Chapter 19: Chapter 17: The Warmage Pupil Arc

“Guess I was able to fall asleep again,” I took an interest in the sunrise, the very first light of every day. It urged my body to leave the bed and to get things done. 

In no time I changed clothing and dashed around with my feeble stamina through the second floor, towards the scent of food that flickered my stomach's desires. It growled, putting a faint smile on my face and my hand on top of the sound source.

The pain was sharp, and I remembered it late. It had been numb till now, however; it felt like yesterday. Very much like a spider inside my uterus, one whose legs held sharp knives on each tip, and every time it moved, I felt a fresh wound from its merciless cuts. 

I slowed down, causing me to pass through the said room. Suddenly, its door opened and from within came a dressed hunter with what looked like a satisfied smug. We traded gazes in silence as he closed the door behind him. 

“Good morning Aura,” A cheerful tone rebounded in my mind. 

“You seem to be in a good mood... for a change,” I rebuked with a faint glow, as if approving of this change.

Without being able to react, his large right hand came towards my head, patting it softly for a moment, ‘this is a first...’ I stared at him, smiling brighter, causing my lips to match the pace

“Are you hungry, kid?” As if reminded of his words, my stomach roared, causing him to laugh and me to lower my head, embarrassed. “Let’s go.”

Without waiting for me to say anything, we took two steps through the hall. At that time, I felt a cold sensation crawl through my back all the way to the neck as if a hand made of ice choked me from behind. Scared, I turned around, not finding anything. ‘Just now, what was that?’

Realizing that I stopped from the lack of step sounds through the wooden floor, his voice reached me, “what’s wrong?”

My head turned back to him, ignoring whatever that was while shaking to the sides, so that he would understand that everything was fine.

‘Can’t have them worry about me,’ Words I poured into my mind constantly, knowing that being useless to them would prove fatal.

My physical appearance was already the worst possible in this world, couldn’t allow my utility to drop to such standards as well. Successor or not, I had to fill the role with all my might. That would be my one chance to survive in this world. That was one of my master teachings and to be fair, everything he achieved on his own was enough proof for me to follow through whatever trial and hardship he placed in my way.

After fighting the hunter for the last piece of buttered bread, I headed outside. Rubia told us the master was to return later, and that I had to repeat yesterday’s practice. She seemed content with the free water the little boy delivered in my stead. To be honest, she was the one cleaning the place after he messed up one of the buckets from back then, but she wasn’t harsh enough to disdain someone who had good intentions.

In a trance, like I found myself to be often through this place and the last one I lived in. I found myself to be in the ranch where I noticed an unnamed man sitting with what looked like a straw on his teeth. “Good morning, young one.” My eyes gazed at his dark ones, whose gloomy circles possibly indicated that he didn’t sleep well.

I rose my hand and greeted him back awkwardly, ‘doesn’t he know who I am?’

After the church event and becoming the successor, they made a party where most got to know about me, but back then, not all who served the master were present.

“Good morning to you too!” 

His gaze towards me was amiable. It made me not want to ask him if he knew about the successor. In fact, it was often a position that led people to fear and respect me immediately, without giving me an actual chance to meet them properly. ‘I’ll keep it hidden for now.’

You are reading story Devourer and Grimoire at novel35.com

He could see a cheerful smile on my face. It didn’t take long till with my feet approached the wooden fences that kept the chickens from going away.

“Do you like animals?” He asked while faced to me. To what, I extended my hand towards the gap between the logs, hoping that they’d be nicer than the crow. As soon as they approached, which didn’t take long, their eyes observed the nothingness on my hands. And with that, they went away.

“I do, but they don’t seem to like me back.” Once again, I scorned at them, making an expression that wasn’t pretty, certainly not as cute as the one that I had before.

“Animals trust those who feed them. You have some seeds over there if you want to captivate their attention.” He extended his arm towards a bag on my left side. “Though it’ll only be momentarily, at the very least, till the food is gone.”

I did as I was told, managing to feel the pecking landing on my hand for the food on it, finding myself forced to drop the leftovers to the floor as they were brute. At that I clicked my tongue, disappointed, feeling frustrated and slightly pained. “Don’t feel bad, child, they simply don’t know better. That’s the reason why they can’t do better, not these at least.” 

He laughed after hinting that it differed. “Do you mean that there are animals that are kind?”

A smile surged on his expression, allowing his yellow teeth to glow. “Kind...” A mutter came out of him as if he savoured that word. “I would say that a horse is a noble companion. If well trained, it might even save your life one day.”

I giggled at the man’s words. ‘There’s no way an animal could save any of us.’ After meeting rabbits, crows, and chickens, there was no way I could trust him. It was simply inevitable, as in reality there wasn’t anything in this world that had ever been loyal to me. Those who took such a trait towards my being were so based on the title that was entitled to me, it was wholly in an involuntary way.

I dropped on my knees softly to not hurt myself and once more I stretched my arm towards the fat looking birds. In my heart, I was determined for at least one of them to approach me out of good will. Next to me, the man made a small muttering sound, pursued by him, raising his tired gaze towards the sun.

The chickens moved closer and upon detecting the lack of food after a few pecks; they made a couple of sounds and left, completely ignoring my existence. I sighed, frustrated in a mix of pain and boredom.

“Hey! What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to feed them another dose!” My body turned around from the waist up towards the source of the voice meeting a more familiar face, one of those that celebrated the day I received my name. Once he took a better glimpse of my face and hair, I sensed his body shuddering.

Without waiting to hear more complaints, I attempted an explanation. “I’m sorry. I thought it was okay since he pointed me towards the bag of seeds.” The young man followed my finger direction where his eyes met an upside down bucket, the one the man with a tired gaze previously was on. 

“Who are you talking about? There’s no one here but the two of us.” Fear reigned inside of me like a monster gnawing my brain piece by piece. I crossed my arms while gritting my teeth, scared, looking around us in search, but in vain. There was no way he could’ve run beyond my field of vision, unless he was insanely fast. I got up while feeling anxious and attempted once more, taking on a better look around, and then even evaluated the spot his shoes were supposed to be, but no footprints remained. 

“Anyway, it would be bad if you overfeed them, but if you come back later, you can give them an extra dose.” I was too terrified to reply to him, so I nodded and left in a rush, hearing him calling me strange with a low tone. It made me feel horrible on top of being scared and nervous.

“Just... why? Why do these things keep happening to me!?” The more I lived, the more it felt like it wasn’t real. Almost like my entire life was an illusion created by an evil god to torture me endlessly. Very much like I did to his highness prisoners. 

‘Is this my punishment?’ I pondered seriously about it, realizing that there was no other explanation. My master's arts healed me back then when the hunter brought me home. My sisters told me that the house shook thanks to powerful vibrations and the entire place bathed in almighty blue when he did so. From the start, they often mentioned his miracles and many other feats in conversations, and every time they referred them, an additional detail followed through, an even more glorified one.

“I can’t possibly be sick! Thus I’m fine. I just need to calm down.” Something within me became twisted upon my own words. As much as I’d like to deny them, I failed and if I couldn’t, then I had to accept them. Thus, I did. The fear dissipated slowly along with my cleverness. I smiled as another piece inside of me became clogged.

You can find story with these keywords: Devourer and Grimoire, Read Devourer and Grimoire, Devourer and Grimoire novel, Devourer and Grimoire book, Devourer and Grimoire story, Devourer and Grimoire full, Devourer and Grimoire Latest Chapter