chapter 10: Prototype

“This is the “important” matter that you want to talk about, I assume?”

Maria pointed at a gigantic Eldritch-like Owl who wore a black cape and 4 pairs of glasses upon its body.

“Yes, but only a part of it,” the Advisor replied. She reached for something resembling candy on the nearby table and handed it to Maria. “Here, eat this.”

“Hey, that is...” The giant Owl tried to stop Advisor but was immediately crushed down into the mountain of books by some invisible force.

Maria sniffed the candy-like object and put it into her mouth. It quickly dissolved, flooding her tongue with a delightful sweetness.

“So sweet!” Maria exclaimed.

“It is a prototype special candy that we just created." The Advisor pulled out a bottle filled with the same kind of candy and showed it to Maria "Want more?”

Maria eagerly took a handful of candies and stuffed them into her mouth. Seeing Maria happily gulp down candies without any care in the world, the Advisor stopped a moment and put down the bottle on the table.

“Do you remember what I told you when we first met?” The Advisor asked.

Maria chewed her candy while trying to recall back to when they first met. Unfortunately, her head feels like a blur. Most of it is occupied with Elisa’s memories while the rest is being invaded by something new “How to create a bird?” Maria wasn’t sure of her answer.

The Advisor raised an eyebrow “No” She paused and carefully observed Maria “It’s about not using your power.” As if noticing something, the Advisor stares slowly transforming into a frown “Hmmm…”

Feeling the intense gaze, Maria stared back, a growing discomfort settling in her heart “What?” she raised her voice.

The Advisor moved her eyes away from Maria “About not using your power. The reason why I told you not to is because it’s quite unstable and you don’t have what it take to control it.” The Advisor then pull Tir out of the mountain of books “But, thanks to this guy, I found several ways for you to do so”

Maria raised her ears, her discomfort fading and replaced with curiosity.

“Option one is by overloading yourself with a special method I just created.”

“Is it safe?” Maria asked

“Well… It hasn't been tested yet...” The Advisor's eyes were glimmering with excitement.

Maria shuddered

“What are the other options?” Maria asked.

“Well, I can toss you into “purifying flame” and then work my way from there. You have experienced the pain once, so the process will be smooth."

Maria shook her head vigorously. The mere recollection of previous agony was enough to elicit her protest.

“Don’t you have any method that does not involve pain?” Maria frown. This Advisor of hers… does she love pain?

The Advisor shook her head in response.

“The reason why you can’t control your power is very complicated. If you can’t handle severe pain, I suggest you to forget use this power.”

“This…” Maria has no word. Pain for power? Well, it’s a fair deal but Maria doesn’t dare touch it. Being young does have its draw back, especially when she just got exposed to such extreme experiences recently.

Seeing Maria’s blackened face, the Advisor knows the answer. She turned and walked up to Tir “Well, I guess you can try to rely on Aspect of Violence. Might get quite annoying later though. You could also rely on me but only to a certain extent. If I am absent from this place for too long, others will wake up and it will be a bit problematic...”

The Advisor pushed Tir in front of Maria.

“Also, I would like you to welcome our new friend from last week. He will be your new helper from now on.” A door suddenly appears and the Advisor waves her hand while slowly vanishing “As for me, I will be busy for a while so don’t disturb me unless it is something important.”

With a flash, the Advisor completely vanished, leaving Maria with Tir who had been staring at her while she ate her candies. Finally, Tir spoke.

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“So… Don’t you feel anything weird when you gulp down those candies?”

“Yes, it has a lot of flavors. Some are sweet, some are a bit sour.” Maria answered after carefully feeling her taste buds.

The Owl patiently asked again.

“No, I mean besides those flavors. Do you feel anything weird?”

Maria shrugged her shoulder and popped another candy into her mouth.

“No, hmm, maybe I feel a bit lightheaded?”

Tir wrote it down on a holographic book he held in his hand "Anything else?"

Tir’s eagerness crept Maria out. Seeing her reaction, Tir said.

“Look, What you are chugging down your throat right now are not candies. They are very potent drugs that are used to help oneself get used to a job. I called them the “Memories pill”. However, due to the large drawback, only one pill is supposed to be consumed at a time or there will be serious consequences.” Looking up and down at Maria, Tir continued “Well, as you already know, you have eaten like 5 of them. Normally, I would be in the bathroom cleaning brain matter on my face right about now."

