Ethan looked at his hands again, his grin widening. This was just the beginning. There was still fire, wind, earth, metal, blood, and whatnot. He was going to become the fucking avatar and he loved it.
"This is what I am talking about." He did a fist pump. What is the point of magically popping into another world if he couldn't summon fire or ice at command?
With renewed enthusiasm, he started practicing again and again. The water spell was easy enough but it was the spirit magic that was giving him the most trouble. He ended up staying awake late in the night and practicing.
By the time he was ready to sleep, it was already early morning. He dragged his tired body downstairs and headed for the morning chores. The old hag was surprisingly nowhere to be found so he walked into the study and started moving the dust flakes.
He had improved a lot and this time he was easily able to clean almost a whole row in an hour. He spent the next hour recuperating and ended up clearing one more row on the shelf before finally collapsing and snoring loudly.
In the blink of an eye, an entire day had passed by and when Agnes returned to her home in the evening loud snores continued to echo in the study.
Agnes opened the door and her face twitched. She leaned on her cane, her mouth twisting into a scowl. "Lazy little brat." She poked him with the end of her cane, hard enough to leave a bruise. "Wake up, you good-for-nothing pest."
"Did you end up sleeping all day? I need you to run some errands for me. Get up! Get up, you lazy pig." Enjoy new stories from My Virtual Library Empire
"Ouch. Ouch." Ethan winced as he jolted awake, his eyes wide, his limbs flailing. "Huh? What? Demons are attacking?" He blinked, confused, his head spinning. Then he saw Agnes's scowling face and felt his heart drop. "Oh… uh… hey, Miss Agnes."
She glared at him, her eyes like daggers.
"I… uh… I was dusting," Ethan mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He pointed at the clean shelves. "See? Progress. I know I am very slow but I am better today. I can-"
He stopped speaking when he noticed the odd look on the old hag's face. Her eyes were wide and she was staring at the bookshelf as if she was seeing a ghost. "Don't lie to me, brat. Did you just wipe those shelves with a cloth?"
Ethan blinked, still half-asleep. "Huh? No, I used… you know… magic."
Agnes's eyes narrowed, suspicion flickering across her face. "Magic?" She shuffled closer, her eyes darting between him and the spotless shelves. "Spirit magic?"
Ethan nodded, his head still foggy. "Yeah, I moved the dust with my mind." He scratched the back of his head, yawning. "It was slow at first, but I got the hang of it."
Agnes's jaw tightened, her eyes locking onto his like a hawk on prey. "You're saying you moved all this dust… using spirit magic?"
Ethan grimaced. "I did the training, Miss Agnes. I am not cheating. Why would I cheat with a basic skill like this." Only when he finished saying the words, did he suddenly realize something. He looked at the old hag and her wrinkly eyes and the strange look in them.
And it struck him. This was not a basic skill, was it?
"Ah. I'm sorry. I lied," Ethan blurted out, his voice cracking. "I didn't use magic. I… I used a rag. Yeah, just wiped it down. Good old-fashioned cleaning."
Agnes's eyes narrowed. "You expect me to believe that?" She took a step closer, her cane tapping against the floor. "You are a bad liar, you little brat. You let slip something you shouldn't have. Spirit magic is not something anyone can do. Even I can accomplish only a fraction of what you did. Just who are you?"
Ethan's mouth went dry. "Who… am I?" He stammered, his heart pounding. "I'm just… a regular guy. A poor orphan."
Agnes's eyes narrowed. "A regular guy who can use spirit magic better than an old crone who's been practicing for decades?" She leaned in, her wrinkled face close to his. "Don't lie to me, brat. Where did you learn it?"
Ethan swallowed hard. "I… I didn't learn it anywhere. You taught it to me. You told me how to do it. I simply followed your instructions."
The old hag snorted. "Do you have any idea how ridiculous that sounds?" She took a step back, her eyes never leaving his. "Spirit magic isn't something you just figure out. It's ancient. Powerful. Forbidden."
Ethan's stomach dropped. "Forbidden? Why?"
Agnes looked at him for a long moment, her eyes calculating. Then she sighed, her shoulders sagging. "Because it's too dangerous. Spirit magic bends the world to your will. It defies the laws of nature. It can create… and destroy." Her voice softened.
"There's a reason it's forbidden. People who use it are hunted down. Killed. To protect the balance of the world."
Ethan's heart skipped a beat. "Killed?"
"Yes. By people who fear what they don't understand." Agnes's eyes hardened. "And by those who do understand… and want that power for themselves."
Ethan's mind spun. Hunted? Killed? All because he could move some dust? This sounded ridiculous. This was all his fault. For a second he dropped his guard and this fucking old lady had tricked him right into a death trap.
"Come on. See. I am very bad at it. I can't even do it consistently. I think you are making a big deal out of nothing." Ethan already scrambled up, prepared to use the one spell he knew and summon all of the minions.
Granted throwing water at the old woman was probably not going to do much but at least his minions would buy him some time. He could run. He could grab Lia and the little girl and he could run. They were deep in the city but it did not matter. He could somehow make it.