Parasites, Magic And Revenge

When Raven stepped out of the room, he couldn’t believe his eyes, because the last person he wanted to see right now was standing before him: Edward Hunter. He was the most powerful being Raven had ever encountered. Neither the magical aura of the gorilla he had seen in a simulation nor the mana of anyone at school came close to his. In fact, if he combined the magic of all the people he had ever met, it might only begin to approach Edward Hunter’s power. Even though Raven didn’t understand much about magic, the feeling he got whenever he encountered Edward Hunter told him more than he needed to know.

Raven raised his head and made eye contact with Edward. It seemed Edward was fully aware of everything that had happened. He looked extremely serious and angry. With his deep and firm voice, he broke the silence, saying, 'I know what you did, Raven.'

Raven had grown up on the streets and was used to all forms of violence. Blood, brutality, people being raped in alleys, and even others having their organs pierced with rusty knives—Raven had seen it all. But due to his nature and personality, none of it left a traumatic effect on him. It didn’t even leave an impression. However, the words his stepfather had just spoken felt like they could shatter his entire world. For the first time in his life, Raven felt fear.

What was the worst that could happen? He could be tortured to death. After all, he had been tortured on the streets, so why was he afraid now? No, no—it wasn’t death or pain he feared. It was Edward Hunter himself. Despite how useless his usual composure was, Raven knew he had to think. With a trembling, low voice, he said, 'What happened?'

Edward continued to stare at him seriously. Footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs, and Edward's attention was distracted. The person coming down was Eleanor Hunter, the lady of the Hunter family. She brushed a stray lock of her blonde hair back with one hand and approached with a smile. As she walked, she spoke, 'Darling, I know you're trying to bond with our son, but you shouldn't take your jokes so far. You might give the poor boy a heart attack.'

Edward Hunter looked back at Raven and started laughing. He slapped Raven twice on the back and, still laughing, put his arm around his shoulders and started walking. 'Sometimes your seriousness really gets on my nerves, kid. You're one of us now, so you should look happier. I was just joking.'

Raven took a deep breath as they made their way to the main hall on the first floor. There were smaller stairs leading down from the right and left sides of the large staircase, and below them was an enormous room. On the floor lay an absurdly large bear rug, and at the other end of the room was a fireplace. There was no sunlight, as there were no windows, but the candles and the dim light from the fireplace made the room quite bright.

Edward Hunter sat down in a chair and motioned for Raven to sit across from him. Raven immediately sat down and began looking Edward Hunter in the eye. Edward poured himself some wine, swirled the glass, and smelled it before taking a sip. 'I’m planning to send you and Miles on a special mission,' he said.

Hearing this, Raven's excitement overshadowed his earlier tension, and he began to listen eagerly. 'You have six more days to prepare, not counting today, which is Sunday. Get ready as much as possible,' Edward said. Raven was thrilled but thought it wasn’t a good idea, especially since he had school on Monday. If either of them—especially Raven—got injured, it would be impossible for him to protect himself at school. Accepting this offer for the sake of a bit more strength was highly risky and foolish. Raven lowered his head and began to speak, 'I’m afraid I have to decline your offer. We can’t take the risk of getting injured with school the next day, and besides, I’m not even as strong as Miles.'

Edward took another sip of his wine and laughed, 'You’re quite confident, my boy. But this isn’t a request, it’s an order.'

Raven realized once again who he was talking to, but he still had to find a way to convince him that they couldn’t do it. He spoke again, 'Why are you giving us this mission instead of the Hunter family mages, Father? Forgive me if it’s not my place to ask, but please excuse my curiosity.'

Edward Hunter chuckled quietly and replied, 'Yes, as you said, I could easily assign this mission to the Hunter family and their mages. In fact, the task is so easy that I’m ordering you to do it. But that’s not the only reason. It’s a critical but easy mission, and I’m curious to see how you handle adversity and work together. As I said, it’s not just a mission to strengthen you; it’s also crucial for the future of the Hunter family.'

Raven realized he couldn’t come up with any more excuses, and if it was as easy as Edward said, he just needed to stay alert because it was critical. The risk of injury was never zero, but as long as he wasn’t severely injured, Doctor Oswald could easily heal him. Though he didn’t want to continue talking in this tense atmosphere, his curiosity got the better of him, and he asked, 'Since the mission is so critical, can I at least know what it entails? After all, it has to be explained for us to complete it on Sunday.'

Edward, still maintaining his serious expression, continued, 'Son, I know you don’t know, so I’ll explain everything. In this world, there are various cults, each with different goals. People who find these goals logical join the dark cults through various means and work together to achieve them.'

After Raven nodded, Edward went on, 'These cults date back to the foundation of the world, and each has a main heir. These heirs teach other cult members how to grow stronger and learn the secret dark magic of the cult, all in pursuit of their shared goal.'

Intrigued, Raven asked, 'What’s the difference between dark magic and regular magic?'

Edward Hunter continued, 'Dark magic has been deemed wrong by all mages and is forbidden by the Grand Mage Council. Those who practice it, depending on the scale of the magic, can be globally wanted.'

Unlike the previous statements, Raven couldn’t just nod and brush this one off. Dark magic had piqued his interest intensely. One day, he was determined to learn at least one of these forbidden spells.