Richard had barely taken three steps into the house when his ears twitched.
He frowned.
"The doorbell is ringing..."
That was odd.
Not only did he have no friends, there should have been no one with his home address. He had not even told the old man where he lived.
Granted, as a powerful sorcerer, it wouldn't take him much to find him.
Walking down the stairs, Richard arrived quickly in front of his front door.
Sucking in a deep breath, he slowly opened the door...
"...Hello, Richard."
Richard's eyes twitched as he forced on a smile,
"Ah... Gregory. What a surprise. How did you find out where I live?"
Gregory gave him a curt bow,
"I asked Instructor Leon. Apparently, we don't live too far apart. My house is just down the other —"
Richard put his hand up, shutting Gregory up.
He let out a silent groan.
'Bad news. This is bad news.'
One of his main goals since coming back to the city was to keep his two lives separately.
In the light, he was Richard Bane. A lonely orphan that had inherited and was now living off of Mum and Dad's money.
He would spend his days living lazily and lackadaisically.
Simply going at his own pace...
In the darkness however, he would become the infamous Demon Sorcerer, Richard Bane.
"So? What do you want? Why are you here?"
Gregory chuckled nervously,
"Well... Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Richard raised a brow,
'He's being oddly straightforward today...'
He sighed as he turned around and walked back into the house,
"Make sure to close the door on the way in. Wouldn't want any unwanted visitors sneaking in."
Gregory glanced at the door with a frown. Sure enough, from the outside the door appeared normal, but the other side of it was completely covered with wards and charms.
"You are an awfully cautious guy, Richard." Gregory said in amazement.
Richard shrugged as he plopped down on the sofa,
"It's always better to be cautious. If something can go wrong, it will... That aside, you haven't answered my question. What do you need from me? If you are excited to go on a mission, I suggest you cook it down. We won't be receiving any more missions this week. Unless something comes up..."
Trailing off at the end, Richard couldn't help but thing how badly his normal life would be impeded from now on.
He stifled a groan.
Gregory looked around around curiously,
"This is a big house. You live here alone?"
Richard raised a brow. Then he nodded,
"Yes. I do live here alone."
Gregory nodded, "I see..."
An awkward silence fell between them.
Richard rested his chin on his hand,
"What do you want?"
Gregory fiddled with his thumbs, remaining silent.
He pursed his lips,
"Well, you see... I didn't sleep last night."
Richard grimaced,
"I don't know why you are telling me that."
Gregory's face turned red,
"Just here me out..."
Richard sighed, "Proceed."
Gregory sucked in a deep breath as he steeled his eyes.
Richard was surprised.
'He's never made such a face before.'
"You see, I was up all night researching you."
Richard's eyes narrowed,
"You were researching me?"
Gregory nodded, his expression serious.
"The Bane family is a rather famous one, but getting information on you was rather difficult. Your parents are late. Your only living relatives are your grandparents—"
Richard cut him off,
"This is the time I ask you why you are digging up information on me. That seems rude. I think..."
Gregory grimaced,
"Well, not only was I curious, I was also suspicious."
He stared Richard right in the eyes,
"And from the looks of it, my suspicions were right."
A small smile tugged on Richard's lips,
"Suspicious? About what?"
Gregory sucked in a deep breath again, sure to fill his lungs up.
"Last night. During the battle with the cultists and terror class Devil. The spells you used were different from the spells used by the Bane family."
Richard raised a brow, "You noticed that?"
Gregory smiled wryly,
"I've been known to be observant. I was also quite shaken as you know, so I was mostly doing a lot of watching."
Gregory sighed. Then his eyes narrowed,
"The spells you used.. were unlike anything I've seen before. One of them appeared to be a rendition of the popular spell, 'Noctus et Prima' , or {Shadow Glide}. A simple spell that allows one to move quickly between shadows."
Richard couldn't help but be impressed.
He took a closer look at Gregory. Then he nodded,
'I see. So that's what this is about. He is an enthusiast.'
