The next day, Owen accompanied William and Ella to a house that was located on the Southern Outskirts of Lont. The two-storey house looked very cozy on the outside. Several orchids hung on the front porch. The air was filled with their fragrance and William could feel that his body was feeling refreshed after inhaling their scent.
"Celine, I brought Little William with me," Owen said as he lightly knocked on the door.
"Come in, Owen," a voice that was as soft as silk replied from inside the house.
Getting the owner's permission, Owen opened the door and made a gesture for William to enter. The first thing that William saw was a room filled with the weirdest creatures that he had seen in both of his lifetimes.
An orange fruit that seemed to have grown tentacles were sunbathing by the window. A fish that had the head of a tiger was swimming inside a fish tank. Two potted plants were playing chess on top of a table, and a parrot with the head of a monkey looked at William in disdain.
"Uwaaaaak! A monkey has arrived!" the monkey parrot announced as it ridiculed William from its perch. "A stupid monkey with a stupid goat. Uwaaaaaaaak!"
"Mind your manners, Oliver. This is not the way we should treat our guests," the same silky voice reprimanded the parrot monkey which made it shut its mouth completely.
"Celine, it seems that your pet is still as disdainful as always," Owen said as he scanned the room to look for the master of the house.
"Well, Oliver wouldn't be Oliver unless he acts this way," Celine replied. "I'm on the second floor, Owen. Forgive me, but can the two of you wait for five more minutes? I'm about to finish my experiment. "
"Of course." Owen had already expected something like this to happen so he nudged William to take a seat on the couch that was near the window where the orange-tentacled-creature was currently sunbathing.
The parrot monkey made faces at William, but it didn't utter a word, lest it anger its master. William looked at this bizarre creature with interest. Aside from its weird appearance, it didn't look malicious. In fact, William felt that this creature was very intelligent and was only pretending to be stupid.
Exactly five minutes later, a beautiful lady who seemed to be in her mid-twenties walked down the staircase. She had long purple hair and wore gold-rimmed glasses. Ironically, the dress she wore was also purple-colored and it highlighted the delicate curves of her body.
William was captivated by her surreal beauty and he wasn't able to stop himself from staring at her. She was like a beautiful painting and every side of her was flawless.
"You're quite cute, but sorry, I am not interested in boys that hadn't even grown their hair," Celine gave William a mischievous wink that made the young boy's heart beat wildly inside his chest.
'D-Damn, her beauty is over 10,000.' William gulped as he stared at the beautiful lady in front of him. By far, Celine was probably the most beautiful woman that he had seen in his life. She was even more beautiful than his first love, Belle.
"William? Hey, young man, are you still with us?" Owen teased the young boy as he lightly slapped his cheeks.
"Meeeeeeeh!"
Ella's voice snapped William out of his daze. He then scratched his head in order to hide his embarrassment.
"Don't worry, no one will laugh at you." Owen patted the boy's shoulders. "If I wasn't married, I would have confessed to her long ago."
Celine snorted. "Sorry, I'm not interested in an old cow who is after young grass either. You must have saved the world in your past life to have Sarah in your life now."
"Well, I admit that my wife may not be as beautiful as you, but she's quite feisty in bed," Owen replied with a smug expression.
Celine, William, Ella, and the parrot monkey, looked at the old bastard with disdain. All of their expressions were saying only one word and that was "Scum".
Owen was unaffected by their disdainful looks. In fact, he even felt that it was the highest compliment.
Celine snorted one more time before landing her gaze on the young boy in front of her.
"William, is it? Allow me to break your bubble young man," Celine said as she fixed the glasses on her face. "You won't be able to learn Dark Magic just because you want to learn it. Only those that have the affinity for the Dark Arts will be able to wield its power."
"I understand, but please, give me a chance," William replied with determination. "If I really don't have any affinity with Dark Magic then I won't pursue the matter any further."
"Hmm, for a ten-year-old you sure have spunk." Celine nodded her head in appreciation. "Very well, let us see if you have any affinity with Dark Magic. Owen told me that you have learned Ice Magic. Is this true?"
