The Unsurpassed Maiden

Mi Young blinks twice while trying to make out if what she was seeing was real. She leaned a little closer forward to look if the man's leg was really made out of black mist.

"Yes. What you are seeing is real." The man suddenly says that Mi Young jumped in surprise.

She looks back and forth from the man's leg to his face, "I'm s-sorry I didn't mean to be rude."

"No. It's fine. I get that a lot even when I am still outside." The man says with a gentle voice, so opposite of the way he looks.

Mi Young?? admits it, she is one of the people who are very quick to judge others. And by looking at the man in front of them right now, she thinks he used to be a criminal. He has this mean look on his face, his body is huge and he is tall. He had wavy hair that falls right on his shoulders and a mean ass looking tattoo all over his neck and around his right arm. Mi Young wonders if there is more of that tattoo all over his body since she can't see anything else because of the sleeveless shirt he was wearing.

However, with the way he answered Mi Young earlier, all her judgement was thrown away in an instant. The man has a very gentle voice and his eyes form crescents when he smiles. Somehow it reminded the black haired girl of her tan-skinned friend back in the academy. Speaking of Jung In, Mi Young wonders if he was looking for her again. She really ought to explain things to him and Shang Min.

"What do you mean about the blood thing? Do you know what we are trying to do?" Kwang Soo's voice suddenly made Mi Young snap out of her inner thoughts. When she looked up, her senior was already standing near the bars where he and the other man could talk.

Mi Young, who realized she looked like an idiot standing there alone while looking into space, decided to go and walk towards them so she can also clearly hear what they are talking about.

"Of course I know what you guys were talking about, I can hear you even if I'm on the opposite side of this room." The man says while giving the two students a bored look.

"Since you already know what we were talking about, care to explain what your insights are?" Kwang Soo asks in a challenging tone.

The man lets out a sigh. "Don't worry, I know what I am seeing and I can assure you that what I am about to tell you guys are not just 'insights' but the truth about what happened to your friend and what kind of ability she has awoken."

"Awoken? Ability?" Mi Young whispers more to herself than the other people in the room.

The man heard her and so he cast his gaze towards the black haired girl. "Yes, dear. You have awoken a very special and rare ability."

"H-How?"

"That thing on your neck isn't just a simple magical item. That is the only copy of the book which was made by the first Queen of the Seelies."

"Q-Queen of the Seelies?" Mi Young asked. She couldn't help but shudder when she remembered the look of the Seelie Queen she met back when she traveled to the past.

"Seelies are creatures???"

"I know what they are. What I was asking about is why would I have a book of the Seelie Queen?" Mi Young asks.

"She's not just a Seelie Queen, but the First Seelie Queen."

"There are others before her?" Mi Young asks.

The man cocks his head to the side. "What do you mean 'her'? Have you met a Seelie Queen before?"

Kwang Soo and Mi Young looked at each other. It was obvious Kwang Soo was confused about what the other girl was talking about so she couldn't help but sigh before answering the other man. "I did."

"Which queen?" The man asks, voice serious.

"I don't know which queen it was but she was really pretty and she has this mean look on her face." Mi Young tries to explain.

The man looked like he was thinking who the black haired girl was talking about but judging from the look on his face right now, he doesn't seem to know who the girl was talking about. "Mean look? All Seelie Queens have this mean look on their face."

"Uhm???I don't know what else to describe her except that she is pretty and that her element was the Anemo."

"Anemo? There is only one Seelie Queen who was gifted with the Anemo element." The man says, voice sounding graver than usual. When Mi young looked up at him, his eyes were dark and Mi Young shivered at the look. "I don't know why you met her but you're lucky you're still alive."

"I barely managed to get out." The black haired girl whispers. Sudden flashbacks of the calamity she met when she was battling with the Seelie Queen flashed into her mind. Somehow, she misses the other creatures she met there.

"How did you met her?" Kwang Soo asks. He had this very curious look on his face and Mi Young really wanted to laugh at him right now but she thinks that the current situation is too serious to be laughed at so she controlled herself.

"I'll tell you later. Can you please tell me more about this book and how can I use this?" Mi Young asks.

"Sure. So that book is used by the First Queen of the Seelies. She was a very charming and beautiful maiden which every creature looked up to." The man says while trying to remember the past. "She was also powerful. However, she was suddenly affected by a curse that caused her to lose her life, and in order to preserve her power and her insights in life, she used all her remaining mana and strength and put it inside that purple book."

"Why was it lying on the merchant's bookshelf?" Kwang Soo questions.

"After the Dark War, everything went into chaos. Lots of ornaments and magical items that belonged to the nine clans were lost, some were hidden. During that time, the Seelie Queen tasked a maiden from the Dendro can to keep it for her and to only give it to a maiden that can awaken its power. For years, the book was passed on from one generation to another. Even if the Dendro clan was entirely wiped out, the book still remained. However, no one managed to awaken it."

"What do you mean to 'awaken' the power of this book? How would you know that its ability was awakened?"

"Simply having that book on your neck is already saying a lot of things." /the man says with a smile. Again, Mi Young was reminded of Jong In.

"Cut the chase. Tell us everything and how to use the book." The senior suddenly says, voice sounding impatient.

The man sighs. "Youngsters sure do have less patience than us grown ups."

"Well, if you would speak straightforwardly then we wouldn't have been running in circles." Kwang Soo says while crossing his arms.

"Okay fine. So, the Seelie Queen said that only a maiden who the book chooses can awaken its power. Since it's hanging around your neck already, the book seemed to like your mana. It's being drawn to you. Which can also explain why you have managed to awaken it."

"And what do you mean by being awakened?" The black haired girl asks.

"It means it allows you to use its power and ability. That book has been lying dormant for 'years.' It has been waiting for a rightful owner to come. And now that it has found one, it won't take a long while before you can use even the deepest powers it possesses." The man says with a satisfied look. "I'm lucky it chose someone like you."

"Like me?"

The man nodded his head. He crossed his arms as he offered Mi Young a friendly smile that somehow reminded the girl of her own father. Mi Young wondered how he was. "You are strong. I can feel it."

Mi Young wanted to laugh. "Please don't joke around. I'm not strong."

"Why not? I can totally feel your mana power and ability right now." The man says. He leaned forward and gave the black haired student a wink, "Trust me, I might be old but my instincts were never wrong. You are bound to become someone unreachable. But even if that day comes, you must not forget your roots."

"You're speaking in riddles again. Can you please talk in our own language?" The young student whines while she tries to digest all the things the man had just said. This caused the man to laugh merrily at her.

"Why don't you try and offer that book some of your blood? Before the Seelie Queen died, she said that in order to activate the book's power and take complete control of it, the owner must give it something precious to the owner.. And the blood is one of the most sacred and precious gifts an owner can give to its slave."