Published at 28th of July 2026 12:01 pm

Chapter 198. Natural disasters and other personality traits

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Evil? Ophelia asked. What do you mean?

You know, like a bad person

I understand what youre asking about. But Im asking what exactly you mean by evil.

Peter stayed silent, his mouth half-open as thoughts raced through his head, while Ophelia sat motionless, letting him choose his words.

So Peter finally spoke again. When you said you got some clarity about your sacrifice, did you mean human sacrifice?

Yes, Ophelia answered, earning a flinch from Peter. You want to know if youre going to have to kill someone as a rite of passage. And if youre becoming a servant to some dark lord?

Yeeeah, thats kinda it, he answered sheepishly.

Ophelia chuckled at his admission, seeing the familiar feelings reflected on the young mans face.

Did Sam tell you how I came to be his apprentice? she asked, and Peter shook his head. I had to sacrifice someone in a ritual or be devoured by a messenger of an ancient god.

Peter inhaled sharply.

Oh, God.

Yeah. Took me a lot of time to come to terms with it. But Ill tell you what Sam told me. The good and bad you are used to were taught to you, learned over a long time spent in a given environment. The thing is, you are now in a different environment, with a different code and different morals. Even if you commit evil by the standards of your old world, no punishment will come in the new one. But Ophelia paused for a second. On that, I dont really agree with him. I dont think he understands that there will be a punishmentthe suffering inflicted on you by your own conscience.

Peter nodded along absentmindedly before freezing, catching on to the implication.

Good. Youre quick on the uptake. Ophelia smiled lightly, seeing the realization dawn on the boy. Yes, he doesnt get to experience that kind of self-inflicted punishment. Dont get me wrong, he knows there are different ways of seeing the world. Hell, I doubt he would be a good teacher if he didnt.

And is he? Peter cut in. A good teacher, I mean.

Very. But he can forget about human parts of the curriculum. He might explain them, throw you a good metaphor, but he would never describe your conscience as a punishment, but rather as an obstacle to overcome.

So he doesnt have one?

Ophelia paused for a second. Her mouth remained open, tongue pressing against the upper teeth, the first sounds of a firm no ready to leave her mouth. Yet she stopped herself, as the image of Sam in the singularity, almost wide-eyed, looking at dying Luna with a surprising mixture of emotions clear on his face, surfaced in her mind.

Well, he does have some remains of it I think, she finally said. Its just that most of it isnt something he feels, but just a set of rules he follows. Evil would lead to an undesired outcome in the long run, so he doesnt do it. Add to that respect for his heritage and a sense of pride and honor, and you have a rather weird moral code.

You didnt really answer my question.

Yeah, I dont think there is an answer. If what I described to you is evil in your mind, then he is evil. If not, then hes not. Ophelia shrugged. I tend to see him in a similar category to a natural disaster that falls only on houses belonging to people I generally dont mind seeing die.

Thats a rather strange way of describing a person.

He is a rather strange person. Ophelia chuckled.

She looked toward the window, leaving Peter with his thoughts. The city seemed to go into night mode, or whatever passed for nighttime in the underground ravine. New, strange sounds came to the forethe groaning of the roots holding up many of the buildings, the sounds of the earth and stone lightly shifting against one another with the movements of all the creatures still up, and an unfamiliar, deep song of local night critters. The lack of a normal chorus of nocturnal animals made it feel strange, as if it didnt fit the night-like ambiance.

How about you? Peter finally picked the conversation back up, breaking Ophelia out of her stupor.

What about me?

Are you like him?

Ophelia shook her head. No. Or at least I dont think Im there yet. But I did kill quite a few people. She dropped the information in a casual voice. Dont look at me like that. I didnt do it for fun or just for power technically.

So what, the god wanted you to serve them?

Ophelia shook her head. No, just a few people who had it coming Most of them, at least. The kills werent on Sam or a god. They were on me. But his influence, for better or for worse, did change me.

Peter once again went silent, trying to process the new information as everything he was hearing led him to one rather unpleasant conclusion.

So will I have to change and kill too?

Change? Yes. Ophelia gave a firm answer. Kill? Im not sure, honestly. I dont think being a killer is a requirement, but the world might require it of you. And dont get me wrong. Sam might not be a psychopath, but that doesnt make him the forgiving kind. He wont tell you to kill, but that doesnt mean he wont put you in front of a choice that requires you to. He wont hurt you if you dont follow him, but receiving his teachings is an offer of power. So the question is, how much are you willing to change for it? Ophelia said, her eyes going slightly vacant as her pupils lost focus. I changed quite a bit, she added to herself in a whisper.

I dont want power, Peter answered immediately.

Suuure. So after seeing all you saw, if Sam came out of that room and told you thisshe pointed to the cup of teacured you of whatever was wrong with your soul, and that you were free to go and just not tell anyone about what you saw. Youre telling me you would just get up and do so? That you wouldnt try to learn more?

Well I would, sure. Its hard not to. But I wouldnt kill for it.

How about risking death?

No.

How about risking injury?

Umm. This time, Peter hesitated. What kind of injury? he asked, and Ophelia smiled.

Peter rolled his eyes at her amusement.

I got used to pain. I wont mind an injury.

Sure. How about hurting someone?

I dont want to hurt anyone.

