Chapter 31:

Before Elaine could answer, Titus said something in a language Alice didn't recognize. She had heard him curse in it a few times, and it had a similar cadence. Alice couldn't tell if she was surprised or not when Elaine responded in kind. Clearly, it was a question, as Titus said a couple more words, and then they returned to English. Interesting. It was clearly a language they were both very comfortable in. Alice wasn't sure if Elaine had greeted Titus in English because she had seen he had someone with him or if it was just a force of habit. Maybe Titus was really breaking the norms by speaking in this language.

Alice stared at the two of them, feeling rather left out. Titus gave her an apologetic shrug over Elaine's shoulder. As Elaine turned to face Alice, he mouthed, "I'll tell you later."

Alice gave him a glare. He had better because it sure seemed like he was trying to hide something from her.

Elaine looked a little confused as if she wasn't entirely sure what to say. But the look soon passed, and the confident smile returned.

"We are very old friends," Elaine said. "We met a long time ago."

It was very interesting to see that they both looked as if they were around 25, slightly older than Alice, but neither of them acted like that at all.

"It was during a period of conflict, and we were on opposite sides, as it were," Titus elaborated.

"I don't know if I would say ‘opposite sides’. More like rivals," Eline argued. Titus looked at her with a bit of a glare.

"What? I thought you forgave me for that," Elaine said.

"I have. We have both done things we regret," Titus said. "And we've had plenty of time to move past them."

"Not enough time," Elaine muttered, and Alice was still thoroughly confused.

The conversation moved on, and they began talking about the System. Titus and Alice shared everything they knew, talking about skill options, when they got the skills, what happened with the rank up to E grade, and what Elaine needed to do when she hit level ten to get to level eleven.

Titus didn't have the same sort of detailed information as it had happened to him naturally. Still, Alice told Elaine about the mana and the patterns in the flow inside her. It was complicated, and it took lots of drawing on the ground to get the point across, but eventually, Elaine seemed to understand.

"You know, Titus, I haven't believed in magic for a very long time," Elaine said, shooting a glance at Alice as if she was concerned she was saying too much. "But now that we have it, I feel like I should have known it the whole time."

Titus nodded. "I honestly am not sure."

"You both have lots and lots of magic," Alice said. "Elaine has almost as much as Titus does. I think Titus just has a lot of his bound up in his class. It's just not in his accessible mana pool or something."

Elaine nodded. "Yes, I have [Mana Sight]. Titus does glow like the sun, doesn't he?"

"What do I look like?" Alice asked.

Elaine looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You look like a puzzle. You glow nowhere near as strong as Titus does. Still, the lines you have drawn throughout your body look like a three-dimensional puzzle, interlocking. And those lines are as bright as Titus's, if not brighter."

"Interesting," Alice said, and she drew an approximation of a projected version of her lines into her mana patterns into a 2D shape. "Do the lines look something like this?"

Elaine frowned. "Maybe. Maybe from a different angle."

Alice realized she had drawn the top-down view instead of the view Elaine would see. They went back and forth, talking about the patterns, trying to figure out what they were for. Alice described what her feelings were as she moved mana through each of them and started talking about the little ball of energy she was collecting in the center. Even now, as she was drawing in mana, she was trying to limit the amount that flooded through her and gather as much as she possibly could in that little ball.

Titus was surprised to hear about it. Had she not explained it to him? She thought she had. Maybe he just didn't understand.

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"When I meditate," he said, "There's no lines or flow. I sit in a small glade under a tree, and the mana is like the wind in my hair. It is everywhere but is moving. There's no central portion I gathered when I upgraded to E grade."

"Hmm," Alice said as she swiped her foot through her drawing. "It appears there's more than one way of doing this. And Elaine, I would be concerned if you tried to copy mine too much. It might be something you need to figure out for yourself."

Titus laughed. "Oh, Elaine's never had a problem carving her own way."

Elaine blushed slightly but nodded. "I thank you for your insights, Alice. This is extremely helpful."

As they talked, the sun started to set, and Alice realized that Elaine probably wasn't going anywhere. She looked at the two tents and then at Titus. Titus shook his head vigorously, where Elaine couldn't see, and Alice sighed.

"Elaine, do you want to share a tent with me?" she asked.

Elaine smiled. "I would appreciate that very much. I have blankets on my bike."

