The first thing Ryo noticed when he woke up was the light scratching sounds of a quill on parchment. His body felt heavy and stiff as his mind struggled to keep up with the simplest of thoughts. Silently, he rotated his head and peeked around the room. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out, but guessed by the way his body felt it was at least a few hours. The mistress was at her desk, scribbling down notes on a piece of parchment in front of her. 

Slowly he turned his head back to its original spot, before closing his eyes. Unlike before, this time he could remember Floyd, and what they had talked about. He still wasn’t sure if it wasn’t merely a dream, but felt it probably wasn’t. If it was a dream, then why did he only have this dream around the mistress? The two times he had met Floyd, was when he or the mistress was trying to learn about whatever was on his soul. 

But the question of if it was all a dream or not, was not the most pressing matter. The thing he had to focus on now was what he would tell the mistress. He agreed with Floyd that the mistress would never let him go if she learned of what he had experienced. Although Floyd said he knew nothing about magic and didn’t seem useful, he knew that probably wasn’t the case. Ryo understood that the mistress' knowledge of magic was superior to his own. That, although he didn’t see Floyd’s usefulness, doesn’t mean there wasn’t any. 

Thinking of what he would say, he then remembered an incident that had occurred at his first master’s manor. One of the bookkeepers the master had hired had been caught stealing. When asked to explain himself, the man went into great detail to try to prove his innocence. After listening to the man go on for several minutes, the master just said, “If you're going to lie, it’s best to keep it simple.”, before he had the man hanged.

Gritting his teeth, he thought about what he would say. Ryo needed to keep it as simple so that way she wouldn’t question it. After a few minutes, he finally came up with an idea. He just hoped she didn’t have the control rod on her. Taking a few minutes to prepare himself, he calmed his mind and steadied his heart. 

Deciding he had waited long enough, he slowly moved and stretched. Slowly he sat up, pretending that he had just woken up by rubbing his eyes and yawning. Hearing him, the mistress put her quill aside and turned towards him. Ryo could see that her face was filled with anticipation, quickly asking him. 

“So how was it? Did you find anything?” 

“I-i’m sorry mistress. I learned nothing.” He apologized, looking down at his feet. Ryo didn’t want to meet her gaze, just in case she would see something. 

“Is that so?” She questioned, tapping her fingers on the desk. 

Thinking about it, he decided on what he would say. Ryo just hoped the mistress didn’t have the control rod on her, or else

“Yes mistress, I didn’t have much hope.” He answered, slowly shaking his head. 

“Why did you think that?” She inquired, tapping her fingers on the desk again.

“I-i just thought if you couldn’t do it, how could I?” Ryo replied, wiping the sweat from his forehead. 

“Hmmm?” She responded

“I-i’m just too inexperienced.” He mumbled, biting his lower lip. 

If she didn’t believe this, then it would end badly for him. The control rod would force him to say everything, making escaping the mistress unlikely. Ryo could feel his heartbeat in his ears, as a long silence overcame the room. His stomach knotted in pain, as he thought about what the mistress would do to him if she found out he was lying. Just as he thought she was going to to catch him, she nodded and said. 

“You are right.” She sighed disappointingly, rubbing her face with her hands. 

“But I still hoped it would work.” She added, before turning back to her notes. 

When he heard those words, a wave of relief washed over him. The pressure he had felt bearing down on him, had lifted. Ryo had expected the mistress to figure out he was lying. He had been bracing himself during the silence for the pain that would soon follow. Yet, he had actually gotten away with it!

Standing up, the mistress paced back and forth, mumbling to herself. Long ago he had learned never to interrupt her when she was like this. So he silently sat there watching her, waiting for her to finish. Which was fine with him because he could take this time to calm himself down. After several minutes, she stopped and turned towards him abruptly. 

“I will cancel the third experiment for today. I want to do more research on the matter before we try again. So we will try sometime after we finish the ceremony.” She told him, before turning around and heading to the door they had entered through earlier. 

“I understand, mistress.” Ryo  nodded, relieved that they wouldn’t continue any further. He had forgotten until now that there was a third experiment. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if she insisted on them continuing. 

“You need to focus on the upcoming ritual and prepare for it. Put everything else aside for now.” She instructed him as she stopped in front of the door. 

“Yes, mistress.” He replied, nodding. 

“Good, now follow.” She purred, motioning him to follow her. 

