Chapter 177

Chapter 177: Chapter 177

Dulce cleared his throat in the face of her unabashed gratitude, wondering whether he should remind her that it was his fault that her shop was in such a state. "Of course, it’s only right."

Moira sighed in relief, picking her way through the chaos. She had already been brainstorming how she would explain things to her father, he might have hit her for real if she had gone crying to him about the ruined shop.

She led him even deeper inside the shop, stopping at the end of a hallway that led to nowhere, nothing but neatly lined black wood to be seen.

The witch didn’t slow down despite this, walking right through the wall. The wood seemed to wobble for a bit, showing that it was merely an illusion. On the other side was a rustic living room, it was cloudy outside but the room was suffused with light.

"Please take a seat," Moira invited politely, going off to a table on the side. There was a tea set on it, steam spilling out of the teapot’s spout as soon as she touched it. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, thank you." Dulce accepted, lowering himself to the soft green armchair with lace doilies on its arms.

"Why did you come looking for me?" Moira asked as she returned with two cups of tea on saucers.

"I asked Vampire witch Mildrede about undoing Kath’tan’s summons and she suggested either finding a Vampire mage versed in the summoning arts or attending a magical institute to undo it myself."

A myriad of emotions crossed Moira’s face as he spoke, her cup of tea held absently. "There are four magic institutions in the world, each a cardinal point. The Western Magical Institution is at the other end of the west, in Eynsworth."

"Can anyone attend?" Dulce asked curiously, taking a sip of rosehip tea.

Moira gave his question serious thought, "Only humans can enroll but you should easily pass for a human."

"And Demons?" Dulce pried hopefully, even though he already knew the answer.

"They can’t enroll but..." She trailed off. "It’s been so long since anyone successfully summoned a Demon but there are no rules against having them with you. There were even once provisions made for familiars and summoned Demons, I don’t know if it still exists."

Dulce’s expression brightened at this, he hadn’t expected to get a positive response. "Did you attend the Western Magical Institute, Miss Moira?"

Moira avoided his gaze, trying to hide behind her delicate teacup and failing. "Only prodigies can attend the institute, my abilities are not up to par." She said lightly, not taking her limitations to heart.

There were still a large number of humans who possessed magic, four institutions of learning wouldn’t be enough to accommodate the sheer number. But despite the large percentage of humans who could wield magic, most were incredibly weak.

Being able to cast spells was already enough to set one apart from the masses, most could only make charms. These were harmless inconsequential magic like boiling tea and mending a dress, so naturally, most fell below the requirements to attend the institute.

Dulce frowned, troubled, "If even you couldn’t attend the institute, perhaps I should give up while I’m ahead."

"Of course not! You have already surpassed the prodigies! You’ll definitely be enrolled if you give it a try."

Dulce peered into those eyes shining with enthusiasm, unable to share in it this time. "I don’t even know how to read sigils, I’m afraid I would infuriate the professors and get a curse."

Moira hummed, reading sigils was a basic ability of every mage. It was something they were all taught as children, so it came naturally. "You’re right, if you can’t even read sigils, they wouldn’t let you get past the gates." She agreed, her words a little ruthless.

Dulce sighed, to think that he would have to let go of such a reliable solution.

"That’s it!" Moira suddenly shot to her feet, even more energetic. "I’ll teach you."

Dulce blinked up at her, a little lost. "You will?"

"Of course," Moira nodded self-importantly, "Sigils are easy to learn, casting them on the other hand is a completely different matter."

Dulce was still uncertain, "Is it really possible to learn it so quickly?"

"Well, we have to begin from somewhere. You could come as often as you like for lessons," She invited generously. "Enrollment at the institute happens in spring, if you’re dedicated, you would have learned all of the basics by then."

Her words sparked determination in Dulce, "Alright, let’s begin."

-+-

Outside Magic Alley, Kath’tan and Asael were seated in a not-so-crowded tavern. At first, they had sat in silence, focused on the wide window next to them which opened up to the entrance into the alley. But as the hours dragged on, Kath’tan grew restless.

"What are they talking about that’s taking so long?" He grumbled, discontent spitting from his eyes.

Asael was calmer, "They might not have gotten around to talking yet." He said unhelpfully.

Kath’tan remembered that the witch had a silencing spell put on her and he scowled, knowing that Dulce wouldn’t leave until he spoke to the witch about his summoning contract.

"We might be here a while, want a drink?" Kath’tan suggested, too jittery to sit still. There was no telling when Dulce would succeed in undoing his summons, it filled him with trepidation.

Asael looked away from the window, not missing the Fiend’s tense expression. "Sure." He agreed.

In a short while, a barmaid had brought them jars of ale, she stared right through them, hastily leaving as soon as she came.

Asael tried the drink, his first time trying alcohol had been with the flower wine of Huayuan, compared to the exquisitely made wine, the ale tasted rudimentary.

After a single drink, he could tell why Dulce disliked it. He didn’t mind it, so he drank more down, gray eyes drifting back to the window.

"Why don’t we see who can handle their drink best?" Kath’tan couldn’t help but taunt.

He was reminded of Ensbury, the Shadow Demon had been completely unbothered by the poisonous flower wine. He didn’t trust the shameless Incubus, there was no saying he didn’t mix something strange into the wine, but he was confident in his tolerance of ale.

Asael paused mid-drink and lowered his jar, his expression unreadable as he thought about it. "Sure." He repeated.

Kath’tan didn’t expect Asael to take the bait, so when Demon did he grinned, fangs dangerous. He called over the barmaid once more, purple eyes glinting with determination.

"You’re welcome to admit defeat at any time," He bragged, emptying the first jar of ale even as the barmaid sashayed over with more.

A faint smile slipped past Asael’s mask, a flash of mischief in his gray eyes that vanished as soon as it came. "Sure."