Titus mouthed, "Thank you," over Elaine's shoulder, and Alice could feel his exasperation through the bond. Clearly, he had hoped that she'd move on, but Elaine clearly wasn't going anywhere.

Alice laughed slightly. Their relationship seemed complicated and something that Titus would have to explain thoroughly. Why Titus hadn't just continued explaining the whole situation to Alice, she wasn't sure. Still, she was pretty sure that it was best if Elaine, and maybe also the others, didn't know that Alice knew whatever it was that Titus was going to tell her. It had better be the whole story... but maybe that would take too long.

Minutes later, they were all in the tent, and the world was dark around them. Alice lay there, listening to Elaine breathe next to her and trying to determine if the other woman was asleep.

"Are you and Titus a thing?" Elaine eventually broke the silence in a very soft voice. "I assume not since there were two tents, but the way you two communicate with just a look..."

Alice spluttered and blushed, thankful that it was dark and Elaine couldn't see her face. "No, we just met. We're... we have a goal that we're working towards together." She didn't elaborate.

"You should be a thing," Elaine said softly. "Titus might need you. And you can't do better than him."

Alice was half insulted and half surprised. "I thought you two had dated at some point."

Elaine let out a tinkling laugh. "Oh, not really. There was a time when I thought maybe, but no. We are more like siblings. Like he's my little brother, but he also sees me as a little sister. It's strange. I don't know how to describe it. What do you think of him?"

Alice wasn't sure how to respond. She had lots and lots of thoughts about Titus, but what could she share? She thought for a moment before finally deciding to be honest but vague. "He's kind of a dick, but at the same time, he's reliable and funny. But he's not "kind". He doesn't have that same... sense of... I'm not exactly sure how to describe it. It's as if there are things he should care about, but he just doesn't. But not in a way that doesn't give him real emotions or the inability to care for someone."

Elaine hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, I suppose he is like that. It's exactly what it is. You can say he is someone who doesn't necessarily share the modern sensibilities. He's a man without mercy. But at the same time, he cares deeply."

Alice turned those words over in her mind. They meant more to her than they likely should have, or at least than Elaine had intended. The idea of him not having modern sensibilities clicked with everything he had said and done. He was old. He said he was very old. He had no compunction against killing or threatening her. Many of the stories she had told, he didn't seem to relate to in the way he should. He dealt with hardship and wilderness as if he were born into it. And maybe he had been. Alice didn't know.

"How old is Titus, exactly?" Alice asked. "He looks 25, but he acts a lot older."

She didn't expect a direct answer, but Elaine didn't surprise her with one either. "You could think of him like an old soul. A very old soul. I don't know exactly how old he is, but he's changed a decent amount since I met him. He's softened a lot. He's still rough around the edges, but he's not the sharp pieces of glass he used to be."

Alice could tell Elaine knew a lot more than she was saying, but let it go.

"I am more worried about what Titus thinks of me," Alice said in a rare moment of honesty. The self-reflection welled up within her, and she probably shouldn't have felt comfortable sharing this with Elaine. Still, the woman had eased her way into her good graces. It wasn't that big of a secret, but Alice wished she could take the words back.

Elaine was quiet for a second as she pondered, and Alice dreaded the response.

"That's probably not his fault," Elaine said, and Alice winced. "It's not that he doesn't think you're capable or anything, but he probably has trouble seeing you as anything more than a kid," Elaine said the last bit in a rush.

Alice grimaced. It was a problem she'd faced all her life. Alice was only 19, and four years into her PhD, she was still considered a kid by almost everyone around her. Only the freshmen were usually younger than her, and she rarely interacted with them. It was something she'd get over. But she had hoped that as she became an adult, she'd finally have time around peers her own age. But it seemed like it was one more thing that had been denied to her.

"We should probably go to sleep," Elaine whispered. "I'm sure we're keeping Titus up with our talking."

Alice blushed, realizing they hadn't been whispering for a long time, and buried her face in her pillow. "Yes, let's." she said, pushing away the mortification. She could feel the echoing amusement coming from Titus. Yeah, he had definitely heard most of that.

"Don't worry. Titus is long past where he cares what anyone thinks of him," Elaine said before they both fell silent.

Assuming Alice could get Titus alone and away from Elaine, he would have a lot to answer for tomorrow.