“Follow me.” She instructed him, walking into the cave. 

“Yes, mistress!” He replied, following close behind her. 

“The way down is very steep, use the holes along the walls to keep yourself from sliding.” She said as she made her descent. 

The walls and floor of the cave were made from a smooth brownish-gray material. Like the mistress had said, the floor was angled so steeply, one could probably slide to the bottom if they wanted. He had to admit it would probably be a little fun in doing that. But the mistress would punish him if he did that, so he pushed the thought to the side. Watching the mistress descend, he followed close behind her and used the holes she had mentioned to brace himself. 

Together they both went further into the cave, and after about six meters, they reached the bottom. The cave then opened up into a small empty room with a strange stone door opposite of them. On the door there were several small circular stones placed in a circle around the middle of the door. In the center of these stones was a large stone with a rune on it that had a faint glow. The mistress without a word walked up to the door and touched certain stones. Ryo quickly realized that she was touching it in some pattern. He quickly followed along, making a mental note of the ones she touched.

The mistress then pressed the center stone, making it pulse with life. There was a loud grinding sound of stone on stone, as the door slowly opened. Once the door was fully opened, he could see that it led into a dark hallway, with three wooden doors. The mistress mumbled a word, and stones along the wall lit up, illuminating the hallway. She gestured for him to enter, which he quickly did, with her following behind him. As they passed the door, it slowly closed behind him. The mistress walked past him a little before turning around and looking at him.

“This door leads to our bedroom, it also acts as a small library. You can read any of the books you find on the shelves.” She said, pointing to the door on her right. 

“That door over their leads to a workroom and food storage room.” She told him, pointing to the door on the left. 

“You can study and practice magic in your workroom. And when you get hungry, just grab whatever you desire from the storage room in the back.” She quickly added. 

“This door is off limits, and may only enter when I instruct you to.” She explained, gesturing to the door behind her. 

“Yes, mistress.” He nodded. 

“I forbid you from communicating in any way what you see, hear, and feel while you're down here.” She ordered, giving him a stern look. 

“Yes, mistress.” He obediently answered.

“Let us drop off our stuff in the bedroom. Then I will begin teaching you the history and theories of the forbidden arts.” She instructed, giving him a quick smile.

The mistress turned and made her way over to the door leading to the bedroom and opened it. Once inside Ryo could see that most of the walls were covered in bookshelves. On them were books, scrolls, tools, and gems. The room reeked of some foreign spice and the smell of old books. In the middle of the room was a round table with stacks of parchment and books on it. And on the far end of the room was a large bed with an old wooden chest in front of it. 

The mistress guided him over to the table in the middle of the room and gestured for him to sit. Taking off his bag, he placed it beside the chair and sat down. The mistress did the same, sitting at the opposite side of the table. She pushed some parchment that was stacked up on the table aside, clearing some space between them. Taking out a scroll from her bag, she unrolled it and placed it in front of him. 

“This is a list of the books I have, and a general description of each.” She pointed out.

“I only have a few books that offer a complete path. While others are just mere fragments of paths that have been long forgotten.. I would offer to teach you the fragmented teachings of other paths, but I fear we don’t have the time.” She quickly added. 

“O-okay.” He answered, a little overwhelmed. 

“I would suggest you think about which one you would like to specialize in, before we start the ceremony.” She informed him arching her brow. 

“Why?” He asked, looking down at the list. 

“Let me give you an example you can understand. Let us say a mage trains to become an evoker and enjoys using fire and is a fire affinity user. They will find that learning the higher tier evocation magic much easier. Specializing allows one to learn others spells in the same school much easier. The reason is that most magic in a certain school will have the same basic principles, regardless if it’s fire or ice evocation spells.” She explained, sitting back in her chair.

“Is that it?” He wondered, glancing back up at her. 

“Hmmm no, but the other reason is a little harder to explain” She said, Ryo could hear the agitation in her voice.  

“Every time you cast a spell you get a certain feeling, right?” She asked, sitting back up in her chair. 

“I have, mistress.” He replied, nodding. 

“Have  you ever noticed that some spells sometimes feel familiar? Almost as if they are related?” She asked, resting her arms on the table.  

“I-i think so.” He stammered, trying to recall if he had. 

