“What do you mean we’re here?!” The group shouted in unison, their legs wobbling as they were trying to get off the carpet.

“I’m sorry, I know that it must’ve been quite uncomfortable. But hey, it was worth it, the whole trip only lasted a few seconds!” James beamed proudly.

“I-I don’t get it.” Emilia looked around in disbelief. “You mean we’re already at the next city? Wouldn’t a trip like that normally take hours? I mean, I get it, you pump mana into the carpet and we’re there in 10 minutes. But that was only a few seconds! Even you can’t be that fast.”

“No, not even I can be that fast.” James shook his head cheekily. “Well, at least not unless I can afford to burn through a stupefying amount of mana that would make most mages cry at the waste. Oh wait, I can!”

Even Lunaris and Helios were looking at each other in silence. They began scanning their surroundings, unsure if this was actually real or if it was some sort of prank.

They knew James’s powers were crazy, but this explosive growth of his had been way too quick. All of a sudden, the trip between cities went from taking several minutes to just taking several seconds. When several minutes was already mind-blowing!

“You know what, at this point, I’ve had my mind blown so many times, that my jaw hurts from dropping so much.” Denmac said. “I’m just going to grab some popcorn and watch. No more jaw dropping or gasping from this guy. I’m gonna watch and enjoy. Any miracle that completely shatters the view I have of the world will just be a fun little movie for me, instead of a mind-blowing event that gives me an existential crisis.”

Emilia nodded rapidly, although she wasn’t sure she could actually keep her jaw closed.

“Oh, I’m sorry guys, I know that some of these things can be traumatic.” James said while conjuring a dozen Javelins at once. “But if we succeed, you too will soon be able to do such things! And many more! Together, we’ll grow more powerful than any agent could even dream of. So don’t waste your time being surprised by my silly little tricks, just enjoy the free xp.”

As soon as James finished his little pep talk, thirty ominous energy signatures came from the direction of the city. Which was no surprise, since James parked the carpet not even a mile away from the city, and his brilliant flight spell had the subtlety of an enraged baboon during mating season.

“They’re coming!” Denmac shouted.

But as soon as he spoke, thirty crimson lights flashed through the sky. And a second later, the thirty ominous energy signatures had already disappeared.

“Wait, they’re not there any more!” Denmac said. “What happened?”

“I think … they’re dead?” Emilia shook her head. “No, that can’t be. They only appeared for a second, and they’re still way too far from us.”

“No, they really are dead.” Helios stared in the direction of the ominous signatures.

“How is that possible?!” Denmac shouted, finding it hard to keep his mouth closed. “No, calm down Denmac. You said you were going to grab some popcorn and enjoy. No more getting riled up, no more jaw dropping. This is your life now, it’s real, it’s happening. Just relax and take it easy.”

“Is this true? Are they really dead? How is that even possible? Emilia asked, her face white from shock.

Seeing Emilia’s white face, Lunaris realized that she needed to tell James something. “Hey, I don’t think you know this, but some people can actually have heart attacks when they see incredible displays of magic.” Lunaris whispered into his ear. “I’m sure this won’t happen with them, usually the person has some underlying heart condition and the shock has to be really big. That’s not to say that you need to slow down, not at all! You’re doing so well! But I’m just telling you so you’re not confused by their odd reactions. It’s a relatively … normal reaction to such … abnormal displays of magic.”

Lunaris then rubbed Emilia’s head, radiating some soothing healing magic from her hands to calm her down.

“But how is it even possible? He’s right here! How can he just kill all those agents, who are probably tens of times stronger than the ones the rest of us are fighting by the way, without even getting within their line of sight?” Emilia then tried to look at James, but he was nowhere to be found. “Wait, where is he?”

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“You know what? I can see where this is going. I’d better make some calming tea.” Helios sighed. “Guys, just remember. He’s on our side! And he loves every single one of us. No need to panic, no need to get into an existential crisis, it’s just our good friend with amazing powers. Take a deep breath and relax, it’s going to be all right.”

He then turned around and whispered to Lunaris. “James seems to be doing fine, he’s not taking any damage, so I think you should focus on healing the two of them.” Helios then looked at the dwarves who were daydreaming, salivating and staring absent-mindedly in James’s direction. “You know what, throw some heals to them too. I’m no expert in psychology, but I’ve heard about people even losing their minds this way, and the effects can be life-changing. Better safe than sorry, so I think you should keep throwing some heals their way, it’ll soothe them.”

