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42. Emergency return
🕑 Added 2025-08-30 10:10:34 +0000 UTCI left the hut where Ophelia rested, happy that my new apprentice was doing relatively well. I quickly paid a visit to Astrid’s house, but she did not explain to me about her eyes, this apparently being a secret enforced by her god.
I tried some strange things to see if she would react, but she either did not see them or kept a stone face. However, she did seem to follow me with her eyes, so I wasn’t sure.
I did explain to her how I found out the god’s titles, as it was still part of the deal. The trick was simple. The knowledge granted by a god could only be accessed by the person receiving it. But shortly after being bestowed with it, it would take time to settle into the subconscious. For a short while, it was like an exposed nerve, a new foreign construct in the body. And just as the tongue subconsciously will go over a wound in the mouth, so too does the consciousness attempt to do something about the new knowledge.
So if the mind is panicked and stops having access to rational responses and starts looking for instinctual ones, there is a chance it will tap into the granted knowledge, even without training.
After the short explanation and some more small talk about the ritual and how it went, I was back in the hut granted to me and the cat. Q’Shar was currently out with the people being released from here, trying to catch some phone service to check how the agency was doing.
It was after a couple of hours that he came back, not looking too happy.
“What happened?” I asked immediately.
“I have good and bad news. The good news is that we finalized the property. The land is officially yours, the Vatican part is also done.”
“That quick?” I asked, surprised. The documentation had taken over a month, but the Vatican registration was done in just a day.
“Yes. The registration is fast. It’s just that they don’t have people to do it, so I used a favor to process it the same day.”
“Ok, and the bad news?” I asked, not seeing a reason for him to be this pissed when he entered the room.
“We need to return as soon as possible. When Mark, the CEO, called us to let us know the papers were processed, he also mentioned that he received two offers for the very same land we just acquired. One was accompanied by a substantial amount of money and another by a very serious threat to him,” said the cat with a serious face.
I clicked my tongue. “Fuck. Others found out.”
“Yes. They might try something soon. We need to be back as fast as possible. How’s the girl doing? Can she leave tomorrow morning?”
“She should manage. We don’t have much of a choice now.”
He paused. “And are you sure about her? You think she has what it takes?”
“Yes. I’m pretty sure after what I saw. As long as she deals with the fear and grief, she should make an excellent mage.” I lowered my voice. “Also, I think I might not have found that fire giant guy by accident.”
“You think something led you to him?” asked Q’Shar.
“Hard to tell with the way gods influence reality. It might have been a coincidence. Bloodlines may awaken spontaneously with the upcoming changes. But her magic attributes are both rare and very close to mine. So I want to see what happens for now.”
He nodded his head. “Well, your choice. I, for one, would welcome someone with a bit of finesse rather than the violent approach you use each time.”
“Heh, don’t worry. I’ll teach her all she needs to know.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” We both chuckled. “Well, then we will pick her up when we’re leaving. It’s not like she had any luggage.”
I nodded. “Will we get tickets that soon?”
The cat smiled proudly. “Got us a private jet. Took a lot of money, but it is the quickest way.”
I feigned disappointment. “Not looking forward to another trip in a cage?”
“Screw you,” spat the cat. “You better get ready for a fight. We need people to understand that trying to take the land by force is a death wish. If they request any meetings, we want them on our terms.”
“Why negotiate at all? It’s not like we will ever consider any offers for the land,” I asked, confused. No amount of money could buy a mana pathway.
“Saying ‘no’ in the business world is more complicated, Sam. There are people who are owed at least a meeting. We just need it to be short. We need the ability to tell anyone we are not interested in any offers and laugh at any threats of violence. We need negotiation leverage, so as much as I don’t want to say it, I think you might need to make an example of the first idiots to try.”
I made the most serious face I could. “Flay them alive and go to the meeting wearing their skin. Got it.”
“Fuck’s sake, Sam. Please be joking. No, just a short and decisive win. Crush the enemy. Now that the land is officially ours, we can quickly finalise the negotiations with the other groups to join us. But for now, an attack is likely.”