Thinking back on it, he had noticed that Fire Javelin and Ice shard felt similar when casting them. But he hadn’t put too much thought into that feeling at the time. Ryo scolded himself for not questioning that feeling sooner. If he was going to reach his goals, he needed to be more observant of such things. 

“Well, if you specialize in a certain magic such as evocation, you will also grow more in tune with the magic’s essence. You have a better grasp on how it flows and acts.” She explained, strumming her finger on the table. 

“Okay, thank you, mistress.” He responded. 

“You could not choose a path, but that would limit your spells in forbidden magic to only tier five spells and below.” She remarked.

“Usually your elemental affinity plays a part in what you should choose. But since you are a prime user, then that really doesn’t apply to you.” She told him, giving him a wink. 

“That aside, the only complete paths that I have all revolve around necromancy. I can show you the fragmented paths after your ceremony, if you so desire. There is a very interesting path called blood mage, that I have been trying to gather more information about.” She continued to say, as if lost in her own world. 

“O-okay.” He stuttered, taken back by the mistress attitude. 

“Anyway, the first path I have is called Entropath, it’s not as strong as the other two, but it provides some powerful healing and draining abilities. It focuses primarily on trying to understand and unravel why creatures die, and how to slow or stop death. A lot of these spells will be slow to take effect and rely on time and excellent planning.”  She described pointing to it on the scroll. 

“The entropath is focused on research rather than direct fighting. It’s limited in its capacity to deal immediate damage. However, it can be used subvert ly to weaken an enemy. This path as I said before requires an excellent grasp on time, and meticulous planning to execute properly.” The mistress added, tapping on the scroll lightly.

It didn’t sound too bad, Ryo thought to himself. Before he might not have considered this, but since Robert’s accident, he had been wanting to learn to heal wounds. The old man had taught him that combat wasn’t everything, and he needed other skills. But even with those things in mind, he wasn’t really interested in it. It just sounded so slow for his liking. 

“The second path is called the Reaper path, and it provides spells that focus on the negative energies in illia. You can think of it as a kin of evocation magic, but much more powerful. This is a popular path for those who enjoy dominating the battlefield. I can promise that if you choose this path, you’ll become addicted to the raw power you will command.” She explained, giving him a cat-like grin. 

Now this path seemed more interesting, and power was something he wanted. The only problem was from the description it didn’t sound like it had any healing spells. If that was the case, what would he do if Robert got hurt again. But perhaps he could learn a few healing spells, while he was down here. So far this was the path he was most interested in and was likely the one he would pick. 

“The third path, and the most tedious one, is called the Undertaker. It focuses on raising undead to help you fight. The stronger the user becomes, the stronger undead you will control. Over time, it’s said that you could build armies of the undead that listen to your every word.” She casually described as if the topic itself bored her. 

“The problem is that you have to rely on others to fight for you, which is boring. And this path doesn’t have many offensive spells, which I think is idiotic. You will mainly have to rely on your undead to fight for you. The biggest issue is that you also need material to create undead.” The mistress finished before sitting back in her chair.  

Why does the mistress seem to hate this so much? Regardless to him it did sound a little interesting, but he was still leaning towards the Reaper. He had never heard the word undead in common, but from the description it wasn’t hard to figure out. This path had a little more appeal to him than entropath. With this path, he could have other help fight alongside him and Robert. 

“Can I know what path you chose, mistress?” He inquired. 

“Isn’t it obvious? I chose the path of the reaper!” She proudly said, sitting straighter. 

Okay, so the reaper path was no longer an option, he thought to himself. Even if it had powerful spells, he didn’t want to follow in the mistress' footsteps. This was probably the reason she talked so highly about it, compared to the others. Although he had agreed to become a forbidden magic user, doesn’t mean he would follow her blindly. If he was given a choice in the matter, he would try to choose something else. He knew that the day she asked him to become a forbidden magic user; the mistress had something planned. Ryo didn’t know exactly what that was, but he wasn’t just going to willingly walk into it. 

So if Reaper was no longer an option for him, he could only choose entropath or undertaker now. Thinking about it, he thought that the undertaker path was better for him. The reason is that creating things to help him and Robert fight was important. Plus, the only reason he was considering entropath was because of the healing. If he thought about it rationally he could try to learn healing magic, instead of choosing this path. 

“Which path are you the most interested in?” She asked, leaning toward him. 

“I think the undertaker sounds interesting.” He replied, looking down at the scroll. 

