The Most Powerful | Enter, sheep and wolf!

The city always became a much more dangerous place after sunset–especially for newcomers from the nearest village.

Village girls–innocent, tough, useful. Rarely were they beautiful, but it didn’t matter. If they were, it was a bonus.

There was one such bonus moving in this evening.

She was petite and barefoot, with skin so fair it seemed like she’d never done a day’s work. Perhaps it was true–the brightness of her sky-blue eyes made every onlooker pity her. With the sunset behind her, the breeze blew back her long, loose brown curls. Her bow-shaped lips and heart-shaped face perfected the image. Her eyes were filled with wonder, glancing up at every sound, looking at every house, every building.

“Girl,” somebody called from her left. It was a male, with half his hair shaved off on one side. “From the village?”

The girl gave him one firm nod.

“There’s work over there. Let me take you to it.” The man smirked. “You want money, right? It’s easy. All you got to do is sit around in pretty clothes.”

As mentioned, pretty girls were a bonus.

Your witchcraft isn’t so useful… →

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The Most Powerful | Your witchcraft isn’t so useful…

Six months later, the same girl was running down the streets, away from the first doors she’d entered since coming to the city.

“Wait!” a voice barked from behind. “I’m not done with you yet!”

She crossed another street. “I’m sorry!” she yelled back. “My brother needs me!”

“I know that’s why you–argh!” The bottle in his right hand broke into shards, leaving blood trickling from his fingers. Maybe he’d gripped it too tight. Or maybe……”Witch!” he shouted, throwing a relatively larger piece of glass at her.

As the glass flew in a perfect parabola, the girl whipped around to see it. At the same instant, a strong arm was wound around her waist and pulled her into an alley.

“I’ll take care of that. Stay here,” came a steady, authoritative voice behind her. She watched as the arm around her waist loosened its grip and the man it belonged to stepped out onto the street. The one who had been chasing her fell to the ground unconscious.

Her rescuer turned back to her. He wore a crew cut. On his rectangular face was a pair of squinting brown eyes. He gave her an impression that he was a…businessman, as the city people would say.

“Are you okay?” his baritone asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

“You came to the city to enhance your skills, right?”

“What?” That startled her. “How do you know?”

“You could barely break a bottle.” He chuckled.

“No, I can do more–” she started to protest.

“Then show me,” he said. “And I’ll teach you the rest. A delicate girl like you shouldn’t be out here without proper witchcraft. Besides, you have great potential.”

“You’ll…teach me?” she tested.

He nodded. “Then you can help your brother too.” He added, “I’m Jem.” He held out his hand.

She put hers in it. “Sapphire.”

Jem nodded again. He turned away and began walking. Sapphire heard him mumble, “Nobody will hurt you if you’re with me.”

← Enter, sheep and wolf!

Welcome to my world →

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The Most Powerful | Welcome to my world

Within five steps, Jem and Sapphire were in a different world. The place Jem lived in was otherworldly–Sapphire recognized it as an illusion hidden in the midst of the city. Here was soft grass beneath her feet, a fountain in front of a modest-looking house, and a patch of flowers further off. Unlike the city, the broad sky could be seen. It was a quiet place, much more tranquil than the city and even the village Sapphire had come from.

“Why do you go out to the city when you have this place?” Sapphire asked.

Jem slowed and turned around, smiling sadly. “I was the only one here.”

“What about your wife and children? Siblings? Maids?” she asked.

“Nonexistent,” he answered. “I went to the city in search of an apprentice.”

“You have one now, Jem,” Sapphire said, beaming. “You won’t be alone anymore.”

Jem turned the knob of the house and entered, holding the door open for Sapphire as she followed. “I wonder how many men had heard you say that.”

“None,” she replied, “They say it to me.”

He led her past the common room and upstairs. They passed through a long corridor. “This is my room,” Jem gestured towards a closed door along the way. “And from now on, this one will be yours.” They stopped in front of a room at the end of the corridor.

Sapphire pushed the heavy wooden door open. There were three floor-length windows, with dark purple curtains on either side of each. The middle of the room was vacant, with a soft bed on one side and a table and closet on the other.

“The space here is for practicing,” Jem explained. “I designed it just a few moments ago. You can change it anytime.” He was talking about witchcraft and wizardry, of course. “You can practice outside too.”

Sapphire gave him a smile. “It looks nice.”

Jem nodded. “Now, let’s head out and you’ll show me what else you know. Just don’t use me as specimen.”

