"Leo, help me pack the spell books." N peeked his head through Leo's room, "I can’t do it by myself."

Leo stood up quietly and followed the leader to the Library of the house.

"Did you finish packing?" N asked as he put the books inside the suitcase.

Leo nodded as he did the same. "...I don’t have much stuff..."

"Me too." N chuckled. "The only stuff I have is the extra clothes the Witch gave for the journey."

Leo nodded again and continued his work.

"Do you ever wonder what the world out there is like?" N asked curiously. "I do." He answered himself, knowing he wouldn't get an answer from Leo anyway. "I always wonder if it feels just as cold and empty as this house."

Leo made a face, but kept silent.

"I even wonder if maybe I'll miss this prison-like house." N continued. "And I wonder if maybe I would find myself missing this house."

Leo sighed. *I doubt I'll ever want to be in this horror house again.*

"Do you need help?" Hyuk peeked his head through the doors.

"Sure. How'd you get in? Only the Witch and I could allow entrance to this room." N furrowed his eyebrows.

"She dispelled all the enchantments inside the house." Hyuk explained. "I don’t know why."

"Well... she did stop drinking the Life Elixir." N pointed out. "Maybe she finally got tired of dodging death."

Hyuk made no comment, and Leo remained silent.

After a while, the spell book section of the library was finally empty, and the boys were tired.

"I guess that's it." Hyuk sat on one of the wooden chairs. "I didn't know there were so many types of spell books."

"Actually, this isn't even a complete series. There are still other spell books out there." N explained. "But the ones here are powerful enough to kill an army of Kobolds with just a few words."

"Really?" Hyuks eyes widened in amazement. "I didn't know that."

"...What's this book?"

The two turned to where Leo was.

"Oh. That's a healing Spell Book. I looked through it once, but only a Grand White Witch can use it. Put in the suitcase. Maybe... maybe our new Master would want it." N shrugged.

"To heal herself." Hyuk snorted. "I don’t think Grand White Witches exist anymore. Black Magic is the new trend for witches now." He frowned at his own comment, because he knew he was right. Watching visitors come and go in this house, all he'd witnessed are black magic users.

"Yeah. But maybe she'd appreciate it and then she won’t torture us as much." N bitterly reasoned.

This was how they viewed Witches.

Evil.

Heartless.

and at best: Not Caring.

"Looks like we're done here. Let's go back to our rooms and sleep it off until she decides to send us off." N carried the suitcase and opened the door for his fellow members.

The Witch sat on her rocking chair and looked herself through the full length.

Her once blonde hair had turned full white.

Her once beautiful face was full of wrinkles.

And her body that was once a dome of magic has been slowly dying away. The magic inside her, with it.

The price of using Black magic was big. Not that she had a choice.

When she was awakened at the age of 10, she couldn't fend of the dark mages after her with her weak magic, so she was forced to use Black Magic.

But it helped greatly for the protection of her granddaughter.

A sealing spell, only possible with the use of Black Magic.

Black magic was useful in its own ways. So she took it as a blessing to protect her granddaughter.

Because under all that dark clothing and bad deeds, she had a soft spot for her granddaughter who was left an orphan after her parents died.

And she, a grand witch who has a huge bounty over head for her magic essence, could not risk her. So she watched over her from afar.

It pained her to seal her granddaughters magic away, but she had to. Or else, Jae Ren would also be hunted down by dark mages.

And now, once she dies, the seal would be broken.

"If the prophecy is true... then you'll become a White Witch that could help this world survive the upcoming darkness. But if something goes wrong... you'll become the darkness itself." Her voice came in as a hoarse whisper.

"I dont know how to stop the second scenario... I'll be gone long before the prophecy will take place." She stared at the enchanted mirror, and slowly formed a studying Jae Ren, on her bed with her reading glasses.

"I can't help you anymore than I have." A tear slid down her cheek. A sign of her despair. "I can't protect the purity inside your soul anymore..."

She glanced at the door, where her 6 creations disappeared to. "But maybe they can... As imperfect they are, they could protect you. Long enough for you to train yourself."