The best part was probably that he now was his own boss and even had his own small restaurant, having upgraded from a booth. He was primarily just selling his signature meat skewers – a specialty that had even been enjoyed by the city owner Lord Thayne – both at the booth and in the restaurant.

Now, there were also issues with running a restaurant, mainly that people didn’t really need to eat much anymore, if at all. E-grades still had to eat, especially at the lower end of E-grade, and the few F-grades that somehow still existed needed quite a bit of food. Still less than pre-system humans, but a good deal.

This meant those who came to eat did it for the pleasure or for the temporary stat boosts from the food. A lot of crafters frequented his place, but it was rare he was more than at fifty or sixty percent capacity, and that only happened if big parties came.

But… that day, something had been different. Barry had been snacking on his own creations a bit more than usual as he felt a rumbling in his stomach he hadn’t for months. It wasn’t the usual “oh, I can take a bite” kind of rumble, but the “I need food” kind of rumble.

He was hungry.

And he was not the only one. People began coming into the restaurant almost immediately, ordering food and putting him to work. Barry frowned as soon over 80% of the seating had been taken, and people kept coming, all talking about how they suddenly felt hungry and had an urge to eat.

It wasn’t just his restaurant either. He saw out of the window that the guy across the street selling that heretical vegan stuff was also at full capacity, truly proving the desperation of the masses.

Back at his own place, customers just kept coming as soon no more seating was there, and they waited all the way out the door as Barry had his best day of business ever since opening.

An emergency meeting was being held as the governing body of Sanctdome was under heavy pressure. Jacob sat at the end of the table as the man in charge of the food supply explained the situation, all while failing to snack on something looking a bit like jerky.

Jacob had also failed to hold himself back as he had eaten a sandwich just before this meeting, and even now, he failed to restrain his desire to grab another just after.

“We are under significant pressure from several groups and parties as the kitchens have run out of food. Even the private sector is facing a shortage due to the sudden influx of customers… what is happening? Are we under attack by something?”

“Sir, there is signs of civil unrest, and many complain at the lack of proper preparation from our side… we need to do something, and fast, or we may face a legitimate crisis,” the man in charge of security explained while snacking on some fruit on the table. They had actually just been there for show, but only a few berries remained by now.

Jacob wracked his mind as the same issue was playing out in every single settlement of the Holy Church. Some places had enough food by themselves, but the megacity Sanctdomo was simply too big. They could normally handle the food situation, but suddenly everyone became hungry and wanted to eat something, nearly simultaneously.

The timing couldn’t be any worse either as the System Store had just disappeared, making easy acquisition hard. Merchants had already been pressed for everything they had to sell, but they hadn’t exactly banked on such a situation happening either.

“All we can do is damage control,” Jacob finally said as he prepared to head out and try to placate the masses before any true rioting and looting began.

Similar scenes played out all over the planet. Cities found themselves facing an issue none had predicted as suddenly food became a much-needed commodity. Some merchants became rich, others cursed their own luck, while everyone was hungry and needed to eat.

The only ones spared were the Risen… for as undead, they did not require food at all. They still lived off mana and felt like they wanted to absorb a little more than usual, but it was something they easily handled.

Even beasts were affected as they did something rare: actually ate their prey. Predators left their dens and ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) sought out victims to sate their hunger as fighting broke out all across the world. The corpses usually eaten by weaker lifeforms meant that they now also found themselves struggling as entire ecosystems faced unprecedented challenges.

This entire crisis continued, with everyone wondering what the cause of this strange occurrence was. Cities struggled, the ecosystem was in an uproar as beasts killed more than ever before. Many theories were made, but only a select few knew the true reason.

That it was all because Jake wanted to make a cool new weapon.

Carnage was all that was left in his wake. The once sprawling colony had become a wasteland of death and destruction as Jake tore through it, killing anything that moved in his path. He went deeper and deeper as he delved further down than perhaps any human had ever been before.

Only D-grades stood before him as Jake killed them. Giant insects the sizes of trucks, mandibles able to tear any pre-system metal apart effortlessly slaughtered wholesale.

Jake himself was barely conscious as he growled and tore foe after foe into pieces. A particularly massive termite suddenly shot up from beneath, but Jake naturally reacted in time as he had seen it coming through his sphere a long time ago.

Yet he let it consume him, as he even accelerated himself downwards to dodge the mandibles. Scales covered his body, and he soon found himself in a stomach full of acid that failed to do anything to his body. Jake began hacking away at the inner walls of the stomach as blood mixed with the acid. Every slash absorbed the insect’s energy as it tried to spit him out and get rid of him.

It managed to do some things as spike-like teeth appeared on its inner walls, but all the wounds it made only made Jake bleed poisoned blood, speeding up its death.

Jake tore himself out of the body of the massive termite when his blade stopped absorbing vital energy as he ran forward to kill more.

Occasionally, Jake would get glimpses of clarity if the curse was momentarily sated after a big kill. It was only for a brief period, but every one of them was spent usefully.

The killing was needed to sate the blade… but he needed more. Jake could not continue as he was currently with the insects getting stronger. The last one had been level 160, and even if he had killed it relatively easily, he had still taken damage.

So to make up for any downtime, Jake tried to keep the blade fed. Natural treasures originally used to create vitality-increasing elixirs, herbs of various kinds, and even a few beast cores he found compatible had been consumed by the weapon.

Now, it was time to part with some items he was rather fond of.

[Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza Lifevine (Rare)] - The Lifevine of an Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza. The Lifevine is a part of the main body of the fungus. Contains intense amounts of vital energy and is incredibly resilient. Can be used in a myriad of alchemical creations.

[Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza Lifecore (Epic)] - The Lifecore of an Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza. Contains a massive amount of life affinity mana and vital energy. Can be used in a myriad of alchemical creations. Will grant a permanent increase to the Vitality stat if consumed.

Originally the plan was to make elixirs with them, but he was out of options. Jake consumed a potion as he simply used Alchemical Flame to melt down the Lifecore and let it drip unto the blade, as he felt it revel in the intense life energy. If Jake had consumed this himself, he would have gained a permanent increase to Vitality, but now it was just a drop in the pond.

After that, Jake had it consume the Lifevines. All of this allowed Jake to get a good half an hour of meditation in as soon, the hunger struck again. Jake tried to sit still… he really did, but he just had to go again.


"The rules of a restricted duel are as follows," he said, avoiding Cale's stare. "First: the restriction must be adhered to by all participants of the duel. In this case, all spellwork must be derived from spells of the Standard Array as defined by the Gift—"

Whiteleaf cleared her throat. "And you can't cheat, in case you're thinking about it," she said, her tone insufferably smug. "The Gift itself will moderate a mage's duel. You can only put mana into Standard Array spells. Of course, if the Gift happens to modify those spells for you, that's allowed. It means you're divinely ordained by the God of Magic himself."

She was smirking. Cale cocked his head curiously, watching as the elves around her began whispering to one another. Something about a royal decree and Brightgrove secrets? Clearly, Whiteleaf believed this was some sort of secret advantage she had.

"Second," the professor said, doing his best to ignore Whiteleaf. "Basic mana manipulation, such as barriers, are allowed. Bear in mind they are for defensive purposes only."

Cale was starting to feel bad for Whiteleaf.

"Third, a mage's duel consists of a set of three challenges," Graystalk said. "Only two of the three need to be won for the victor to be determined, and the challenged may pick two of the three challenges to be done first. For a Standard Array restriction, the potential challenges are set in stone—you may choose between them, but may not come up with one of your own."

As he spoke, the professor strode back to his desk, rummaging around for a moment before withdrawing a scroll that looked old and withered. Cale carefully rolled it open, glancing over the challenges.

Well... this would make it easier not to accidentally kill Whiteleaf, as long as she didn't choose the combat challenge.

"Fourth, the winner will acquire the loser's Wing credits, up to a maximum of three."

Well, he only had one of those.

"And finally," Graystalk said, drawing Cale's attention. "A mage may choose a second to take their place at any point during any of the challenges. The second must agree to this, and it must be an individual that was present when the duel was issued."

Huh. What a strange restriction. It was definitely in Whiteleaf's favor—the majority of the class was composed of elves, and he was pretty sure they were all Brightgrove loyalists—but it wasn't like he was going to need a second.

"I'll help, if you want," Syphus whispered to him. Cale jumped. He'd forgotten the golem was there. "Always wanted the chance to kick her smug face in. Just let me take one of the credits when we win."

Cale opened his mouth to point out that Syphus didn't have any legs, remembered [Blabbermouth], and paused. "You think she's going to pick the combat challenge?" he asked instead. "Will you be able to handle her? You're Astral too, right?"

Presumably, that was the reason Whiteleaf seemed to have it out for Syphus. The golem snorted, and Cale almost flinched as one of its etherite crystals darted out to point at a line in the scroll. "I am, but the combat challenge only specifies that the duel lasts until one participant is exhausted of their mana," it said smugly. "I've challenged her to a duel before, believe it or not, but she has never accepted. In this case, however..."

Syphus didn't have a mouth, but somehow Cale got the impression it was giving him an evil grin. He paused for a moment.

"Well," he said. "I don't plan on picking the combat challenge, so hopefully it won't come to that—"

"I choose the combat challenge," Whiteleaf announced loudly, smirking at the two of them.

"—by which I mean welcome to the team," Cale finished, sticking a hand out to Syphus. He could almost swear it was smirking at him when it reached out to shake his hand once more.

Cale wondered what its story was. Maybe he'd get the chance to find out later. Golems weren't typically this lively or self-assured, and the etherite crown it was sporting... that was a strange choice for a golem.

For now, though, he turned his attention back to the scroll and went about picking out his two challenges. Graystalk hadn't indicated any kind of time limit, after all, and Whiteleaf was turning more and more purple with every second that passed.

