Darkness' Touch

Chapter 17: Erased and Unseen

"But anyway, I also observed that there is a part of this area that is almost completely covered in tall trees, a perfect route for an escape without being noticed." she added and looked back at the tower as if calculating where that so-called escape route was. After thinking for a couple of seconds, she started walking again.

They walked for no more than ten minutes and just as she expected, they made it out across the river without catching the attention of the guards.

"That was easy." she stated and proceeded to walk downtown once again, Ares next to her acting as her guard.

"For a human, you sure are smart." he praised her with a grin, maybe he followed the right person after all.

"Oh please. Humans are naturally made to analyze. You may think the humans in this era are stupid, that's only because they have magic in place of everything and most of them don't care about using their brains more. But from where I came from, you can either rise by wealth or by brains. In fact, kids are forced to stuff their brains with knowledge for more than ten to fifteen years to stand above others."

"Where did you come from?"

"That's classified information that cannot be disclosed to others." she said, raising her curse slave's curiosity about her real identity but nevertheless, decided to keep quiet.

"Hurry up. We don't have all day. I have to buy things to keep the kid alive." she told him and quicken her phase, going straight to the town market.

"These books are heavy you slave driver!!" Ares exclaimed and tried to keep up with his master.

"Quit yapping!"

At that moment, the poor curse started to question if he did the right decision to be under a woman with the beauty of a Goddess, but way merciless than the Devil itself.

~~~

Kill was phasing back and forth in his tiny space inside the cave worriedly waiting for the lady who has been visiting him ever since his companion died. It has only been more than a day passed after he felt his connection with her slightly disappearing. As a nature of his magic, he would immediately know if the creature that he cast his spell on is in a dangerous state because of the thread of connection he has with them. It was a very convenient thing to have considering the fact that he have no one to rely on other than Avy, but he didn't know that it would also be so stressful now that he could no longer feel her even in the slightest.

"Are we there yet?"

A sudden voice of a man pulled Kill back to reality once again, he quickly went to fetch his knife from the wooden cart, alarmed. Who could it be? He didn't feel a single ounce of mana coming from anywhere. He stayed Alert as possible, getting ready to pounce on anyone who could possibly be a threat to his life. He can't die without seeing his Mom one last time.

"Shut your trap for a moment. He might be sleeping."

His ears perked up when he heard the familiar crude way of speaking of a girl. It didn't take long before Avy stepped in, her long curly black hair tied in a high ponytail with some little strand of small curls left decorating her pretty face.

"Mama!" he enthusiastically blurted out

"You're too happy to see me, aren't you?" Avy stated with a snicker seeing the small child's pair of golden eyes sparkled by the sight of her entering.

"Out of the way." Ares was just behind him who was the one pulling the new cart with all the things they bought Downtown as well as the books she finished reading and was thinking of giving Kill to pass time whenever he feels like it.

"Oh. You must be the chil-"

"Who is this old man?" Kill cut him off before he could finish his sentence, staring at him in disinterest and nowhere near what he looked like after seeing Avy.

"How rude. I look only a few years older than this girl whom you call your Mother, brat." Ares vehemently told the young boy.

"No. You look old." Kill insisted

"I am not." he narrowed his eyes at him, trying to scare him off but he only received Avy's hand making contact with his face as she shove him away.

"Have some shame. You're old enough to be my ancestor." Avy said as a matter of fact.

Ares just huffed in an offended manner and glared at the mother and son pair.

"I brought you some books... again. I was thinking you might like them since they were not bad." Avy took the books from the wooden cart with a small smile and stacked them up next to Kill.

"But Mama..." he spoke up.

"Hmm?" Avy saw his brows knitted together causing her smile to fade. "I see. It's fine. Kids don't necessarily have to read books." she added.

"No! That wasn't what I meant! I like books. I will read them, Mama." he quickly exclaimed, trying not to cause any further misunderstandings. Avy raised her brow in confusion, wondering what he really wanted to say.

"Did something happen the other night?" he finally asked.

The two adults were surprised about his question and looked at him with questioning eyes, "How did you know?" Ares stated, sitting down in one of the big rocks to rest.

"I was able to feel Mama's mana when I cast a spell on her to change the color of her eyes. It was a skill of mine allowing me to know if I should cut off my magic if it's no longer necessary. But the other night, it was forcefully cut off without my permission. It can only mean two things, it's either someone undid the spell... or Mama lost her life." Kill explained with a serious face.

"I was still able to use your Magic though?" Avy pointed at her eyes, they were indeed not in their original color.

"It's because you're finally a Darkness' host that he can no longer feel your mana." Ares commented, calling the attention of the two.

"How's that connected?" she asked.

"Can you feel the Darkness when it's there? No. It is natural for someone who became one with it to also disappear, especially when you're too far away from each other. But since you're a human, you can undo that effect." Ares said.

"I can do that?" Avy stared at him in disbelief.

"You've done it before."

"When?"

"Remember when the Chef almost cut your face with a kitchen knife? He was alarmed because he wasn't able to feel your presence. And also, you've been doing it unconsciously whenever you wish not to be seen by others-"

"I was doing that all along and you never told me?" Avy glared at him.

"Well. It was only when you finally accepted me that your mana was completely erased, hence your connection with the Kid was undone. But it went back on its own immediately. He must've not been able to sense us earlier because he needs to redo the spell again to have a new connection with you."

"That's not the point you stupid snake." Avy snarled at him. "It's dangerous to have my presence appear and disappear all of a sudden in a world where people can sense each other. They might feel suspicious. You could've told me sooner." she said clicking her tongue.

"But the Kid sure is talented. Even adults have difficulty doing that kind of thing to monitor someone. Although your spell is a low-level one, it's still impressive for your age." Ares said, ignoring his master's rants.

"Usually, someone uses it to know if someone came out from a certain area, or if that person died because running out of mana completely means dying in this world. They do it by linking their magic with the desired person's magic to build a connection." he continued.

Unbeknownst to Avy, that small problem of her erasing her mana had a larger impact on a certain someone.