I smiled. “Finally, some action. I was getting bored. Do we know who made the inquiries?”
The cat shook his head. “No idea, sadly. At least for now.”
I nodded and went to get my stuff in order, getting the promised rewards from the chief, both the techniques for creating ents and the Death’s Grasp spell. I did receive both, but interestingly, it was the Oracle that gave them to me and not the chief. It was somewhat sad since I had a few choice curse words in both meanings of the term, after the little stunt with the knife. However, the chief’s family was nowhere to be found.
Lastly, I checked all my stuff, preparing the spells and curses for human opponents capable of magic.
The night before going back, I finally had some time for myself. The sky was clear and the night air crisp. With everything ready and Ophelia resting, I sat before the hut, looking up.
I felt my understanding of space had grown. I saw the movements of the hands on the messenger. Their moves were natural, following paths carved in the fabric of space, much like a rock falls to the ground alongside the curve of space.
It made me realize I was trying to force the movement too much in my spells. I could use some practice with my new approach, especially with a possible battle tomorrow. After all, we would be the least prepared going back from the trip. If the people were competent, they would use this opportunity.
I took a deep breath and started casting Force Control using the spatial attribute, casting it on a rock in front of the hut.
And sure enough, as I outlined its place in space and let it fall into it rather than forcing it, the stone shot up along an elliptical trajectory. The spell took an amount of mana similar to a normal second-circle spell.
“Yes,” I celebrated. Spatial magic was powerful, especially at higher circles, so this was a substantial success. I played with the spell more, thinking about all the possible uses now that the casting was easier. I didn’t have much time for experimentation, but even the few hours were nice.
Until it was finally time to rest before tomorrow.
We were leaving the village in the early morning hours. I saw Astrid standing not too far away from our house, smiling. “I saw you were leaving,” she smiled at her own joke. “So this is goodbye, I guess. It was nice fighting you.”
“And you too. But don’t worry, we will meet sooner than you think. You won’t see it coming.”
“Heh.”
“Heh.”
“Fuck’s sake,” grumbled the cat, clearly not one for morning hours.
“And is the chief and his family not seeing us out?” I asked, curious.
“I’m not sure he is still the chief. The thing with the knife was initially not taken seriously. Mostly, the elder who got talked into it received a slap on the wrist for ‘not knowing better.’ But yesterday, during an evening celebration, the chief’s son collapsed in front of the altar, coughing up blood. When I saw him briefly afterward, I could not sense any mana from him.”
“Oh,” I raised my eyebrows. “Just degradation or is he crippled?”
“Don’t know, but he got punished for interfering. Forgot that Gods don’t care about mortal justifications. The chief and his wife have been praying in the church for forgiveness since yesterday.”
“Well, I was hoping to get my own hands on him, but I got beaten to it.” We continued some small talk, after which I hugged Astrid goodbye, and we were on our way, picking up Ophelia before leaving for the forest.
As we walked, I saw her looking around with a mixture of fear and interest, as if the forest was about to come alive at any moment. She only relaxed when we were out of the woods.
Now that she calmed down a bit, I saw that her eyes went to the cat walking next to us, looking like he was still asleep. Seeing his face with eyes barely opened, I was surprised he didn’t try to get her or me to carry him, but I guess the rest of his dignity didn’t allow him.
“Is that your cat?” she finally asked. “It’s pretty.”
I laughed at that while Q’Shar looked at her, looking distinctly irritated. “I’m no one’s cat, girl. You’ll do well to remember that,” he spoke.
Ophelia went a bit pale, her mouth hanging open. I realized that she had not heard him speak before.
“He speaks!” she shouted, looking at me with surprise. “Is he like a magical cat?”
“Yes.”
“No,” hissed the cat. “While I’m capable of magic, I can assure you I’m a normal cat.”
“So how do—” she started on another question.
“Maybe leave the questions for later,” I proposed. “He needs his beauty sleep.” I then whispered to her in a conspiratorial voice, “He’s a bit grumpy till he gets it.”