Cale didn't want to waste that much time on all this, but it was a perfect opportunity to make a game out of seeing how purple she could get.

* * *

"The first challenge will be in spell acquisition," Professor Graystalk announced.

It hadn't taken that long for Cale to decide on the challenges he'd compete in. Mostly, he picked them based on what he thought would be funniest, and as far as he was concerned, the selections he'd made were all a delight. He was pretty sure Graystalk knew what he was doing, too, or the professor wouldn't have given him that look of exasperated amusement.

In spite of any professional reluctance he might have held, though, he didn't take much convincing—especially when Whiteleaf began shooting them her trademark disgusted looks. Nor was he blind to the impact that this duel might have on his class and their perception of the Standard Array.

As a result, they'd all been moved outside, much to the confusion of the elven majority of the class. Syphus thought it strange, but was mostly just pleased by the added maneuverability granted by the academy's training grounds. Cale was the only one that understood why Graystalk moved them all outside, and he wasn't about to start explaining.

It'd be much more fun to show them, after all.

The particular training ground Graystalk brought them to didn't have much in the way of warding. It was, as best Cale could tell, a location selected explicitly to handle the more destructive of the Academy's students.

Which is to say it was pretty much just a patch of sand from the same desert Cale had needed to trek through to get here to begin with. Many of the elves, including Whiteleaf, looked uncomfortable and out of place in the middle of all that sand; in fact, of the elves, Graystalk was the only one that seemed entirely comfortable.

Syphus was outright delighted by the sand, but that didn't surprise Cale. The golem was rolling around in it joyfully, almost as if it had forgotten about the upcoming duel. Its attention was quickly grabbed when Graystalk began speaking again, though.

"I will demonstrate one spell from the Standard Array that neither of you have learned," the professor said, his arms folded neatly behind his back. "As a reminder, the average mage requires thirty minutes to an hour to learn a spell from the Standard Array. The acquisition challenge stipulates that the spell must be acquired within fifteen minutes, or else the challenge selector—in this case, Cale—forfeits the challenge. Otherwise, the mage that first acquires the spell is considered the victor."

Whiteleaf rolled her eyes. "Seriously," she said. "You chose acquisition? Against a Brightgrove royal? The Gift favors us, you know."

Cale ignored her, much to her irritation. "How will you know who got the spell first?" he asked. "Do we have to demonstrate the spell?"

"No," Graystalk said. "Official challenges such as these are mediated in part by the Gift. It will mark whoever acquires the spell first with golden mana."

"Perfect." Cale nodded, satisfied. The elves were muttering among one another, alternating between staring at Cale and Whiteleaf; one or two of them, he noticed, were starting to look hesitant, like they understood something here was off.

Those were the clever ones. He winked at them, and they immediately pretended they hadn't been staring.

"If there are no further questions, we will begin," Graystalk said. He closed his eyes and reached out, palm up. "O Gift of Karath, we call on your attention, for a challenge has been set and must be answered; grant us the gift of knowledge, that we may know fool from victor, and mage from charlatan..."

Cale blinked. He hadn't expected that. It was similar to a divine chant of sorts, but sure enough, he could feel the Gift's attention slowly grow on both he and Whiteleaf, not that Whiteleaf seemed like she noticed anything.

"Now," Graystalk said. "Watch closely."


“No, not really… but your mother seemed genuine. There is definitely more going on than you know,” Jake shook his head. “I think hearing out their side can be beneficial. Not for them, but for you. If you don’t figure things out, you may discover something in the future that will make you look back at today with regret. If they prove to still be absolute assholes, you will always be able to turn the situation around to your advantage. Remember, you are in the right here. You decide what happens today, not them.”

Carmen finally sat down and stared at the expensive-looking coffee table. “What will you do if things turn bad?”

“Depends on what you want me to do,” Jake shrugged. “Ah, but I did place a Hunter’s Mark on each of your parents to keep an eye on them. To be safe, ya know.”

She just shook her head and smiled a bit. Jake knew she still had no idea what she wanted to happen and that it all depended on what her family chose to do. It was all a complicated reason, and Jake was just happy nothing was really up to him. He would just do his simple task of making sure Carmen made choices with an at least partly clear mind.

Minutes passed as they sat there, just chatting a bit. Carmen decided now was a good idea to discuss how many people undervalued good form while in the gym and how important it truly was when building muscle, especially when focusing on building specific muscles. Jake had rarely seen someone so obviously just talking about a random topic to take their thoughts off things, but he nevertheless listened and engaged.

It took more than twenty minutes before anyone even addressed them aside from the first servant. Jake had noticed many attempts to probe them and observe or listen in, but Jake’s barrier was too good for their bad scouting attempts to work. This wasn’t only because Jake was good, but because the attempts were half-arsed at best.

The door to the room opened, and in came another servant. “The family will receive you now,” the woman said courteously.

This choice of words was not lost on Jake, but Carmen didn’t seem to care much as she just got up. Jake had dispelled the barrier when he saw the servant approach and followed her out. Their welcome so far had been less than welcoming… they weren’t even offered tea and cookies.

They were led through the grand mansion and into what Jake guessed was a banquet hall. Jake already saw the gathering of people in the hall before the double door was opened. “Prepare yourself. It looks like they are pretty much all there,” Jake said, infusing his voice with a bit of Willpower to only let Carmen hear.

More than fifty people were gathered. Around thirty of them were suits or dresses and other such fancy clothes, while twenty were guards or servants. It was quite something. Jake saw Carmen steel herself as the doors were opened, revealing the entire hall and the many people gathered. It reminded Jake of the most intimidating job interview imaginable, with all of them just staring at the maskless Carmen.

Now, Jake had expected many opening questions… but not even he could predict this one.

“Child, what on god’s earth are you wearing?” a woman who looked to be well in her seventies with frilly hair and a baggy dress asked.

Carmen was wearing her combat outfit. Cured leather, metal bracers, heavy combat boots, and generally, she looked ready for a fight at any moment. The only skin she revealed was her face and bare hands. Meanwhile, every other woman in the room wore dresses or other “elegant” clothes.

“Mother, cut her some slack. She must have had a hard time traveling all this way,” another woman cut in.

“Doesn’t excuse her lack of proper etiquette,” a third woman cut in.

“Also, who is this man? And look at those… things on his feet. Do the servants not vet any random homeless person who wanders in?” a man chimed in.

“Now, now, let’s all calm down,” a fourth woman finally said as she raised her hand. Jake recognized her instantly as the woman Carmen had mentioned was her hated aunt, the mother of her most-hated cousin, Beatrice. To note, then Beatrice was not present in the room currently, but Jake saw her in another room off to the side, clearly observing them through some monitoring device. With her was a relatively thin and nerdy-looking man with glasses. He was currently giving her a shoulder massage as she looked at the confrontation between Carmen and the rest of the Salvento family.

“Carmen, it truly is you,” the aunt said as she was all smiles. “I cannot tell you how much of a surprise this is. We had feared the worst when we failed to get in contact with you after so long, and I cannot tell you how happy we are to see you return to us. I am sure that if you work hard, then our family can find it in our hearts to forgive you and move on. With the world in such turmoil, isn’t it a great opportunity to give new chances?”

To her credit, Carmen didn’t lose her shit but just stood with a steely face.

“That’s it?” she finally asked after a good five seconds of silence.

“Carmen! Be respectful, and do not make this more difficult than it has to be!” her father yelled from across the room. He was red-faced, and Jake noticed how Carmen’s mother was just standing all the way in the back, looking down with tears in her eyes.

“Nothing is difficult here,” Carmen shot back.

“She is right,” the aunt agreed. “Now, Carmen. I must know, why did you come now? Why come at all?”

The mixed messaging could not be more clear. On the one hand, the aunt welcomed her back with open arms while simultaneously questioning why she would come back as if it was obvious she wasn’t welcome.

“I felt like I had to,” Carmen answered truthfully.

“Daft as ever,” the old woman – Carmen’s grandmother - said. “After all the trouble you caused, you dare show your face like this again? You dare show up covered in dirt, ignoring all etiquette and social norms by just barging in the door? Without a single apology? You should be on your knees begging for forgiveness from your aunt and your cous-“

“Enough!”

Jake had expected Carmen to be the one yelling, but while the voice was similar, it wasn’t her. Her mother broke out of the crowd and ran towards Carmen as she stood in front of her. “This is… enough!”

Carmen stared confused at the woman’s back. While it made a bit more sense to Jake, he chose to stay silent as he curiously observed.

“Maura, what in god’s name are you doing!” Carmen’s father yelled. He looked both worried and infuriated at what was happening.

“This isn’t right or at all what we agreed! You promised-“

“Maura,” the aunt cut her off as she stared down at Carmen’s mother. “Think very carefully about what you want to do or say next.”

The woman hesitated as Jake decided to get a little involved. He infused his voice with a bit of Willpower and whispered into the woman’s ear.

“Just speak. Do not underestimate your daughter, and share the truth. Have no doubt that the side you now stand on is the superior one.”

No one but her heard his voice, and she looked bewildered for a moment, but it seemed to have given her the confidence. She gritted her teeth as she yelled:

“Why should I trust anything any of you say! I already lost my daughter once, and I will not do so again! You promised me she would be out of prison within a year and be back with us! You swore you were doing everything and that as long as we kept our distance, we would be fine! You never did anything!” the woman practically screamed.

“Maura, shut your mouth right now and apologize! Get back here and-“

“No! I am not leaving my daughter again!”

The situation had turned tense a lot quicker than expected. The woman called Maura had only managed to share a few details, but Jake could see Carmen was shaken. She looked unsure of what to do, and Jake placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

Carmen looked up as she collected her thoughts. She seemed to make a decision as she stepped forward. “I think there are some things I need to know. Mother, please follow me so we can-“


Honestly, before the tutorial began, he couldn’t remember the last time he truly had fun. Sure, he had enjoyable times, but if he was genuine with himself, then the last half a year or so were the best in living memory. Of course, there had been hard times and difficulties, but all in all, everything had finally become… interesting.

