing but time now.

"How about this, girl. What if you became my apprentice and let me train you. I could ensure that you get accepted to the school. It would just mean you would have to delay enrolling for a while."

"That sounds great, Mr. Arno!... One thing though, I've never actually seen you use magic. Can you actually teach me?"

"Yes, I can assure you that I can teach you everything you need to know about magic. I'm sure I've mentioned it to you before, but I happen to have been a master sorcerer when I was alive."

"Alright then. Please take me as your apprentice, Mr. Arno. I promise I'll do my best!" Erika said.

I pulled out a book I happened to have in my bag, "here, take this. This goes over many of the basics you'll need to know. Read it when you have the time."

Erika took the book, "...oh...uh...thanks."

Judging by her reaction and the way she held the book, there was something definitely up.

"Can you do me a favor and tell me what the cover of that book says?" I asked her.

She stared intently at the book's cover for a bit then answered me, "it says...Magic... Book... About... Magic."

She confirmed my suspicions, "you can't read, can you?"

"Um....how could you tell?" She said looking a bit embarrassed.

"Well first of all, the cover of that book says 'the Basics of Sorcery'. Second, you’re holding the book upside down."

Judging by her appearance, I would have assumed she was from a noble family. Most nobles are educated, so illiteracy amongst them is uncommon. Maybe I was wrong.

"... I never actually learned how. No one ever taught me." She looked a bit down.

"I'll teach you how."

"Really! Thanks again, Mr. Arno!" She was very excited by my offer.

"Hey, I was wondering something. Where exactly are you from, Girl?"

"I'm from Lutin Village." She said as if she expected me to know where that was.

"I've never heard of it. Where is it at?"

"Well it's a bit secluded in the Elder Forest. It's a goblin village, so I guess not a lot of people know about it."

I didn't think there were any villages in the Elder Forest, but I've been secluded for so lo-...

"Wait, did you just say goblin village!?"

"Yes, I was raised by goblins most of my life."

That explains a lot. No wonder she was so naive. Goblins are small green humanoid creatures that tend to not be the most intelligent. They don't interact with humans all that much and for the most part live in their own small communities in remote places like forests and caves. I don't think I've ever heard of a human being raised by them.

"Interesting. I'm curious now, would you mind telling me your story? How did you end up being raised by goblins?" I asked.

"Sure, of course Mr. Arno. Where should I begin?"

She put her finger over her mouth and thought for a moment. She then spoke,

"So I never actually knew my real parents. They both passed away shortly after I was born. My grandpa took me in and raised me until I was six. I loved my grandpa. He was truly a kind man. We lived in a cabin in the Elder Forest, far from any other people. Eventually Grandpa got sick though and passed away" Erika began tearing up a bit.

"Grandpa was good friends with the goblins that lived nearby. Before he passed, he arranged for them to take me in. I was adopted by a couple who were the village's tailors. Even though they were goblins and I was a human, they raised me as if I was their own child.

I could sympathize with her a bit. I too was orphaned at a young age. Unfortunately, I wasn't fortunate enough to have loved ones to take me in. I ended up spending most of my childhood on the streets, as a petty thief.

"You mentioned earlier about a promise you made to become a sorceress. What's that all about?" I inquired.

"Oh that. My grandpa was a sorcerer when he was young. He would tell me all sorts of stories about his adventures. Before he passed away I promised him I would become a sorceress and work hard to be just like him. Light ball was the only spell he taught me and none of the goblins know magic, so I haven't really had a chance to learn a lot until now. When I turned Eighteen a few weeks ago, my adopted parents convinced me to go out into the outside world and join the Royal Mage Academy, so I could fulfill my promise. And then I met you and here we are now."

"Alright, nice talk, but let's pack up and get moving." I remarked, abruptly ending the conversation.

"But don't you want to talk more? There's still a lot about you I don't know?"

"You can talk all you want while we hike down this mountain. I’m not necessarily going to tell you anything about myself though."

"That's not fair." Erika muttered under her breath.

She looked like she was pouting a bit, but she still helped pack everything up.