“Anyone near us, Adion?” Benji asked as they were walking. They left the small outpost early in the morning and had already spent a large part of the day traveling.

“No,” Adion shook his head as he felt the lack of any presence in his sphere of space mana.

“Good,” Benji nodded, “Have you thought about how we could get away with taking the Merillian Soul Peaches?”

“Well, not exactly,” Adion said. He had told the group about what he learned from spying on the Derolm family, and thankfully, Sell had a very good idea of what those Soul Peaches could be used for.

Apparently, the Merillian Soul Peach is a precious fruit that, if eaten, gives a temporary but great awareness of one's soul. It is mainly seen as a way to help Diamonds advance to the Soft Soul stage, but it can also be helpful even in the higher Soul stages. It can also be used by weaker mages to give a boost in aura control and aura sense, as well as an easier time advancing to the Soul stages in the future. Of course, not many would choose to give such a precious resource to mages weaker than Diamond. But it wasn’t really that precious of a resource in Adion’s eyes. He had much better stuff in the metal case in his backpack.

Adion had thought about taking a Grand Soul Clarity Pill after hearing the effects of the Soul Peach, but he decided not to in the end. He didn’t know if it would have any effects, and the letter he found in the case had clearly stated that those pills would be helpful in the Soul stages. Nothing was mentioned about taking one before that. The only reason he had dared take the Wisdom Pills was because the letter had advised the recipient to take them when the core was formed.

So, since he wasn’t going to take the Grand Soul Clarity Pill any time soon, he might as well try this Merillian Soul Peach out. Even if he wouldn’t be interested in it himself, he didn’t like the thought of his enemies getting something so precious.

His teammates were, of course, on board in thinking out a way to get the peaches for themselves. After all, they didn’t have the luxury of carrying around a plethora of pills from the Age of Wonder. Even Sell was excited, as it was something only her sister had been given, according to her. It was such a precious commodity that it couldn’t be given to a Bronze mage unless she was to be the future queen.

The only problem was how he was going to take the peaches without having to deal with the consequences. Like Benji had said, even if Adion killed the Derolm family mages, there were witnesses. And if he killed all the witnesses, wouldn’t the Derolm family’s Diamond mages come looking for the only surviving team?

Not that Adion would have killed everyone just because he could get away with it. He would kill his enemies, but killing innocents because of his greed was something he absolutely wouldn’t do.

“I’m not sure how the best way to go about it would be,” Adion said, “I haven’t managed to get any new information. In the daytime, I would be spotted easily trying to spy. I think the best plan might actually be, as Sarah suggested, that we wait until they take the peaches, and I find a way to steal them unnoticed on the way back. I doubt these people will eat them themselves. It should be handed over to the Diamond mages of their family.”

“Sounds good,” Benji nodded, “Then let’s just focus on doing our jobs well and get out of this without any injuries.”

“Mm,” Adion nodded.

“How are you going to steal the peaches?” Sell came to his side and asked, “It will be heavily guarded, you know.”

As long as it’s within 300 feet, I can get my hands on anything.

“Well,” Adion said, “I know a few tricks.”

“That’s what I guessed,” Sell muttered and walked away again.

What am I supposed to do about this?

Adion hadn’t talked to Sell since she figured out he wasn’t actually a fire mage. He hadn’t gotten a chance to speak to his teammates either. And now, Sell seemed to be irritated with him dodging her questions all the time. He was really at a loss for what to do. He just wanted to tell her everything and not think about it anymore.

But he knew that would be stupid; he didn’t know her that well yet, and she was someone who could cause him a lot of trouble from her position of power. Adion didn’t think she would, but he couldn’t afford to make that mistake, not while he was still weak.

“Hey, Sell,” Adion heard Sahra saying from up ahead, “If these peaches are so precious, why doesn’t everyone just plant them themselves?”

“The same reason many other natural treasures are only found in the Endless Forest,” Sell said, “It doesn’t work to plant them for some reason. Even if they were to take away this tree, it wouldn’t take long for it to stop producing fruit. Only the Royal family in the Merillian Kingdom on Quemer has figured out a method to make it grow fruits in their garden, hence the name.”

“Oh, what if the tree is not moved and the area around it is simply conquered?” Sahra asked.