Gregory continued,
"What was that spell? What school did you learn it from?"
Richard grinned,
"No. I created it myself."
He paused, "Although I do thing 'creating' is a bit too much credit. As you said, I merely tweaked certain aspects of it. It was no heavy duty thing."
Gregory's eyes widened,
"Amazing. You are amazing, Richard."
Richard chuckled smugly,
"Of course I am."
Gregory leaned forward, a strange flame burning in the depths of his eyes.
Richard leaned back, a bit uncomfortable.
'Maybe he's just a bit too enthusiastic...'
"So you changed the spell on your own. Interesting... How interesting."
Gregory suddenly reached into his bag. Pulling a strange tome out, he handed it to Richard.
Taking it from his hands, Richard carefully flipped through it.
Gregory scratched his cheek in embarrassment,
"It is my life's work to make original magic. However, I am currently stunted in my study of magic theory. I was hoping you could help me out."
Richard smiled wryly as he scanned through the contents of the tome briefly,
'Well, his notes are neat. And quite detailed too.'
Another bout of silenced stretched between them, this time a bit longer than the last time.
After a few minutes, Richard exhaled and closed the book before dropping it on the coffee table.
He turned to Gregory who was staring at him with bright eyes. He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts.
Then he spoke,
"What are spells?"
Gregory blinked,
"Do... I answer, or is this one of those rhetoricals?"
Richard shrugged, "It's a question."
Gregory answered quickly,
"Spells are the most basic implementation of mana. Spells are created using magic circles through inscription, chants and incantations. They are the materialized will of a magician driving by intent and mana."
Richard nodded, "Good. Then if that is the case, you have everything figured out."
Gregory's face paled,
"But..."
"Magic theory is quite interesting, isn't..." Richard said with a small smile.
Then he stood up,
"Would you like something to drink? Tea?"
Gregory shook his head,
"No. Just water is fine."
Richard stood and walked into the kitchen.
As he spoke, he explained,
"Spells... Rituals... Magic circles... They are all applications of mana. A mystery energy that has existed since the birth of our world, and possibly our universe and the next."
Gregory went silent, listening to every word carefully.
Richard continued,
"There have been countless theories on magic over the years. Our understanding on magic changes with every passing year. But there has always been one constant."
Slamming the freezer shut, Richard walked back into the living room and dropped two bottles of water on the table.
One was ice cold, emanating a chilly air.
The other didn't seem as cold. It was lukewarm.
"That constant understanding, is that the very nature of magic is to go against nature itself..."
Richard snapped his fingers.
Something bizarre happened.
The frosty air surrounding the chilled bottle rose above it in the form of frigid wisps. They swirled together to form a small cloud.
Then the cloud swam through the air before settling around the bottle of lukewarm water.
"Predefined laws are shattered to pieces and become non-existent through magic. The existence of Demons, Devils and the abyss beyond the veil defied common sense even more.
I say all this to say;
"If there was a God, then the existence of magic would be profane. The ability for humans to bend all of creation, perverting according to their whims. How profane would that seem..."
Richard chuckled.
Gregory stared in amazement. The state of the two bottles of water had switched. The cold one was now lukewarm, and the lukewarm water had absorbed all the chill the first bottle had.
"Such fine mana control..." Gregory muttered.
Richard ruffled his hair in embarrassment,
"That was nothing, really."
He sighed. Then his expression became serious,
"What I'm trying to say is, on the surface level, the rules of magic depend solely on you. While spells aren't easy to create, they aren't impossible to make. You just have to be a bit creative."
Gregory nodded with a slight frown,
"I... I think I get it now."
Then he looked up,
"But I'm still curious..."
Richard sighed.
Then he snapped his fingers.
All the curtains and drapes in the house immediately closed shut.
The entire house immediately plunged into darkness.
Gregory looked around frantically.
Then he went still.
He glanced forward.
Richard was still seated in front of him.
Floating above his palm, was a beautiful geometric cluster of shapes and symbols.
A magic circle...