Chapter 3 Bound By Fate

"You got to have a grimoire then," Cedric states after a moment, looking into somewhere distant.

"But how?" I ask, still processing what he just said. Finally, something worthwhile that I have. But in a magical world, I have the power of anti-magic. I can absorb magic, won't it be seen as a curse?

"You'll see," he steps out of the door. ""I have to take care of the bodies now. We'll go outside at night, so be prepared.""

"But who are these people?" I question him from behind, but only got a slam of the door in response.

I guess he's aware of the intruders, probably his enemies. I have to be careful myself. I almost got caught up in their scheme. It was not because of my anti-magic ability. They seemed weak to Cedric. Maybe it's because he's amazingly powerful.

I drop on the bed slowly, resting my body and mind for a while. I'm going to get a grimoire tonight, a magic book filled with spells all by myself. But I don't even have the power to cast spells. Maybe I'll be granted a weapon at least.

I doze off thinking this and that, when I wake up it's already dark. I had some bad dreams, leaving me all sweaty and anxious. I saw my younger sister and my other family members, those who I have only memories of. I wonder how they're doing right now, since I'm dead in their world. They're probably happy, as they didn't care when I was alive what difference it would make now.

I sigh and get up, craving some food. I decide to warm up some sandwiches from the fridge. I'm going to ask Cedric to fetch ingredients and I will cook for us tomorrow. Cooking is one thing I'm not horrible at.

I peek at his room and notice that he's sitting on his seat, his eyes are distant somewhere.

"Are you ready?" he suddenly asks me, already sensed my presence.

"Yeah almost," I chew some dry chicken pieces, swallowing somehow. "By the way, where are we going through?"

"There's a certain time for the ceremony every year, and aside from that you won't get your grimoire. But you can use an alternative."

"Which is?" I raise an eyebrow.

"You will see," he replies nonchalantly.

An hour later, we arrive at a massive building with an ancient design. I thought Cedric would take on a broomstick like in the movie, but instead he drove a simple car and led us here. Which left me a bit disappointed. My last flying experience wasn't that great.

He walks through a dark alley beside the building, walking me to follow and to keep quiet. After a while, he unlocks something in the brick wall, revealing a cellar. As I get down with him, he closes the entrance with a spell again.

"But how do you know this way?" I whisper, feeling curious.

"I pulled some strings," he whispers back. "Don't make any sound, there might be some guards inside."

We reach the staircases and then the hall is completely dark. Cedric lights up a little lamp by his magic, discovering a huge room with thousands of grimoires stacked up.

"Go stand in the middle," he speaks in a low voice.

I slowly step forward, my heart is beating like crazy. He starts mumbling a chant, while circling around me in collected steps. I put my hands above, waiting for my grimoires to choose me. Cedric pulls up his blue grimoire, the cover is covered with four strings of silver chains, he starts chanting in a higher voice.

From the shelf on my right side, a black colored book sprints at me, then slowly stops above my head. I stare at it for some moments with shock and disbelief, so this is my grimoire. I touch the cover carefully, and it disappears instantly, like it went through my heart.

"The grimoire chose its master. Now let's go," Cedric hurries me, because apparently there are some footsteps coming from the stairs.

It's strictly prohibited to invade the grimoire hall's privacy. So if we get caught somehow, we're going to be in great trouble. Cedric puts off the light and drags me behind a table to hide, cursing under his breath.

The door opens, and an armored woman enters the room. She illuminates the room with a lamp, checking the shelves with a suspicious expression. I wait with a throbbing heart, it's over if she looks over behind her.

Cedric murmurs some spells again, feeling like he had just put a cloak over us. The woman turns to this side, hearing some sound, and probably has her weapon ready already.

"Don't worry," he comforts me, slowly standing up. "I put up an invisible cloak above us, so she won't hear or see us. Let's go through that door quickly, but be careful."

I nod in response, keeping an eye on the woman. We literally start running the moment we're outside the building. I look back for a moment to see the building is lit up. Obviously, they've become alert and looking for intruders.

"Won't this cause a problem?" I ask him when we reach his car, breathing heavily.

"Most probably, no," he shakes his head, starting up the engine. ""A grimoire is linked to someone's soul, but that's why even the authorities can't keep record of them. But stealing and doing business with them are banned, and the punishment is severe. In your case, it chooses you, no matter what the situation is. So you're its sole master.""

"But how do we use it? I don't have any magic power," I sound a little sad.

He glances at me, speeding up.

"Your rank is currently eight and your HP is twenty. It is still quite low to cast spells, but there are ways to obtain magical power through your bloodlines. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend that it contains dark magic."

"Then what am I going to do?"

"We're going to make use of your anti-magic," he chuckles softly. "I'm going to teach you myself, so all you need to do is to listen to me and be a good student."

When we reach the top of the mountain, I see a breathtaking sight in front of my eyes. The warm sunlight is embracing the sky, radiating onto the green, lively forest. The scene looks so magical that it feels like a fairy would come down from the clouds and ask me my wishes.

"Take out your grimoire," Cedric commands me, his eyes on my hands.

"How?" I ask, feeling embarrassed.

He thinks for a moment, then takes out a notebook from his pocket. "Let's see how. Since you don't have any magical aura, then of course you can't use any spells, but you can memorize the simple ones. There's a spell for summoning your grimoire. Repeat after me. Egredere, mi grimoire."

"Egredere, mi grimoire," I speak in a clear voice. The grimoire appears in front of me in an instant, being opened by itself. I notice that the book is chained up with five strings, not sure what that represents. I stare at it with shock, as a huge black sword comes out of the book. I hold it with my shaken fingers. It's extremely heavy and long.

"Can you wield it?"

"Not really," I shake my head, it's already hard enough to hold it.

"Black is a rare color for grimoires," Cedric looks tensed. "Also about the five strings, there's not much reference in the history books. The pages are also empty, which means that this sword is your only power right now. You have to learn how to use it. Get stronger, work out more. Enhance your physical power. Give me a thousand push-ups right now," his voice is strict and cold.

I get to work right then. In order to wield the sword, I need more muscle power. The mountain air is really thin and dry, so it's getting harder to breathe. But I'm desperate for now, I don't want to give up. Not giving up is going to be my magic.

"Five hundred and two," Cedric announces, monitoring me from beside. "Keep your posture right, straighten your back."

I plop on the ground after I finish, feeling like I'm almost going to die. Which isn't anything new.

"Two minutes," he indicates at a tree branch. "Then give me five hundred pull-ups."

Cedric is really ruthless. I realized it later. But he's also very powerful and knows a lot. He mentioned that I have to increase the number of workouts, day by day. I hope I'm able to do that except passing out. I also I hope that he will give me some breaks. It was just that day that I got reincarnated into this world.

As my last workout of the day, Cedric creates multiple ice statues with his magic. I have to defeat the puppets using only my bare hands.

"Aim for their legs, stomach and head," he suggests to me. "Now go, finish them off."