“Same thing. It will stop producing fruits after a while,” Sell answered, “That’s why a place like the Alago Forest is such a precious commodity for the Alago Empire. They know the places where all kinds of natural treasures grow and can go in to take them without fearing Soul beasts getting in the way.”

“I see,” Sahra nodded, “So, can’t the same be done by the other Kingdoms and Empires? Map out the known locations and go into the Endless Forest to harvest once in a while?”

“That’s exactly what is done,” Sell said, “Isn’t that what we are doing right now? The only difference is that it seems to have been unknown until now. I imagine it won’t take long before the Imperial family takes control of the area and forbids anyone else from getting close to the tree.”

“That would make sense,” Sahra said, “I guess this might be our only opportunity to get our hands on treasures like these.”

“Mm,” Sell nodded with a smile, “Even I have no chance of getting my hands on Merillian Soul Peaches.”

Adion continued walking and listening in on the conversation between Sell and Sahra, who seemed to have developed a sisterly relationship over the past week. It was always interesting hearing things Sell knew about. She had probably received one of the best educations on the continent, after all.

At times, Adion felt like life would be a lot easier if he simply stayed away from people. There was no need to keep secrets if he had no one to tell them to. He could just focus on hunting beasts and training by himself. But it didn't seem so troublesome when he thought about what he would be missing out on. Not only Sell, but his other teammates had given him so much valuable information that had made him stronger than he could ever have gotten alone: concepts, Words of Truth, and knowledge about the world at large. Not to mention how much more enjoyable his days were now than the time he had spent alone in the Endless Forest.

When it was starting to get dark, the expedition came to a halt for the night. It was announced that they would reach their destination the following day as planned.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

Adion excused himself from the group after the camp was set up. He wanted to do some thinking. Maybe spy on the Derolm family if he got the opportunity.

After a while of wandering about aimlessly, he spotted Mashi’s group sitting around a campfire, seemingly in a discussion. Adion decided to walk over to say hello.

“Hi there, Mashi, Tella, Kelv. What are you up to?” Adion asked.

“Oh, hello there, Adion,” Mashi turned around and said, “Nothing much. Kelv here is just having another one of his outbursts about clothes.”

“It’s not an outburst,” Kelv said calmly, “I just wish you would treat the subject with the severity it deserves.”

“Kelv, I love you. But you are insane,” Mashi said.

“Insane!?” Kelv yelled in shock, “It starts with a pair of pants on a shirt, but you know very well how it ends, Mashi. I’ve told you several times.”

What is going on?

“See? That’s an insane thing to say, Kelv,” Mashi defended himself.

“Why don’t you take a seat, Adion?” Kelv said, now calm again, “You’re not even 16 yet. You should hear this before someone like Mashi brainwashes your young mind.”

Why does it always feel like the one warning me of brainwashing is the one actually about to brainwash me?

“Er, sure,” Adion said and took a seat. He looked to Mashi and Tella, who looked at him apologetically.

“Sometimes,” Kelv started his story solemnly, “You have a shirt you need to put away, but you don’t have a place for clothes that aren’t clean but also not so dirty they need to be cleaned. So you might simply choose to temporarily put it on a chair, or on the floor. The next day, you need to put away another shirt. This time, it’s easy to place the shirt. Simply put it on the other one. Thus, a pile of clothes has been created. Every day, a new piece of clothing is added, and the pile grows. It shifts.

“My father had a pile of clothes like that. It is my earliest memory. I don’t remember much from when I was little. Maybe from age seven or so, I can piece together some kind of regularity in the memories. But that pile of clothes, that I remember. It was tall. It was dense. I remember seeing clothes in there that I had never even seen my father wear.”

“I’m sorry, but-” Adion supposed Kelv was finished with the story but was interrupted as he continued speaking.

“In the family, the pile of clothes was always present,” Kelv said in a steady voice. Adion saw Mashi mouthing the word ‘sorry’ to him. “When eating dinner, you could feel its presence from the floor above, like an almighty god staring down at you indifferently. It was like your sorrow and happiness weren’t in your own hands. Those things were beyond anyone’s power. If a pile of clothes could exist for so many years, how could anything be within your control in this world?