The Minotaur Mindchief had wandered through his memories. Jake had wandered with it and experienced the mundanity that had been his life. Everything was black and white. Monotone. There was no color, nothing that truly interested him or made him happy. He now realized the reason for that had been simple… it was his own doing.

His bloodline had always been with him. It had awakened on the first day of the tutorial… but that wasn’t the first time it had become fully active. His mom and dad had told him he was such a wild child. He was quiet as a baby, but when he became a toddler, he always had to push the limits. Climb trees, get in fights, and all that.

It was him pushing himself. Challenging himself. All of that was fine and dandy… until Caleb was born. Caleb was afraid of Jake. As his brother, Jake had a natural sense of competition with his little brother, and without being aware, he had utterly tried to suppress Caleb with his presence back then. It was childish and stupid, and all it led to was Caleb always crying. Always afraid.

Yet Jake also wanted to protect his brother - because while there was a rivalry, there was also a sense of family. So, in the end, Jake had begun subconsciously suppressing his bloodline. Suppressing his emotions and his real self. Perhaps his supernatural intuition had also made him aware even back then: this was not the world for the Primal Hunter. The bloodline was more trouble than good.

Until the tutorial, that is. When it awakened again.

This related back to his inability to interact with women he found attractive. Because it could lead to emotions. Emotions would lead to interest. Interest would lead to disappointment. Disappointment would lead to failure. And finally, failure could lead to anger.

Jake had never broken up with anyone. Every time they broke up with him. Even Madeline had agreed that the honeymoon phase was amazing until Jake began getting boring. Most relationships had been duds from the start. Lasting only a few months tops. Only Madeline from university had lasted over a year, and she was the first person Jake took a genuine interest in even after the first few months.

But… being emotional was still not something he could really do. It had led to her disappointment in the end. He didn’t know how to act. Jake had to admit that most relationships were just ones of convenience. Whenever a woman or girl came onto him, he had no real reasons not to engage. So the first time he was with one he actually cared about, and she betrayed him, he did what he had to do to protect himself.

This was why he had been actively avoiding potentially similar situations since back in university. It was just easier. If he didn’t let anyone in, they couldn’t hurt him. It was a simple solution, and Jake truthfully never had any need for romantic companionship.

Now that his bloodline was fully awakened, everything wasn’t gray and dull anymore. He also noted how his attraction to Caroline faded nearly instantly. She just wasn’t interesting anymore. In the end, he only ever found her attractive… but that was that.

It was just lust. A purely instinctual thing that Jake had learned to control a lot better than most, he reckoned. Even with a suppressed bloodline, he had still had above average instincts. But just because he was attracted to someone didn’t mean it would lead to something. He had gone through puberty with improved instincts without any incidents. That should be proof enough.

A part of him was fully aware that if Jake stopped controlling himself, he would turn into someone he didn’t want to be. Some people didn’t restrain or control themselves in this new world, and that led to fucked up individuals. It led to people like Donald. Jake would rather put a dagger through his own throat than end up like that fucker just because he couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.

He was strong now. If he had walked in on Andy and Madeline as he was now, he would likely have broken Andy’s nose and told Madeline to fuck off without breaking down. He wouldn’t wallow in self-pity for years and drown himself in work. It had been the best choice back then—both for himself, Madeline, and Andy.

Because Jake did feel something when he walked in on them back then. Rage. Before the system, that was likely the time his bloodline was closest to reawakening. He wanted to get revenge back then when he saw them in that bed. The reason he just walked out was to control himself. Because if he had stayed… well, he would have killed both of them. No two ways about it. His only response back then was to avoid the situation. To hide and keep all his emotions bottled up. It was pathetic and cowardly, but that was how he had learned to handle life.

But it was all different now. Jake had grown a lot. At least, he thought so «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» himself. Maybe the increased stats made memories more vivid and sped up brain functions and all that, but reflecting on himself as a person had become a lot ‘easier,’ if that made sense.

And right now, he was growing further as he managed to act completely normal with a woman he found attractive. If it had been Caroline back then, he couldn’t do it. He would be awkward and be unable to think straight.

All of this isn’t to say Jake liked Miranda. Well, he liked her, but he didn’t like her. He was attracted to her, sure, but that wasn’t the same. He had been attracted to Caroline too, and she turned out to be a shit-tier person. A guy finding a woman attractive was pretty damn normal, to begin with, and with evolutions making everyone into supermodels… yeah. If he couldn’t act normal around women he found attractive; he soon wouldn’t be able to be around anyone of the opposite sex.

He liked Miranda as a person and a colleague. Jake truthfully wasn’t interested in a relationship. Not right now. He was still D-grade, and he had a long way ahead of him. A relationship would chain him down and create another weakness for him. He saw no reason to invite that into his life. Besides, he liked the dynamic he and Miranda had going on.

She was the brains of the operation, and he was the brawn. They were partners. Even if, for all intents and purposes, Jake was in the superior position. He held all the power. But he could handle it.

Jake was confident that he was a person who wouldn’t find himself corrupted by power… because he had always been powerful. He had always suppressed himself. There were no two ways about it; Jake had been born superior to other humans. He had been forced to bury that superior aspect of himself to fit in and survive. Now, he just didn’t need to do that as much anymore. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have the practice. But he could see others fall. Be corrupted by sudden power. For many more Donalds to be out there.

They would be wise not to visit Haven.

The man saw the city in the distance. It was an old medieval-looking building surrounded by houses. The man smiled as he had found his destination. He turned to his followers as he spoke:

“Looks like we’ve found Haven.”

He looked at one of the women with him as he gave her a pat on the head. “Good girl.”

She nodded and smiled. None of the three others with the man said anything either. They knew not to speak. For such was one of their rules.

The man took out his notebook, and a pen appeared in his hand. He turned to one of the pages and in it made a star. He heard the muffled groan of the woman who was in charge of scouting as she got her star. She had done well; it was only fair to reward her efforts.

“Now show your appreciation,” he said as he moved the cloth from her shoulder, revealing the star seared into her flesh and admiring his mark.

“Thank you, Sultan,” she said with a bowed head and a meek voice.


Julius thought about that for a little bit, but he wasn’t the person to answer Doren.

“That would be wonderful, my lord,” Edwin stated respectfully.

However, Doren didn’t even give Edwin a single glance or hint that he acknowledged his words. Instead, he continued to stare at Julius, waiting for a response.

Julius trusted that Edwin had a reason for this and nodded. “Sure, knock him out. I just hope that this won’t get you too involved,” he said with an apologetic wince.

“It’s too late for that. I have already involved myself more than I should have. I might as well do what I want,” Doren said, sounding not as bothered as Julius expected. He had made it sound to Julius that getting too involved would be a big issue, so Julius thought that he would have been more upset about being wrapped in this even more.

The Tier 5, who was staring in their direction, suddenly collapsed to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. There wasn’t a single hint of mana or aura from Doren as he casually knocked out someone much stronger than Julius.

“Okay, so what is it?” Doren asked.

Julius paused for a moment as he watched Edwin remove his face covering and gave him a bright smile. He didn’t even hesitate to [Void Step] over and wrap the stern butler in a tight hug. Edwin didn’t even complain either. He just wrapped his arms around Julius just as tightly.

Julius smiled, holding back the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

It was only after a minute or so that Edwin finally pushed him away and looked at Doren, who was looking at the two of them.

It didn't take Julius long to tell Doren about Edwin and how he had trained Julius when he was younger. He also told him that they had been separated after being attacked by Clan Genshen and others.

Doren didn’t interrupt and listened patiently. Once he was done, he looked at Edwin with a slight grin as if something finally made sense.

“So you’re the reason why he’s like this, huh?”

Edwin shook his head empathically. “Nope, he was like this long before I started to teach him. I remember when he used to run around shoving anything he could find into his orifices.”

“Hey! Don’t make it sound like that,” Julius spoke up defensively.

All Edwin did was grin and shake his head with amused exasperation.

***

After their heartfelt reunion, Edwin immediately acted just like Julius remembered. “Why are you here?” Edwin asked him with a narrowing of his stern eyes.

“What do you mean? I am here for the rift expedition. You should know that since you and your buddy were attacking us,” Julius said accusingly.

“He’s not my buddy,” Edwin said, clearly offended by that.

“But you were still attacking us,” Julius pointed out.

“Yes, and I already told you why,” Edwin said, looking away, showing a hint of guilt.

Julius grumbled and looked at the still-ongoing battle around them. Apparently, Edwin had a good reason for being here, and despite his friends being attacked, Julius couldn’t find much fault in Edwin’s actions.

Edwin was working for the Conclave to infiltrate their network. He had been making pretty good progress up their ranks as well; unfortunately, this little reunion had put a wrench in his plans.

“More importantly, why in the hell’s name are you already Tier 3?” Edwin asked, sounding like a disappointed father.

Julius tilted his head at Edwin. “What do you mean, how? I just advanced,” he answered casually, knowing that his tone would annoy Edwin, and he was absolutely correct. Edwin held back his annoyance with his typical pursing of his lips.

Oh, how Julius had missed this. He still savored the times when he would tease Edwin just like this in the past.

Edwin didn’t seem amused. “Did you forget about what I told you about advancing too early?”

Julius didn’t meet his gaze. “Of course not!” He said unconvincingly.

Edwin only needed to give him one look for Julius to crumble. “Okay, maybe a little, but my foundation is good, trust me,” he assured Edwin.

Edwin was clearly going to argue or say something but ultimately held back.

Doren chose this time to intervene. “So, what have you two decided?” He asked the two of them, sounding like he was enjoying this moment.

After Julius had explained the situation to Doren, they all realized that they needed to take action. However, they had yet to decide what they would do.