Tir chuckled.

“I kind of see why she gave you the whole jar but as a benefactor, I would like to know your current condition. If things go south from here, you can still be remembered as a great contributor to science.” Tir explained his actions while observing Maria attentively.

After hearing Tir's explanation, Maria froze in her spot. After briefly processing the information, she spat out the current "candy" that she was chewing and checked her body. There seemed to be no side effects yet. Tir laughed at Maria's reaction.

"I am kidding, it seems like you can handle it just fine. However, just to be safe, I will hold on to this until you have completely absorbed the effect of the drug." Tir took the bottle of candy.

Maria sat down and took a breath.

“So, I take it that she told you about me?” Maria asked facing Tir.

“Yes, that is correct” Tir answered while reading a book.

Maria lay down on her stomach and looked at the ceiling "So, about the drug... what exactly does it do?" Maria asked.

"Well, as the name implied, it gives you memories that were experienced by others. Unfortunately, aside from job-related memories, others are too dangerous to make use of. Also, due to how the production comes in batch, you won't know exactly what it offers until it takes effect." Tir gave Maria a casual explanation.

"So, kind of like a gamble." Maria exhaled.

"Not really a gamble if you always end up with positive. I would say it is more about not getting what you want. Of course, if one can chug it like you do, that’s also not a problem." Tir added some adjustments to Maria's statement.

Maria asked Tir many more questions and Tir answered each one fluently. Suddenly, Tir stood up and looked at the group of clocks from afar then sat down and continued.

"She said I have to remind you that it is almost time for you to return to the body. It is something about "Aspect of Violence" feeding time. Is it some kind of pet?" Tir wondered.

Maria stood up and looked at the clock on the wall nearby "Oh... I almost forgot. No, not a pet. I thought you met her already. Did she not tell you about it?"

Tir shook his head "No, not at all. But if she didn't tell me about it, then it should be a family matter. She seems to be quite protective about it."

Maria felt like Tir misunderstood her but didn't want to bother explaining. Before Maria left, she remembered and asked a question that had been on her list ever since she left the forest: “Do you happen to know any way to make people with no magic ability able to use magic?”

Tir thought about it for a while then put away the holographic book in his hand. He then walked to another mountain of books and picked up one inside the pile. He showed a page of it to Maria.

“This is the “Imitator pill”. If you use it, it will let you copy three magic spells by observing it. If you can gather the ingredients for it, I will help you make it.”

"Only three?" Maria was a bit disappointed.

As if hearing something silly, Tir looked at Maria, then broke out a laugh "Only three? Haha, yes, only three.” After a while, he calmed down and wiped away his tears of joy “Of course, if you think it’s not enough, I have other options but…" Tir looked up and down at Maria then gave her a Contemptuous look “… Well… let’s just focus on this list first, shall we?”

Observing Tir’s reaction, Maria knew that she wouldn’t get any other option from him until she proved herself. With that line of thinking, Maria took the page and read the list of ingredients.

Tir continued “You should be able to buy most of the ingredients. There are only three main things that are rare and require some work to find: Teeth of the infernal mimic chest, crystal from the Nagnirahs cave, and Fairy’s dust. Anything else you need help with?”

Maria shook her head and left with the list “No, that’s all for now. Thank you.”

“Good luck, kid. Be careful out there. My disappearance might give you a bit of trouble.”

Tir waved his hand goodbye as Maria teleported back to her own body. This time, Maria no longer felt the immense pain and her head got a bit clearer than before. She opened her eyes and sat up. The room was dark, but Maria was able to see and navigate within the deep darkness like normal. Her actions were so light that it was enough to not disturb Elaina who was sleeping on a chair nearby. A familiar voice rang within Maria's head, halting her action temporarily.

“Are you back now? Don’t need to talk, just nod if it is a yes.”

Maria nodded her head and silently moved to a nearby window. It was still very dark outside. Even with the standing lamps illuminating the sidewalk, it is still very much impossible to see anything definite within the veil of darkness.

“Well, that’s good. You can’t believe how worried I was when I woke up and heard that you had been sleeping for three days. You owe me full story of it later.”

Maria nodded again as her eyes could now see the full backyard as if it was daylight. After a while, Maria left the window and returned to her bed the same way she did before. She smiled while patting the pendant on her neck and went back to sleep. The pendant glowed dimly in response and blackout like it was before.