Chapter 5:  World of Essentarii They went outside and circled around the house twice for any supernatural occurrence. 

After that Anira pulled her hands together towards her chest in a prayer motion, after a few seconds white mist was surrounding her ever elegant presence. Her hands were the origin of the mist but it was slowly circling around her. Her dark ink-like hair was adulating with the mist. Conrad was in awe as if he was seeing some goddesses decent in the mortal world.

Science may have displaced religion, and I'm an atheist myself. But if goddesses existed, she'd embody divine beauty.

Anira’s corset dress rippled in the supernatural breeze as dense white mist enveloped her dark gloved hands. In an instant, the mist expanded outward, forming a circular barrier around the house.

This really does feel like something out of a fantasy novel. I don't know when I will be able to do things like this.

Sigh.

The door of the house opened suddenly. Anira and Conrad looked in the direction standing outside of the house.

"What are you doing out here at this hour?" demanded a female voice, youthful despite its owner's twenty-two years.

Clara Valor stood in the doorway, her teenager-like frame slightly taller than Leona's. Long black hair with mahogany and chestnut highlights matched her brother's - a resemblance she despised. To her, their family's suffering stemmed from its sole male member, feeding her broader contempt for men.

"Ha ha... just checking for thieves," Conrad stammered.

“Even if there was a thief, what would you have done? Abandoned us and ran?” Clara said with slight annoyance. 

"No, I would never—”

“You know you are the worst. Why don't you just abandon us so we can live happily” Clara raised her voice slightly. Then she paused seeing her brother's face as if she was regretting her words. She was about to turn to enter her house. Suddenly she felt the world around her getting isolated as if something was blocking anything and everything in existence. An unknown fear took hold of her heart. 

Anira’s crimson deep eyes were staring at Clara’s back. Darkness trembled, air itself seeming to flee. Conrad felt unprecedented chills - this was Anira at full power, not the death's-door version he'd first met. Conrad immediately turned toward Anira. But her focus remained on Clara Valor. Her crimson eyes were filled with blood lust. 

I am getting a bad feeling. 

Clara began trembling. Despite the night's natural chill, this cold felt different - deathly. As if some ancient deity of death peered directly into her soul.

Conrad grasped Anira's hand. Her ageless crimson eyes met his deep blue ones. In her eternal existence, only one being had ever touched her - twice now.

Clara's eyes regained focus as the atmosphere normalized. She glanced back at her brother's worried expression, words failing her before she retreated to her room. There was still lingering fear in her eyes. She wasn't sure what she felt but all her instincts were screaming at her to retreat. Hmm

“What were you doing?” Conrad asked calmly he didn't want to anger Anira. Frankly he was also a little scared of her.

“Apologies Great Master” Anira bowed her head. 

You don't have to. But still what you did was not right. 

Looking at Anira, Conrad noticed her attention was on something else. Her cheeks were a little red. 

Following her gaze, Conrad looked down to see his hands were still holding Anira’s soft slender gloved hands. 

Conrad immediately released his grip feeling flustered.

What the hell. Why am I panicking?

"Ahem. Remember one rule: never harm my sisters, regardless of circumstance."

Still fixated on her hand, Anira eventually looked up. "Yes, my Lord." After a pause, she added, "My Lord, forgive my forthcoming words, but I will eliminate anyone showing you malice - even your sisters.”

Conrad's eyes twitched a little. Little sweat dripped down from his forehead. 

Gulped

Yeah she is dangerous. She can take any life without any hesitation. I am not sure why she considers me as her ‘Lord’. She may very well have some hidden agenda. Maybe she is waiting for some power to manifest inside me so she can snatch it for herself. There are so many possibilities. I can't be sure. 

Conrad nodded slightly. Anira dissolved into the shadows of Conrad. Darkness around her seemed to be consumed by the entity that lived inside a seemingly normal wimpy person. 

Before entering his house. Conrad glanced behind for a moment as if he noticed something but then turned around to walk towards his room. 

In the suffocating darkness, a figure stood silently, shrouded in stillness. The moonlight, though piercing through the clouds, refused to touch her. The chill in the air dared not brush against her skin. Her wedding dress hung unnaturally, unmoving, as though even the wind feared to disturb her presence. She didn’t smile—or perhaps she couldn’t, for where her face should have been, there was nothing but a swirling void, an abyss that seemed to devour the faint light around it, blending into the shadows with a malevolent grace.

After returning to his room, Conrad settled into a Victorian-modern chair beneath the lamplight. Through sealed windows, the night's chill couldn't penetrate. Before him stood a wooden table bearing an open notebook and expensive modern ballpoint - a study habit carried from his previous life. The thick book lay open, its pages mostly text with some images of unknown origin.

Here I am in a fantasy world but I still have to study. Last time I remember studying like this before my interview. Well what can you do? Life is life. 

Opening the book’s first page Conrad read:

Author - Maxwell Condyle. 

This is a book which includes the latest theory and research on Supernatural fields of the world. 

Chapter 1 : World of Essentarii