Warlock Ch 139. Dangerous Path
Cassius sighed, standing slowly. "That's a dangerous path, Damian. Digging into your past might not bring the answers you want. It might only bring more questions—or worse, more enemies."
"I get that," Damian said firmly. "But if there's even a chance I can get answers, I'll take it."
Cassius tilted his head, his sharp eyes narrowing. "You'd risk walking into a trap, exposing yourself to a faction that already wants you dead, just to satisfy your curiosity?"
Damian smirked faintly. "You make it sound like I'm reckless or sothing."
Cassius sighed heavily. "You are reckless."
"Yet you are here with ," Damian quipped, though his smile faded quickly. "Look, I get it. This mission might be a setup. But we can't ignore it. If this rogue faction is as dangerous as she says, it's only a matter of ti before they co for more than just her. And if I can kill two birds with one stone—stop them and get my answers—why wouldn't I?"
Cassius crossed his arms, his sharp eyes narrowing. "Because you're assuming we'll even get the chance to ask those questions. Varak isn't soone to underestimate, and neither is Victoria. Walking into this without preparation is suicide."
Damian leaned back against the wall, folding his arms across his chest. "Well, I don't expect us to go in blind. At least send your spies to confirm what's going on, right?"
Cassius flicked his gaze to Damian, arching an eyebrow. "You want to send my shadows?"
"Yeah," Damian replied, gesturing casually. "I an, I don't have shadow servants like you. Besides—" He shot Cassius a pointed look. "You wouldn't let get one, rember?"
Cassius sighed, the faintest smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Fair enough. I'll send them tonight."
"Tonight?" Damian raised an eyebrow. "Why not now?"
"One of my servants is already following her," Cassius said, his tone matter-of-fact. "I want to focus on that first. No point dividing their attention."
Damian clicked his tongue but eventually shrugged. "Right. But the sooner we get intel, the better."
Cassius studied Damian for a mont before tilting his head slightly, his expression turning thoughtful. "You know," he said slowly, "instead of relying on her, why don't you focus on finding those mories yourself?"
Damian blinked, caught off guard. "What?"
"Evelyn ntioned you've been having strange dreams," Cassius continued, his tone even but probing. "Dreams tied to your past. That's where you should start. Your mories aren't lost—they're buried. If you dig deeper, you might uncover them without needing to risk a confrontation."
Damian huffed, running a hand through his dark hair. "Did I ntion my Mana Core is an absolute asshole?"
Cassius frowned, the sudden shift in tone catching his attention. "Yeah. You did."
"I an it's like it's hiding sothing from ," Damian said, his voice tinged with frustration. "My mories, my past—it's all locked away, and the damn thing has its own agenda. Like it's waiting for the 'right mont' to reveal sothing or… it doesn't want to give more than breadcrumbs."
Cassius's gaze sharpened. "You've interacted with it directly?"
Damian nodded. "Yeah. I've tried to ditate, focus on it, even provoke it. But every ti, it's like it's toying with . The last ti I touched it, all I got was so random mory of when I was still an apprentice. Back when I was learning alongside with you. It didn't give anything useful—just so nostalgic flashbacks."
"Nothing about Victoria?" Cassius pressed.
"Nothing," Damian said, his jaw tightening. "No answers about why I killed her husband, no clues about what drove to beco… whatever Kaelan was. Just aningless fragnts. It's like the Mana Core is deliberately avoiding the real questions."
Cassius narrowed his eyes, his brow furrowing in thought. "That's not normal. A Mana Core is supposed to be a reflection of its wielder's will. If it's acting independently, that raises questions about what kind of connection you have with it—and why."
Damian ran a hand through his hair, his frustration evident. "Yes! I know that. But for so reason, my Mana Core is… alive. It's not just so magical tool or reservoir—it has its own will, its own agenda. That's what really frustrates ."
"And you're sure it's hiding sothing important?" Cassius asked, his tone sharp, probing.
"I'm certain of it," Damian replied firmly. "Every ti I try to access my past, it feels like it's deliberately steering away from the truth. Like there's so big secret it's keeping locked up."
Cassius's expression remained unreadable, but there was a flicker of sothing in his eyes—curiosity, perhaps. Or concern. "And are you absolutely sure you didn't kill Victoria's husband out of power hunger? Or sothing equally petty?"
Damian t Cassius's gaze head-on, his voice steady. "No. I'm pretty sure I didn't."
The room fell into silence for a mont. Damian's confident declaration hung there, unanswered, until he broke it with a quieter, more hesitant voice. "It might sound stupid to you, but… my gut says no. I'm not that kind of guy."
Cassius watched him intently, his expression giving nothing away. Finally, he let out a low huff, leaning back slightly. "Then," he said, his voice suddenly lighter, almost teasing, "what if you killed him because you had a crush on Victoria?"
Damian's head snapped toward Cassius, his eyes wide with disbelief. "What?!" He cringed, his face twisting in horror. "No. Absolutely not. That's not possible."
Cassius's lips curved into a smug smile. "Are you sure? Kaelan was a bit of a Casanova, you know. Always charming, always leaving a trail of broken hearts. Maybe you've conveniently forgotten that part of yourself."
Damian's cringe deepened, the thought burrowing into his mind despite his best efforts to push it away. "No kidding… There's no way I would do sothing that horrible, right? I an, there's no way I'd stoop that low, right?" His voice trailed off, his disbelief turning inward.
Cassius grinned, clearly enjoying himself. "Looks like I've hit a nerve. I guess you're not as confident about your past as you thought."
Damian glared at him, but the uncertainty lingered. The idea gnawed at him, unwanted but impossible to ignore. Had he really been that kind of person? Had his actions been driven by sothing so… shallow?
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