“Well, it is going to be pretty obvious that something is going on. Tuan is an ass, but he isn’t stupid. He will be able to put some things together,” Edwin explained.

“What if we kill him?” Julius offered, ignoring the alarmed and somewhat weirdly proud look from Edwin.

“If we kill Tuan, the Conclave is definitely going to suspect something is up.”

“Yeah, but he also tried to kill me and my friends, so I don’t want him just to walk free,” Julius said.

Doren interrupted him. “I am not killing that man for you,” he said firmly.

Julius immediately understood that he was serious about this and didn’t try to argue.

“So what then? Are you going to go back to them?”

“I am pretty close to finding out what they really want, so I would like to keep on infiltrating.”

“And if Tuan is suspicious of you?” Julius pointed out.

“I will find some excuse, don’t worry about me. I can always tell him that Doren ordered me to take it easy on you,” Edwin stated with a teasing grin.

“Easy? Like you have ever taken it easy on me,” Julius scoffed.

Edwin smiled when he saw that Julius was feeling competitive. “He doesn’t know that. But it will make our behavior more believable.”

Julius couldn’t really find much fault in his logic. He knew logically that having Edwin spy on the Conclave was a very useful thing. He didn’t realize how Edwin got past the soul oaths and stuff, but the fact that he was already in a good position to help take down the Conclave and, by proxy, House Greyson, was very attractive. An opportunity that he didn't think they could afford to give up.

While he and Edwin discussed some of the finer details of their plan, he suddenly shot his attention to the newcomer approaching them.

As they were talking, the Tier 5 from the Adventurer’s Guild had finally beaten the lightning beast. The beast had activated some last-ditch ability and transformed into a pure bolt of lightning.

The cat-like monster had been wreaking havoc in the area. He saw Tier 4s get burnt to a crisp hundreds of feet away just by being touched by a little spark. His skin was practically tingling even from this distance. The other surviving members of the expedition were backing away as well. They knew better than to stay within the reach of the lightning.

It was bad enough that the monster had taken complete control of the fight. The cat was pressuring the Tier 5 so badly that it was close to killing him.

It would have likely killed him if not for the sudden and shocking appearance of another Tier 5 hidden away in the ship. A woman wearing nothing but shorts and a plain T-shirt saved Simon. She tanked the powerful lightning like it was a light breeze and ripped the monster into two with her bare hands, not giving a fuck about the powerful ripples of lightning crackling over her body.

He knew right away that she was scary. She might have even been at the same level as Marcus. It was hard to believe, but she had taken care of that lightning beast so casually and with such speed.

That same woman was already heading over to them. Her auburn hair glimmered in the light, and her eyes never left Doren the entire time.

He didn’t know if Doren was even hiding from her or if she had a skill that allowed her to sense him. Either way, she was rapidly approaching.

When she finally did, she gave a hard experimental kick to the Tier 5. When she was satisfied with whatever she was testing, she turned to look back at Doren.

“Why is someone like you here?” She asked Doren straightforwardly.

“What? Am I not supposed to be here?” Doren stated with a tilt of his head.

“Only a small number of people know of this location,” she said calmly.


However, unlike a living monster, this didn’t seem to bother the undead all that much. It continued to try to swing at him with its chipped, rusty sword. There was a faint layer of sickly green energy surrounding the blade, and Julius was smart enough to avoid it.

He used [Void Step] to reposition a few feet away and ripped the head off of another undead. This seemed to do the trick.

He sensed that there was some kind of core of mana inside the chest of the undead. It was very likely that if he targeted this, it would also kill them for good. Not seeing a reason not to try out his idea, he sidestepped the attack of an undead who swung at him from behind and slammed his palm into its chest.

He made sure to concentrate all of the kinetic energy into a narrow point. However, he made the mistake of making it too narrow, and he lost control of the kinetic energy before it could pierce the core. For his error, he found himself swarmed by multiple attacks from undead from all sides.

He made sure that he only used kinetic energy but that also meant he wasn’t able to create a barrier of mana to protect himself.

He had to rely on his kinetic affinity to siphon the force of the blows, which didn’t go all that well. It wasn’t like absorbing the force of a punch, a sword was sharp so even if there wasn’t a lot of kinetic energy behind it, the blade could still cut him.

The other annoying part of these undead was that they were pretty strong. While they were slower than average Tier 3s, their physical strength was alarmingly high. And their blades cut deeply into his unenhanced skin. However, the bigger issue was the green energy that slipped into his flesh.

It was like acid and started to eat away at his skin and his mana. There was also a weird effect that heightened the pain he experienced, but thankfully, [Sage of Savagery] prevented it from affecting him too badly. He didn’t wish to, but he was forced to use [Phoenix Renewal] and heal himself.

Using a burst of kinetic energy, he threw the undead, which had been swarming him, away from him. He mentally reset. He had been severely underestimating these undead and reminded himself that if not for his healing skill, he would have been in trouble.

He took one calming breath and actually focused. He then started to collect kinetic energy and began to channel it through his body. He took some inspiration from his mana control and used his kinetic energy to cover his fists like gauntlets.

Then, as the undead reconverged on him, he began to unload this kinetic energy into their skulls. He didn’t know why he had been trying to be all delicate and try to force his kinetic energy into a tiny little cone. He was a brute force kind of guy, and he needed to lean into it, especially when kinetic energy was already so good for that type of fighting.

He laughed amusedly to himself as he continued to dance through their sickly green blades and slammed strike after strike into the closest undead. He didn’t need to be elegant. He just needed to be more brutal.

And so with an enthusiastic grin on his face, he continued to push his way through the enemies. He didn’t pay any heed to the small injuries. He just made sure that he didn’t take any large or impeding ones. He didn’t like to rely on [Phoenix Renewal], and the fact that he already had to use it to save himself frustrated him.

However, he used this frustration to power his swings and used generous pulses of vicious kinetic energy to wipe out this massive group of undead. He made sure to practice [Void Step] and got used to being very efficient with that skill. He had the mana to spare since he was using kinetic energy, but that didn’t mean he wanted to build bad habits. He would mainly use the skill to reposition if he felt he was being corralled into a corner. Otherwise, he would use kinetic energy through his feet to dash forward with swift and abrupt movements.

He continued this until there wasn’t a single one left standing and he was surrounded by silent corpses that he finally relaxed his shoulders. A large bright smile appeared on his face. It had been a great warmup and he couldn’t wait to see what was deeper in the rift.

Things were finally getting more interesting.

A note from l-Ryn-l

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

If you did and wish to read up to 25 chapters ahead, please consider checking out my Patreon!

Chapter 365: Reckless Stampede

There was something quite interesting about the sickly green energy that infected his wounds. There were definitely Concepts involved, but he was more interested in how little death-aspected mana he sensed from it. Considering they were undead, he would have expected something much more death-related.

This substance was more like an actual poison than anything else. It was the very reason why his willpower and mana control weren’t able to just wipe it away. It took some actual effort to remove from his wounds. Luckily, fire was an amazing thing for this kind of thing, and once he was done cleaning up the undead, he gave himself a quick cleanse with [Phoenix Renewal], letting the fire wipe out the remaining poison.

He also smiled when he saw the notifications after he was done.

[Void Step lvl 2 -> lvl 3]

[Absolute Spatial Perception lvl 2 -> lvl 3]

He had been planning to keep on using only his kinetic energy, but he also realized that this could be a good time to focus on his Sharpness Concept. Which is why when he sensed the monsters up ahead, he gathered the Concept and channeled it through his body.

One thing he noticed about the Concept was that it didn’t work so well when he wasn’t using something with a sharp edge. Which made sense because it was called a Sharpness Concept and not a Dull Concept.

For example, his Force Concept seamlessly infused itself with his kinetic energy. It barely took any effort or thought on his end.

Still, he wanted to make it work somehow. Perhaps he could modify the Concept slightly to make it more versatile.

Thankfully, he had some eager volunteers already coming up to him to test his ideas.

The undead were much like the previous ones, and he once again found himself in a chaotic dance, using kinetic energy to weave in and out of the undead’s attacks. His physical strength and speed weren’t as great as they could have been without his primary enhancement skill aiding him, but it was honestly for the better. If he had been using the skill, it would have been overkill.

This way, he at least had to put in some effort. It also gave it an extra level of danger, pushing him to improve at a faster pace.

His Sharpness Concept was ripping out of his fists. He hadn’t created any constructs to cover his hands, which made it harder to work, but he still maintained it.

Instead of using the Concept to try to cut through the undead’s bodies, he was using it more as a smashing force. Without a blade or something sharp, making clean cuts was a pipe dream, and what he got instead was much more clumsy. It was like he was tearing bread apart with his hands, rather than using a knife.

When he was in the middle of slamming his fist into the face of another undead, he was hit by an interesting idea. He grinned as he couldn’t find a reason why he shouldn’t at least try it out, so without hesitation, he started to channel his Concept into his kinetic energy itself.

However, this turned out to be a massive mistake. What he hadn’t realized was just how much kinetic energy was already flowing throughout his body and by infusing the energy with his Sharpness Concept was comparable to mixing his kinetic energy with shards of razor sharp glass.

He belatedly realized that this wasn’t something that would be good for his body and he instantly grunted in pain as his very own kinetic energy started to tear his body apart from the inside. His muscles, which had been empowered by kinetic energy were now subjected to the infused Sharpness Concept.

It didn’t seem to matter that it was his very own Concept. He did his best to stop it, but his Concept was called sharp for a reason, and he wasn’t able to change its entire nature with just a single thought.


Goldencrest was at the top of Julius’s list of academies that he had really wanted to go to. However, Goldencrest was infamous for its high standards. They accepted only 1,000 or fewer students each year, and every student had either perfect or excellent affinities. Even those with excellent affinities had to go through extensive examination before acceptance. Only those with perfect affinities were guaranteed a spot at their school. It was probably going to be difficult since he only had high affinities. It wasn’t that he thought he was weaker than the other students. However, most schools place a heavy emphasis on affinity. Although William Prashe was an example of overcoming your affinity, in reality, there weren’t many William Prashe in the world.

