The rest of the night was dedicated to teaching my three students. With my guidance, they tried their hand at killing Shattered using their magic, though only Kevin was having any real success. But on the skill side of things, they had made great strides, it seemed that experimenting and getting taught while, theoretically, in live combat was quite effective. It made me wonder whether that was a function of the system or some other reason because I didn’t think the live targets were actually doing anything against them. Why had Kevin managed to learn the special ability to link three runes together within the first few Shattered I had him attack, Shattered that all had their legs crippled at the start of the fight. They were no more threat than the average trash can, their mobility reduced to a slow, dragged crawl. Even a geriatric relying on a walker would have been able to outrun them and return to the gym, making them no threat at all to us.

And yet, the skills of my students soared, the improvement visible to the naked eye without them sharing their notifications. Kevin went from that blunt, wave-like splash of water to a sustained, quite powerful stream of water, not strong enough to cut through rock but strong enough to push a Shattered back and batter them to death. After discussing things, I suggested that he might want to try his hand either at my Ice-runes or at Earth-Runes, to add some sort of solid matter to his stream, greatly increasing the penetration. Alternatively, just simply turning the water Cold with a rune could be useful, slowing and hindering targets or making them suffer from hypothermia.

Noriko went down a similar path, managing to focus her light into a bright and hot beam, roughly the size of a hand. While it lacked the impact of Kevin’s water beam, the attack was nearly impossible to avoid, given that the fine-tuning of the runic formation was done mentally. As long as Noriko was able to see her target and focus on it, the beam would hit, unless there was some sort of obstacle or shield in the way. For now, the power was only at the level of giving a human rapid sunburn, maybe some blisters, it was damaging enough to harm Shattered. It took a bit of time, but it killed them just fine.

Even Ling made some progress, though hers was the least. For most of the night, I had a conjured cloud of fog floating next to her, the constant control after conjuring it amusingly enough to level my Ice Magic to sixteen, allowing her to attempt a deeper insight into her Weather Magic. By the end of the night, she was capable of moving around my Fog, at least if I didn’t oppose her, and even conjure a bit of wind of her own. She also told me that she finally gained the Weather Magic skill, not that any of us actually knew what to do with it. Maybe I could try formalising some spells as a Sorcerer and try teaching them to my students, but that was a different consideration. Having them become Sorcerers and figure out spells of their own might be a better path for the future.

Either way, I dropped them off at the gym about two hours before sunrise, all of them completely exhausted by the night before moving to my chosen home. Digging a shallow grave in the backyard, to dispose of the bodies of the previous owners, took me almost until sunrise and at that point, I was dirty, sweaty and exhausted. But I also had a place to stay just for Silva and myself.

Inside, I immediately used the bathroom and experimented with the Water-Rune I had acquired, still trying to gain the mastery-skill while taking care of my business and having a shower. It was cold, the stolen conditioner smelled as if I had fallen into a fruit basket and the spray was utterly pathetic, nothing but a constant splash akin to water coming from a low-pressure hose. But it was utterly glorious. Cleaning myself with Darkness magic worked, it took care of the grime, sweat and everything but there was a part of me that still felt dirty. A part that wanted to have water run down my skin and wash away all the traces of the day, it was much more about the ritual than getting clean.

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My sleeping arrangements were another thing to consider. It was one thing to take over someone’s house, not terribly problematic given the circumstances, but taking over their bed, especially after they had died in that bed? Even just considering it gave me the creeps, sending uncomfortable shivers down my spine. Another solution was needed and luckily, there was a nicely furnished den, with a large sleeping couch that I decided to use. Beig underground, with only a few air-vents and no windows the sun could come in, meant it was the perfect space for me. Well, almost perfect, I was still unable to see in the absolute dark but I could make out enough with a bit of light filtering through the vents and down the stairs.

Silva wasn’t overly enthused about the state of things but accepted it, curling up next to the couch as I fell into a light slumber, a part of me still wary of potential trouble from the outside.

Waking up a few hours later, I stayed in bed, my mind awash with images from the night. My dreams remained filled with images of Sigmir, a mix of memory and figments of my imagination. It was bittersweet, the images far from enough to sate the craving I felt for my love and yet, it was only in dreams that I could reach her at all. I wanted her to be with me, to hold her, not just rest on the slopes of my mountain when I was drifting through the dreaming world.

Closing my eyes once more, I felt myself drift off, not into the world of dreams but into the Astral River. The world was still shifting, streams of power cracking open the foundation of reality and making it anew. Just looking at it was inspiring and once more, I found myself dipping my toe into it, my mind gently tugging at the streams of Death Magic. The siren’s call of knowledge, it drew me, even as I knew I was touching a hot plate. But maybe, one day, I would manage to touch it without burning myself, I would master the secrets held in that stream. Death Magic, if I could gain mastery over the Runes of Death, I might be able to reach for Sigmir. Not to bring her back, I doubted that would be so easy, but maybe just to call out to her? To talk, to communicate, maybe touch her in dreams that were more than memories?

Alas, it was not the day for me to gain the mastery, the only thing I gained was a stinging pain in my left eye, blood running down my face and a brutal headache that made me glad to be in a dark room.

But I couldn’t languish in bed forever. Once my brain wasn’t trying to leak out of my ears, I had some breakfast and began to work. It was still the middle of the day, so my focus was on my magic, namely trying to gain those skills I was lacking.

Practising Water Rune Mastery was interesting. Trying to fill up the bathtub, as the water drained right back out was challenging, forcing me to put all my focus on the runic formation and keep it stable. that allowed me to get a better idea of the flow of magic through it, especially when I used my Magic Sight to augment the connection to my Astral Power.

At the same time, I occasionally tried to magically flick against the water I was conjuring, to alter its flow and movement. What I was trying was similar to the process I used for my Ice Magic, only that I wasn’t targeting Ice but water.

Within an hour or so of trying, I finally had it click for me and I started to understand how it differed from my Ice Magic. It was close and yet so completely different, making me wonder how water could ever become Ice, how Liquid Moonlight could be so similar while being nothing like it.

But I had managed to gain both skills, Water Rune Mastery and Water Magic, both augmenting my magical repertoire, even if I knew that both skills would be far less efficient than my Ice or Darkness Magic. It was simply a question of affinity, but I was damn proud to have learned them.

Grinning like a loon, I realised that I was already getting exhausted, the constant focus and casting had tired me out. Instead of trying to accomplish a similar feat with Air, or try delving into one of the other types of magic, I started to stretch and move through one of Mrs Wu’s slow routines, the familiar physical movement allowing my mind to rest and drift off into a state between meditation and sleep.