The Veil of Darkness
Chapter 231: Magic & Spells (Part Three)

Chapter 231: Magic & Spells (Part Three)

The silence stretched on for a while, long enough to make Annalise both uncomfortable and anxious but she still kept her eyes closed and remained standing in her place without speaking at all.

It was only when she was almost assured that Valerius had probably left the library to attend to some other work while she was busy learning to be patient, she felt her bond with him suddenly coming back to life which made her realize that he was still there with her, standing not too far away from her. But what really caught her attention was the proud feeling that was emitting through the bond, coming directly from him.

A small smile bloomed on her lips as realization hit her, she just passed his test and that was why he was feeling so proud of her.

"You are doing great, Annalise. Let’s now head further." Valerius finally spoke in an encouraging voice before he started giving more instructions. "Now, tell me... can you recall all the other candles that are present in this section of the library?"

Annalise took her time to recall if she could remember all the candles that she can’t see while searching for her one particular candle but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to be able to recall all of them. Hence, she shook her head in negative as a response to his question. "I can’t."

She didn’t feel any sort of disappointment coming from him through the bond despite her failure of being able to recall the positions of all the candles. Instead, he seemed really soft and happy at that moment.

"Since you can’t recall the rest of the candles, you can’t obviously light them all up just like you did with that one candle you chose. So, let’s try another method for doing what you think you can’t." His voice was still as encouraging as before and it made Annalise curious to know what he was about to teach her.

"Concentrate on the light of your candle, Annalise, and try it to spread across all the candles present around this section. But..." Valerius’ voice became serious all of a sudden as he reminded her of some really important rules of his game - "... you have to make sure that only the candles of this particular section should be lit and that the fire only spreads to other candles and not to the books. You are fully aware of just how important these books are."

Annalise suddenly found herself not really eager as she finally realized the real risk if she failed in her attempt. They were in the most important area of the library, the section of the oldest and most mysterious data collection in the entire library. If she lost her control over the fire and it ended up spreading into the books, it would be nothing less than a complete disaster.

"No!" She immediately stated while shaking her head though she didn’t open her eyes. "I can’t take such a huge risk. I won’t do it here. If something went wrong..."

"That’s exactly why I have arranged the practice lesson in this particular section. Since you know just how important these books and their data are, I’m sure you won’t let anything happen to them. This is the perfect way to test your control." Valerius informed her about his idea but she was least impressed with it.

Annalise shook her head with her eyes still closed as she responded, "How can you take such a big risk? I won’t do this no matter how mad you are going to get at me. My training is not important as the data stored in these books and scrolls." She was ready to finally open her eyes but Valerius’ next words stopped her at the very last second.

"I trust you, Annalise, and I know that you won’t let me down."

Annalise almost wanted to protest against his blackmailing her but she couldn’t make herself believe that it would change anything. She didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that Valerius was determined to follow his plan no matter how many excuses she would put forward to him.

She was silent for a while as she thought deeply about what decision to make. Finally, she asked him one last question, "What if... what if I failed?"

There was silence for the next couple of seconds but then she felt Valerius standing right in front of her with his hands cupping her shoulders as he answered, "I’m not sure how much you trust yourself, Annalise, but I trust you with my life. I know you and I know the power you hold inside you, a power that is bound to listen to your every command. As long as you won’t allow it, that power will never do anything against your wishes."

Annalise had to gulp down her saliva to moisten her suddenly dry throat as she felt just how sincere Valerius was about his trust in her and her powers. He trusted in her way more than she trusted in herself. She slowly licked her lips before she let out a sigh and nodded her head. "Alright. I will give it a try."

She couldn’t tell if she was really making the right decision or if she was being a complete idiot by getting influenced by his words, but it was already too late to regret it as she was already focusing her attention back on the burning candle.

She tried shifting her attention between the one burning candle and the dozens of other candles that were sitting around their section of the library. She pictured the sparks of the first candle shifting to the second, then the third, then the fourth, and kept moving to the other candles one by one while lightning up all the candles in its wake.

She commanded the fire to not get out of control and not to touch anything else except for the candles in their section and to her surprise... it seemed to be heeding to her every word.

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