The cat looked at me like he was about to choke me, but I just played like I didn’t see that. Like that, we arrived at the airport after hours of fast march, taking a taxi as soon as one was available. Though breathing heavily and dripping with sweat, Ophelia handled it relatively well.
The private jet turned out to be a great move. I did not want to know how much it cost. But with the exorcist business on the rise, maybe I would get one for myself one day. We were led to a separate boarding gate with dedicated personnel.
Everything went smoothly and quickly. In just an hour, we were on board the small, few-person jet with the sparse luggage loaded and even some champagne gifted by the airline.
It was time to relax before a possible fight.
Ophelia was on a private plane for the first time. It was an amazing experience. The trip back to the USA started with some awkward silence, which quickly led to everyone falling asleep for some time. The journey earlier had taken its toll.
It was around halfway through the flight, when they woke up and were served lunch, that a lively conversation started. It was mainly between the increasingly confused Ophelia and the increasingly amused Q’Shar, with her new teacher providing small feedback while looking up from a strange wooden tome.
“So cats are not native to Earth?” exclaimed Ophelia one more time.
Q’Shar just sighed. “Yes. We came here many years ago when Egypt was still a small kingdom. Our people travel the vast universe, conquering world after world.”
Ophelia was still not sold on the idea and looked to Samuel, question clear in her eyes.
He sighed and closed the strange-looking book. “Cats are the universe’s most efficient conquering species, but they are lazy as fuck, so their idea of conquest is to be able to laze around and be overall assholes without consequences.” He started on the history lesson, while Q’Shar looked rather proud at those words, for some reason. “They arrive at a place, make themselves objects of worship, granting knowledge in return, and spreading around the world. You can tell a world has been ‘conquered,’” he used air quotes on that word. “when looking at its history, there is a civilization with massive advancement in knowledge, magic, and architecture, that also just so happens to worship cats as some gift from gods.”
“Yep,” confirmed Q’Shar. “How did you think the pyramids or the sphinx were built?”
“By using water, boats, and clever engineering?” asked Ophelia, clearly not sure of herself.
The other two met their eyes with raised eyebrows. “Do people actually believe that? They are obviously the outcome of magical engineering. Water and boats? Every time the Vatican comes up with a cover-up, it’s just dumber and dumber, and people still believe them,” commented the cat.
“Riiight…” She was still not convinced. “So do all cats talk?”
“No,” Sam shook his head. “The cats’ intelligence varies between the members of the same species much more than it does for humans. Some of them are barely smarter than normal animals. But as a species capable of magic, they can be fully conscious and speak our language. Although don’t be fooled, all cats understand what is said to them more or less. The majority simply couldn't care less.”
“And they conquered us?”
The man shrugged and went back to the book. She looked at the cat now.
“Yes, you clean after us, feed us, and entertain us until we are bored with it.” He smiled a contented smile. “Like servants.”
“Well, n-no,” she stammered. “It’s more like you are pets.”
“Do we ever do anything you want us to?”
“Well… no…” She looked to the man for some help, but he was not interested in the argument, now tracing some patterns in the air while reading.
“Servants,” mouthed the cat.
Ophelia was sitting there, confused. The world was becoming a stranger and stranger place. She couldn’t tell if it was fascinating, terrifying, or both. She was still in turmoil, rethinking her decision and life choices.
She then felt something from her side where Samuel, with his book, was sitting. Some weird energy in the air stirred as he traced something in the air, in deep focus.
“Hey!” screamed the cat. “I swear to god, if you cast something inside the plane and we fall, I will kill you.”
“Right.” Sam stopped moving his hand.
She was growing more anxious.
Soon, he was back to reading. After a while, he closed the book and looked at the cat. The feline was half asleep. Seeing this, she saw him murmur something and slowly trace a pattern in the air. After a while, she saw a branch-like, creepy hand emerge from the plane’s floor, creep toward the cat, and pull its tail before disappearing.
She watched the spectacle, stunned, as the man turned to her with a proud smile on his face, apparently happy about whatever it was he accomplished just now, as the cat started hissing.
Ophelia was thinking just one thing. What did she get herself into?
