Sinking into a tub of warm bathwater, I let my body relax. Feeling the warmth run against my sore body helped to ease my sore mind. A flash of guilt ran through my mind before I brushed it away. I had wasted so much time these past couple of weeks, but I had no choice in the matter. If I didn’t follow through with my punishment, then Lord Claude would suffer greatly from my actions and I would have even less time to search for Faria. But even with these setbacks, Hazel had found a lead.

It was funny to think that this luxury that I so often found myself in was our first clue. That Faria herself was a part of designing the framework came as a surprise. She was always smart, but I’d never seen her use her knowledge for anything other than causing trouble or sneaking around something. Even when I first met her, when we were both so young, she had this glint of genius in her eyes like she could see straight through me. It wasn’t long until she was dragging me into her pranks.

My consciousness slipping, I sank into the water and jerked awake, shaking my head. What was going on with me? I had been so determined to find Faria when we left the capital, but what was I doing now? I keep making mistakes. I haven’t done the best I can. Living peacefully with Lord Claude, my mother and Hazel has distracted me.

Unstopping the drain, I watched as the water flowed down, feeling the cold air chill my body as it uncovered me. Determined to change, I stood and got ready for bed.

Sunday, tomorrow, was the award ceremony for this week’s tourney bracket and I was curious to see who this Regina was. It’s a formal event being held in the central courtyard, coincidentally near where I had fought Warner.

Remembering the snob, I sneered at my ceiling as I dropped into bed. Last I had seen him, he had started acting up and trying to start a fight. I had to stop myself from laughing as I remembered how the guards had snapped a thick, metal collar around his neck. The collar was some sort of anti-sorcerer device that the Magical Engineering graduating class had developed. An activated aura starts at the heart and flows through the body. However, it truly activates once the aura has reached the head, glowing through the eyes. When Warner tried to summon his aura, it was quickly absorbed by this collar which also began to glow and started tightening around his neck. The boy had collapsed in a matter of seconds.

With the pleasant image of a blue-faced Warner writhing on the ground fresh in my mind, I drifted off to sleep.

I stood in a room with walls so cleanly white that it hurt to look at them. It was all so bright that I couldn’t tell where in the room I was, or even where the corners of the room were.

This was not my first time in this place. In fact, I’d been here every night since the fight with Warner. I was dreaming, and this was my dream.

In the past, my dreams were dull and quickly forgotten. These dreams, however, were odd. I’d heard from others how vivid dreaming worked, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t do anything here.

Time passed strangely here. I’d tried to measure the time, but counting the minutes often got boring and I lost count a few times. In the end, I figured that it was about four hours.

Usually, nothing happened during my time in here, so I used the time to think. With my loaded schedule, I found very little time to go over my own studies, so this was a welcome event.

However, before I could even think of what I’d learned, a mirror image of myself appeared.

“Hello, child.” My copy spoke, straight faced.

“What is this?” I asked, examining the copy.

“This is only a projection, please pay it no mind.” The copy spoke, batting my hand away before I could touch its face.

“A projection? What-”

“Please stop speaking for a moment.” The copy interrupted. “I know you have questions, but those are of little importance.” He bluntly stated. “This is your mindscape. Only those with a strong mental presence are able to create them. You were able to create one with the help of my power. Unlike the other, you’ve neglected to use my power. That is, until you protected that creature.”

“Wait! Are you the Dragonstone?” I blurted out.

“Please do not interrupt.” He sighed again. “If my mood becomes unstable, the mindscape will become unstable with it.” He explained, rubbing his temples. “I am a part of what you call the Dragonstone. Why your sister saw fit to call it that, I do not know, but that is what I am. And before you ask, I do not know what a dragon is.”

Seeing that I raised my hand, the copy sighed deeply. “What?”

“How did you know that my sister called it that?”

“I was just about to explain that. Now. No. More. Interruptions.” He pressed, the white room shifting gray for a brief second. “I have spent the last few weeks reviewing all of your memories. Seeing as you’ve inherited my power, I want to be of assistance if I can. My name is Emora, and I was the embodiment of emotion. You have absorbed my power and, though you have split it with another, it can grant you strength beyond what those of this plane have been limited to. So, knowing this, why would you ever think of suppressing your emotion?” He asked suddenly.

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“W-what?” I stammered. “When have I suppressed my emotions?”

“Moments ago, before coming here. You told yourself that you wouldn’t allow yourself to be distracted again.” He explained.

“What does that-”

“It has everything to do with emotion!” He exclaimed, suddenly furious as the white walls started growing patches of a deep, bloody red. “Those who seek power often see attachments as distractions, as things to neglect and to push away.” He calmed down, breathing deeply. “Distractions are what bring true strength. Many times have thousands been hewn down by one in the defense of another. Have you ever seen an Arkan fight?”

“No.” I replied. I’ve never even seen one before.