Quickly getting up, he rushed across the room as she opened the door for him. The mistress closed the door behind them, as they turned around and made their way back down the hallway. As they turned left, following the route they had taken earlier to get there. Ryo was able to get a quick glimpse of what was down the other two hallways. One led to another wooden door, while the other led down some stairs. 

For a brief second, he could see the bottom half of an enormous stone door. From what little he saw it looked similar to the door at the very front of the cave, with all the stones on it. Ryo wondered what could be behind such an enormous door? Could it be where the mistress kept all her treasures and important books?! He excitedly thought to himself, as he followed the mistress. 

She guided him back to the bedroom before quickly leaving him there, but not before she told him to think about his future. It wasn’t hard to guess that she was referring to the path he would choose. After she left, he waited a few minutes before going to the food storage room to grab some food. Grabbing dried fruit and some bread, he walked back and sat down at the table in the bedroom. 

Picking up a book from the table, he flipped through it as he ate. Ryo wasn’t actually reading, in fact he wasn’t even aware what the book he held was about. Should I really choose another path? He thought to himself. The mistress had made it clear she was unhappy with his choice and made every attempt to remind him of that. But the more she tried to dissuade him from the undertaker path, the more he wanted to do it. 

For the simple fact, she didn’t like it. Ryo knew that if others heard his reasoning, they would probably call it childish. But for him it was his way of rebelling against the mistress. He didn’t want to willingly walk into whatever she had planned for him. Putting down the book, he rubbed his temples. Thinking about how the mistress would act once she learned tomorrow about his choice. Taking a deep breath in, he let out a long sigh, before resting his head on the table. 

SIGH

A feeling of impending doom overcame him, as he imagined her reaction would be tomorrow. Ryo began to doubt his choice, thinking it might just be better to choose the reaper path. No! I will not change! Even if this is the wrong choice, it’s still my choice! He reaffirmed to himself, slapping the table with his palm. It felt like if he went back on this, he would always regret it. He couldn’t just keep being pushed around by others. 

With that decided, Ryo stood up and walked over to the bookshelves, picking up where he had stopped before. He spent several hours going through the shelves, adding to his “read me” pile on the table. It wasn’t until the pile turned into a mound did he decide to stop. There was no sense in adding any more books. He wouldn’t be able to read anymore of them within the time they were there in the cave. 

Walking back to the table, he sifted through his “read me” pile, picking out a book that piqued his interest. It was a sage green leather book, with a golden title that read, “Dawn’s Guide to Practical Spells”. Taking the book with him, he walked over to the bed and lay down. Opening it up, Ryo read: 

“As mages we should actively reject the influence of outside peoples and organizations, that push mages to act as tools of violence. We should strive to…” 

Ryo spent the next few hours going over the contents of the book, and making mental notes of spells he thought would be useful. Sadly, most of them were much too complicated for him to attempt currently. He would have to wait until he was more experienced before he tried to attempt learning them. Reaching halfway through the book, Ryo felt his body becoming sluggish. Laying the book down on his chest, he closed his eyes and fell asleep. 

***

The specters began to chant as one. “Demon!...Demon!...Demon!” Their voices became one, sounding like steady thunderous drums. As he continued to struggle against them, he noticed that they were approaching the shore. In the distance he could make out what appeared to be a small cage and, behind that, a ship. The dark silhouettes became increasingly violent, tossing his battered body around like a leaf in a hurricane. Closer and closer the shadows brought him to the cage. Its bars seemed like cold metal fangs, waiting to devour him. With each passing second he grew steadily more terrified. Despite the futility of his efforts, he fought all the more determinedly against the overwhelming. The raging torrent of hands slammed him into the cage and the bars closed around him. His supernatural captors showed no signs of remorse.

***

“You’ve slept long enough.” A voice scolded him.

“Wa...uh…uh!” Ryo called out, bolting up from the bed. 

“I need to know your choice.” The mistress demanded, standing at the end of the bed. 

“Oh...I..” He mumbled, rubbing his eyes. 

“Stop your mumbling and tell me already.” She shot at him, resting her hands on her hips. 

“I-i still,” He hesitated, preparing himself for her reaction. “w-want to learn the...undertaker path, mistress.” 

When those words left his mouth, the mistress' brow furrowed, and she gave him an icy glare. The temperature in the room seemed to drop, as she crossed her arms over her chest. Ryo’s body went stiff under her penetrating stare, the warmth draining from his body. He could see her jaw clench, and her fingers dig into her own skin. Just as he thought the mistress would thrash him, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her body relaxed a little, before she opened her eyes and turned around, walking over to the table. She plopped down at a chair with an exaggerated sigh before saying. 

