"May the light of the eternal sun of Danzel guide your soul to peace." Colin whispered, watching the flower finally blossom. It was a mermaid pink color that turned into a beautiful lilac the closer it got to the stamen. It resembled a hibiscus. It was absolutely beautiful. But its beauty is but a tool to hide its terrifying capabilities.

This flower was called the Two-Faced Vampire plant, or more colloquially known as the Bitchy Vamplant—a name coined by a certain preppy witch. It masquerades as a beautiful flower that embodies the word beauty. Perfect petal shapes, perfect colors, and perfect smell. But beware, the moment a living thing touches this flower, it latches on by stabbing through its victim's skin and administering strong paralysing venom, once the poor prey is fully incapacitated it then started to feed on the blood and flesh of its catch. Thankfully they only grow in danger zones and mana basins—places with a naturally high concentration of mana that wasn't particularly harmful.

The flower that Colin grew was a modified version of the Bitchy Vamplant. It sucks mana out of the victim and uses their matter as a part of their own body. It worked more like a parasite than a predator, very much different from its wild variant.

As the flower bloomed, the appendages that entangled and prevented the fetal abomination's movements and attacks suddenly had beautiful flora spawning from them and engulfing the grotesque creature.

When the flower fully blossomed, the creature screamed, instinctively feeling what was about to happen. It used all of its power to try and break free of the flora that restrained it. The main flower stretched from the place it took root using a gory stem made of flesh, bones, and sinew of the infantile monster. It now faced the monster as it cried out for their mothers that once abandoned them. It was scared. They were terrified.

With a flash of blinding purple light, a sizable hole was burned through the fetal monster's deformed head, effectively killing it with little to no pain.

Another quirk of Colin's Bitchy Vamplant variant is that they could shoot rays of purple light hot enough to burn through flesh as long as they had enough mana. Though, they die after.

"I would be an amazing parent. That said, I wish that he'd stop bugging me for children." Colin absentmindedly muttered as he jumped down from the building, his fall cushioned by a pile of flowers that he spawned with a wave of his staff.

He inhaled deeply, relishing the amazing smell the Bitchy Vamplant released into the air as it shriveled up. It resembled the smell of fresh lychees and strawberries and a gentle floral undertone."If Bitchy Vamplant essence weren't so dangerous I'd make a perfume out of them. But eh, we win some, we lose some. I wonder what the child is doing right now." Colin asked nobody in particular as he walked through the destroyed Town, ignoring the human corpses that were strewn about everywhere. "I do have to report this incident though… this place could very quickly turn into a cursed nest. Eugh I can taste the grudge in the air."

Colin trudged on, trying to find the little boy when he saw the five spirits encircling him, all worriedly lecturing him.

"Don't you ever do that again young man!" Simoy firmly said, though he tried to hide the anger and worry in his voice, it could still be heard as his voice shook.

"But I do think that with his escape he finally found a way to use his magic effectively ther-"

"Lawod, stop talking. Stop defending the boy. What he did was wrong, even if he found a way to use his magic more effectively, what if he hadn't?" Simoy cut off Lawod, who immediately stopped talking and nodded along to Simoy's words.

"But I did. Look, I'm making dolls out of these baby monster remains!" Clailip held up grotesque looking statuettes made up from the skin, bones, and flesh of the tiyanaks he killed. Beside him was a long strip of stitched up skin made to look like and thread made up of sinew. The stuffing could only be the small mountain of flesh the bloody boy was sitting next to. "They're a bit scary, but apparently that's my trait. Fear. Cool right? I can see how they work, these babies can give nightmares to anyone it hears the voice of." Clailip proudly explained, playing around with the doll as it made gross sounds.

"What's happening? Why are you all surrounding the boy?" Asked Colin, he could hear and see what was happening and he had a general idea of the situation. But he wanted to have the full context of the events.

"Well, Clailip here decided that it would be an amazing idea to slip away from us as we protected him. Thank goodness he finally invoked his Sandata, or else he would've gotten very hurt." Simoy gave Colin the context he needed.

"Sandata? Like weapon?" Clailip knew that Divoniac somehow had words and phrases that existed in his past-life's native language. So he took a guess on what Simoy meant by Sandata, even if he knew that he was most likely wrong.

"Close, the magical medium born from your own soul's mana." Simoy explained to Clailip.

"Not to overstep boundaries, esteemed spirits. But I believe that a divorakk child can handle an onslaught of E-Rank tiyanaks just fine. I am sure you just do not wish to see him the slightest bit injured, but I do have to remind you that a divorakk child with a medium is as dangerous as D-Rank monsters." Colin found that the spirits were acting very parental and protective over the boy, too protective, actually. So he reminded them of a divorakk's capabilities in case they forgot.

"... I guess you are right. The child has a Sandata now, it would be idiotic to think he does not have a way to defend against monsters." Simoy said breathily, watching as Clailip stood up and summoned a ball of water with which he used to rinse the blood off of himself.

