Damian stared at the guard and asked, "Why are you so happy?"

The guard had yet to stop smiling after meeting Damian. He looked at him and said, "You're a famous enchanter, Damian. I am more than happy to meet you."

"I see. Well, it is a pleasure to meet you too."

It was Damian's first recognition for his work, which felt good.

Damian looked ahead, staring at the building.

It was a mansion three stories and a fence around it for protection. Unlike extreme places with tall walls, it was only a tall metal fence, ensuring people could still see the mansion and those inside could enjoy the surrounding forest.

A courtyard awaited Damian with rows of flowers delivering their scent throughout the area — Damian's nostrils included — making it a lovely, peaceful place.

It smelled like nature, and the tall trees scattered around the area were an invitation to sit down and enjoy every moment of such a beautiful place.

Of course, Damian had other things to do.

"Gorgeous, isn't it?" the guard said, smiling as he watched the flowers, "my lady loves taking care of the garden."

"She does?"

The lady became even more mysterious. Was she all alone in that mansion? Damian had many questions about her.

'I don't even know her name yet,' he thought.

After walking for a while, following a cobblestone pathway passing through the courtyard, leading it straight to the mansion's door, Damian saw her.

She opened the mansion's double door, wearing casual clothing, different from the fine ones she wore when visiting his shop. It was understandable. She was, after all, inside her home.

The guard slightly bent his knees, bowing to her, saying, "Lady, Damian, the enchanter, is here."

She smiled, "I know. I saw Damian through the window. Come in."

Damian followed her inside while the guard returned to his place near the gate, ensuring the protection his lady needed.

The insides of the mansion were gorgeous. All the furniture pieces were delicate, expensive, and made of the most luxurious materials possible.

Like any luxurious place, plenty of paintings were hanging on the walls. Damian felt it would only take one of those paintings to equal his savings.

Damian walked through the hallway, looking at the paintings, and one caught his attention! The image looked normal, but something was written at the bottom.

'Giant Snake Tongue!'

After meeting with the petrified snake, Damian had learned the language, and it was right there, written in one of the paintings.

'Painting of Queen Naguila in her human form, unknown year.'

"I think I have yet to introduce myself. I am Emma, and this is my family's mansion," Emma said, turning around only to see Damian staring at one of the paintings.

"She's gorgeous, right?" Emma said with a smile.

Damian could not help but ask, "Who is she?"

"My family's ancestor. I don't know her name or when she lived. It was a long, long time. The painting has been there forever."

Many theories flashed through Damian's mind. If the person in the painting was indeed an ancestor of Emma's family, she was almost one hundred percent a Giant from the Snake Race!

But it was impossible to be sure without testing, and even if she was, her bloodline could be blocked, like Damian's.

"Thanks for the info."

"No problem," Emma said, pointing at a door not far from them, "Let's keep moving, shall we?"

They went to another courtyard, one in the mansion's back. Different from the first one, which looked like private, a place only a few people could go.

A fountain was in the middle of the courtyard, a stone mermaid shooting water through its mouth. There were a few pots with seeds and fruits for the birds. Damian saw a few eating while he sat on a bench staring directly at the water fountain.

Damian looked at his side, staring at Emma with her red hair moving with the wind. She was astonishingly beautiful.

"So, Damian," she said, showing her white teeth, "Is the sword ready?"

It was an obvious question, as Damian had the sword attached to his back. The blade was inside a box to ensure maximum protection, seeing how precious the item was.

"Here it is, my lady," Damian said, extending his arms and giving Emma the sword.

Damian knew the enchantments had to have a high standard, just like the sword itself.

Gladly, she was visibly excited. Her smile had yet to vanish, and her breathing was irregular. Emma first opened the box, seeing her fine sword looking different than before — now with runes carved on its blade and handle.

A thought of 'I want to test it' crossed her mind. She got up from the bench, swinging the blade a few times.historical

"It feels lighter and sharper," she said, "but I have to test it in the dummies to see how good it is."

The private area Damian and Emma were in was not only a courtyard for relaxation time. It had a massive building. Damian guessed it was a training room for Emma and the other guards who worked for her.

They both went there and after opening the building door, an arena awaited them. There were some training dummies, and Emma went to test the sword in one of those dummies.

The training dummies were made of wood — different from the slime ones Damian could create.

Emma swung the sword with incredible skill, activating the runes carved on the blade. A massive firestorm surrounded the area, turning all the dummies into dust.

She awkwardly smiled, "I think I will have to get new dummies, hehe."

It wasn't a big deal for someone like her, who had the money. Not that training dummies were expensive, to begin with.

"You should be grateful only the training dummies got destroyed," Damian said, "this sword is not weak."

Emma was happy with the final product. She could see that Damian's enchantments on the sword weren't weak, and she wanted a skillful enchanter like him close to her.

"Agreed. I still have to practice how to control the enchantment. Anyway, I am very pleased with the item."

They returned to the mansion, going up the third floor this time. That was where Emma's office was, a spacious room with a desk, bookshelves, a mannequin wearing plate armor, and more paintings.

The place smelled of books and rustic wood. Damian could also faintly smell her perfume in the room.

'She must spend a lot of time here,' he guessed.

Emma had a safe inside the room. She opened it using a code Damian couldn't see — he did not even try as that would be rude — and took out three leather pouches from the safe.

"Like I said, your work was incredible, and it far surpassed my expectations," Emma said, putting the sacks on the table, "There are 3000 gold coins inside. All yours."

"T-Three thousand?"

That was a lot! Damian was starting to regret not learning enchantment before. He was almost printing money!

"Yes, exactly. I will also recommend your work to some friends, and I hope you and I can become good friends, too," Emma said.

Damian wanted to befriend her for the money-making opportunities at first. But after seeing that painting in the hallway, Damian tried to befriend her to know more about her family too!

There weren't many giants left, and Damian had recently found one of a sub-race, the snake, inside the secret chamber.

"Would you do that for me? I don't want to trouble you," Damian said.

He did not want to accept the offer instantly. That could make him look suspicious.

"Of course, I would! You look like a nice person, and everyone will try to befriend a skilled enchanter like you, so watch out not to get along with the wrong people."

When she talked about the wrong people, Damian recalled Claridge, who did illegal things and went to his shop to speak with him.

"I will remember that," Damian said, preparing to leave the mansion, but Emma had another thing to say.

"Damian, you heard about the recent attacks, right?" she said.

The recent attacks were caused by Damian himself, so of course, he remembered.

"Yes, I heard. What about it?" Damian said.

His heart rate increased, scared that something might have exposed him.

"Just be careful, alright? I know you barely leave the city, but when you do, be careful when traversing through the forest."

Damian sighed in relief.

'I am safe!' he thought, yet it only lasted a few seconds.

Emma looked at him and said, "But don't worry too much. This whole thing will end soon, I guess."

Damian's hands were sweaty as he asked, "Why is that?"

"A servant of mine sent me a letter yesterday saying that she saw the attacker, but did not want to return here, scared that the thing might follow her. I think she will arrive tonight, and we will speak with the authorities in Lemoria tomorrow."

'Fuck..'