“Fine.” She grumbled, tapping her hands on the table. 

“Fetch me some food.” She ordered, without looking back at him. 

“Yes, mistress.” He answered, jumping out of bed, and setting the book he had to the side. 

“Quickly! We have things to do!” She barked, hitting the table with her fist. 

Running across the room, he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. He opened the door to the workroom and ran toward the food storage room in the back. Ryo noticed that there was something piled up on the desk, but ignored it for now. The mistress was already angry, so he didn’t have time to go see what these things were. Opening the door in the back of the room, he walked inside and grabbed whatever food was closest. Before turning around and heading back to the bedroom, as quickly as he could. 

He sat some food down gently in front of the mistress, before pouring her some water. After that, he sat down opposite of her at the table, and silently ate. She didn’t speak a word to him while they ate, making it very uncomfortable for him. I would prefer she yell at me, then this. Ryo grumbled to himself as he bit into the stale bread. 

“Let’s get going.” She said, standing up from the table and walking past him. 

“I...uh...yes, mistress.” Ryo replied, shoving the last bit of food he had into his mouth, before running to catch up to her. 

“I have already prepared the workroom and the things you may need. I will need to gather the rest, but you should have what you need for the time being.” She remarked, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. 

Following behind her, the mistress led him to the workroom across the hall. Walking over to the desk, the mistress turned around and looked down at him. After a few awkward seconds, she stopped aside to reveal materials, books, parchments, quills, ink, and vials filled with strange liquids laid out on the desk. He had noticed when he walked through earlier that something was on the desk, but didn’t have time to look at what it was. 

“Your sigil is the foundation for your future, I shouldn’t need to stress how important it is to you. But considering how...lacking you are, I feel the need to.” The mistress smirked, looking down at him. 

“The quality and type of sigil you make will directly affect your magical powers in the forbidden arts. It is imperative that you try to create a strong seal. That is why I’m giving you so much time and material, so you can perfect it.” She explained, crossing her arms across her chest. 

“Thank you, mistress.” 

“I hope you don’t waste my time and precious resources on something lackluster.” She warned, flashing him a smile that sent a chill down his spine. 

“I understand mistress, I will do my best.” He quickly answered, nodding his head. 

“The books I have provided should be able to guide you through making a sigil. You must construct and design it with your own hands, I can only advise and prove you with the materials you may need.” She said, walking past him toward the door. 

“Thank you, mistress.” He replied, bowing his head to her. 

“You are not allowed to leave this room until you complete your sigil.” She ordered, stopping in front of the room. 

Ryo wanted to ask why he needed to do that, but just bit down on his lip instead. It was a little upsetting to know that the pile of books he had wanted to read had become pointless. He needed to make a sigil quickly so he could go back over and read them. 

“uh...I-i understand, mistress.” He answered. 

“Since you have decided on this path, know that my help will be limited at best. Since my knowledge on those spells are...lacking. My fa...that book should be able to answer most questions you have.”  She told him, turning to face him. 

“I understand, mistress.” He replied.

“I have things I need to prepare for the ceremony as well as my own research. Do you have any questions before I go?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“I-uh-mistress....ummm” He stumbled, trying to organize his thoughts. 

“Mistress, what are those vials for?” He asked, motioning towards them. 

“Those are to help you later on with your vision quest. One of the books talks about it, so read it there.” She sighed, rubbing her temple.

“Anything else?” She asked dryly, annoyed with him. 

“Why must I create the sigil alone?” He mumbled, looking down towards his feet. 

He didn’t ask this question because he wanted her help, but to him, it didn’t quite make sense. This ritual seemed so important, so why wasn’t she helping him? Given the mistress personality, he had expected her to watch over him the entire time. 

“It’s the law of things. I’ll explain after the ceremony.”  She stated, sternly looking at him. 

“Uh-I-understand, mistress.” He mumbled, slowly nodding his head.  

“Don’t disappoint me, little boy.” She warned, before turning around and walking out the door. 

There was a mountain of questions he wanted to ask, but decided not to. The mistress was already in a foul mood. Any more questions and she would have probably snapped. Turning back around, he walked over to the desk and sat down. Examining everything she had left behind for him to use.