"See, I'm fine. Ooh! Watch this." Clailip excitedly said, jumping in place as he summoned his magical sewing kit, which looked pretty basic. It was black in colour and was as large as a picnic basket, it had wavy designs that resembled tidal waves, said designs were dark blue in color. The kit had two tiers, the first tier the tools and threads can be found, things such as scissors, pins, threads, needles, etc. The second compartment however, was a space where he could store any sewing material. And with Clailip putting in the spoils from the babies that he'd designated as materials for doll making and clothes making, it is revealed that it has a larger inside than its outside would suggest.

"I don't know how big it is yet, but apparently it only takes sewing stuff. I tried to stuff the bodies in there but it just spit it out, which was super rude. I don't know where it learned that from but I was just appalled. That's a very big word for me, anyway this reminds me of that one time I spat out my food and my Mommy was like 'Clailip, don't be wasteful. You're making Mommy sad.' And I had to gobble up the food that I spat out cause I didn't want Mommy to be sad. Oh and that one time me and Papa were about to-" Clailip was about to go off on another story, this time about his father, Colin stopped him though, having heard enough.

"Yes, Clailip, how fun. But we have to get going and travel to the nearest city. I need to make a withdrawal for our trip to Gaela." Colin said, "I'm taking you there for now, we can learn lots of things there and there's an orphanage you can live in with other children your siz-"

"What…? Why would I go to an orphanage? My Mommy and Papa are not dead. What are you going to do when I get admitted to an orphanage anyway? Are you just gonna leave me there? Is that it?" Clailip said firmly, there was an edge to it, and it made Colin's skin crawl. "But I'll go with you! Not to the orphanage though, I don't really have any place else to go. And I don't think my grandparents will be coming back anytime soon, I want to go on a really cool adventure so I can tell Mommy and Papa all about it when I see them again!" Clailip giddily said, beaming.

"Yes but… Clailip, when divorakks are captured by humans… Nevermind." Colin stopped himself; he knew that once divorakks were captured by humans to become magical batteries, they only had a few years to live at most before they die from the mana being forcibly sucked out of their bodies. "You know what, fine. Let's go on an adventure. I won't be taking you to the orphanage, you'll be my ward, would that be okay?" Colin didn't think there was much space at the orphanage anyway.

"Yep! I'd love that! Then we're gonna go and beat up dragons and bandits and then use their skin for clothes and their bones for… rituals. How absolutely exciting!" Clailip jumped up and down, starry eyes looking into Colin's mildly disturbed ones. They gathered up their things.

"I do miss Nawa and Kabao though…" Clailip deflated, thinking of his beloved pets.

"Do not worry, we told them to wait for us by the treeline, I am sure we can make a quick detour. Can we, Sir Colin?" Lawod turned to look at Colin, who nodded and said a quick 'of course' before going back to his own devices, contemplating if the boy was truly serious about using bandit skin and bones for clothing and what he assumes to be dark rituals.

'Am I getting so old as to not get children's humour nowadays? Maybe it's more of a cultural difference, I'm still a young adult after all…' Colin's thoughts wandered, he just resorted to thinking that the child was just joking. After all, Clailip didn't look like the violent type, he looks more like the timid and shy type that most people would consider adorable.

'I'm glad he wasn't born as a danzian, with such an adorable face he would be q Sun Bringers. Being forced into all those dresses. Eugh, I still remember when I was crowned… all that preparation just to be paraded around like some sort of life-sized doll.' Colin shuddered. Having a trait that could be connected to beauty, or just a very attractive appearance was a big thing in danzian culture. After all Danzel was also known for his love of all things beautiful.

 

A few minutes ago the group were just giggling and telling stories as they traversed the sizable plains surrounding the unnamed outskirts town. Clailip giggled as jokes were thrown here and there while Colin took mental notes of the kid's behaviour. The spirits were more or less the ones that talked the most, with Simoy and Lawod having petty banners about the most random of things here and there.

But, all that changed when they finally reached the treeline. They all observed Clailip, who suddenly went quiet and stared at two familiar carcasses.

"The fetal abomination must have come through here…" Simoy quietly muttered.

Clailip kneeled on the damp grass, it tickled his legs, and yet he didn't smile or laugh. His eyes were dull as he scanned the sight in front of him. His hands trembled and his eyes glazed over, and yet the tears wouldn't fall.

[Notice: Harmless Sweetie regulating emotions via absorbing negativity.]

"Fetal abominations kill everything that stands in their way after all…" Colin added, observing the growing amount of corrupted mana that was leaking out from Clailip. He didn't think much of it, he just went through the invocation ceremony so his capabilities as a witch have been fully unlocked now. He was just being cautious, if the concentration of the corrupted mana becomes too high he will intervene and cleanse the area and Clailip.