Suddenly, Julius was brought back to reality because someone was calling his name. He looked around and saw that his uncle was calling him over. His uncle probably wanted him to meet some of his family.

Right then, he just realized that this would possibly be the first time he meets someone in his family other than Lukas. He didn’t even get to say hello once to Gregor before Lukas erased him.

“Julius, I want you to meet Frederick and his son, Tristan. Tristan is going to Goldencrest, so they are leaving tomorrow.” Lukas explained to Julius.

Julius had already decided to feed into his reputation as an odd boy beforehand. It was easier like this. People around the estate had already heard of his escapades, so they had some expectations already, and Julius wasn’t going to correct them on it. He was amazed at how differently people treated and talked to him when they thought he was a little “special”. And based on how Tristan was looking at him like he would a cute pet, he had heard some rumors already. Plus, Julius found it amusing to mess with others like this.

Putting on his acting hat, Julius walked over with an expression of awe on his face and said with a higher-pitched voice than normal, “Wow! You must be really strong, Dillion! I heard that only the best of the best make it in Goldencrest.” Julius could see Edwin putting a hand to his face and shaking his head with [Spatial Perception].

Tristan clearly didn’t know how he should react. On the one hand, his name wasn’t Dillion; on the other, he was flattered because Julius was right. Only the best went to Goldencrest. Tristan had likely heard things about the son of the Patriarch’s late brother.

With a patient look, Tristan said to Julius, “My name is Triss-stan,” emphasizing each syllable. “And, yes, only the best go to Goldencrest. I have dual excellent affinities for sun and air.” Tristan stated proudly.

To be fair, that was something to be proud of. Dual excellent affinities were highly desirable, and with the sun being one of them, doubly so. Julius wasn’t jealous in the slightest. Not at all.

With that being said, Julius was slightly surprised to find out that Tristan didn’t seem that bad. His uncle had told him stories about some of the other children around the estate and how spoiled they acted. If Lukas was to be believed, some of them were downright terrors. But Tristan could have also been acting nice because the House’s Patriarch was a few feet away.

“You are so cool! I want to go to Goldencrest too when I’m older.” Julius said.

“Yeah? Well, I wish you luck. The examination was brutal.” Tristan said.

Frederick, who was off to the side next to Julius’s uncle, asked Lukas, “It seems like Julius has reached Tier 1 already. Has he found out his affinities yet?”

Lukas nodded his head and replied, “Yes, he has high affinities in fire, life, and kinetic.”

“Kinetic?” Frederick repeated with a surprised expression. “That is quite a unique affinity, hard to train, but very rare. No excellent affinities?”

Julius looked over at Tristan and noticed Tristan’s face change slightly upon hearing that. It was known that those from established families had a better chance of developing an excellent affinity, but Julius wasn’t considered a genius in that regard. But he was curious why Tristan had that reaction. Maybe he was disappointed at hearing of Julius's affinities.

“No, unfortunately not,” his uncle replied.

“Yes, quite unfortunate,” Frederick said with regret. “But with his life affinity, he could have a future as a healer.”

The two of them continued to talk about small things, and with Tristan paying attention to their conversation, Julius found an opening to leave quietly.

He went over to Edwin, who was off to the side, and looked at him with pleading eyes. Edwin, being the smart man he was, knew what that look was for. Sighing dramatically, he took Julius over to the other side of the yard and sat him down.

Julius wanted to learn how to generate his affinity-attribute mana. He could feel multiple distinct mana signatures in his core, but he didn’t know what to do with them. Luckily, Edwin already predicted what he was going to ask.

“The main thing you have to do is identify which mana is which. After that, it becomes a decision on what types you want to keep in your core.” Edwin explained to Julius.

“I was thinking about keeping fire, life, and kinetic. What do you think?” Julius asked Edwin for his opinion.

“I wouldn’t keep kinetic. It is undoubtedly a versatile affinity, but House Hyperius doesn’t have the resources to help you. I also don’t know if the academies have much on it either. Take it from someone like me who chose shadow even though there wasn’t much on it.”

Julius had thought about that. There weren’t many places he could learn about kinetic energy. It would just be him blindly finding his way. However, he thought that maybe with his knowledge from his previous world, there was a better chance of understanding it. He also liked the idea of three mana types, instead of one or two. He always believed three was a lucky number.

“I’m going to keep all three, I believe that I can find a way to make it work,” Julius said with more confidence than he really felt.

“Okay,” Edwin said. Julius expected more of an attempt to convince him otherwise. “I don’t think it is a bad decision, if you find a way to do it, kinetic energy will fit you very well in the later stages of your path. Also, in the end, it is a personal preference, and I made the same decision.” Edwin said.

Julius nodded at Edwin, “Thank you for understanding.”

Julius then started to meditate, using [Focus] to concentrate on each mana signature. He noticed that each one had a distinct feeling, and some were much more noticeable than others. For example, his fire affinity was obvious. It was hot, almost burning him when he touched it with his senses. Another that stood out was a soothing light that exuded a vibrancy of life and hope. He could instantly tell it was his life affinity. Kinetic energy, on the other hand, was difficult. If he didn’t already know it was kinetic energy or not, he wasn’t sure he could guess it.

The best way he could describe it was forceful. He could feel it vibrating with energy, just waiting to be released. He also took the time to feel his other affinities. He checked his water and air affinities and realized why your affinity rating mattered so much. Compared to his other high affinities, they both seemed dull. For his three high affinities, he could instinctively feel what they wanted to do and connect with them on a deep level. But for water and air, they just felt like a pane of glass separated them from him. Light was even worse. He could barely notice its presence and it was similar to a small grain of uncooked rice in a bowl of cooked rice. It took him a while to find it, and if he wasn’t looking for it, he wouldn’t have seen it.

After getting a good sense of each of his affinities, he got to work on the easier part. Separating what he wanted to keep and what he didn’t. It was a simple process. His core worked in tandem with his intent, so if he wanted to get rid of affinity-attributed mana in his core, it would automatically remove it.


"We will wait," he declared, turning his back on them. "My apprentice will be here shortly, and we will have our discussion then."

* * *

"How much did you know about all this?" Cale asked the question as soon as he stepped into Akkau's office. The dragon glanced up at him, but didn't seem particularly surprised; instead, he brought a tired claw up to rub the bridge of his snout.

"Less than I would have liked," he answered with a heavy sigh. "I knew that there were students involved with the Red Hunters; I did not know whom, nor how severe the situation was."

Cale frowned. "So you didn't know about the bloodrot?"

Akkau stared at him for a long moment. Then Cale felt the abrupt release of a spell, and the wood beneath Akkau's claws splintered with a loud crack, making the three other students jump and stare at the headmaster nervously.

"Bloodrot?" he thundered, turning to the three students; they stepped back, eyes wide with fear. "You were threatened with bloodrot and did not think to report it to your professors? To anyone you trusted? Are you all fools?!"

Cale thought he'd seen the dragon angry before. Clearly, he'd been wrong. This was Akkau when he was angry—fearsome, drawn to his full height, and his magic crackling around him. There was something about that magic that felt a little strange, though... Cale frowned slightly and tried to filter it through his senses.

"Well? Answer me!" Akkau roared. The three students gestured frantically at themselves, but said nothing.

Syphus chose this moment to speak. "Sir," it said evenly. "I believe there is a silencing spell on them."

Akkau blinked a few times, then visibly forced himself to calm. He took several deep breaths, then sighed, his anger draining out of him. "So there is," he said. "Perhaps it is best you did not answer that question, then, given we have yet to undo these enchantments. Cale, did you bring the third one?"

Cale held it up, wondering briefly why the catgirl looked outraged. "I have an idea for these, actually."

"Is that so?" Akkau raised a ridged brow. "Speak."

Cale stepped forward and placed the blood obsidian box on Akkau's desk, then opened it. The voidcyte swirled within, evidently more than happy to mind its own business now that it was in the possession of its so-called "star"—it perked up as soon as it realized Cale was looking at it, however.

"Our star!" it said. "Have you come to feed us?"

"In a manner of speaking," Cale said. He held up the emblem he'd stolen from the catgirl. "Do you think you can eat this spell and tell us what you learn from it?"

The voidcyte stared at the emblem for a moment. "We think we can," it said, although it sounded a little more uncertain than Cale would have expected. "It will make our star happy?"

"Very."

"Then we will try," it declared. "Give us the folded heart!"

Folded heart? That was an unusual choice of words for an artifact. Cale's brows furrowed as he examined the emblem one more time before glancing at Syphus. "Was there anything strange about the magic on this thing?"

"Not that I noticed," Syphus said. Then it hesitated. "The means by which it maintains its link to its wielder is soul magic. Is that relevant?"

"It shouldn't be," Cale said with a frown. He'd spent a lot of time in his previous world, and it was rare to see a voidcyte hesitate to eat anything magical, let alone call it a folded heart. Granted, he hadn't spent much time talking to them. "...Alright, Cyte. Eat it slowly."

"Cyte?" The mass of shadow within the box swirled about in wonder. "Has our star named us?"

"Don't let it get to your head," Cale said dryly.

"Oh, joyous day!" the voidcyte said, completely ignoring him. Cale sighed. He could practically feel Syphus's amusement as it stared at him. Akkau was mostly just confused, although he seemed to have some idea of what had happened during Professor Graystalk's class, and the other three students...

Well, they seemed distressed. A little terrified of the swirling, speaking mass of shadow in the blood obsidian box, maybe. It was a fair reaction, really.

