The Riddle Of Magic

Chapter 46: Pulse of the Chase

✨NSFW content in this chapter. Thank you all for reading! ✨

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"Hide and seek?" Charlie asked, her sky-red eyes flashing with excitement as her hands clasped together. "Oh, how fun! I haven't played that since I was little!"

"Consider it an opportunity to expand on your use of your rune! You can Phase around the hotel as a means of hiding from me," the Radio Demon grinned.

"The whole of the hotel?"

"Yes, my dear! I've adjusted the wards around the Hotel over the morning. I figured it might be more helpful to have the familiar territory for you to practice."

His apprentice beamed a dazzling smile. "That's great Al, thank you!"

"The beacon will allow me to know if you're getting into dangerous territory! I'll be able to sense your movement through the Sea and know where you wind up," he explained, gesturing to his own ribbon.

Charlie blinked, touching her bowtie. "But wait, if the beacon will let you track me wherever I'm Phasing, how would that be fair for the game?"

"We'll make the objective for you to avoid my touch, darling," he replied, giving her a soft boop on the tip of her blackened nose. "I'll refrain from using Phase myself, which will give you an advantage in terms of movement - so long as you don't linger too long in the Umbral Sea. I'll follow if you go too far or are there too long."

"But, how long do you think too long is?" the princess asked curiously.

"That's up to the hunter," he purred, relishing in the flash of heat in her sky-red eyes. "Best keep on your toes, my sweet."

His darling partner looked confident. "It's getting easier all the time! I know how to recognize the path in the dark, and I know my limits so I don't risk getting stuck."

That was all well and good, but he wouldn't take the chance. The risks weren't eliminated, only mitigated. "Very good, then you can think of this as a chance to expand your horizons. You'll have the whole of the Hotel's interior as your space, rather than just the painting. The wards here are somewhat looser."

"So this is more of me using my own power." she nodded. "Thank you for trusting me, Al."

"We cannot call you practiced in the rune without you controlling it under your own power," he reasoned, mostly for his own sake. "Eventually we'll move outside, and you'll have to use your own strength exclusively."

"The ribbon will help you find me," Charlie smiled at him. "If you need to."

He hated this fear, one of the reasons he'd shied from relationships for so long. He needed to get his mind off of it, and what better way than a game? "Hopefully it won't be needed. If it is, we'll return to practicing exclusively within the painting for the time being. Fair?"

"Sure, that sounds fair," his apprentice agreed. "But how long should we go for?"

"You've already eaten?" he asked and she nodded. "Let's say... one hour!" He held up a claw.

"That's a long time for a round of hide and seek!" Charlie laughed.

"Not if I win, my darling!" he teased and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Having the longer rounds will help take this slower, and we can go for a few games if your stamina holds. Of course, if I have to retrieve you from the Sea that's an automatic loss, you understand."

"Sure. After all, I'm supposed to be hiding from you - if I need rescuing then I'm definitely not ready to be beyond wards."

"The beacon will burn all the brighter the further away you are. You can think of it as incentive to keep to the shores of the Sea as much as you can. The closer you are to this realm, the smaller its signal and the more I'll have to focus to follow your trail. When you're on this plane, it won't function at all."