“Are you sure?” She growled.

“Y-yes.” He stuttered, feeling the warmth drain from his body. He kept his eyes locked onto the scrolls, not wanting to see how angry she was. 

“Forbidden magic is much different from other forms of magic, Ryo. If you select a path you are making a life commitment. You won’t be able to use higher tier spells from the other forbidden magics.” She informed him, as she started angrily tapping the table with her finger. 

“W-why?” He mumbled, as his mouth became dry. 

“It’s all tied to your sigil, which I’ll explain later.” The mistress shot back, causing him to flinch. 

Thinking on her words, he felt the anxiety in him bubble up to the surface. If his choice here would impact his entire future, he needed more time to consider everything. He couldn’t just dismiss the reaper path because the mistress was one. It was best to weigh all the pros and cons before making a choice. Just as he was about to ask the mistress for more time to consider, she spoke up. 

“Well, how about you take a few days to think about it before you make a choice. I’ll leave that scroll with you so you can think it over.” She insisted. 

“Okay.” Ryo replied, looking up at her. 

Getting up from the table, the mistress walked over toward the bed and stopped in front of the wooden chest. She bent down and opened it up and pulled out three brown sacks. Closing the chest, she turned around and walked back to the table. Placing the three sacks onto the table, she began pulling a book out of each bag. 

“This book is about the entropath.” She told him, pulling it out of the sack, and laying it down on the table. 

She pulled a black leather book out of the bag and placed it onto the desk. On the cover was a spiral of small black gems that seem to shimmer in the light. At the very center of the spiral was a strange gem that seemed to absorb all light, forming a void. Even the darkest of places seemed to pale in comparison with the darkness the gem had.  

“This is the book about the reaper path.” She said, putting another book down beside the first. 

Breaking his gaze away from the first book, he watched as the mistress pulled out a red leather book. This one had black and red gems that formed into a symbol for flame on the cover. It was a beautiful book, but less interesting than the first book. Finally, the mistress pulled out the last book and said. 

“And lastly this book is about the undertaker path.” She told him, pulling out the last book, and putting it down on the table. 

The first thing he noticed about the book was the silver skull in the middle, that looked like it was trying to escape. In the left eye was a red ruby, while in the right was a blue sapphire. The skull's teeth were sharp and pointy, with two of them being much longer than the rest. Giving the book a menacing look to it, making him unconsciously recoil from it.

“Haha! Don’t worry, the book won’t bite you.” She laughed. 

“You know if it wasn’t for the fact it was a complete path, I would have tossed that book long ago. The maker of the book had no sense of style or class. Just look how tacky this is!” She remarked, looking down at the book in disgust. 

“It’s old and tacky, and the maker of the book had no sense of style or class.” She added, crossing her arms over her chest. 

I wonder why she hates this book so much? Ryo thought to himself as he studied the undertaker book, in more detail. Although the appearance was strange, that didn’t change any of the contents. He would need to read it first before he could make an opinion. 

“Well, let’s move onto the basic theories of necromancy.” The mistress said, putting the books aside

For the next two hours, the mistress explained the basic principles of necromancy and forbidden magic. He learned that the primary reason they called it forbidden was because it could use other beings' souls as a source of power. Tampering with any soul was something the gods have forbidden and was the domain of the gods. 

The mistress then went on a rant about the hypocrisy in that rule, because the gods allowed one to mess with the souls from other planes. After her rant, the mistress went back to her original point. Normal mages couldn’t tap into the power of the souls of others, only being able to burn their own. Only those who had completed the ceremony would be able to gain the ability to use others' souls. 

“So does that mean we destroy souls?” He asked, a little worried at the idea. 

“Ah...no, burning is just a...primitive way of saying it. It’s more like borrowing the energy of the soul. Imagine taking a small bucket and plunging it into the sea. Would you be able to tell if any of the water is missing?” She countered.  

“U-uh, no.” He answered.

“Plus, only the gods have the ability to destroy a soul.” She quickly added, giving him a smile. 

Hmmm, I guess that does make sense, Ryo thought to himself. He could see why many wouldn’t be able to understand it. Ryo decided he needed to sit down and do more research on what a soul really was. He had heard it mentioned several times, but only had a loose understanding of what that meant. If he was going to borrow a portion of someone's soul in the future, he needed to know more about it. 