“Arkans have the unique power to share the emotions of their kind. Their warriors step into battle knowing exactly how their brethren feel inside. They share their fear, their courage, their hope. Imagine, for a moment, defending thousands of your people, feeling every bit of terror they feel as an army approaches to slaughter them all.” The copy’s eyes grew distant as the white room shifted.

Suddenly, we were standing in the air above an enormous forest. On one side, trees gripping at each other tightly, as if to protect the inhabitants inside. One the other was an army of humans as thickly packed as the trees they faced. The number of Arkan warriors barely scratched two hundred, while the humans numbered more than a million strong. The battle seemed hopeless, but despite their drastic odds, the Arkan warriors roared.

What had before been auras of blue and green, with a couple of yellows at the head, had suddenly become a barrier of surging white light. Men and women, all of them lit by enormous halos of the purest of whites, charged forward into the human army. Then it hit me, a wave of emotion so strong that, if I was in my real body, would have made me empty my stomach onto the ground. It felt like I was standing before a titanic warrior with power great enough to destroy me with a single thought. Then, this massive, baleful aura disappeared completely, replaced by what felt like a parents loving embrace. Even still, I remained paralyzed, staring at the war taking place beneath my feet.

“Emotion is something that transcends the limits of the world.” The copy spoke solemnly. “Even now, the emotions of those people, all on the verge of death can still be felt. Their love for their people and their rage on their behalf passed the limit and broke the old chains. Though even this was not enough.”

Over the span of an hour, nearly all of the Arkan warriors had fallen, either by the sword or from their own exhaustion. From there, the battle ended quickly. But, while all of the Arkan warriors had died in battle, of the more than million soldiers in the human army, I could count less than two thousand left alive and all of them gravely wounded. All except for one who stood at the back of the human army. With fiery red hair that stood out among the dreary battlefield. Even at this distance, I could recognize the regret in this person’s eyes.

“Do you see now? Will you forgo this power?” He asked as the battlefield returned to the white room.

“I-I-” I was unsure. No power this great could be perfect. There had to be some kind of drawback. But… could I really say no? There may be something in the future, some kind of impossibly tall wall for me to climb that I won’t have the strength to go past by myself. I… “I don’t know.”

Sighing, the copy nodded and grinned. “It was much easier to convince the other. I will leave you with just this, then.”

“I wanted to ask one last thing.” I blurted, catching the copy’s attention. “You had such great power, how did you die? Or did you just become a rock by choice?”

His gaze lowering, the copy’s eyes grew distant again. Though the floor didn’t change this time. “I let myself die.” He spoke simply, his voice quiet and low. “Though I always wish I hadn’t.”

Feeling that I’d touched upon something I shouldn’t have, I dropped the subject and waited.

Quickly gathering himself, the copy bowed his head to me. “Remember, be honest with yourself. You will always regret not following your heart.”

And with that, the copy blinked out of existence, leaving me to myself.

With all that I had learned stewing in my head, I tried to go through what I had learned throughout the day, but found it to be very hard.

Finally awake, I was surprised to find that I wasn’t tired at all. I had expected some amount of fatigue in the morning, but it was like I’d gotten a full rest without trouble.

Shaking my head, I quickly got ready and left my room to find Avery making breakfast as usual. The night before, he promised to do some “extra special training” in the morning, and it seemed that a part of that training was an extra heavy meal. Halfway through my plate, I felt my body begging me to stop, but it could hardly compete with Avery’s incessant, fiery motivating. Finishing the hefty meal, I was overcome by a sense of accomplishment that made it feel like today was going to be great.

My “extra special training” turned out to be some normal training but, this time, one of his friends sat nearby watching the whole mock battle, occasionally yawning. Though I call it “normal training” it felt much more intense, like Avery was really trying to win, not just helping me find a pattern I could follow.

At the end, I barely had the strength to stay standing and had fallen to my back, gasping for air. Breathing deeply, I watched as my roommate came over and reached an arm down to me.

“You still need to work on that stamina of yours.” He teased as grasped his hand.

Pulling me from the ground, Avery patted me on the shoulder and looked over to his friend.

“She’s a mage, like you.” He explained. “I convinced her to come and watch, so she could give you some tips.”

The girl in question stood from her spot and then I noticed that she was holding a stack of papers. As she walked, I happened to noticed that her gaze was firmly locked onto Avery and that there was a kind of sway to her steps.

Dropping the stack of papers into my arms, she turned her full attention to my roommate and quietly flirted with him, trying to pull him closer.

“You remember what you promised.” She spoke firmly, grabbing Avery’s hands.

“Alright, but I need to shower, and you know you aren’t allowed in the men’s area.” He responded even firmer.

Pouting, the girl let go of his hands and let him go.

“I’ll go first.” He said, looking to me before running off towards the men’s area.

Sighing, the girl watched him go. Once he disappeared past the doors into the men’s area, she turned to look at me.

She tapped the papers in my arms. “You’ve got some work to do.”

She then turned and ran to the women’s side like a hungry animal chasing its prey.

Shaking my head, I turned and followed after Avery, watching carefully before storing the papers inside of my Storage Ring.