Chapter 31 - Reality

"Where am I?" I asked as I looked around the place.

"This is my own dream space, isn't it beautiful?" She said as a table with a tea set appeared out of nowhere.

"It is beautiful." I said as she signaled me to sit down which I did before I remembered something.

"I have no time to drink tea with you when my other half is dying!" I shouted as I stood up and searched for an exit.

"Calm down for a second, let's have a talk, for now, after all, time runs way slower here, 10 days here is only a day there." She said while sipping on her tea.

Is that so, then it takes 10 minutes here for a single minute to pass there huh.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked as I hesitatingly sat down on my seat before she poured tea onto my cup.

"It's just talks between two grimoires, don't be scared." She said before signaling me to drink the tea which I was suspicious but still followed.

I am not a fan of tea, I am more of a fan of coffee honestly but still, the taste of this tea forces your mind to relax, to ignore all worries, it's as if you are taking a bath, but without the part where you overthink about things.

"The tea is quite nice right, it's the tea made by my contractor way back in the days after all." She said while sipping her tea as her eyes carried loneliness, sadness, and grief.

"What happened to your contractor?" I asked as she calmly sipped her tea before looking at me with eyes that screamed sadness and regret.

"She died during one of our adventures, sacrificed by those evil beings, just to revive one person." She replied as a tear dropped from her eye.

"Is that so, I am sorry," I said before she shook her head.

"You shouldn't be sorry, after all, your contractor might also have the same fate." She said with a grim voice which made me realize, what she described was similar to what was happening, as my heart skipped a beat.

"Don't worry, I will give you one final gift that will allow you to twist her fate as long as you can talk to me for a while." She said before I forcefully calmed myself down and nodded, I don't have any choice, she knows more than me.

"Well, how about we talk about the history of grimoires, would you like to listen about that?" She asked before I nodded.

History of grimoires, that really does sound interesting after all, I am still a newly born one.

"Where do we start, hmm how about we start about what a grimoire truly is?" She said as I nodded.

"Well, a grimoire is a being that is born from the negative feelings of a pure soul which usually comes from betrayals, the purpose of us grimoires is to lead these pure souls to their right path which is to save the world from evil."

"All grimoires have different kinds of attributes, and all of them are negative attributes except for one grimoire."

"Grimoires are beings that are only loyal to a single person, and once that single person dies, their hearts will be filled with guilt, regret, and despair." She said as she gripped on the handle of her teacup before shaking her head.

"Well, us grimoires are very powerful beings, enough to kill any threat that our contractor may encounter, but there is one thing restraining us, that is the thirteen seals."

"The thirteen seals are the seals that stop ourselves from using our powers at full power, there is a reason for that, imagine giving a one-year-old child a very light but sharp sword, what will the child do with the sword?"

"Of course, the child will act irresponsibly as they still aren't in their proper minds, so they will slash everywhere and possibly kill as many people as it can without knowing."

"That is what can happen to a grimoire as well, we grimoires are very powerful that the Goddess had to restrict us with the thirteen seals, back in the days, we had to face through different trials to unlock a single seal." She said as she reminisced about her past.

"But now, with several generations of grimoires, we are allowed to impart our knowledge of the seals onto a newer generation to help them." She said as she smiled.

"You have already unlocked two of your seals which is surprising for a grimoire that hasn't reached two weeks old yet."

"I can help you unlock your third seal which will have a very beneficial passive skill for you, but that will be once we finish our small talk." She added as I nodded.

A beneficial passive skill that could help me, I wonder what that is?

"Well then, for my final lesson for you, I will tell you the secret of a grimoire." She said before breathing deeply.

"A grimoire should believe in itself and its contractor, that is the only secret of a grimoire." She said before smiling.

"Well, then, it should be enough time. Let me unlock that seal for you and help your little contractor." She said before standing up and going beside me and touching my forehead before the whole dimension suddenly fell apart as her body slowly became translucent.

"I offer this remnant soul of mine, to help my past self's contractor soul." She said with a smile that has tears.

"Althea, or rather me, please go save Alisha for me okay?" She said as she cried while smiling brightly at me before the whole dimension exploded as her figure was gone and I was back to where I was with Alisha sitting on the slab caressing my hair with Iris and the mysterious man watching.

"Morning, Althea." Alisha said as tears fell from my eyes.