Taking the last bite of his roasted chicken, Oz tossed away the stick he’d cooked it on and stood. “Now that we’re rested and ready to go, let’s give that possession spell a try!”

Linnea fixed him with a look. “You’ve replenished your qi?”

Oz grinned. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve, you know?”

Squinting, Linnea pressed her fingertips to his forehead. That tingly energy swept through him again. She lowered her hand, her frown deepening. “Your qi is fully replenished. How?”

Still grinning, Oz rubbed his nose. “Like I said. I have a secret or two!”

I organized a shelf of books while I was waiting for the chicken to marinate. As usual, that resulted in a rush of qi, and rather than feeding it directly into leveling up my cultivation, I used it to replenish my store of qi. Honestly, maybe I should leave a shelf or two disorganized for the quick qi refill when I need it.

But on the other hand, I want to organize all the shelves here before I get to the second floor. Yeah, probably best to keep steadily working on fixing the shelves up down here, rather than try for any strats.

“As long as you aren’t doing anything dangerous,” Linnea muttered.

“Would I do that?”

Linnea looked him dead in the eye. “Yes.”

Oz coughed. He waved his hand, then reached into his pocket. “Anyways. Fflyn, here!”

Cheeks bulging with chicken, Fflyn looked up and snatched the stone out of the air. He gave it a funny look, then swallowed. “It feels… familiar.”

“It should. It has your qi in it,” Oz explained.

Fflyn pressed it to his forehead and closed his eyes. He opened them, slightly confused. “It does! How? I didn’t give you my qi.”

“I’m just that good,” Oz declared smugly.

Fflyn looked at Linnea.

Linnea frowned back. “Don’t look at me. I don’t know what’s wrong with his head.”

Clearing his throat, Oz lifted his own pearl. “Shall we try the possession spell?”

Fflyn nodded. He sat down, crossing his legs. Holding the stone in both hands, centered on his body, he entered a meditative state.

Oz took a deep breath and followed Fflyn in entering meditation. He sent his mental energy into the pearl, and found himself in the midst of a tempest. Oz turned slowly, taking it all in.

The storm that had raged over him earlier that day continued in the pearl. Vivid lights danced amid dark-bruised storm clouds, while lighting grounded itself all around. Thunder grumbled and qi rained down as heavy drops, splashing down at the bottom of the pearl only to fly back up to the top and start again. As large as billboards, glowing fey words caged the storm in, marching in a ring around the exterior of the storm. Between the words and the storm, a thin layer of Oz’s qi circulated, coating the vicious storm in pale blue light.

Oz rested a hand on the outer coating. It thrummed, responding to his touch, and emanated warmth. This is different from my hacky enchantments with the paper. The spell is completely contained within the medium. The medium doesn’t recast the spell and call the qi once more; the qi is already here.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

On the other hand, I think I only have as much charge in the spell as I have qi in here. Once the qi runs out, I’ll have to cast the spell again. A shiver ran up his spine, and he grimaced. Yeah. Let’s try to avoid that for a while. I almost died. Once I’m stronger, then, maybe, but for now, I think the call is to use this battery until it runs dry.

The enchantment should make it easier to recast the spell and refill the medium, but I don’t want to rely on something so risky if I don’t absolutely have to.

He turned his attention to the coating of the qi and sent his mental energy into it. The spell activated, taking ahold of him. He hurtled out of the pearl. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of Fflyn and Linnea, and then he surged back down, flying into Fflyn’s stone. Everything went black.

Did it succeed? Oz waited for a moment, then opened his eyes and looked directly at himself.

He jumped back, startled, then chuckled at himself. Jumping up, he punched the air. “It worked!”

Linnea turned. “Oz?”

“Yep, it’s me.” Oz turned to her, beaming, then stared, looking up, up, up at Linnea. He clicked his tongue. “Damn, Fflyn’s short.”

“He is a child,” Linnea reminded him.

“A damn short child,” Oz muttered. He turned back toward himself.

He sat there, meditating. Walking over, Oz patted his own shoulder. Nothing. Well, okay. What about this? He hauled back and slapped himself in the face.

Sharp pain snapped on his cheek, and his concentration broke. Oz opened his own eyes as Fflyn dropped to his knees. The boy caught himself and looked around, confused.

“What did you expect would happen?” Linnea asked Oz, exasperated.

Oz shrugged. “I had no idea. I was just trying things out.”

Linnea sighed. She shook her head at him.

It confirms that I’ll feel it if someone attacks me, but then, if they’ve already stabbed me, it’s already too late. I need to get somewhere safe before I activate the possession spell for real. After all, at that point, I’m in it to win it.

I’ll still have to wake up a few times to take the antidote, eat, and sleep, but that shouldn’t be too bad. After all, Fflyn also has to eat and sleep, so handing over control to him during mealtimes and the night should be fine. Though who knows? If I sleep in Fflyn’s body, does my body sleep, too? Can’t really test that out right now, but it’s something to try later.

If I even need to. Who knows? I might figure everything out in one day.

Oz grimaced, chuckling at the same time. Yeah. Fat chance.

“Was that it?” Fflyn asked, looking around.

“Nah. That was just a test.” Oz pushed himself upright. His head floated a little, the beginnings of a headache lurking just out of reach. He looked at Linnea. “Will you stay in here?”

“Can’t trust me?” Linnea asked dryly.

Oz bit his lip. Ashamed, he looked at his feet, then back up at Linnea. She deserves honesty. I can’t lie here. “I want to trust you, I really do, but there’s too much at stake here. If you open the door, I’m dead. I can’t take that risk.”

Linnea pursed her lips. She looked at the horizon. “Sure. I get it.”

“Linnea, I… I can’t really excuse this. I can’t take the risk. That’s all. It has nothing to do with you. Or rather, it doesn’t matter who you are. I can’t trust you. I can’t trust anyone. Not yet.”

“Yeah. I get it. I infested your library with bugs not long ago. I haven’t earned your trust.”

Oz twisted his lips. It has more to do with Lif than Linnea. If Linnea were alone, in a vacuum, I’d probably trust her. No… I would. The problem is Lif. He abused Linnea. She’s going to have instinctive reactions to him, after being abused for so long. If she gets angry or refuses to engage, that’s fine. But if she gives in? Even once, even for a moment? Lif can set all kinds of traps to kill or maim me.

That’s assuming, of course, that he doesn’t find out that I’m using fey magic, and spreads the rumor that I’m a dark mage. Not that it seems to stop the actually-dangerous eye-plucking kind of mages, but then, no one wants the eye-plucker’s stuff, and everyone out there wants what I have. They’ll use any tiny scrap of scandal to drag me out. Case in point: Linnea.

He looked back up at Linnea. “I’m sorry. I really want to trust you. It’s just—”

“I get it. Go on. I’ll stay here, since I need to be babysat like a child. Nothing I can do from here, right?” Linnea asked, her eyes dead, face expressionless.

She’s pissed. Reasonable. I get it. Anything I say at this point is just going to make her more angry. “I’m sorry.” Oz ducked his head and walked off.

A few steps in, he turned back. “Fflyn.”

“Huh? Oh, right.” Fflyn scurried after him, cutting a wide berth around Linnea.

At the door, Oz looked back at Linnea. He gave her an apologetic smile.

She didn’t even meet his eyes. Turning away, she walked into the forest.

Oz grimaced. Fuck. Ah, fuck. Should I have not said anything? But the risk, the damned risk.

One day. One day, I’ll be able to take risks. Trust people. I’m not in that place right now. I’m not going to be there anytime soon. But one day. One day, I hope I can trust again.

He shut the door.