“And you may wonder why we just don’t use the souls from the beings from other planes.” The mistress said, breaking him away from his thoughts. 

“There are many reasons, some we still don’t fully understand. For one, you can only call on a few beings, at any given time.” She continued to say. 

“It would also take an excessive amount of time and resources to call as many as you would need.” She quickly added. 

“Another reason, however, is that we can’t seem to burn the souls from the other planes.” She finished saying. 

“Why?” He asked. 

“I’m not sure why, but countless experiments show that souls from other planes can’t be used in that way.” She remarked, shrugging. 

Ryo was a little interested in learning the reason why this was. Maybe he could be the first to discover the reason. Unlocking such a mystery sounded so exciting to him. This could be the subject of his very first book!

“The main reason however is something called the planer sickness. It’s a disease one can receive if they are exposed to another plane too often. It slowly rots away the affected person from the inside out.” She added.

“Oh…” He replied, sitting back in his chair to think on her words. 

Although he would like to discover the reason, you couldn’t burn the souls from other planes. The thought of catching some disease and dying from it put a stop to such thoughts. He would just need to find something else, to write his first book about. 

“Then why would anyone summon beings from another plane?” Ryo asked, looking up at her. 

“Well, from what I understand it only affects those that frequently summon for extended periods of time. And although you cannot burn the souls from other planes, they still have other uses. You can use their souls to imbue into items, objects, or constructs. Summons still have a use on their own, even without their souls. Many people like summons, because they are strong and obedient servants.” She explained, giving him a mischievous grin. 

“We are getting a little off topic.” She said, still grinning at him. 

“I’m sorry, mistress.” He answered, bowing his head. 

“Indeed, you are.” She replied. 

“Anyway, to become a forbidden magic user you must create a sigil which I mentioned earlier. Without a sigil, you cannot use any of the spells in those books. This sigil becomes a part of your soul that gives you the ability to learn forbidden magic.” She said, sitting back in her chair. 

“Think of it as a key that opens a door.” She told him, crossing one leg over the other.  

So that’s how it works, Ryo thought to himself. He had wondered why normal mages couldn’t have access to such spells. At first he thought the mistress had been lying to him, but hearing her explanation it made sense. But now he wondered why someone needed a sigil? He understood that the sigil was supposed to be a key to a door. But why was there a key and a door? And what was behind that door?

“Why is that?” He wondered. 

“Sigh...no on is sure.” She remarked in agitation, closing her eyes. 

“Anyway, for the next two weeks I will prepare you for the ritual. After the ceremony we can return to the cabin where your true lessons will begin.” She said, opening her eyes back up to look at him. 

Ryo noticed that the mistress’ mood seemed to be all over the place, more than usual. She was either on the brink of thrashing him, or being kind and considerate towards him. It made dealing with her more exhausting than it already was. He hoped that was bothering her soon resolved itself.  

“I want to do something to you, before we begin getting ready for the ritual.” She stated. 

“That thing on your soul could be a substantial source of power for...you. We need to learn what it is and does.” She remarked, uncrossing her legs. 

“So, I would like to perform an experiment on you.” She added. 

“It will hurt, but I’m confident we will learn what it is.” She finished. 

“How much pain?” Ryo asked, shrinking back in his chair. 

“I won’t lie, it will be a lot, but you could gain so much from this. If you can master or control whatever that thing is, your power could grow tremendously.” She insisted, giving him a smile. 

He didn’t want to be in pain, but he too was curious about what she found in his soul. It was the whole reason his life had ended up like this. But if he took this chance, he could be playing right into her hands. But what if she was right, and he could gain the power from it? The whole reason he came down here was to find a way to be useful to Robert. If he wasn’t willing to go through some pain to find out, did he have the right to stand beside the old man? He clenched his fist and nodded to the mistress. 

“U-i-okay.” He stuttered, nodding his head. 

“Great! I will need to get one of the other rooms read for the experiments. You can do as you want for now.” She said standing up and clasping her hands together. 

“Thank you, mistress.” He answered.

“In the meantime, you can take a look around the room, or go grab some food from the storage room across the hall.” She said packing the three books back into their bags. 

“You can look at anything in this room aside from what’s in the chest.” She remarked, turning around and putting the books back into the chest before closing it.  

“This would be a good time to think about your future and what path you should choose. I hope you make the right choice.” She commented, walking past him toward the door.