"Voidcytes have the ability to extract memories from mana," Cale explained briefly, mostly for Akkau and Syphus's benefit. "I'm assuming it's how this one followed me here. I'm hoping it'll be able to find out more about the emblem, but eat it slowly, Cyte. I don't want any nasty surprises."

As much this felt like an opportunity to test out [Identify Artifact], trapped relics like the emblems would almost certainly trigger if subjected to any kind of identification spell, and Syphus's analysis had agreed when he asked. A voidcyte, on the other hand, consumed magic utterly. Not only did it cause complete spell failure in whatever spell it tried to eat, any mana it ate was permanently removed from the mana cycle.

Normally, that made them pests, but it did also make them particularly useful when it came to disarming traps. It was too bad they couldn't do the same for curse magic—that was one of the few types of magic that seemed to give them indigestion, to say nothing of the damage it would do to a mage's core while trying to consume the curse.

Cale paused.

Did that mean the emblem was somehow related to curse magic? Curse magic was notoriously subtle; it could evade most basic magical senses and observational spells. Syphus's scrying eye should have been able to spot a curse, but no matter how powerful it was, it wasn't perfect.

Plus, the few times he had seen a voidcyte hesitate, it was almost always because of curse-based magic in some way.

"Cale," Akkau said. "Are you certain this is safe?"

Cale considered the question, then lifted a hand and wiggled it. "Eh. It's not going to trigger the bloodrot, if that's what you're worried about. The only way in which it could be unsafe is if the voidcyte gets indigestion, and you need to feed them a lot more before—"

There was a knock on the office door. Cale paused mid-sentence to stare at it, then look back at the voidcyte, which was still chewing at the emblem with a look of concentration furrowed onto its tiny face. (Cale actually wasn't sure if voidcytes had faces, but the little starry spots around where it was chewing did look like eyes.) "Were we waiting for anyone?" he asked.

"Headmaster Akkau?" Damien called out through the door. His voice was so soft Cale almost couldn't hear him. "We need to report something."

"You're way too quiet," Flia complained, her voice much louder and more assertive. Unfortunately, she followed this up by simply kicking the door open. "Headmaster! We—"

She froze.

Akkau stared at her, looking mildly annoyed. The catgirl, lizardfolk, and elf all looked increasingly like they wanted to be literally anywhere else. Syphus was ignoring the door; it seemed far more interested in what the voidcyte was doing.

Cale, on the other hand, was delighted. "Hey guys!" he said happily. "Glad you could join us for this. I should have come to get you, now that I think about it. Did you know Professor Graystalk is actually a pretty nice guy?"

Flia stared at him for a long moment, then turned around and began to march right back out of the room, only for Leo to grab her by the shoulders and haul her back in.

"This was your idea," Leo said. "We can't just leave now. Besides, I want to talk to Akkau about what Imrys did."

"They're clearly in the middle of something," Flia said. Her gaze drifted to the voidcyte, and her eyes went wide. "What is that?"

"Um..." Damien looked kind of lost.

Cale was, fortunately, saved from having to answer any of those questions, because the voidcyte chose that moment to start vomiting.

"That... would be the indigestion," Cale said, briefly puzzled. That shouldn't have been possible, unless...

He performed a quick mental calculation, then sighed. "So hey. Remember what I told you guys?"

"About what?" Flia asked, staring at him blankly.

"You know! The thing all mages need to know how to do." Cale slowly began to grin. Damien was the first to catch on; he looked startled, then alarmed.

"What are you—" she started, but Damien grabbed her by the arm.

"Run!" he hissed.


The golem's eye seemed to blur slightly. Sneaks-In-Darkness watched hesitantly as the eye split into two, then four, each one bound with a slightly different but equally powerful scrying spell.

"I see," the golem said shortly. It cocked its head at her. "My name's Syphus. Well, sort of. Yours is Sneaks-In-Darkness. You're a kobold archmage, a Red Hunter, and... you've got three soul-links to the academy's students."

Sneaks-In-Darkness narrowed her eyes. It had managed to see through her shadowcloak? How was it using magic at all? This space suppressed magic; even she could barely use her spells, although she could use them. Either this golem was an archmage like she was, or...

"Wild mage," she hissed, her voice seething with hatred. She drew her daggers from her belt.

As far as she could tell, the space they were in was completely magically isolated. Normally, the Red Hunters followed protocol; they had to get the wild mages to break first, to prove they were a danger to the public.

In here, though? She could end this thing before it could take a single life. She began to advance, stalking forward.

Syphus looked at her. Its eyes shuffled slightly, the scrying spells rearranging themselves into a different configuration before merging back into a single nexus. "Hm," it said. "Rule: Grows with distance from origin. And you've been ignoring it?"

"What in the eight infernal realms are you talking about," Sneaks-In-Darkness spat.

Syphus's eyes shuffled again, and it laughed. "Seven," it said, sounding amused. "I've been wondering about that. Didn't get the chance to check until now. Syphus really doesn't like it when I do this."

"You just said you were Syphus."

"I said sort of," the golem corrected. It seemed far too amused for the situation. Sneaks-In-Darkness didn't understand it; this thing was far too weak to beat her, and her daggers were enchanted ones besides. The Grand Mage had ensured it could cut through even dragonsteel, and the edges were enchanted with magical rot that would tear through whatever it cut.

The golem was dead. It just didn't know it yet.

Then she took a step forward and burst into flames.

"I think I'll let Cale deal with you," the golem told her as she screamed. She didn't have her magic to protect her, and the shadowcloak did almost nothing against direct fire. "It's been so long since I've met anyone interesting. Cale Cadwell Cobbs, hm? Oh, this is going to be fun."

With that, the golem reached forward and shoved. Space around her seemed to rebound and contort; for a moment, Sneaks-In-Darkness couldn't breathe—

—and when she recovered, she found herself in a burning stone hallway. The heat was suffocating, but what drew her attention most was the figure that stood in the middle of it all; it looked like a fire elemental but wrong, twisted in a way that reminded her of the same rotting mana beneath the Commander's floorboards.

It was humanoid, but its neck was bent the wrong way. Its mouth stretched open all the way down to what would've been its stomach. Every few seconds it let out a sound that sat somewhere between a gurgle and a chuckle.

She gripped her daggers and gritted her teeth. The heat was making her head hurt, but she hadn't earned her archmage title from being weak. Whatever Syphus had done, it had made a mistake—Sneaks-In-Darkness could feel the real initiates now, just behind the reach of this fire creature.

She would claim her victory. There was no other choice.

* * *

For Izzik of the Golden Sands, life had ended approximately one week and fourteen hours ago.

Everything that had happened since then felt like he was living some sort of waking nightmare. He kept telling himself it couldn't have been real—that he would wake up any moment and realize everything that happened since that night had been nothing but a particularly terrible hallucination. It was part of the reason he'd allowed himself to follow along with this... this charade for so long.

The Red Hunters were supposed to be heroes. Their methods could be too violent, he knew that; he'd always felt they ought to take wild mages into their fold and teach them, not just execute them. In a different life, he might even have opposed their actions. He'd known some of the mages that drew the Hunters' ire. They'd been his friends.

But Izzik knew all too keenly the consequences a true wild mage could invoke. Wild magic was, after all, the reason for the Aspect Cascade that had ravaged the Golden Sands and killed more than half his clan.

It began something like two years ago, right at the edge of the desert, a sandstorm that crackled with gold-black mana. No one had thought anything of it at first—magical storms were common, and while they were more dangerous than the rest, they could be navigated with just a little extra caution. They had defensive spells and weather wards meant specifically to fend them off.

Except nothing about the Aspect Cascade was common or navigable. Most magical storms could be defended against, but this one? It struck at the mana of all those within it, forcibly reattuning whatever aspect it carried into something different, often before a mage could let loose a single spell.

Not that it would matter even if they managed it, because those spells were forcibly reattuned, too.

Defensive spells withered away instantly, turning into fireballs that were instantly blown out by the wind. Speed and spatial ones, meant to take them out of the range of the storm, turned instead into steel or stone spells that hampered them. Healing spells shifted into plague and blood, tearing apart anyone they tried to heal even more quickly.

Even their own specialty—their breath magic—failed them, turning into suffocating voids that stole flesh and breath alike.

When all else failed, they shifted to the most basic mana construct of all: barriers. But those failed them, too. Solid barriers of force turned instead into planes of fire or ice; the worst ones flashed into aspects related to poison and were dispersed immediately by the storm's winds, sending throngs of people into coughing fits and worse.

Izzik had been sixteen then. He'd watched the Aspect Cascade kill his father, and while his mother had been spared, it left her paralyzed from the waist down. Almost half the mages of the clan had died before the storm passed over them, and among the remainder, the healers hadn't recovered their magic until hours later.

By that time, they'd lost even more of the clan, friends and family alike. Without immediate magical healing at hand and with aspect-frozen mana clinging to their wounds, even the survivors often had permanent scars or life-changing injuries. That was what had happened to his mother.

Storm-marked, they called them. Izzik was storm-marked himself, although only in the form of a scar across the back of his hand. As far as injuries went, he'd gotten off lightly.

Word came in after that the Aspect Cascade had been caused by a wild mage who lost control of his power; the mage in question apparently had a core with a sticky attunement that fell into one of the metamagic categories. Apparently, they hadn't entirely managed to attune their core to the weather aspect when casting a basic weather ward.

A simple mistake, in theory, but one that had caused untold tragedy.

Even now, the Aspect Cascade ravaged the Golden Sands. No one had managed to end it. If anything, it seemed to be growing, drawing strength from the mana it stole and changed. It was a constant danger now, and his clan were always on the run from it, living in sandships to stay ahead of its winds.

So Izzik knew all too well why the work of the Red Hunters was necessary.

And yet.

Before the Storm, he'd wanted to be a healer. He'd loved magic in all his forms, and his father had encouraged that love. Aldur of the Golden Sands smiled warmly with every new attunement he managed, promised to send him to the Brightscale Academy so he could practice his magic, and above all...