"Yes."
"Interesting."
Celine summoned a crystal ball on her hand and motioned for William to come closer. "Place your hand over the crystal ball."
William did as he was told. A few seconds later, a snowflake appeared inside the crystal ball. Celine observed it for a few seconds before shaking her head.
"Sorry, you don't have any affinity for Dark Magic," Celine stated. "I suggest that you should just focus on your ice magic."
Owen and Celine thought that William would feel depressed because of the result. However, instead of depression, what they saw made them puzzled.
"Why are you smiling?" Celine frowned. "Didn't I just tell you that you don't have an affinity with Dark Magic?"
"Yes," William replied. "I heard you loud and clear, Ms. Celine."
"Then why?"
"It's because I don't need things like affinities to use any kind of magic."
Celine and Owen looked at the boy's smug expression. Both of them felt an itch on their hands and if not for William being a few years younger than them, they might have spanked his butt silly for saying something so audacious!
In this world, magic affinity was supreme. Even if you trained for a hundred years, you couldn't change this fact. A fire mage wouldn't be able to use water, ice, wind, and earth magic even if they spent many years practicing it.
Even if they succeeded, the most they would be able to do was use simple spells like magic bullet and the likes because of the restriction in their affinities.
There were rare cases where people were born with two affinities and, on very rare occasions, some even had three. These people were considered a drop in the bucket and the different kingdoms and empires would pay every expense to nurture these promising individuals.
However, the smug-faced-boy in front of them declared that he didn't need any kind of affinity to use any kind of magic? Owen was already grasping the walking stick in his hand very tightly and was so close to spanking William's bum.
"Boy, are you messing with me?" Celine asked. Her tone carried a dangerous vibe like a hunter that was about to lunge at its prey. "You think that learning magic is as simple as eating rice porridge?"
"Well, perhaps it is impossible for ordinary people," William replied as he answered with a confident gaze. "However, I am not someone ordinary. Ms. Celine, do you want to have a bet with me?"
"A bet?"
"Yes. In less than fifteen minutes, I will be able to learn Dark Magic."
"Hoh?" Celine narrowed her eyes and gave William a devilish smile. "Interesting. So what kind of bet are we going to have, little boy?"
"If I win, you will become my master and teach me Dark Magic," William said with a mischievous smile. "If I lose then you can make me your slave for a year. Mr. Owen here will serve as a witness."
"William… this," Owen wanted to dissuade the boy. He didn't know where William's confidence was coming from, but he understood Celine's character. She was someone who hated those who treated the learning of magic as a casual thing.
"Interesting." Celine eyed William with contempt. "Very well, I accept this bet. Owen, you will stand as our witness. I don't want to hear Old James saying that I bullied his grandson."
"Hah~ William, are you really sure about this? It's not too late to apologize, you know?" Owen sighed and tried to convince the young boy one more time. "There are things in this world that you cannot force. Learning magic is one of them."
"Don't worry, Mr. Owen," William replied. "An Ainsworth doesn't back down from their words."
Seeing that the little boy had no intention to take a step back, Owen took out a blank parchment from his storage ring and chanted. His words flew in the air and danced around the parchment making it give a white glow. After the chant ended the parchment floated between Celine and William.
"This is a contract that will bind your oaths by blood," Owen explained. "William. This is the last time I will ask. Are you sure about this?"
"Sure I'm sure," William answered with a smile.
"Hmph! If you really succeeded then I don't mind calling you Young Master from now on," Celine said in a musical voice that made the young boy feel light-headed.
Owen took a small dagger out from his storage ring and pricked William's fingertip. The drop of blood flew into the contract making it glow dark red. He did the same thing to Celine. The moment her blood melded with the contract, a dazzling light appeared and split the contract into two parts.
They turned into beams of light and penetrated William's and Celine's chests.
A monotonous voice sounded in the air and made its declaration.
[Your fifteen minutes starts now.]