Even a bad guy? If breaking the leg of a murderer chasing his victim could allow you to learn to levitate off the ground, you wouldnt do it?

I would. But were talking about a murderer.

Ophelias smile widened. You see? So you are willing to hurt yourself and others for that power. Just under specific conditions a set of rules, you might even say? Rules that change with you after you, for example, experience so much pain that hurting yourself doesnt impress you any more? she proposed in a suggestive voice.

Peter opened his mouth in protest, but then closed it, still clearly uncomfortable with the way she put it. Ophelia shrugged, letting her face fall back to a neutral expression before getting up to get some sleep.

Look, Im not sure what he is, and the trick I learned over the past months is to simply not think about it too much. Hes not cruel without purpose. But he also isnt kind without a purpose with very few exceptions. She then pointed to the window where a few strange deer-like creatures scurried to their homes. In this world, its a good thing to have a monster in your corner, and Sam is a big and scary one. You just have to ask yourself if that monsters presence doesnt go against that code we all have. I got used to it. Grew to enjoy it even. Whether you can is up to you.

Ophelia gave the young man a short smile and then walked out to her own room, leaving Peter with his own thoughts.

Elias looked at the report lying on his desk, his eyes supposedly on the words written there, yet his mind clearly elsewhere. Dwyne calmly looked away, swirling his coffee in the mug, while Marvin squirmed in the chair.

This isnt much, Elias finally said, pushing the report away from himself, his eyes lifting to Marvin.

You didnt give us much to work with in the first place, Marvin protested. If we tapped his phone

Baaad idea, Dwayne spoke up from the side.

Marvin turned to him, clearly annoyed.

I dont know what resources you had in your office, but I guarantee you, we know what were doing and have more options than you even know exist.

Dwayne shrugged at the outburst. I dont doubt it, but if he can magically find out, as your boss suggestedhe looked to Elias and smiled as the older man didnt interrupt him before continuingthen I can guarantee you, the more successful you are, the nastier the fallout might be. And from what I understand, you already burned one bridge with the magic community, he said.

That we did, Elias answered without hesitation, and then sighed deeply before picking the file back up. Well, we did get somewhere, he finally added, his eyes stopping on one name in the file. Ophelia. Hmm. So who do you think that is to him?

Marvin exhaled before speaking up. Well, were not entirely sure aside from the fact that she moved closer and has been seen with him on multiple occasions.

So what, a friend? Colleague? Lover? Elias asked.

Marvin just spread his arms in a shrug, but before Elias could inform him of his annoyance, the man spoke up. Well, Im not entirely sure, but there is something interesting in the girls story. From what we got, around a year ago, she was just a normal student, with nothing much standing out. Her documentation at the university also showed no irregularities. But then, after a trip to Norway, she just dropped off the radar. Not only that, but a few other classmates also reported trouble, while one of the students was reported missing.

Elias looked at Marvin with clear interest. Why wasnt that in the report?

Because its nothing certain, and without clearances, we cant access any case files. We just have the police reports about the guyTom was his name, I believegetting drunk in the forest and then going missing. His father died some time afterwardsuicide.

Now Elias frowned. Okay, so is it something? Is it nothing? Dropping out due to trauma isnt that unnatural. Maybe Tom and her were lovers.

Thats the issue, Marvin said with more and more irritation. We dont have anything concrete, just circumstances. The others from that trip just said the two didnt like each other, but Im not sure we can trust college kids and their gossip. Ophelias family is also an issue. Fathers a megachurch pastor. The mothers a well, Im not sure, actually. Scammer? She lives off her husbands money. We reached out to her, and she actually said her daughter was a witch and a devils child who surely ran away to worship demons. But once again, her information is not trustworthy considering her background. Same thing with the kid who went missing. He disappears, and then his father cant take the grief and kills himself. But guess what. A few more people also disappeared or got killed at a similar time. A few goons, all possibly tied to said father. Once again, nothing concrete, just a lot of hearsay and probabilities. Probabilities we need more clearances to check. Marvin ended his short speech, looking into Elias's eyes.

The SID director smiled at the man. You see. You dont need all the technological bullshit. Youre doing great.

If I had access to the travel logs, I might even tie our mage to Norway. Maybe they have something in common there, Marvin suggested.

Hmm. Elias thought about that proposal. Fine, he finally relented. Hold up on the travel data, but Ill get you access to everything related to the missing kid and his family. Also, follow up with the mother and father angle. See if there is anything devil-related there. Lets assume Norway was our breakthrough point and go from there. Try to find an in with the girl. Ill try to ask our other mage contact about them. Maybe hell recognize the names.

Marvin was about to agree, but a message caught his attention. He looked at the screen and knitted his brows in clear worry, only to relax a second later.

You might have to delegate that to someone else. I think our mage is coming back, he finally informed Elias.

You didnt look very happy about it.

No. Marvin shook his head, putting on an awkward smile. Just with all that talk of divination and secrecy, I kinda thought he would send me a transcript of your conversation or something.

Heh. Elias gave a short laugh, though it hid a sliver of nervousness. Well, what was it?

Hes asking about tunnels and dig sites near the recent crime scene.

Get it, then. Ill delegate the task. And youhe turned to Dwayneplease help us with the pitch well use. We need to hook him properly, somehow.

Im already working on something, dont worry, Dwayne agreed.

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