← Your witchcraft isn’t so useful…

Have a bit of fun in this dream… →

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The Most Powerful | Have a bit of fun in this dream…

Whatever animals or insects Sapphire needed for her training, Jem provided with. In truth, she didn’t know very much. She could break bottles, shake leaves out of trees without touching them, freeze the fountain–but not how to melt it back–and transfer energy. Jem taught her the rest–transformation, creation of illusions, the swapping of guts between animals; killing, healing, creating something out of nothing. All this took nine months–extraordinary progress.

In these nine months, there was nobody else in the world except them. Whatever happened outside, remained outside.

Once, Sapphire changed her clothes in front of the fountain. She closed her eyes and felt her everyday clothes change into something much softer–a velvet dress, with several thin layers of different shades of purple. She gave herself a necklace with a tiny sapphire dangling from it, lying on her chest. She held out a hand at the fountain and looked at her reflection when the eater turned still. Satisfied, she smiled.

“I guess the closet is unnecessary now?” Jem’s voice came from ten steps behind.

Sapphire spun around. “Jem!” she exclaimed. “I was just–“

“Shape-shift,” Jem suddenly ordered.

Sapphire shape-shifted into the man facing her. This time, it took a millisecond.

“Impressive,” Jem said as he checked her transformation for flaws. “Speak.”

“I’m Jem,” Sapphire said. Her voice had turned into Jem’s completely.

Jem nodded and shifted into Sapphire. “Hi, Jem, I’m Sapphire,” he said in her voice. “I forgot to let the fountain start moving again.”

“Oh!” Sapphire’s Jem form held out a hand at the fountain. The splashing returned.

“Jem,” Jem said, “What illusion would you like to see?”

Sapphire shrugged. “You tell me, Sapphire, and I’ll make it come true.”

“Winter,” Jem said. In an instant, they were standing on top of snow. The fountain was frozen. The temperature dropped by twenty degrees.

They both shifted back to their original forms and Jem nodded. “This is a good illusion,” he complimented. “Your temporary clone of me was perfect too, except I’d never said I’d make your dreams come true.” His tone was serious, but when Sapphire glanced at him, she saw that he was slightly smiling.

She caught some falling snowflakes. “You can now,” she mused, gazing at the snow while receiving them with open palms.

← Welcome to my world

Truth be spoken… →

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The Most Powerful | Truth be spoken…

Jem and Sapphire were lying side by side in the snow, fingers intertwined, both gazing up at the sky.

“Sometimes,” Sapphire murmured, as if half-asleep, “I wonder what’s going on outside.”

“We could take over,” Jem said.

“We could,” Sapphire agreed. They stayed silent for a few minutes. When she turned her head to look at him again, he had his eyes closed. Jem was snoring softly. She pinched his neck. He didn’t wake. She let her finger linger on an unseen artery beneath his warm skin. Then, she withdrew and began slipping her hand away from his.

Sapphire stood up and strode away, drifting like a ghost across the snow. In a moment of hesitation, she looked back. Jem was already standing awake and staring at her, his expression rigid.

“I was about to ask you, but you were asleep,” she explained.

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my brother for a while. He’s sick. He only has a maid right now.”

“Don’t leave.” He took a step forward.

“I must. I’ll just transfer some energy and power to him, then I’ll be back.”

“No,” Jem protested. “After all this time, don’t you consider yourself part of my world? Part of me?”

Neither of then moved. Neither spoke. After what seemed like an eternity, Sapphire broke the truth.

“No,” she said. “I’m not part of your world. I’m not part of you. I came to the city to seek wizards to absorb power from, just so I can help my brother survive. That where they sold me, it was perfect. They never knew what I did to them. I merely escaped for a fortnight and the next day, there would be new ones coming.” Her expression remained unchanged throughout her speech. “In fact, even normal humans would do. Energy doesn’t help Felix as much as power does, but he gets by.” There she paused. Jem made no move. “I only followed you because of your immense power. Now that I have this much myself, I can heal Felix completely. I don’t need you anymore.” Still keeping her eyes on Jem, she took a step back. The snow around her swirled until she couldn’t see him.

The snowstorm wasn’t her doing.

“You don’t need me, but I still want you!” It was Jem’s turn to thunder. The snow around Sapphire continued swirling around her under Jem’s command, until she was locked inside a cage of ice. “Before I tell you why I want you,” Jem said, “Be well assured. This cage is witchcraft-proof. Sapphire, you picked a time too early. You haven’t learned everything from me yet.”

← Have a bit of fun in this dream…

You almost did it →

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