“I definitely will.” Lunaris nodded, taking her job as a healer very seriously. “But do you understand what’s happening? I mean, I get it, having your mind genuinely blown every 5 minutes can have a weird impact on you. And it’s not like I haven’t heard about this phenomenon before. But seeing it first hand is a whole different beast. It’s a rare disorder in the first place, so this whole situation is just bizarre.”

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine, I’m sure.” Helios sighed. “Don’t forget that we’re a lot closer to James and a lot more used to his antics. For them, it’s like seeing one of their peers ascend to Godhood and do godly things casually, nonchalantly. Not to mention that the sheer amount of mana he is emanating might be slightly getting them sort of drunk.”

Before Lunaris and Helios could even finish their conversation, dozens of explosions shook the city.

“Ok, so let’s go to the next city! Hope you guys got some xp too!” James popped out of nowhere, smiling from ear to ear.

“Oh my God, what is happening?!” Denmac and Emilia shrieked and hugged each other, tears streaming down their faces. Even the dwarves were gasping. “We barely even managed to stretch our feet!”

“Hey, it’s fine, don’t worry! It’s not like I’m an agent in disguise, I’m just your good old pal, and the enemies are dead! Nothing bad happened, so there’s no need to gasp. I’m just done with this city, so we should move to the next. Cheer up, there’s plenty of xp that you can still get, we’re going to visit a lot more Stygian cities!”

“I think they’re just in a bit of a shock.” Lunaris smiled awkwardly. “I think I’m actually a bit confused as well. What do you mean you’re done? You’ve killed the leader and absorbed the energy already?”

“Yep, it’s all done. And their underlings are dead as well. I’m sorry I didn’t save any for you, but I guess it just gets easier with each city, since I get to steal all that energy, and there’s the xp as well. I won’t go any slower though, time is of the essence. So when we’re at the next city, I’m dropping us right in the middle of the action and you guys can do your thing right away!”

“Reality isn’t real!” Emilia shouted. “He’s a God! Or we’re in a dream! A nightmare! This isn’t real!” She said while rocking back and forth, still clinging to Denmac, who was trembling uncontrollably.

“Jeez, I didn’t expect such a strong reaction.” James cringed from second-hand embarrassment. He felt really guilty for a second, but he didn’t fully understand why. Lunaris warned him, but to him it just seemed like he was doing a good job, eradicating the agents as quickly as possible.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t quite get what’s happening. I understand that doing these things so fast is quite surprising, which apparently can be quite traumatic since crazy things keep happening one after the other. But it’s not so bad as to cause a mental breakdown, is it?”

“I think they had their minds blown one too many times, brother.” Helios put his hand on James’s shoulder. “We’ll give them the belts of soothing that you bought for us, that will calm them down. It’s going to be all right, they just need some time to process all that’s happening. It’s just that not long ago, they saw the world in a certain way, where agents were these powerful monsters, and their cities were these incredibly dangerous hives of villainy. And yet now we’re done with a city within minutes, killing thousands of agents like they’re ants, and travelling enormous distances within seconds.”

“Helios is right, it’s just a bit too much for them.” Lunaris said as she took out her belt of soothing. “It’ll be fine, once they manage to process all they’ve seen. This can actually be a good thing eventually. It’ll make them stronger, especially with us here to make sure they won’t lose their minds instead. When they’ll snap out of it, they’ll be refreshed and ready to move to the next phase of their life. A grander, more exciting, and … crazier life. Their very powers will expand just from seeing you do these things, and having their minds expanded.” Lunaris chuckled nervously. While what she was saying was true, it all depended on her doing her best to constantly soothe their minds. Otherwise, the constant shocks could just permanently damage their minds.

“I do feel a bit sorry for making them go through these emotions.” James sighed. “But it’s all in the name of progress. When we’re done, we’ll be so much stronger that we’ll actually be able to contribute to this world’s fight against the Darkness.”

“And we all really appreciate that, brother!” Helios laughed. “Don’t slow down one bit, we’ll make sure our little friends are in tip-top shape! Or, at the very least, that they don’t lose their minds. So you do your thing brother, don’t worry about them.”