The system sent new notifications while Aiden and Laela walked back.
[Supplementary Spell Copied: Nightcall]
[Spell level: King]
[Supplementary Spell Copied: Soul Branding]
[Spell level: God]
Aiden could already tell which spells these were. The Nightcall was definitely the sleep spell the Grand Magus used on both Laela and Kayden that knocked them out.
And Soul Branding was the one used to pull Liandrin’s soul away from Arianna. By the description he looked at, it was also the same spell that locked the soul into her body.
Laela, who walked beside him, then asked, "What happened when she made us sleep?" She was inquiring about how the matter had gotten resolved.
"Nothing of serious concern, really. She talked about wars and such, not far from what we already knew from Liandrin," Aiden replied, leaving out the more detailed aspects of the discussion.
Soon after, they reached the infirmary where Kayden had laid Arianna on a bed so that she might get care as soon as possible. He opted to stay by her side until she was awake.
Laela decided she had dealt with enough for one day and diverted back toward the guild to rest.
Aiden, on the other hand, remembered that he had an appointment with the library; the spell books the librarian had promised to make available when he next came by. With that in mind, he made his way there.
...
Much later that day, toward evening, Arianna opened her eyes. She immediately sat up with some sense of urgency as she clutched her chest.
Kayden, who sat in the corner, immediately turned toward her, his face lighting up. He stood up hurriedly and walked toward her.
"She’s gone..." Arianna said as she placed her hands on different parts of her body, as if trying to make sure she wasn’t possessed anymore.
"I’m free..." she said to herself, then looked up toward Kayden with teary eyes. He returned a smile, and she immediately leaned into him with a hug.
Kayden explained everything that had transpired in the past few hours and how Liandrin had been found out. He then asked, "Do you remember any of the things that had gone on in your life so far?"
Arianna nodded and said, "Prior to a few days ago, I shared in the experience with her. It was as if my body was simply forced to do things I wouldn’t want to, and I had no other choice but to watch."
She explained how agonizing the experience was and how she tried to reclaim control until the Grand Magus put her soul to sleep.
"I’m sorry you had to go through all of that," Kayden said with a voice so uncharacteristic of him.
Arianna sighed and nodded.
"Well, if you experienced everything she did, you’d know that we—" Kayden was going to complete the sentence when Arianna stopped him abruptly.
"Yes, I know. But I’m sorry, Kayden, you know that was not me," she replied. They were both referring to the supposed relationship between them.
However, it was fake and built on deceit by Liandrin.
"I understand," Kayden said, trying to sound normal about it, but deep down, his heart had been shattered several times over.
This was a breakup or rather, a reminder that the relationship never existed to begin with.
Arianna had been the only girl he’d ever loved since they were kids, and she knew how he felt about her. However, her feelings toward him had only been of deep friendship and nothing more.
Then Arianna added, "I know it wasn’t your fault or anything, but a part of me always felt that if anyone would’ve been able to figure something was off and help me out, it would be you. So it hurt each time I saw you talk with her so casually, without realizing it wasn’t me."
Tears at this point had begun rolling down from both her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.
Kayden said nothing in defense, but only because, in truth, he blamed himself. He had noticed something was off about her but would never have thought that she was possessed.
He had been too overjoyed with being in a relationship with her that nothing else mattered.
"It’s nice to have you back, but I’ll have to go for a bit," Kayden said, before turning away and leaving with his head down. He had never felt this hurt in his life.
...
Aiden had concluded his business with the library and was heading back to the guild at nightfall. His reading experience this time was rather underwhelming.
Earlier, when he returned to get his hands on the spell books, not only had he found a small number of books to this effect, there wasn’t as much content in some of them as he’d expected.
When the librarian had told him that the library could only provide a few, he didn’t think there would only be two spell books that the general library possessed with King to God level spells.
After going through the books, he had only learned two King level spells, one Emperor level spell, and one God level spell.
One of the King level spells was something he had already copied from the Grand Magus earlier; Nightcall.
The second King level spell was Terkia’s Blessings. It was more of a chant, calling on the goddess of healing and prosperity, Terkia, to grant healing to a land that suffered droughts or couldn’t produce crops. Anyone could basically cast this King level spell if the goddess took interest after hearing the chant. She would then heal the said land.
The Emperor level spell was called: Recovera; a spell to regrow and regenerate lost limbs and body parts. This, however, could not be used to regenerate the head or a heart that was totally destroyed, and could only be used on oneself.
The God level spell was called Runic Lock. It was a complex spell with varying ranges depending on who was casting. Its magic effect was to lock and tighten the effects on all locks.
So if Runic Lock was used around a block of houses, all closed doors would not open until the caster undid the spell or died. It also forced all open doors to shut closed, and the locked doors would never be able to open.
Unless one had the right counter spell, even regular magic would be unable to bring down those locked doors. It practically trapped anyone inside.
The rest of the day passed off normally, at least for the rest of the guild. The initiates, however, all had varying worrying thoughts before they went to bed, especially given what happened with the Grand Magus.