Jake’s initial assault had held nothing back. With no regard to his stamina and mana consumption, he had managed to kill one and injure two. Despite the two damaged ones only being minor, it was enough to deliver the arrowheads’ liquid death. As he observed, he could already see the necrosis setting in at a visible rate.

Not that he was about to let up just yet. The arrows continued raining down, this time with Splitting Arrows. His aim was on the already injured doe, hoping to capitalize further on its limited mobility. He delayed the splitting of the arrow as long as possible to increase accuracy, forcing it to only clone itself when it got closer - another perk of his increased ability to control energy. Finally, when it was only 30 meters from the doe, it split as Jake could no longer hold back the split’s activation. But he had achieved his goal.

The first barrage managed to hit with five of the nine arrows from the split. The Great White Stag had managed to help its companion in the last moment but only blocked one of the arrows that would have hit. Sadly, the one stopped arrow was the poisoned one - a deliberate move by the stag, no doubt.

With the initial element of surprise over, the beasts started to organize themselves. The wound on the stag was already gone, its hide back to pristine condition once more. The wounded doe was also healing fast as light descended upon it, but it was not in fighting condition yet. The last White Doe had already begun its charge towards Jake.

Something that proved to be a mistake. With the distance between them and the stag still busily focused on healing, the doe was isolated with no support.

Individually the does had never been a big issue; They only got annoying to deal with with a healer behind them. Jake felt no pressure from a single isolated beast.

He kept bombarding it with arrows while it ran towards him. Every shot was a Splitting Arrow and coupled with its momentum, it was unable to avoid all of them. It did, annoyingly so, avoid every single poisoned one.

It only suffered minor injuries here and there before it was only a few dozen meters away. Jake believed he still had time to fire a few more arrows but was interrupted as the doe subverted his expectations.

In a flash of light, the doe did what Jake could only describe as teleportation. Like a beam of light, it appeared right before him - but what surprised him even more was its method of attack.

A bright blade of light was now protruding from its forehead, not an antler-shaped one, but an edge of pure energy. Its head was pointed downwards as the blade was clearly aimed towards his midsection, and with a swipe of its head, it attempted to cleave him in half.

But Jake was fast enough to react in time. He awkwardly jumped backward, resulting in the blade still cutting into his chest with its very tip. Instead of soft skin, it instead encountered dark green scales. The edge was stuck dead in its tracks, its swiping motion interrupted.

The tip of the blade chipped as the blow did nothing, clearly leaving the White Doe distraught. Capitalizing on the momentary display of weakness, his bow disappeared, and a weapon appeared in each of his hands. A sword and a fang-shaped dagger approached the beast from both sides as it still had its head lowered at an awkward angle.

In a moment of panic, the beast hesitated, which allowed him to land a solid blow. His Venomfang penetrated its neck, while his sword went for its head. It never arrived, however, as the doe was awoken from the dagger.

With a loud bellow, its entire body exploded in a flash of light. Jake felt a searing sensation on his whole body, but the blow was more physical than energy. Like a bubble expanding around the beast, he was pushed back slightly.

The flash had blinded his eyes, but he ignored it as he relied on his Sphere anyway. At first, he had believed that it had tried to blow itself up, but it seemed only to try and create some distance. The blade of light reformed as it attempted to ram him, clearly trying to take advantage of his temporary blindness.

An incorrect assumption he gladly took advantage of. Acting as if blind, Jake let it nearly hit him before he moved slightly to the side, simultaneously summoning another set of scales to protect his flank. The blade scraped under his raised right arm as its head followed suit.

He quickly brought down his arm as he put the beast in a chokehold. A Touch of Malefic Viper quickly invaded the beast’s body, making it bellow once more, this time in pain.

It exploded once more in the same bubble of light, but his hold was too strong. He kept channeling the Touch as the health of the doe slowly drained.

With his other hand, he started stabbing the beast in its abdomen with his Venomfang, doing even more damage.

The doe struggled for only a few seconds, releasing light constantly as it seared Jake’s unscaled skin. However, in the end, it succumbed to the constant influx of poison, wrecking it from within.

He let the beast go as it dropped lifelessly to the ground.

Not even ten seconds had passed from the moment the beast teleported before him till it died, not even allowing any of the other beasts to engage him. It had been an uneven fight from the beginning.

His eyes were still scorched, and his sphere didn’t detect any enemies within it. He refocused his vital energy, healing one of his eyes as fast as he could. Opening it, everything was blurry, but it was enough to land his Mark. He landed it on the doe, which was fine as that was his next target anyway.

Summoning his bow once more, he resumed his attack. Without his eyesight, one would imagine that his accuracy would suffer immensely, but it didn’t matter with his tactic. He could feel where his enemy was, and that was enough for now.

Pulling an arrow out of his quiver, he nocked it and starting shooting once more. He could feel the beast’s reaction instantly, meaning their attention had undoubtedly been on him. But from how slowly the doe avoided the blow, it had to still be wounded. Jake was a bit surprised the Great White Stag hadn’t managed to heal it but didn’t have time to question it.

Pressing his advantage, he continued firing. His ammunition was limited, but he had to make do. Rushing into melee was an option, but he preferred to buy time for now while hopefully still doing some damage. He could already feel his eyes healing.

As he fired, he focused on the movements of the doe. Jake, as an archer in the secular world before the integration, had concentrated on shooting stationary targets. He had improved immensely in technique over the last month or so in the tutorial and learned to hit moving targets far better.

Now, without his eyesight, he was forced to push this notion to the extreme. With 150 meters between himself and his target, he was sure to miss if he simply shot directly for his foe. Splitting Arrow helped, but it didn’t make his aim foolproof.

Focusing on the doe’s movements, he released an arrow aimed slightly to the right of the beast, followed swiftly by an extremely fast Infused Powershot to the left of it. His hope was to feint it into dodging the first arrow - a feint that worked.

As it moved slightly away from the first arrow, the second far faster Infused Powershot hit it straight in its chest, penetrating all the way through and out the other side. Far less damaging than his initial Infused Powershot, but the damage was done.

With it lethally damaged, the next two arrows quickly finished it off. Jake, of course, couldn’t directly see his Infused Powershot hitting, but the beast’s reaction to the shot was enough for him. The notification of the kill two arrows later sealed the deal.

Now all that remained was the Great White Stag. It hadn’t moved at all for quite a while, and he was slightly confused at its actions.


Based on the line of questioning, it was possible they suspected him of being more than he represented himself as. The poking into his views on the Viper’s return seemed very deliberate, as if they wanted him to reveal something, but even that made little sense. If Jake was the Chosen, would using lie-detection and trying to make him reveal his identity be a smart choice and not just one that would piss him off?

No matter the case, the Patriarch was willing to negotiate, and he did seem interested in the Alchemy Token.

“An old relic perhaps, but still one that would be honored,” Jake answered. “The Order of the Malefic Viper would undoubtedly adhere to its promise, making it more than just an interesting trinket.”

“While true, we do not need such a token to enter the Order anymore. It was of a time when we Nalkar were spread all over the multiverse, and to enter the Order was a sign of success. Now, all the Nalkar able to join are all members already, making the primary function of the token null,” Fairleigh said.

Jake couldn’t really argue with the fact that they could enter without the token, but he still knew the vampire wanted it. The current act of downplaying the value of the Alchemy Token was only proof to Jake that the Nalkar were interested. If they weren’t, why bother and not just buy it cheaply and be done with it, and if Jake refused, then just tell him to bugger off? At least, that is what Jake was banking on.

“In that case, perhaps it would be better to save it and find Nalkar unassociated with the Order,” Jake sighed as he faked disappointment.

Fairleigh looked at Jake and smiled. “Please, let us stay in the realm of honesty. While that was no outright lie, we are both aware of the value such an item holds to my family. Even if it is not purely based on the benefits it offers, but the sentimental value. In fact… come, let me show you something.”

Jake couldn’t even resist as he was forcefully teleported and appeared within a massive chamber of sorts. On a second look, it reminded him more of a museum, with glass containers and complicated magic arrays guarding many mundane items spread throughout.

“Remembering history has always been important to our kin. Perhaps we merely enjoy living in the glory of the past, or maybe it is a way to not repeat our mistakes. Either way, we preserve, and we collect. That token you hold may not be a treasure to most, but to us, it is invaluable,” Fairleigh explained.

Looking around, Jake saw a lot of rather, well, boring items. One area had a dining set sealed away, another section was filled with old paintings and pictures, and a third was bookshelves stacked upon bookshelves with old books in them.

“We have items from all eras, even some from before our fall. In fact, we value anything from before then, as it speaks of what once was, and the Records it contains matter. Perhaps not to you or anyone else not of our lineage, but to us, there is power in history,” he continued his explanation as he went over and pointed out what looked like a fountain pen.

“This pen was used by a scholar of the sixth Era to write letters back to his family. It managed to reach epic rarity back in the day but has returned to a mundane item after this long. Items such as that Alchemy Token have yet to return to mundanity but still contain such powerful Records, making it even more valuable.”

Jake nodded along as he couldn’t help but think about the ludicrous amount of resources expelled by that one chamber he was in. It was humongous, larger than any museum Jake had ever seen or heard of on Earth. At the same time, it was incredibly densely packed, with every single item sealed away with incredibly powerful and intricate formations. These formations were able to freeze time itself for the item and allow them not to turn to dust through the passage of time.

“Tell me, do you find our obsession with the past foolish?” the vampire finally asked him.

“No, not really,” Jake shrugged. He had never been the type himself to collect old antiques or care much for cultural inheritances, but he knew it was a perfectly normal hobby. “Even on my planet before the system arrived, we collected pieces of history, families had heirlooms they warded with their lives, and I know of at least one old man who picked up an old heirloom his clan possessed and turned it into a monstrous weapon.”

