@ShikaruMeruin huffed, relieved of the weight of the book. "That's good to know. Well, just consider my earlier demonstration as a challenge to myself," she replied without missing a beat.
"I will read it later, preferably while you're working on it. I'll be able to sublimate information much quicker that way."
Meruin placed the book on her newly created shrub stool, and tapped it a few times with her index finger. A small explosion of black miasma and magic energy erupted from the tip of where her finger touched the book. Meruin drew her hand back in a snap.
"Well, at least I know your family put adequate defenses on it, your own not withstanding," her expression was even, and she looked seemingly unpeturbed bu the fact that her finger was smoking. Meruin had just attempted to forcibly transfer random bits of information between her and the book, bypassing and even breaking right through a few enchantments before hitting a defense too powerful to overcome. That was completely within the bounds of her expectations, of course.
"As for the secrets of your Grimoire, I had thought that that was a given? Naturally, I would never be so rude as to simply divulge its secrets to those unrelated to it; 'The power of magic lies in its mystery' - that was one of the first teachings of my master. It was a lesson that will stick to me for quite a long time yet. Quite literally in fact."
Suddenly, Meruin began to take off the blouse she was wearing, exposing the pale pink skin underneath. With an unconcerned expression, the tiny mage pulled down a bit of her bra, revealing the flesh above her heart to Arcadius.
"Keeping secrets is something expected of us Mages to do. In fact, had you not asked me, I would have reminded you right after
slapping you for being an utter fool."
At the spot of her exposed skin, a strange symbol rested. It was a rune that constantly shifted and changed shape - looking at it was absolute torture for the eyes, with humans unable of being capable of even processing what they were looking at, and clenched the heart with fear: Fear of the unknown, and fear of being confronted with an overwhelming power.
"My master placed this curse on me to ensure that I never divulged her secrets to anyone - correction, to
anything. Had I done so, my very existence would have been split apart and thrown into different dimensions, preventing me from reincarnating and even wiping out any memory anyone ever had of me. To be honest, I had expected you to do much the same."
Satisfied with her explanation, the still stoic Meruin drew back. The point she had wanted to make was simply this:
"This is only between us. Your secrets are safe with me."