But when I turned around, I noticed that Onas remained still. He was completely unfazed by my shouting. In fact, the look on his face became blank, as if his mind had wandered elsewhere.

 “Onas, run!” I screamed. “The Giant’s coming!”

Yet again, he remained entirely still. As I continued sprinting away, I clenched my teeth and shook my head anxiously, anticipating the Giant’s arrival. 

“Onas, please! We need to get out of here!”

But when I glanced back at him, I found out that he was no longer there.

 *Bam!*

I fell backward into the thin layer of snow, landing on my behind as I cowered my glutes in pain. 

“How do you have [Appraisal]?” Onas asked me with stern eyes as he stared me down on the floor.

What the…? How did he? He was just underneath the statue! How did he get in front of me so fast-

“The so-called ‘Giant’ that you detected was the frozen statue that we sat underneath… but he’s been petrified for a century,” Onas explained as he crouched down to me. “How do you, a child, have a spell that could only be used by those who have mastered the arts of magic?”

But before I could respond, he grabbed onto the front of my jacket and pulled, suspending my body into the middle of the air as my feet dangled down. With intimidation, he brought his head close toward mine- so close, that I could feel the warmth of his breath pressing against my face. 

Onas stared deeply into my eyes. “Are you… a spy from another kingdom? One with shapeshifting magic?” 

A spy?! There’s no way he’s serious, right?

He kept his gaze on me with his burning red eyes, waiting for a response.

“N-no, I’m not a spy…” I let out, struggling to breathe due to the fact that my body was hanging from his grip. “I-I don’t know how I have [Appraisal], I swear! I’ve always had it!”

Onas didn’t react to that response. He kept my body hanging in the air with one arm, while the other arm was gently rested in his pocket.

…

“Hm… you don’t seem to be lying,” he observed, letting go of me as I landed down on the thin layer of snow.

He raised his hand to his chin and paced around in a circle as if deciding what to say next, exchanging a couple of glances with me here and there. Eventually, after about ten seconds, he stopped his movement and stared me in the eyes- this time with his usual bright smile.

“Hahahaha! You’ve piqued my curiosity, Wylie. I could already see it! There’s something about you that you’re not willing to tell me about! But let me just check real quick… [Appraisal].”

…he has [Appraisal] too…?

He nodded in interest, his eyes moving from side to side as if he was reading words that only he was able to see.

“Huh? You don’t have a last name? That’s interesting… mhm… mhm…”

Don’t tell me… he’s from another world too? Wait, no… that can’t be it… he did say earlier that high-level magicians could also use [Appraisal] as well…

Abruptly, as if Onas had just witnessed the most gruesome, shocking event in his entire life, the look on his face became terrified, almost as if he was on the brink of letting out a horrifying scream.

“Wyliame. Don’t lie to me,” he calmly uttered, tucking onto the bow behind his back. “Why are you able to use dark magic?”

…

“I…I’ve always had it,” I responded.

“Don’t lie to me, boy. Why. Do. You. Have. Dark. Magic.” Onas repeated, enunciating each word with a threatening voice.

I shook my head. “I don’t know… I’m telling you the truth, I promise. I’ve always had dark magic.”

Technically, I was telling the truth. It was completely true that ever since I was reborn into this world, I’ve had dark magic.

Onas shook his head as if puzzled by my response. But eventually, he released a heavy sigh of relief. “You don’t seem to be lying… I’m so glad…”

I stared at him with a perplexed look on my face. “I’m confused… why are you asking me all of this?”

…

He began walking back to the ice statue, ushering me to follow behind.

“According to [Appraisal], a person, no matter who you are or whether or not you’re still with your parents, has a last name that they’ve inherited from one of their parents. Yet, you don’t have one at all.”

He began to lean on the statue as he broke eye contact with me, staring off into the far distance. Snow continued to fall, frigid winds continued to blow their gentle whispers… yet the suspense within the air felt uncomfortable.

“An average person- a human, an elf, or a giant- is born with either fire, earth, water, or wind as their magic type. A lucky person is born with a subcategory in addition to the main four magic types, like water-type healing magic, or wind-type sound magic.”

Onas returned his gaze toward me as I remained completely still beside him, not saying a single word.

“But there were also a group of people that were able to harness light and dark magic as well. A rare, exotic group of people known as the angel race and the demon race. Angels to light magic, and demons to dark.”

…so angels and demons really did exist in this world, just as the book said…

“The thing is,” Onas continued. “The last of the angel and demon race had gone extinct four millenniums ago. There’s no doubt about it. You’re definitely human. And yet, as a human, you have the magic of a demon.”