Clailip tried hard to push out the tears that welled up inside him, but he couldn't. This was just like that time when he found the village all gone, he couldn't express his sadness or despair back then too. He tried so hard to cry that day, so hard that when night came and the spirits were dormant, he scratched at his eyes so hard that he was sure that his vision worsened. But only the slightest drop of despair was all he could muster.

'In hindsight, maybe that's why I couldn't see Kabao properly when we first met….'

He thought he was broken, that maybe reality wasn't catching on to him just yet. Maybe he went insane and couldn't muster tears anymore. Maybe the despair, anguish, and sadness he was supposed to feel was just converted into his disregard for human life.

[Notice: Harmless Sweetie regulating emotions via absorbing negativity.]

Now he finally knew why. His skill was preventing him from lashing out and having a total meltdown. He wanted to tear his soul apart and rip out this damned skill that inhibited his emotions, he wanted to scream, kick, and cry. He wanted to feel the burning hate for humans that he was supposed to feel.

But that isn't important right now.

"I'll sew you back together." His words were quiet as it came out in a hoarse whisper, the grass beneath his kneeled form blackened from the sheer amount of dark mana he was emanating. It absorbed the corruption inside him and the hate that he felt for both the world and his skill.

Colin could only stare in fascination, his scholarly instincts overpowering his responsibility to protect the boy. He wanted to see how far this will go, and how a witch lets out their factor. Of course if it looks like things will go out of control, he'll swoop in and purify the mana by using his own witch-trips—a type of magic that only witches could use.

"I'll stitch you right up. You will come back. You're not dead." Clailip's voice shook as the light left his eyes. His head was empty as he summoned his sewing kit.

"I'll put you back together."

[Notice: Subject Clailip Diancia under intense mental stress. Unique Skill Harmless Sweetie consuming all negativity.]

[Warning: Due to Clailip Diancia's unstable mental state, Witch Factor, "Delusions of An Orphaned Prince", risks activating.]

Clailip ignored the system's words as he took out the thread and the needle he was planning to use to put his shredded pets back together. He grabbed Nawa and stripped the snake of its skin, and dug deep into Kabao's insides, ripping out its stomach and heart.

"I'll turn you into a doll, that way you'll always be with me. Forever." He muttered, as the corrupting mana intensified. As the spirits' bodies were made up of normal mana, the sudden burst of evil magic paralysed all five of them, they couldn't move, and they felt like they would blink out of existence.

Colin stood still, though, it wasn't the right time to intervene yet, if he moved now he risked being the target of Clailip's emotions. He wasn't good at restraining, so he might accidentally hurt, or worse, kill the child, if blows were exchanged.

[Notice: To release stress and to make sure Subject Clailip Diancia does not prematurely hatch into a witch, Witch Factor will be activated to let loose of negativity.]

"I'll save you."

The ground cracked, and the sky darkened. Colin's eyes widened, seeing how much mana Clailip had, he immediately put up a protection around himself and the spirits. He watched with eyes that seemed to regret his earlier decisions as Clailip's back burst at the seams, revealing beautiful ribbons and laces made out of the little boy's flesh and blood. It covered him, turning into a crimson gown with bone-white frills and six pairs of grotesque appendages made up of the child's bones, they formed shapes reminiscent of sewing tools. Clailip's eyes bled as he stitched and stitched, not stopping for a second. He poured his darkened mana into his tools and into the parts of his beloved pets.

From the cracks of the ground, liquid darkness emerged and formed numerous mannequins that stood six feet tall, they all wore formal dresses, suits, and masks. It looked like a Masquerade party as they danced around Clailip mockingly, like they were showing the world how futile his actions are, how delusional he must be to try and bring back his dead pets. They seemed to laugh, as the blood from Clailip's eyes flowed heavier, and they seemed to dance and converse as they destroyed the trees and animals that were near them with a single touch that drained all moisture. The wind was blowing so harshly that a normal person would get cuts just from standing in the area. Crystal ice in the form of a chandelier formed above the general area, shooting down birds and anything that didn't move in accordance to the mannequins' mocking dance, or the ominous beat of their footsteps.

If Colin hadn't put up protections, he would have definitely been injured. A Witch Factor didn't care about the user's mastery or knowledge about mana and magic after all, it scaled in power in accordance to how unstable a witch's mental state was. Despite technically being a B-Class adventurer and being above the normal populace by a very large margin, Clailip's emotions were too volatile to risk dispelling the protections.

Clailip moved and stitched and tied knots, desperate to bring them back. He was full of fear, of terror, that his beloved snake and carabao would leave him too. He didn't want them to leave, they can't leave him, he won't let it. He knew he was being delusional, thinking that he could still save them even though they were already clearly very dead. But he kept moving.

He kept stitching.

[Terror has leveled up by one, six levels to go before germination.]