Bound and Broken: An Isekai Adventure Dark Fantasy (Melas Book 1) by V.A. Lewis (autobiographies to read .TXT) 📕

in big cities. But on the off chance that we obtain a healing potion capable of removing that brand upon your face, we will continue our search." Victor said.

I stared at the two of them, as they tried to comfort me; I raised a hand and touched my face. I felt it. The mark in my face. And I remembered.

Helplessness. It was such a terrible thing; I felt it many times before, and I hated every moment of it every single time. I took a deep breath.

"Thank you. Both of you. For trying to help me, I’m really grateful." I said slowly. The two of them— Orc and Human— paused and stared at me, as I shrugged. "A few months isn’t too long of a wait. Not when it’s for something that could change the rest of my life. So I’ll just wait."

I stood up from my chair, and gently placed both hands on the desk. I met both of their eyes, serious as could be, and spoke. "But—"

"Ah, of course. There is always a ‘but’." Victor grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "But," I said, mock-glaring the young man, "four months is a lot of time to learn something. A lot of time to learn magic."

Gerritt’s eyes widened, while Victor narrowed his eyes out of curiosity. "What do you mean by that?" The young man— the Dark Acolyte who was supposedly a genius— asked.

"I want to learn magic still, even if it's not one that can heal me. I want to learn how to defend myself, and fight like my mother. I know some spells, but I was never taught. I need to get better, I really do. So please, Victor, teach me how to do what you did back when you saved me. Teach me magic."

A light shone in my eyes and a fire smoldered within me; the words hung in the air exuding a sense of finality.

Gerritt blinked, then laughed at the audacity of my request, while the blue haired Human just folded his arms. "You’re asking me to train you. Even though you’re not one of us?"

"Yes," I said.

"And to train you so that you can be like your mother, the Fiend, one of the founders of the Shadow’s Evangelium, and the menace that haunted the Holy Xan Empire for so long?" Victor cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes," I said the word again, this time emphasizing it.

I held the Dark Crusader’s gaze for a moment. Then he grinned.

"Well, I’ve never had a student before— considering that I am very much a student myself— so I can not guarantee the results. However, I do believe that I am more than competent enough to tutor you— I am a genius after all. The question is: are you up for the task?"

Victor spread his arms wide, issuing me a challenge.

"Yes," I repeated myself, for the final time.

"Then prove it to me," he said, pointing a finger at me. "Show me you have what it takes— that you have the drive to be a student worth my time. That you are strong."

"What must I do?"

He strutted over to a bag, and pulled out a book. It was a grimoire— a tome of magic. One that beheld in it many spells I knew nothing about. He flipped through its pages, and ripped one out before handing it to me.

"Then learn this spell," the Dark Acolyte said. "If you can master this single spell, then I will teach you. But if you don’t? Well, children are often fickle, are they not?"

I stared at the crinkled piece of paper, before my eyes darted up to meet the man’s green eyes. Slowly, I lifted my hand up and reached for it. Victor allowed me to take it.

I was tired of being weak. I was tired of being dragged around with my face in the mud, unable to do anything for myself. I had enough of it. I was granted a single request by that fake god when I came into this world and I was going to take advantage of it.

I was hungry. I had been starved. But now, I saw food dangling ahead of me. So I gave the only response I could think of at that moment.

"Give me a week; I’ll show you how strong I am."

 

Chapter 28: Test

I felt my brows knit on my forehead as I squinted. I was staring at the piece of paper Victor had given me; the spell inscribed onto it was called Magic Missile. It was a direct advancement of the Magic Bolt spell I had learned to cast in Bys.

It was not supposed to be hard— or at least, I did not think it was supposed to be hard. Victor gave me this as a challenge, but I doubted he would give me something impossible to learn. Considering that I requested that jerk god for me to be the best spellcaster in the world, it should have been like going on a cakewalk!

And yet, two days had passed but I saw no progress. The paper had nothing but theory— there were no instructions on how to cast the spell. It did go into detail on how the original Magic Bolt spell was modified with a few simple tweaks to become this vastly stronger version, however that was it: nothing else was on it.

I stood up, drawing my lips into a thin line. It was frustrating! I had read the same thing over and over again nonstop, and while I understood the words itself that was written on the paper, its true meaning evaded me completely. Time for a short break.

I was extremely stiff from being glued to a chair for the last six hours, and needed to stretch for a bit. I put my hands together with my palms facing out, and reached up