Claudia walked out of the room through the gaping hole in the side of the building the brute had created as an idea popped into her head.
She wanted to try and see how versatile these new powers of hers could be so she waved her hand to summon the black book once again.
It laid gently in the palm of her hand, giving off an odd kind of warmth that one would only expect from another living being. She looked at the broken wall and the very moment the thought popped into her head the book 'burst open' with an unnatural force.
It flipped to about the twentieth page and stopped there. Claudia waited a couple of seconds but nothing happened, both the pages remained completely blank.
"Why is this empty?" she reached out with her right hand to try and flip to another page but the instant her finger came into contact with the page the skin on her forefinger was torn open.
It 'looked' like an ordinary papercut not more than a centimeter long but the pain it caused was shockingly intense. Claudia flinched and almost threw the book away until she noticed the writing magically appearing on the pages.
The few drops of blood that trickled onto the blank canvas were drawn in every direction and as they moved around abstract writings became visible along their paths.
At first glance she did not recognize the words at all but since they were nothing more than doodles in her eyes but…the longer she stared at them the more sense they made.
Their shapes and alignment reconfigured right in front of her eyes and a previously unknown language turned into something she recognized without any forethought. The words started to make sense one by one.
The first line read:
[Mend: A second circle spell able to restore most ordinary objects]
And right under it was a long inscription that didn't really make much sense. Claudia understood the words and how to pronounce them but not what each word meant. It truly was like magic until a few moments ago she didn't know any of this.
She cleared her throat and vocalized the inscription in whichever language it was written in. And as she did so, a faint dark blue color energy surrounded pieces of rubble that floated up from the ground and the nearby surroundings before flying towards the wall.
One by one every single grain of sand, rock, and pebble that was originally part of the wall came together to create the same exact structure. By the time she reached the end of the inscription everything was returned to normal.
Claudia quickly examined herself but found no changes other than a faint feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was similar to hunger but she knew it wasn't a desire to eat food.
'Is this mana? I used up this little bit of mana to restore an entire side of the building?' she burst out laughing in the realization.
"Hahaha, I LOVE magic!"
Hearing the sound of heavy breathing Claudia turned around to see the old housekeeper. Bottling up her joy for the time being another idea popped into her head as she walked up to the old lady.
"You said your name was Maria, right? Don't worry, everything will be fine, haha."
Her eyes shone with the same dark blue/purple-colored light as the pages on the book began to turn once again. This time she knew what to do. Learning every new spell required something from her, pain.
Depending on one's view it could be seen as a test that would give her access to more power or a price for seeking forbidden knowledge. Regardless, she was more than willing to pay for it to test her theory.
As expected the book cut her hand but this time the wound was much deeper and drew a lot more blood. Since she was expecting it the pain was a lot more bearable despite it being much more intense. And when the wording slowly became legible Claudia couldn't contain her smile.
[Seed of Thought: Plant a minor thought in the mind of others]
She read the inscription out loud as instructed while thinking of what she wanted 'Maria' to believe. When the spell finished Maria's eyes became pitch-black for an instant before quickly returning to normal.
She looked around in confusion before swiftly getting back on her feet. Despite her old age Maria was still quite agile.
"I will be in my quarters if you need something," threw out the words and walked away before Claudia could say anything.
Claudia watched her back vanish from view before giving herself a small nod, content with the final results.
"I asked her to forget what she just saw and just like that she did. I-I…what else can I do? How many more powerful spells will the old woman give me? Hahaha, I can't wait to test it out!"
The distant booming and irregular shaking of the barrier brought her back to reality.
"Oh right, I have to find him first.. The precious 'Son of Chaos' who is so important. I wonder what kind of a person he is?"
