[1] The Moshino Toy (Female!Reader x Katarina/MNLAAV:ARLTD fanfiction)

86: Staunch

Katarina sat there on the edge of her bed with dinner in her lap.

Her hands weren't shaking a lot as they used to, still shaking slightly but all in all, it wasn't as bad as it was just today.

They didn't feel numb anymore, and the tips of her finger stung with pain.

It felt like the skin on her hands had been peeled off, revealing the bones while in her sleep.

"I think I should ask Lady v/n about a few things if I'll be staying here this much with injuries." She ate dinner alone in her room, 'Mother used to scold me whenever I would farm and get hurt in the process when I forget to wear my gloves...'

'And Anne would be busy preparing my snacks whenever I'd be finished with it,' she sighed.

The food was well cared but now it tasted bland. She didn't even feel hungry, nor was she wondering before why she was even eating.

She set the unfinished dinner aside and got up to walk over to the small corner of the bookshelves.

She pulled a random book to read.

"Hm?" Oddly enough, there was a bookmark.

It was a small blue quilted ribbon.

'Such a soft fabric..' she held it in between her fingers as she looked at what page it was in.

'Dark magic has long been connected with the devil or other wicked spirits, as well as the employment of supernatural powers or magic for ill and selfish ends. It's also known as the "left-hand path" on occasion (its right-hand path counterpart being benevolent light magic). People who classify magic or ritualistic behaviors that they disapprove of as dark magic have muddled the meaning of dark magic in modern times, according to a few.'

'What is this..?' the first few sentences Katarina had read in her head piqued her interest.

She never knew dark magic had such a history like this, nor had she known dark magic to be one of the elements in the game to have.

She can't even tell if this is still a game anymore.

She doesn't remember any of this in the game whatsoever even.

'I can't be swayed with thoughts now.' she shook her mind clear to continue reading.

'The origins of black magic can be traced back to primitive, Magic and Alchemy, just like its counterpart light magic. Unlike light magic, which Place sees as parallels with primitive shamanistic attempts to achieve closeness with spiritual beings, the rituals that evolved into modern dark magic were designed to invoke the same spirits to produce beneficial outcomes for the practitioner. The place also offers a broad modern definition of both black and white magic, referring to them as "high magic" (light) and "low magic" (dark), respectively, based primarily on the practitioner's intentions.'

"This sounds more like dark magic didn't seem to be illegal back then." She pondered, 'It seems more like dark magic only became illegal when people went missing and became unfair sacrifices to it.'