“We had good days too, of course. Sometimes, months could pass without me thinking about the pile of clothes. But then, out of nowhere, my parents’ bedroom door would be ajar. I would look in, and there it was, like it always had been. The world would shift, and the memories I made without the pile would start to fade. Had I really experienced those things? Why would I have memories without the pile? Because I understood that the pile was always there.

“I tried to approach it once. I thought it should be something a kid like me would usually do: play in it, climb it. But as I got closer, it was like approaching a cliff, with a furious ocean and sharp rocks down below. I’ve heard that some people who have actually done that have gotten this exhilarating feeling from being close to death. But I didn’t feel anything like that. I only felt emptiness. Emptiness and confusion.”

Okay, what the hell was that?

Everyone was quiet for a while before Mashi cleared his throat.

“Sorry about that, Adion,” Mashi said, “Kelv is a real stand-up guy once you get to know him. He’s just sensitive about clothes.”

Adion turned to look at Kelv, expecting him to protest. But he was only sitting there, staring into the fire.

“He always gets quiet after telling that story, don’t worry about it,” Mashi said.

“Mm,” Adion nodded, “Don’t worry, Kelv. I’ll make sure to always pick up my clothes.”

Kelv turned to face Adion and gave him a nod before turning to the fire again.

“So anyway,” Mashi said, “What brings you here all by yourself, Adion?”

“Well,” Adion hesitated, “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“I’m sure nothing will sound crazy after Kelv’s story. What’s up?” Mashi asked.

“Um, I guess I have some secrets. Like everyone does?” Adion said.

“Sure,” Mashi nodded.

“I’m just not sure how much to tell Sell,” Adion said, picking up a stick and playing around with the fire.

“Do you want to tell her?” Mashi asked.

“Of course,” Adion said, “It’s not like it’s something bad. I’m really proud of it, actually,” Adion said.

“Then tell her,” Mashi shrugged, “I thought it was something embarrassing. How boring.”

“But it might have some undesirable consequences,” Adion said.

“What was it you told me? ‘Become so mighty that your name can not mean anything else’? You should become so mighty that you can do whatever you want.” Mashi said.

“I’m planning to,” Adion said, “But I can’t get there being careless.”

“What exactly is it you think will happen?” Mashi asked.

Information about me coming out. The Nobles and Royals coming after me to get my secrets and discover my pills. Something preventing me from meeting my family again.

“Just too many people finding out,” Adion said.

“You wish to live in the shadow, huh,” Mashi said, “But remember, there can’t be shadow without light.”

It was quiet for a while before Kelv spoke again after being silent.

“But the light here is other people, right? Like he needs others to be the light so he can be the shadow. Not him being the light so he can also be the shadow, that makes no sense.” Kelv said.

“You of all people, Kelv?” Mashi said, “Did you really have to ruin something that sounded so cool?”

“Adion, aren’t you just 15?” Tella joined the conversation, “Then do whatever you want. The more mistakes you make, the more you’ll learn. Then you won’t have to worry about stuff like this in the future, because you would have made all the mistakes already.”

“What if I make a mistake with consequences too big to handle?” Adion asked.

“Just don’t die, and everything else can be fixed,” Tella shrugged.

“And even if you die, you won’t die as a coward. We’ll all die one day; might as well not have any regrets.” Kelv put in.

The problem is that I don’t know which option I’ll regret.

“Well, thanks for the advice guys. I’ll head back,” Adion said.

“Anytime,” Mashi said with a smile.

Adion got up and started walking back to his team’s part of the camp.

Why am I giving this so much thought? Maybe it’s because Sell figured out so much by herself that I couldn’t decide on my own how much I wanted to carelessly give away.

Telling Benji, Sahra, Rufus, and Lomin worked out well. But honestly, I was lucky. I probably shouldn’t have told them anything, either.

But lying about my powers gets complicated when all we do is fight. Maybe if we were all just hanging out and drinking beer all day, it wouldn’t be a problem hiding anything. But that’s not an option, so I either hunt alone or hunt while handicapping myself. Or tell the people I hunt with about my powers.

The last option is definitely preferable. I’ve grown a lot more in power with my teammates than I would have alone.

So I guess that’s the same with Sell as well. Do I want her to become a part of our team, and tell her I’m a space mage, or do I want us to just go our separate ways after the mission?

Adion got a small smile on his face thinking about hunting beasts with Sell when they got back to Lermen again.

Well, that makes it easy, I guess.