“But you seem to not personally share the sentiment?” Fairleigh asked once more.

“No,” Jake shook his head. “While I do understand placing sentimental value on objects, I rarely do it. Not that I entirely avoid it… I still have the first potions I ever crafted stowed away, and all the equipment I wear I earned myself one way or another. I do value these items more than they are necessarily worth and value some more than others, but that is due to the story of how I got them.”

The vampire nodded. “An understandable view for a hunter. Now tell me, what kind of compensation are you seeking in return for the token? It cannot merely be the extra alchemical ingredient associated with enrollment. If it was, you would have no need to come here.”

“I am in need of alchemical ingredients of higher value, most specifically ones of the hemotoxin nature,” Jake said. Vampires were damn good at hemotoxins. A massive surprise that vampires, wielding blood magic and using blood energy, were good at blood poisons.

“And?” Fairleigh asked.

Jake took out his second item as he revealed his necklace by un-fusing it from his body and holding it up. “I need this improved. I know the Nalkar Family have long been part of the Order, so I assume I am correct when I believe you can do this?”

[Prodigious Alchemist’s Necklace of Holding (Epic)] - An amulet awarded to a prodigious young alchemist upon completion of a trial. An ornate creation of high craftsmanship made of metal attuned to the space-affinity, holding a spacegem in place. Allows the user to store items in a small pocket dimension found within the gem. Due to the nature of the gemstone used, living, non-sentient entities can be stored without harmful side-effects in temporal suspension. Enchantments: Alchemist’s Spatial Storage. +25 Wisdom. Requirements: Soulbound

It was Jake’s first piece of epic equipment and probably still one of his best items to date. By sheer usefulness and convenience, it was at the top as nothing beat spatial storages. However, Jake was also acutely aware that the item had fallen off big time. The stats it gave were great when Jake was level 26, but now? Now they were irrelevant.

He could probably have gotten a better spatial storage, probably even one with the same Alchemist’s Spatial Storage enchantment. Maybe not as good, but at least close. It had to be noted that each person could only hold one spatial storage item under normal circumstances, so Jake couldn’t have swapped for another without choosing to “unbind” his Prodigious Alchemist’s Necklace of Holding. Now, even if it was Soulbound, this wouldn’t destroy the item but just make it completely inert. Of course, it would still be Soulbound, as one cannot get rid of that connection without breaking the item altogether.

So yeah, maybe him holding onto it was for purely sentimental reasons. Jake had to admit he had briefly considered if upgrading the item was even worth it, but…

“How exquisite,” Fairleigh said as he looked at the necklace. “Truly ancient craftsmanship, incredible attention to detail, and that stone used… I am amazed someone would choose to give that to someone of such a low grade.”

Even if the vampire could not see the description, he was still an ancient vampire in S-grade. He looks at it a bit more before nodding. “Finding a suitable crafter should be possible; we have some very talented jewelers among our ranks. Do note that unlocking the full potential of the gem will not be possible with your current strength and the necklace being Soulbound.”

Jake nodded. “Just seeing it improved is all I hope for. Also, just to check, I want to make sure there are no risks of breaking it if I choose to improve it?”


It might not have been fault that his people couldn't abide by his magic, but that didn't make the magic itself to blame. The true responsibility for the curse lay with Asterion, and there was nothing Leo could do about that, at the moment. Perhaps when Cale made good on his promise and built him up to be an archmage with power enough to confront the Named, he might be in a position to understand why.

But it didn't really matter. Not for this. That was what he'd been missing all along.

His magic had never wanted anything more than to protect him. How had he missed that? This was true of all mages. A mana core was magic that was yours. It was mana that came to you because it was uniquely suited for you, no matter that it could hold different aspects. It had a temperament and a will, and it had chosen him.

He had never chosen it in turn. He'd locked it out, instead, first with anger and then with reluctance, and even now there was the burning ember he'd never been able to let go—that sense that his mana was at fault, somehow. That his core was to blame for his misery.

Leo let the thought pass through him, and then he let it go. The realization had occurred in the span of a heartbeat, and his magic was still attempting to close that door in his heart. A door he'd built himself because he couldn't accept his own magic.

He reached out and held that door open.

I'm sorry, Leo thought. And thank you. For protecting me.

He was probably anthropomorphizing his mana a little too much. None of the books he'd read on the subject said anything about apologizing to one's own mana. It seemed to work, though.

Leo felt the difference reverberating in his soul, and when he opened his eyes, they flickered with the green-gold of the Labyrinth.

Then he realized his friends were fighting. He blinked.

"About time!" Flia called. "Did you finally figure it out?"

"I... think so?" Leo felt somewhat light-headed. "I need Cale to check my core when he's back."

"You need to help us with these things!" Flia leapt back to avoid a crashing limb, and the little shadeling that was her familiar spun out of her shadow with a snarl, chomping furiously. The monster she was fighting screeched in pain and fell back.

But it wasn't the only one. Somehow, while Leo had been figuring out his magic, a small swarm of goblin-adjacent creatures had descended upon them; Syphus and Damien were fighting, too, trying to keep them off Leo while he figured out his magic. Syphus fired a sticky-looking spell to glue one of them to a wall, and Damien gestured, doing something to the area that made them all slow down.

"Right," Leo said, grimacing slightly as he tried to shake off his reverie. He hated swarms. [Labyrinthine Defense] worked best with a single opponent; the moment he had a swarm to go up against, he had to rely much more on barriers and improvised spatial manipulation...

Except the spell he was reaching for had vanished. Only then did Leo notice the message the Gift had waiting for him.

Core integration detected!

[Labyrinthine Defense] is no longer suited for your magic. It has evolved into [Minotaur's Domain].

[Minotaur's Domain] [Fifth Tier, Active (Unique)] [5000 Mana]

Conjure a domain based on your understanding of the Labyrinth. Up to ten individuals caught within the Minotaur's Domain will be subjected to its effects.

The Minotaur's Domain weaves intent and action into a multicursal labyrinth of choice and possibility. The difficulty of navigating this labyrinth is dependent on the number of allies and enemies caught within the effect.

This spell is capable of further evolution. The effects, tier, and mana cost of this spell may change with your understanding of the Labyrinth.

This spell is but a fraction of the Labyrinth.

At the heart of the Labyrinth, Asterion awaits.

Leo's gaze snapped almost involuntarily to the final line of the spell description; he felt a chill run up his spine, but banished it just as quickly. He had notes about this, but he'd have to worry about it later. He cast the spell, allowing himself, for once, to put his trust in his magic. Ten wasn't nearly enough to deal with the swarm, but with his friends as part of his domain...

Possibility bloomed in his mind, and he saw the path they needed to take.

* * *

Cale nodded slowly, taking all this in. "Right," he said slowly. "I'm still not sure how this explains why you have twenty crablins tied up and stacked on my bed. You couldn't just give them to Akkau?"

A note from SilverLinings

Catching up with the apprentices! Also Leo finally gets a bit more of a focus.

And I fixed the chapter filing. I put the last one in Intermissions by accident, whoops. Also skipping the fun fact today because I'm feeling a little under the weather, but you're welcome to speculate on what crablins are or how often Cale has had tied-up monsters end up in his bed.

Patreon is 13 chapters ahead! Which is a weird number, I know. I'm working on it.

104 — Book 3, Chapter 3 — Catching Up

While Cale had technically been aware of the existence of crablins—which were, as the name implied, crab-goblin hybrids of a sort—he hadn't been expecting to learn about them quite so intimately. Which felt like the only word he could use to adequately describe having a pile of them tied up on his bed.

Admittedly, he'd been hoping his apprentices would have a surprise waiting for him when he returned. This wasn't quite what he'd had in mind, though.

He stared at the pile for a long moment, mildly impressed both by how tightly bound they were and how much they were squirming in spite of it. So far, the only explanation his apprentices had offered was that Leo had managed to make progress with his magic.

Which was great! Cale was glad for him, he really was. He just didn't know what that had to do with their decision to shove all the crablins into a haphazard pile like this, let alone a haphazard pile on his bed.

At least they had the decency to look vaguely sheepish. All except for Syphus, anyway, who Cale was pretty sure just didn't understand what "sheepish" was as an emotion.

Cale made it a point to give his apprentices vaguely suspicious looks and did his best to hide his amusement. He absolutely was not going to encourage this.

Not until he managed to get back at them, anyway.

"This is what I get for being too excited about coming back here," he said with an exaggerated sigh instead. "Are you sure these conditions are humane, Flia? I wouldn't have thought you'd allow for something like this."

"I'll have you know that these are the ideal conditions to store crablins in," Flia said with a sniff. "I checked with Professor Tarbloom. This simulates the natural conditions of their nesting grounds. We're pretty sure it's how they sleep."

"Tied up in a squirming pile?" Cale raised an eyebrow. "They're squirming a lot for being supposedly asleep. And what do you mean, pretty sure?"

"Yes, tied up in a squirming pile. They're an offshoot of goblinkind," Flia said, as if that explained it.

Cale supposed she had a point. "Still waiting for an explanation of that second part."

"The interpretive spells still need work," Flia said. "We know for a fact this is comfortable for them. We're just not sure if this is how they sleep or if this is some sort of mating ritual. If it helps, we're sixty percent sure it's how they sleep."

"So you're forty percent sure they're currently having a mating frenzy on my sheets." Cale eyed the pile again, now somewhat concerned about the squirming. And the noises it was making, for that matter. They did mostly sound like snores, but it wasn't like he'd had any particularly close encounters with crablins before this.

"Well," Flia said. "We weren't sure when you were coming back, so we figured we should make some use of your side of the room. It's not like you've decorated it or anything, you know?"

Cale snorted. "You're acting like I was going to be gone for months," he said. "These guys haven't been here nearly that long. You wouldn't subject Damien to having to sleep next to that."